Getting Unstuck – Cultivating Curiosity

Summary Obstacles standing in the way of progress often seem insurmountable. Leaders who remain adaptable, flexible, and pause to give themselves time to assess options increase their likelihood of breakthroughs. And very often, the solution to the problem sits within the problem itself. Takeaways √ The seeds of a problem's solution are usually contained in the problem itself. √ Effectively problem solvers work within the constraints of limited time and budget and ask a question of curiosity: what can we do differently right here with what we have? √ Overcoming obstacles, according to author Ryan Holiday, requires that we take three steps: 1. Change our perception of the problem — our attitude and approach to it. 2. Use our energy and creativity to uncover the opportunity within the problem 3. Cultivate and maintain an inner will to overcome setbacks. Referenced The Obstacle is the Way

Summary Much of the teaching profession is in turmoil. Thousands of teachers are leaving the field for a variety of reasons. Among them are: • Teachers exhausted and dispirited after pivoting to remote instruction during the pandemic — and now having to quickly make up for "lost learning." • Teaching has been increasingly politicized through limitations on the content teachers can cover and how teachers can teach. • Teachers feel unqualified to work effectively with students in critical areas such as social and emotional learning. But many teachers who are working with enlightened leadership are flourishing and helping to ignite their students' inherent curiosity. My guest Nate Hassman is on a quest: seize every possible opportunity to position students as leaders and experts, and partner with students to find a path that is individualized to their skills and interests. He wears several hats for Maine Township School District 207, in Des Plaines, Illinois, a suburb northwest of Chicago. By trade, Nate is a science teacher at Maine West High School. Additionally, he facilitates workshops with fellow teachers in action research and classroom culture, sponsors Maine West's student mentor-leader organization, and coaches track and cross country. Takeaways √ District 207 sees its responsibility as providing students with multiple post-high pathways from which to choose depending on their interests and circumstances. √ Nate's teaching has evolved from a pure content focus to one where he generates experiences for the students to evolve as experts. √ Methods of evaluating students have had to shift from traditional assessments to listening for the types of questions they ask and how they analyze problems. √ Student curiosity is fostered through experiences that get them to think, not just regurgitate knowledge. √ Curiosity is also fostered by bringing real-life news into the classroom and relating it to the course of study. √ Effective leaders have mastered the art of adapting to internal and external stimuli, and they are not afraid to ask the collective to pause to consider options. Referenced New Harmony High School > "Getting Unstuck" Interview > School Website

As leaders, we can often fall into the trap of focusing most of our attention on the work of achieving desired outcomes. While achieving outcomes is critical for organizational success, authentic leaders also focus on how they are showing up to lead the people doing the day-to-day work to achieve those desired results. Focusing their attention there forces the leader to be vulnerable, to think more in terms of "we" than "I." Focusing their attention on the staff doing the work engages the leader's innate curiosity, and that curiosity gives rise to empathy. Empathy nourishes emotional intelligence, which is the cornerstone of sustained impact. Takeaways √ People experience a form of grief when organizations go through layoffs. √ Leadership is akin to being onstage because people are always looking at you, watching what you will say and do. √ "Brave Leadership" is the act of staying true to who you are when the pressure is at its greatest. √ The super-objective that we set for ourselves defines the impact that we want to have on others. √ How you show up is how people see you, not what you believe. Authenticity is in the eye of the beholder. √ If you are not curious about people, you cannot bring empathy to the conversation, and if you are not empathetic, you cannot be authentic and have the impact you want to have. √ Because organizations are numbers-driven, leaders tend to focus on the work as opposed to the people doing the work. √ Real presence doesn't show up in the absence of obstacles. My Guest And someone who knows more than a thing or two about brave leadership is our guest in this episode, Kimberly Davis, author of the best-seller Brave Leadership, TEDx speaker, and founder of the Brave Leadership University. Resources / Links / References Company: onstageleadership.com TEDx: youtube.com/watch?v=PgCBVGBHGx4 Book: braveleadershipbook.com/ Email: kimberly@braveleadershipuniversity.com Twitter: OnStageKimberly LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kimberlydavisonstage Patrick Lencioni - The Advantage Interview – Joanne Duncan Daniel Lubetzky – Do the Kind Thing Interview – Dr. Ken Wallace Sarah Elkins – "No Longer Virtual" Summit

Summary There's a lot of talk about why organizations need to have a purpose — why they do what they do on behalf of those they seek to serve — and to have that purpose go beyond being a mere marketing tagline. What's equally challenging to get at is how an organization defines its why, how they get staff buy-in — or better yet, staff input — and then has the discipline to choose activities that work towards fulfilling it. My guest My guest to help walk us through this topic is Brooke Erol. Brooke is a corporate dropout who pursued her dream of having more meaningful work for herself and others where we are not only seeking money but also contributing to a bigger cause. All her life is spent on writing, speaking, coaching, and consulting on this topic of having a life of fulfilling and purposeful work. She works both with individuals- YourBestLife and organizations - Purposeful Business, Inc. Takeaways √ Many businesses focus on profits over purpose instead of figuring out how to do both. √ An organization's pain point is not necessarily an expressed lack of purpose, but lack of purpose is often the driver below the surface. √ Leaders at the highest point of an organization — founder, and CEO — must have a deep consciousness to understand the imperative of having and living a purpose fully. √ Companies often face a litmus test as to whether they are going to honor their purpose in their decision-making, √ Customers and job seekers should monitor a company over time to see if it adheres to its purpose. √ The number one reason for the purpose to stick is the 100% commitment of the CEO or the founder. √ Instead of trying to save the whole world, find one area where you can have an impact, and let that be your purpose. Referenced/Resources/Links Book: Create a Life You Love: Reflections on Living Life to the Fullest Instagram: www.instagram.com/purposefulbusiness www.instagram.com/happielliatwork LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ozlemerol Twitter: www.twitter.com/boerol1

Summary In this episode, I talk with Megan Miller, who, at an early age, discovered the power of learning a foreign language and now works to empower others who want or need to have a bilingual voice. Megan is the founder of Aprovechar Language Solutions, LLC, whose mission is to empower anyone needing a bilingual voice. She offers a personalized, habit-based approach to teaching Spanish and English language and culture to adults worldwide. Megan has over 20 years of experience in Spanish and has been obsessed with learning and teaching all of her life: from living abroad in Madrid, Spain, traveling worldwide, and being a training consultant and language coach. Megan noted in our conversation that language has the power to help us transition from a "me" mentality to an "us" or "we" mentality. That is, by learning another language, one can better understand the culture and people it represents. Takeaways √ Motivation to do anything and curiosity are inextricably linked. √ Without actually traveling, one can enjoy culture through literature, movies, and music. √ Just as it is with English in the U.S., a foreign language has dialects and accents that shift from region to region. √ If you want to learn a new language, study it as it pertains to something in the culture, e.g., cooking, sports, or art. √ When learning a new language, dabble a little bit each day. References/Links/Resources Website: www.aprovecharlanguagesolutions.com Instagram: www.instagram.com/aprovecharlanguagesolutions LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aprovechar-language-solutions/

My pulse quickens whenever we leap into the unknown of space, be it with the 2015 New Horizons flyby of Pluto, or the launch of the new James Webb telescope on December 25, 2021. And so, I experienced that rush on September 26 when the D.A.R.T. spacecraft designed by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory for NASA was intentionally slammed into a tiny asteroid at some 14,000 miles per hour after traveling for more than 10 months and 7 million miles. "Intentionally slammed into a tiny asteroid" is the operative phrase here. Let's find out why that was done from one of the critical minds on the project, Michelle Chen, an engineer with the Johns Hopkins APL who led the team that developed the spacecraft's SMART navigation system. Takeaways √ The D.A.R.T. mission — D.A.R.T. stands for Double Asteroid Redirection Test — was undertaken to see if we could nudge an asteroid out of an orbit that could potentially be on a path of hitting Earth. √ The D.A.R.T. spacecraft flew on its own for the last 40 minutes or so of the mission, courtesy of the navigation system that Michelle and her team built. It had to be capable of maneuvering independently, given the speed at which it was flying and the distance between the craft and the JPL team. √ Michelle judged the quality of her team, in part, by the quality of the questions they asked. √ As a leader, Michelle believes in giving her team members room to explore and make mistakes. √ Curiosity will help to define our future innovations. √ What would you tell your younger self? Stay true to who you are, and ask questions. References/Resources New York Times: NASA Smashes Into an Asteroid, Completing a Mission to Save a Future Day

One part of life that I've become really curious about in the past few years is dying. I didn't think about it at all when I was in college and played racquetball on a Saturday morning following a little too much end-of-the-week celebration the night before. There were moments in the four decades that followed when death reared its head — close friends from my college years passed away, and I lost both my parents — but aside from the immediate grief, I continued to live life like most of us probably do: on cruise control. I got up, I went to work, I pursued my personal interests, and I went to bed. Rinse and repeat.

"As it turns out, personal finance is like touching an electric fence that you didn't know what electric. Managing our money is not a math problem; it's a behavioral problem." Carl Richards is a Certified Financial Planner™ and creator of the Sketch Guy column that appeared weekly in The New York Times (2010-2021). There, he used simple illustrations to introduce calming financial advice and counsel. He is also the author of The One-Page Financial Plan and The Behavior Gap resources — a book, website, and podcast that provide simple ideas to help us "Stop Doing Dumb Things with Money." Carl's goal is to demystify financial planning by focusing as much — or more — on the humans it serves as it does on the numbers. Topics discussed in this episode include: The crash of the housing market in 2008. The psychological underpinnings that influence money management. Using a tree as an analogy for financial counseling. Carl's sketches as "shortcuts" and "souvenirs." Simplifying the complex world of money management. "Conversation grenades." Why Jeff focuses on curiosity. Takeaways: If you want to understand money management, start by understanding fear and greed. When we talk about return on investment, emotional balance sheets are just as important as financial ones. The line between financial planning and therapy is super thin. Making the complex simple in terms of money management starts and stays with an unrelenting focus on one's goals. Simple line illustrations can be used to engender problem-solving conversations outside the worlds of finance and money management. Links https://www.linkedin.com/in/thinkingcarl https://twitter.com/behaviorgap The One Page Financial Plan "The Behavior Gap" resources Behavior Gap Radio (free site) The Behavior Gap website The Behavior Gap book

My guest in this episode is Charlotte Wittenkamp. Her own experience relocating from Denmark to California led to her ongoing fascination with global differences in value systems and communication patterns. In short, why do we believe what we believe?

Many people mistakenly equate obituaries with death notices, but, as we'll hear in this episode, obituaries are not tales of death; they are tales of life. They are the CliffsNotes of someone's identity and relevance. And as much as we know we shouldn't, we are drawn to them as mirrors, which we figuratively stand in front of and ask, "How does my life compare to this individual's?" My guest today is Richard Goldstein. Since joining the New York Times in 1980, Richard worked as an editor and an obituary writer, focusing on figures from the military and sports world.