Getting Unstuck – Cultivating Curiosity

I've written four screenplays as a hobby, one of which received an honorable mention at the 9th Annual Nantucket Film Festival. If I were thanking the Academy, it would be because I had an exceptional teacher who just happens to be my guest in this episode. I've asked her to clarify what and how screenwriters work to help inform your storytelling ability as a communicating leader. Debbie Danielpour writes award-winning screenplays, libretti, fiction, and nonfiction. She has been an award-winning professor of fiction and screenwriting for over thirty years at San Francisco State University, Emerson College, Harvard University, and now at Boston University.

I've asked several people to come on the show in this series to talk very briefly about an aspect of their life that makes them tilt their heads in curiosity and want to figure out how to satisfy it. My guest in this episode is a master at looking at the familiar from a different angle. Dr. Christine Mason is a university professor, prolific author, workshop facilitator, yoga instructor, and painter.

My guests in this episode are Melissa Hughes Ph.D., a neuroscience researcher, educator, keynote speaker, and author of Happier Hour with Einstein — Another Round, and Michael Appelgren PsyD, a licensed psychologist, private practice owner, and executive functioning and parent management coach. Together, we explore the roots of curiosity, some of the obstacles that stand in the way of actualizing it, and the benefits of increasing and leveraging it.

My guest in this episode is Dennis Pitocco. Dennis is Chief Reimaginator of 360° Nation, an organization and approach to life that includes the award-winning BIZCATALYST 360°; Real Voices 360°, and GoodWorks 360°. Everything Dennis and his team do is "for good" versus for-profit and founded upon their quest to rediscover humanity at its very best.

My guest in this episode is Sarah Elkins. Sarah is a storyteller, the podcast host and author of "Your Stories Don't Define You. How You Tell Them Will," and a Gallup certified StrengthsFinder coach. In this episode, Sarah focuses on the role curiosity plays in informing our identity and how we define the relevance of our lives. And through that focus, Sarah has laid bare the bedrock of emotional intelligence because our personal identity and relevance are two key drivers of our behaviors toward others.

In this episode, the first in the Curiosity series, I've asked a number of people to come on the show over the next few weeks to talk very briefly about an aspect of their life that makes them tilt their heads in curiosity and want to know more about how to satisfy it. My first guest is Pat McHugh. Pat is the Executive Vice President of Sales for the hand2mind school publishing company, which develops supplemental curriculum, social and emotional learning products, and hands-on resources. He's starting to engage his curiosity to confront an issue that each of us will eventually face: retirement.

My guest in this episode is Mary Thomas-Vallens. Mary, a 40-year classroom teacher in the Irvine California Unified School District, currently serves as a moderator and in various other capacities for the Braver Angels organization, which works to depolarize "reds" and "blues," "conservatives" and "liberals" and help them become better listeners.

"It's really all about building relationships. Actually, that's what advocacy is about at its core." Sue Inches is an experienced environmental advocate, educator, and policy consultant. She is the author of the highly acclaimed Advocating for the Environment: How to Gather Your Power and Take Action.

When the supply chain works, it's a beautiful thing. But as the old saying goes, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and given the complexity of most supply chains today, any disruption can have a significant impact. Today's guest St. Claire L. Gerald, an Association of Supply Chain Management Certified Supply Chain Professional, helps us understand why the system is so delicate and how it can impact us.

My guest in this episode is Leanne Gordon, the principal of Leanne Gordon, a firm dedicated to helping individuals navigate what overwhelms them when considering change, their personal or their organization's false starts in change initiatives, and the inevitable resistance they'll encounter leading change.