Grow and lead for all of us

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Episode 98: Why Enneagram Types Matter With Roxanne Howe-Murphy

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Roxanne Howe-Murphy

The first time Roxanne Howe-Murphy and I planned to discuss the Enneagram, we were interrupted by an election. So we explored how to heal from Trump Shock (for those needing such healing).

Life gives second chances.

This week Roxanne and I took one such opportunity and ran with it.

The Enneagram is a system for personal and professional development I’ve been using for twenty years. It informs my coaching and, increasingly, my work with leadership teams.

There are nine Enneagram styles or types. Each provides a different answer to the question: What makes me tick?

Walking through all nine types is a big task. Roxanne and I chose instead to explore what is both the most practical and existential question about the Enneagram: why does it matter? What difference does it make when growing yourself to understand your Enneagram type? What difference does it make when coaching or managing someone else to understand theirs? And for those involved in parenting or mentoring kids, how can you shoot yourself in the foot by treating all kids the same, rather than personalizing to what makes each child tick?

Roxanne is a wise and warm presence. I invite you to grab a cup of tea and listen in.

Highlights

  • 4:30 That time Roxanne mis-typed herself
  • 14:00 Enneagram versus Myers-Briggs
  • 22:00 Learning your type makes your goals more true for you
  • 28:00 You share this way of being with 800 million other people
  • 33:00 A leader who didn’t trust herself
  • 44:00 What if you coached a Type Six as if they were you, a Type Nine?
  • 49:30 “I don’t recognize this child. He is so unlike me!”
  • 1:02:00 Our degree of presence matters

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Episode 97: Spiral Dynamics With Jon Freeman

Episode 97: Spiral Dynamics With Jon Freeman

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Spiral Dynamics

Waiting four years to discuss Spiral Dynamics on my podcast is like waiting that long on a show about desserts before bringing up chocolate.

Yes, Cindy Wigglesworth used Spiral Dynamics to help us make sense of the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, but this week is our first in-depth exploration.

And I’m excited to share it.

Spiral Dynamics is my go-to framework for understanding politics, global events, cultural evolution, and the many big challenges we face as a people and planet. It also explains what happens inside of large organizations, a place where I do most of my coaching and consulting. Whether the topic is global climate change, right wing nationalism, competing economic theories, or race and culture, Spiral Dynamics gives me a way to understand the core worldviews that animate everyday conversations.

That’s why Spiral Dynamics is called the “master code” or code of all codes.

To illuminate this framework, I spoke with Jon Freeman, who, after a long business career, discovered Spiral Dynamics and became one of its leading teachers.

Highlights

  • 9:30 Small bands roaming the savannah to warlord gangs to rule-bound towns—and beyond
  • 14:30 The worldviews dominant within big companies and organizations
  • 25:30 Why you want all worldviews present in organizations
  • 31:00 Reinterpreting the 2008 financial crisis through the Spiral
  • 39:00 The dangers of ignoring the virtues of Blue rules
  • 50:00 Why the U.S. underestimated China
  • 56:30 Humanity prepares for a momentous leap—the shift to second tier
  • 1:03:00 Reinventing Blue order in big corporations
  • 1:08:00 The rise of mafia enterprises and right wing nationalism
  • 1:15:00 Brexit, immigration, and complexity
  • 1:19:00 Climate change, clean tech, and Spiral Wizards in a time of catastrophe

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Episode 96: Three Ways To Be Happy (3-Minute Thursday)

Episode 96: Three Ways To Be Happy (3-Minute Thursday)

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Three ways to be happy is the topic of today’s 3-minute Thursday.

My inspiration is Martin Seligman’s classic book, Authentic Happiness, which helped me cope through hard times and find joy and freedom in good times.

Seligman describes the pleasure life, the engaged life, and the meaningful life. What are these and why do they matter?

Listen in as I walk you through these three forms of happiness with examples from my own experience.

All in 3-minutes. So you can stop listening—and start practicing.

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Episode 95: The Clean Tech Edge With Ron Pernick

Episode 95: The Clean Tech Edge With Ron Pernick

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clean tech edge

The story of clean technology is invigorating. The story of global climate change is sobering. What quality of mind and what forms of deliberate practice are needed to hold both stories in place simultaneously—and remain mostly sane?

I think about this question when I read about extreme temperatures, massive flooding, and drought…and then get in my all electric Nissan Leaf that is powered by PV solar panels on the roof of our home and drive by one of Portland’s many LEED Platinum green buildings.

It is exciting to witness the signs of technological progress yet frightening to experience the early days of what could be climate catastrophe.

Things are getting better and things are getting worse.

To make sense of this paradox, I’ve scheduled a series of interviews with thought leaders in sustainable enterprise, global climate change, and clean technology.

To launch the series, I speak this week with the person arguably most responsible for defining the contours of the clean technology economy, Ron Pernick, cofounder of Clean Edge and coauthor of Clean Tech Revolution and Clean Tech Nation.

Intrigued?

Join us for this conversation, and let me know what you think.

Highlights

  • 8:30 Diplomats discard the term “clean tech,” and Ron picks it up
  • 13:00 Ron creates the first clean tech stock index, and Nasdaq wants in
  • 26:00 Why Portland ranked high on the metro index of clean tech
  • 31:00 All electric SUVs are coming soon, and why it’s taken a while
  • 37:00 Clean tech needs to be better than what it is displacing
  • 48:00 The political landscape around clean tech
  • 1:00:00 Making sense of the 2018 IPCC report on climate change

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Episode 94: You Can Practice Better Than That (3-Minute Thursday)

Episode 94: You Can Practice Better Than That (3-Minute Thursday)

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You can practice better than that.

Seriously.

It’s time to raise the bar in organizations around how we practice leadership.

That’s why we’ve looked at how to practice leadership directly and on-the-job.

But what, you might wonder, are these an alternative to? What are the most common current methods for improving as leaders?

Listen in as I walk you through three of these, why they fall short, and how what I’m proposing can replace or supplement them.

All in 3-minutes.

So you can stop listening—and start practicing.

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Unlocking Leadership Mindtraps With Jennifer Garvey Berger (Episode 93)

Unlocking Leadership Mindtraps With Jennifer Garvey Berger (Episode 93)

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Unlocking leadership mindtraps. Up for it?

I am.

This week I’m excited to share another mind-stretching conversation with adult development expert Jennifer Garvey Berger.

We discuss her new, shorter, faster, and easier book Unlocking Leadership Mindtraps: How To Thrive In Complexity. Once again, Jennifer helps me unpack, unlock and uncover some of the biggest questions in the field of leadership development. Our intent, as always, is to find simplicity on the other side of complexity, a.k.a. grow a little bit today so we can grow even a little bit more tomorrow.

My favorite part is our discussion of what Jennifer calls “simple stories,” something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, particularly in the context of global climate change. (No, snow and cold temperatures don’t mean the overall temperature of the planet isn’t increasing. Yes, it makes a devilishly simple story. No, people who swear by this story are not bad people. Yes, you can learn to see them as heroes in their own story. No, your doing this won’t magically reduce carbon emissions. Yes, it’s still a healthy act for you and the rest of us. But I digress…)

Join me for this invigorating conversation.

Highlights

  • 8:00 Jennifer gets asked, “How can I do this faster?”
  • 12:00 The five most dangerous and most escapable mindtraps
  • 17:00 “This is who I am. Don’t mess with me.”
  • 20:30 A simple story about Brexit involving bananas
  • 29:00 We soothe ourselves by knowing the odds
  • 34:00 Ask “How is this person [I’m aggravated by] a hero?”
  • 41:30 Jennifer plays a game with clients: let’s create three simple stories
  • 52:30 Simple stories Jennifer has told herself about her experiences with her kids
  • 1:02:00 Mindtraps in the transition from socialized mind to self-authored mind
  • 1:08:00 Simple stories about the amazing leader who must have been born that way

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Episode 92: Practicing Leadership On-The-Job (3-Minute Thursday)

Episode 92: Practicing Leadership On-The-Job (3-Minute Thursday)

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(Delayed due to technical glitch. The gorilla sat on my media server. I swear.)

Practicing leadership on the job.

It’s the single best way to improve what you do and who you are becoming as a leader.

Practicing leadership on the job involves learning while you work.

This is different from practicing leadership directly, the subject of episode 90. Instead of stepping outside the flow of work to focus 100% on improvement, practicing leadership on the job means you develop and work at the same time.

I call this the On-The-Job-Practice Cycle. It involves four steps:

  • Prepare
  • Act
  • Reflect
  • Get Feedback

Listen in as I walk you through these four steps.

All in 3-minutes.

So you can stop listening—and start practicing.

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