Crucial Talks Podcast: Recent Episodes
Mike Sedam
All of us have been through tough times, are going through tough times, or will go through tough times.
In this episode, we discuss looking forward in order to move through those tough times.
This includes three tools:
- Set goals
- Let things go
- Take control of your own future
If you need to contact Mike, please visit www.crucialtalks.com
We are going through tough times.
We can't avoid them. We have to go through them.
In this episode we discuss four tools to be more resilient in the short-term using the acronym MIND:
M - Models
I - Identity
N - Now
D - Decision-making
You can reach out to Mike at www.crucialtalks.com
Ariel Garten talks to Mike about the fear of fear and gives tools to get out of our own way.
Ariel is a psychotherapist, neuroscientist, and entrepreneur having started a tech company called Muse.
In this episode, she talks about how fear can get in our way and is driven by parts of the brain that used to help keep us alive, but now may be barriers to our performance.
We get two tools to use that can help us deal with fear including a technique to recognize and move past fear, and tips on meditation that are proven to work.
For more about Ariel, visit www.arielgarten.com. Muse can be found on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2vOF9cr and more at their website: www.choosemuse.com
To connect with Mike, please visit www.crucialtalks.com.
Confidence is the key to having a better workplace experience. It is something you need to control and shouldn't be dependent on your boss or coworkers.
We are all human, which means we will all make mistakes.
We will frustrate other people, we will become frustrated ourselves.
If we don't have high confidence, we can end up hating where we work or just feeling bad at the place we spend a lot of our time.
The more we can control our own confidence, the better we will feel and perform.
In this episode, we talk about what confidence is: appreciating our own abilities and qualities that give us a feeling of self-assurance.
We also talk about how to build our confidence in two ways: Journaling and checklists.
To contact Mike about coaching, speaking, or consulting visit www.crucialtalks.com
Mike interviews John Voris, the author of Discover the Power That Drives Your Personality.
John discusses "Life Themes" which gives people structure and guidance in the decisions they make.
Life themes help people deal with stressors they have in life from the decisions they are making to the careers they choose or the organizations they work for.
John can be reached at www.johnvoris.com.
His book can be found on Amazon: https://amzn.to/315SXuJ
There is a difference between knowledge and information.
Knowledge is the key to success.
Information is the facts and data we can point to objectively and transfer easily.
We can see how information can be easily provided and transferred in training and meetings. It's also what a lot of people are tired of in organizations.
Knowledge is different because it comes from experience and education. It isn't just information, it goes beyond information.
If we understand the concept that knowledge is information, but information is not knowledge, we can do what human beings love to do and what has made us so successful as a species:
We can learn.
We can understand.
We can predict.
If you need any help or would like to talk some more about it, please reach out to me at: www.crucialtalks.com
J Scott is interviewed by Mike Sedam about the importance of people.
The discussion revolves around how to actively listen, engage with people, and develop good solutions.
J Scott gives great advice on how to prepare as a leader and engage with curiosity, not a critical mindset.
Connect with J Scott at www.120vc.com or on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonscott120vc/
Susan Ibitz talks with Mike Sedam about "human hacking."
Tips about communication, both verbal and in writing are discussed.
Susan's company is the Human Behavior Lab where they unlock the science behind human behavior. She is also a member of the Forbes Coaches Council and lectures at Loyola University Chicago.
She bases her information on how people want to receive, and now how we want to give the information. That nuance is a powerful mindset shift.
Susan starts with discussing the importance of knowing ourselves first.
This leads to how we can use body language, facial expression, tone of voice, and other communication to be more effective in speaking with others.
Susan also discusses words to use in emails so that we can be more effective using written words.
You can connect with Susan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-ibitz/
Or by visiting http://www.humanbehaviorlab.com/
To connect with Mike, visit www.crucialtalks.com
Mike King, a safety professional in the construction industry discusses safety with Mike Sedam.
Not only are safety topics discussed, but the two Mikes discuss a deeper level of the importance of people and how focusing on people can have a high return on investment for any organization.
www.crucialtalks.com
Happy Thanksgiving!
Gratitude is powerful.
People are programmed to lean toward the negative. Negative emotions cause us to think more and we process negative information more deeply than positive information. We just think deeper about the negative.
We're programmed this way because, as a species, negative events had a bigger impact and urgency than positive events.
Although we may be programmed to be negative, being positive and having gratitude has some significant returns.
Gratitude is linked to lower stress, less sick days, higher satisfaction, and a feeling that we can accomplish goals.
It is important in organizations, teams, and individuals.
Thanks for listening and remember, is we want to understand behavior, we need to understand what drives people. Visit me at www.crucialtalks.com
Carolyn Guglielmo is interviewed by Mike Sedam about the concept of "techno stress."
We all know the power devices have over people. Distracted driving is a big concern for many governments. Parents are worried about their kids spending too much time on devices. We can see ourselves being distracted and feeling stress because of constant connection and expectations we place on ourselves because of the devices.
Carolyn talks about the concept of techno stress in addition to giving some solutions.
To connect with Carolyn, visit her LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolyn-mccabe-guglielmo-ms-ryt-gsp-893b058/ or contact her via email: cgmccabe@gmail.com.
To connect with Mike about the podcast, speaking, or consulting , visit: www.crucialtalks.com
Gabriella Van Rij talks with Mike Sedam about her goal to bring more kindness into the world and how this can positively impact the workplace.
To get in contact with Gabriella please visit the following:
For keynotes: www.gabriella.global
For more on the kindness movement: www.daretobekindmovement.com
To contact Mike, please visit: www.crucialtalks.com
Jay Allen speaks with Mike Sedam about Safety.
Jay describes his journey to founding Safety FM, lessons he has learned, and the future of safety.
This discussion has implications for a number of people in several industries. It's as applicable to retail sales as it is for nuclear safety.
Visit jay at www.safetyfm.com
To contact Mike, visit www.crucialtalks.com
Mike Sedam talks with Chris Clearfield about the book he co-authored with Andras Tilcsik, Meltdown: Why Our Systems Fail and What We Can Do About it. https://amzn.to/2mG2cBT
The conversation not only discusses why complex systems fail, but what we can learn from them and how we can apply that learning to systems like social media.
This is a fascinating conversation with takeaways for everyone from safety professionals to CEOs.
Visit https://www.rethinkrisk.net/ for more about the book and to contact Chris or Andras.
Visit www.crucialtalks.com to contact Mike Sedam.
Mike Sedam interviews Dennie Laney, the Vice President of Training and Development for Moo Yah Burger.
Dennie's self-proclaimed responsiblity is to be "people for people." She is a people-focused leader and trainer that understands the importance of understanding people.
In this conversation, Dennie talks about how people behave, how they need to be engaged, and their need to feel both safe and valued.
To connect with Dennie, please reach out to her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dennielaney/
To connect with Mike for speaking or coaching opportunities, please visit: www.crucialtalks.com
Purdeep Sangha talks with Mike Sedam about how he helps people in business.
Purdeep discusses purpose, mindset, and mindfulness to create a better life.
Rather than always hustling to do more, by focusing on being present, you and the people around you will be happier, which will lead to greater success.
www.purdeepsangha.com
To contact Mike, visit www.crucialtalks.com
Pauline Crawford speaks with Mike Sedam about Magical Conversations.
Conversations can use diversity and inclusion to move things forward. Conversations can be had in a way that everyone feels engaged and empowered, regardless of their role in the organization.
These types of conversations can be beneficial to companies, teams, and relationships.
Pauline's website is: www.missmagicalconversations.com
Her book can be found on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2SCQILo
To contact Mike, please visit: www.crucialtalks.com
Donna Spina speaks with Mike Sedam about how business owners can stand out by focusing on what makes them special and what their customers need.
Communicating and educating clientele is an important part of marketing for businesses. It can also help with internal issues that may be plaguing large organizations.
Visit Donna's website at:
www.coachingindeed.com
You can email Donna for more information at:
info@businessbuilderaccelerator.com
To speak with Mike or to inquire about him speaking to your organization, please visit www.crucialtalks.com.
Gary Salyer talks with Mike Sedam about personal and business relationships.
People that feel welcomed, worthy, cherished, and empowered will have more powerful relationships.
Gary uses a number of stories to help people understand what he has found beneficial to building relationships.
Gary is the author of the book Safe to Love Again. It is available on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1732977801
Gary can also be reached at www.garysalyer.com
Cynthia Zhai talks to Mike Sedam about how to use your voice to have influence.
Our voice is such an important part of our communication. The same words can have different meanings based on our tone, inflection, and how we use our voice.
By working on our voice, we can also change our mindset and our confidence.
In other words, we can work on our voice first, and other benefits will follow.
Cynthia talks to us about gravitas and techniques to build authority and confidence in our voice.
We discuss ways to present more effectively and also how to have one-on-one conversations.
Cynthia's book, Influence Through Voice, can be found on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2JQ6oqI
Cynthia also has some free resources available including:
Website: https://www.powerfulexecutivevoice.com/
YouTube: http://youtube.com/user/cynthiazhai
Video Course: www.bit.ly/voicecrashcourse
Mike Sedam speaks with Christian Harris a slip specialist from the UK. Christian's experience is not only in slips and falls, but also entrepreneurship and poker. This discussion goes way deeper than merely a talk about how slippery floors can lead to falls. This talk goes into the importance of story, how to change perceptions, and the need to engage with people at all level so fan organization to institute lasting change.
Christian is the managing director at Slip Safety Services, www.slipsafety.co.uk.
There is also a free slip safety scorecard at: https://slipsafety.co.uk/scorecard/
To connect with Mike or to have him speak at your organization, please visit www.crucialtalks.com.
Mike Sedam interviews Daren Martin about his book, A Company of Owners. The book is available here.
Mike and Daren talk about workplace experience, employee engagement, and how we can get there.
This is a positive, proactive, strength-focused conversation about improving our workplaces regardless of the industry we are in.
Visit Daren at: www.darenmartin.com.
Visit Mike at: www.crucialtalks.com.
Many times people need information about how work is actually getting done. Inspectors, assessors, leaders, and peers may all want to see how a person or group of people get their work done. This can lead to valuable learning and improvement.
In order to ensure, our "backstage passes" are never revoked so that we get an unfiltered and open view of what is actually happening, we need two things: 1. trust and 2. accurate storytelling.
If we want to observe others and get accurate information, we need to make sure we uphold the trust placed upon us and we need to make sure we tell the story of what we observe with a high level of accuracy.
Visit www.crucialtalks.com to connect with Mike.
Roger Nierenberg is a Maestro who uses the art of music and orchestras to teach leadership lessons.
The conversation he has with Mike Sedam covers many aspects of leadership and system-thinking using music and orchestras to explain concepts and show examples.
This is a fascinating conversation about how music can be used to accelerate the leadership learning process.
To learn more about The Music Paradigm and Roger's work, please visit www.musicparadigm.com.
I was extremely fortunate to present at a safety conference for a large oil refinery company. It was focused on Behavior Based Safety (BBS). My past experience with BBS (A long time ago) made me think it was focused on people as the problems and if we could fix what people were doing wrong, we could prevent incidents. It also used Heinrich's Triangle and said if we could prevent the little things, the big things wouldn't happen. This really tarnished my view of BBS. I am happy to say, my view of BBS is brighter now. Listen to see why.
www.crucialtalks.com
Mike Sedam talks with Tracy Mehr-Muska about resilience based on her book, Weathering the Storm. Available from Amazon: https://amzn.to/2MZrXde.
They discuss the seven P's of resilience, Tracy's use of stories from people in her own life, and how we can improve our capacity to be resilient.
Tracy has used her education, experience, and examples to drive home a positive message of resilience that can help people in every facet of life.
Visit Tracy at: https://mehrmuska.wordpress.com/
To contact Mike, visit www.crucialtalks.com
Mike Sedam talks with Dr. Joelle Speed and Chief Dreaming Officer Amy Perkins.
They talk about business, life, and people.
Their story includes creating a network and collaborating because everyone can succeed.
They also talk about how people can live the dreams they have for their lives.
Their focus is on people and how strong we are together.
For more about Dr. Joelle Speedhttps://www.smilegallerykidsdds.com/
For more about Amy Perkins:https://www.keystocourage.com/
To contact Mike about speaking, consulting, or the Crucial Talks Podcast, please visit: www.crucialtalks.com
In this episode, Mike Sedam talks with Sean Romero about how to deal with uncertainty using the OODA loop.
Learn about the importance of Observing, Orienting, Deciding, and Acting to get through uncertainty.
Contact Sean Romero:
Instagram: @faithfully_led
Facebook: faithfullyled.sean
Podcast: Faithfully Led Podcast on Anchor
email: Sean@faithfullyled.com
Mike Sedam talks with Jeannette Peacock of Learn2LearnNow.
Jeanette talks about building the capacity to succeed through skills. Specifically, she helps children learn the skills they need to succeed in the future. Skillbuilding not only helps build capacity, but also shows us the importance of feedback to the process.
Jeanette is using the same processes from her business in a non-profit to help children that would not normally have access to such training.
In this episode you'll hear about capacity-building, how seeing ourselves in a new role can help us transform, and the importance of feedback loops.
Visit Jeanette's business at: www.learn2learnnow.com.
Visit the foundation at: www.steppingupforchildreninneed.org.
Visit Mike about the podcast or speaking to your organization at: www.crucialtalks.com
Mike Sedam interviews Ayn Cates Sullivans about how archetypes and stories help us understand the world around us.
This is an interesting discussion that helps us understand ourselves, our use of prototypes, and how stories have impacted behavior and decision-making for thousands of years.
This helps us understand systems-thinking and our own individual place in the world, in society, and in our organizations.
More about Ayn can be found at: http://ayncatessullivan.com/
Contact Mike Sedam at: www.crucialtalks.com
Mike Sedam talks with Dr. Glenn Livingston about self-transformation.
Glenn has based his work on dealing with his own food addiction and helping others. He provides lessons on self-transformation to overcome addiction to food. He explains the role of different parts of the brain in our decision-making. These lessons not only pertain to our health, but can also be used in other areas where we want to make significant changes in our lives.
The role of groups and how we can crowdsource learning is also discussed as an important way to speed up our transformation.
A digital copy of Glenn's book and additional information can be found at www.neverbingeagain.com.
To contact Mike about speaking or consulting (resilience, decisionmaking, behavior, safety, or risk) please visit www.crucialtalks.com.
Change your filter, look at your world, and transform. Mike Sedam interviews Ani Anderson. Ani is a thought leader, speaker, and coach on the leading edge in personal development. She is also the author of Find Your Soul's Agenda: The One Word That Will Make Your Whole Life a Success. More about Ani and her book can be found at www.findyoursoulsagenda.com.
Ani talks to us about developing ourselves and fulfilling our highest potential. She discusses the benefits of the healing paradigm and personal development paradigm. In other words, she helps people look ahead so they make fulfilling decisions, and also helps them find their own inner resistance. We also talk about what to do when "negatives" show up. The perspective people use in their lives is important. It is a focus on a realistic approach to life.
You can also find her book on Amazon at: https://amzn.to/2HbTDGK
To contact Mike about the podcast or speaking opportunities, please visit www.crucialtalks.com.
Mike Sedam talks with Todd Vande Hei about transformation, leadership, millennials, and stories.
Todd is a successful CEO and entrepreneur in the health and fitness industry. As the CEO of Stark, www.starklife.us, he leads a successful team of coaches and medical professionals that provide best-in-class health and fitness services to clients.
We discuss how the stories we tell ourselves can impact our success.
Todd also gives us tips on leading millennials and providing an environment where his team can not only succeed, but can also thrive with purpose.
The importance of having a team of professionals that have the capacity to collaborate is also discussed.
This episode is valuable for leaders, business owners, entrepreneurs, and anyone who is trying to transform their life.
For more about Stark, visit www.starklife.us.
Todd Vande Hei can be contacted through Stark, or on social media.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vandehei/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/testodderone/
Facebook: facebook.com/profile.php?id=1631073262
Twitter: https://twitter.com/toddvandehei
To contact Mike Sedam about the podcast, speaking opportunities, or any other reason, please visit www.crucialtalks.com.
Mike Sedam talks about work that gives people purpose. The journey toward excellence also has defeats and mistakes. Those defeats are opportunities. They are learning opportunities and can lead to a greater purpose and contribute to our goal of seeking excellence. This is a valuable chat about the need people have for struggle and purpose.
Erik Clark talks with Mike Sedam about his self-transformational journey from an engineer working on submarines, to a business consultant, to an entrepreneur.
This discussion is packed with valuable about self-transformation and how we can get out of our comfort zones and become something different while learning something new.
Erik also talks about the lessons he has learned during his journey which has resulted in the importance of engaging people in conversations, looking at people as part of the solution, and building trust and relationships.
Erik can be reached at: erik.clark@fitzbusiness.com.
Erik and his wife have also created a live event for people to build relationships and learn new things. More information about the event can be found at: www.entrepreneurcitylive.com
Mike Sedam talks with Joan MacArthur Blair and Jeanie Cockell about their book, Building Resilience with Appreciative Inquiry: A Leadership Journey through Hope, Despair, and Forgiveness. Available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2IflW8O
Many times, resilience is looked at as an individual trait and sometimes people think you are either a resilient person or you are not.
Joan and Jeanie have taken the power of Appreciative Inquiry and wrapped it around resilience. This allows them to explain how people and groups can become more resilient.
Looking at Hope, Despair, and Forgiveness we can understand how
Mike Sedam talks to Lynda Sunshine West about her journey from the corporate world, through 49 jobs, and to her calling.
She talks about how learning something new can be a major driver of behavior. She discovered that she had value to offer others through the help of a coach.
She previously believed negative things about herself and it held her back.
Lynda has taken these lessons to transform her career and her life to "follow her dream and passion to help other people."
She taught herself to recognize and breakthrough hear fears.
During her journey, she has learned to use a network of mentors to help herself grow and then to use those relationships to help others grow.
For more about Lynda, visit www.livingliveinc.com or read her book: The Year of Fears available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2P2SG61
Mike Sedam interviews Joshua Spodek about leadership.
Joshua is the author of Leadership Step by Step: Become the Person Others Follow. It is available on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/2WPc4WQ. Joshua has a new book called Initiative that will be released in May.
Joshua discusses relationships and leadership. He does a great job of explaining the need for practice to build leadership capacity and that leadership skill cannot come just from books, but also requires skill-building that comes with practice. Joshua's book and courses provide exercise leaders can use to improve their capacity to lead.
Find out more about Joshua at www.joshuaspodek.com
To contact Mike, visit www.crucialtalks.com.
In this episode, Mike Sedam talks with Glenn Garnes about one of the biggest issues people face today: isolation.
Even though we may have the technology to connect, people can still feel isolated. Communication is the key to countering isolation.
Glenn also talks about how people can live their best life by becoming self-aware and taking action to reach their goals.
Glenn has provided a free resource for Crucial Talks listeners at: www.tipsforsuccess.com.
Visit Glenn at: http://expertsonstage.com/ or http://sbceo.com/
To contact Mike, visit www.crucialtalks.com
Chris Milburn talks with Mike Sedam about storytelling.
Counter-terrorism and culture is discussed through the lens of storytelling to show the value and power of stories to human behavior and decision-making.
There are many lessons in this episode for leaders, business owners, and others. Chris discusses his studies in counter-terrorism from the Naval Postgraduate School and how his analysis of terrorist groups proved how storytelling has been used.
The hero's journey is also discussed as a way for people to perceive difficult times they may encounter.
Follow Chris on Twitter at: @chrismilburnnps
visit www.crucialtalks.com
Sam Anthony Lucania talks to Mike Sedam about his journey from addiction and the importance of self-awareness, taking responsibility, and mentorship to self-transformation.
Sam is open about his past addictions, time in jail, and his new goal and drive in life to help others in need.
Sam also discusses his book Hands Like You're Praying, available on Amazon:https://amzn.to/2F6O8qz
More about sam can be found at: www.samanthonyspeaks.com
Please feel free to contact Mike Sedam at: www.crucialtalks.com.
Mike Sedam talks with Deb Falzoi of Dignity Together about workplace bullying and workplace abuse.
This is an epidemic in organizations that can have a major impact on workplace experience. As a result, people can feel marginalized and isolated. Organizations can see a lack of productivity, an increase in health-related issues, and can even open themselves up to liability.
People are the most precious resource a company has, and understanding the issue of workplace bullying is the first step in improving the workplace and protecting employees.
Visit Deb at www.dignitytogether.org.
For more information from Mike, visit www.crucialtalks.com
The Crucial Talks Podcast will also be broadcast by www.safetyfm.com from 11 to 3 pm Eastern Time.
This is a rebroadcast of Jay Allen interviewing Mike Sedam on the Safety FM Podcast. Visit www.safetyfm.com/podcast
The Crucial Talks Podcast will soon be broadcast through SafetyFM and will be available on their website, app, and Amazon Alexa.
Regular episodes of the Crucial Talks podcast will still be released every Sunday. I didn't want to interrupt that schedule and the great guests we have coming up that is why this episode is being released mid week.
Please visit www.crucialtalks.com
Dolores Hirschmann talks to Mike Sedam about the importance of clarity, people, and ideas.
In this episode, we talk about the boundaries set within our own minds. This makes us stay within our safety zone which doesn't help people meet external success. Getting beyond those "fences" helps us excel.
Big ideas can overwhelm us or seem too big to tackle, but when people commit to the idea, they can overcome internal boundaries. Nothing starts big, it starts with someone saying yes and consistently taking action.
Connect with Dolores and her company, Masters in Clarity, at: http://mastersinclarity.com/
Lawrence Henderson, the author of Bridging the Gap: Life, LOVE, and Leadership is interviewed by Mike Sedam about leadership and the value of people and relationships.
The book can be found on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2XlBA7a
Mike and Lawrence discuss what connects people, the importance of "human" in human resources, and storytelling.
They also talk about how to reframe what we see in order to establish a mindset that can help us succeed.
During the episode, the concept of fear, how people are "pack animals" and the transition that happens when we think about others are all covered.
Lawrence can be reached at: info@bossconsultingllc.net
His website is: www.bossconsultingllc.net
Please visit www.crucialtalks.com
Mike Sedam interviews Regina McMichael, The Saftey Training Ninja.
During the episode, Regina discusses how to create safety training that doesn't suck.
She talks about the need to have outstanding training so that we can have a positive impact.
She wrote the book, The Safety Training Ninja, to help safety professionals provide a more engaging level of training. Her book is available from Amazon: https://amzn.to/2V62UV0
Regina talks about how her journey started with a tragedy and how she learned she can have a broader impact by helping others as she provides training. She's touched the lives of tens of thousands of people through her work.
Regina and Mike also talk about the danger when organizations "weaponize" safety training, the importance of understanding if training is or is not necessary following a mishap, and the need to make safety training awesome.
Regina can be reached through the following sites:
www.reginamcmichael.com
www.thelearningfactory.me
www.safetytrainingninja.com
ASSP Link 20% off for members: https://store.assp.org/PersonifyEbusiness/Store/Product-Details/productId/184139336
Please visit Mike at www.crucialtalks.com
In this episode, Mike Sedam talks to Carrie Wooten about improving the workplace experience.
We've all been there. We've worked in organizations with low trust. We've worked for bosses that only understand transactional leadership that looks a lot like bullying. We've been in groups where co-workers don't trust each other, don't communicate, and don't care.
In this episode, Carrie talks to us about the need for trust and communication so that we can have a better workplace experience. One that is vibrant, creative, and trusting.
We cover topics such as the need for self-awareness, how to leverage differences, communication between generations, perspective, the importance of the lenses we use to view our worlds, intrinsic motivation, strength in teams, self-fulfillment, and emotions to mention just a few of the important concepts.
Carrie has also written a book on self-awareness called: It Starts With Me: A Daily Practice to Mastering Self-Reflection. It is available on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/2IduZZ0
You can find Carrie on most social media platforms, just search for @realcarriewooten.
Feel free to contact Mike Sedam for any speaking opportunities, consulting, coaching, or just to say hello at www.crucialtalks.com
Mike Sedam talks to Rob Howze about his great program called Campfit where he brings 50 kids together for eight weeks. Rob and his team provide these kids with a wonderful gift: the vision and capacity for success.
Rob has been shot (yes, with a bullet) and has worked as a personal trainer, minister, speaker, author, etc. He has done what a lot of us do as people. We take everything we have learned, extract the good parts, and learn from them.
Rob has taken his experience and continues to build a legacy that he can pass onto these kids to make the world a better place.
This conversation, not only gives us insight into the Campfit program, but the importance of the "why" and the "how" using relationships, vision, and a focus on bringing value. There are powerful lessons behind the "why" of Campfit and the "how" of networking.
Find out more about Rob at: www.robhowzespeaks.com and more about Campfit at www.campfit.tv.
Please visit Mike Sedam at www.crucialtalks.com.
Mike Sedam interviews Melinda Kelly about her journey with self-reflection, self-awareness and honesty.
Melinda took a deep dive to find the right coach.
She learned from her experience and put what she learned into her book: Finding Your Coach, Diving Deep Within. On Amazon: https://amzn.to/2FShcVp.
Her experience shows us the importance of trust and honesty with yourself and with others.
For more about Melinda J. Kelly, please visit: www.melindajkelly.com
Please visit www.crucialtalks.com.
This Crucial Chat by Mike Sedam discusses what motivates people to keep going in the face of adversity.
During the federal government shutdown, Mike was able to see some federal employees that continue to work without pay.
What did he see? The employees were working toward a common goal. They stuck together in their teams. They were still looking out for the mission and the people they serve.
What drives these people are the same things that drive us all:
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People are driven by a goal bigger than themselves.
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People are driven by having relationships. We can do more together than we can alone and we can deal with bad situations better when we feel we are part of a strong, trusting group.
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People are driven by the esteem they get from the roles they play.
Please visit www.crucialtalks.com
Mike Sedam welcomes Brian Cunningham back to the Crucial Talks Podcast.
In this episode, Brian and Mike talk more theoretically about leadership and how the "Hero's Journey" can help bring people to a new level of performance.
The discussion talks about transformation, employee engagement, and emotional decision-making.
The discussion includes references to Gary Varynerchuk's discussion about people that may want to try something new because they are unhappy in the workplace and the importance of self-awarness.
It also mentions Jill Christensen and her work in employee engagement.
Please visit www.crucialtalks.com for more information or to have Mike speak at your organization.
Mike Sedam brings another short crucial chat with lessons about the importance of roles in our decision-making and behavior.
This week as my son's second indoor soccer game. He's eight and hasn't really played before.
During the game, he had to play goalie. The first time ever. He had only seen goalies play on television and on video games.
As social storytellers we all use prototypes to figure out the behaviors of the roles we play. He did the same thing. He tried his hardest to exhibit the behaviors of the "goalie" prototype he had built in his head. As a result, he did fairly well for never having played the position before.
Later in the game he also took a ball right to the face. It was traveling fast enough that it took him off his feet. He popped right back up and wanted to keep playing. Normally, a hit like that would have stunned him and put tears in his eyes. This time was different because his role as "soccer player" was so important to him that he stayed in that role. He was also amongst his team, and we all know that being with others makes us stronger.
Finally, I learned that sometimes we take a soccer ball to the face. The important thing is we get back up and keep playing our game.
Please visit www.crucialtalks.com
Mike Sedam and Dan Oblinger talk about Dan's book, Life or Death Listening: A Hostage Negotiator's How-to Guide to Mastering the Essential Communication Skill. Amazon: https://amzn.to/2RGFSGb
Dan is a hostage negotiator, speaker, and trainer that focuses on the essential need to actively listen to others.
In this episode, the role of "listener" is discussed as something we need to do in anything we do and in any other role we play.
Listening adds value to everything we do.
Master listeners excel at eight different listening skills.
People should listen more and learn more from listening.
Email Dan at: dan.oblinger@gmail.com
Connect with Dan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-oblinger-speaks?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_profile_view_base_contact_details%3Buq20dVihRFqQkyHf57pAKA%3D%3D
To get in touch with Mike please visit www.crucialtalks.com and connect via email, LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook.
Mike Sedam talks with Douglas Vermeeren about his book, Personal Power Mastery. Available from Amazon: https://amzn.to/2VvlLd0.
Doug has interviewed over 400 of the top achievers of today to write his book.
He has focused on people as having power over their choices.
People are not always prepared to take the outcome of their lives personal.
People need to "own it" and that lets them affect changes in their lives.
Choice is our biggest fundamental power. Power is the ability to act or take action.
Perception allows people to see possibilities and opportunities. How we see things impacts the decisions we make.
Emotions are tied to expectations.
To connect with Douglas Vermeeren, visit www.douglasvermeeren.com
To connect with Mike Sedam, visit www.crucialtalks.com
Clips from 2018 episodes of the Crucial Talks Podcast.
Have a great 2019.
Please stay in touch by visiting www.crucialtalks.com
Mike Sedam talks to Jason Weber about his enterprise-level experience in the state of Wisconsin. This episode applies to multiple industries in both the public and private sector because it discusses concepts that apply to any human-based system.
We discuss the need for trust, how to build relationships, and how self-awareness is necessary to help see another person's or group's point of view.
Jason is a training and development manager for Wisconsin, but also has his own consulting company, www.elements-consultingllc.com.
For more information or to connect with Mike, please visit www.crucialtalks.com
Remember, if we want to understand behavior, we need to understand what drives people.
Santa Claus is part of the magic of Christmas for a child. Ultimately, one day, some kid will mention something negative about Santa Claus to other kids.
Similarly, every day in our organizations, our businesses, our communities, and our relationships, communication is happening.
Sometimes communication is about something negative.
Communication is more than just sending and receiving words. Those words carry meaning and emotions.
We need to be responsible for the words we say and how we use them.
The first lesson we can take from this is about the person communicating the message.
Does that person have the responsibility to communicate that message?
Does that person have the right to communicate that message?
Is the person communicating that message for the right reasons?
What is the purpose of communicating that message?
In this case, this student could have wanted to show her superiority to other students, or she was impacted negatively by hearing this news and wanted to bring other people down to her level.
This is important for us to understand. Information like this can cause someone to feel alone, to feel like they no longer understand the belief system of other people around them and one of the ways people deal with that is to bring others down to their level.
I know we have people like this in our organizations. They try to stir up negative feelings because they feel negative. Or they try to make other people dislike someone because they dislike them. This is a cancer in our workplaces and needs to be removed.
Remember we are responsible for the words we say and the meaning of those words because they have a huge impact on people and can have a ripple effect.
For more information or to connect with Mike via email, LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook, please visit www.crucialtalks.com.
We are all social storytellers and can be the hero of our own story.
My son and I were watching the Bumblebee movie trailer and he asked if Bumblebee could be the hero since he wasn't the leader.
Absolutely he can, and so can you.
Heroes are uplifting, improve the lives of others, uphold values, and protect others.
Please connect with me via www.crucialtalks.com
In this episode, Mike Sedam speaks with Brian Cunningham about his journey from parking lot attendant to CEO and his book, The Leadership Revolution - Because Evolution Takes Too Long.
You can buy his book from Amazon: https://amzn.to/2BtsBq2
More about Brian and his book can be found at: http://awarenessquotientleadership.com/
In this episode, we talk about how leadership skills have to be functional. This means we don't just need theory, but we need to be able to operationalize those theories.
Brian talks about the levels of leadership in a way that is not just theory-based. He talks about them while wearing a lens of reality. He lets us learn about what works in the real world, not just in books.
This is a positive, strength-based focus on leadership, from someone who is doing it every day as a CEO.
To connect with Mike or to get your own story onto the Crucial Talks Podcast, please visit www.crucialtalks.com.
Mike Sedam talks with Jill Christensen about employee engagement. This includes talking about the fact all people want the same things we always have: openness, trust, purpose, and a feeling of belonging.
Jill has written a great book about employee engagement that can be found on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/2QY5y0G
Put people first and the rest will follow. People that do not feel they are trusted will not go above and beyond.
When employees are engaged, they trust their senior leaders and feel an emotional connection to those leaders.
We can improve engagement by helping employees feel acknowledged, appreciated, and heard.
For more information from Jill, text JILL to 42828 and you'll receive her top ten tips.
Also visit her at www.jillchristensenintl.com
To contact Mike, visit www.crucialtalks.com.
Redundancy in systems helps maintain a level of service when failures happen. In this 7 minute Crucial Chat, Mike Sedam discusses the use of a free tool we all have (communication) to build capacity in our systems.
Please visit www.crucialtalks.com to connect with Mike if you have any questions or comments.
Mike Sedam interviews Kimberly Davis about Brave Leadership.
Kimberly has written a book called Brave Leadership. You can buy her book from Amazon: https://amzn.to/2CkA8t7
http://www.braveleadershipbook.com/
Kimberly also runs a program called OnStage Leadership. www.onstageleadership.com.
Kimberly talks about bravery, the role of storytelling, and tools to become an authentic leader.
This entire episode of full of great tools to help build the capacity to lead, to connect, to be authentic, and to be brave.
Sometimes people need to communicate negative information. This can be bad news, a mistake someone made, or discussing how someone can improve. Leaders deal with this all the time.
We can come to these conversations from two different places. A good place or a bad place.
People that come from a bad place feel that people are a problem to deal with.
People that come from a good place feel that people are valuable. Coming from a good place gives feelings of trust and openness.
The exact same message may be conveyed, but when it comes from a good place, it moves the relationship, the team, and the entire organization in a positive direction.
We are dealing with the exact same situation and the same outcomes may even result (discipline, documentation, retraining, etc.), but when it comes from a good place, it leads to a good place.
Please visit www.crucialtalks.com to connect with Mike and please subscribe and review the Crucial Talks Podcast.
Mike Sedam uses three clips from The Walking Dead to talk about decision-making. In this episode, there are three key takeaways about decision-making and a bonus takeaway.
Bonus Takeaway: There are micro-learning opportunities in everything we do. Try to grow in ways that can help in everyday life and in our workplaces... even while being entertained. If we can learn lessons from a television show about something as ridiculous as a zombie apocalypse, we can learn from anything.
Takeaway 1: There is a battle inside of us between the roles we identify with and the groups we assign ourselves to. By being more thoughtful about how those groups impact our decisions, we can grow trust, social belonging, and team cohesion.
Takeaway 2: There is tremendous power in small groups and tight in-group relationships. These emotions can be both a blessing and a curse. Blessing: strong team cohesion means high trust and people looking out for each other. Curse: we fail to see the bigger picture because we are so narrowly focused on what is best for the small group.
Takeaway 3: Bringing groups together (in-groups and out-groups) can cause issues, especially if one group feels as if they are not getting the same benefit as other groups. This is why superordinate goals can be such a powerful tool. Expect issues when groups come together. They don't work well together just because someone tells them to.
Please visit www.crucialtalks.com to connect or ask any questions.
Thanksgiving is a great holiday: turkey, pie, football, and...GRATITUDE.
Gratitude is a strong positive social emotion. The more we practice gratitude, the more we and the people that experience our gratitude benefit.
Gratitude can lead to higher levels of success, more loyalty, and increased happiness.
Through gratitude, people can gain respect, earn trust, and motivate others.
Gratitude also replaces and prevents negative emotions. Gratitude can prevent anger, meanness, and jealousy. It's hard to be uncaring or unkind while you practice gratitude.
Gratitude also helps us build our ability to be empathetic. It improves our emotional intelligence.
Be grateful, be authentic, and do it often.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Please visit me at www.crucialtalks.com
In this episode, Mike Sedam, uses a short clip from remarks made by Gary Vaynerchuk to discuss Risk Tolerance and building a personal brand. The full video of Gary Vee's remarks can be watched here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcgLyG2a6G4&t=60s or listened to here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/why-right-now-is-time-to-take-that-risk-3x-short-film/id928159684?i=1000423760460&mt=2
Mike uses a presentation he gives to professionals in the gas and petroleum industry, power generation, aviation, and public safety to invert the discussion he usually has (how to avoid taking risky behavior) in order to discuss how we can build a tolerance to risk. For more about Risk Tolerance, look up the work by Dave Fennell. He's done some really great things in this space.
By building up our risk tolerance related to our personal branding we could move in a positive direction. Regardless of where we want to go, taking forward steps takes risk.
To see if Mike is available to speak at your organization, or to ask any questions, please visit www.crucialtalks.com
Mike Sedam talks about the antidote to anxiety.
We all deal with anxiety. There are a bunch of tools that focus on our biology and physiology to deal with anxiety including getting more sleep, exercising, and breathing. They all focus on the physical.
Shifting our mindset is a great antidote for anxiety because we are social storytellers that tell ourselves stories and because they come from such a great source, us, we believe them. We tell ourselves we aren't good enough and it causes us anxiety.
Every conversation is either building something negative or building something positive.
You need to trust ourselves.
By telling ourselves positive stories, we get put into the right mindset.
A mindset that allows us to take action instead of overthinking.
Please visit www.crucialtalks.com to connect with Mike.
Remember if we want to understand behavior, we need to understand what drives people.
Mike Sedam reiterates and acknowledges the WHY of the Crucial Talks Podcast: To help people who are social storytellers that crave social belonging and social esteem. To help us experience the workplace and our lives in a way that impacts us as social beings. To help us tame the fast-paced world we live in.
Jason Lauritsen joins Mike Sedam to discuss the workplace and how people can have a rewarding and fulfilling experience at work.
Employee engagement is a cornerstone of the discussion.
Jason talks about how he was driven to understand why a person would leave a job when he worked as a headhunter. He not only wanted to fill the position, but wanted to find out why the prior employee did not want to stay.
The problem he saw was that he was trying to find someone who could merely survive working in that position. He wanted to solve the problem.
Jason wants to take uncertainty out of the workplace. He is a speaker, consultant, and author of the book Unlocking High Performance: How to use performance management to engage and empower employees to reach their full potential. You can get his book from Amazon: https://amzn.to/2Qzwfco
Jason and Mike talk about helping people think differently about the work relationship. They discuss the importance of communication, healthy relationships, and trust in the tribes we know as the workplace.
Jason can be reached at jason@jasonlauritsen.com
More information about him and his book can be found at www.jasonlauritsen.com.
To contact Mike, please visit www.crucialtalks.com
Mike Sedam interview Mark Gober about consciousness and his book, An End to Upside Down Thinking. You can get his book from Amazon: https://amzn.to/2QEclgs
In this episode, Mark introduces his ideas surround consciousness preceding reality.
We get a different lens through which we can view our worlds. This expands our thinking into an area that relates to people as social storytellers.
Mark views the brain as a "filter" that allows us to experience reality.
Communication may also be happening at a non-physical level and lets us consider the power of communication.
The value in this episode is it lets us think about ourselves and others in a little different way.
This is an interesting episode because it allows us to connect the social science basis of the podcast with Mark's research on consciousness.
For more information about Mark and his book, please visit www.markgober.com
Visit www.crucialtalks.com for more information and to connect with Mike.
Mike Sedam interviews Isaac Tolpin about the work he is doing on employee education through the concept of microlearning (www.conveyour.com)
Isaac has even provided a free gift to all Crucial Talks listeners. https://new.conveyour.com/c/srlq5xng5c/free-high-performance-culture-system
One of the important concepts of the Crucial Talks Podcast is that we learn from each other.
Isaac talks to us from his lens as a futurist who not only understands technology, but applies human behavior to technology.
Isaac's goal is to make training valuable by understanding how people consume it, how to use it to break down silos, and aligning it with the core values of the organization.
Learner trust is an important concept because when people do something, they need to trust that it is going to be worth their time. This is because time is a person's most precious commodity. If we ask too much, if the training gets to burdensome, or if the training is not in alignment with culture, then we lose learner trust.
We can do this by:
- Getting to the point.
- Recognizing that people completed the training.
- Show that it is part of something bigger than themselves.
- Make it mobile friendly.
Isaac also talks to us a little about another venture for him and his wife that focuses on the belief that if we fix parenting, we fix a lot of problems in the world.
More about this is available at: www.courageousmom.com.
Finally, more about Isaac can be found at: www.isaactolpin.com.
Please visit www.crucialtalks.com for more about Mike, to have him speak at your organization, or if you have any questions.
Mike Sedam interviews Amberly Lago about her journey of triumph over tragedy.
Amberly has written a book called True Grit and Grace: Turning Tragedy Into Triumph. Her book is available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2S5FWfy
In this interview, Amberly talks about how changing her perception allowed her to overcome tragedy after a terrible motorcycle accident and how her perception allows her to deal with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. Amberly also talks about the power of social networks and how her "tribe" helped her through tragedy.
This is a powerful interview that can help anyone dealing with physical, emotional, or psychological pain.
For more information and to contact Amberly, visit www.amberlylago.com.
To contact Mike Sedam or have him speak at your organization, please visit www.crucialtalks.com.
In episode 53, Mike Sedam interviews Kevin Murphy about his book The Three Rooms. Available from Amazon: https://amzn.to/2QB6pVy.
For more about Kevin or his book you can visit: www.thethreerooms.com
The conversation about this book lets us look at the power of perception. We also get tools to use to help us be more mindful of where we are. Are we in the past, the present, or the future. These are the three rooms Kevin explains we can be in at any one time.
Kevin's premise is that our experience of life is not what we do or what we have, it’s what we think.
Whichever room your thoughts are in, determines your experience of life at that moment.
The key is to monitor your thoughts.
One question we can ask is "Where am I?"
This is a reminder to be aware of your thoughts.
We could be worried about the future or stuck in the past.
We constantly get triggered by things that disrupt our positive thoughts so we need triggers to bring us back.
In this episode of the Crucial Talks Podcast, Kevin gives us tools that helps to keep us in the present room.
To contact Mike or to have him speak at your organization, please visit www.crucialtalks.com
Cheryl Rice is interviewed by Mike Sedam about the You Matter Marathon. No running is required (thank goodness) in this marathon.
Visit: http://youmattermarathon.com/ for more information and for your 30 free cards to hand out. The cards are the size of a business card and simply say "You Matter."
Cheryl's motivation is to provide people with opportunities to connect. Something all of us as social storytellers need and crave.
In this fast-paced world, we are social animals that require the same social connections we always have. This movement is something that can help us connect.
Listen to Cheryl as we learn about the You Matter Marathon and also lessons that help us understand what drives people... social connections.
In this episode, Mike Sedam interviews the second half of the dynamic duo that wrote Conversations Worth Having. The book is available from Amazon: https://amzn.to/2S5hDOH
Jackie Stavros talks to us about appreciative inquiry and how flipping the conversation can have a positive impact on how we deal with situations. She gives us two stories: one from an organization she helped and the second from her own personal life.
These stories help us understand the concepts of appreciative inquiry and the tools that lead us to conversations worth having.
Please visit the Conversations Worth Having website at: www.conversationsworthhaving.today for more information and an executive summary of the book.
If you need anything from Mike or would like him to speak at your event or to your organization, please visit www.crucialtalks.com.
Mike Sedam interviews Nate Regier, the author of Beyond Drama: Transcending Energy Vampires, and Conflict without Casualties about how his company, www.next-element.com helps people deal with conflict in positive ways. His book is available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2LlYrK4
Nate talks to us about conflict and how people can spend energy on drama or compassion. He explains the difference as:
Drama is to struggle against.
Compassion is to struggle with.
People can do more together than they can apart.
Nate describes the 3 parts of the "Compassion Cycle"
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Openness – safety and transparency
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Resourcefulness - being curious and forward thinking while caring about what people have to say
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Persistence – understanding boundaries and non-negotiables
Please visit www.crucialtalks.com to connect with Mike or to hire him to speak at your organization.
In this episode, Mike Sedam talks about the three degrees of influence that was written about in the book Connected by Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler.
Mike uses an example from the show Seinfeld to explain how degrees of separation impact influence people can have on others. This is important when we are trying to make changes in our organizations or communities.
Mike uses his knowledge of social networks, people as social beings, and the role of identity in decision-making and sense-making to help describe why considering three degrees of influence can help us develop communication strategies when trying to institute change programs.
Please visit www.crucialtalks.com to connect with Mike or to check his availability to speak to your organization.
Karen Jaw-Madson is interviewed by Mike Sedam about culture and her book Culture Your Culture: Innovating Experiences @Work. Her book can be found on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2Lo48HB
Karen talks about developing a plan so that work experiences can be designed in a way that both people and the business thrive.
Culture has been a huge part of Karen's life and she learned to be aware of social structures which lead to her exploring culture at a societal level, then applying what she has learned and experienced to organizations.
Karen saw that there was a need she could contribute toward so that work experiences could be designed in positive and engaging ways that not only helps people feel empowered and engaged, but also helps businesses thrive.
Karen can be reached at any of the following locations:
Website: www.designofworkexperience.com
Twitter: @karenjaw
Facebook: /designofworkexperience
Instagram:co.designofworkexp
LinkedIn: /company/co--/
For more information about Mike Sedam, to check Mike's availability to speak at your organization, or if you would just like to network please visit: www.crucialtalks.com or reach out via email, LinkedIn, or Twitter.
Mike Sedam uses an episode of Seinfeld to discuss how our beliefs affect how we see the world around us and how that impacts our decisions.
In Seinfeld, Episode 12 of Season 9, George has a huge wallet where he keeps everything. It is so large it causes him pain. It is also so large it give Jerry a lot to make fun of him about.
We use it to better understand the book, Conversations Worth Having, by Jackie Stavros and Cheri Torres.
By listening to the interactions between George and Jerry, we can see how the Constructionist Principle works and why how we have constructed the worlds we occupy can impact our decisions. We also get to use two principles from the book: 1. Having a positive frame and 2. Asking generative questions can change the direction of the conversations we have.
If you would like more information or would like me to speak at your organization, please visit www.crucialtalks.com. I would love to talk with you.
Cheri Torres is interviewed by Mike Sedam about how to have strength-based conversations to implement change. Cheri co-authored the book Conversations Worth Having. It is available from Amazon: https://amzn.to/2CibTMf
Words have power, so we should be intentional of the words we use.
Appreciative Inquiry is the foundation of these conversations and helps us change the lens we use to view a situation. You may be dealing with the same exact situation, but the frame you use to construct the conversations you have can help change the focus, and thus the outcome.
The conversations we have can create safe workspaces which can lead to greater creativity and innovation.
It's not about putting on rose-colored glasses. Having these conversations still recognizes the issues we are dealing with and helps us resolve complex challenges.
The way we engage, talk, and make meaning constructs our reality.
Conversations are not neutral. They either move us in one direction or another.
For more information about Cheri and the book, "Conversations Worth Having" by Jackie Stavros and Cheri Torres, please visit: www.converstionsworthhaving.today.
Also, to check if I am available to speak to your organization or if I can help in any other way, please visit www.crucialtalks.com.
Mike Sedam interviews Marques Ogden about self-transformation and trust on Episode 45 of the Crucial Talks Podcast.
Marques Ogden is a former NFL football player and author that speaks and consults about leadership and transformation. His book can be found on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2Bor3xB
What is so great about Marques is that he is relatable. His story of overcoming hardships relates to all of us. He has been through hard times. He has lost an important loved one. He has had to build his business from the ground up.
Marques gives us three steps to transformation:
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Identify your inner circle.
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Set a clear vision.
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Take action.
He explains this to us with a great story about his spilled milk moment where he decided to transform himself...and he did.
Marques also talks about trust and the three things a leader should do to build trust:
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Competency.
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Reliability.
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Selflessness.
Reach Marques at: www.marquesogden.com for speaking and consulting.
Thanks for listening to the Crucial Talks Podcast. Please visit www.crucialtalks.com.
Host: Mike Sedam
Guest: Melissa Agnes
On Episode 44 of The Crucial Talks Podcast, we talk to Melissa Agnes on her book, Crisis Ready. Check here for her book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2BreWjo
Melissa is awesome and talks to us about how our organization can build the capacity to deal with a crisis in a way that we can come out on the other side with increased trust and credibility.
This is more than being able to manage crisis, it's about being ready for crisis in a way that helps the day-to-day activities of the organization.
Melissa talks to us about why we need to put people first, the importance of communication, and how the lenses we wear to view our organization, the people in it, and the issues we deal with can impact our decisions.
Melissa can be reached at www.melissaagnes.com.
If you would like to contact Mike Sedam, please visit www.crucialtalks.com.
In this episode, Mike Sedam interviews Esther Weinberg.
Esther Weinberg is a leader in redefining organizational culture. She has also written a leadership book called Become a Successful Leader: 57 Simple Strategies Any Leader Can Implement TODAY!. It can be found on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2LoLNtE
In this episode, she talks about the role of dignity in workplaces and in our own lives.
Esther is the founder of MindLight Group, www.mindlightgroup.com where she helps organizations understand and implement the Dignity Zone which consists of trust, respect, and safety.
Operating in the dignity zone helps engage, retain, and recruit employees.
What I absolutely love about Esther's approach is the focus on positive relationships and mentoring. Too many executives, managers, supervisors, team members, and consultants look for problems to solve. With Esther's approach, they can focus on the positive and plant seeds to grow organizational culture that is positive and creative.
To be creative people need to feel trust, respect, and safety in their workplace.
Esther goes in with the mindset that she is helping to BUILD CAPACITY. Building capacity is a major focus of the Crucial Talks Podcast because building capacity lets us look at strengths and where we want to be in the future.
Esther discusses mentoring, workplace bullying, and self-improvement. She does it from a positive lens and with a focus on building capacity.
If you would like more information about this episode or any other, please contact me.
I can also be reached to speak to your organization, consult, or just have a conversation with you. Please feel free to contact me at: www.crucialtalks.com.
-Mike Sedam
Mike Sedam talks to Joe Romm, the author of How to Go Viral and Reach Millions. Joe's book can be found on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2CjFlRR
Joe earned a degree in Physics from MIT. As a physicist, he saw that scientists were not very good at communicating. He studied why some communication works better than others and how messages between people could go viral.
He gives five rules to follow that will increase the chance of a message going viral:
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Tell a story
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Use figures of speech
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Trigger one of the three activating emotions
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Be memorable
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Test messaging
He also gives a simple trick, proven by great storytellers like Jesus, Oprah Winfrey, and Donald Trump, so that we increase our ability to tell stories which increases our chance of going viral.
Joseph Romm can be reached at www.rhetoric.com.
For more information, please visit www.crucialtalks.com and reach out to me via email, LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter.
I am available to speak to your organization and also for consulting.
In this episode, Mike Sedam is humbled to interview Maja Kazazic.
Maja Kazazic grew up in war-torn Bosnia. She lost her leg and many friends during an explosion. Maja then moved to the United States where she not only learned to walk again, but learned to run again. She also started a successful technology company and now takes the lessons she has learned throughout her life to help the rest of us.
Maja is the epitome of what is discussed on the Crucial Talks Podcast... having a positive view and what this can do for your future. She also explains the importance of community and of having strong relationships.
As Maja says, "It is easy to stay positive when your life is going well." "What is really difficult is to stay positive during a time of crisis."
The key is perspective. "It's your perspective that makes the situation."
We all go through hard times and have to deal with challenges. In this episode, we get to see how challenges can be reformed into opportunities.
We also get to see how relationships are essential to success.
Maja tells us how we can reprogram ourselves to start seeing things in a more positive way and this positive view helps us overcome difficult times in our lives.
If you would like to get in touch with Maja, please visit her at:
www.majakazazic.com
or at www.majaspeaks.com.
To contact me for any speaking opportunity or to reach out to say hello, please visit www.crucialtalks.com
Imagine your list of getting things done. Have you been able to send people to see the Titanic, or figured out a way for clients to sing with their favorite band? How about closing down a famous museum for dinner in front of a famous sculpture while a world-renowned singer serenades the dinner party?
Steve Sims has done all that. However, important to us are the tips he can give us on a positive mindset, relationships, and trust.
Learn about his belief that business is personal.
Learn about being your "ugly self" and authenticity.
Hear all about the "chug test" and what this means to finding the right team members, allies, and clients.
Listen to Steve talk about the fact that there is no greater return on investment than investing in relationships.
Steve Sims is the founder of thebluefish.com, a luxury concierge service and is the author of Bluefishing, a book about success, relationships, and making things happen. Steve's book can be found on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2Gm0GhH
Please visit www.stevedsims.com to see more about Steve and his book Bluefishing.
Appreciative Inquiry pursues changes to human systems with a focus on strengths. It is ultimately a method that takes a positive view of making change by focusing on people.
People are ultimately the greatest resource of any organization.
In this episode, we get to talk about the search for the lifeblood of our organizations, of the systems we are all a part of. This strength-based search can lead to motivating, positive places to work, live, and play. It gets us out of a deficit-view of our systems where we only see problems to solve and leads us into a positive view where we see innovation and possibility.
Would you rather have an organization that is thought of as a problem to be solved or would you rather have an organization that builds its capacity to fulfill its "why?"
Edison's development of the lightbulb, his connection to Henry Ford and Henry Ford hiring a consultant named Frederick Winslow Taylor leads us to understand why people have been treated as parts of a machine. We then get to see why a set of principles that looks at people as the seeds of strength that can be planted in our companies and communities can be a beneficial and positive way to build capacities in our systems.
Please subscribe and rate the podcast. I would love to continue to build our community of people interested in having a positive impact on others and themselves.
Also, please visit www.crucialtalks.com and connect with me. I am willing to talk with you one-on-one and would love to speak to your organization.
How we interact with others can have either a negative or positive impact on how we can get things done.
If we see others as out-group members that we do not share a common goal with, it can cause us to behave differently toward them. The same things apply to how people treat us. In this episode, I explain what happened to me in a meeting.
When the meeting started I thought I was there to work with others in my organization to solve a problem. I was ready to take responsibility for a pretty large mistake. During the meeting, things shift to where the others in the room began to name me and blame me for the mistake. It even went to shaming me. At that point, I actually felt my entire thought process change. I transition from part of a shared group to an out-group member.
In this episode, we get to talk about how this can impact individuals, groups, and entire organizations. We discuss the second pillar of the Crucial Talks Podcast, and that is group relationships.
If you would like further information, please visit www.crucialtalks.com. I would love to connect with you or speak to your organization.
Self-Transformation happens throughout our lives. We transform by adopting new roles and assigning behaviors to those roles. As the roles become more important to us, the behaviors we exhibit become more aligned with the roles we have adopted. We have done this since we were kids and continue to do it our entire lives. By understanding the process we have always used to change, we can make a conscious effort to transform who we are and what we want to become.
There are four steps to this change process:
First, people define themselves as a member of a distinct group.
Second, They learn the behaviors the correlate with that new role.
Third, they assign these behaviors to themselves.
Fourth, the behavior becomes more normal as the role they have adopted becomes more important to them.
We get to see examples from two different movies, Heartbreak Ridge and October Sky.
We not only see how this process works, but also get a hint on how to influence others and how we can bring people closer together so that they can work together.
For more information or to have me speak at your organization, please visit www.crucialtalks.com and contact me.
People are a company's biggest resource. Having the right people doing the right work maximizes potential. Jeffrey Davidson talks to us about people, about how teams are built, and what team members need to succeed.
One of the first things a leader needs to do is ask "What did I do well? What can I build upon? Where could I have done better?" This shows a vulnerability and builds a pattern of feedback that can:
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Set an example and
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Allow teams to learn
"As humans, we are social beings." We need to be able to learn to get better. We need to create chances to learn and build learning cultures.
Having trust and openness lets everyone learn from each other. Trust is one of the most important parts of a great team, not just their experience, age, or education.
"Everyone wakes up, looks in the mirror, and wants to do a good job today." They might make mistakes, but their intentions are good. If we can direct their intentions, we can get great results.
The secret to great teams is... Communication!
Communicate:
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What's the meaning?
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How do we design success?
Filter decisions and actions through those two things.
No matter what role you play, a shared goal can help people because it allows people to work toward success using their strengths. People will be able to ask themselves if what they are working on is in alignment with their greater goal.
We can also help our teams by providing feedback more regularly and personally with empathy. "Understand them and give them regular input."
There are seven questions people want to know in teams:
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What's the purpose?
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How do we know we're working on the right stuff?
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When can we declare success?
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How do we get stuff done? What are our tools and processes?
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How do we work together?
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How am I doing?
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Is it real?
For more information from Jeffrey, please visit: www.greatteamsltd.com
He also has more information just for podcast listeners: www.greatteamsltd.com/more
To contact me with any questions, to have me speak to your organization, or for consulting opportunities, please feel free to reach out through www.crucialtalks.com
Everyone plays roles. In this episode, Rocky Romanella, author of Tighten the Lug Nuts the Principles of Balanced Leadership, Senior Partner at 3 Sixty Management Services, a former leader at UPS, and all-around good guy talks to us about the role of leaders in instilling a legacy of behavior.
Rocky's book can be found on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2QFdTXJ
This concept is important because the roles people play and behaviors people assign to those roles will guide what they do. The role important at the time is how people make sense of the world around them and then decide what to do.
We discuss vision, missions, and goals and the leader's role.
We provide three key questions leaders can ask themselves:
Who am I?
What do I stand for?
What won't I compromise?
Rocky explains his three principles to balanced leadership including, thinking like a customer, people feeling like valued contributors, and shared ownership.
Rocky can be reached at: 3sixtymanagementservices.com
His book, Tighten the Lug Nuts: The Principles of Balanced Leadership can be found at: https://amzn.to/2QFdTXJ
Please visit www.crucialtalks.com to contact me or book me to speak to your organization.
Mike Sedam interview Nichole Carlson about transformation.
Transformation is something we all need to do. One way to transform is to adopt a new role and live up to the behaviors of that role. In this episode, Nichole Carlson talks to us about her transformation as she left her comfort zone; traveled the world; was homeless, but happy; and then found success after she found happiness. She also talks about the need for trust in yourself and how to develop that trust.
Nichole can be reached at www.nicholecarlson.com or visit her facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/theNicholeCarlson/
Please visit www.crucialtalks.com for me to speak at your organization or if you would like more information.
The roles people play impact their decisions. They will be more likely to work with others if they don't see the other person as a threat to the group they belong to. This is why it can be a valuable tool to consider the role the other person is playing.
When considering the roles of other people, we are trying to "walk a mile in someone else's shoes." We should think about their needs, aspirations, and challenges so that we can communicate in a way that doesn't put them on the defensive. This will increase the chance to create a collaborative environment.
As a result, we can create positive momentum because different roles can work toward collective goals. Rather than people butting heads and pushing against each other, they move together in the same direction.
For more information or to have me speak to your organization, please contact me at www.crucialtalks.com.
For a number of years, ever since the industrial revolution, people have been on a path where data and analysis was king. People believed that if they had the right data and the right analysis, then the decision would be obvious. However, emotion trumps data every day of the week. We make decisions based on what feels right. We are social, storytelling animals and emotions play a huge role in what we do.
The key takeaways we can gain from this are:
- If we understand the why and how of human decision-making, we can bring our systems to a place beyond the point data analysis, statistics, or policies can bring us.
- If we can figure out the social dynamics that are driving people’s decisions in our systems, we have a better chance to impact those decisions.
We looked at a battle between Spock and Kirk from the 2009 movie, Star Trek. Spock represents the belief that logic and data is king. Kirk shows us that understanding the power of emotion in human decision-making is something we all need.
If you would like to contact me or would like me to speak to your organization, please visit www.crucialtalks.com and reach out to me.
Lagging indicators measure outcomes. Things that have already happened. Leading indicators measure inputs so that we can try to impact outcomes before they happen. Appreciative Inquiry, because it focuses on a strength-based, positive approach to change in human-based systems can help us when we are working on developing leading indicators.
It's Mother's Day 2018, which coincidentally falls on Top Gun Day. So in this episode, we get to hear a clip from Top Gun to have a better understanding of lagging indicators (High speed passes over 5 air control towers and 1 Admiral's daughter).
To have me speak to your organization or help you with using Appreciative Inquiry to develop leading indicators, please visit www.crucialtalks.com. I'd love to hear from you!
Strong disciplinary programs exist in many workplaces today. It has been a part of our work cultures and is the "goto" framework in many organizations when someone does something wrong. Although we may have been taught to operate this way, discipline can hamper positive discussions that may actually help our organizations get better. If we focus purely on discipline, we are losing out on a tremendous amount of learning. Organizational learning is the key to honing and sharpening what we do. The majority of the human-based systems we work in are fairly stable because we may have reached the pinnacle of what technology and process improvements can do for us. The next phase is human improvement and that takes a framework that can positively impact the people in our systems. Ferris Bueller's discussion with Cameron about Cameron's father's Ferrari give us an opportunity to discuss the role of discipline and how we should try to avoid the pitfalls that come with strong disciplinary programs.
For more information, please visit www.crucialtalks.com
Networking works because of goals and shared social categories. Goals that transcend groups and transcend conflict give people a way to work together. Shared social categories allow us to break down the walls that can separate people. One group that has used this to great effectiveness is Energy Safety Canda. Made up of six different associations and numerous members from different companies, they all can work together toward the goal of everyone going home safe. In this episode, examples from the movie Armageddon and We Were Soldiers let us see how goals and shared social categories can help us create cooperative environments.
For more information, to connect with me, or to have me speak to your organization, please visit www.crucialtalks.com
Trauma is caused when a person perceives an event as life-threatening or life-altering. It can be something as bad as the Deepwater Horizon explosion where people are killed and seriously injured. Trauma can also be something that causes no physical harm. It is a psychological process. Because it is psychological, we may be able to impact trauma through a psychological process. In this episode, we discuss communication tools that could help people.
Communicate the role of preparedness
Communicate to promote togetherness
Communicate to emphasize the positive
If you would like more information, would like me to speak at your organization, or would just like to discuss this further, I am always open to contact. Please visit www.crucialtalks.com and reach out to me.
Many of us and many of our organizations are focused on problem-solving. We are trying to find the issues and fix them. This is normal, especially when we can more easily find the negatives. Although it is normal, occurs often, and is arguably a necessity in our organizations, problem-solving can lead to some significant issues. These problems with problem-solving include fragmentation, narrow views that prevent consideration of the entire system, and negative, self-fulfilling prophecies. These things can happen if we focus too much on problems.
For more information, please visit www.crucialtalks.com.
Esteem is one of the prime motivators of why people join groups and how the membership to these groups impacts decision-making and behavior. The Sons of Anarchy lets us see how perception can impact the view people have of the groups they belong to and the groups they see others belonging to. This impacts esteem and drives what people will do.
For more information, please visit www.crucialtalks.com and feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions, advice, or would like me to speak to your organization.
Groupthink happens in cohesive groups where the people involved seek consensus above all else. It is the negative outcome of good things. Good things like team cohesion and members liking each other can lead to groupthink. It's like bacon, too much of a good thing could be a bad thing. You also don't want a group made up of different individuals each using separate identities to make decisions and guide behavior. A shared identity is important to group behavior. What we want to do is balance between the two. We want to stay in the middle. There are tools we can use to reduce the chance of groupthink. These tools do two things: 1. Protects the group identity while 2. allows for positive conflict. To contact me about the podcast, speaking to your organization, or if you have any questions, please visit www.crucialtalks.com
Power is not a bad thing. It is part of the social interactions that occur within and between groups. Some people talk about power as a negative part of existence: that it is based on an individual's selfish needs. This is a little too easy to describe a complex social process that drives behavior. This episode lets us put on a positive lens to view power in a social way. We get to see power is based on the roles people play, the power assigned to those roles, and the way power is used toward in-groups and out-groups. This helps leaders figure out if coercive power is being used in their organizations and what the danger is with that. It shows us all that organizations made up of in-groups have trust and are healthy while those where bosses treat their employees as out-groups creates a toxic environment.
If you would like further information, please visit www.crucialtalks.com and contact me. I would love to talk more about this or present the information to your organization.
The roles we play and the rules we think are guiding an interaction drive our behavior. In this episode, we talk about how roles, stereotypes, and rules guide what people do. We also get a chance to talk about how the groups people belong to impact how they experience life. At the micro level, we can see people, but as we back away, we see how individuals are merely the pieces that make up groups that are categorized so that we can make sense of situations we are in.
This episode is valuable to understanding how people interact in different situations and gives some tools people can use to help them understand others and analyze situations they are in.
As yourself: 1. Who is playing what role. 2. What stereotypes drive their behavior. 3. What game do they think they’re in? 4. Who is making the rules? 5. Who knows the rules?
Please visit www.crucialtalks.com to contact me. If you have any questions or would like to know more about the presentations I give to organizations about these topics, please contact me! Thank you for listening.
If we want to understand behavior, we need to understand what drives people...
Building capacity in a positive way can help us make better lives, create better businesses, and impact our organizations. In this episode, we blend the concept of Reason's Swiss Cheese Model with Appreciative Inquiry so that we can learn techniques that can help us build capacity. In this episode, we talk about three concepts from Appreciative Inquiry that can help us:
- Adopting optimism over pessimism
2. What we observe, practice, and study is what we change
- Visualizing the future it causes us to move in the right direction.
For more information, to contact me, or to hire me to speak at your organization or function, please visit www.crucialtalks.com
Coaching and self-improvement require that behaviors are changed. This episode uses the self-categorization process to explain some tactics and theories on how we can improve the behavior of others or ourselves. When there is a mismatch between the role we are playing and the role we should be playing, there is an increased chance that we will not perform at an acceptable level. In addition, when we adopt the right role with the right behaviors, we can not only do well, we can excel! Please visit www.crucialtalks.com for to contact me with any questions or if you would like me to speak at your organization. Thanks for listening!
In this episode, we talk about the power of in-group/out-group relationships. By looking at extreme group behavior, such as those that occur during riots, we can see that group behavior is not mindless. People behave because of the expectations of the group. Even in cases where we think the behavior is irrational, people still must have a shared identity before behavior takes place. The behavior we think is irrational isn't cause because people lose their sense of self, or aren't thinking rationally. It's because of identity, not mindlessness. Finally, if we can figure out a way to bring our group a little closer to a group another group, we have a better chance of impacting behavior. If you would like more information on my presentations or any of the podcasts, please visit www.crucialtalks.com and reach out to me. I'd love to hear form you!
This week we honor the 17 people who were killed in the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL. I will not mention the shooter's name. This is in honor of:
Alyssa Alhadeff
Martin Duque
Nicholas Dworet
Jamie Guttenburg
Chris Hixon
Luke Hoyer
Cara Loughran
Gina Montalto
Joaquin Oliver
Alaina Petty
Meadow Pollack
Helena Ramsey
Alex Schachter
Carmen Schentrup
Peter Wang
And the two heroes this podcast will focus on:
Aaron Feis, a 37 year old security guard and assistant football coach who literally put himself between kids and the shooter.
Scott Beigel, a 35 year old teacher who was shot when he was helping students into his room.
The decisions made by Mr. Feis and Mr. Beigel were not rational. They were emotional. These two heroes played the role of protector. They acted on behalf of the students, the community, and the school. They acted for a purpose higher than themselves. They were selfless and they sacrificed for others. They exemplified what makes humans special.
www.crucialtalks.com
People react to situations based on fit. How well do they fit given a set of circumstances? How well do others fit? Are you only grabbing round pegs because you only see round holes? Is your lens limiting your decision-making? In this episode, we get to listen to a couple of fun audio clips from the movie, "The Other Guys," starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg. They show us what happens when gaps between people are too large, and they also show us how trust and belonging can help people get through anything while backstabbing and gossip results in groups who can't stand up to the lightest breeze.
Workplace bullying is an awful, immature, and unsophisticated way to run organizations or groups. In this episode, we are introduced to a case where decisions were made by a person that resulted in his own death and the deaths of others. It shows the power of social motivators and the absolute destruction that can be caused by social punishments. Treat each other with respect, have open communications, learn from mistakes, and think about the need all people have for esteem. This is episode is based on a presentation I give to organizations. If you would like more information, please visit www.crucialtalks.com and contact me. I am also happy to provide more information outside of presentations, so please connect with me via email, LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook.
Diversity is valuable. There is no question about that. It is also hard to measure the benefits of diversity. Although it's easy to measure different nationalities and languages, we also need to consider workplace responsibilities, education, experience, and training as diversity. It is hard to measure how diversity benefits our organizations. In this episode, we talk about three important points:
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Diversity is great when it doesn’t cause silos in our organizations.
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Diversity allows us to harness each person’s individual strengths toward larger common goals.
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Diversity lets us solve problems in the right way at the right time.
For more information, please visit www.crucialtalks.com. Presentations are available.
People should not be treated as parts of a machine that can be replaced. Curtis Lemay pioneered long-range bombing tactics and the Strategic Air Command. Lemay cared about his people and lead from the front. He didn't ask anyone to do anything he wasn't willing to do himself. However, he also did not differentiate between "the incompetent and the unfortunate." This can create a lack of trust and can stifle communication. It can also make us blind to system issues because we are looking at people as problems. For more information, please visit www.crucialtalks.com and feel free to contact me.
The roles we play in our organizations, our society, and our lives can impact the decisions we make and how we make sense of the world around us. On October 4, 1930, the R-101 airship collided with the ground resulting in an inferno killing 48 of the 54 people on board. In this episode, we'll use the R-101 as a case study to discuss the impact of the roles we play on our decision-making and sense-making. For more information, please visit www.crucialtalks.com and feel free to contact me.
Avoiding employee burnout can be accomplished by thinking of it as a three-legged stool. The three things that make up employee burnout are: 1. Feeling a lack of accomplishment, 2. Fatigue, and 3. Apathy. By using social identity (group belonging and team esprit) we can build the capacity to avoid employee burnout. This episode uses scenes from the movie "Office Space" to discuss the affects of burnout and how we can avoid it.
For more information, please visit www.crucialtalks.com and always feel free to connect via email, LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook.
Eustress is positive stress while distress is negative. In many of our organizations and in our general lives, people look at stress as an individual phenomenon. The reality is that stress is more impacted by groups and social belonging. If we start looking at stress as a capacity that we can manage we can begin to develop positive ways to handle stress. For example, with group belonging, what may be considered distress to an individual may actually turn into eustress when dealt with by a group. In addition, if we build a group's capacity to deal with stress through positive in-group belonging and esteem, we also increase social bonds between members of that group. In other words, it becomes a positive cycle where stronger group bonds lead to better stress management and better stress management leads to stronger group bonds. For more information, please visit www.crucialtalks.com and make contact with me. Thank you for listening.
In this episode, I tell a story of going to buy my wife a Christmas present. It started as a clear in-group/out-group matchup between the sales associate and me. However, I pivoted. I became present in the moment and began to think about the identities that the sales associate played in her life. That allowed me to gain empathy. Because of that empathy, I communicated in a way that brought us into the same group. I also found a way to become an ally and not build trust. I didn't expect a discount, I merely wanted to see if we could develop a short-term relationship based on a shared identity. We did and I was able to transition from a "customer" to an ally. This encounter lasted mere minutes, but shows the power of using identity and the roles we play to understand others and understand the world around us.
In Episode 10 of the Crucial Talks Podcast we talk about lightning striking twice. This title came form the interesting story of James Otis, who felt he would be killed by lightning, which he ultimately was. He was struck by lightning two times in his life. We use the story about James Otis, a man John Adams credits with planting the seed of revolution in the American Colonies. We also listen to part of a TED Talk by Nancy Duarte where she talks about stories and her outstanding work to determine a pattern followed in many of the greatest presentations (www.duarte.com). We see that James Otis did the same thing that Nancy talks about. He talked about what is and gave people a vision of what could be.
In our example, lightning strikes once with goalsetting and again through storytelling. These two lightning strikes help us draw people together and overcome differences. By setting superordinate goals, we can help groups set aside their difference and work together. The more superordinate goals we develop, the more we build collaborative capacity. For more information or to contact Mike Sedam, please visit www.crucialtalks.com
metoo was started in 2006 by Tarana Burke. In October 2017, Actress Alyssa Milano used it on twitter and the #metoo movement took off. This episode looks at the #metoo movement as an example of a superordinate identity and superordinate goal that can bring diverse individuals and diverse groups closer together. It is an example of how differences can be overcome when people can share an identity. It also shows how a goal that cannot be rejected, cannot be ignored, and takes more than a single person or small group to reach is powerful. If you would like more information, please visit www.crucialtalks.com
Storytelling has been around as long as people have banded together. It's how we pass on information, create emotion, and change behavior. People are social creatures and there are a lot of things that are similar between us and other social creatures. We depend on each other for protection. We live together to produce food and shelter. We need validation from each other. What differs people from all other social animals is the fact that we can fabricate reality. We can share information in a way that allows us to make sense of the world around us. This episode talks about the importance of storytelling to social construction and also discusses the characters we adopt for ourselves in the stories of our own lives. Please visit www.crucialtalks.com for more information. Thank you for listening!
The Phalanx is a close formation of warriors made famous, at least in my mind, by the movie 300. The Spartans would form up densely in close ranks and interlock their shields, which made their ranks difficult to penetrate. There is also an example in the movie Gladiator when the gladiators are being attacked by a superior force using chariots and long range weapons. Maximus has them form into a phalanx and they end up being victorious. Without their close ranks, they would have been massacred. Social belonging works in much the same way. The closer the group is, the better they can deal with external attacks. The looser the group or, even worse, having no trust and internal strife allows people to be defeated easily. Please visit www.crucialtalks.com for more information. Thank you for listening!
Most of us understand Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. It is easy to visualize the triangle with physiological needs at the bottom and esteem needs at the top. However, even Maslow himself admitted each need does not need to be 100% fulfilled before moving up the hierarchy. People are complex and nothing is 100% or linear in our social systems such as in families, at work, and in society. This episode talks about how to split Maslow's hierarchy into social vs. money market motivators to help us drive behavior in a positive way. Please share the podcast with anyone you think might want to be part of our community of practitioners. Also, feel free to reach out to me via www.crucialtalks.com if you'd like more information.
This chat is about appreciative inquiry. Appreciative inquiry pursues changes to human systems with a focus on strengths. It is ultimately a method that takes a positive view of making changes to human-based systems. Think of your team or company as a system. Most systems are stable, which means they exist in the middle of the bell curve. They're average. There are two ways to look at issues. One is as a problem to be solved. This will get your "system" back to average. The other way is to look at your strengths, values, and best practices to address issues. This can get you to the right of the curve and make the system above average to exceptional! For more information, please visit www.crucialtalks.com.
This episode talks about resiliency as a capacity, much like safety can be managed as a capacity, not just a program. Human beings belong to systems that are human-based, which means they are not linear. They are complex. When bad things happen, people deal with them through psychological processes. We can use theories such as Social Identity to develop techniques to build the capacity for resilience in our organizations, our families, and our communities. We can also use the same theories to respond after a traumatic event. This episode is not only valuable when thinking about resilience, but try to also apply it to other organizational capacities such as leadership, safety, or communication. Please visit www.crucialtalks.com for more information.
In this episode, we look at a three-step process to create an identity that will guide how people make decisions using the Marine Corps as an example. This can help you when trying to establish behaviors in safety, leadership, and communication. This helps us when we are trying to figure out how to integrate a diverse workforce and how to knock down silos that might exist in our organizations. Visit www.crucialtalks.com for more information or to connect with me.
This is a short motivation audio clip made from Episode 4. It's for fun, but has a good message. Keep Moving Forward!!!
We all face difficult times. Bad things happen to us. Bad things happen in our organizations. In this episode, we talk about the importance of failing forward. It is a positive view of failing. We need to all keep moving forward. The important thing is not to look at the path behind us, but look in the direction we want to go.
This episode is about human behavior. It's like Yoda describing the force... it surrounds everything we do. In this episode we talk a little about the old view and new view of safety. We also talk a bit about scientific management. This episode gives three key takeaways: 1. Realize that human behavior is part of everything we do. 2. Understand that human decision making is emotional, not technical. 3. Always consider context. Most people want to do a good job and don't want something bad to happen. Too many times when someone does something that results in a bad outcome, we treat that person like they were the problem. The reality is, people are part of a larger system and we need to consider context if we want to have a positive impact.
When planning for business continuity or disaster recovery there is a strong focus on data storage, planning, information technology, policies, and risk management. The technical parts of continuity can be solved with technology and money; however, the most important part of business continuity, people, can only be solved with leadership and communication. This crucial chat introduces a discussion about what people need to have in order to continue work after something bad happens. Trust, confidence, and competence are keys to making sure our teams and organizations are prepared to recover.
This episode was recorded at a conference in Philadelphia. In two separate presentations, about two different subjects, it was clear that people were the solution to breaking barriers. Focusing on people as a solution, and not a problems lets us develop a different lens we can use to examine the issue. In this episode, we not only discuss the importance of treating people as the solution, we also introduce some techniques to use in order to draw groups closer together to solve problems. If you need some tips on getting groups to collaborate, this episode can help. www.cruicaltalks.com.
Crucial Chats are short clips to start a discussion. The chats are much shorter than full podcast episodes. They can be used during training days or staff meetings to start conversations and serve as training and learning opportunities.
This Crucial Chat is about distractions in the workplace and what we can learn from pilots flying at low altitudes. What is important at the time? What is absolutely critical? What is taking up room in your thoughts that should be compartmentalized and used later?
This is episode 1 of the Crucial Talks Podcast and discusses how identity drives behavior. Since the industrial revolution, there has been a focus on scientific management. Including the management of people. Fredrick Taylor's idea of scientific management has resulted in if-then thinking when dealing with people. Later, the Social Identity Theory and Self-Categorization Theory were introduced and gave us a way to view human behavior by considering the identities we adopt to deal with the world around us. This explains a lot about how we interact with people and how we use self-talk to change our behavior and performance. The stories we tell ourselves can be very powerful precursors to success!
This is episode 0 and explains the goals for this podcast. People are the answer to many of the issues facing us today. This podcast focuses on human behavior and human performance. Using academic studies and experience this podcast blends public administration, sociology, biology, and psychology into a usable set of tools based on the best information we have. Topics such as leadership, safety, and communication are the focus with tools like storytelling. The whole goal is to make everyone successful and to build a community of professionals who can learn from each other.