FDR: He Didn't Let Polio Derail His Calling This week, in the latest episode of our series within the show Stories from the Book Crucible Leadership, we look at the courage, good humor and determination– both personal and political – that made Franklin Delano Roosevelt one of history’s most celebrated figures. None of what he accomplished in the White House, we discuss here, would have been possible if Roosevelt didn’t have two critical things necessary to move beyond a crucible: a mindset shift...
Nov 19, 2024•49 min
Seek to Win A Friend, Not an Argument Do you find yourself, when engaging in discussions about hot-button subjects, spending more time trying to win an argument than trying to build or maintain a relationship? If so, then this episode is for you. This week, we discuss his latest blog at beyondthecrucible.com , in which he offers seven tips for not turning a discussion of issues into an us vs. them war of words. Among the insights he offers: don’t judge the motives of people we disagree with, res...
Nov 12, 2024•54 min
5 Years, 5 Big Learnings Inspiring, uplifting and so much fun. That Warwick’s summary of the milestone we celebrate on this week’s episode: the five-year anniversary – to the day, on the date this show drops – of the Beyond the Crucible podcast. Our look back focuses on five key learnings from these past five years that have come from interviews and discussions on the show. Those insights – your worst day is your worst day, your crucible can be a gift, you can't get beyond your crucible without ...
Nov 05, 2024•1 hr 19 min
Emotionally Paralyzed By Her Dad's Paralysis Charis Santillie was plagued by undealt-with emotions after her father was paralyzed in a hot-air balloon crash when she was just 19 years old. The accident’s aftermath left her a workaholic, allowing her to live the illusion of safety and control. It was only after meeting a coach who asked her why she was suffering from emotional paralysis that Santillie emerged from her self-imposed shackles to help others emerge from theirs. As a certified Fearles...
Oct 29, 2024•58 min
Horatio Nelson: Naval Hero, Leadership Icon Confident. Calm. Decisive. A man of sound judgement. That’s Lord Horatio Nelson, one of the most celebrated military leaders in British history. He was a hero of Warwick’s growing up, who’s become an example of someone with the personal character and interpersonal skills that can benefit all of us as we navigate our journey to lives of significance. This week, in the eighth installment of our series within the show -- STORIES FROM THE BOOK CRUCIBLE LEA...
Oct 15, 2024•52 min
How to Avoid a Professional Identity Crisis Remembering you’re more than your worst day and less than your best day is just one of the nuggets of wisdom we discuss this week in our examination of Warwick’s latest blog at beyondthecrucible.com about the truths that will help you avoid a professional identity crisis. Among the points from his blog Warwick and I discuss are the need to do some serious self-examination and self-reflection; asking others for help if you feel like your identity is wra...
Oct 08, 2024•58 min
Leaning Into Her Own Homelessness to Help Other Women Escape Theirs: Leanna Fairfax Leanna Fairfax, a distant relative of Warwick's, talks about her rough early years – homeless at 15 and off-and-off again through the years after that, in an abusive relationship, plagued by the gnawing feeling that she would always live her life on the margins. But that’s just the start of Leanna Fairfax’s journey. Leanna traced her ancestry to John Fairfax, Warwick's great-great grandfather, the founder of the ...
Oct 01, 2024•1 hr 2 min
His Dreams of Being a Doctor Dashed, He Found a New Calling Running a Physiotherapy Business: Jason T. Smith Jason T Smith thought he'd missed out on his calling to be a medical missionary, until he realized he'd been gifted a new one. Smith's vision for being a doctor helping heal those in underserved nations came crashing down when he didn't qualify to study medicine. So instead, he pursued physiotherapy, first as a backup plan, but then with a passion for not only restoring health, but for re...
Sep 24, 2024•1 hr
From a Tin Shed to the United Nations: Stephanie Woollard Not a handout but a hand up. That’s what our guest this week, Stephanie Woollard, just described about how she responded when did when, during a visit to Nepal, she encountered seven women living in a tiny tin shed. They were suffering from physical handicaps and from being marginalized by their society because of those challenges. And her efforts empowered them to change their own lives and to help others do the same. Through the charity...
Sep 17, 2024•1 hr 1 min
Stories from the Book Crucible Leadership: Abraham Lincoln on the Character to Build a Team of Rivals The best people possible. That’s who Abraham Lincoln drafted for his Cabinet during the most precipitous time in U.S. history. And most of them weren’t the biggest fans of the country’s 16th president. This week, in the latest episode of our series within the show, STORIES FROM THE BOOK CRUCIBLE LEADERSHIP, we examine how Lincoln managed to achieve such momentous results by assembling a team of ...
Sep 10, 2024•40 min
Kind, compassionate words are life-giving to us when spoken by others after we’ve been through a crucible. And they’re also life-giving to us when we speak them to others .. a truth the main characters in the movie TOY STORY learn when their initial rivalry turns into an unlikely friendship. This week, in the 9th and final episode of our summer series CLASSIC FILMS, CLASSIC CRUCIBLE LESSONS, we discuss the dangers of comparing our life of significance to someone else’s … and unpack why great fel...
Sep 03, 2024•58 min
Compassion and empathy. Two traits that help elevate Rocky Balboa out of his hardscrabble life as a small-time boxer who will need both his fists of stone and his heart of gold to escape the crucibles that have dogged him most of his life. This week, in the eighth episode of our summer series CLASSIC FILMS, CLASSIC CRUCIBLE LESSONS, we take a look at 1976’s Oscar-winning ROCKY, both written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. The movie is a simple yet monumental achievement that explores the pow...
Aug 27, 2024•1 hr 11 min
Courage. It’s indispensable to our pursuit of a life of significance in the wake, and especially in the midst, of a crucible. That’s one of the key truths we unpack in our discussion of THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, the latest movie from the American Film Institute’s Top 100 we discuss in our summer series CLASSIC FILMS, CLASSIC CRUCUBLE LESSONS. The first movie in director Peter Jackson’s trilogy of films based on JRR Tolkien’s epic novel has at its center the most unlikely...
Aug 20, 2024•1 hr 2 min
Classic Films, Classic Crucible Lessons VI: To Kill a Mockingbird One person doing the right thing. That sums up succinctly TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, the movie we discuss this week on the sixth episode of our summer series, CLASSIC FILMS, CLASSIC CRUCIBLE LESSONS. The person who keeps doing the right thing in this movie the American Film Institute ranked at number 25 on its Top 100 list is Atticus Finch. He’s a kind, compassionate lawyer and honest, dedicated father who refuses to bend to the racia...
Aug 13, 2024•1 hr 7 min
Helping other people and having a higher purpose. That's a spot-on definition of what a life of significance is all about ... and also what IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE -- the movie we discuss on this week’s episode of our summer series -- is all about. The movie’s become an iconic Christmas tale because, as we discuss here, it shows that when we live our lives guided by our character and values, rather than simply by the things we want, or at least think we want, we find the kind of joy and purpose se...
Aug 06, 2024•56 min
This week, we focus our summer-series discussion on the Oscar-winning SCHINDLER'S LIST, No. 8 on the American Film Institute's Top 100 Movies. Specifically, we focus on Oskar Schindler’s journey from an amoral man focused on profiting from World War II and his fellow Nazis’ barbaric treatment of Jews … to a savior of those victimized people. How does he end up there? His compassion and his character grow after witnessing atrocities that take his focus off making a fortune for himself to spending...
Jul 30, 2024•57 min
SINGIN' IN THE RAIN is one of the most beloved movie musicals of all time, its title song a fabulous exhortation to face crucibles with a happy refrain and a smile on our face. This week, in part three of our summer series CLASSIC FILMS, CLASSIC CRUCIBLE LESSONS, we talk in entertaining depth about the lessons the movie – number 5 on the American Film Institute's list of the top 100 U.S. films – can teach us about the importance of living life with authenticity and navigating our journey from tr...
Jul 23, 2024•55 min
In this week's episode, the second in our summer series CLASSIC FILMS, CLASSIC CRUCIBLE LESSONS, we discuss THE GODFATHER, number 2 on the American Film Institute's Top 100 list. It's a cautionary tale that spotlights how critical it is we live a life guided by beliefs and values rooted in something nobler than our own self-Interests. We zero in on Michael Corleone, the youngest son of the mafia family depicted in the film. His father, Vito, the godfather of the title, had plans for him to live ...
Jul 16, 2024•1 hr 1 min
This week we kick off our special nine-week summer series, CLASSIC FILMS, CLASSIC CRUCIBLE LESSONS. We begin our examination of the lessons we can learn from movies on the American Film Institute’s list of the top 100 U.S. films of all time by discussing CITZEN KANE – No. 1 on AFI’s list. Unlike most of the conversations we have on the podcast (and unlike most we’ll have on this series), our look at Charles Foster Kane, the title character of this classic, is not an examination of the trials he ...
Jul 09, 2024•57 min
A life of significance is not a numbers game. That’s just one of the kernels of wisdom and inspiration you'll hear in this week’s episode, in which he unpacks his new blog at beyondthecrucible.com – titled Why Your Life of Significance matters. It offers you the hope and insight you need to turn your worst day into your greatest opportunity. Warwick runs through some things you should think about when journeying from setback to significance, things like, Why do you want to help the people you wa...
Jun 25, 2024•54 min
Our guest this week, Kim Cantin, discusses a tragedy of the deepest sorrow: the 2018 flash floods in Montecito, California, that obliterated her home and took her husband and son from her. Yet the rain and the mud and the devastation could not take her hope. Cantin was herself injured seriously and her daughter, Lauren, trapped for six hours under the debris. While the body of her husband, Dave, was found quickly in the mudslide’s aftermath, the remains of her son, Jack, would not be discovered ...
Jun 19, 2024•51 min
Winston Churchill was known for many things – always looking for ways to move onward after a trial or challenge chief among them. That’s the perspective we all should hope to have when life’s crucibles knock us for a loop. When setback and failure are all-too-common companions. When we’re wrestling with our own darkest hour. This week, as part of what we’ve dubbed our series within the show – Stories from the Book Crucible Leadership – we have a deep-dive conversation about what a great role mod...
Jun 11, 2024•52 min
Bolstered and resilient. That’s how we all want to feel after we’ve been through a crucible. And this week’s guest, Vanessa Vershaw, is known as the CEO whisperer because she has an impressive track record of helping leaders arrive at that very destination. In her conversation with Warwick, Vershaw speaks candidly about her own crucibles – some she’s never spoken publicly about before – which include being bullied in school and as a leader in the workplace, often by other women. She’s emerged fr...
Jun 04, 2024•53 min
A team so connected, so authentic with each other and committed to the leader’s vision – sounds like a great place to work, doesn’t it? Listen to our discussion on this week’s episode that unpacks Warwick’s latest blog. That blog, HOW TO BUILD A GREAT TEAM, extrapolates lessons learned during a recent team strategy meeting we had in Savannah, Georgia. From our sessions, Warwick discusses the essentials to top-notch team building – which include picking the right people on the team, the necessity...
May 28, 2024•1 hr 3 min
A little more hope. That was a lifeline our guest this week, Teri Wellbrock, desperately needed after a soul-crushing series of crucibles that began in childhood. She suffered through the traumas of sexual molestation, rape, bank robberies, the murder of a co-worker, emotional abandonment by an alcoholic parent, physical abuse, poverty and the resulting panic attacks that eventually would lead her to the depths of despair. But as she explains in our conversation, she discovered breakthrough the ...
May 21, 2024•50 min
We hope our series exploring the methodology and the profiles of our Trials to Triumphs Self-Assessment has offered you an exciting opportunity to process the crucible you’ve been through and apply what you learn from reflecting on it toward your unique life of significance. In this eighth and final episode of the series, we revisit the three big takeaways our discussions have unearthed: that knowledge is power, how one small step is all it takes to get the flywheel of significance turning and t...
May 07, 2024•57 min
An exciting opportunity. That may not seem like an apt description for In a Mad Dash, the profile we discuss this week on the seventh episode of our series unpacking our Trials to Triumphs Self-Assessment. But stay tuned – we think you’ll be surprised, encouraged and equipped. People whose assessment results return this profile are high performers who’ve had a crucible and seemed to have moved on. But here's their challenge: They've leapt right over the processing phase and started executing on ...
Apr 30, 2024•1 hr 13 min
Life can be better. That’s the cry of the heart and the hope of the spirit for those who take our Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment and get as their result the profile of On A Different Track, the subject we discuss this week on the latest episode of our spring series. Those who find themselves On A Different Track make up the 28 percent of people who have taken the assessment who don’t believe they’ve had a crucible that has changed the trajectory of their life. But as we unpack here, when the...
Apr 23, 2024•1 hr 12 min
A really hopeful place to be. Maybe you’ll be surprised to learn that the profile from our Trials to Triumphs Self-Assessment we’re describing is the one we call Afraid to Trip. What’s hopeful about that? You’ll learn the answer to that question in this week’s episode as we discuss how those who receive this result are closer to living their life of significance than they likely realize. They’ve processed their crucible, they have a vision they’d like to pursue … but they’re wrestling with emoti...
Apr 16, 2024•1 hr 3 min
Not filling your bucket but draining it. That’s what it can feel like if you find yourself living the profile of Running in Place from our Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment. This week, in our fourth episode of our spring series unpacking what your assessment results can teach you about where you are on your journey of moving beyond your crucible, we examine this unique situation in which you find yourself with a vision in your mind you can’t seem to get started pursuing. The good news is, we al...
Apr 09, 2024•1 hr 1 min
