I speak with former union president, Ron Ruggiero, who shares his insight about his new found freedom, the power of the "pause", and the seduction of the achievement hamster wheel. Ron also explains his theory on the individual trauma within both the working class and the labor union movement as well as the link between trauma and economic / racial justice. "Growing up working class, there is also a stigma about this stuff. There's a little bit about the working class we gotta be tough,.. we're ...
Jun 08, 2023•58 min•Season 4Ep. 21
I speak with Matthew Cooke to discuss his story of burnout at the age of 24 and the importance of building trauma-informed teams. "All the money I was making in this start up, I was pouring it into I'm sorry. I was unsustainable at 24 " Matthew Cooke, partner at Evolution , a coaching, consulting and investment firm, has dedicated his life to ending burnout in tech culture. He is certified in Nervous System Regulation Therapy through Organic Intelligence, and has completed over 1000+ hours in yo...
Jan 19, 2023•51 min•Season 4Ep. 20
I speak with Denean Pillar-Jackson, Executive Director of the Chicago Resiliency Network, an initiative of the Corporate Coalition of Chicago, to discuss their ground-breaking trauma-informed culture work with employers like AT&T, JP Morgan Chase & many other businesses across Chicagoland. The Chicago Resiliency Network is working with employers across Chicagoland to create workplaces that are better for employees and better for business. Through their cohort-based program, employers are...
Dec 12, 2022•55 min•Season 3Ep. 19
Carolyn Swora is an Ontario-based trauma-informed leadership coach, consultant and Human Spirit Ignitor who supports impact-driven leaders within purpose-led organizations to truly understand themselves so that they can show up and lead from their most empowered and greatest version to drive real change. Carolyn leverages both her “Dare to Lead” facilitation skills and her deep understanding of how our three centers of intelligence, the Head, the Heart and Gut, provide us with the basic skills w...
Nov 10, 2022•49 min•Season 3Ep. 18
Trauma-informed design is about weaving the principles of trauma-informed practice into architectural design with the goal of creating physical spaces that promote safety, collaboration, empowerment, well-being and healing. Over the last 15-20 years, there’s been a sweeping effort by urban planners and landscape architects to create healthy community design and health-based zoning. But what’s good for the community is good for the workplace, right? There is a strong link between our physiologica...
Oct 14, 2022•56 min•Season 3Ep. 17
A trauma-informed approach to leadership is about a way of being, a set of behaviors or principles interwoven into the organization's DNA, not just a specific set of tasks or a checklist or annual training. It isn't being "nicer" to your employees or excusing or accepting unacceptable behavior. It doesn't end with this podcast, either. Trauma-informed leadership is a leadership approach by which the leader acknowledges how their own social and emotional experiences influence the way they interac...
Apr 13, 2022•47 min•Season 3Ep. 16
BEST PRACTICES IN TRAUMA-INFORMED LEADERSHIP From the Inside Out The Corvallis School District A trauma-informed approach to leadership is about a way of being, a set of behaviors or principles interwoven into the organization's DNA, not just a specific set of tasks or a checklist or annual training. It isn't being "nicer" to your employees or excusing or accepting unacceptable behavior. It doesn't end with this podcast, either. Trauma-informed leadership is a leadership approach by which the le...
Mar 19, 2022•51 min•Season 3Ep. 15
Listen to the second trailer of Season 3, Episode 15 with Joe Leykam and Kelly Locey from the Corvallis School District in Corvallis, Oregon. BEST PRACTICES IN TRAUMA-INFORMED LEADERSHIP From the Inside Out The Corvallis School District
Mar 18, 2022•1 min•Season 3Ep. 15
Listen to the trailer of Season 3, Episode 15 with Joe Leykam and Kelly Locey from the Corvallis School District in Corvallis, Oregon. BEST PRACTICES IN TRAUMA-INFORMED LEADERSHIP From the Inside Out The Corvallis School District
Mar 18, 2022•1 min•Season 3Ep. 15
The public/private sectors are in the midst of a turnover tsunami. Layoffs, stimulus checks, vaccine mandates have all been documented as reasons for the mass exodus. However, more and more outlets are beginning to reveal the ugly truth behind how internal politics, power, bullying and authoritative styles of leadership are contributing to the mass exodus and why workers are feeling undervalued, burned out, traumatized and for some, terminated. American worker’s are exhausted, fed up and are cho...
Nov 18, 2021•47 min•Season 2Ep. 13
Shakespeare once said, “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown” Was he correct? Leadership can be very isolating. On one hand, employees shun friendships with their boss because it may result in bias against the them. On the other hand, leaders intentionally self-isolate from employees so they can appraise their performance fairly. Additionally, leaders fail to form social connections and relationships with their peers due to lack of alliances, trust, brutal politics and authoritative cultural ...
Jun 21, 2021•45 min•Season 2Ep. 12
5-Part Special Series on Change The 5th and Final Podcast on Change: Jake Jacobs helps organizations, teams, and individuals make monumental changes. Over the past 35 years, Jake has worked in 61 industries, from high tech to manufacturing. He has consulted to 96 organizations, from Fortune 50 to national non-profits. He has supported more than 210,000 people directly on important changes to their business. What kinds of changes? Everything from strategy to culture to mergers and acquisitions. J...
Apr 23, 2021•38 min
5-Part Special Series on Change 4th of 5 Podcasts on Change: Susan Schmitt Winchester is the Senior Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer forApplied Materials, a Fortune 200 company, and its more than 24,000 global employees. She has more than 30 years of experience in HR providing executive leadership most recently at Rockwell Automation and the Kellogg Company. She continually looks to meet today’s global business challenges with creative HR strategies that engage people, support a dyn...
Apr 22, 2021•40 min
5-Part Special Series on Change 3 of 5 Podcasts on Change: Dr. David Dull is an anesthesiologist, certified physician executive and certified executive coach. He received his Master of Medical Management from Carnegie Mellon University. He is founder of Probitas Healthcare Advisors LLC and Compass Executive Coaching. He is on the faculty at Georgetown University where he teaches Health Care Leadership. Using frameworks developed over the course of his career, David has enabled physician leaders ...
Apr 21, 2021•31 min•Season 2Ep. 9
5-Part Special Series on Change 1 of 5 Podcasts on Change: Laurie Shakur, aka "Work Mom", and VP, Head of People for Rakuten, USA & B2B, a Division of Rakuten, Inc., the largest eCommerce company in Japan, and third largest eCommerce company worldwide. Known for Putting the Human Back into Human Resources , she creates inclusive environments that encourage empathy and belonging while getting impactful work done. Businesses must constantly transform and adapt to meet a variety of challenges—f...
Apr 20, 2021•39 min•Season 2Ep. 8
5-Part Special Series on Change 1 of 5 Podcasts on Change: Dave Walter, Prosci Master Instructor and recently retired Director of the Change Management Expertise Center for Dow, Inc., coaching Dow practitioners in Brazil, Saudi Arabia, China and throughout the US and Europe. Businesses must constantly transform and adapt to meet a variety of challenges—from changes in technology, to the rise of new competitors, to a shift in laws, regulations, or underlying economic trends. Failure to do so coul...
Apr 19, 2021•43 min•Season 2Ep. 7
Organizational politics are normal organization attributes and navigating internal politics is a necessary leadership skill for selling ideas and influencing others with diverse interests without compromising your integrity or the organization’s values. There is evidence that if used skillfully and transparently, organizational politics can assist leaders in negotiating difficult workplace situations and advancing strategy. On the other hand, a leader’s inability to navigate the political “syste...
Feb 23, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Season 2Ep. 6
We need emotional intelligence and trauma informed leadership now more than ever. The outdated coercive style of leading and managing people is out. Emotional intelligence and trauma informed leadership is an approach that acknowledges there is an emotional world of experiences that runs deep within each of us. When these emotional responses are triggered in the workplace, each person responds according to the extent of their emotional scars, traumas and emotional strengths. Rather than creating...
Dec 01, 2020•47 min•Season 1Ep. 5
We need emotional intelligence and trauma informed leadership now more than ever. The outdated coercive style of leading and managing people is out. Emotional intelligence and trauma informed leadership is an approach that acknowledges there is an emotional world of experiences that runs deep within each of us. When these emotional responses are triggered in the workplace, each person responds according to the extent of their emotional scars, traumas and emotional strengths. Rather than creating...
Nov 27, 2020•3 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Bravado or vulnerability? Doggedness or self-Awareness? Intimidation or humility? Most of us can visualize these terms playing out in our past/current places of employment, with our past/current leaders or even within ourselves. On one side of the debate, some leaders believe that being smart, calculating, and competitive doesn’t equate to expressing any vulnerability, better yet crying. Leaders should convey a “professional demeanor” because anything else would be understood as being “too soft”...
Aug 26, 2020•2 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Bravado or vulnerability? Doggedness or self-awareness? Intimidation or humility? Most of us can visualize these terms playing out in our past/current places of employment, with our past/current leaders or even within ourselves. On one side of the debate, some leaders believe that being smart, calculating, and competitive doesn’t equate to expressing any vulnerability, better yet crying. Leaders should convey a “professional demeanor” because anything else would be understood as being “too soft”...
Aug 25, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Many Black leaders find themselves being the “only one” in the c-suite, on boards, in meetings, at conferences, at strategic retreats. Black leaders often feel “Hoorah for me! and “Why just me?” all at the same time. There is an unconscious bias that exists in leadership and business culture, whether people want to admit it or not. Companies can have all the diversity and inclusion trainings they want, but that doesn’t change the fact that Black women and men are continually overlooked, isolated...
Aug 10, 2020•54 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Full Episode available on Tuesday, August 11 @ 4:00PM CT Many Black leaders find themselves being the “only one” in the c-suite, on boards, in meetings, at conferences, at strategic retreats. Black leaders often feel “Hoorah for me! and “Why just me?” all at the same time. There is an unconscious bias that exists in leadership and business culture, whether people want to admit it or not. Companies can have all the diversity and inclusion trainings they want, but that doesn’t change the fact that...
Aug 08, 2020•2 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Courage, fearlessness and having the ability to judge what is right and wrong and act according are core pillars to servant leadership. Strong servant leaders are people who push through uncomfortable situations, who are willing to make difficult decisions and who do not back down when work ceases to serve the people. The residents of Jacksonville, Florida never realized just how fortunate they were to have Hope McMath until the day she followed her moral compass and walked away from her role as...
Aug 04, 2020•51 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Aug 03, 2020•46 sec•Season 1Ep. 2
If you ask any historian to name periods of American history that changed the American way of life, many of them would agree on the following: 1920’s The Women’s Suffrage; 1941 Bombing of Pearl Harbor; 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education; 1968 MLK and RFK assassinations; 2001 Terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, Pentagon. But, the 2020 Gods, not wanting to be outdone, said: “Oh yea History, Hold My Beer” COVID-19 has upended our entire society and the way we do business. Many leaders across...
Jul 28, 2020•53 min•Season 1Ep. 1