Beyond the Crucible

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 that he wouldn’t let his polio prevent him from living an active life; and fellow travelers who helped him keep going so that he could indeed, move from private trial to public triumph. “A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor,” Roosevelt once said --- and his life is a ringing testament to that truth we’d all be wise to remember. To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and be sure to tell your friends and family about us. Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

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, respect those who differ from your perspective, share the backstory behind your worldview and seek to find common ground.  “Having positive engagement with those we disagree with is possible,” Warwick says. `“Isn’t this more of what the world needs? To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and be sure to tell your friends and family about us. Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

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 forgiveness, it's never too late to pursue a fresh life of significance, and knowledge is power – have become critical parts of our knowledge base for helping you move from trials to triumphs. And you’ll also want to pay special attention at the end, when Warwick and Gary pick one episode each from among the 234 that have come before this one that we believe captures the essence of what Beyond the Crucible is all about. To watch the Heather Kampf episode discussed in the show, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgbGo6Z1Xms&list=PLLohc3aLoBACZkgOBuRE1LtBBMSqc0OOO To listen, click here: https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/harnessing-resilience-iii-heather-kampf-82/id1484108280?i=1000534538329 To watch the two Lisa Blair episodes discussed in the show, click on these two links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=413wO70tLuk&list=PLLohc3aLoBACZkgOBuRE1LtBBMSqc0OOO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC25FPb4lSA&list=PLLohc3aLoBACZkgOBuRE1LtBBMSqc0OOO To listen, click here: https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/lisa-blair-part-1-reframing-failure-47/id1484108280?i=1000501701291 https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/lisa-blair-part-2-how-do-i-survive-tonight-48/id1484108280?i=1000502437093 To explore other Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app or You Tube and be sure to tell your friends and family about us. Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

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 Fearless Living coach, she now specializes in guiding successful entrepreneurial men to become the Chief Emotional Officers™ of their lives as they face personal and professional transitions. The insights she offers her clients, she says, have helped her continue her own healing journey. To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and be sure to tell your friends and family about us. Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

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 LEADERSHIP -- we discuss what made Nelson a brilliant and beloved leader and the lessons we all can learn from him about motivating and mobilizing teams to achieve a critical goal. We also unpack the details of the two defining battles in Nelson’s naval career: The Battle of the Nile and the Battle of Trafalgar. The first one made Nelson a national hero. The second made him an icon for the ages. “Living your values, living your beliefs, is absolutely key to living a life of significance,” Warwick says. "And that’s what Nelson did.” To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and be sure to tell your friends and family about us. Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

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 wrapped up in what you do, and making sure you’re tackling the soul work that will help you keep your identity in an emotionally healthy balance. Along the way, we also discuss the inspiration for the blog, which came from two recent podcast guests … and Warwick’s own struggles with his professional identity and how he’s moved beyond them. To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and be sure to tell your friends and family about us. Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

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 family media empire Warwick lost in a failed takeover bid that led to his life's greatest crucible. She tracked Warwick down on LinkedIn – discovering that the details of his crucible and John Fairfax's life of perseverance helped her make sense of how she was able to persevere through her setbacks and trials. What has her perseverance looked like? Going to college after dropping out of high school, earning top marks while getting her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and now pursuing her PhD studying women going through the same crucibles she did. Her focus is on researching homeless women living in temporary accommodations, which will not only help improve their lives but has also helped her learn things she didn’t know or feel when she herself was homeless. To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com. Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and be sure to tell your friends and family about us. Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

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 reimagining the field. He became founder and CEO of Australia's largest physiotherapy network, the Back in Motion Health Group. He never wanted a business, he says, yet ended up as a franchisor, with more than 140 of them supported by a team of more than 700 employees. But that isn't the final chapter of his life of significance. He sold the businesses for $100 million to focus full time on pursuits like his Iceberg Leadership Institute, where he's mentored more than 1000, others just like him. To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com. Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and be sure to tell your friends and family about us. Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

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 she founded, which she named 7 Women, Woollard has bettered the lives of thousands of women in Nepal.  While equipping them with the power overcome their crucibles, she leaned into her strength and discovered the faith to help her overcome her own setbacks and challenges along the way – which included debilitating burnout. “I’ve always had the desire to make a difference,” she tells Warwick. And she’s done that – as the title of her book says – from a tin shed to the United Nations. To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com. Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and be sure to tell your friends and family about us. Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

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 rivals. Key to his success, Warwick explains, was Lincoln’s character and the humility that flowed from it, allowing him to surround himself with men who had what it took to help him win the civil war and end slavery … even if they didn’t much care for their boss when they started working for him. In the end though, because of his lack of ego and his ability to forgive slights both big and small, Lincoln’s team came to view him, as one of them said, “as the best and wisest man he had ever known.” To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com. Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and be sure to tell your friends and family about us. Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]