Courtney Harrison is a proud Aboriginal woman and a leader in diversity, equity and wellbeing, working with communities in southeast Melbourne in making progress towards Reconciliation.

In sharing her deeply personal and powerful story, Courtney opens up about living with her family in the regional town of Warragul, her connection to Country, navigating the daily challenges she encounters and the progress she’s observed throughout her lifetime.

She reflects on how the connections, understanding and empathy she’s built, have all supported her personal resilience and wellbeing, giving her energy to continue to advocate for her people.

In a world where incoming information doesn’t stop and there’s a constant pressure to move onto the next thing, Courtney reminds us of the value in taking time to pause, connect, reflect and then consider taking intentional action with a step that’s right for you.

So order a large coffee, sit back, settle in and listen as Courtney describes how she personally approaches these challenges and ensures that the progress continues. 

Link to National Reconciliation Week (Reconciliation Australia)

Link to Angela Duckworth’s book Grit

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We round out this current season of the Coffee with Fleur podcast with a discussion around the concept of purpose.

Have you ever asked; “what’s my why?” or “why am I even doing this?” 

It’s so much easier to respond to those questions if your answer has meaning and is aligned to your purpose. 

We discuss how having that ‘why’ may help as you take on or move through a change or challenge, or provide you with the drive required to accomplish something.

David shares his purpose which ensures his ‘why’ is a constant source of motivation and one which he feels enables him to make a meaningful contribution in both his professional and personal life. 

Fleur tackles a simple exercise that provides us with a way of beginning to figure out what our purpose might be and which is a starting point for further reflection.

Join us in the café.

Adam Leipzig: How to know your life purpose in 5 minutes

For more visit: Coffee with Fleur Podcast

Social media, part two: David’s story. We all know the challenges that come with technology that’s in our hands and platforms that are built to accelerate our use, have a big potential for addiction and are pervasive by design. 

We also know the dramatic impact social media can have on our wellbeing and many of us are searching for ways to find a better balance.

We’re all in different places and in these two episodes we explore where we, personally, are. 

In part two of this series, David shares his experience of how he initially found a community through social media to follow the sport he loves, before realising the detrimental effect it was having and stopping his use of social media entirely (apart from LinkedIn – we’ll get into that). 

He also talks about the challenge of being a parent and navigating this world including strategies you can try with your child today.   

If you haven’t listened to part 1 yet, Fleur shared her experience about the value and benefits she found when she first used social media and how that’s changed over time to become something that more invasive and troubling.

We’ll also check in a few months time to see how we are both going in our efforts to find that elusive balance and higher wellbeing.

Join us in the café!

Molly Ella: The person I’ve become since I left social media

Erin Loechner: The Opt-Out Family: Join The Movement That Gives Kids What Tech Can’t

James Clear: Atomic Habits Cheat Sheat

For more visit: https://www.coffeewithfleurpodcast.au/

You can follow us on Instagram @coffeewithfleur, or not. As you’ll hear, we’re not hugely  active on there.   

#positivechange #wellbeing

Ah, social media. 

We all know the challenges that come with technology that’s in our hands and platforms that are built to accelerate our use, have a big potential for addiction and are pervasive by design. 

We also know the dramatic impact social media can have on our wellbeing and many of us are searching for ways to find a better balance.

We’re all in different places and in these two episodes we’ll explore where we, personally, are. 

First, Fleur shares her experience about the value and benefits she found when she first used social media and how that’s changed over time to become something that more invasive and troubling.

What strategies has she used to limit her use of the various platforms and where would she like to eventually get to in reducing her habit of using her phone to access these platforms?

In the next episode we’ll hear from David, who has removed himself from social media completely (well sort of, we’ll get into that).

We’ll also check in a few months time to see how we are both going in our efforts to find that elusive balance and higher wellbeing.

Molly Ella: The person I’ve become since I left social media

Cal Newport: Professor, computer scientist and bestselling author

For more: https://www.coffeewithfleurpodcast.au/

You can follow us on Instagram @coffeewithfleur, or not. As you’ll hear, we’re not too active on there.   

In our latest episode we explore the topic of compassionate leadership.

What is compassionate leadership, how do you practice it and why should leaders consider it a critical factor in the success of their organisational change?

We look at two contrasting examples:

·        How CEO Brian Chesky navigated the impacts of the pandemic on his Air B&B business, restructured significantly making significant redundancies, while maintaining relationships and building long term trust

·        How owner of (what was then) Twitter, Elon Musk, tackled restructuring what he deemed to be a failing business, making sweeping redundancies of key staff, only to see the platform failing, its stock price falling and his leadership reputation suffering

While these are examples of large organisations, the same consequences around the impact on people’s wellbeing and identity occur when smaller businesses undergo organisational change. 

How leaders tackle that change and how they demonstrate compassionate leadership in their actions goes a long way to supporting their people’s wellbeing and answering the question of what they want their change leadership legacy to be.

Join us in the cafe! 

Go to the Coffee with Fleur website for more: https://www.coffeewithfleurpodcast.au/episodes/compassionateleadership

Air B&B Letter

https://www.coffeewithfleurpodcast.au/episodes/compassionateleadership

Adam Grant Podcast

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/425InigVGXdFKFkehnNYTs 

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-company-is-not-a-family-with-airbnb-ceo-brian-chesky/id1346314086?i=1000656161532 

Twitter Statement

https://www.coffeewithfleurpodcast.au/episodes/compassionateleadership

Breaking Twitter

https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/ben-mezrich/breaking-twitter/9781035032488 

Character Limit

https://www.penguin.com.au/books/character-limit-9781529914702 

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In this episode, we explore the essential role that values play in shaping our lives and well-being, including:

·       the importance of identifying our core values and why living in alignment with them is key to personal fulfilment and mental well-being

·       how intentionally making decisions and taking actions that align with our values leads to greater clarity, purpose, and meaning

·       the challenges that come when we have to make work decisions that aren’t necessarily in line with our personal values

·       our personal insights on how values help guide our actions, shape our personal growth, and contribute to a balanced, authentic life

Join us for this reflective conversation over a coffee as we consider what our values are and how we try to move closer to them every day.

 

Identifying your values with Susan David 

https://www.susandavid.com/resource/how-to-identify-your-values/

Listen to The Imperfects podcast on values with Dr Em

https://theresilienceproject.com.au/at-home/podcasts/season-6-episode-36-dr-emily-values/

 

Follow us on Instagram @coffeewithfleur

https://www.instagram.com/coffeewithfleur/

In this episode, we delve into the power of our strengths and why identifying, understanding and developing them gives us confidence for navigating change and enhancing our wellbeing.

While many of us have a sense of what we’re good at, how many of us have fully understood which attributes make up our strengths? 

The good news is that there are ways to do so quickly and for free.   

If you know what your strengths are it means you’re better equipped with the confidence to say, “this is what I’m good at” and “these are the attributes I can fall back on” when challenges arise.

And even better, by intentionally utilising our strengths at work or at home we’re more likely to lead a fulfilling and satisfying life. 

Join us in the café as we explore our strengths.

Take the VIA Character Strengths Survey

https://www.viacharacter.org/account/register

Take the Strengths Profile

https://www.strengthsprofile.com/en/products/free

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Hopefully like us you’ve enjoyed a restorative break over the summer, building up your batteries for whatever 2025 brings.

While the year ahead is sure to have it’s challenges, our pod will continue to provide ideas, strategies and practical tools equipping you to navigate them and adapt when that time comes.

It’ll also mean that you can make the most of the opportunities that come your way.

Join us in the café, every fortnight.

For more go to coffeewithfleurpodcast.au

Lael Wilcox is an elite ultra-cycling legend, holding the records for the Tour Divide, a race along the length of the Rocky Mountains and the Trans-Am, a race across the United States. 

In 2024 she broke the women’s world record for riding around the world. That’s 29,169km in distance travelled, 19,987m in elevation gained – over 21 Mt Everests – in 108 days 12 hours 12 minutes, without a rest day.

It’s an astounding achievement and one that’s seen her attract the attention of not just the cycling community but also mainstream global media, seeing her featured in publications such as the New York Times, BBC and CNN.

More than that though, she’s one of the extraordinary people we’ve ever come across. 

Her endless positivity, gratitude, resilience, capacity to create community wherever she goes has inspired thousands of people around the world and provides a wonderful example for us all to follow.

So for this very special Coffee with Fleur episode, order a large coffee, sit back, settle in and listen as Lael Wilcox describes how she approaches these extraordinary challenges and how that enables her to take on the world. 

#wellbeing #positivity #resilience #change #cycling #womenscycling 

Listen to Lael Rides Around The World wherever you get your podcasts or here:

https://www.laelwilcox.net/podcast 

Follow Lael on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/laelwilcox/  

The second of our two-part SMART work design episode sees us explore how we as individuals can ensure that our work settings enable us to thrive.

The model, developed by Australian Research Council Professor Sharon Parker from Curtin University, is a framework that can be used when designing meaningful and motivating work.

Within the formal structure of our work environments there are things that we can do to make our jobs more enjoyable, fulfilling and satisfying.

An example is job crafting, where we can fulfill our responsibilities, complete the tasks that need to be done, while also finding ways to incorporate an emphasis on aspects we really enjoy, and from which others and the organisation can benefit.

Watch Rob Baker talk about job crafting:

https://tailoredthinking.co.uk/jobcrafting

Read more about SMART work design

https://www.transformativeworkdesign.com/smart-work

 

Visit coffeewithfleurpodcast.au for more resources.

New! Coffee with Fleur Instagram

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