Culture and Leadership Connections Podcast

Using the Virtues Sequence for Solving Workplace Problems

Are you facing a problem that seems unsolvable? The answer might lie in the "virtues sequence," a concept my colleague and I uncovered while researching sacred writings across world religions. We discovered a common pattern that could help resolve workplace challenges, consistently following the same path of: love, truth, justice, unity, peace, and abundance.

Example One:
A fabrication plant faced repeated customer complaints about design mistakes due to miscommunication and a lack of respect between departments. The designers and fabricators were separated by several departments, and when fabricators reported issues, they were often ignored by the designers who felt superior. This created distrust and poor relationships, rendering feedback workflows ineffective. The solution was to bring designers, fabricators, and customers together to develop relationship. Regular meetings led to unity and smoother operations, which in turn addressed customer concerns.

Example Two:
The virtues sequence can enhance workplace dynamics by tackling core issues. A manager dealing with personal problems might unknowingly create a toxic environment, driven by unresolved struggles. Addressing this starts with acknowledging the truth of personal issues, and their impact on others leading to love and justice.

Example Three:
The final example involves managers promoting up from a marginalized employee group. When organizations do not genuinely believe in the competence of the racialized individuals they unconsciously undermine them, which reveals hidden discriminatory attitudes. The lack of authenticity stems from an absence of truth and love, leading to injustice. Such problems occur because people often do not feel that their needs for love, appreciation, and acknowledgment are met in their own lives.

How to Increase Ability to Apply the Virtues Sequence with Authenticity:

Serve the Customer: When you truly serve the customer, you reconnect with the noble purpose that your job is intended to fulfill. This strategy, derived from Lisa Earl MacLeod’s book, Selling with Noble Purpose has many examples of how connecting to service, inspires workplaces to make amazing progress and individuals to find purpose and meaning in their lives.

Remember Your Family Legacy: By reflecting on your family legacy, you can identify an inspirational example that has shaped your best self. While acknowledging that your family legacy wasn't perfect, you can still be inspired by the virtues your family tree has been able to demonstrate over time. This gives a sense of purpose and helps you get back on the virtues path.

Increase your Empathy through discomfort: People may lack empathy because they haven't experienced it themselves. One of my facilitator colleagues introduced an exercise to increase empathy by trying to teach workshop participants 10 minutes of basic introductory knowledge in Punjabi. Within less than five minutes, participants were angry and in tears. Pausing the exercise, my colleague explained that this was how their newcomer workers felt all day, every day, when they didn’t speak English as a first language. This powerful experience helped leaders understand their employees' struggles and realign with empathy and increased patience.

In summary, the virtues sequence, can be used as a diagnostic tool for a workplace issues, and in your personal life to find virtues solutions.

Remember the sequence: Love - Truth - Justice - Unity - Peace - Abundance.

Happy practicing and don't forget to pick up my book, The Spirit of Work: Timeless Wisdom, Current Realities!

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Bio:
Dr. Alan Akira is a board-certified psychiatrist and founder of Mugen Psychiatry in Chicago. He aims to improve psychiatric care access, leveraging his expertise in clinical decision-making, education, and healthcare management. He’s also an Assistant Professor at Rush University Medical Center and has received multiple awards for his clinical excellence and teaching.

Links:

• LinkedIn Bio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan-akira-md/ 
• LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mugen-psychiatry/ 
• Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/Dr_Akira_MD 
• Email: [email protected] 

Quotes:
“The world doesn't get any easier. You just tend to get better if you choose to.”

“One might not know where they're going in the future, but most of the time, we know where we don't want to be.”

Episode Highlights:
Dr. Akira explores redefining happiness and success, emphasizing the importance of celebrating not just the results but the journey itself. He shares personal stories and reflections on his childhood and career that have shaped his current philosophy.

Childhood Incidents:
Dr. Akira grew up in a household where his parents had blue-collar jobs, but very little financial stability. As a young teenager, Dr. Akira experienced a lot of confusion, around money issues. These challenges snowballed into stress, anxiety, depression, irritability, and anger. At some point, Dr. Akira questioned whether this was what life had to be. Thankfully, he had mentors who offered him hope, showing him that there was more to life than his lived experience and anxiety.

Cultural and Leadership Influences:
Dr. Akira’s grandparents moved to the United States and opened a fish market in New York. One thing Dr. Akira noticed was that they always put their employees first, and the dividends of this approach paid off in their interactions with customers. For instance, they always found reasons to celebrate with their employees, and it was always authentic. At Mugen Psychiatry, Dr. Akira applies the same principle. He invests in both the clinicians’ present and future because he believes that happy clinicians do a better job.

Temperament and Personality:
Growing up, Dr. Akira was quiet, reserved, and quite introverted—always preferring to sit alone rather than interact with others. No one would have ever imagined him as a psychiatrist. Over the years, he has become an “extroverted-appearing” introvert. He has stepped out of his comfort zone and learned how to have conversations with other people.

Cultural Epiphanies:
Coming from Brooklyn, New York, Dr. Akira had a tough time understanding the Southern accent when he moved to Alabama. He recalls a day when he was attending a literature class, and the teacher was reading Huck Finn with a deep Southern accent that made Dr. Akira question if she was reading in English at all.

What Brings Out the Best in Dr. Alan Akira?
Dr. Akira thrives when there is a fine balance that allows him to lean into things that recharge him. He is working on a study to help him understand what drains him versus what recharges him. He is also learning to appreciate that what recharges him might not work for others.

Soapbox Moment:
Dr. Akira challenges us to learn to define things operatively on an individual level and to allow ourselves permission to double down on what works for us. He also invites us to check out his weekly newsletter on LinkedIn.

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The subtle art of embracing cultural influences.

Bio:
Agnes Yaa Serwaa Somuah is the Program Manager of the Sinkunia Community Development Organization in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The organization designs programs for new immigrant children and youth from African countries and of African heritage backgrounds.

Originally from Ghana where she was a teacher, Agnes holds both Bachelor's and Master’s degrees in education. She came to Canada in 2008 and now works at Sinkunia, engaging children and youth in activities to build confidence and cultural pride. Agnes is a published author of 13 books, including nine children’s stories called “Akan Children’s Stories,” two stories about her personal life, and four plays in Akan. Last year, she received the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Medal for community service.

In her spare time, Agnes enjoys spending time with her children, who range in age from 8 to 25 years-old, and her husband. She loves gardening and cooking.

Links:

• Agnes’ Children Books
• Agnes’ HIV Survivor Story

Quotes:
“Every day, I get a chance to just make a child smile, like all the smiles I missed when I was a child.”

“So many things happen to us when we are growing up, but it depends on you as an individual what you choose to do with it.”

Episode Highlights:
Agnes exemplifies the saying, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do" by navigating and embracing the diverse cultures of Ghana and Canada.

Childhood Incidents:
Agnes grew up in a household where her father had three wives in constant rivalry with each other. As a child, she loved being at school more than at home because at home there was no time to play. Children always had responsibilities ranging from working on the farm and in their father’s stores to counting money from the store. Agnes vividly recalls organizing award shows for children in her neighbourhood using chocolates from her father’s store. One day, while visiting her aunt in Accra, she continued her award shows, and her aunt told her she would make a great teacher, though Agnes wanted to be a journalist.

Unlike many African compound families, Agnes’ dad always encouraged her to go to school and do her best to excel. Agnes never got close to her mother, a second wife in competition with the other women of the household. One thing Agnes learned from her mother was cooking, and believes her mother could cook a whole cow in 50 different ways.

Influential Groups:
Agnes learned communal living from her father, who united all his children. This influenced her desire to live with others when she moved to Canada. She wanted to be around people.

Cultural and Leadership Influences:
As a nanny in Canada, Agnes was supported by her employers to publish her books. She was surprised by the family's progressive views on parenting and their support for her dreams.

Personality and Temperament:
Agnes has an inside and outside personality. At home, she is quiet, contrasting with her public persona. Her quiet husband and their youngest child help balance her dual nature. She tries to blend Canadian ideas and opportunities with her own in raising her children.

Cultural Epiphanies:
Agnes was shocked by the prevalence of smoking in Canada, which contrasted with Ghanaian views on social status.

What Brings Out the Best in Agnes?
Being with people and feeling respected motivate Agnes to show up to work even on tired days. She also loves working with children, giving them the smiles she missed as a child.

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What is the Difference Between Training and Coaching?

Is there a difference between training and coaching?

Quotes:
 “If you don't know what you want to see, then you don't know how to see if it has worked or not.”

Episode Highlights:
Organizations can confuse training with coaching or misunderstand their purposes. When an organization approaches me for training or coaching, there's often confusion between the terms. People think that coaching is the same as training and vice versa, or they don't understand why you would need coaching because you don't have any “so-called” problems. They also don't know what to expect or how to determine if there's going to be progress in training and coaching.

In this episode, I share the differences between coaching and training. I also touch on the different types of training and coaching and what they entail.

Training:
Training typically targets organizational goals and is often done in groups. It involves predefined outcomes and measures success through behavior changes.

Types of training include:

• Knowledge-based training: Involves presentation of material with quizzes and discussions to assess understanding.
• Skills-based training: Focuses on observable behaviors towards a specific outcome, like presentation skills or carpentry skills.
• Behavior change-oriented training: Aims to make visible changes in knowledge, skill, and attitude.

Coaching:
Coaching is complex and relationship-based, focusing on sustained action and behavioral change. It involves a continuous learning process, like mastering a sport or instrument. Combining coaching with training yields exceptional results.

Types of coaching include:

• Life coaching: Covers life skills like budgeting, emotional regulation, and anger management.
• Business coaching: Focuses on strategy, finances, marketing, and business goals.
• Executive/leadership coaching: Involves strategic planning, team management, and change management.
• Performance coaching: Targets specific career goals and leadership milestones.
• Health coaching: Concerns improving habits of nutrition, exercise, weight loss, and addictions.
• Relationship coaching: Involves communication, conflict management, and interpersonal skills.

Success in training depends on clear goals and effective engagement towards desired course outcomes, while success in coaching relies on the client's willingness to engage and the coach's ability to help the client build capacity and strength in achieving personal goals or overcoming professional obstacles.

If you're interested in discussing training or coaching with me, please email [email protected] to find a time to chat and determine what best suits your circumstances.

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Learning About Workplace Wellness From Sacred Texts

Delve into the fascinating topic of workplace wellness by uncovering insights from sacred texts and exploring how they can draw inspiration from Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam to uncover principles that can guide us in creating a happier and healthier workplace culture.

The Golden Rule:
The Golden Rule requires that we consider other people as equals deserving of respectful treatment. Imagine if this rule were applied universally how golden would the world be? When people believe and feel the Golden Rule as a divine principle, it holds more weight than something that's just a personal preference. The Golden Rule becomes a way for us to measure our own behavior and to hold ourselves accountable because it carries the responsibility and weight of a divine imperative.

Powers of the Soul According to Hinduism:
In my book, on page 24, there are some interesting principles from Hinduism that revolve around qualities and powers of the soul. I want to focus on the first three powers of the soul which are great ingredients for a healthy workplace:

• Power to Accommodate: This is the power of flexibility and acceptance.
• Power to Tolerate: By developing awareness of internal and external influences and not allowing them to control us.
• Power to Face and Confront: By facing obstacles, overcoming difficulties, and standing up for justice.

Powers of the Soul According to Christianity:
In the Bible, there is very little specifically about the soul and its powers, but we do have parables. St. Thomas Aquinas and other writers have written a bit on the nature of the soul. Here are some of the highlights:

• The soul has the capacity to learn from experiences that could significantly influence work.
• The soul has the capacity to interact with other souls. At work, when interacting with our colleagues, it is our souls that are interacting, which gives us a huge responsibility to speak to our colleagues as souls.
• Upon death, the soul is subjected to judgment based on how the individual lived their life, the actions they took, and the degree of their faith. At the end of life, the soul will be held accountable by the creator.

Powers of the Soul According to Islam:
In Islam, experience and understanding balance each other, and action and restraint balance each other. Two Islamic psychologists created an amazing framework, which is a personality type indicator based on the principles of these two balancing concepts and four personality types.

• Power: The ability to move resources towards a goal.
• Justice: An orientation towards equity and fairness.
• Inspiration: A spiritual orientation giving birth to innovation.
• Vigilance: Avoiding unnecessary risk and strong concern with safety.

With these four personality types, we can consider the qualities required for a just and equitable workplace.

Performance Reviews According to Divine Concepts:

• Hinduism: Instead of asking, “How did you do in terms of such and such a goal?” ask, “How were you able to show flexibility and detach from internal and external influences to make wise decisions? What obstacles did you overcome?”
• Christianity: Use what you have experienced and learned from your work to evaluate your capacity to interact respectfully with other souls at work. Give yourself a report card on your work behavior and alignment to values and company goals.
• Islam: How have you been able to see and build the talents of others to provide a more comprehensive view of the whole team? How have you been able to participate towards justice and equity as a team member?

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Improving life through better listening.

Bio:
Stanford is a wealth management advisor. For over 30 years, Stanford Slovin has worked in the securities industry with individuals, families, and business owners as a financial professional with major national brokerage firms.

He is the author of Better Listening: The Secret to Improving Your Professional and Personal Life, and as a speaker showcases how listening improves communication and conflict resolution. Stanford is actively involved in charitable organizations focusing on mental health and children with disabilities. He loves traveling and plays in a rock and roll band.

Links:
Website: https://www.betterlisteningbook.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stanfordslovin/

Episode Highlights:
In this episode, our guest, Stanford Slovin, educates us on the importance of empathetic and reflective listening. According to Stan, the world would be a better place if we all listened better. Stan shares his childhood and professional experiences, and we also get to hear about his involvement in the Side Hustle band.

Childhood Incidents:
Growing up, Stanford and his family traveled frequently. He vividly recalls his father engaging with waitstaff and bellhops, asking about their days. This inspired Stanford to write his book, believing that today's distractions prevent us from truly listening. He also remembers his father encouraging everyone, including family and employees, to express themselves.

Leadership and Cultural Influence:
According to Stanford, the best leaders are the best listeners. As a young adult, people often vented to him, and he always made them feel heard. Now, he asks if people want to be listened to or need his input after venting. Sometimes, people just want to be heard without receiving advice.

Growing up in a Midwestern city, Stanford realized how isolated cultural, religious, social, and economic settings can be. Summers spent on his family's farm in Galena, Illinois, exposed him to diverse people with different beliefs and economic backgrounds, highlighting the world's diversity

Influential Groups:
From a cultural and personal standpoint, Stanford chose a career focused on relationships, social interactions, sales, and service. He preferred a profession that involves communication and interaction in both social and professional settings, rather than a career confined to a lab, isolated from people, or dominated by data analysis and paperwork

Personality and Temperament:
Stanford has always been gregarious, spontaneous, and enthusiastic. Over the years, he has become more positive, patient, and listens better. His daughter describes him as passively aggressive in a positive way. He has also learned how to understand his audience so that he can communicate better.

Cultural Dissonance:
Stanford went to school to study law, and he was committed to practicing law when he graduated, but along the way, he realized he had a passion for wealth management. He had to get into cold calling, asking strangers to send him money to invest. The professional shock lasted for 18 to 24 months.

What Brings Out the Best in Stanford?
Stanford thrives in an environment where he understands what’s important to the person or people that he is working with. He is always looking for what else is important to them.

Soapbox Moment:
Stanford encourages us to get and read his book. The three key takeaways he would want us to have from the book include impactful conversations, empathy, and more reflective and active listening.

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Anxiety is Not an Emotion

Did you know that anxiety is not an emotion? You may think you "feel" anxious, but in reality, you're sensing anxiety. Anxiety is a physiological reaction from the "fight or flight" function of the vagus nerve. It triggers the adrenals to release cortisol and adrenaline into your nervous system, setting off an alert to potential danger. You feel it in your solar plexus above your kidneys.

Anxiety's hormones aren’t usually signs of real danger, making anxiety "homeless." It is a moving target in search of a home, but always gets kicked out due to its bad behavior. Anxiety can never be satisfied, making it a close partner to perfectionism. Never happy, never good enough, never complete. Anxiety, perfectionism, criticism, and paranoia cause repeating neurological thought loops that entrench fear (false expectations appearing real). This leads to catastrophizing (seeing disaster around every corner) or magical thinking (belief that unrelated events are connected despite no evidence). These thought patterns result from anxiety, constantly searching for a place to reside, but no one wants to let them in permanently due to their disruptive nature.

Emotions, on the other hand, are our friends. Whether pleasant or unpleasant, they ask to be acknowledged and felt. When we acknowledge our emotions, they transmit messages necessary for both surviving and thriving. However, we often fail to acknowledge and accept our emotions, causing them to return and eventually get stuck in the body. This can create stiffness, pain, and inflammation in the muscles, organs, or entire body areas.

But there’s hope! There are practical things you can do, or rather undo, to create and sustain feelings of calm, peace, and confidence, which dissolve anxiety.

Three Anxiety-Calming Practices:

1. Cognitive Practice: Move Your To-Do List to a Success List

•  Start with a sticky note pile and a pen or pencil.
•  Set a timer for two minutes and write the first "to do" thing that comes to mind on a sticky note, then rip it off and set it aside. Continue until the timer goes off.
•  Categorize these tasks into piles and put the top priority for each pile on top.
•  Create a "success list" of no more than three items.
•  When feeling overwhelmed, do this activity to calm your mind and create a sense of order.

2. Breathing and Awareness

• Become consciously aware of your breathing and whatever feeling you are experiencing in the moment.
•  Make this a practice whenever you notice sensations of anxiety or obsessive thinking.
•  This will calm your nervous system and replace danger signals with signals of well-being.
•  In a real dangerous situation, this practice will help you stay clear-headed and calm.

3. Acceptance

•  Tell yourself, “I accept that I am feeling this right now.”
•  Acceptance is the thriving part of your nervous system that allows feelings of joy and brings inspiration.
•  Accepting one feeling in the moment opens the horizon to other good things, helping you wave goodbye to anxiety.

In conclusion, anxiety is not an emotion, but instead a physiological response that you can calm. Using the aforementioned anxiety-calming practices will bring relief and a sense of freedom.

Thanks to Marie-Helene Pelletier for her insights on this topic from her book, The Resilience Plan.

For professional support, you can email me at [email protected] to schedule a time to connect and talk.

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Redefining Leadership in the Mission-Driven Sector

Bio:
Dimple Dhabalia is the founder of Roots in the Clouds, a boutique consulting firm that uses storytelling to heal individual and organizational trauma. She is a writer, podcaster, coach, and facilitator with over 20 years of public service experience at the intersection of leadership, mindfulness, and storytelling.

Dimple's mission is to transform mission-driven sectors by building human-centered cultures that meet mission needs and create psychologically safe spaces of empathy, connection, well-being, and belonging for staff.

Links:
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.rootsintheclouds.com/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/dimpstory
Newsletter: dearhumanitarian.substack.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/dimpstory
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dimpstory
Facebook: www.facebook.com/rootsintheclouds

Quotes:
"Organizations must create a duty of care that looks at the needs of the whole person."

Highlights:
Explore the importance of acknowledging and addressing organizational trauma, the impact of moral conflict, and the need for holistic, human-centered duties of care in organizations.

Childhood Incidents:
As a child, Dimple celebrated all holidays. One Easter, she found eggs in their garden, but a neighbor said they were for Christian children, and her father made her return them. In school, a classmate called her an "Indian giver" for changing her mind about giving a pencil, and the teacher's reaction made her feel out of place. At age seven, her dad was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, shifting family dynamics and making her mom the breadwinner, often requiring Dimple's help and causing her to miss time with friends.

Cultural Influences:
Dimple has always prioritized service before self, a value her hardworking mother also upheld. Before her mother's passing, she urged Dimple and her sister to prioritize self-care, prompting a significant shift in Dimple's approach. Today, she believes in service without sacrifice.

Dimple enjoyed Greece the most, where clear boundaries between life and work allowed her to serve healthily and maintain a social life. However, moving to Delhi led to overworking and losing her social balance.

Personality and Temperament:
Dimple's temperament is rooted in empathy, caring, and a desire to fight injustice. Over the years, she has incorporated self-care, curiosity over judgment, and an understanding that people's behaviors often have unseen complexities.

Cultural Epiphanies:
As a Brownie, Dimple's leader surprised the girls with breakfast at McDonald’s. Dimple's mom dressed her up while the other girls arrived in pajamas. This incident highlighted a cultural disconnect, but taught Dimple about different social norms.

What Brings Out the Best in Dimple?
Curiosity, connection, and empathy are Dimple's strengths. Curiosity drives her to understand others, empathy allows her to share their space, and connection helps explore stories and organizational trauma.

Soapbox Moment:
Dimple’s book, Tell Me My Story: Challenging the Narrative of Service Before Self, is available now. Listen to her podcasts, "Service Without Sacrifice" & "What Would Ted Lasso Do?" For more information, sign up for her newsletter, Dear Humanitarian.

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Using the Language of Virtues for Building Soul-Sustaining Work Decisions

Episode Highlights:
By practicing virtues and utilizing the “virtues progression,” we discover practical tools for creating happier and healthier workplaces.

Importance of Virtues in the Workplace:
I've seen the impact of practicing virtue at work across four careers and over 500 managerial students, coaching clients, and 100+ companies. One of the companies I worked with asked me to help a dysfunctional site improve communication. After introducing the concept of virtues with a personal story, and asking them to share stories about an obstacle they had overcome or something they were proud of, I coached them to identify the virtues in each other's stories. This exercise led to open, non-defensive discussions. A few months later, the workplace atmosphere had improved significantly, increasing customer satisfaction and prompting the company to replicate the approach.

Learning the Language of Virtues:
Virtues are developed through learning and through practice. Virtues are habits of character. Once practiced, they become characteristic of the person’s character. At the heart of the virtue approach is the idea of community. A person's character traits are not developed in isolation, but within and by the communities to which he or she belongs. What philosophers call “the moral life” becomes a matter of determining the kind of people we should be and attending to the development of character within our communities and ourselves. (The Spirit of Work: Timeless Wisdom, Current Realities, p. 35).

To develop my own practice of virtues, I have a virtues card deck. Every morning I pick a card from the deck, and focus on that virtue throughout day. At the end of the day, I reflect on how I applied the virtue to my work. To benefit from this idea, consider getting “The Virtues Project” card deck or “Virtues Cards” app.

Virtues Progression:
From my study of the Sacred Writings of the world religions, I discovered a virtues progression which has specific virtues as benchmarks and a guideline to solve problems. The progression is Love – Truth – Justice – Unity – Peace – Abundance. Every human relations rupture starts from a gap in one of these places in the virtues progression.

For a workplace issue, identify which virtue is missing and look backward in the progression to see what foundational virtue is required to experience it, then forward to know the next step. For example, if someone refuses to communicate, it might be due to a lack of safety (not feeling loved) or fear of repercussions (truth).

To ensure a decision is just, consider that these three justice quotients must be present during the decision-making process for all to benefit: 

1. Seek diverse perspectives
2. Consult those most affected
3. Involve all stakeholders 

How Virtues Affect People:
A story from Chapter 2 illustrates the power of recognizing virtues. In a high-security prison where my husband once worked as a psychologist, he was assigned to help a large, tattooed, explosive inmate with anger management. As an emotions management tool, my husband introduced the "sparkle technique," a reminder to defuse anger by looking right, smiling, and then looking left, and smiling again (physiologically creating conditions for virtue by calming the nervous system). The technique reduces anger by changing eye position and engaging the muscles used for smiling. Although skeptical, the inmate tried it, found it effective, and even taught it to others, reducing fights in the prison and improving interpersonal relationships. He returned to his program with my husband saying enthusiastically, “This sparkle sh** really works!” 

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The Importance of Celebration and Influence in Leadership

Bio:
Anthony A. Dicks, Jr.'s passion for leadership development is evident in his work as he's spent over two decades preparing people with diverse responsibilities to reach their optimal leadership potential. He is currently a doctoral candidate in the Strategic Leadership program at Liberty University and is also a Certified John C. Maxwell Team Member and DiSC Coach. Anthony currently transforms leaders as the Senior Leadership Consultant at 180 Management Group.

Links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aadicksjr/

Quotes:
"People who may not be aware of their privilege may also not be aware of how they are exploiting others."

"It's not enough for us to see our heroes win. We need to see our heroes struggle."

Episode Highlights:
Anthony's background as a preacher's kid played a fundamental role in shaping his leadership and communication skills. His educational achievements and professional experiences make him an exceptional leader with great wisdom to share. In this episode, Anthony shares valuable perspectives on leadership development processes within different institutions.

Childhood Incidents:
Anthony’s dad was a Baptist pastor who always made sure his children were involved in church. Before he could stand to preach, Anthony and his three sisters were required to sing. On Anthony’s eighth birthday, he performed the "I Have a Dream" speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. from memory. The standing ovation he received was so warm that it made him want to do it again.

As a young adult, he underwent Advanced Individual Training (AIT) in the US Army. When he arrived at Fort Knox, Kentucky, he encountered people from all walks of life. Per the US military system, leaders had to be picked for different squads, and Anthony was one of them and got the honour to call the cadence.

Influential Group:
Growing up, Anthony had the privilege of seeing his parents graduate from college. His dad was a pastor, and his mom was a primary school teacher. In their household, education was vital. Anthony also attributes the shaping of his childhood to African American traditions and the church.

Cultural and Leadership Influence:
Anthony credits his leadership skills to all the institutions he attended the church, school and the AIT training. He also believes that these institutions shaped his culture, as he had to immerse himself in each one. That said, he sees the limitations of these institutional approaches to leadership and has worked to expand his skills as a result.

Temperament and Personality:
Anthony believes his temperament is inherently trusting. He believes his personality has evolved from being an introvert to an extrovert. He urges us to learn how to give ourselves space to evolve, and not be tied to what we were five or ten years ago.

Cultural Epiphanies:
Throughout Anthony’s education, he had never been a minority until he attended seminary. There was a church history class that was very challenging. Although Anthony excelled effortlessly, he was never celebrated. For the first time, he felt academically invisible. His son experienced a repeat of this issue in high school.

What Brings Out the Best in Anthony?
To bring out the best in Anthony, you need to bring him to the brink of impossibility. He believes that to excel, we have to move to the edge of what we believe possible.

Soapbox Moment:
To be at our best, we need both challenges and encouragement. Anthony urges leaders to find communities of practice to avoid the loneliness that comes with leadership.

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