Gratitude Through Hard Times

SUMMARY

Is your wounded inner child still in charge of your emotional playlist? Maybe it’s time to update the soundtrack of your life! Host Chris Schembra’s amazing guest on this episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times has developed a powerful program based on an interesting trifecta of tools for growth. As Susan Drumm explains in her new book, "The Leader's Playlist: Unleash the Power of Music and Neuroscience to Transform Your Leadership Style and Your Life," when paired with our most authentic selves, neuroscience and music can shift ingrained habits of thought with transformational results. Her concrete case studies illustrate how our brains can be highjacked – or healed – by the “anchor songs” we play in our heads. As CEO of Meritage Leadership Development, Susan’s mission is nothing less than ushering in a new era of enlightened leadership. How? By shifting often outdated ideas and associations embedded within our deeply grooved neural pathways, we can reimagine the background music that sets the tone for everyday life choices. Offering a detailed step-by-step methodology for forging new patterns of thought, Susan is inviting all of us to release negative narratives as old as those hit summer songs we loved back in high school.

You’ll learn in this lively conversation about how we function at our highest level – and, quite literally, at our most potent energetic vibrations – when we bring awareness, acknowledgement and a new frame of reference. The Leader’s Playlist is an innovative program that unlocks empowerment through one of neuroscience’s well-documented treatments for childhood trauma and other psychic injuries: Music. Susan is urging: “We all need to collectively look in the mirror and say: ‘Where are we leading from old wounds and what needs to shift and heal so collectively we can all get to a higher level of enlightened leadership?’ ” Ready to unlock the secrets of your own  "Leader's Playlist"? The time to start is now!

Click here to find out all about Susan’s debut book, "The Leader's Playlist: Unleash the Power of Music and Neuroscience to Transform Your Leadership Style and Your Life." And if you want to turbocharge, consider her upcoming master class, which you can register for here.

If you’d like to learn more about Chris and his 7:47 Virtual Gratitude Experience, please visit this link. And click here to listen to previous episodes of Gratitude Through Hard Times.

KEY TOPICS:

• If you could give credit or give thanks to one person in your life that you don’t give enough credit or thanks to, who would that be?
• About Susan’s framework, which is uniquely applicable to everyone because it uses music as a vehicle. 
• Want to motivate growth in others? It starts with authentically believing in them, which undergirds development through the toughest of times and steepest of learning curves.
• Turning Early Childhood Trauma into a Superpower: Susan shares what she’s observed and personally experienced when formative wounding triggers reactivity.
• About the metaphorical playlist that is the soundtrack to each of our lives and – whether you’re aware of it or not – may be impacting your efficacy as a leader.
• Adaptive Upside: When he was raging, Susan’s father could cast a long and frightening shadow. As a result? She developed a keen ability to read the room, intuit potential derailment and diffuse tension -- survival skills that are a great asset in coaching.
• When Stress Yields Gems: Trauma response can induce PTSD, but it can also spark skills that can be leveraged to create post-traumatic growth 
• Music As a Healing Tool: Susan shares how she unlocked her neural pathways – and deeply embedded, reflexively negative feelings – in order to move from seething resentment  to a positive orientation.
• Create Your Own Empowerment Playlist! It’s possible to choose songs that resonate in ways that bring optimism, healing and connection. 
• Redirecting old neural pathways that do not serve, and carving out new ones that are more life-giving, can make permanent mindset change. That doesn’t mean, however, that you’ll never again find yourself defaulting to those old “neural highways to hell.”
• About Micro Interventions: One strategy for creating a desired shift is intervention in thoughts through the introduction of music.
• The Music of Healing: Susan helps her clients recover and shift by working with them to identify where they’re stuck internally, usually rooted in patterns of thought that do not serve but can be re channeled in empowering ways.
• Music Lights Up All Regions of the Brain: Sense memory is stimulated by sound vibration and can be harnessed to shift energy.
• Higher versus Lower Emotions – Gratitude and peace vibrate at high levels while grief and sadness reside in lower levels. What do we do with that information?
• We can’t dismiss or ignore difficult feelings, which carry messages.
• Rather than dwell in negativity, we can opt to acknowledge pain and move on.
• Well-practiced patterns of thoughts can be redirected through intentionality.
• Do you have ingrained neural pathways you’d like to change? There are multiple methods:
• Hypnotherapy.
• Psychedelic-assisted therapy.
• Meditation.
• Music intervention.
• A Case Study: From Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Freebird to George Michael’s Freedom.
• Susan deconstructs how she successfully coached an executive whose maverick leadership was alienating his team and stymying his business’s growth.
• 1) First she helped him excavate and learn how to interrupt his “I am Trapped” playlist – a medley of songs based on outdated beliefs that were not serving him.
• 2) She helped him put in place a new “I Won’t Let You Down” playlist to replace self-limiting, self-defeating beliefs with messages of stewardship balanced with freedom.
• Chris reflects on his longtime favorite “hype-up” song, Non-Stop from the musical “Hamilton” and how he applied Susan’s framework to understand that his associations to the song were inauthentic and unsustainable.
• Susan and Chris review steps towards revising our playlists, including recognizing “bellyful” moments and getting curious (rather than judgmental). 
• You are not alone if your playlist needs a refresh! Most of us are overdue to up-level our lives by re-envisioning the songs that provide the background music for our lives!

QUOTABLE

• “Just because the world’s going through a pretty tough time doesn’t mean we can’t find meaningful moments of connection, of hope, of optimism and positivity!” (Chris)
• “There are only so many ways that you can help a leader be a better leader. We all have to have our unique element and original framework.” (Chris)
• “Those of you who know this podcast, you know that my whole schtick in life is gratitude – how do we help people become more grateful for themselves, for others, for their situations, to build better business and live longer, happier, more successful lives?” (Chris)
• “I had a neural pathway grooved to my brain that was like an eight-lane highway and it wasn’t just about this instant. I could trace it to the low points of my life and feeling frustrated, left out and treated unfairly.” (Susan)
• “I’d put a song on and it would shift my state. (My empowerment playlist) really gave me a choice not to go down the eight-lane highway to hell but to start to groove a new pathway.” (Susan)
• “The more I listened to (healing) music and the more I practiced that emotional resonance, the more it went from a country road to a two-lane highway to a four-lane highway and finally my own eight-lane highway that I can choose to go down.” (Susan)
• “We’re not just talking about using music only to shift state – which it can do and that’s the power – but it’s also to uncover some of this deeper wounding, deeper patterning.” (Susan)
• “Is non-stop what I aspire for my life to be? … Hustling that hard develops emotional impotence. It took Susan’s book for me to wake up to that.” (Chris)
• “Usually suffering is the impetus to make change. I wish it wasn’t the case, but the reality is that it’s not until … we get these wakeup calls and they are gifts from the universe to help us know it’s time to make a shift, it’s time to grow.” (Susan)

LINKS/FURTHER RESOURCES:

• Summit Series – Global networking for change makers.
• Click here to learn more about micro interventions and how they work!
• Here’s an infectious song that Chris has used to motivate himself at times: Non-Stop from the musical “Hamilton.”

ABOUT OUR GUEST:

Susan is a CEO Advisor and Leadership Coach as well as founder of Meritage Leadership, with over 20 years of experience leading teams and senior executives to achieve their potential. She has graduate degrees from Harvard Law School, Carnegie Mellon, and an M.A. in Drama from London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Combining her strategy and business background with experience as an actress in theater and film, Susan helps clients become extraordinary leaders and influencers. Her consulting firm, Meritage Leadership, focuses on leader and team effectiveness by helping leaders develop the capacity and mindsets to lead in today’s disruptive environment — while inspiring their teams to do the same.

FOLLOW Susan:

WEBSITE | LINKEDIN | PODCAST

ABOUT OUR HOST:

Chris Schembra is a philosopher, question asker and facilitator. He's a columnist at Rolling Stone magazine, USA Today calls him their "Gratitude Guru" and he's spent the last six years traveling around the world helping people connect in meaningful ways. As the offshoot of his #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling book, "Gratitude Through Hard Times: Finding Positive Benefits Through Our Darkest Hours,"he uses this podcast to blend ancient stoic philosophy and modern-day science to teach how the principles of gratitude can be used to help people get through their hard times.

FOLLOW CHRIS:

WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | LINKEDIN | BOOKS

SUMMARY

If you’ve ever struggled with the idea of meditation, try this out: How about no beads, no sitting cross-legged, no chants or ashram journeys? The transcendental practice developed by Host Chris Schembra’s guest on this episode of the Gratitude Through Hard Time podcast speaks to all of us who want to embody our deepest visions but find our busy minds get in the way. Vishen Lakhiani’s practice, "The Six Phase Guided Meditation," skips the things that make mindfulness a challenge – especially for frenetic, creative entrepreneurs. As he lays out in his new book, coming out this week, his program’s goals are transformational not because of a series of disciplines or rituals but because they bring alignment in the most direct, simplest of ways.

Vishen’s journey to wholeness began 20 years ago, when he abandoned a burnout job in Silicon Valley. That decision to look for a deeper connection with himself and others has culminated in the fundamentals he spells out in his compelling new book, "The Six Phase Guided Meditation" and can also be explored via his Mind Valley apps and the hugely popular seminar he conducts in cities across the world. If you’re ready to “dream bigger,” then this episode will give you a powerful starting place to shift your mindset and make real what you see and feel. In wrapping up, Vishen reminds us that luck is something we can choose. Reality is something we can bend. And a more abundant world is something we can create, through the unity that lies within us all. “This is the grand magic trick that makes life easy; that helps build incredible businesses,” he says. “This is the secret that helps you live a life that seems blessed.”

Whether you think you are an expert at meditation or that meditating is impossible for you, Vishen's new book is a must-read. It's transformational. Pre-Order before 9/20 and get 500 Customizable Meditations through his APP to use for a year - FREE! You can find the link here.

If you enjoyed this conversation, please click here to listen to previous episodes of Gratitude Through Hard Times. And you can find out much more about Chris and his 7:47 Virtual Gratitude Experience at this link.
 

KEY TOPICS:

• If you could give credit or thanks to one person in your life who hasn’t been given enough credit or thanks, who would that be? Vishen recognizes his ex-wife for being an “incredible entity” and wonderful mother to his children.
• On souls and how Vishen believes they were meant to function – not necessarily as monogamous mates for life.
• Advancing Humanity: Businesses are capable of raising universal consciousness, but it doesn’t have to be a blanket effort. Vishen challenges every owner to evolve individually towards consciousness and spiritual growth for the greater good.
• Our ultimate growth is rooted in awareness of our powers within, the consciousness we connect with and extend beyond our physical bodies.
• The Concept of Unity: Separation is a protective mechanism – and illusion.
• Try this exercise from the Sufi poet and thinker, Rumi: Close your eyes and think about the message you want to communicate in silence to another person and remember – whatever energy you put out is what you will receive back.
• Studies of gratitude practices and forgiveness confirm that they yield positive benefits, such as:
• Once we recognize how intrinsically connected we are to everything else on the planet, we move towards unity and understanding of the oneness we all share.
• The Truth About Meditation:
• How Transcendent Practices work by:
• About "The Six Phase Guided Meditation":
• About the Pillars of Happiness and Vision that comprise Vishen’s six phases.
• Vishen reflects on the criticism and rejection he experienced at one point from peers in his native Malaysia and how he persevered with his practice, using it to transform his response to one of compassion.
• Dreaming Big: About using creative visualization to reprogram our brains and deliver a mindset embedded with powerful belief and emotional connection.
• All About Dan Sullivan’s Happiness Gap and how Vishen has incorporated it.
• Vishen’s Ultimate Hope: For people to understand that we are all spiritual beings having a human experience and that everything starts with tapping into the power of our souls and intuition, our ability to manifest the future and connect with all life.
• Parting Thought: The secret is to live in harmony, balancing balancing play, minimizing stress and overwhelm, feeling God’s blessing – the love – everyday.

QUOTABLE

• “Your business is not the most important thing. Your business, rather, is the ultimate vehicle for your personal evolution.” (Vishen)
• “If your business fails, it doesn’t matter. If your business hits a billion dollars, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that running your business is helping you grow.” (Vishen)
• “The greatest thing we can do as humans is move toward unity … and our own fundamental truth.” (Vishen)
• “Our consciousness never actually ends. It blends into all life. We are connected to plants, to energies, to animals. We are connected not just to our family but to the homeless person we pass on the street. When you can move towards that level of understanding, you cannot hurt someone else.” (Vishen)
• “What Vishen has done is written a book and invented a method that gives you access to this internal way of being through a 15- to 20-minute transcendental meditation.” (Chris)
• “What makes you an entrepreneur is the fact that your mind is constantly, creating, jumping from one thing to another. That is your superpower. You do not want to slow that down.” (Vishen)
• “Even the people who are judging you, the people who are tearing you down, their souls are connected to you. They are not necessarily evil or bad. They are simply people who are unaware of who they are and probably going through their own moments of grief, jealousy or bitterness.” (Vishen)
• “By creating a transcendent practice that shifts you into a mindset of love and compassion, gratitude, forgiveness, vision-making and happiness – all these things – you are relying on your agency to create that change. You don’t have to rely on others to fix themselves in order for a conflict to be healed.” (Chris)
• “The Law of Attraction isn’t based on your wants. It’s based really on your resonance. The universe doesn’t give you what you want. Rather, it gives you who you are.” (Vishen)
• “If you can appreciate how far you’ve come and live in that feeling of appreciation, what happens is that … what you appreciate appreciates.” (Vishen)
   

LINKS/FURTHER RESOURCES:

• Learn more about Vishen’s latest and previous books here.
• Neal Donald Walsch’s book, "Conversations With God."
• About the program that kickstarted Vishen’s own work: The Silva Method.
• Find out more about the Arbinger Institute’s book, "The Anatomy of Peace: Resolving the Heart of Conflict."
• Dan’s Sullivan’s book, "The Gap and The Gain: The High Achievers' Guide to Happiness, Confidence and Success."
• Historian Ron Chernow’s book, "Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr."

ABOUT OUR GUEST:

Vishen Lakhiani is one of today’s most significant education reformers. As the founder of Mindvalley, he and his team serve over 20 million people globally through an evolving ecosystem of the world’s foremost transformational programs, events, and technologies. His new book, “The 6 Phase Meditation Method,” teaches his revolutionary approach to meditation for peak performance in modern life. 

FOLLOW VISHEN:

WEBSITE | LINKEDIN | INSTAGRAM | BOOK

ABOUT OUR HOST:

Chris Schembra is a philosopher, question asker and facilitator. He's a columnist at Rolling Stone magazine, USA Today calls him their "Gratitude Guru" and he's spent the last six years traveling around the world helping people connect in meaningful ways. As the offshoot of his #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling book, "Gratitude Through Hard Times: Finding Positive Benefits Through Our Darkest Hours," he uses this podcast to blend ancient stoic philosophy and modern-day science to teach how the principles of gratitude can be used to help people get through their hard times.

FOLLOW CHRIS:

WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | LINKEDIN | BOOKS

SUMMARY

Curiosity. Care. Compassion. Connection. As we learn on this episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times with Host Chris Schembra, these words define Kapil Sharma’s highly successful career as a leader known for bringing out the best in his teams. As Chief Transformation Officer at Microsoft India, he has brought home tools and lessons learned over 12 years living abroad in order to pay forward to others – particularly those who are fearful or marginalized. Throughout his career Kapil has seized opportunities and pushed himself hard, always with a sense of gratitude and commitment to giving back the gifts he has received. And for that deep well of both humanity and tenacity? Kapil gives a big tip of the hat to his mother, who lavished care and support on him from an early age. It was this foundation that enabled Kapil to take off, broaden his horizons and return to inspire others through his work transforming workplace cultures, tech stacks and customer relationships in Bengaluru (also known as Bangalore) and beyond.

You’ll learn about the Five Sage Powers for developing Positive Intelligence that have guided Kapil and the heightened acuity he attributes to both risk-taking and fear. He’s also sharing professional and personal development resources that have influenced his management style as well as the ways in which his children’s wonder and positivity are like a battery refresh when his energy runs low. Even with all today’s unsettling challenges, Kapil finds tremendous promise in human, scientific and technological advances. Pandemic has been a great leveler, he says, inviting us to take stock, prioritize and most of all model gratitude and empathy: “If we can teach (our children) to be compassionate, caring, loving, I think there will be a great outcome that they will be able to create – if they remain connected as human beings.” It’s a heartening outlook – one that we have it within us to make real!

Kapil’s engaging postings on a range of topics are available @LinkedIn.

KEY TOPICS:

• Chris opens by asking: If you could give thanks to one person you don’t credit enough, who would that be? Kapil gives a shout out to his mom, who supported her only son’s decision to leave his hometown in India to explore – which became 15 years in London. She encouraged him in every way throughout that journey.
• Based in Bengaluru (also known as Bangalore) the past four years, Kapil sees his return as an opportunity to educate his children to Indian culture as well as to show his mom gratitude and respect for all her hard work as a parent.
• About Kapil’s Sense of Service: As a young man he was driven to achieve and benefited from the generosity of wise elders and mentors. He sees his role today as one of providing the same to young people coming up behind him in India.
• Taking Risk: In order to live to his fullest potential, Kapil regularly sets challenges for himself – especially those that stretch him in ways that might be of service to others (like the decision to move his family back to India).
• Why Kapil is very tuned into inspiring hope in younger people – especially those who are unsure, overwhelmed or marginalized.
• Changing Questions, Changing Life: Kapil shares brave questions that have shaped his trajectory, which include:
• Turning Fear and Danger to Advantage: Kapil sees in today’s unsettled crypto, stock and real estate markets an opportunity to hustle. And therein are gifts:
• How Covid19 has proved a great leveler, forcing all of us to ask:
• Kapil rejects the idea that we can’t change the system. We can spur small changes in one person’s world that chip away at larger systemic issues.
• Reframing hustling as staying positive, active and growth-oriented.
• About Shirzad Chamine’s Five Sage Powers for developing Positive Intelligence – or hustle with humility:
• A recap of what has factored into Kapil’s vision:
• Cogs in a Wheel: How Kapil evolved his management style and emphasis on providing smart people with understanding, validation, empathy and space to be vulnerable.
• Three Things that Kapil Requires:
• Democratized Leadership: Kapil enables his teams to do what they do best by inspiring high levels of commitment and accountability. It’s a recipe that generates camaraderie and positive, self-reinforcing results.
• The Demands of Caring: Empathetic leadership can be grinding at times, but Kapil’s two kids recharge his batteries. Their positive energy and wonder are therapeutic.
• Kapil shares an anecdote about a team member who was falling short of expectation and tried to take himself out of the position. Because of his skills and EQ, along with the right encouragement, he went on to flourish. Hire the right people and they will eventually succeed!
• Transgenerational Learning: Kapil is most excited to see his children inherit from his mother (and father) a living, daily example of caring and compassion. And honesty! Where they fall short, his parents will call them out!
• The Power of Human Connection: Kapil’s wish for future generations, who will have tremendous technological and scientific advantages, is that they are intentional about maintaining connections to one another – not just machines.
• In closing, this conversation illuminated for Kapil a sense of gratitude for the opportunities he’s had thus far – and excitement about what lies ahead as an aspirational son, husband, father, mentor and community leader.

QUOTABLE

• “Sometimes gratitude is untold. It’s the way you do things for someone without saying and maybe that’s what’s happening. In my own way, I think I am thanking (my mother) … but sometimes it’s also about being intentional in saying thank you.”
• “I believe there’s so much more potential I can achieve as a human being … It is about making an impact on people’s lives. It’s about giving back to people in terms of knowledge. It’s about giving back to young people.” (Kapil)
• “It’s not about becoming immune to the dangers that exist around us, but how do we learn to find opportunity in the hard times? It’s a question not only for a business landscape, but a human landscape.” (Chris) 
• “Hustling is part of life. You need to be continually hustling … It keeps you sharp. It makes you look four steps ahead. It gives you options.” (Kapil)
• “(Teams) are looking to me to care and to be okay with their vulnerability and be vulnerable at the same time with them. To be a highly emotional leader, you need (these qualities) to be successful long-term.” (Kapil)
• “I’ve had many difficult conversations in my career and I always went into those with the view that I have the best for you in my mind and this is the right thing.” (Kapil)
• “If you’re not looking at your peers’ outcomes and what’s stopping then from becoming successful, then you’re not really operating as one tribe.” (Kapil)
• “To get vulnerability and trust and safety and care (from a leader) is the best thing you can do as a human being, let alone a leader in the corporate world.” (Chris)
• “If you hire the right people with the right EQ, they eventually come out on the right side. It takes some time, but if you create the right environment for them they will be successful.” (Kapil)
• “Eight out of 10 top performers have high EQ. It’s the EQ that determines earning potential as well as Positive Intelligence … and the good news is that they can be developed over time.” (Chris)
• “If we can teach (our children) to be compassionate, caring, loving, I think there will be a great outcome that they will be able to create – if they remain connected as human beings.” (Kapil)
   

LINKS/FURTHER RESOURCES:

Click here to listen to Chris’s conversation about "The Quest for Passion" with Tony Safoian.

Further Reading: "Change Your Questions, Change Your Life: 10 Powerful Tools for Work and Life," by Marilee G. Adams,

"Positive Intelligence: Why Only 20% of Teams and Individuals Achieve Their True Potential and How You Can Achieve Yours," by Shirzad Chamine.

ABOUT OUR GUEST:

As the Chief Transformation Officer at Microsoft India, Kapil Sharma leads the Field Transformation agenda that help us shape how customers, partners and employees feel about their experience with Microsoft. He works closely with the India Leadership team to help land the entire gamut of transformation initiatives across our field organization. Prior to Microsoft, he was Managing Director, Sales and GTM at Rackspace Technology. He created the strategy and led the execution that has resulted in tremendous business growth between 2019 - 2022 for India & SAARC region. In his 20+ years of career, Kapil has had the fortune of leading and building technology businesses across EMEA and APAC markets, hiring new successful teams, leveraging diverse commercial models, and working with enterprises and startups.

FOLLOW KAPIL:

LINKEDIN
 

ABOUT OUR HOST:

Chris Schembra is a philosopher, question asker and facilitator. He's a columnist at Rolling Stone magazine, USA Today calls him their "Gratitude Guru" and he's spent the last six years traveling around the world helping people connect in meaningful ways. As the offshoot of his #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling book, "Gratitude Through Hard Times: Finding Positive Benefits Through Our Darkest Hours," he uses this podcast to blend ancient stoic philosophy and modern-day science to teach how the principles of gratitude can be used to help people get through their hard times.

FOLLOW CHRIS:

WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | LINKEDIN | BOOKS

The stars align on this episode of the Gratitude Through Hard Times podcast when two Italian empaths get together for a conversation about mentorship, leadership and personal growth that happens to coincide with the 7:47 Club’s seven anniversary. Host Chris Schembra welcomes Matt Tedesco, VP & General Manager for  Americas East at the iconic furniture design company MillerKnoll, for a lively give-and-take about his passion for coaching and unique approach to group engagement and retention. It all starts with embracing the journey! They reflect on the pitfalls of results-oriented management, strategies for getting out from under social constructs that do not serve and the compounding power of positivity. Matt highlights a pivotal spiritual moment that has shaped his value system and explains how vulnerability has empowered him  — as a coach, an artist, a musician, a father, friend and colleague. Self-awareness is foundational to all the other elements that connect us with each other, says Matt, helping us tune into our own emotions and — as importantly — the challenges experienced by others.

You’ll also learn about what Matt calls his “cheat sheet to the world,” a simple but profound strategy that guarantees we’re bringing our best selves, personally and professionally. Even when the world disappoints, we have it within us to learn and move on with open hearts. “Focus on gratitude, focus on the things that are positive,” says Matt. “Bringing positive energy is a matter of deciding.” This dynamic exchange is your first step!
 

If you’d like to learn more about Chris and his 7:47 Virtual Gratitude Experience, please visit

this link. And click here to listen to previous episodes of Gratitude Through Hard Times.
 

KEY TOPICS:

• Deflection and Dreams: Chris asks Matt reflect on his humility about accomplishments and the ways in which he feels pride in any endeavor that offers value-add in some way.
• Results-Oriented Living: The societal push is often towards outcomes, but Matt is committed to embracing the process and lessons learned along the way.
• Goals are finite. Then what? It’s got to be the going — not the getting there — that’s good.
• Putting It Out There: By making his music available on Spotify, which is a vulnerable thing to do, Matt is reclaiming an artistic part of himself. Self-consciousness be damned!
• We can’t be good at everything. And that’s the point! Art and other creative, spiritual or physical pursuits (even those that humble us) can be tools for continuous learning and movement towards self-actualization.
• Matt envisions members of his teams as ensemble musicians playing in concert; not basketball players taking unilateral command. The focus is on collaboration; not scrambling to hit every basket.
• Recalling a Pivotal Spiritual Moment: An angry kid lacking in confidence, Matt felt a spontaneous transformational release — and sense of equanimity in the world — following his eighth-grade confirmation in the Catholic Church.
• What does it mean to be of service and actually help? Matt believes the best coaching/mentoring starts with intentional, active listening. No pre-conceived notions or agenda.
• Above all, most people simply want to be heard — witnessed in a way that touches something deep in them and connects them to others and a sense of understanding.
• Nervous, sad confused: Matt’s wife recently provided him safe harbor, a place to be fully seen, when he chose to get vulnerable and share personal and professional doubts.
• Defining the True Nature of Love: Borrowing inspiration from "Man's Search for Meaning," the Holocaust survivor Viktor E. Frankl’s compelling take on what matters most in life, Matt’s take is that our ultimate meaning isn’t money, sex or power. It’s simply love.
• Defining Leadership: Loving team members and those we serve requires whole-hearted commitment to listening and caring (that ideally resides in mutuality and reciprocity).
• Matt’s Strategy for Moving Beyond Social Constructs That Do Not Serve:
• Cultivate awareness.
• Welcome uncomfortable, vulnerable feelings.
• Question and examine emotions as they arise.
• Own those moments of so-called “weakness” without judgment.
• How to erode performance? Deny, suppress or withdraw from vulnerable emotions.
• Gratitude as a Tool for Retention:
• No. 1: It must be authentic.
• Tokens like a pizza party or group “atta boy” aren’t enough.
• Keep an eye out for the smaller acts, which often matter just as much as the big.
• Make the recognition specific and personal.
• Communicate in a way that makes people feel seen and heard.
• You will be most generous and present when leading from a place of love.
• Accentuate the Positive! Negative thoughts beget more. Don’t miss the opportunity to energize everyone across the enterprise with the force for good that is gratitude!
• Finding the universal in the specific: By articulating exactly why we have gratitude and celebrating those who inspire it we are spreading a powerfully positive contagion.
• All in the Perspective: Whether kids on his son’s lacrosse team or his top managers and staff, Matt focuses on Attitude and Work Ethic — the only two things we can fully control.
• The majority of us are capable, despite (or because of!) personal challenges or setbacks.
• The world will disappoint, but it’s critical that we move on.
• Recipe for Success: For most of us, hard work and a smile are the two key ingredients.
• Looking for Outcome-Based Results? Here’s a measure: Have you gotten a little better?
• You Are Not Alone: We’re all on the journey together and interconnected There is tremendous power in it!

QUOTABLE

• “He blends doing a good job in corporate American with having an artistic expression and play on the side. And it’s a pretty cool balance!” (Chris)
• “To be a great leader, you have to do the work.” (Chris)
• “It is not about the result. It’s about the process and really trying to enjoy and find meaning … If you only focus on the result, once you get that result, then what?” (Matt)
   

LINKS/FURTHER RESOURCES:

Matt's Spotify Albums

"The Radical Leap: A Personal Lesson in Extreme Leadership," by Steve Farber.

"Man's Search for Meaning," by Viktor E. Frankl.

Books about vulnerability and leadership by Brene Brown.

"Measure What Matters: The Revolutionary Movement Behind the Explosive Growth of Intel, Google, Amazon and Uber," by John Doerr, venture capitalist and OKR proponent.
 

ABOUT OUR GUEST:

Matt Tedesco leads cross-functional teams, manages P&L responsibilities and related metrics, and coordinates complex activities with myriad distribution partners, internal constituents, and outside stakeholders. His focus in on driving sustainable, profitable growth in a complex and challenging market. He has spent the last 20+ years developing the skills, experiences and network to deliver consistently at a high level for both colleagues and customers.

FOLLOW MATT:

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ABOUT OUR HOST:

Chris Schembra is a philosopher, question asker and facilitator. He's a columnist at Rolling Stone magazine, USA Today calls him their "Gratitude Guru" and he's spent the last six years traveling around the world helping people connect in meaningful ways. As the offshoot of his #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling book, “Gratitude Through Hard Times,” he uses this podcast to blend ancient stoic philosophy and modern-day science to teach how the principles of gratitude can be used to help people get through their hard times.

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"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." This proverb is old but will always ring true. In this episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times, Chris welcomes David Goldstein, the Founder and Creator of Opportunities at TeamBonding, the leading creator and provider of virtual, hybrid, and in-person team building events. Listen in as Chris and David discuss the power of play, team building, creating opportunities, and developing a mindset of gratitude to propel your life forward.

“We need to get to places and have experiences that allow people to have fun together, to play together, to meet each other, to trust each other. This is what life is about. It’s not about going to work, it’s about the things that work opens up for you.” – David Goldstein

David shares his origination story, from landing on the front page of the Wall Street Journal as a 26-year-old to running a team building company that hosts thousands of events for the world’s biggest companies every year. He highlights the importance of sharing your creative ideas with others and rejecting the philosophy that every minute of every day as an entrepreneur should be spent thinking about work. 

“With [entrepreneurship], at any point you can fall, there’s no safety net. But when you have someone by your side, that’s where the safety net is.” – David Goldstein

David also sheds light on how he involved his kids in entrepreneurship and taught them the value of starting a business. He offers words of wisdom on making ADHD your entrepreneurial superpower and what to do when your success doesn’t feel enough. Then, Chris breaks down the psychological benefits of being grateful for even the worst things that have ever happened to you (yes, there are benefits!).

Plus… How is David staying optimistic about the future of human connection in the post-covid era? Tune in to find out!
 

Books & Resources Mentioned:

Learn more about TeamBonding: https://www.teambonding.com

Tribe by Sebastian Junger: http://www.sebastianjunger.com/tribe-by-sebastian-junger

Tune in anywhere you listen to your podcasts!

OR Watch this podcast as a video series: https://spoti.fi/3uZah52

If you enjoyed this episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times, take a moment to share, rate, and review it so we can keep spreading the gratitude!

About the Guest:

David Goldstein is the Founder of TeamBonding, the leading creator and provider of virtual, hybrid, and in-person team building events. Chosen Seven times by INC. Magazine as one of the fastest-growing companies in the USA.

Connect with David on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidgoldstein

Sarah Fern is Chief People Officer of Velocity Global, a global Employer of Record organization with over nine hundred employees scattered around the globe.   Fresh off the heels of a $400 million Series B, they are one of the world's leading firms as an employer of record.  Employer record organizations help with global expansion. They help with global hiring, timely and accurate payroll processing ongoing compliance with local labor laws, additional HR related tasks, in layman's terms that you're watching this. If you have a company and you want to expand into a global market, They are the team to help you do it. 

As Chief People Officer, Sarah is responsible for overseeing the people side of this fast growing company. 

In today's episode, we go deep.  We chat about how Sarah's parents instinctively put trust in her at a young age.  How she used books as an early escape.  She learned early on that life is about giving gratitude to the hard times we've been through, especially in the face of adversity.

In this episode, Sarah shares the brave story of having three miscarriages over a decade ago.  She teaches us that when things don’t go to plan, you don’t have to become bitter.  If you become bitter in the face of adversity, you have a tendency to develop post traumatic stress. But if you turn that adversity into and positivity, you can actually develop post traumatic growth.

She teaches us that her moments of adversity taught her empathy, acceptance, self efficacy, appreciation, and so much more.

You can’t know gratitude without knowing pain.

We tie the conversation back to her leadership at Velocity Global. She teaches us that leadership isn’t just about writing policies, it’s about building trust, and seeing the uniqueness in nine hundred people across the world. What courageous conversations do the people at velocity global need to have in order to show up every day inspired and ready to connect?

What do you need to find in the workplace to give you wings?

This is a brave and vulnerable conversation with one of the world's great leaders, please enjoy.

The Colorado Business Hall of Fame says this of the 2008 inductee: “Harry Frampton has made developing some of the world’s premier ski resort towns an art form. Combining keen business sense with a respect for culture and sport, Frampton works to provide visitors and residents of these bustling towns with a well-rounded experience.” 

The founding partner of East West Partners is also a principal of Slifer Smith & Frampton Real Estate, putting him in the center of virtually every significant development and real estate transaction in the Vail Valley. From 1982 to 1986, Harry was president of Vail Associates, Inc., and he is also chairman of the board of the Vail Valley Foundation and former President Gerald R. Ford’s World Forum. 

In those roles, he has been instrumental in bringing more cultural and world-class sporting venues and events to the valley, raising its international profile and enhancing the experience for guests and residents alike.

Mr. Frampton has been named to the International Ski Hall of Fame. Chairman of the Urban Land Institute. But most importantly, part of a tribe of people that learned under Charles Fraser, Affectionately known as Charlie’s Angels.

In this podcast, Mr. Frampton teaches us that leadership requires listening.  That real estate development impacts community and national values.  Mr. Frampton's leadership style is making a lot of different people with different skills feel connected to whatever it they are working on and make them feel like they're making a contribution.  In this podcast we chat about old stories from Sea Pines, all the way to the future of real estate.

A true pioneer.  A lover of listening and making others feel heard.  Please enjoy this episode with Harry Frampton.

East West Partners:  https://www.ewpartners.com/

71 Wentworth:  https://71wentworth.com/

Shannon is the Chief Executive Officer of Beacon Pointe Advisors, the largest female-led Registered Investment Advisory (RIA) firm in the country serving private clients, foundations, and retirement plans. Prior to launching Beacon Pointe, Shannon served as Senior Managing Director and Portfolio Manager at Roxbury Capital Management and oversaw the socially responsible investment (SRI) platform for several years. Shannon is a member of the CNBC Financial Advisor Council and is regularly featured in The Wall Street Journal, InvestmentNews, Barron’s, Forbes, Financial Planning Magazine, among other publications. In 2018 she was presented with the UC Irvine Lauds & Laurels Award and in 2017 the Orange County Business Journal Women in Business Award. Through Shannon’s passion for financial education, she is a founding member of the Beacon Pointe Women’s Advisory Institute and co-authored Your Dollars, Our Sense: A Fun and Simple Guide to Money Matters, an international best-selling book that has ranked #1 in six different business and finance categories.  Shannon graduated from the University of California, Irvine where she played Division I Volleyball and she received her MBA from the University of California, Los Angeles Anderson School of Business. Shannon is a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) for the Orange County Chapter, and serves or has served on numerous boards including the Pacific Mercantile Board of Directors, the UCI Athletic Fund Board, the Charles Schwab Advisor Council, the TD Ameritrade Advisory Council, as well as Scratchworks, a FinTech accelerator that connects innovative tech companies with investment and wealth management luminaries to advance the digital transformation of the financial services industry.  As a dedicated philanthropist, she has also served on the Children’s Hospital of Orange County Professional Advisory Committee, the Investment Committee of Sisters of St. Joseph in Orange, and served as the Executive Director of the HALO Foundation. Shannon is married, has four children, and lives with her husband in Newport Beach, California.

Teams and businesses all over the world are growing. And having a growing team means that the culture changes every time somebody new is added, hopefully for the better. New additions mean the dynamic within team change, creating either positive or negative friction. As a leader, you have to absorb these things and drive the business forward. You have to have a passion for the people and want to do genuinely good for them.

Gareth Giles Knopp has a passion for people.

Gareth is a British skeptic, hard-nosed man, raised in post-World War II United Kingdom, who now sits as Chief Customer Officer and General Manager of North America Board International. Board is a wonderful technology company that empowers businesses to operate on a flexible all-in-one decision-making platform.

Gareth has been with the organization for many years, starting when the valuation was about $75 million, and now Board is valued at over $1.5 billion.

In this episode, Gareth shares his passions for people inside and outside the corporate world.

Listen to this episode and learn about:

• Gareth sharing a moment of adversity he’s overcome (5:58)
• Finding connection in a new community (9:44)
• Building diversity and belonging in a global organization (15:58)
• Recognizing disengagement on a team (18:30)
• The impact of a Virtual Gratitude Experience (23:30)
• How Gareth is doing (27:30)
• How true connection is missing nowadays (30:12)
• Closing words from Gareth (35:23)

Links

• Connect with Gareth on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/garethgilesknopp/
• Board International - https://www.board.com/en#gref

What do astronauts, Olympic champions, and Nobel laureates do differently that allows them to achieve at such a high level?

High achievers share the same four attributes: intrinsic motivation, perseverance, strong foundation, constantly learning through informal means. The key to their success is that they do all four of these things simultaneously.

Ruth Gotian’s latest book, The Success Factor, outlines the approach that individuals aspiring to improve their performance can adopt.

Dr. Ruth Gotian is the Chief Learning Officer and Assistant Professor of Education in Anesthesiology and former Assistant Dean of Mentoring and Executive Director of the Mentoring Academy at Weill Cornell Medicine. She has been hailed by the journal Nature and Columbia University as an expert in mentorship and leadership development. In 2021, she was selected as one of 30 people worldwide to be named to the Thinkers50 Radar List, dubbed the Oscars of management thinking, and recently won the Thinkers50 Distinguished Achievement “Radar” Award ranking her the #1 emerging management thinker in the world to bridge theory and practice. She is also a semi-finalist for the Forbes 50 Over 50 list. In addition to publishing in academic journals, she is a contributor to Forbes and Psychology Today where she writes about ‘optimizing success’. Her research is about the mindset and skill set of peak performers, including Nobel laureates, astronauts, and Olympic champions. Her latest book, The Success Factor, is out on January 25th.

In this episode, Ruth shares what inspired this book and covers fundamental concepts.

Listen to this episode and learn about:

• Being a high-achiever (5:03)
• Ruth giving credit and thanks to her fifth grade teacher (7:38)
• How The Success Factor came to be (12:51)
• Pivoting during difficult times (15:07)
• The practices of high achievers (17:44)
• Fearing not trying over failing (21:20)
• The importance of community for being a high achiever (24:13)
• Empathy in high achievers (28:19)
• Being a life long learner (30:10)
• Championing high achievers within your organization (33:54)

Links

• Connect with Ruth on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rgotian/
• The Success Factor - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09JDRP86B/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
• Ruth’s website - https://www.ruthgotian.com