Humans At Work

“And so how do we navigate this complex reality, which is that we're constantly masked because we need to be, because if you take all of that off and you reveal all the inner workings, it would be complete chaos. But at the same time, what tends to happen as humans is the mask, the presentation, we start to get caught up in the idea that the presentation is everything that we are. And that gets very confusing.”

This episode of the Humans at Work podcast features a conversation with Dr. Tom Cotton, Founder & Programme Director at The Breakthrough Process. We explore various themes including leadership, sustainability, and the concept of masking in professional settings. We discuss the importance of understanding one’s identity beyond job roles, the transformative power of group dynamics in leadership, and the emotional work required to navigate personal challenges and growth.

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 “So, we need leaders who are jazz band leaders, where you agree on the key and get the drummer to set the tempo. And then actually it's up to the whole group to kind of be alive and paying attention to each other and having real honest conversations about what's going on. It's those tiny little glances between people when you're playing in a band that, of these little signals that you have to pay attention to. And so, the jazz band leader's job is very different. It's one of hinting and nudging and getting alongside people rather than being out the front demanding that they do things in a certain way.”

This episode of the humans at work podcast features conversation with Paul McGregor, facilitator and speaker.  We explore various themes including leadership, facilitation, and community engagement, including the importance of cultural context.  Paul shares his journey of writing a book focused on the power of curiosity and questions in leadership, while also emphasizing the significance of listening and engagement in effective communication.  And we touch on the challenges of job seeking in today's environment, and the need for organizations to rethink their recruitment processes.

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“…find that new and better version that better suits and deals with the problem at hand, whether that's one for you and or your client, and then go out and sell that. Now we've made a new and smarter version, oh and by the way, it's actually also better for the world, but it's not the other way around. Don't lead with green, lead with better, and then sprinkle green on top. That's what's going to make you set your path.”

In this episode of the Humans at Work podcast, Jasper takes us through his journey into sustainability and the importance of business leadership in addressing climate change. Jasper introduces his concept of the 'Fatal Five' barriers to sustainability and how reframing the conversation can lead to positive outcomes for both businesses and the environment. We discuss the need for a redefinition of sustainability that emphasizes proactive measures for future generations, the importance of collaboration and openness in addressing environmental challenges, and the necessity of overcoming fear to embrace an abundance mindset.

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“News and information in general has never been more important. When we're looking at how we inform the decisions that we make in our lives and what we care about. 

Just using the US as an example, whether it's related to what's happening in our Supreme Court and the cases that they're selecting, what's happening in our local governments, and our state governments, and our federal government?

Having an informed electorate has never been more important and that's one of the things that has always drawn me to news and information is about letting people know facts...“

This episode of the humans at work podcast features conversation with Dave Trausneck, Communications Consultant at Knowledge Partners, and Senior Manager at Aidoc. 

Dave and I explore a variety of topics, ranging from personal stories about pets to the impact of community in sports, the evolution of news, and the importance of authentic communication in organizations. We discuss the challenges of misinformation and the importance of trust, the significance of listening to understand, and the power of vulnerability in professional settings.  We also talk about what led us to connect, and the importance of seeking help during challenging times.

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 “As I look at how the world operates, that global community, even now we need even more attention and detail to being respectful, to broadening our perspectives on things and to reaching out and helping people. Rather than having our measure as individual success, have our measure as collective or community success cos then everyone gets to have some value.”

This episode of the humans at work podcast features conversation with Craig Pattison, Director of ChalknTalk, and COO of Capability Collective. 

Craig and I discussed the privilege and opportunities that travel and engaging with other cultures affords, the nature of community and the obligations and values embedded within that.  We also touch on AI adoption and adaptation, the nature of long-distance relationship building, and how risk management and governance are shifting in context.

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 “How are we gonna lock arms with trust and love and care and move into this unknown, unshaped, unformed future and start putting some shape and form to it, born from love? Not fear, power over, scarcity, all that kind of stuff. That’s what I’m hoping, this book becomes an instrument in that way to bring forward those kinds of caring conversations.

This episode of the humans at work podcast features conversation with Kent Frazier, CEO of ParadoxEdge.

Kent and I talk about polarities and becoming comfortable with the ‘edges’ of things.  We traverse a wide range of topics including, what this means for leadership through care, the search for conversational relationships in a world of ‘meetings’, and the need to move away from fixed, binary camps to embracing our polarities as a continuum that bring generosity and humanness at work.  Kent not only articulates these concepts clearly, but has written and designed “Love Fiercely”, an inspirational (and aspirational) book for children and adults of all ages and in all contexts.

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“…so what we want to do is really unleash the potential of humans to really connect and help. It’s a bit of what we do in Africa – it’s unleashing the potential, the entrepreneurial potential to actually drive solutions, and what we’re giving is this tool that even any random individual can be a solution to local problems.”

This episode of the humans at work podcast features a conversation with Emanuele Santi, co-founder and president of Afrilanthropy supporting African entrepreneurs, and Riding the Rainbow, an app connecting refugees and local communities in the sharing, circular economy.

Emanuele and I talk about fear, risk, myth and labelling, and how his work with African entrepreneurs and refugees provides simple tools and channels that unleash human potential for innovation, empathy and local solutions.  We covered the full range of topics in the economic space from macro-economics and the continuing negative impacts of colonisation, to micro-economics and the power of individuals to create local solutions that deliver impact and can scale.

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“The present is already really messy.  What I’ve learnt is that the future will be really messy, too, and that there won’t be a single answer to everything.  Coming back to foresight then, I think good organisations should really do the work of imagining multiple futures and there’s some really well-designed scenario methodologies out there for working out which kinds of futures you might want to think about.  Let’s say you end up with four different futures for how you think the world might be, that’s really, really useful for strategising.” 

This episode of the humans at work podcast features conversation with Melissa Clark-Reynolds, a futurist, technology entrepreneur and insightful and visionary speaker. She is the Managing Director at FutureCentre.nz and sits on the Boards of Atkins Ranch, Wētā Workshop Ltd, Alpine Energy Group, Daffodil Enterprises Ltd, NZ Future Bees Trust, and Iron Duke.

Melissa and I talk about the changing nature of consumer and employer influence, the evolution of executive governance, and the role of long-term investment thinking for future generations.  As an experienced Director, Melissa reflected on how Boards need to role model the behaviours and values of the organisation, how incentives for CE performance could do with an overhaul, and how to develop resilient strategies.

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And those of us who are 45 and up who are in that category of leaders at the moment, if you like, what if we’d all been through an education system which taught us to be ethically informed about what our actions were doing, not just on our doorstep but in other parts of the world?  Or about the climate or about how the economic system favours some people and definitely not the majority of people, might we have a completely different perspective? 

This episode of the humans at work podcast features conversation with Sophie Howe, Sustainability Futures and Wellbeing Adviser, and the first Future Generations Commissioner for Wales.

Sophie and I talk about what the reality is of the ‘superhero’ job Future Generations Commissioner, how much more public and private sector can be doing to integrate our thinking systemically and holistically, and how to enable younger generations to think creatively, proactively and strategically to be better prepared for the future challenges. 

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This episode of the humans at work podcast features a Postscript Moment – a special follow-up conversation with one of our previous podcast guests.  For those of you who can remember letter-writing, after you’d signed off your letter, you could write P.S. and add in one last story or commentary that you knew would appeal to your letter recipient!  You wouldn’t have much space left on the paper, so you’d need to be more succinct and often P.S. information was the most informal and ‘juicy’ part of your news.

“So, you cannot pretend those things didn’t happen and you cannot pretend that those things don’t have an influence on what happened a hundred years later, and how living with that legacy of that trauma can still have an impact in today’s world.”

This episode of the humans at work podcast features a short(er) follow-up conversation with Enver Samuel, Documentary Film Maker, head of EMS Productions and currently a board member of the Documentary Film Makers Association.  It builds on the full podcast with Enver in episode 1.

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