Inside Influence

Michael Krogerus - The Secrets of Great Decision Making: Information, Intuition and How to Keep Moving

How do you approach decisions in your life? Are you the cut and thrust type or do you agonize over every decision? We make decisions every day but do we have a good strategy for making those decisions? Even fast decision-makers can struggle with a weighty decision from time to time. 

Today’s guest, journalist Mikael Krogerus, struggled with decision making. Sometimes he made his best decisions with preparation but other times gut decisions led to better outcomes. So like any good journalist, he decided to do the research to find the answers. This search became the basis of his best-selling guide “The Decision Book”. In this book, he and co-author Roman Tschäppele walk the reader through proven strategies for decision making, sharing secrets like how to make decisions under pressure and why too much information is just as debilitating as not enough. 

Mikael is a Finnish citizen who grew up in Sweden and Germany.

He is currently the editor of Das Magazin, the weekend magazine for leading Swiss newspapers.

He has over 20 years experience in journalism, writing for newspapers such as NZZ (Zurich) and Der Freitag (Berlin) and even started his own sports news portal. He has won seven journalism awards.

He has co-written five books with long-term friend Roman Tschäppele including the Decision Book and The Communication Book.

He has a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Government from Freie Universität Berlin and is an Enterprising Leadership graduate from Kasopilot.

Website: https://rtmk.ch/

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=644436972

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mikaelkrogerus

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mikael-krogerus-0406906 

“The problem with decision making is not only the fact that we can make a mistake but that we can spend too much time and energy to avoid making that mistake”.

“People agonize too much over things that don’t play a big part in their lives”.

• How humans differ from animals in terms of decision making i.e. we think long-term and worry about the past and future decisions.
• What decision fatigue is and how to avoid it.
• The importance of setting limits on your information gathering.
• The TMI paradox is: why having too much information is similar to having not enough.
• Why we are often happier when we limit our options and set a deadline for decisions.
• The importance of recognising the unknowns. Taking the time to think about things you might not have considered, preferably before you need to make a big decision.
• Why the pressure of making a “perfect decision” can be paralyzing - and how to avoid it.
• The role of gut decisions in helping us make complex decisions - and the need to be sceptical: as gut decisions can be based on experience and prejudice. 
• How to make decisions better under time pressure - you often have more time than you think so step back, breathe, and focus on the goal of your decision.
• Why not making a decision IS a decision.
• Expectation vs satisfaction: the more we expect from a decision’s outcome, the harder it is to be satisfied with the outcome. 
• Maximizers vs. Satisficers: How maximisers make the best decisions - but satisficers are faster and happier with the decisions that they make. 
• The three phases of good decision making: the preparation phase (do I have enough information), the timing phase (is this the right time for a decision) and the reflection phase (how do I feel about the decision in hindsight). 
• Why we waste a lot of our decision making time - and momentum - looking for the Loch Ness monster. That being the illusive ‘perfect’ choice or option.
• The truth that we become the decisions we make. When faced with two good but hard choices, choose the one that speaks to who you are or who you want to be.

• Danish-Icelandic artist Olaf Eliasson’s 2020 exhibition was called: “Sometimes the river is the bridge”
• The supermarket- jam experiment can be found in the paper: 
• Iyengar, Sheena S. and Lepper, Mark R.,(2000), ”When Choice is Demotivating: Can one desire too much of a good thing?”, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2000, Vol. 79, No.6, p995 - 1006.
• Dutch explorer Willem de Vlamingh: first European to discover black swans.
• Daniel Kahneman quote: “intuition is thinking that you know without knowing why you do”.
• Simon Yates cut the rope on climbing partner Joe Simpson who wrote the book, “Touching the void”.
• Alan Watts quote, “muddy water is cleared by leaving it alone” comes from his book “The Way of Zen”.
• Previous podcast with Brandon Webb: “Get off the X”
• Loch Ness monster
• Philosopher Ruth Chang’s Ted Talk “How to make hard choices”
• My new ebook The Influencer Code

Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of the Inside Influence Podcast! If the information in my conversations and interviews have helped you in your business journey, please head over to iTunes, subscribe to the show, and leave an honest review. Your reviews and feedback will not only help us continue to deliver great, helpful content, but it will also help us reach even more amazing people just like you!

Also, don’t forget to hop on my website juliemasters.com and download my new ebook The Influencer Code

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

What type of leader do you want to be? 

Some leaders are like black holes that suck the passion and self-belief out of their teams. While others are unsure of how to enrol their teams into a greater vision.

Benjamin Zander is not one of these leaders. He is remarkable in the way he calls out the passion and possibilities in his teams. He wants to see your eyes shine!

His unique approach as the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra has elevated him to the level of leadership guru. He is awarded by the UN, has spoken at Davos, is a bestselling author with his wife, and his TED Talks have been seen by tens of millions. 

On today’s Inside Influence Podcast episode, we talk to Benjamin Zander about how to lead from the position of possibility.

Benjamin Zander was born in Buckinghamshire England after his parents fled Nazi Germany in 1937. 

At age 12, Zander became the youngest member of the British National Youth Orchestra. At 15, he moved to Italy to study under master cellist Gaspar Cassadó. 

After completing a degree in English Literature at the University of London, he was awarded a Harkness Fellowship to study in the US. 

Moving to Boston he joined the New England Conservatory of Music in 1967 and began his career as a conductor.

 In 1978 he founded the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra where he continues to conduct to this day. In 2012, he founded the Boston Youth Philharmonic Orchestra.

He has over 11 recordings with the Boston Philharmonic and has been nominated for a Grammy multiple times. He is acclaimed for his interpretations of Mahler and Beethoven.

In 2000, he released “The Art of Possibility” co-authored with his wife Rosamund Stone Zander, therapist and executive coach. The book became a bestseller and has been translated into 20 languages. The book looks at how leadership and personal development can foster creativity and growth.

His Ted Talk ”The Transformative Power of Classical Music”  has been seen and shared by over 20 million people. 

He is a sought after speaker on leadership and classical music. 

In 2002, he was awarded the “Caring Citizen of the Humanities Award” by the United Nations.

He was also awarded the Crystal Award for “Outstanding Contributions in the Arts and International Relations” by the Davos World Economic Forum

Website: www.benjaminzander.org

Facebook: OfficialBenjaminZander

Twitter:  @BenjaminZander

LinkedIn: benjaminzander

“The conductor of an orchestra is the only musician that doesn’t make a sound but he has a lot of power. But the power comes entirely from his ability to make other people powerful”

“A cynical person is a passionate person who does not want to be disappointed again.”

“Look for love and the courage will come.”

• Why choosing to stand in possibility is the greatest discipline of life – and the impact that choice can have on not only those around us, but also some of the greatest challenges we currently face as a global community.
• How to overcome the voice of negativity
• How to know if you are leading well
• That there is always a pathway to possibility
• How to bring out someone’s best performance
• The failure of not believing that people are up to a task
• What are the two voices we all hear
• The art of enrolment – how to put out a call to your team or followers. One that is so grippingly honest and compelling - that only the brave of heart will step forward. 
• What it means to be an interpreter within your space – and why sometimes it involves apologising for the times we fail to get others to enrol.
• And finally - why there are always two people playing the violin – the first being the player – and the second being the voice inside their head. And what the most accomplished musicians in the world do when that voice gets unhelpful.

• Zander’s Ted Talk: “The Transformative Power of Classical Music”  
• Zander’s book co-written with his wife: “The Art of Possibility”
• Rosamund Stone Zander’s book “Pathways to Possibility”
• Zander’s “Safe & Sound'' Concert Series: Brahm’s Sextet in B-flat Major, op. 18
• Zander conducting an online Masterclass
• Benjamin Zander playing the piano: “An evening with Benjamin Zander and Mozart”
• Boston Philharmonic Orchestra
• The Influencer Code

Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of the Inside Influence Podcast! If the information in my conversations and interviews have helped you in your business journey, please head over to iTunes, subscribe to the show, and leave an honest review. Your reviews and feedback will not only help us continue to deliver great, helpful content, but it will also help us reach even more amazing people just like you!

Also, don’t forget to hop on my website juliemasters.com and download my new ebook The Influencer Code

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Is hardcore porn preparing children and young people for a good sex life? According to the American Psychology Association, the largest consumers of internet porn are 12 to 17 year-olds. 

On today’s podcast, we talk to an advertising industry veteran and entrepreneur who is not afraid to talk about sex education and to stand up for good real-world sex, Cindy Gallop.

Cindy is the founder of the MakeLoveNotPorn website which she launched with a TED Talk in 2009. Her four minute talk quickly and unexpectedly went viral. It currently has over 2.6m views on YouTube. It elevated Cindy into a needed social discourse that is too often hushed. 

MakeLoveNotPorn is a social sextech platform designed to promote good sexual behavior and good sexual values by showing good real-world sex. It’s mission is to promote honest and open conversations about sex through the dynamic of social media. It’s vision is a “social sex revolution”. Content is carefully curated and revenue is shared with contributors.

Cindy started the site after she started to see a trend in the young men she dated. Men were behaving badly in bed. They equated good sex with memes from harcore porn. She looked around and realised that hardcore porn had converged with society’s unwillingness to talk about sex education. She wanted to create a platform that showed the joy of real-world sex: consentual and communicative. 

A decade on from LoveNotPorn’s launch, we talk to Cindy about why she started the platform, what has changed over that time, what needs to change still, and how we can be that change.

Lucinda “Cindy” Gallop was born in the UK. 

She earned a Master’s in English Language and Literature from Oxford University. 

She began her career as a theatre publicist but moved into the world of advertising, where she has built a stellar 36 year career.

In 1989, she joined the growing advertising firm Bartle Bogle Hegarty. In 1996, she moved to Singapore to start and run BBH’s Asia-Pacific office, which included clients like Levi’s. 

In 1998 she started the US branch. By 2002, the branch was named Adweek’s Eastern Agency of the Year, and in 2003, she was named Advertising Woman of the Year. Building on this success, she was appointed to the position of Chairman and President for BBH in the US. 

Today, she works as an expert consultant in advertising and in her spare time is trying to make the world a better place. She has founded two influential online platforms: IfWeRanTheWorld (paying it forward with micro-actions) and MakeLoveNotPorn.

Website: cindygallop.com

Facebook: cindy.gallop

Twitter: @cindygallop

LinkedIn:cindygallop

“At MakeLoveNotPorn we show you how wonderful, great consentual and communicative sex is in the real world.”

“The only way you educate people as to what is great consentual and communicative sex, good sex, and good sexual behaviour is by watching people having that type of sex”

• Her journey with #makelovenotporn – why it began and why she sincerely believes our values and stories around sex should be a National priority
• How she approaches – and handles herself – as a leader in the multitude of moments where all doors are being slammed shut
• The impact of the porn industry – and how two dimensional and disconnected a conversation becomes - when you exclude 50% of the participants.
• The concept of micro-actions – and why they hold the key to any sustainable change or momentum – including her recommendation for the No.1 micro-action we can all take to completely change the trajectory of our lives.
• And finally – what she’s learned about talking about taboos – and how much one moment can change your life.
• “Everyone of us can change the world in tiny tiny ways, every single day”

• Makelovenotporn.tv
• IfWeRanTheWorld
• Cindy’s original 2009 Ted Talk
• The Influencer Code

Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of the Inside Influence Podcast! If the information in my conversations and interviews have helped you in your business journey, please head over to iTunes, subscribe to the show, and leave an honest review. Your reviews and feedback will not only help us continue to deliver great, helpful content, but it will also help us reach even more amazing people just like you!

Also, don’t forget to hop on my website juliemasters.com and download my new ebook The Influencer Code

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Guy Kawasaki - The Art of Evangelism: Mastery, mantras and nailing the pitch

Is your elevator pitch letting you down? The world is full of the “best” and “revolutionary” so how can you make your product or company cut through?

On today’s Inside Influence Podcast episode, we talk to the former chief evangelist at Apple and current chief evangelist for Canva Guy Kawasaki about how to be an evangelist for your product or company.

Guy shares stories from his journey as an entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and tech evangelist with practical tips that founders, business owners, and employees can apply to their organisation.

Guy learnt from the best but has a passion to share his lessons with others wanting to get started. 

Guy Kawasaki is the chief evangelist of Canva and former chief evangelist at Apple. He is an executive fellow of the Haas School of Business (UC Berkeley), and an adjunct professor of the University of New South Wales. He is also a former trustee of the Wikimedia Foundation. 

Guy was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. He has a BA from Stanford University, an MBA from UCLA, and an honorary doctorate from Babson College.

After working for an education software company, his Stanford roommate got him a job at Apple in 1983. At Apple, he promoted Macintosh to software developers. He ended up working for Apple twice and turned Steve Jobs down for a third stint.

After leaving Apple (the first time), he started two software companies and VC firm Garage Technology Ventures.  

He has written fourteen books including Wise Guy, The Art of the Start 2.0, The Art of Social Media, and Enchantment. He is also a popular speaker on innovation, entrepreneurship, and product evangelism.

He hosts a podcast called “Remarkable People” where he interviews amazing people from all walks of life.

Website: https://guykawasaki.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/guy

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GuyKawasaki

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/guykawasaki/

“Everybody is using the same adjectives so if you want to position yourself as unique and valuable you have to really articulate why you are unique and valuable”.

“It’s not where you start but how fast you move”.

• How to identify “solid-gold” products or people using the “Unique by Valuable” matrix
• That showing (i.e. a demo), is more powerful than telling someone about your product
• How to localise your product - personalising your pitch and marketing
• How to optimise your 30-second elevator pitch - mantras rather than mission statements (for a 3-minute pitch check out Julie’s Podcast with successful film director Brant Pinvidic)
• Whether your product is a “vitamin” or a “pain-killer”
• The ideal format for a pitch deck
• How to become an evangelist 
• What does “drawing on a bullseye last” means in terms of failure and success
• How to make an “ask”
• What the ultimate purpose of an organisation should be

• Canva
• Mac-Apple
• The history of Apple Macintosh
• Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell - 10,000-hour rule
• Mindset by Carol Dweck
• Jane Goodall
• Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth

Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of the Inside Influence Podcast! If the information in my conversations and interviews have helped you in your business journey, please head over to iTunes, subscribe to the show, and leave an honest review. Your reviews and feedback will not only help us continue to deliver great, helpful content, but it will also help us reach even more amazing people just like you!

Also, don’t forget to hop on and download my new ebook The Influencer Code which is available on my website juliemasters.com. 

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We are drowning in news, fake and otherwise. And our time, energy, and mental health is suffering as a result. During the initial lockdowns last year, I found myself 'opting out'. I was overwhelmed.

But as influencers, we need to stay engaged and focused. And we need to be deliberate about the news we watch and listen to. We need to make it a habit. Avoiding the news is not the answer.

Where do you go to get your news? What news should you pay attention to?

On today’s Inside Influence Podcast episode, we talk to Gautam Mishra the founder of Inkl.

Gautam talks about why he founded Inkl, the importance of getting the right news, and the future of the industry. He also advises on how to stay informed and balanced while avoiding the traps of social media.

Inkl is a premium news service that uses an algorithm to recommend stories from over 100+ trusted global sources like The Economist and The Guardian. It recommends stories based on news value (as determined by the publishers themselves) rather than what is trending. It also presents alternative voices to its stories, “Good News”, and original journalism. It has been called the “Spotify for news”.

During the pandemic, Inkl has seen its revenues double as people have turned to quality news sources. Publishers like Inkl because it pays a higher rate than normal online advertising.

Today’s Guest Gautam Mishra

Schooled in Kolkata, Gautam went to university in the US and graduated with an MBA from the Wharton Business School.

Even as a boy, Gautam was a news tragic. He wrote stories for his local newspaper and was editor of his school newspaper. While at Wharton he helped edit the Wharton Journal.

Moving to Australia he became General Manager for Strategy, Data, and Research for Fairfax Media, owner of the leading national newspapers, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

While at Fairfax he became an expert in paywalls and who and why people were paying for news.

In 2013, he left Fairfax to co-found AirShr (an interactive radio app) and Inkl. Today, he is the CEO of Inkl. 

Website: https://www.inkl.com/

Facebook: @inklcom

Twitter: jeamish

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/jeamish

“There are not many parallels for this in history where the value of a customer has collapsed by 99 percent and the business has survived it.” Gautam Mishra.

You’ll learn

• As readers there has been an explosion in the number of topics and sources we follow.
• Social media algorithms give us information we already know and love. News platform algorithms are designed to give us information we don’t already know but need to know.
• Social media is great for sharing news articles but as an open platform it is not good at checking their veracity.  
• A lot of news we now read or even pictures we see come from unknown sources with undeclared biases. This makes it harder for us to process the information.This is why providence is important.
• Since the introduction of the internet, the revenues of newspapers have collapsed by something like 99 percent.
• Online advertising is not working. People are not logging on to news websites. Google and Facebook attract the lion’s share of online advertising, and the small size of mobile phone screens make online advertising difficult.
• News platforms are moving to subscription models, which provide revenues per user a hundred times greater than online advertising. 
• The importance of providing people with sufficient information on their path to conviction over an issue.

References and links mentioned

• BBC Article mentioned in the intro - How the news changes the way we think and behave
• Substack - newsletter service
• Future Crunch -  new learning experiences for key new knowledge (my podcast episode with Future Crunch)
• For anyone who wants to explore Inkl further after listening to this conversation, Gautam has offered a 14 day free trial to all Influence Insiders. You can access it via this URL: http://www.inkl.com/julie-masters.

Also, don’t forget to hop on and download my new ebook The Influencer Code which is available on my website juliemasters.com. 

Subscribe To & Review The Inside Influence Podcast

Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of the Inside Influence Podcast! If the information in my conversations and interviews have helped you in your business journey, please head over to iTunes, subscribe to the show, and leave an honest review. Your reviews and feedback will not only help us continue to deliver great, helpful content, but it will also help us reach even more amazing people just like you!

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

I want you to imagine for a second that your son or daughter – or niece or nephew if you don’t have children – is your legal guardian.

You need their written permission to open a bank account, get a job, get married, get divorced or leave the country. If something were to happen to them, your ownership would then be passed to someone else.

As part of this system, you’re also not able to leave the house alone, drive, show your face, have your name used in public – the list goes on.

When I first started researching todays episode – I had to take a second with that. What parts of my life right now would be or would have been impossible? How would I navigate the day-to-day practical aspects of just existing?

Having had those freedoms throughout my lifetime, it’s hard if not impossible to imagine having them taken away. Let alone not having them in the first place.

My guest today grew up within such a world. Born and raised in Saudi Arabia, a country in which - prior to 2019 - women were not permitted legal guardianship over their own lives – including being (until 2018) the last nation on earth to give women the right to drive.

There have been a number of reforms in women’s rights within Saudi Arabia over the past few years – including women’s right to take guardianship over their own lives after the age of 21 - and an increase in participation of women in the workforce from 20% to 33% within the past two years.

However, pivotal to these reforms, are the women that - in the case of today’s guest -quite literally ‘drove’ that movement. A movement that both divided – and then changed an entire Nation.

My guest today is Manal Al-Sharif. I was first introduced to Manal a few years ago when – in exile from her own country – she moved to Australia. Since then we have stayed in touch, and I have watched in awe as she travelled the world speaking on International stages to talk about her activism – and later her incredible book ‘Daring to Drive’. 

In 2011, Manal co-founded and led the #Women2Drive movement. To challenge the ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia. She was arrested and imprisoned for "driving while female" and was released on the condition that she never drive again on Saudi lands and never speak about it.

Ignoring these conditions Manal continued campaigning for #Women2Drive and the  #IAmMyOwnGuardian movement - with the aim to end male guardianship in her country. In June of 2018 the Saudi government lifted the ban on women driving. Manal then went on to start #Faraj, a campaign to help domestic helpers leave jail, and #IAmLama which resulted in codifying the first anti-domestic violence law in Saudi.

As a result of her tireless activism, she was awarded the first Vaclav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent. Including being listed as one of TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people, and Forbes Top 50 Women in Tech.

Manal is a TED and Harvard speaker, she has also spoken for the United Nations, UNESCO, the Obama Summit, Google, Yahoo!, the Oslo Freedom Forum and many others.

In this conversation, I finally had chance to ask some of the questions I had always wanted to ask her. Including:

• The day of her arrest – and what went through her mind as she heard those knocks on her door at 2am, while her 5-year-old son slept upstairs.
• What she learnt about using her voice so publicly - against a structure or system that seemed impenetrable – and how she handled the inevitable backlash.
• What it takes to not only start a movement – but to see it through to its conclusion. We tend to hear a lot about movements in their early stages, but not so much in the months and years later - when those at the frontline are still tirelessly fighting – often without resources, media or financial support.
• How she handles the personal consequences of what happened. Including the impact on her career and her ability to see her children – and how she prepares every day to help her sons understand the decisions she made. Favourite part…
• And why – for a large portion of the planet – we still live in a world driven by ‘rules that were written in our absence”- and what she now understands about how you start to question and then rewrite those rules.

Please be warned that some parts of this interview contain violent language and swearing. So I’ll leave it to you to decide whose ears should be listening.

For me, Manal is one of those individuals that – when she walks into a room – the clocks literally stop. Such is the palpable strength of her presence and conviction.

However, what I’d love you to reflect on here is not necessarily the size of her strength. 

It’s the smaller decisions. The moment by moment – day by day choices to commit and recommit. A favourite quote from the suffragette movement is that it is ‘deeds and not words’ that changes things. What aspect of the world around you right now seems broken, no longer useful or in need of a rewrite?

What deed, however large, could you undertake – or whose deeds can you actively support in the long term – to help get that change made?

That's a question that’s very much on my mind at the moment.

On that note, sit back, cycle on, stride out, drive safe and enjoy my conversation with the undeniable force that is Manal Al-Sharif.

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One of the great things about the world of founders and entrepreneurs – and for anyone in that arena you’ll know there are many not so great things – is that you get to choose your landscape. 

No one is going to walk into your office at 2pm on a rainy Tuesday afternoon - and announce that you now work somewhere else, possibly in a different country, leading a whole new team, with a whole new batch of KPI’s, stakeholders and challenges.

Such is the world of the organisational leader. The corporate leader who, entrepreneurial and innovative as he or she may be – still needs to exist within a legacy and structure that is largely out of their hands.

Now don’t get me wrong - that journey also comes with definite advantages – mentors, resources, consistency, a carefully refined playbook – but as we all know, the bigger the ship, the more entrenched the culture and the more stakeholders – the harder it can be to turn around.

Honestly, I’ve never really spent much time on the art of corporate leadership within this podcast – I’ve always owned and run my own businesses so it’s not a world I’m deeply familiar with – plus I’ve tended to believe we can learn more about influence on the fringes - than the centre of business as usual.

But oh how wrong it seems I have been. Flashback to a few months ago, when a publisher colleague of mine handed me a new book about to hit the shelves called: ‘Why it’s not always right to be right: And other hard won leadership lessons’.

Written by Hamish Thomson, it’s a book that beautifully documents the learnings, stories and strategies he learnt during a 30-year journey from (his own words) a fresh-faced account executive in the London advertising scene – to the Regional President and Global Brand head for Mars - one of the most iconic and recognised brands on the planet.

In this conversation we dive hard into:

• The namesake of the book – why as a leader it’s not always right to be right. And what metric successful leaders focus on instead.
• Using the 30% rule to light a fire under any team or target  – anyone that’s looking to get serious traction will want to take some notes here.
• Time on the ball – why those leaders that truly become iconic are those that learn how to stop translating pressure into stress.
• The concept of drains and radiators – and how one conversation in a stairwell can pivot an entire organisation.
• And finally – my personal favorite, so much so that it’s now written on a post-it note on my desk. I’m looking at it right now. How to stop confusing motion with impact.

Probably the piece I have been thinking most about since we recorded this interview, is the part around limiting beliefs. Or upper limit thinking.

You’ll hear Hamish talk a lot about the courage it takes to not only talk about the elephants in the room with his teams – those limiting beliefs about why this will never work, what’s been tried before and how the resources will never stretch that far.

But actually taking it one step further – by placing those beliefs on the table, documenting them, questioning them and agreeing to release them as a team.

Whether you’re a solo start up, an experienced leader or the CEO of a multinational enterprise – that’s a powerful (and visible) commitment to removing whatever blocks stand between where you are - and what’s possible.

On that note, sit back, drive on, stride out and I’ll leave you with the insights of a veteran of leadership – Hamish Thomson.

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Here’s a question for today – what makes someone trustworthy? What do you look for? If you had to pin it down to a single trait, or indicator, what would it be?

Think about how many people we trust in our lives just for a second – with our vision, our businesses, our children, our finances, the health and wealth of our Nation.

Yet how do we ever really know if someone can be trusted - essentially their moral code – until it’s tested. Essentially until – potentially – it’s too late. 

Which brings me on to my next question, and ultimately the focus of today’s episode. 

Is there a reliable i.e. scientific way that we can predict and therefore design for trustworthy behaviour? A way of being able to trust who we can trust in a way.

Now let’s take that to the next level, if there is. If there are repeatable factors behind trustworthy behaviour – how could we use it to influence ourselves? Our own likelihood of behaving in a way that fits with our intentions – with the vision of the human being we want to be on our best days. 

When I first started diving into this topic, the marriage of combining science with trust seemed like an unlikely one. Human beings are mysteries right? We’re a walking soup of contradictions, hormones and reactions. Any attempt to predict our behaviour usually fails.

And yet – this simple force – trust – is the glue that holds together every single fundamental part of the world that we know. Society, democracy, marriage – they all rely totally upon its existence.

So, it would seem about time that we dived a little deeper into the mechanics of it.

My guest on today’s episode has done exactly that, but he’s also taken it a step further. He’s identified the actual molecule responsible for trust – and found a way it can be used to predict behaviour with up to 80% accuracy.

Paul Zak is the founding Director of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies and Professor of Economics, Psychology and Management at Claremont Graduate University. Paul’s two decades of research have taken him from the Pentagon to Fortune 50 boardrooms to the rain forest of Papua New Guinea.  All this in a quest to understand the neuroscience of human connection, human happiness, and effective teamwork. 

His latest book, Trust Factor: The Science of Creating High Performance Companies, uses neuroscience to measure and manage organizational cultures to accelerate business outcomes.  His 2012 book, The Moral Molecule: The Source of Love and Prosperity, recounted his unlikely discovery of the exact neurochemical that drives trust, love, and human morality. 

In todays episode we dive into…

• Why human beings are the only creatures with a fully developed moral code – and how we use it to predict behaviour and essentially keep ourselves safe.
• The moral molecule – what it is, how it works and how it can be harnessed to increase the likelihood of trustworthy behaviour.
• The link between trust and prosperity – and why understanding the science of trust might be the key to alleviating poverty 
• How Pauls career and experience in this field has impacted his own approach to building trust – as both a leader and a parent
• And finally – probably the part that blew me away the most – what all this information tells us about the future of storytelling. Including exactly how to structure a story – in order to trigger the chemicals in the brain that are directly responsible for people taking action.

On reflection, the part of this conversation that probably stuck with me the most is the concept of ‘time ins’ as a trigger.

The essential idea being that when people behave in a way that leads us to disconnect – either as a leader, a partner, a friend or a parent – often our instinct is to give them a time out. Set them apart, make an example, reinforce the rules through separation. In most countries we have based an entire criminal justice system upon this one guiding principle. 

And yet… in many of those occasions, what’s actually needed is a time in. A bringing closer into the fold. An acknowledgement that - given the wrong combination of situations, chemicals, hormones and moments in time – we can all (and will all to varying degrees) lose sight of our best selves.

On that note, hunker down – or hide out somewhere quiet if you’re still in lock down – and soak up both the science and wisdom of the incredible Paul Zak.

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“It is better to be feared than loved, if one cannot be both” Niccolo Macchiavelli, Italian philosopher.

As a leader – which would you rather be? For all of us that question brings up different triggers, the desire to be liked, the fear of being seen as a push over. The pain of watching our plans dissolve because we were obviously not compelling enough – in that moment - to as my next guest would describe ‘bend the world to meet our will’.

So what if I told you that you can be both. In fact, what if I told you that the most charismatic, influential and inspirational people in our world are always both. 

Everyone wants to know how to be more influential – it’s the entire focus of this podcast. But most of us don't really think we can have the kind of magnetism or charisma that we associate with someone like Bill Clinton or Oprah Winfrey unless it comes naturally. 

My next guest - John Neffinger believes that this isn't something we have to be born with, it's something we can learn. 

In his excellent book ‘Compelling People – co-authored with XX - They trace the path to influence through a balance of strength and warmth. Each seems simple, but only a few of us figure out the tricky task of projecting both at once. Drawing on cutting-edge social science research as well as their own work with Fortune 500 executives, Presidential candidates, TED speakers and Nobel Prize winners, Compelling People explains how we size each other up - and how we can learn to win the admiration, respect, and affection we desire. 

In this episode we unpack:

• Why words like chemistry and "charisma" are unhelpful. In short because they give us the impression that you either have it or you don’t – and they aren’t just tools that can be learned
• The two critical criteria when it comes to being a compelling force as a leader: strength and warmth. And why EVERY single one of our social judgements are based on those two aspects.
• Managing the dance – cold and warm – what comes first – and how the most charismatic, influential and inspirational people in our world are the ones that move continually and deliberately between those two places.
• His experience working with Hillary Clinton to prepare for her first debates with Donald Trump – you all remember that one. Knowing what happened, how would he prep her now?
• How to deal with interruptions – and yep you guessed it – why the Biden / Trump debate was an ideal case study on how to deal with vocal force.
• And why the job of President is not just to run the country. The job of President is to lead the country. Which means giving voice to people’s sentiments and telling the story of what comes next.

If there’s one thing I’d love you to reflect on while you listen to this conversation – it’s the concept of ‘the tilt’. That your role as a leader – positional or not – is not necessarily to bend the world to meet your will – or to fold at the bendings of other people. It’s stay centered, get still, take a moment if you need to – and feel into what’s out of balance. Then, use the power of your will and intention to tilt back the scales.

On that note, sit back, stride out – pull out the protein bar for those who are still on a NY detox – and soak up the lessons from the front lines of persuasion from the incredible – John Neffinger.

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There are some episodes of this podcast where I feel like I come into the conversation with at least some basic knowledge of the subject or, or the journey we're about to embark on. And then there are others where it's probably equally as new territory for me as it might be for you. And in my experience, those ones, the ones where I have the least experience usually make the best conversations. And they also usually lead to places and nuggets of gold that would be hard for me to reach otherwise. Mainly because I don't come at the conversation with my biases or with my own knowledge or own experiences. I am simply able to sit completely in a beginner's mind. And today is one of those episodes. For a long time, I've had a long running fascination into the mysterious world of archetypes. Now archetypes is not a topic that's discussed often or even a word that's probably often used. But use of archetypes typically has and continues to form the foundation of pretty much every brand identity, advert film storyline, reality TV show or a marketing campaign that you have encountered. Now most of the people who work in those worlds can and do talk about this particular subject at length, but outside those walls, you barely ever hear it mentioned. In fact if you've ever taken any kind of a form of personality test, which as we know form the basis of billions of dollars worth of recruitment and training decisions, you'll basically have been given a giant list of what your archetype is usually in the context of work, and how to make that archetype work for you. 

Now, the simplest way to think about archetypes or how I have come to think about archetypes is they just describe a pattern of behavior that is either permanent ie- I am a Heidi for anyone familiar with the Myers Briggs model of personality testing, or they form a part of a very specific phase of a journey, such as the phase of the journey called the call to adventure in Joseph Campbell's classics hero's journey, which if you haven't heard has been used to design the storylines of pretty much every blockbuster movie of our time. Just think Luke Skywalker in Star Wars.

So there has to be a key in here, right? Understanding the world of archetypes would seem to give us some kind of unique vantage point on what makes a story, a human, a political party, movie or leadership team so compelling. Basically why some are successful and why others fail. 

And that, my friends, is a very long rationale as to why I sought out my next guest Pip McKay. 

Pip is a world leading coach, mentor and author on the subject of NLP and breakthrough performance, author of two best selling books ‘The eight principles of achievement, love and happiness’ and ‘Four tribes on Earth’, both of which reached Amazon Number one in the US, Australia, UK, Canada - the list goes on. She is also an expert on archetype or coaching, which is predominantly what we dive into as part of our conversation today. 

In this conversation we cover:-

• What exactly an archetype is and how we can use that understanding to build greater insights into where the leaps in our performance might lay. 
• How to get ourselves unstuck - The four phases of growth, How we move between them, where we often find ourselves, what feels like right back at the beginning, aka Thank you 2020.
• The price of feedback and why powerful vulnerability does not mean standing in front of the firing line alone. 
• The concept of thresholds and click through points, usually describing those moments that feel like freefall, but are in fact, usually an invitation to something else. 
• Why at various times, we all need to learn how to stop blaming and pay the price.

I've thought a lot about this conversation since it was recorded. Strangely enough more than

most and probably my biggest takeaway and something I'd really love you to listen out for. While you're soaking all of this up today is this simple reframe. The next time you're stuck there are usually only ever two ways out of it. The first is to stop beating your head against that brick wall - you know the one and get some support. Now that might be a partner, a coach, a friend or a mentor. Essentially, whatever place it is they won't judge how you got yourself there in the first place. And then the second is to consciously surround yourself with a genuine diversity of perspectives on the where to from here.

As that age old Einstein quote goes “We can't solve our problems with the same thinking that we used to create them.” Now both of these strategies sound really simple, but in my own reflections, and as someone who's been stuck more than my fair share of times it's rare that we do either. On that note sit back, sip on your latte, stride out and enjoy the fascinating mind of one of the true sages in this space, the amazing Pip McKay.

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