Intangibles

My guest is Rob Biesenbach a corporate communications consultant, keynote speaker, and author. In addition, he is a Second City-trained actor and improviser, who has appeared in nearly 200 stage and commercial productions.

As a consultant, he has worked with Fortune 500 companies such as AC Nielsen, Mars, MillerCoors and Motorola. As a speaker and trainer, Rob has delivered programs on storytelling, presentation and communication skills for clients including AARP, Allstate, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Deloitte and Lockheed Martin.

Rob is a former vice president at Ogilvy PR Worldwide. He was also press secretary to a state attorney general.

Rob has written a number of books, which can be purchased on Amazon, but the one I’m going to quiz him on today is: Unleash the Power of Storytelling.

We talk about the essentials of storytelling.

Dr. Todd Kashdan is a Professor of Clinical Psychology and Senior Scientist at George Mason University’s Center for the Advancement of Well-Being.  He has published over 185 peer-reviewed journal articles and written a number of books.  He is the author of the book ‘Curious? Discover the Missing Ingredient to a Fulfilling Life’.  He is also a scientific advisor for Time, Inc., National Geographic, and Merck.  He and I discuss the nature of curiosity and how important it is to entrepreneurship and life in general.

Angela Duckworth wrote one of my favorite books... Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. In 2013 she became a MacArthur Fellow, which means she won what some call “the genius award.” This is a sizable 'no strings' attached grant to do research. Not to mention, it’s typically given to geniuses.  She is the Founder and CEO of Character Lab, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to advance the science and practice of character development.  She has advised the White House, the World Bank, teams in the NBA and the NFL, and CEOs of the Fortune 500.  Her TED talk is among the most-viewed of all time.  And… she is the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, where she received her Ph.D.  We have a deep talk about what Grit is.

Kai-Fu Lee is a venture capitalist, technology executive, writer, and an artificial intelligence expert. Dr. Lee developed the world's first speaker-independent, continuous speech recognition system as his Ph.D. thesis at Carnegie Mellon. He's been an executive, at Apple, SGI, Microsoft, and Google.  He is one of the most followed micro-bloggers in China where he has over fifty million followers. In 2018 he authored the book, AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order. He and I discuss the impact of AI on the future of work.

Karla Starr is a writer who has written for O, The Atlantic, Slate, Popular Science, the Guardian, and more. She is the recipient of a ‘Best Science/Health’ book award from the Society of Professional Journalists.  Her first book, 'Can You Learn to Be Lucky? Why Some People Seem to Win More Often Than Others', was published earlier this year. She and I explore how doing the little things and preparation increase the surface area of luck.

Dr. Larry Weiss has spent the past 8 years as the Head of School at Brooklyn Friends. Since 1974, when he began his career in secondary school education, he has helped lead in one form or fashion Friends World College, Sidwell Friends School in Washington, DC, Horace Mann School in Riverdale and Saint Ann’s.  Dr. Weiss graduated from Columbia College in 1971 majoring in Oriental Studies. He subsequently earned Master of Arts, Master of Philosophy, and Ph.D, degrees at Columbia  University's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and a Certificate in Chinese Studies from Columbia's East Asian Institute.  Dr. Weiss teaches high school seniors a class on critical thinking.  He and I talk about how to be a good critical thinker and the pitfalls to avoid.

Emma Seppälä is the Science Director of Stanford’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education. She is also Co-Director of the Yale College Emotional Intelligence Project at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. She is authored of the 2016 book The Happiness Track. She earned her Ph.D. from Stanford University. We have an in-depth discussion about how to be compassionate and the value of doing so.

Greg McKeown is a public speaker, leadership and business consultant, and author. He is the founder and CEO of THIS, Inc., a leadership and strategy design agency based in Silicon Valley. His book, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, published in April 2014, is a business and self-help book that discusses how to lead a more meaningful and successful life. He and I discuss the principals of essentialism as he walks me through some priority setting exercises.

Phil Hellmuth is a professional poker player who has won a record fifteen World Series of Poker bracelets. He's a colorful guy with a lot of interesting stories. He's written a book called #Positivity. He and I discuss how a positive outlook along with goal setting have impacted his life and led to success.

Kamal Ravikant is an extraordinary guy. He has trekked to one of the highest base camps in the Himalayas, meditated with Tibetan monks in the Dalai Lama's monastery, earned his US Army Infantry patch, walked 550 miles across Spain, lived in Paris, been the only non-black, non-woman member of the Black Women's writers' group, written a novel, held the hands of dying patients, and worked with some of the best people in Silicon Valley. He is also the author of Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It. He and I have a great discussion about self-love in one of the most unique and human episodes of Intangibles ever.