Leading Virtual Teams with Dr Maren Deepwell

On this episode we hear from a very special guest: Amanda Coolidge, Principal and Founder of Coolidge Collaborative, Inc. .

I am thrilled that Amanda joins me to talk about navigating career transitions that combine values with meeting the demands of establishing a new career chapter. 

We swap tales of the freedom that comes with no longer running an organization and becoming your own boss, open approaches to leadership and how to balance work with rest. 

Find out more about Amanda's work: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandacoolidge/Website: https://www.coolidgecollaborativeinc.ca/

Tune in for a deep conversation with Lou Mycroft, Changemaker Extraordinaire, and meander with us as we reflect on the future of work, empowering green change and agency. Sitting in the a garden green space, both metaphorically and literally, Lou shares how making (green) change is possible within large institutions, tapping into the powerful potentia of individuals and community networks. This conversation is a breath of fresh air and left me feeling thoroughly inspired. Mentioned in this episode

• Learn more about Lou's work
• Lou's Substack on Joyful Practice
• Rhizo14 and the work of Dave Cormier
• Educational Leadership in Changemaking Times
• AI-generated Hip Hop Poem for AmplifyFE
• The Thinking Environment and the work of Nancy Klein
• Radical Rest and Rest is Resistance
• Megan Reitz and John Higgins work on ’spaciousness’

Join me for the first episode with not one but two very special guests: Marcela Morales and Igor Lesko, Co-Directors of Open Education Global. This is a rare and inspiring opportunity to learn about a co-leadership model as we chat across continents about open leadership and how to build relationships, trust and collaboration with a team distributed across the world. 

Mentioned in this episode:

• Open Education Global https://www.oeglobal.org/ 
• The people that make OE Global https://www.oeglobal.org/about-us/people-of-oeg/
• Open Education Week https://oeweek.oeglobal.org/
• Network of Open Organisations https://www.networkofopenorgs.org/
• OE Awards https://awards.oeglobal.org/ 

On this episode we hear from special guest Doug Belshaw, who brings a huge wealth of inspiration to the topics we discuss, from AI and digital literacies to strategic uses of ambiguity. Along the way, we talk about living like a hydra, the value of serendipity and ways of working in the open. Mentioned in this episode:

• Learn more about Doug Belshaw https://dougbelshaw.com/ 
• Doug's doctoral research on digital literacies
• How co-operative principles shape our decision-making and collaboration at We Are Open Co-op
• Doug's involvement with Open Badges and Verifiable Credentials, and how open recognition can support virtual team culture

• The strategic uses of ambiguity — i.e. not everything needs to be pinned down straight away. Allowing some ambiguity in projects and discussions can spark creativity and encourage exploration.

• Doug uses the term serendipity surface to describe how we can make chance encounters and unexpected discoveries more likely, especially when working remotely.

• Living like a Hydra

As work on my book continues, I have started to write more and in this episode I share how I am approaching writing mission statement for the book.

• Mission Statement blog post

My ⁠⁠⁠⁠blog⁠⁠⁠⁠, this ⁠⁠⁠⁠podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠ and free monthly ⁠⁠⁠⁠newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠ are the best ways to connect and ⁠⁠⁠⁠get in touch⁠⁠⁠⁠ with me. Find out more about my work and get in touch via ⁠⁠⁠⁠my business site⁠⁠⁠⁠.

This year I got back into running, and regular readers will know that this comeback has been years in the making. I started blogging about it in 2022.. and in 2023. So I am pleased to report that I have finally managed to get there! From a personal perspective starting the day with a morning run is a joy for me, and the photo at the start of this post is a snap shot from earlier this morning, as I was jogging down the river near my house and passed my favourite river oak tree. It’s a majestic sight and today the water was clear and still, reflecting the beauty of this glorious sunny morning.

So it’s a personal win, and it’s also professionally interesting because the coach in me is reflecting on what’s changed this time round? Why did I succeed this time when I have failed to do the same thing since 2021? Plenty of us struggle to stick to habits or achieve goals, and so I want to use my example to share some coaching tips that have helped me along the way.

Read the episode blog post.

My ⁠⁠⁠blog⁠⁠⁠, this ⁠⁠⁠podcast⁠⁠⁠ and free monthly ⁠⁠⁠newsletter⁠⁠⁠ are the best ways to connect and ⁠⁠⁠get in touch⁠⁠⁠ with me. Find out more about my work and get in touch via ⁠⁠⁠my business site⁠⁠⁠.

On this episode we hear from a very special guest: Angela Gunder, Ph.D., CEO and Founder of Opened Culture. Our conversation goes to super interesting places as we touch on art, AI and Open Education. Tune in to hear more about Angela's journey as a teacher, leader, and collaborator par excellence as we explore what it takes to become architects of our own joy. Mentioned in this episode:

• Angela Gunder https://angelagunder.com/ 
• Angelda Remixes https://angelaremixes.com/
• Opened Culture https://openedculture.com/
• The 100 Year Ed Tech Project https://100yearedtechproject.org/
• Confluence of Commands https://angelaremixes.com/2025/03/12/confluence-of-commands/ 
• Color Bird Match-Ups
• AI Literacies Unlocked: Open Course on AI Literacies developed for UNESCO IITE that we launched on National AI Literacy Day
• AI Literacies and the Advancement of Opened Culture: Global Perspectives and Practices: MIT Open Learning article on AI literacies and open pedagogy
• Hewlett Foundation Grant with Tennessee State University and MERLOT/SkillsCommons on Open Culture: Free webinar series and open playbooks

This is part 2 of 2 in which I share my strategies for reframing success in the context of my career and how I find and measure personal KPIs.

A couple of things that have been percolating in my mind over the past couple of weeks have come together: the reflective post in which I shared a ⁠story of my career⁠ prompted me to think more about where I am heading and why; then I completed the ⁠review of my tech stack⁠ which made me focus on whether I have the right tools for the work I want to do and what that is… ; and thirdly I have been preparing for the next run of my ⁠hybrid working leadership course⁠ (incidentally, if you’d like to join us, ⁠register ⁠before 26 May), which includes a topic about how to find your own measures of success.

My ⁠⁠⁠blog⁠⁠⁠, this ⁠⁠⁠podcast⁠⁠⁠ and free monthly ⁠⁠⁠newsletter⁠⁠⁠ are the best ways to connect and ⁠⁠⁠get in touch⁠⁠⁠ with me. Find out more about my work and get in touch via ⁠⁠⁠my business site⁠⁠⁠.

A couple of things that have been percolating in my mind over the past couple of weeks have come together: the reflective post in which I shared a story of my career prompted me to think more about where I am heading and why; then I completed the review of my tech stack which made me focus on whether I have the right tools for the work I want to do and what that is… ; and thirdly I have been preparing for the next run of my hybrid working leadership course (incidentally, if you’d like to join us, register before 26 May), which includes a topic about how to find your own measures of success.

This is part 1 of 2 in which I share my strategies for reframing success in the context of my career and how I find and measure personal KPIs.

My ⁠⁠⁠blog⁠⁠⁠, this ⁠⁠⁠podcast⁠⁠⁠ and free monthly ⁠⁠⁠newsletter⁠⁠⁠ are the best ways to connect and ⁠⁠⁠get in touch⁠⁠⁠ with me. Find out more about my work and get in touch via ⁠⁠⁠my business site⁠⁠⁠.

Explore my newest project: Long Distance Leadership Postcards. This innovative postcard-based approach to leadership coaching is something I created for my past self. When I was a CEO juggling competing priorities and responsibilities, things that put a spring in my step felt few and far between. I love the idea that I could have received a postcard each month from a trusted pen pal who really understood what I had to contend with. Each card would come complete with a little inspiration, a helpful strategy or a reminder to take a step back and get a fresh perspective. This is exactly what I hope this project will deliver for busy leaders facing the challenges of today.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Long Distance Leadership Postcards
• April's topic: Walk'n'Talk

My ⁠⁠⁠blog⁠⁠⁠, this ⁠⁠⁠podcast⁠⁠⁠ and free monthly ⁠⁠⁠newsletter⁠⁠⁠ are the best ways to connect and ⁠⁠⁠get in touch⁠⁠⁠ with me. Find out more about my work and get in touch via ⁠⁠⁠my business site⁠⁠⁠.