Alexi Bracey started us off by that accepting that mistakes will happen is part of being resilient for her. Not expecting perfection makes it easier to move forward when things don’t go as planned. She also recommends doing things to take care of yourself and feed your soul.

Mario P. Fields says that there are things in life that you go into knowing they will be a challenge, going into the Marines for example. Other times, things come at you out of left field. He likes to look back at things and ask himself how he came through it and learn from it.

For Chelle Shapiro she never questions if or how she will make it through something. Instead, she believes “I will make it.” She takes the insult of people telling her she can’t or won’t make it as fuel to push her forward to prove that not only can she make it, she will. Not just to prove them wrong, but more importantly, to prove herself right.

For me what looks like resilience is actually the story of me just doing whatever the next thing was that needed to be done. I wasn’t trying to create some grand plan. I was just trying to live from one day to the next. It is only in retrospect, when I tell the story that it looks like resilience.

The last question I asked the panel was what advice they would give someone who is going through something right now who really needs to be resilient. Their answers were inspiring.

What has made you resilient and able to bounce back from adversity and what advice do you have for others about being resilient?

Connect with the panelists:

Mission Happiness. Promoting happiness for no reason. Bouncing back after cancer and dementia prevention specialist.

Chelle Shapiro: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelleshapiro/

Marketing Strategist for Wellness Coaches & Consultants and recognized as one of the top 15 LinkedIn experts in New York city as well as the author of the book, Loving Yourself isn’t Selfish.

Mario P. Fields: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariopfields/

Marine core veteran. Small business owner. Host and producer of the podcast, Unarmored Talk

Dr Robyn Odegaard: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robynodegaard/

AKA Mental MacGyver. My doctorate is in organizational business psychology with a concentration in sport and performance. I provide luxury level, high performance support and coaching to executives, founders, celebrities and athletes.

Want a summary of the Quick Hits plus the links to the LinkedIn pages of each of the panelist to show up in your in-box every week? Let me know where to send it: https://drrobynodegaard.com/quick-hits-notifications/

#QuickHits are designed to exercise your brain by letting you listen in on an unscripted conversation to get other people's thoughts on pertinent subjects. If you would like to join a conversation or have a topic you would like to hear discussed, please message me. https://www.MentalMacGyver.com

Being new to a team comes with all kinds of anxieties and stressors. Coach M J Tolan suggested we start with respect and intentional listening to understand who the players are and what that team is doing.

Todd Karges added that relying on the existing onboarding structure could be risky – sometimes it’s not very good. Make sure you go in being curious about the people and how you and your work fits within the existing context.

Atif Agha agreed that respect is important and that having an open mind, recognizing that you don’t know anything about how an existing team works and you can’t come in and just start upending things and creating change on day one. You have to learn and understand first.

That is a mistake I’ve made – showing up new to an existing team and trying to start “fixing” things right off before I really know what’s going on and why things are done the way they are.

What is the best advice you have for integrating yourself into a new team? What have you done that didn’t work?

Connect with the panelists:

Technology specialist doing data analytics and avid runner, based in Chicago

Todd Karges: https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddkarges/

Has a background in project management and building agile development mindsets.  He is a transformation and change management practitioner and a leadership development coach. Based outside of Toronto.

Coach M J Tolan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/motivationalspeakertolan/

Speaker, author and entrepreneur with 35 years experience. He has lived in 12 countries and is the host of the podcast Mission I’m Possible. He is in Florida.

Dr Robyn Odegaard: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robynodegaard/

AKA Mental MacGyver. My doctorate is in organizational business psychology with a concentration in sport and performance. I provide luxury level, high performance support and coaching to executives, founders, celebrities and athletes.

Want a summary of the Quick Hits plus the links to the LinkedIn pages of each of the panelist to show up in your in-box every week? Let me know where to send it: https://drrobynodegaard.com/quick-hits-notifications/

#QuickHits are designed to exercise your brain by letting you listen in on an unscripted conversation to get other people's thoughts on pertinent subjects. If you would like to join a conversation or have a topic you would like to hear discussed, please message me. https://www.MentalMacGyver.com

This was a particularly interesting conversation for me because, while I do have quite a bit of education, I spent 14 years working in the corporate world before I ever went to college. When I went, I had a foundation of real-world experience to build on.

Kevin Wash started this conversation by saying his experience in Europe, where education rules, is very different from his experience in the Middle East where experience is king. And he shared a story about applying for jobs in Europe during COVID and not getting a single interview.

He wondered if the question should be ageism vs education because experience tracks so closely to age.

Stewart Wiggins started his comments by saying that education is theory and it depends on where you are in your career if that theory or experience is more useful. Of course, there are some professions that rightly require education, e.g., medical doctors, lawyers. But when thinking about business, he thinks education is important early on in your career but experience becomes more valuable as you move deeper into your profession.

And it can get silly where a job posting will require so much education and experience that no one qualifies (and sometimes they also want to barely pay minimum wage – but that’s a difference conversation).

Connect with the panelists:

Induna Advisors – where he offers Fractional Chief Operating Officer services and Brings resources together to help scale your business.

Jim Tam: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimtam/

Is a Principal Client Director with Korn Ferry’s Digital group where he advises organizations on how to improve their sales effectiveness through using world-class sales methodology and technology.

Kevin Wash: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-wash-23b90915/

Coach, mentor, author, trainer, and speaker running a consultancy business specializing in sales for international property development. Based in Spain

Dr Robyn Odegaard: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robynodegaard/

AKA Mental MacGyver. My doctorate is in organizational business psychology with a concentration in sport and performance. I provide luxury level, high performance support and coaching to executives, founders, celebrities and athletes.

Want a summary of the Quick Hits plus the links to the LinkedIn pages of each of the panelist to show up in your in-box every week? Let me know where to send it: https://drrobynodegaard.com/quick-hits-notifications/

#QuickHits are designed to exercise your brain by letting you listen in on an unscripted conversation to get other people's thoughts on pertinent subjects. If you would like to join a conversation or have a topic you would like to hear discussed, please message me. https://www.MentalMacGyver.com

Karen Loomis opened the conversation with the idea that saying “thank you” is something that should be expected no matter the size of the thing – someone holds a door for you? “Thank you.” Someone gifts you money? “Thank you.”

But is saying “thank you” one size fits all? If not, what is the next thing? What is expected?

Cami Travis-Groves then added that if someone is giving or doing something with an expectation of getting something in return, saying thank you is unlikely to be enough for them. But that is completely outside your control and not something you need to worry about.

Laura Agafitei brought in the idea of reciprocating energy. More effort or more energy from the giver necessitates a bigger thank you. But, if someone is doing something just to get something from you, that is not normal or healthy and we shouldn’t give in to that.

We then got into other ways to way thank you and Laura suggested letting someone how the thing they did made you feel.

Towards the end I shared a story of a time I said “thank you” not realizing the person expected to be tipped.

Are there times when saying thank you isn’t enough? If so, what should you do in addition?

Connect with the panelists:

Strategy and design Consultant for the health and wellness industry. Based in Dublin.

Karen Loomis: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kloomis/

Founder at No Moss Brands. 20 years as a marketing and branding professional. Adjunct professor at Grand Canyon University.  She is passionate about social change.    

Cami Travis-Groves: https://www.linkedin.com/in/goodjujucami/

Recovering graphic designer. Now a transformational coach for creatives. Her third book is titled Inner Growth Workbook for Creatives and her podcast is called Deep Dive Coaching for Creatives.

Dr Robyn Odegaard: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robynodegaard/

AKA Mental MacGyver. My doctorate is in organizational business psychology with a concentration in sport and performance. I provide luxury level, high performance support and coaching to executives, founders, celebrities and athletes.

Want a summary of the Quick Hits plus the links to the LinkedIn pages of each of the panelist to show up in your in-box every week? Let me know where to send it: https://drrobynodegaard.com/quick-hits-notifications/

#QuickHits are designed to exercise your brain by letting you listen in on an unscripted conversation to get other people's thoughts on pertinent subjects. If you would like to join a conversation or have a topic you would like to hear discussed, please message me. https://www.MentalMacGyver.com

Being in the communications space, Philip Tate was keen to start this conversation and he brought some real-world experience. In the PR world they have the RPIE model. It stands for - Research, Planning, Implementation and Evaluation and can be used to take something from ethereal to strategic.

Tim Hawkes went next. A self-proclaimed “people guy” he talked about the banking community’s view, all agile with timescales, budgets, objectives and delivery. But they regularly produce unexciting and unengaging rubbish.

Instead, he suggested we need to include the people side and create passion for the output.

Then Steve Ramona jumped in with the idea of masterminds, having a group of people to talk to who will help you move an idea through the process and get rid of the noise. Is the idea even going to work? It might not get to clear vision but you still need to make a decision and take action.

Of course then I had a follow up question about what does it mean to have a clear vision and how clear does something have to be to move it forward.

The ten minutes just zipped by. We could have given the topic a lot more time.

How do you move something from idea to clear and how do you know when something is clear enough to move forward?

Connect with the panelists:

Managing Director of Unlimited Potential. Mental engineer and executive coach focusing on logical and practical solutions to challenging problems.  He is in the UK

Philip Tate: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philiptateaprfellowprsa/

He is a communications consultant doing Brand Building | Strategic Communications and Marketing based in Charlotte NC

Steve Ramona: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveramona/

Global Sales Director at InPhone LLC, a podcast coach and the host of the podcast, Doing Business with a Servant’s Heart. He is in California.

Dr Robyn Odegaard: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robynodegaard/

AKA Mental MacGyver. My doctorate is in organizational business psychology with a concentration in sport and performance. I provide luxury level, high performance support and coaching to executives, founders, celebrities and athletes.

Want a summary of the Quick Hits plus the links to the LinkedIn pages of each of the panelist to show up in your in-box every week? Let me know where to send it: https://drrobynodegaard.com/quick-hits-notifications/

#QuickHits are designed to exercise your brain by letting you listen in on an unscripted conversation to get other people's thoughts on pertinent subjects. If you would like to join a conversation or have a topic you would like to hear discussed, please message me. https://www.MentalMacGyver.com

This question stemmed from a previous Quick Hits where we talked about how to give someone really bad news (https://youtu.be/f1fiA0bhtfc). This is the flip-side, when someone tells you bad news.

Dr Cole Galloway started us of with sage advice – engage like a human. Put the business and professional airs aside and really connect with them. Say that it is awful. Meet them where they are. And don’t jump in to solution mode.

Elissa Hecker followed that up with a personal story about a colleague sharing really good news (his wife was pregnant) and how it devastated her because she was struggling with doing IVF. And he was very empathic to her situation.

Joey Robert Parks added how easy it is to be empathic to the point of “me too-ing” and launching into a story about yourself in a somehow related situation (this being common and not helpful came up in the previous conversation too).

Two thirds of the way through Cole dropped a nugget that I am going to do my best to remember. When offering to support someone he suggested saying this: “I won't worry if you'll promise me that you'll reach out whenever you need something.”

That is so powerful.

At the very end I added that Cole had sent us the Brené Brown empathy vs sympathy talk. It’s less than three minutes long and relevant to this topic. You can watch it here: https://youtu.be/KZBTYViDPlQ

What tips do you have for responding to someone who shares bad personal news with you?

Connect with the panelists:

She is the Go-To General Counsel, Collaborative Partner, and Creative Problem Solver, for businesses and the Entertainment and Arts industries

Dr Cole Galloway: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cole-galloway-1ba715107/

Recovering academic working in social justice and disability, primarily with babies as the Founder at Go Baby Go

Joey Robert Parks: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeyrobertparks/

He is an author and ghostwriter. His specialty is being able to write in any genre, often on a topic he knows nothing about, and make it read like he has done it professionally for decades. He has published millions of words in self, indie and traditional publishing.

Dr Robyn Odegaard: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robynodegaard/

AKA Mental MacGyver. My doctorate is in organizational business psychology with a concentration in sport and performance. I provide luxury level, high performance support and coaching to executives, founders, celebrities and athletes.

Want a summary of the Quick Hits plus the links to the LinkedIn pages of each of the panelist to show up in your in-box every week? Let me know where to send it: https://drrobynodegaard.com/quick-hits-notifications/

#QuickHits are designed to exercise your brain by letting you listen in on an unscripted conversation to get other people's thoughts on pertinent subjects. If you would like to join a conversation or have a topic you would like to hear discussed, please message me. https://www.MentalMacGyver.com

Brandon Mahoney started us off by saying time. There real is no shortcut to learning about someone.

Jim Tam looks at how someone treats people who can’t do anything for them as a signal to who someone is.

Inga Hebdon countered that someone might just have a bad day so you need to give them a second chance (which aligns with the time aspect).

Are first impressions permanent? Brandon thinks not.

Another question we asked – how do you decide when you’ve given someone enough chances?

And near the end we each shared an experience of choosing to have a “coaching” moment and let someone know that how they were behaving was not okay.

How do you decide if someone’s behavior is who they really are or if they are having a bad day and you should let it slide?

Connect with the panelists:

Is a Principal Client Director with Korn Ferry’s Digital group where he advises organizations on how to improve their sales effectiveness through using world-class sales methodology and technology.

Brandon Mahoney: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drstartup/

Co-Founder of Launch Point Labs, National venture firm where he is the expert in creating sales departments. He is known as Dr Startup

Inga Hebdon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/inga-hebdon/

Leadership & Personal Impact Coach helping people increase their impact, their ability to lead, influence, and act strategically.

Dr Robyn Odegaard: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robynodegaard/

AKA Mental MacGyver. My doctorate is in organizational business psychology with a concentration in sport and performance. I provide luxury level, high performance support and coaching to executives, founders, celebrities and athletes.

Want a summary of the Quick Hits plus the links to the LinkedIn pages of each of the panelist to show up in your in-box every week? Let me know where to send it: https://drrobynodegaard.com/quick-hits-notifications/

#QuickHits are designed to exercise your brain by letting you listen in on an unscripted conversation to get other people's thoughts on pertinent subjects. If you would like to join a conversation or have a topic you would like to hear discussed, please message me. https://www.MentalMacGyver.com

Laura Agafitei started us off by saying in the professional space she is quick to ask, how is this related to the topic we are discussing? Conversely, personally she is more likely to create some space for the person to share is she is able to listen.

Atif Agha agreed that in a professional relationship there are somethings that are better for you not to know. If someone starts oversharing, get out of the conversation if you can. If you don’t, it could make things uncomfortable going forward.

Todd Karges took the conversation in an interesting direction when he talked about how there is a push that people “bring their whole-selves” to work. But people aren’t really trained to do that. We are trained to bring only our best selves.

But when someone is sharing a lot of personal information, he likes to acknowledge that it is happening and give the person a chance to realize that maybe he’s not the right person to tell. But if they continue and he is uncomfortable, then he has to say that he would rather not hear it.

When I’m talking to people (other than clients) I consider if they will be embarrassed or if it will be awkward for them/us later for me to know what they are telling me. If so, I try to change to topic of the conversation.

Do you have a suggestion on how to address someone sharing too much personal information without embarrassing them?

Connect with the panelists:

Has a background in project management and building agile development mindsets.  He is a transformation and change management practitioner and a leadership development coach. Based outside of Toronto.

Atif Agha: https://www.linkedin.com/in/atifagha/

Technology specialist doing data analytics and avid runner, based in Chicago

Laura Agafitei: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-agafitei/

Strategy and design Consultant for the health and wellness industry. Based in Dublin.

Dr Robyn Odegaard: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robynodegaard/

AKA Mental MacGyver. My doctorate is in organizational business psychology with a concentration in sport and performance. I provide luxury level, high performance support and coaching to executives, founders, celebrities and athletes.

Want a summary of the Quick Hits plus the links to the LinkedIn pages of each of the panelist to show up in your in-box every week? Let me know where to send it: https://drrobynodegaard.com/quick-hits-notifications/

#QuickHits are designed to exercise your brain by letting you listen in on an unscripted conversation to get other people's thoughts on pertinent subjects. If you would like to join a conversation or have a topic you would like to hear discussed, please message me. https://www.MentalMacGyver.com

Dr Jesse Carrie likes to start by having a conversation and letting the person know they are making things difficult for other people and giving them the opportunity to change.

Bo Short brought up that people who are good at sales can be more difficult to work with because they challenge. As long as they are challenging in a productive way, that is okay and even a good thing.

Rick Alcantara pointed out that how you deal with a difficult person depends on who they are and your relationship with them. A family member you have to see all of the time is going to be handled differently than the random difficult stranger you bump into once.

Connect with the panelists:

Doctorate in Chemistry and degree in history he is currently a Senior scientist at the Idaho national lab.

Bo Short: https://www.linkedin.com/in/boshort/

He was named one of the “Top 10 Most Influential Leadership Speakers for 2023” and is

the CEO and Co-Founder of a revolutionary patented technology company that works primarily in the medical, military, and security sectors.

Rick Alcantara: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rickalcantara/  

He does public relations, digital marketing and crisis communication at Rick Alcantara consulting

AKA Mental MacGyver. My doctorate is in organizational business psychology with a concentration in sport and performance. I provide luxury level, high performance support and coaching to executives, founders, celebrities and athletes.

Want a summary of the Quick Hits plus the links to the LinkedIn pages of each of the panelist to show up in your in-box every week? Let me know where to send it: https://drrobynodegaard.com/quick-hits-notifications/

#QuickHits are designed to exercise your brain by letting you listen in on an unscripted conversation to get other people's thoughts on pertinent subjects. If you would like to join a conversation or have a topic you would like to hear discussed, please message me. https://www.MentalMacGyver.com

I was surprised that this conversation got a little chippy towards the end. Particularly when you realize, I think we all agreed on the main answer to the question.

We started here:

Did you know that marketing professionals are often omitted from answering marketing surveys? Karen Loomis shared that is because marketing people think about marketing differently and could skew survey results. (Because they can see through it?)

Gary Fredericks shared that he has been burned in business by people who sound super confident and act like they know what they are doing, only to find out later they don’t. Being professionally skeptical means reserving judgment until you have data.

Dr Bob Choat agreed adding that people who are highly charismatic often sound very believable, even if they have no idea what they are talking about. That is also true for people who have letters after their name. Those letters only mean that they can jump through academic hoops. You have to vet them to determine if they really know what they are talking about (i.e. – be skeptical).

The difference for me is that once I don’t trust someone, that’s hard to come back from. Being skeptical means, tell me more. I want to understand. Help me get there.

Connect with the panelists:

Gary Fredericks: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garyfredericks/

CEO of On Point Partners where they provide back-office services for small businesses. They make business easy.

Karen Loomis: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kloomis/

Founder at No Moss Brands. 20 years as a marketing and branding professional. Adjunct professor at Grand Canyon University.  She is passionate about social change    

Dr. Bob Choat: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobchoat/

He has eight years military experience, worked with the LA PD, was a stage hypnotist, he is now an executive performance coach and is going back to school for another PhD. This time in physics 

Dr Robyn Odegaard: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robynodegaard/

AKA Mental MacGyver. My doctorate is in organizational business psychology with a concentration in sport and performance. I provide luxury level, high performance support and coaching to executives, founders, celebrities and athletes.

Want a summary of the Quick Hits plus the links to the LinkedIn pages of each of the panelist to show up in your in-box every week? Let me know where to send it: https://drrobynodegaard.com/quick-hits-notifications/

#QuickHits are designed to exercise your brain by letting you listen in on an unscripted conversation to get other people's thoughts on pertinent subjects. If you would like to join a conversation or have a topic you would like to hear discussed, please message me. https://www.MentalMacGyver.com