As a part of the Indo-Pacific International Maritime Exposition in Sydney, Andrew May hosted “Investing in Self: The Foundation of the Social Mastery Equation” session which was recorded as a podcast. Andrew interviewed Rear Admiral Wendy Malcolm, Commander Dean Thompson and Petty Officer Sam Tickle on the topic of Social Mastery, the Program designed originally for the Maritime Domain, which has now broadened to encompass One Defence including Navy, Army, Airforce, and APS. It is based on a model that the Navy adapted from Daniel Goldman’s Emotional Intelligence, and includes Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness and Relationship Management. During the interview, Andrew, Wendy, Dean and Sam discussed: The importance of mentorship and paying it forward The evolution of Social Mastery Leadership vs Followership Crystal Ball – what next for Social Mastery? Some of the key learnings from the day are: Not having to always be perfect, that it’s okay to make mistakes and it is important to be kind to yourself and to others. The importance of putting your own oxygen mask on first in order to better serve others Having space throughout the day to Down Regulate – e.g. Wendy does mindful breathing in her car, which she refers to as her Tardis machine The importance of supporting each other, and that culture is not just “on the wall it has to be on the floor” Leadership is love

How would you put together a crack corporate team? Andrew gets an insight on how optimism and positivity expert Dr Suzy Green would build the best team to accomplish any task through the recognition and use of diversity in thinking and mindset.

Dr Suzy Green is recognised as Australia’s leading positive psychologist. She is the founder and CEO of the Positivity Institute, a positively deviant organisation dedicated to applying positive psych to life, work and school. Dr Suzy is an official ambassador for the Starlight Children’s Foundation and maintains a strong media profile appearing on TV, radio and print.

In another Coaching Corner episode of the Social Mastery Podcast Andrew and Angela sit down with 2 participants from the Social Mastery program and run a joint coaching session to help solidify some of the lessons from the program as well as resolve any issues that may have come up since the conclusion of the program.

Listen in as Andrew, Angela, Brenda and Joseph discuss their issues and find solutions.

Australian netball superstar Caitlin Bassett joins the podcast in this bite size episode to discuss the state of female professional sport and how it has evolved since before she started playing to now. Caitlin shares how happy (and maybe a little bit jealous) it makes her to see new players getting more pay than ever before.

Andrew and Caitlin also touch on the higher rate of education for women athletes and how they were pushed much more than their male counterparts to study and consider their lives after sport.

Todays bite size comes from episode #15 where Kamal Sarma, a beacon of positivity and energy explains why he got into working in the mental health space and what it means for him to have a positive impact on people, particularly younger children and teenagers.

Kamal also shares the story of how he helped his son overcome his own fears and mental health issues by imparting some stress and suffering on him to help build him up and gain self confidence and resilience.

Caitlin 'CBass' Bassett is former captain of Australia's national netball team, the Diamonds. Starting netball at the age of 11, she dominated the netball scene and scored 2,038 of 2,268 attempted shots at goal when playing for Australia, with an unbelievable 90% accuracy rate. 

Caitlin is always looking to learn when it comes to leading teams. In her words "I don’t pretend to be perfect but instead focus on being genuine, and that is what I continually come back to when the pressure is on – being an open and real leader." 

Caitlin has a communications degree majoring in Broadcast & Journalism, s a Fox Sports commentator and passionate spokesperson on topics including career transition (based on her own experience and difficulty adjusting), leadership and women in sport. Caitlin recently started a role as Player Development Manager at Cricket NSW. She has a dog named Chino, a pet Bunny named Big Wee Wee, and a cat with no name. Caitlin is a self-proclaimed die-hard coffee fan. 

Dr Suzy Green is recognised as Australia’s leading positive psychologist. She is the founder and CEO of the Positivity Institute, a positively deviant organisation dedicated to applying positive psych to life, work and school. Dr Suzy is an official ambassador for the Starlight Children’s Foundation and maintains a strong media profile appearing on TV, radio and print.

In this episode Andrew and Dr Suzy explore the differences between optimism and pessimism, the benefits of being more optimistic, optimism and energy levels, the 2nd wave of positive psychology, how humans have an inbuilt negativity bias, training optimism (yes – it can be trained!), the pros and cons of CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy) vs ACT (Acceptance & Commitment Therapy) and how optimism provides leaders with a competitive advantage.

Worldwide godfather of slow turned anti ageing expert Carl Honoré chats with Andrew on how he believes the world tries to shove older people into a certain stereotype and how he plans on fighting those stereotypes by simply doing whatever it is he feels like doing without making any apologies.

Carl also touches on the idea of being ashamed of growing older and lying about your age, whereas he has taken the exact opposite approach and treats every year added to his age like a milestone or the next level in a video game.

In this episode, we revisit the podcast with the First Assistant Secretary Stacie Hall.  

During our interview with Stacie, one of the things that left a lasting impression was her serene demeanor. Although gauging someone's energy through a video call can be challenging, Stacie's calm composure emanated through the screen, is it nature or nurture that fuels her composure? Listen to discover the secrets behind Stacie’s tranquil energy as she shares her journey, including a memorable job interview gone awry (though she still landed the job), and the practical sensory techniques she uses to maintain serenity amidst the chaos of life.  

In the latest episode of the Social Mastery Podcast Commander Dean Thompson joins Andrew and Angela to discuss the origins of the Social Mastery Program: where it came from, its goals and the legacy Dean hopes it will leave.

Dean also tells us about his personal story of growing up in the Navy and what that has taught him about being a follower as well as a leader, and how the Navy and the overall Defence Force has changed and evolved over the years while also keeping their traditions alive.