If you haven’t had the opportunity to listen to the first episode of this show, you haven’t had an opportunity to hear the story behind my passion for listening and how listening can completely alter a damaged or difficult relationship. While I teach and coach listening to leaders and organizations, I originally focused on sharing the power of effective listening behaviors to parents. Specifically, parents who were struggling with substance abuse and addiction related struggles in their families. Today’s featured guest is my youngest child, Brandon Cooke. It was our respective father-son journey with his heroin addiction that I discovered how to listen, love, and parent my son in an impactful and transformational way. While you may think that parenting, or parenting a child with substance use disorder, is different than leading a team of co-workers, managing a large organization, or navigating a difficult relationship. Think again! Take the opportunity to join us on the show. It will be an eye-opening conversation.

The socio-political discourse that divides us marches on. Partisanship is up, trust is down, and social media feeds help insulate us from alternative or controversial perspectives. Today, it is more important to be safe and right, than engaged and connected. We have gotten to the point where collaborative problem solving has been replaced by partisan tribalism, with little tolerance or curiosity for discovering alternative views or fresh perspectives. In today’s episode, Dave and his guest, author Monica Guzman discuss how we can overcome the fear and certainty that surround us to finally do what only seems impossible: understand and even learn from people in your life whose whole worldview is different from or even opposed to yours. Whether you’re on the left, right, center, or not a fan of labels, this show will provide the tools and fresh, surprising insights to prove that seeing where people are coming from isn’t just possible. It’s easier than you think.

Today’s guest is a sales coach and trainer. NO! This episode is not just for salespeople! We are going to talk about how most people view sales and how we can change that in how we listen. And more. One of the biggest complaints about sales people is they are lousy listeners. Truth is, many are. Mainly it is because they have not been trained properly. Today’s guest is a coach who breaks the sales trainer mold while providing concise, fun insights into listening and learning and how that can help sales people and anyone else looking to improve relationships, built trust or solve complex problems. This episode is another excellent opportunity to learn to listen and obtain another perspective on how great listening behaviors can change your life!

“When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade” What sounds so simple when captured in a single statement, isn’t that simple when the “lemons” are a life altering event and experience. How well prepared are any of us for a jarring interruption to our life as we live it? When bombarded by a life changing event which reroutes our life’s journey, how do we simply make lemonade? Today’s episode features one person’s story about trauma and how they navigated their way through an series of life changing learning experiences. While it wasn’t simple, we will hear how they embraced the unknown and found a path through an unexpected life interruption. This is a powerful and insightful discussion about what they learned, experienced, and celebrated along this journey, including how their listening behaviors sustained and supported critical relationships impacted by this event. For those who are in the middle of a personal challenge, this is one episode you won’t want to miss.

When we have the information we need to make a decision, why don’t we? What causes us to hesitate before implementing the best solution? What are the most productive information gathering tools? How can we trust the information we have obtained? In today’s episode, we will talk about how we learn, how we gather data and information, and how to trust that information to make and implement big decisions in complicated situations. Listeners will discover how the best way to sort through our doubts and concerns, is to utilize story to facilitate a confidence in our decision making process and engage others in the implementation process to overcome common indecision obstacles like fear, doubt, or worry.

Listening is all about paying attention. It’s not just paying attention to what’s being said, but it is about paying close attention to what is not being said and other components like body language and physical energy. Today’s episode focused on what we can learn from our interactions with dogs. Dogs respond to physical and verbal cues. They have a keen sense of energy, emotion and respond to them accordingly. As animals, we humans can learn a great deal from our engagements with dogs. And, how dogs give and receive love, care, affection and healing. Join me today for a very insightful conversation about paying attention and how our interactions can be enhanced by responding appropriately to non-verbal cues.

Like everyone else, children want and need to be heard. The challenge is that sometimes they don’t know how to share what they see, hear, or experience, or know who to share with. Whether it is a matter of knowing how to express how they feel or knowing they have permission to express their truth, children need to learn how to share and know they can. Today’s episode explores how we help children know they have voice and how we encourage and educate parents on how to listen to these voices. This includes helping children to be connected to their experiences and find the confidence to vocalize them in productive and powerful ways.

Today’s episode features a great conversation with a fellow listening advocate. It is human to seek connection. In today’s divided society, finding authentic connection is a challenge. I first met my guest, Chad Belew, was when he made a presentation on listening and building connection. His thoughts were so closely aligned with mine, I joked that he must have seen my powerpoint presentation. In today’s episode we will learn how Chad went from military interrogator to pastor and how he puts his listening skills to work to learn from others, to build community, and be a resource to those in need. Chad has a great story and an even better message. You won’t want to miss this one!

Every organization looks to minimize turnover. As much as any organization strives to avoid turnover, in most cases it is inevitable and in many cases it is avoidable. What happens when turnover is a natural, given component of an organization's dynamic? How does one keep a team at a high performing level, when every year people transition out and a new team begins? I am excited to have recently retired, hall of fame, University of MIchigan Softball Coach, Carol Hutch Hutchins, on the show. While I would love to talk all things softball with Hutch, today we are going to talk about team building and listening. Every year Hutch turns over four to eight players from her eighteen player roster, introduces four to eight new members to the team, and, for thirty-eight years consistently had a championship level team which performed at the highest levels of the sport. Join me today as I speak with Coach Hutch and hear how she built a high performing team culture and how communication and listening contributed to her success. Her experience and record as the all-time winning-est NCAA coach, hall of famer, and National Champion lends a great deal of credibility and perspective to this conversation. You won't want to miss it!

Even when we recognize the need for change in our lives, it doesn't make change any easier. It always involves letting go of something we have become attached to. And, it often involves taking on risk as we venture into developing something new. Today's guest is no stranger to change. In today's episode, Brianne Johnson and I talk about making changes in our lives and how the PIVOT assists in overcoming doubt and fear as we make those changes. While there are no certainties in the outcome of change, having a clearer sense of how, what and why, among other things, helps provide confidence and clarity in the process. “Change is hard but being stuck is way harder. You have the choice to live a different life. You have the choice to make a change. You have the choice to pivot and change your life.