After taking a week off for the July 4th holiday, we're back with some swimmingly interesting perspectives.

When learning to swim, typically one doesn’t just leap into the deep end right off.  So why is it that we believe that people should just jump in and learn things and not make mistakes? Oh wait, maybe that’s just me. I was this year year’s old when the light bulb blinked on. Being in that deep end, it doesn’t mean that you can’t ask for someone to jump in and help you learn to swim.

In a world where what passes for radical honesty usually means someone is just letting things fly outta their pie-hole without much care for others, it’s time for radically authentic conversation. Conscious communication is simple, but often isn’t easy. That’s why Cathy Brooks created Talk, Unleashed – a weekly podcast of radically honest conversation about — everything. Whether her own musings or in conversation with industry leaders, each episode invites curiosity. 

Curiosity not about what people do, but why they do it. Who they are and what makes them tick. It’s about digging underneath to reveal the thing that is most true - that we are more alike than we are not. A mix of solo episodes where Cathy shares her insights and experience or Cathy engaged in conversation with fascinating humans doing amazing things. No matter the format - it’s unvarnished, radically honest and entirely unleashed. 

This podcast compliments Unleashed Leadership, the coaching business through which Cathy works with symphony orchestras, corporate clients, and individuals to help them unleash and untether their leadership and connect with others in a way that truly engages.

#takingachance #thedeepend #learningtoswim #brutalhonesty #radicalhonesty #consciouscommunication #leadership #Conversation #connection #TalkUnleashed #fiercecompassion #UnleashedConversation #UnleashedLeadership #FixYourEndofTheLeash

It’s one of the most common visuals one hears in guided meditations. The concept of visualizing yourself sitting by a stream, and any time an errant thought pops into your head, to imagine it as a leaf on the stream, and allow it to drift by. It’s a visual I’ve always loved. It’s always worked. Thing is, I never really spent much time by streams. So imagine my surprise when I found myself creekside recently and realized that this metaphor is a bit more complicated than I’d thought.

In a world where what passes for radical honesty usually means someone is just letting things fly outta their pie-hole without much care for others, it’s time for radically authentic conversation. Conscious communication is simple, but often isn’t easy. That’s why Cathy Brooks created Talk, Unleashed – a weekly podcast of radically honest conversation about — everything. Whether her own musings or in conversation with industry leaders, each episode invites curiosity. 

Curiosity not about what people do, but why they do it. Who they are and what makes them tick. It’s about digging underneath to reveal the thing that is most true - that we are more alike than we are not. A mix of solo episodes where Cathy shares her insights and experience or Cathy engaged in conversation with fascinating humans doing amazing things. No matter the format - it’s unvarnished, radically honest and entirely unleashed. 

This podcast compliments Unleashed Leadership, the coaching business through which Cathy works with symphony orchestras, corporate clients, and individuals to help them unleash and untether their leadership and connect with others in a way that truly engages.

#leavesonastream #guidedmeditation #visualization #brutalhonesty #radicalhonesty #consciouscommunication #leadership #Conversation #connection #TalkUnleashed #fiercecompassion #UnleashedConversation #UnleashedLeadership #FixYourEndofTheLeash

Though this relates to a specific incident a week or so ago, the troubling truth is that whenever you’re listening to this episode, it’s likely there’s been another incident that had the same result. A thing happened. One group of people celebrated it. Another group of people decried it as travesty, a disgrace. 

Both responses are bullshit.

Saturated with ego, conditionality and resulting in more of the same. More friction. More confrontation. More opposition. More chaos.

One of my trusted mentors pointed to a commentary by a specific well-known person. Someone who was speaking to a crowd and - in response to the day’s news - stated “So, anything going on today?”  My mentor noted it as being neutral. That this person didn’t “comment” on the news.

Oh, but she did and the small statement was anything BUT neutral. It was saturated with a sense of satisfaction. It was very cat that ate the canary. 

Remaining neutral doesn’t mean seeking justice. Remaining neutral doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be consequences for actions. Remaining neutral is all about how we think, speak and act about it that matters - and that’s where I go with this week’s episode. So buckle up :)

In a world where what passes for radical honesty usually means someone is just letting things fly outta their pie-hole without much care for others, it’s time for radically authentic conversation. Conscious communication is simple, but often isn’t easy. That’s why Cathy Brooks created Talk, Unleashed – a weekly podcast of radically honest conversation about — everything. Whether her own musings or in conversation with industry leaders, each episode invites curiosity. 

Curiosity not about what people do, but why they do it. Who they are and what makes them tick. It’s about digging underneath to reveal the thing that is most true - that we are more alike than we are not. A mix of solo episodes where Cathy shares her insights and experience or Cathy engaged in conversation with fascinating humans doing amazing things. No matter the format - it’s unvarnished, radically honest and entirely unleashed. 

This podcast compliments Unleashed Leadership, the coaching business through which Cathy works with symphony orchestras, corporate clients, and individuals to help them unleash and untether their leadership and connect with others in a way that truly engages.

#brutalhonesty #radicalhonesty #consciouscommunication #leadership #Conversation #connection #TalkUnleashed #fiercecompassion #UnleashedConversation #UnleashedLeadership #FixYourEndofTheLeash

Jaime Konzelman is the kind of woman whose story will stop you in your tracks. It’s also the kind of story that, at least probably until somewhat recent years, most folks would have avoided telling. I mean, it’s not often that a high-power, deal-making corporate executive admits to having gotten her start as a stripper.

She’s not the first woman I’ve met who established a financial foundation and negotiating skillset in the adult entertainment industry. She is the first one I know who wrote a book about it, and in the book reveals truly jaw-dropping and stomach twisting tales of a path that almost should have led somewhere else entirely. In fact, most who travel the path the way that Jaime did don’t live to tell the tale.

But she did and tell the tale she does. In this episode of Talk Unleashed, Jaime shares more of the insights and why behind her story and as usual I drop some questions that catch her off guard and result in some truly untethered moments.

In a world where what passes for radical honesty usually means someone is just letting things fly outta their pie-hole without much care for others, it’s time for radically authentic conversation. Conscious communication is simple, but often isn’t easy. That’s why Cathy Brooks created Talk, Unleashed – a weekly podcast of radically honest conversation about — everything. Whether her own musings or in conversation with industry leaders, each episode invites curiosity. 

Curiosity not about what people do, but why they do it. Who they are and what makes them tick. It’s about digging underneath to reveal the thing that is most true - that we are more alike than we are not. A mix of solo episodes where Cathy shares her insights and experience or Cathy engaged in conversation with fascinating humans doing amazing things. No matter the format - it’s unvarnished, radically honest and entirely unleashed. 

This podcast compliments Unleashed Leadership, the coaching business through which Cathy works with symphony orchestras, corporate clients, and individuals to help them unleash and untether their leadership and connect with others in a way that truly engages.

#raisingthebar #levelingup #nextcut #brutalhonesty #radicalhonesty #consciouscommunication #leadership #Conversation #connection #TalkUnleashed #fiercecompassion #UnleashedConversation #UnleashedLeadership #FixYourEndofTheLeash

When I was 9 years old I convinced one of my neighbors that my mother would allow me to have one of their Guinea Pigs. I brought it home.

Needless to say, it didn’t go so well. Had the little guy long enough to name him Cornflake, and then return him.

That's the last time I randomly brought home an animal for which I wasn’t properly set up to provide care.

So when a guy at a gas station offered me a piglet from the back of his truck, I flashed back briefly to that moment in my childhood. I said no, but of course not before some random thoughts wove together into this week’s episode. 

In a world where what passes for radical honesty usually means someone is just letting things fly outta their pie-hole without much care for others, it’s time for radically authentic conversation. Conscious communication is simple, but often isn’t easy. That’s why Cathy Brooks created Talk, Unleashed – a weekly podcast of radically honest conversation about — everything. Whether her own musings or in conversation with industry leaders, each episode invites curiosity. 

Curiosity not about what people do, but why they do it. Who they are and what makes them tick. It’s about digging underneath to reveal the thing that is most true - that we are more alike than we are not. A mix of solo episodes where Cathy shares her insights and experience or Cathy engaged in conversation with fascinating humans doing amazing things. No matter the format - it’s unvarnished, radically honest and entirely unleashed. 

This podcast compliments Unleashed Leadership, the coaching business through which Cathy works with symphony orchestras, corporate clients, and individuals to help them unleash and untether their leadership and connect with others in a way that truly engages.

#brutalhonesty #radicalhonesty #consciouscommunication #leadership #Conversation #connection #TalkUnleashed #fiercecompassion #UnleashedConversation #UnleashedLeadership #FixYourEndofTheLeash

One of the most irritating things about driving in most American urban and suburban areas is the utter sense of entitlement and disregard for anything even remotely resembling courtesy. Head to Paris or most any city in Europe where complex roundabouts and other traffic control exist, and watch as what seems to be chaos, orchestrates perfectly. It’s because folks know the basics and are minding the rules. They are literally staying in their lane.

Country roads very much have a sense of courtesy. There are mostly winding, two lane roads, some of which do have limits up to about 60mph and there is a way that you handle passing others, minding limits, all of it. So when I had two back-to-back experiences that were polar opposites, I got inspired. And now you get to hear about it.

In a world where what passes for radical honesty usually means someone is just letting things fly outta their pie-hole without much care for others, it’s time for radically authentic conversation. Conscious communication is simple, but often isn’t easy. That’s why Cathy Brooks created Talk, Unleashed – a weekly podcast of radically honest conversation about — everything. Whether her own musings or in conversation with industry leaders, each episode invites curiosity. 

Curiosity not about what people do, but why they do it. Who they are and what makes them tick. It’s about digging underneath to reveal the thing that is most true - that we are more alike than we are not. A mix of solo episodes where Cathy shares her insights and experience or Cathy engaged in conversation with fascinating humans doing amazing things. No matter the format - it’s unvarnished, radically honest and entirely unleashed. 

This podcast compliments Unleashed Leadership, the coaching business through which Cathy works with symphony orchestras, corporate clients, and individuals to help them unleash and untether their leadership and connect with others in a way that truly engages.

#commoncourtesy #countrycourtesy #manners #nextcut #brutalhonesty #radicalhonesty #consciouscommunication #leadership #Conversation #connection #TalkUnleashed #fiercecompassion #UnleashedConversation #UnleashedLeadership #FixYourEndofTheLeash

Driving around in the country you see a lot of times when some woodland creature just didn’t make it across the road. I do my best to not be the person leaving that collateral damage behind me.

In this week’s episode - a case of stopping in my tracks - and in the process engaging with someone whose politics and views lay just about as far from mine as possible.

Except here’s the thing. We got along. Because of a Box Turtle. Road Kill - maybe the thing we should leave behind is hatred. And that’s where I go with this week’s episode.

In a world where what passes for radical honesty usually means someone is just letting things fly outta their pie-hole without much care for others, it’s time for radically authentic conversation. Conscious communication is simple, but often isn’t easy. That’s why Cathy Brooks created Talk, Unleashed – a weekly podcast of radically honest conversation about — everything. Whether her own musings or in conversation with industry leaders, each episode invites curiosity. 

Curiosity not about what people do, but why they do it. Who they are and what makes them tick. It’s about digging underneath to reveal the thing that is most true - that we are more alike than we are not. A mix of solo episodes where Cathy shares her insights and experience or Cathy engaged in conversation with fascinating humans doing amazing things. No matter the format - it’s unvarnished, radically honest and entirely unleashed. 

This podcast compliments Unleashed Leadership, the coaching business through which Cathy works with symphony orchestras, corporate clients, and individuals to help them unleash and untether their leadership and connect with others in a way that truly engages.

#brutalhonesty #radicalhonesty #consciouscommunication #leadership #Conversation #connection #TalkUnleashed #fiercecompassion #UnleashedConversation #UnleashedLeadership #FixYourEndofTheLeash

Not sure when it happened but at some point doing nice things for people became suspect. You do something for someone and they think you want something. Sad, really. Result is that most folks keep to themselves, don't share when they need help and end up floundering around in this world trying to get shit done. Or take it to the other extreme and become overly dependent on others.

That balance. That fine line. That stepping forward to offer help before it’s requested. Being of service. That’s what I dive into this week. Courtesy of a neighbor and his dogs. 

In a world where what passes for radical honesty usually means someone is just letting things fly outta their pie-hole without much care for others, it’s time for radically authentic conversation. Conscious communication is simple, but often isn’t easy. That’s why Cathy Brooks created Talk, Unleashed – a weekly podcast of radically honest conversation about — everything. Whether her own musings or in conversation with industry leaders, each episode invites curiosity. 

Curiosity not about what people do, but why they do it. Who they are and what makes them tick. It’s about digging underneath to reveal the thing that is most true - that we are more alike than we are not. A mix of solo episodes where Cathy shares her insights and experience or Cathy engaged in conversation with fascinating humans doing amazing things. No matter the format - it’s unvarnished, radically honest and entirely unleashed. 

This podcast compliments Unleashed Leadership, the coaching business through which Cathy works with symphony orchestras, corporate clients, and individuals to help them unleash and untether their leadership and connect with others in a way that truly engages.

#bekind #beofservice #dogoodthings radicalhonesty #consciouscommunication #leadership #Conversation #connection #TalkUnleashed #fiercecompassion #UnleashedConversation #UnleashedLeadership #FixYourEndofTheLeash

If you were an 80s kid you recall the whole going out to play after dinner and coming home before the street lights come on thing. You may also recall that most folks’ parents had some sort of whistle or call, a code that said - get your a$$ home. My father has been dead for 24 years. And the other night I heard part of his whistle. In the woods. So obviously that gave me an inspiration for this week’s episode.

In a world where what passes for radical honesty usually means someone is just letting things fly outta their pie-hole without much care for others, it’s time for radically authentic conversation. Conscious communication is simple, but often isn’t easy. That’s why Cathy Brooks created Talk, Unleashed – a weekly podcast of radically honest conversation about — everything. Whether her own musings or in conversation with industry leaders, each episode invites curiosity. 

Curiosity not about what people do, but why they do it. Who they are and what makes them tick. It’s about digging underneath to reveal the thing that is most true - that we are more alike than we are not. A mix of solo episodes where Cathy shares her insights and experience or Cathy engaged in conversation with fascinating humans doing amazing things. No matter the format - it’s unvarnished, radically honest and entirely unleashed. 

This podcast compliments Unleashed Leadership, the coaching business through which Cathy works with symphony orchestras, corporate clients, and individuals to help them unleash and untether their leadership and connect with others in a way that truly engages.

#thewhistle #80skids #genX #consciouscommunication #leadership #Conversation #connection #TalkUnleashed #fiercecompassion #UnleashedConversation #UnleashedLeadership #FixYourEndofTheLeash

I’m not sure when it happened but at some point, good healthy competition and the drive for self-improvement and growth became a zero sum game where one person’s success was only valued at the cost of someone else.

That the climb to the top became based on climbing over others. As if there’s only one ladder, one mountain.

Thing is, there isn’t.

We all have our own hurdles to jump and raising it to challenge yourself? That’s a good thing. And it also can come with some serious discomfort. Which I found out doing a high jump. And that’s what I talk about this week.

In a world where what passes for radical honesty usually means someone is just letting things fly outta their pie-hole without much care for others, it’s time for radically authentic conversation. Conscious communication is simple, but often isn’t easy. That’s why Cathy Brooks created Talk, Unleashed – a weekly podcast of radically honest conversation about — everything. Whether her own musings or in conversation with industry leaders, each episode invites curiosity. 

Curiosity not about what people do, but why they do it. Who they are and what makes them tick. It’s about digging underneath to reveal the thing that is most true - that we are more alike than we are not. A mix of solo episodes where Cathy shares her insights and experience or Cathy engaged in conversation with fascinating humans doing amazing things. No matter the format - it’s unvarnished, radically honest and entirely unleashed. 

This podcast compliments Unleashed Leadership, the coaching business through which Cathy works with symphony orchestras, corporate clients, and individuals to help them unleash and untether their leadership and connect with others in a way that truly engages.

#raisingthebar #levelingup #nextcut #brutalhonesty #radicalhonesty #consciouscommunication #leadership #Conversation #connection #TalkUnleashed #fiercecompassion #UnleashedConversation #UnleashedLeadership #FixYourEndofTheLeash