Here with us today is Patrick Jones, a journalist, producer and podcaster. Patrick is host of That Gives Me Anxiety, a show about the things that scare us and how to deal. He's also an accomplished improviser and sketch comedian. In the world in which we're living now, I am proud to be living in this moment where we're seeing a lot of different people and organizations really understand that we all suffer in one way or the other from mental health issues - whether it's a persistent chronic thing, or whether it's just based on some sort of event. I am so appreciative to have these interviews working to normalize anxiety and other mental health issues. Today's conversation with Patrick is one that inspires us to relate to others and practice empathy.

Our guest today, Shayna Renee Hammond, is the CEO and founder of Lead for Liberation and Indigo Women and has spent several years developing leaders that demonstrate emotional intelligence inclusivity, and diversity. Shayna explains the spiritual call she had several years before she launched Lead for Liberation which ultimately lead to the birth of Indigo Women. Indigo Women is a coaching practice specifically for black women in leadership and all sectors. Its flagship program is the 9-week Indigo Women Group Coaching Experience, where really women are called back home.  During our conversation, Shayna shares her excitement about the future of leadership, and how more and more people are opening up their minds and hearts around being more open about what it means to be a leader and not so tightly held to the beliefs that we've had for the past 30 or 40 years.

Jay Shifman is an open book. A vulnerable storyteller and stigma-destroying speaker, podcaster, and event host, Jay’s story of struggle is familiar to the millions of people the world over who also struggle with issues of mental health, substance misuse, and addiction. The survivor of two suicide attempts and an overdose and now in long-term recovery, it is Jay’s mission to encourage difficult conversations and honest education concerning these and similar struggles.

Today our guest is Katie Maycock, has a double degree in nutrition and Advanced Physiology yet after graduating and pursuing a career in business recruiting, she experienced burnout, twice, which left her body and mind in shambles. She could barely walk up and down the stairs and her joints were so inflamed that it left her unable to make a fist with her hand for over six weeks. Over an 18-month period, she ended up spending over $30,000 trying to figure out what was wrong with her body. What she realized drastically changed her life, and having turned herself around, she is dedicated to helping others get their shit together.

We all know and can relate to the five senses: smelling, touching, tasting, seeing, and hearing. But in the words of our guest today, “Empathy is like one of our senses. Intuitive and present, standing by whenever we want to tap into it.” In my own experience, I’ve found this to be very true. As an empath, I have a heightened ability to feel the emotions of others. And so, it is very much a core sensation in my body: and the more I’ve leaned into empathy, the greater my sense of self-awareness. As a business leader and CEO, I’ve found that my qualities as an empath have been vital to the success of my business. This has been true for how I’ve been able to relate to my team and also in how I’ve been able to relate to my customers. In working with eCommerce businesses, it’s pretty important for me to be able to truly understand the motivations driving my customer, and also in understanding how users will interact with the web pages we are building. Here to talk with us about empathy and how it shows up in our personal and professional lives is Rob Volpe, CEO of Ignite 360.

In this episode of The Change, our host Adam Baruh sits down with Garry Ridge, the CEO of WD-40 Company, to discuss the future of leadership and how to cultivate a successful organizational culture. Garry shares his insights on the importance of servant leadership, continuous learning, and the power of vulnerability in creating a thriving and engaged workforce.

Show Notes:

[00:00] Introduction
- Welcome to The Change with Adam Baruh
- Introducing Garry Ridge, CEO of WD-40 Company

[01:30] Garry Ridge's Background
- Garry's journey to becoming the CEO of WD-40 Company
- The importance of continuous learning and personal growth

[03:45] The Future of Leadership
- The shift from traditional leadership to servant leadership
- The role of vulnerability and empathy in effective leadership

[06:20] Cultivating a Successful Organizational Culture
- The importance of trust, respect, and communication
- How WD-40 Company's culture contributes to its success

[09:10] Continuous Learning and Personal Growth
- Garry's commitment to learning and development
- The benefits of fostering a learning culture within an organization

[12:30] The Power of Vulnerability
- Why vulnerability is essential for authentic leadership
- How Garry practices vulnerability in his leadership role

[15:40] Advice for Aspiring Leaders
- Garry's top tips for those looking to grow as leaders
- The importance of self-awareness and humility in leadership

Mindset: the key to unlocking our potential. Our ability to perform at our best and achieve powerful results all comes from the ability to maintain a positive and focused mindset. I can tell you personally how difficult it can be to maintain a positive mindset. In the past year I feel I have finally unblocked my ability to maintain perspective and mindset but this took a tremendous amount of work, and keeping a focused perspective still requires constant work. Much like maintaining the body requires we exercise regularly, keeping the right mindset for performance works the same way. Here to speak with us today about mindset and the ability to perform at a high level is Lee Evans, a high-performance coach based in the UK.

Emotional intelligence in the workplace has only recently become recognized as a vital skill. In the traditional business model, skills related to the specific job and the ability to problem solve have been the key areas of focus during the interview process. Yet, in the words of our guest here today ÒIQ will land you the job but youÕll keep it because of your EQÓ. I can tell you first-hand how spot-on this statement is. When I originally formed my consulting agency and started hiring, I was really only concerned with the technical skills of candidates I was interviewing. Yet, over time I saw that my best employees were not the ones with the greatest skillset on the platform we work withÉthe team members who were achieving the best results and providing the greatest value to the company were those with highly developed emotional intelligence skills. Here to speak with us today about the value of emotional intelligence in leadership and otherwise is Mohamed Hammoud.

ItÕs tough to be a CEO: we face difficult challenges every day and have to navigate our companies through the many obstacles that make our job pretty interesting. For women business leaders, the number and types of challenges are even further amplified. Imagine trying to start a beverage company in an overly saturated market, with no industry experience. Imagine seeking advice from established and well-known business leaders only to be dismissed and called ÒsweetieÓ. This is exactly what our guest here today, Founder and CEO of Hint Water Kara Goldin experienced as she grew the idea of providing delicious and healthy drinking water to consumers into an extremely successful business. Kara is undaunted in her desire to offer people a healthier alternative to sweetened beverages and impact peopleÕs lives in a healthy way.