In this conversation acclaimed Stanford Business School Professor, and author, Leah Weiss and I sat down to discuss a variety of topics including: 

-Why mindfulness and compassion are important in leadership and organizations 

-What mindfulness and compassion are and are not 

-How to respond and persevere in the face of failure or negative feedback 

-What she's learned about communicating and presenting from teaching a wildly popular course on leading with mindfulness and compassion at the Stanford GSB 

-The relationship between courage and compassion 

-How experimentation supports behavior change 

If you enjoyed this episode visit www.joshuasteinfeldt.com/podcast for show notes and more. 

Background: Leah Weiss, Ph.D., MSW, is a teacher, researcher, and meditation expert at Stanford University specializing in the application of mindfulness and compassion in secular contexts. Her perennially waitlisted course at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, Leading with Mindfulness and Compassion, is breaking new ground in an MBA program already famous for innovation. In 2015, she was given the role of Women in Management Facilitator at Stanford business school. As Principal Teacher and Trainer for Stanford’s Compassion Cultivation Training program, founded by the Dalai Lama, Leah developed the curriculum to train more teachers to meet a growing interest in compassion as it applies to people’s work, family, community, and selves. Her first book, How We Work, has recently been released. In addition to her wide range of speaking and consulting work for leading organizations and healthcare settings Leah also works with the Department of Veterans Affairs, where she teaches mindfulness and compassion to help veterans cope with post-traumatic stress, and to help VA staff around the Bay Area cope with the stress of their jobs helping veterans. For more on Leah visit www.leahweissphd.com

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In this episode acclaimed professor, author, speaker, and performance coach Dan Lerner and I explore: 

-How to answer big questions like what I am going do when I grow up? 

-The art of achieving success and fulfillment and other insights from his wildly popular science of happiness class at NYU. 

-How passion isn’t something we often find, but something we develop over time 

-The difference between harmonious passion and obsessive passion and how harmonious passion can lead to happiness and success 

-How overnight success is often celebrated even though it’s mostly a myth 

-The art of teaching and presenting and how to connect in meaningful ways with any audience 

If you enjoyed this episode visit www.joshuasteinfeldt.com/podcast for show notes and more. 

Background on Dan: Daniel Lerner is an in-demand speaker, author, strengths-based performance coach and instructor of the science of happiness, one of the most popular undergraduate courses at New York University. Employing cutting-edge research into positive psychology and peak performance, Dan works with students, established and high-potential performing artists, athletes and numerous Fortune 500 companies and executives around the world helping them manage stress and anxiety, achieve well-being, uncover their core strengths and define and realize their own brand of success. With a deep passion for helping the next generation of talent achieve their utmost potential, Dan, along with his co-author and teaching partner Dr. Alan Schlechter, penned U Thrive: How to Succeed in College (and Life). For more on Dan visit www.daniellerner.com

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In this conversation world renowned meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg and I discuss a wide array of topics related to meditation, mindfulness, courage, and her new book Real Love, including: 

-How Sharon defines love 

-How love can be an antidote to fear 

-How Sharon overcame her own fear of public speaking 

-How to connect with anyone (insights she's gleaned from over 40 years of teaching) 

-How to be with suffering (our own, and that of others) 

-How to cultivate mindfulness and compassion through meditation 

-How compassion can help us to overcome burnout 

If you enjoyed this episode please visit www.joshuasteinfeldt.com/podcast for show notes and more. Background on Sharon: Sharon Salzberg is a central figure in the field of meditation, a world-renowned teacher, and New York Times best-selling author. She has played a crucial role in bringing meditation and mindfulness practices to the West and into mainstream culture since 1974, when she first began teaching. She is the cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts and the author of ten books including the New York Times best-seller, Real Happiness, her seminal work, Lovingkindness, and, Real Love, her latest release by Flatiron Books. Acclaimed for her humorous, down-to-earth teaching style, Sharon offers a secular, modern approach to Buddhist teachings, making them instantly accessible. She is a regular columnist for On Being, a contributor to Huffington Post, and the host of her own podcast: The Metta Hour. For more on Sharon please visit www.sharonsalzberg.com

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Today's episode features Mike Erwin - West Point Leadership Instructor, author of Lead Yourself First, and founder of The Positivity Project (a non-profit organization that brings character education to America's youth). In this wide-ranging conversation, Mike and I explored topics like: 

-Handling pressure 

-Emotional mastery in the heat of the moment 

-Solitude and how spending time reflecting and turning inward can promote effective leadership, positive relationships, moral courage, meaning and fulfillment (all of which are themes in Mike’s book Lead Yourself First). 

-Mike’s experiences in the military as an intelligence officer 

-Promoting character education in schools through Mike's non-profit, the Positivity Project. 

For show notes, links to more about Mike and his work, and more, visit www.joshuasteinfeldt.com/podcast 

Mike Erwin's background: Mike Erwin is the CEO of The Character & Leadership Center and co-founder & president of the Positivity Project - a non-profit organization with the mission to empower America’s youth to build stronger relationships. He is the co-author of Lead Yourself First by Bloomsbury Press (2017). The book focuses on how solitude strengthens people’s character---and their ability to lead with clarity, balance and conviction. Mike is also a Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves, assigned to the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he serves as an Assistant Professor in Leadership & Psychology. Mike graduated from West Point in 2002 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics. He was commissioned as an Intelligence Officer, serving in three combat tours with the First Cavalry Division and 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne). Mike earned two Bronze Star Medals from these tours. Following his third deployment, Mike attended the University of Michigan from 2009- 2011, where he studied positive psychology and leadership under the tutelage of the co- founder of positive psychology, Dr. Chris Peterson. While in graduate school in 2010, Mike founded a non-profit organization named Team Red, White & Blue (Team RWB). Team RWB’s mission is to enrich the lives of America’s veterans by connecting them to their communities through physical and social activity. He volunteered as the Executive Director for 3 years and continues to serve on the Board of Directors. Team RWB has 138,000 members and 212 chapters across the world.

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In this conversation acclaimed writer and journalist Emily Esfahani Smith and I discuss a wide array of topics related to meaning in life including:

-The difference between meaning and happiness 

-Why we should pursue meaning 

-Insights from the science of meaning 

-Leveraging meaning and purpose to overcome adversity and fear 

-Practical ways to build meaning into our lives and ultimately craft a life that matters. 

If you enjoyed this episode check out www.joshuasteinfeldt.com/podcast for show notes and more. 

Background: Emily Esfahani Smith is a journalist and the author of The Power of Meaning: Finding Fulfillment in a World Obsessed With Happiness. Her articles and essays have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, The Atlantic, The New Criterion, and other publications. The former managing editor of The New Criterion, Smith is also an editor at the Stanford University's Hoover Institution, where she advises the Ben Franklin Circles project, a collaboration with the 92nd Street Y and Citizen University to build meaning in local communities. To find out more about Emily visit www.emilyesfahanismith.com

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In this conversation with Rick Hanson we dive into the topic of his new book, Resilient, and explore: 

-Resilience as a skill 

-How to grow inner strengths 

-Keys to accelerating the process of learning harnessing insights from neuroscience 

-Self-compassion 

-Strategies for having difficult conversations 

If you enjoyed this episode visit www.joshuasteinfeldt.com/podcast for show notes and more. 

Background on Rick Hanson: Rick Hanson, Ph.D., is a psychologist, Senior Fellow of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, and New York Times best-selling author. His books are available in 26 languages and include Hardwiring Happiness, Buddha’s Brain, Just One Thing, and Mother Nurture. His latest book, Resilient, is due out in 2018. A summa cum laude graduate of UCLA and founder of the Wellspring Institute for Neuroscience and Contemplative Wisdom, he’s been an invited speaker at Oxford, Stanford, Harvard, and other major universities, and taught in meditation centers worldwide. His work has been featured on the BBC, CBS, NPR, and other major media. To find out more about Rick, his teachings, writings, as well as freely offered resources check out www.rickhanson.net

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In this conversation renowned leadership expert Johann Berlin and I discuss some of his wisdom and perspective about what makes a good leader, how to have difficult conversations, peak performance under pressure, and the importance of letting go, as well as, the role of courage in actually being able to do so. 

Johann provides a number of practical strategies for putting these ideas into practice along the way. 

If you enjoyed this episode please visit www.joshuasteinfeldt.com/podcast for show notes and more. 

Background: Johann Berlin is the CEO of TLEX Institute North America. Working alongside some of the biggest influencers and top leaders in the U.S. and throughout the world Johann is committed to harnessing people's passions by strengthening the connection individuals, teams and organizations have to themselves, to each other, and toward greater shared purpose. He has delivered talks and led workshops at places like TEDx London, GE HealthCare, Stanford Center for Compassion, Microsoft, AMEX, Amazon and the Wharton School of Business (among others). You can also find his writing on leadership and other subjects in places like Harvard Business Review, Business Insider, Virgin Unite, Real Leaders, Thrive Global, and the Huffington Post

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In this powerful conversation with Dr. Fred Luskin we unpack forgiveness, talk about what it is, what it's not, the benefits of it, address forgiveness as a skill, and discuss some of our guests biggest insights after decades of work helping people all around the world learn to forgive. 

If you enjoyed this episode visit www.joshuasteinfeldt.com/podcast for show notes and more. 

Background: Dr. Fred Luskin is the author of multiple books, including the bestseller Forgive for Good. He is also the Director of the Stanford Forgiveness Projects, an ongoing series of workshops and research projects that investigate the effectiveness of his forgiveness methods on a variety of populations. The forgiveness project has successfully explored forgiveness therapy with people who suffered from the violence in Northern Ireland, Sierra Leone as well as the attacks on the World Trade Center on 9/11. In addition, his work has been successfully applied and researched in corporate, medical, legal and religious settings. He currently serves as a Senior Consultant in Health Promotion at Stanford University and offers lectures, workshops, seminars and trainings on the importance, health benefits and training of forgiveness, stress management and emotional competence throughout the United States. For more on Dr. Luskin visit: learningtoforgive.com

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In this passionate interview with Dr. Judson Brewer we explore how our brains learn, how habits are formed, and how people might use this knowledge to create lasting changes, and find happiness in their lives. 

If you enjoyed this episode visit www.joshuasteinfeldt.com/podcast for show notes and more. 

Background: Dr. Judson Brewer is a thought leader in the field of habit change and the "science of self-mastery", having combined over 20 years of experience with mindfulness training with his scientific research therein. He is the Chief of the Division of Mindfulness, Director of Research at the Center for Mindfulness and associate professor in medicine and psychiatry at UMass Medical School. He has published numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, trained US Olympic coaches, and his work has been featured on 60 Minutes, TED (4th most viewed talk of 2016, with over 8 Million views), Time magazine (top 100 new health discoveries of 2013), Forbes, BBC, NPR), Businessweek and others. A psychiatrist and internationally known expert in mindfulness training for addictions, Brewer has developed and tested novel mindfulness programs for habit change, including both in-person and app-based treatments for smoking, emotional eating, and anxiety. He is the author of The Craving Mind: from cigarettes to smartphones to love, why we get hooked and how we can break bad habits. For more on Dr. Brewer visit: www.judsonbrewer.com

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Kevin is the Founder and CEO of Miracle Messages, an award-winning nonprofit that reunites the homeless with their loved ones. To date, MM has facilitated over 100 reunions, with 25% getting a person off-the-streets. Their vision is to reunite 1 million people by 2023. For his work, Kevin has been named a TED Resident, TED Speaker, MassChallenge winner, and "Emerging Innovator" by American Express / Ashoka. Miracle Messages has been featured widely, including in the New York Times, NPR, People, on a Shinola billboard in Times Square, and NowThis, whose video reached 26 million views. For more on Kevin check out kevinfadler.comIf you enjoyed this episode visit www.joshuasteinfeldt.com/podcast for show notes and more

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