The Indispensable Conversation

It is in the spirit of #WorldMentalHealthDay (recognized on October 10th) that I offer this week’s special episode of The Indispensable Conversation, where I explore this essential question with my guest Mandy Morris, LPC. 

Mandy is a well-known Corporate Psychologist, Speaker and Season 2 Mental Health Support Advisor on 4 Days to Save the World TV Series.  As you might already know, the overall objective of World Mental Health Day is to raise awareness of mental health issues around the world and to mobilize efforts in support of mental health.  

The Day provides an opportunity for all business leaders and any stakeholders working on mental health issues to talk about their work, and what more needs to be done to make mental health care a reality for people worldwide.  

This makes Mandy the absolute "right guest" to explore the "Mental health side of managing uncertainty" issue with me.

If you want diversity and inclusion in the workplace, you need to promote and hire differently.

It is really that simple.

I  have worked with clients in transforming their company cultures for nearly 30 years. Diversity and inclusion continues to be a stumbling  block for many. Why? The fact remains that people hire other people that look, think, and behave like them. It seems that no amount of training  or awareness sessions is going to change this reality. Rather, we must  decide to deliberately change whom we hire and promote.

Eugene Frazier is absolutely the "right guest" to explore the "Diversity and Inclusion" issue with me on this episode of The Indispensable Conversation. 

Besides being the Co-Founder of Courageous Leadership, a member of the MG-100 and on the Forbes Coaches Council. Eugene is a diversity and inclusion expert with nearly 30 years of experience in the space.  

Check-out this honest conversation about diversity and inclusion between two guys from two different races.

That's just 10 years from now! 

This question is about the future of work. It's a question about the professional work settings that today's 6th Grade Middle School students will face when they graduate from college? If innovation and technology continues to rule how work is done, are we heading towards a business world with few rules, one where an budding market of specialists and niche players emerge and rule the day? Do we expect that large corporations, thirsty for highly productive human assets,  push past the limits of human ability by investing in augmentation technology, medication and implants -- just to give their people the edge?

While the pandemic has left people sick, tired, exhausted, and rattled. It has also upended their notions of what work should look like. 

The Great Resignation continues to grab headlines as different work arrangements are taking shape around the globe, including hybrid, remote, 4 day workweek and 25 hour week, to name a few.

Should top leaders be worried?

We explore these questions, and more, on this episode of The Indispensable Conversation with my guest, the CHRO to the Stars, Paul Falcone.

I explore this question on this episode of The Indispensable Conversation with my guest Peter Winick.    

Peter is the Founder and CEO, Thought Leadership Leverage. He is what many consider a "Thought Leader Whisperer" bringing the best out in his thought leadership clients.    

It is this reputation that makes Peter the "right guest" to explore the issue of thought leadership obligations.

As for me, I define a thought leader as one motivated by the need to contribute to the betterment of leadership thinking, by that definition, it would seem that a true thought leader has a duty to promote great ideas, even if those ideas are not there own.

Additionally, if you're like me and are of the mindset that we live a life of abundance, then, of course, thought leaders should help other thought leaders -- there's plenty of management consulting and coaching work to go around.  

However, if your worldview is one marked by scarcity, you likely believe that others must lose for you to win.

Listen-in as we debate this provocative subject.

In the world of Google, our minds are constantly being bombarded by data, and we’re forced to interpret it in real-time with no time to synthesize and reflect. What effect does that have on our thinking?

What about critical thinking? Have we lost the ability to separate fact from opinion, as result?

Experts suggest that we are wired to unknowingly spin everything to avoid any degree of dissonance.

I wonder, have we lost the art of thinking.

I explore this question on this episode of The Indispensable Conversation with my guest Dr. Oleg Konovalov. He is a member of Marshall Goldsmith 100 Coaches, the Thinkers50 and is the author of The Vision Code.     

Because he writes about the future and the importance of business vision, Oleg is the "right guest" to explore this important question with me.

Tune-in, if you dare to know...    

Being a consultant who does a ton of work in the culture change and organizational design and development space, I think decency counts -- a lot! 

Additionally, I think it's one of the characteristics that is all too often forgotten when times get tough. Given where we have been over that past couple of years, the question of decency's importance in business is worth some further examination.

My guest for this episode of The Indispensable Conversation is the incomparable Harry Kraemer, Jr., the retired chairman and CEO of Baxter International Inc., a multi-billion-dollar global healthcare company and a professor of management and strategy at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, where he teaches in the MBA and the Executive MBA programs.

Having to deal with so many ethical questions and challenges over his tenure as the top leader of tens of thousands of his employees worldwide, Harry is the absolutely "right" person to talk with about the importance of decency in leadership.

Why do we still feel empty, when we live in abundance?

Why is depression on the increase, when we are awash with information on how to be happy?

A new happiness industry has been sprouting fast to keep up with consumers’ insatiable demand for programs and prescriptions on how to experience authentic, ultimate, and lasting happiness, is it possible that the present happiness craze may be partially responsible for our unhappiness?

"Should Happy Be The Goal?" is the question that I ask my guest Elia Gourgouris, Ph.D. in this episode of The Indispensable Conversation.

Elia is the perfect guest to tackle this question with me. He is the president of The Happiness Center and a Best-Selling Author of books on Happiness & Corporate Wellness.

Listen in as we confront this essential question of our times.

People with an overriding desire to be widely known to strangers are different from those who primarily covet wealth and influence. Their fame-seeking behavior appears rooted in a desire for social acceptance, a longing for the existential reassurance promised by wide recognition. 

My question to my guest Rhett power on this episode of The Indispensable Conversation is this: Is it good for business?

Rhett is an executive Coach, Forbes Columnist and a Season 1 Cast Member of 4 Days  to Save the World (TV Series). This makes him the perfect guest to discuss the topic.

Think headline seekers like Bezos, Musk and Branson and compare them to Buffett, Brin and Balmer -- they're all billionaires only some seek the spotlight. 

This is the question posed to my guest, Dave Summers on this episode of The Indispensable Conversation.

Dave is founder of Pine Mountain Digital. He is absolutely the right person to have on the show to discuss this provocative question with me. He is a digital media producer/coach/animator that creates all kinds of business podcasts, interactive web-events and irreverent video-blogs for business audiences around the globe. 

As you likely know, the misinformation effect refers to the tendency for post-event information to interfere with the memory of the original event. Researchers have shown that the introduction of even relatively subtle information following an event can have a dramatic effect on how people remember that event.

Listen is as we discuss how the rapid spread of misinformation is undermining trust in business and in society at large.