The Proximity Process

Today's episode is just a little bit different. I've decided that I'm going to release a mini episode every other week. I'm going to give you a little behind the scenes into my process, like an audio entry from my daily journal. These episodes will be insights into my process, reflections from the prior episode, or maybe something that is happening in my work with Proximity Design Studio. But more than anything, these episodes are an invitation to you to join the community and conversation that I'm building off the podcast platform. I'm hosting Monday morning live calls to discuss episodes and build community. Find me on LinkedIn to get updates on the Monday morning live calls. 

Please connect with me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn - Matt Anderson | LinkedIn

Today's episode is with Sarah Winograd who is the founder, visionary, and reluctant leader behind the new organization, Together With Families. We talk about why Sarah decided to build an organization, quite literally, with the families. She gives great examples and insights into how to create organizational culture and structure to remain in right relationship with the people you serve. She gets into specifics like board structure, hiring practices, and why seeing, valuing, and loving people is what matters the most. Sarah embodies what proximate leadership looks like when you measure your bottom-line by how people feel when they walk through your door rather than by the services you provide. 

Please connect with me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn - Matt Anderson | LinkedIn

This episode is a conversation I had with Corey Best who is the founder of Mining for Gold. We talk about how a keynote that Corey gave in 2022 titled "Who Am I Becoming" changed my life forever. The conversation also gets into topics of lived experience, non-reformist reform, and the serviceability of the system in ways that challenge prevailing narratives in child welfare. But we start with how, through growing in right accountable relationship, Corey has become a friend and a teacher as I continue in my own process of becoming. 

Please connect with me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn - Matt Anderson | LinkedIn

Matt Anderson shares his own process of coming to realize that he had a proximity problem and wasn't in right relationship with himself and the people he serves. The episode starts with a story from July 2022 that was the tipping point when Matt decided to leave his job of 11 years. This decision took Matt even deeper into his own process of seeing the system as harmful and himself as a perpetrator of harm, holding himself accountable, and beginning to reconcile. This episode was recorded in the summer of 2023 and the work is unfinished, and the process continues. 

Please connect with me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn - Matt Anderson | LinkedIn

Announcing The Proximity Process podcast with host Matt Anderson. 

Please connect with me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn - Matt Anderson | LinkedIn