The Unified Team

Who do you serve?

How do you serve them? Why? And what are the boundaries of that service?

The answers to these questions go a long way to clarifying our work.

They help define the contexts of our relationships in coming together. They ensure we fulfil our purpose. And they help us frame the decisions we make.

This starts with understanding who we are and how us and our colleagues work.

Today's episode was a discussion into self awareness informed by Tony Walmsley's work on his SCORE Profiling Tool.

Links:

Clark Ray’s Linkedin Profile

Clark’s Website

Tony Walmsley’s Linkedin Profile

Tony’s Website

Rob McPhillips’s Linkedin Profile

Rob’s Website

How good are you at making decisions?

How confident are you in your answer?

The more aware you are of the way your mind works, the less sure you will be of your answer. Our decisions are fraught with biases and distortions.

Thinking Fast and Slow is one of the most respected books on decision making. Daniel Kahneman's work won him a Nobel Prize for Economics. Some call it the bible for the developing field of Behavioural Economics.

In it he shows a number of surprising ways we fool ourselves.

Eduardo dos Santos Silva, Michael Ward, Romana Prochazkova and I met to discuss our insights from the book.

Links:

Eduardo Dos Santos Silva

Michael Ward

Romana Prochazkova

Rob McPhillips

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction: Understanding Decision-Making Systems

00:17 Key Insights from the Book

01:10 Exploring Biases and Decision-Making

01:40 The Importance of Diverse Teams

02:55 Personal Reflections and Comparisons

04:51 Frustrations with System One and System Two

05:16 Regression to the Mean: A Key Concept

06:13 Psychological Soundness and Boredom

06:58 Head, Heart, and Gut: Different Systems?

09:27 Decision-Making Processes and Logical Thinking

13:04 The Book's Audience and Writing Style

21:17 The Legacy of Kahneman and Tversky

23:00 Visual Learning in Mathematics

24:08 The Pyramid Pattern and Pattern Recognition

26:57 Heuristics, Algorithms, and AI

28:10 Cultural Differences and Fairness

28:39 Book Readability and Summaries

30:58 Taleb vs. Kahneman: Writing Styles

33:12 System One and System Two Thinking

35:01 Climbing and Decision Making

39:51 Final Thoughts and Takeaways

Clark, Tony and I discussed our ideas of leadership. We talked about how our own sense of identity and our psychology impacts our thinking and behaviour as a leader using examples from history and personal experiences. 

Links: 

Clark Ray’s Linkedin Profile:  

 / 10thman   

Clark’s Website: https://www.clarkray.com 

Tony Walmsley’s Linkedin Profile:  

 / tony-walmsley   

Tony’s Website: https://theleadersadvisory.com 

Rob McPhillips’s Linkedin Profile:  

 / robmcphillips   

Rob’s Website: https://robmcphillips.com/ 

Chapters: 

00:00 Introduction: The Strength in Challenges 

00:51 Historical Anecdotes and Personal Reflections 

03:04 The Fluidity of Identity 

04:33 Coaching and Personal Growth 

08:44 Psychology and Self-Perception 

23:33 Business and Personal Problem Solving 

28:12 The Essence of Leadership 

29:16 The Courage to Lead 

29:47 The Role of Models in Leadership 

33:31 The Pitfalls of Prescriptive Leadership 

35:15 Leadership vs. Management 

36:03 Leadership in Practice 

40:22 The Complexity of Leadership 

50:03 Adaptive Challenges in Leadership

Want to really know someone?

Get into a fight with them.  Especially one that hits all their hot buttons.  You’ll soon see the worst of them. 

Conflict does funny things to people.

It is one of the few times we drop our carefully crafted social masks.  It’s one of the reasons couples think their partner has changed.  Because they just didn’t get to see this side when everything was smooth sailing.

Work is the other place where conflict can often happen.

It happens because we care.  We see our future as being tied up with the future path we choose.  And so we get threatened.

How we deal with conflict is the key determinant of how effective we will be.

All too often, we avoid conflict.  Or we become over-aggressive.  In today’s episode Clark Ray, Tony Walmsley and I talked about conflict at work. 

What did you want to be when you were a child?

Before the world filled you with doubts. Before you learned to subjugate yourself to it's rules. What did you love to be?

I loved @Michael's quote from Gustave Flaubert in this context

'Genius... is childhood rediscovered'

One of the most influential schools of psychological thought is that of Behaviourism. That children are blank slates. And we can program them to be whatever we want.

Yet to be human is something much more than one of Pavlov's salivating dogs.

We are born with something, that flavours everything we do. Today's podcast episode is our discussion of the book, Mastery by Robert Greene.

I was joined by:

Eduardo Dos Santos Silva: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eduardodossantossilva/

Michael Ward: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-ward-7a4671227/

Saurabh Debnath: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saurabh-debnath/

00:00 Introduction and Initial Impressions

00:06 Different Versions of the Book

01:01 Author's Background and Controversial Works

02:41 Personal Reactions to the Book

03:39 Comparing Mastery with Other Books

07:12 Themes and Commonalities Among Masters

13:38 Education and Mastery

23:20 Socioeconomic Disparities and Their Impact

25:16 Global Perspectives on Poverty

28:47 Aid to Africa and Global Wealth Disparity

30:10 Work-Life Balance and Cultural Pressures in India

32:38 The Influence of Social Media and Role Models

35:37 Economic Systems and Societal Values

39:41 The Concept of Mastery and Personal Growth

46:59 The Role of Coaches and Mentors

48:26 Ego and Mastery in Various Disciplines

56:02 Final Reflections on Mastery and Ego

In this episode, Clark Ray, Tony Walmsley and I talked about the power of authentic leadership.

How do we know what's authentic?

We discussed psychological safety, the pitfalls of social media's lack of authenticity, and the importance of staying true to oneself.

The conversation also tackles the role of universal truths, conflict resolution, and the 10th man concept in leadership and personal development.

00:00 A Chance Encounter: A Story of Unexpected Connection

02:01 Reflecting on Authenticity and Psychological Safety

03:00 The Cost of Social Media and Authentic Interactions

05:49 The Complexity of Authentic Leadership

14:19 Universal Truths and Leadership Models

23:49 The Importance of Honesty and Self-Awareness

26:50 The Nature of Truth and Belief

27:41 Religious Beliefs and Personal Values

29:30 Self-Limiting Beliefs and Authenticity

30:10 Understanding Assumptions and Wisdom

32:02 Coaching and Leadership Challenges

34:23 The Role of the 10th Man

47:06 Conflict Resolution and Communication

52:07 Dogma and Open-Mindedness

What is Leadership beyond the theories?

This episode explores the core principles of effective leadership, emphasizing humility and the importance of values.

Through the lens of experiences in sports and business, the discussion covers situational leadership, the impact of values like honesty and integrity, and the power dynamics in relationships.

The episode features anecdotes, such as Unai Emery's interaction with his set piece coach and the challenges faced by leaders in fast-growing companies. It advocates for a values-driven approach to leadership, recognizing the critical role of self-awareness, the need to yield when necessary, and the importance of relationships in maintaining influence and authority.

00:00 Introduction to Leadership Philosophy

00:16 Analyzing a Real-Life Leadership Example

03:59 The Role of Humility in Leadership

06:05 Challenges of Situational Leadership

15:41 The Importance of Values and Moral Compass

23:46 Building Trust Through Conflict

29:57 The Concept of Leadership

30:20 Defining Good Leadership

32:06 Values and Principles in Leadership

38:23 Leadership in Relationships

49:42 Influence and Organizational Leadership

Do you feel your work brings you purpose?

In all my work with individuals, I've seen three core needs. The first two dominate our early career.

To belong and feel part of a tribe.

To gain status and value within that tribe.

We seek out the field we want to be in. And how we can fulfil our ambitions in that field. But often many then feel a sense that something is missing.

A sense of purpose.

This relates to the third need. The desire to want to be part of something meaningful. And this is what Simon Gallagher coaches Clients on.

In today's podcast we talked about his journey from PHD Chemist to Beer Brewer to Purpose Coach.

Links:

Simon Gallagher's Linkedin

00:00 Finding Your Purpose

00:45 Understanding Core Values

01:20 A Journey Through Education

02:21 Discovering Coaching

03:50 The Power of LinkedIn

05:16 The Irish Influence

13:32 Transition to Coaching

19:25 The Coaching Landscape

24:45 Values and Purpose: The Foundation of Coaching

26:13 The Role of Humor in Personal Values

27:27 Navigating LinkedIn with Authenticity and Humor

30:59 The Importance of Visual Content on LinkedIn

32:37 Mechanistic vs. Aspirational Values

37:53 Coaching for Clarity and Performance

44:00 The Challenge of Freedom and Self-Validation

46:36 The Burden of Comparison and the Education System

47:20 Final Thoughts and Future Conversations

In this episode, we talk about the implications of Blackbox Thinking (by Matthew Syed) for organisations.

We talk about how differing companies such as Kodak, Google, and Amazon either learned or ignored the lessons from failure.

The conversation explored concepts such as antifragility, psychological safety, and growth mindset.

By integrating ideas from various domains, this episode offers insights into fostering a resilient and thriving organizational culture.

Links:

Michael Ward: 

Saurabh Debnath: 

Rob McPhillips: 

00:00 Introduction to Black Box and Rebel Ideas

00:48 Critique of Matthew Syed's Approach

01:31 Ben Hardy and Making Ideas Accessible

03:09 Personal Reflections on Failure

04:32 Learning from Success vs. Failure

11:04 Marginal Gains vs. Kaizen

16:35 Corporate Culture and Innovation

26:36 Processes and Anti-Fragility

30:10 Productivity and Training Methods

30:36 David McClelland's Research on Professional Performance

32:34 The 10,000 Hour Rule and Perfect Practice

34:10 The Role of Psychological Safety in Organizations

35:45 Religion, Closed Loop Systems, and Cognitive Distortions

44:38 Blame, Emotions, and Learning from Mistakes

50:06 System One vs. System Two Thinking

58:46 Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways

In this episode, dive into Harit Bhasin's journey of becoming a successful Tech Leader.

Learn the importance of embracing conflict and building trust, as well as the value of a 'can-do' attitude, continuous self-learning, and personal branding. Discover how integrating diverse knowledge and fostering a growth mindset can lead to professional success. Gain insights on effective networking, mentorship, and balancing various perspectives within an organization.

This episode highlights key leadership principles such as empathy, active listening, and resilience in both startups and large enterprises.

Links:

Harit Bhasin

Rob McPhillips

00:00 Understanding Conflict in Leadership

02:25 Personal Leadership Journey

05:46 Career Growth and Networking

10:36 Entering the IT World

12:12 Challenges and Resilience

16:56 The Importance of Mentorship

22:48 Beyond Expertise: Expanding Your Knowledge

24:35 The Drive Behind Ambition

25:13 The Importance of Continuous Learning

28:51 Balancing Priorities and Consistency

32:56 Empathy and Leadership

34:26 Common Leadership Mistakes

39:18 Mentoring and Coaching

40:30 The CEO Mindset

42:22 Final Thoughts and Advice