Value through Vulnerability podcast from HEXO Change

I absolutely LOVED this conversation with my friend and HumansFirst founder Mike Vacanti who kindly joined me to reflect ad signpost the next 100 episodes.

The podcast will remain as it has the past 99 episodes, grounded in our humanity, yet we wish to make an open invitation to the HumansFirst community and beyond to use the platform and myself/Mike to host meaningful conversations, whether 1-1 or multi-person.

bring your ideas, innovation and challenges, and let's keep mending the often media-induced divide.

Mike can be found via the following means:

Email - [email protected]

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mjvacanti/

Twitter - https://twitter.com/MJVacanti

Web - https://humansfirst.club/

You can also find out more about Garry as follows:

Web – Sign up for updates at www.hexochangenow.com

Email - [email protected]

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/garryturnerstrategicadvisor/

Clubhouse - @vulnerablegarry

I really enjoyed this conversation with John Featherby who is a founding UK B Corp and speaks so eloquently and with such clarity about the opportunity that ay in front of us to become more humane, people-centric orgs that serve people, planet and profit. Some of the key reflections for me included: - 

“I spend as much time as I can in the countryside. I get most of my peace and my thinking when connected to natural landscapes” – 01.00 - “Problem-solving can only iterate the current reality, you can’t launch yourself into a new reality by just fixing what’s current. You have to create something new” – 27.05 - 

“They (children) are not asked to solve problems. What would the system look like if every child in school was being asked to solve problems, real problems that the adults are trying to deal with. That creates a totally different society” – 35.05 - 

“I did have some clarity young. For the most part, whilst you may have that clarity, it doesn’t mean that there is a group of people willing to listen” – 04.00 - 

“When we talk about change it always starts with some kind of death, some kind of price is paid for change at the start” - 05.20 - “Change the people, change the planet rather than the other way around. Ultimately this is a heart question” – 11.40 - 

“Organisations measure and engage with the physical stuff that’s easy to see, but actually we are so much more than the physical representation of ourselves” - 24.15 

John can be contacted via the following means: 

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnfeatherby/ 

Web - https://www.shoremount.com/ 

Bio: I am the owner of Shoremount, a consulting firm that seeks to restore joy, meaning and freedom to every workplace. Shoremount is a Founding UK B Corp, now a $80Bn/yr “business as a force for good” movement, and was awarded “Changemaker Honoree” in the B Corp “Best for The World Lists”. I am the author of The Guide to Human Organisations. I am the Founder of Human Stories at Work; a place to engage with the ultimate cultural barometer: storytelling. I am the Founder of Teylu; a conversation format and network using the power of peer-to-peer small groups to cultivate community and pursue a common purpose. I am Senior Advisor to Blueprint for Better Business, helping corporates and institutions prosper whilst better serving society. I sit on the Investment Committee for Resonance’s pioneering, social impact real estate funds. We have raised and invested £200M to house vulnerable people and families, winning awards across the mainstream and sustainable finance arenas. Prior to Shoremount, I was in real estate and corporate finance. I hold an MA from CASS Business School and a BA (Hons) from Nottingham University.

You can also find out more about Garry as follows:

Web – Sign up for updates at www.hexochangenow.com

Email - [email protected]

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/garryturnerstrategicadvisor/

Clubhouse - @vulnerablegarry

I really enjoyed this conversation with Renee Smith who opens our conversation with one of the most vulnerable personal stories of vulnerability shared on this podcast so far. 

Renee really does role-model the change she wants to see in the world, bringing the importance of love to the workplace, however, people wish to name or adopt that.  We also discuss leadership, culture, vulnerability, courage and much more. Some key highlights include: - 

“We want to contribute; we want to matter. We want to be cared about ourselves. Of course love belongs at work and when we are in a condition when we feel love, we give and do and be our very best” – 09.20 - 

“You are a good investment. Invest in yourself. I was worthy of investing in” – 11.45 - 

“We need to be creating an environment where you stop, and we turn and we face someone to truly listen to them,  and we look them in the eye and we turn away from our devices and our computer and we hear them.” – 36.10 - 

“Tell me a story about a time when you felt afraid at work and tell me a story about a time when you felt loved or any version of that at work?” – 38.00 

Renee can be found via the following means: 

Email - [email protected] 

Website - https://www.makeworkmorehuman.com/ 

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/renee-smith-wa-state-lean/ 

Bio: As the Founder and CEO of A Human Workplace, Renée champions a more loving, humane, and safe workplace where everyone is welcome to bring their whole selves to work. This is an effective workplace where individuals and teams can be and do and bring their very best to their toughest challenges. Under her leadership, A Human Workplace provides an expanding and unique set of cultural resources for leaders and teams including learning experiences, ready to use tools, gatherings, train the trainer, coaching, and consulting services to public and private organizations as well as to communities who want to make work more human and loving. Renee also conducts primary research, writes, and speaks on Making Work More Human, and personally hosts gatherings of A Human Workplace to help people (re)discover human values and practice what it means to be human at work. She actively collaborates with others around the world to grow global momentum to shift workplace cultures everywhere and to lift up a brilliant community of people each holding insights for a more human workplace.

You can also find out more about Garry as follows:

Web – Sign up for updates at www.hexochangenow.com

Email - [email protected]

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/garryturnerstrategicadvisor/

Clubhouse - @vulnerablegarry

I was moved during this conversation with Arlene.  She epitomises humanity and oozes a desire to leave the planet and people in a better place than which she found them. We discuss human-centered design, innovation, her sabbatical, #HumansFirst, community, awareness and so much more. 

Some of the key highlights for me include: 

- “I’ve seen how the business idea, developed in isolation, iterated, but not always with the information of the user with that information of the user coming late in the game. I love the human-centred philosophy which flips that” 

– 05.55 - “Start by listening to those that will be impacted. Understand that piece first without your assumptions and biases” 

– 07.25 - “why create in isolation, why not create by having input and feedback from the people that are going to actually experience whatever that output is” 

-  12.30 “I love approaching problems from this consideration of all of the others. I think that human-centred design accounts for that other piece” – 14.10 

- “What inspires me is not just the human-centred design approach, but the intersection of public policy, legislation and date” 

– 14.25 - “The unknown felt really uncomfortable because it was so ambiguous” – 21.55 

Arlene can be contacted via the following means: 

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/arlenemendoza/

You can also find out more about Garry as follows:

Web – Sign up for updates at www.hexochangenow.com

Email - [email protected]

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/garryturnerstrategicadvisor/

Clubhouse - @vulnerablegarry

I thoroughly enjoyed my first 3-way conversation on this platform and it really added some extra value.

We discuss education, innovation, leadership, culture, language, purpose and so much more.  Please find some of the key highlights as follows:

- “One of the central, underlying themes of our book is the balance between smart and healthy. Smart is what we typically have a lot of training in. Yet much of our enjoyment, success and ability to pull off those things on the smart side, are really on the healthy side” – 06.45

- “What if you focussed 95% of your time on the people that you are leading and only 5% on the work itself, what would that look like”- 08.40

- “We work with leaders on the idea of having staff take greater ownership, that leaders don’t have to decide everything. Leading is me helping to develop you as a thinker and a future leader” – 12.50

- “If the leader jumps in too soon. If we hear from the leader too quickly around the table, people are going to pull back and say ‘why do I need to counter Jim, this is how he feels.’ – 17.50

- “If you want to stop a lot of people from emotional attachment to an organisation, talk about double digit growth. Over time her message changed to ‘we do well by doing good’” – 24.00

- “It’s a mistaken belief that as a leader you have to make decision” – 27.20

-  “It’s not just about smarts, its also about healthy. You really need both in order make productive change happen” – 38.50

Bios:

Jeff Ikler has worked in education in the broadest sense his whole life – first as a high school history teacher, then as an editor, marketer and executive in the educational publishing industry for more than 35 years and finally as Director of Quetico Coaching where he focuses on leadership development and career shifts.

Kirsten Richert describes herself as an innovation catalyst—she acts as a key to bring out the innate talent, passion, and wisdom of a team so they can make their desired transformation. She is the CEO of Richert Innovation Consulting, a firm that brings together strategy, innovation, and facilitation to help leaders spark change.

Jeff and Kirsten enjoy collaborating together on projects. In addition to leading consulting and innovation work with educational organizations, they produce a weekly podcast on change management called Getting Unstuck and have co-authored a book being published by Corwin Press that will be released in March 2020 called Shifting: How School Leaders Can Create a Culture of Change.

Web – Sign up for updates at www.hexochangenow.com

Email - [email protected]

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/garryturnerstrategicadvisor/

Clubhouse - @vulnerablegarry

I absolutely loved this conversation with Inclusion Architect and export Toby Mildon.

In what was a hopeful, constructive and forward-looking conversation, we touched on inclusion, belonging, awareness, culture, leadership and so much more.

Some key insights included:

- “Diversity includes everybody. We need to make sure that everybody, every single person, is included and taken on the journey because it is only when businesses reflect the communities in which they’re based and the talent that’s around them, and the communities in which they serve, that they become high-performing businesses” – 03.10

“Sometimes I like to be sarcastic by saying that I will write the business case for you (D&I) when you write the business case why we should hire non-disabled people” - 09.45

“My recommendation is to use reverse mentoring with someone from a different background. Lean back, lean forward and step in” – 38.30

- “What three talking points do you need to give to your Chief Executive so that they are able to talk confidently from a podium about why diversity & inclusion is important to the organisation” – 04.40

- “(D&I) The business case is that it is the right thing to, we are talking about human rights. We should be creating businesses that enable anybody to work in the business regardless of their background so that they can come and contribute their best work so that the business thrives” – 09.00

- “My tip to anyone that wants to progress D&I in their organisation is to find out what language sticks within the business and speak that language in order to get your message across” – 12.00

- “The reason why I like co-creation is because so many organisations when they implement D&I it’s usually done from the HR department, done to people in the organisation, rather than down with” – 15.20

Toby can be contacted via the following means:

Email - [email protected]

Website - https://www.mildon.co.uk/

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tobymildon/

Twitter - https://twitter.com/tobymildon

Bio:

Toby Mildon is a Diversity & Inclusion Architect and founder of Mildon, a consultancy and advisory business. Toby works with businesses to re-engineer processes and systems to minimise the impact of bias and build a culture of inclusion. Prior to setting up his business, Toby worked as an in-house diversity and inclusion manager at the BBC and Deloitte.

You can also find out more about Garry as follows:

Web – Sign up for updates at www.hexochangenow.com

Email - [email protected]

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/garryturnerstrategicadvisor/

Clubhouse - @vulnerablegarry

I am so humbled and grateful to Laura for sharing such depth of wisdom and such hope in a challenging time.  This is a direct talking, insight-sharing and optimistic conversation, but please engage with an open heart and mind.   I am also grateful to Jenny Andersson for her leadership and connection to Laura. 

“Once I surrender to healing completely, I slowly started to see progress happen.” – 05.15 - 

“We see a massive collapse when we look around. Breakdown after breakdown of financial systems, human system, psychological systems, social systems. There is a lot of breakdown going in our world right now” – 07.13 

“Start to explore with curiosity your inner emotional landscape. When we start doing that on a more regular basis there’s a whole new world that starts to unfold” - 22.20 

“It is the reality of things that the way in which business is designed is, in most cases, for destruction. So how can we turn towards the intelligence of nature” – 29.30 

“You get presented with life as a big competition (at school/as kids) and you need to win the race, if not you fall behind, and all sorts of bad things will happen to you. We have not created a life where we are celebrating our differences” – 34.30 

Laura's TEDx talks can be found as follows: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOAse2G_nmE - Regenerative leadership https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1oLAsy5mJ4 - Surrenderinmg to silence Laura can be contacted via the following means: Web - www.laura-storm.com  Web - https://www.regenerators.co/ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-storm1/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/storm_laura Bio: Laura is an international thought leader and expert on sustainability and leadership and has spent her entire career advising global leaders on sustainability and building impact- and purpose-driven organizations, and movements. All have they focused on the global transformation to sustainability and they include the Copenhagen Climate Council, the World Business Summit on Climate Change, Project Green Light and Sustainia. Under Laura's leadership, Sustainia became a global mega-brand within sustainability with an outreach to more than 150 million people, a database of 4000 sustainable solutions, multiple state-of-the art publications and a unique partner network. In 2018, she founded Regenerators - a collective focused on teaching leaders from all walks of life about regenerative design, regenerative organizations and leadership and regenerative living. For her work, she has been awarded the title ‘Worldchanger’ by Greenbiz and is selected by the World Economic Forum as a ‘Young Global Leader’.  She is the co-author of Regenerative Leadership. She serves on multiple Boards and on the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network as an expert in sustainable development and climate change. Her academic background is a Master in Political Communication and Leadership from Copenhagen Business School. More about Laura here: www.laura-storm.com 

You can also find out more about Garry as follows:

Web – Sign up for updates at www.hexochangenow.com

Email - [email protected]

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/garryturnerstrategicadvisor/

Clubhouse - @vulnerablegarry

I absolutely loved this conversation with David who is the first person to come back onto the Value through Vulnerability for a 2nd time.

Please fond as follows some of the rich insights and their timings in the podcast:

- “The realisation I had was all of my leadership training was about telling people what to do; telling them nicely, telling them precisely, telling them so they thought it was there idea, but fundamentally about telling people what to do” – 02.45

- “First of all, I had to get away from this idea that I was controlling other peoples behaviour. We live in a world where we think that the way to have success in your job, is to get other people to do stuff” – 05.20

“I think there is a real limitation here which is they are only going to be as good as you, they are only going to be as proactive as you, and they’re not going to give that discretionary effort” - 05.40

- “just imagine if you needed to spend zero time managing people. You need to coordinate people, their efforts should to be coordinated, but what if you didn’t have to manage any of them, they just managed themselves.” – 07.05

- “It’s good people, trying to do the right thing, but with the wrong playbook of the industrial, playbook” – 19.10

David can be contacted via the followings means:

Bio:

Student of leadership and organizational design, former nuclear submarine commander,

Author of Amazon #1 Best Seller: Turn the Ship Around!, Leadership is Language,

and The Turn the Ship Around! Workbook, and one of Inc. Magazine’s Top 100

Leadership Speakers.

David Marquet imagines a workplace where everyone engages and contributes their full intellectual capacity, a place where people are healthier and happier because they have more control over their work–a place where everyone is a leader.

A 1981 U.S. Naval Academy graduate, Captain Marquet served in the U.S. submarine force for 28 years. After being assigned to command the nuclear powered submarine USS Santa Fe–then ranked last in retention and operational standing–he realized the traditional leadership approach of “take control, give orders,” wouldn’t work.  He “turned the ship around” by treating the crew as leaders, not followers, and giving control, not taking control. This approach took the Santa Fe from “worst to first,” achieving the highest retention and operational standings in the navy.

After Captain Marquet’s departure, the Santa Fe continued to win awards and promoted a disproportionate number of officers and enlisted men to leadership positions, including ten subsequent submarine captains. Stephen R. Covey said it was the most empowering organization he’d ever seen and wrote about Captain Marquet’s leadership practices in his book, The 8th Habit.

You can also find out more about Garry as follows:

Web – Sign up for updates at www.hexochangenow.com

Email - [email protected]

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/garryturnerstrategicadvisor/

Clubhouse - @vulnerablegarry

This was a beautiful conversation with my friend and peer Brooke who has dedicated the past decades to her drive to bring more purpose to the world of work. The upcoming #HumansFirst event in San Diego can be booked here -> https://humansfirst.club/the-sandiego-experience Brooke's wonderful end of 2019 article / 2020 reflection scan be found here -> https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/9-practices-can-make-us-happier-2020-ozlem-brooke-erol/ 

Some of Brooke's key insights can be found as followed: -

 “In my early 20s nobody was talking about purpose, but I still felt like I needed to know what I’m doing and how it’s helping others instead of just looking at my daily tasks” – 01.45 - 

“One thing that CEOs think that purpose is a good thing, but they never think it can also drive their numbers. They still don’t connect the dots” – 10.55 - 

“One of my goals and purpose is to increase awareness around this in my community. We want to have more conversations around this, but turning these conversations into execution too” – 15.30 - 

“The ones that have the most bureaucracy, the ones that have so much hierarchy are not nimble enough, they’re not flexible enough, they’re not agile enough to be going through all these changes” – 23.45 -

 “When you tie what you do on a daily basis to something bigger, it makes a huge shift in peoples minds” – 25.00 - 

“Vulnerability is to go and follow your passion and dream because you never know if it’s going to work out for you or not” – 31.00 “It’s really the smallest steps that we can all take that make the biggest difference” – 37.10 Brooke can be contacted via the following means: Website - https://humansfirst.club/the-sandiego-experience 

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ozlemerol/ 

Twitter - https://twitter.com/BoErol1 

Bio: Brooke O. Erol started her career at IBM following the traditional path she was given to be "successful". She quit her "great job" on paper after 11 years, feeling she is not aligned with it. She started her journey to find her purpose in life. She started her first business in 2003 (http://www.yourbestlifeinc.com/) to help professionals who don’t like their jobs and want to find more meaning in their lives. After being around so many unhappy people at work, she decided to help the organizations who employed them by starting her second business (http://www.purposeful.business/). She loves helping leaders create inspiring and purposeful environments so that all stakeholders are happier. She believes life is too precious to live only for weekends and retirement. She is the author of Create a Life You Love. She is also the co-author of "From Hierarchy to High Performance: Unleashing the Hidden Superpowers of Ordinary People to Realize Extraordinary Results" that became an International Best Seller in 2018. She speaks and writes about Leadership, Purpose-Driven Life and Organizations, Future of Work in the US and abroad.

You can also find out more about Garry as follows:

Web – Sign up for updates at www.hexochangenow.com

Email - [email protected]

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/garryturnerstrategicadvisor/

Clubhouse - @vulnerablegarry

This is one of my favourite conversations EVER!  Sara is a certified #DaretoLead facilitator having trained with Brene Brown after passing a rigorous application process.

We discuss in detail vulnerability, shame, empathy, leadership, privilege, courage, risk and so much more.

Some example insights shared by Sara include:

- “It was a massive risk because the training dates are set for the year. There was huge risk if I got it, there was huge risk financially” – 05.10

- “Why is it important? When there is no courage in an organisation, when courage is absent, we’re able to identify classic behaviours that show up like back-channelling, like not giving feedback, like not having difficult conversations, lack of creativity, lack of innovation, lack of risk” – 08.20

“We can’t be courageous, we can’t be brave, without vulnerability. Why should we do it? The risks of not doing it are far, far too great” - 08.25

“I didn’t realise the extent to which it would change myself in doing the work” 17.25

Sara can be contacted via the following means:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarananayakkara/

Twitter - https://twitter.com/nthlevel

Website - http://www.nthlevelconsulting.com/

Bio:

Sara has 26 years’ experience of design, facilitation, coaching and consultancy in the private and public sector on a global scale. Her approach makes genuine connections with delegates. Her facilitation style is grounded, energetic and engaging. Her coaching style is challenging and supportive; she develops rapport and trust quickly; skilfully using powerful questions to unlock her clients. Her consultancy is insightful, and her success is hugely due to her ability to connect with clients quickly.

Sara has worked in 52 countries, delivering coaching and facilitating from board level to front line staff. She has designed and delivered various programmes in Leadership Development, Performance Management, Change Management, Team days, Personal Effectiveness Programmes. She is responsible for instigating culture change within organisations; she conducted a “Cultural Audit” of HM Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) which gained media interest in 2008. Other public sector clients include; Department of Work and Pensions, Business Innovation and Skills, Cabinet Office, 10 Downing Street, HM Revenue and Customs, Department For International Development, Ministry Of Justice, and Ministry Of Defence, Natural England, The Environment Agency, RNIB, and Royal Mail.

She is a highly accomplished coach, working with FTSE 100 leaders. She was one of the first Dare to LeadÔ Facilitators to be trained personally by Brené Brown.

You can also find out more about Garry as follows:

Web – Sign up for updates at www.hexochangenow.com

Email - [email protected]

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/garryturnerstrategicadvisor/

Clubhouse - @vulnerablegarry