Lifting Leaders Podcast

Courage Found in Gems from Carole McCluskey

There were so many gems to be found, during our interview with Carole McCluskey (Episode 132).  We decided to focus on Finding Courage as an appropriate gem for this week’s episode. During our interview with Carole, we noticed that she has essentially lived in courage, throughout her amazing career, from being one of the first women leaders in the tech industry, to trekking by bike over long stretches of our country, and so much more!  In today’s world, we are experiencing unprecedented change and upheaval and many of these changes are testing our courage in new ways.  Speaking up, when it matters, can be seen as truly courageous.  Is it courageous to speak up about work matters, on the job?  For those who may work in environments that don’t seem psychologically safe, practicing courage may be a bold move.  Listen in as we share some essential steps to finding your courage.  Learn why we say that courage is a skill. 

Fascinating Visit with Pioneering Leader, Carole McCluskey

With our theme of “Leaders Thrive in 25,” we are introducing more practicing formal leaders on our show, to hear their journeys, their ups and their downs and what it took for them to “thrive” in leadership.  We are excited to introduce you to Carole McCluskey, tech industry leader/executive with over 35 years in various roles, including board and advisory roles in companies like Redbox/Coinstar, MOD Pizza, TrueBlue, Tealium and TIBCO Software.  Spend this time with us as Carole shares why she is an “accidental success story.”  You may be able to identify with some of her lessons learned, along her career journey.  Learn about what she claims is the best advice she ever received.  The story that led to that advice is a real eye-opener.  So, if you’re at home, get comfortable.  If you listen while commuting…you know what to do!  In any event, we think you will be glad you spent time listening to this episode.  Enjoy!

Coaches’ Corner: Checked Your Values, Lately? The Value of Knowing Your Values

What are values and what purpose do they serve?  If you have ever found yourself in a situation where you needed to make a very difficult and important decision, you have most likely had to do a bit of soul searching.  What you were seeking was the answer that you could believe in or that you felt was the right decision.  How did you do that? Well, this episode is about the importance of knowing your values. Listen in, and learn about where they come from, how they serve a purpose in your life and what to do when they aren’t working anymore. Spend this short time with us, as we discuss the foundation that guides our decisions and our behaviors. Looking for ways to determine what your true core values are?  Listen in for a simple way to do that.  

(Encore) Peter Block on Reclaiming Control of our Collective Well-being through Activating the Common Good

(Encore edition) This week we launch our special series, Opening Your Heart, with guest Peter Block, who challenges us to shift our mental framework from scarcity to abundance and enough. He shares a new organizing principle and paradigm for our culture, the Common Good which relies on all of us opening our hearts to connect and create relationships in our communities to have a positive impact on the world (it starts with you!). Find out the 7 key areas that every community universally cares about and new ways to measure our well-being. In this powerful and vulnerable interview, Peter shares his own perspectives on story, place, impact and why he still asks himself, have I done enough? We invite you to grab a warm cup of tea or coffee, sit back and enjoy the unique pace of this episode that invites you to pause, slow down and soak it all in.

Creating Havens of Harmony in the Work Place with Andrea Lucky

In this episode we talk with Andrea Lucky, CEO and Founder of Silver Fern HR Consulting, to help leaders navigate through this tricky time in our workplaces. Andrea shares the impact she is seeing right now in our organizations by the division, uncertainty and chaos in our country. What if we could create havens of harmony for our employees in our teams and organizations? It is possible. Andrea shares with us practical steps we as leaders (and we are all leaders) can take to make this a reality. 

Mining Gems from Jeff McAuliffe – What’s Your Vision?

Springboarding off of the great visit (#128) we had, with Jeff McAuliffe, we are revisiting something we spent some time unpacking…dealing with overwhelm.  While overwhelm is a state of being that most of us face, from time-to-time, it seems to be hitting more and more people, right now.  Life has presented one challenge after another, since 2020, and we barely navigate through one issue, before another one, two, or twenty present themselves.  Listen in as we Zoom Out, for a moment, to look at what is happening these days that may be unsettling for some (and certainly is, for us).  Then learn what we are doing and what you can do to Zoom In, and boulder through some of life’s challenges, and find new ways to Thrive.  It’s not about just surviving, although, if that is all you can do, right now, do it.  It’s about Thriving, and we  strive to be there now and moving forward.  Enjoy!

Caring for Ourselves and Our Environment – A Return Visit, With Our Friend, Jeff McAuliffe!

We are so happy to welcome back, our friend, Jeff McAuliffe, accomplished consultant, coach and author of the bi-weekly environmentally focused newsletter, “52 Weeks of Earth Day” If you live on this planet, you may have been experiencing confusion or any one of several emotions around what is going on, locally, nationally, and globally. We are facing a tremendous amount of change (and challenge), politically, environmentally, economically, and personally. All of this is having an impact on how we navigate our own feelings, how we interact with others, and how we look at the ways in which we must now plan for our futures. While all this can feel very heavy, we have choices. Listen in and learn about some of the choices that Jeff has been making, that are helping him navigate through this new climate we are finding ourselves in. Find out how Zooming out to take a more global view of our current world can help us, as we Zoom in toward acting with greater intention, on a more local level. Want to learn more about how to build resilience as a change agent? This episode is packed with true gems that will help us all THRIVE, in 25 and beyond.

We’re Launching This Year’s Theme and You’re Invited! Leaders THRIVE in 25!

How are you feeling? If you’re like us, you may be feeling the stresses of all the recent upheaval and uncertainty that has confronted us, over the past few weeks. We have to admit that it feels different and uncomfortable…like nothing we have experienced before. We want you to know that we are, as always, committed to our Vision, Mission/Purpose and, with that in mind, we are launching a new theme for this year – “Leaders THRIVE in 25.” Listen in and learn about our plans for keeping all of us on tract to THRIVE, this year. Want to know more about how you can THRIVE now and in the future? Have an interest in keeping your mind in growth mode, during times where the stories in your head may be steering you toward a more fixed and polarized way of thinking? Well, come along with us, this year where, together, we will explore hope and discover new possibilities.

(Encore) What’s All This Buzz About Human Flourishing…An Insightful Discussion with Judy Oyedele and Sasha Farley (Part Two)

This is Part Two of our encore episode with Judy Oyedele and Sasha Farley, two Organizational Development professionals who talk with us about Human Flourishing. We discuss how the collective power of individual mindset and behaviors, even coming from varying states of mental/emotional wellbeing is what it takes to achieve more systemic Human Flourishing. Want to know more about why Judy sees Human Flourishing as a “big, hairy, amorphous challenge?” Listen in to find out. Knowing that Human Flourishing is seen as not so much of a “nice to have” state of being but, rather, a new imperative for all of us, it seems important for us to learn as much as we can so we can decide how it might fit into our worlds. One of the many takeaways from this rich episode has to do with ways in which leaders can help further and foster Human Flourishing in their organizations. We hope you will listen in on the entire episode. You will find a wealth of information on this important topic, and we believe it will be an insightful mining journey.

(Encore)What’s All This Buzz About Human Flourishing…An Insightful Discussion with Judy Oyedele and Sasha Farley (Part One)

As we think about Leaders Thriving in 2025, the concept of Human Flourishing as shared by Judy Oyedele and Sasha Farley this time last year, is foundational and worth revisiting. We hope you find this encore edition as inspiring and informational as we do. While it seems like forever that experts have been concentrating on negative human behaviors, burn out and depression, there is a rising buzz in the world of psychology and organizational development that is shifting much of the focus toward something called Human Flourishing. Join us, as we welcome Judy Oyedele and Sasha Farley, two Organizational Development professionals who bring their expertise to the podcast and share their journeys to this complex world of Human Flourishing. Learn how they define flourishing and how it differs from fixing what’s wrong. Discover the PERMA model and how it’s linked to Human Flourishing. Learn how flourishing differs, in different countries and cultures and why Judy and Sasha say that Human Flourishing is a team sport. This topic is so important, during this time we are living in, and there is so much information to share, that we are bringing Judy and Sasha back, for our next episode, as well. Don’t miss this episode, though, as it sets the foundation upon which our next conversation will be based. We know there are a lot of gems to be found in this episode, and we think you will be glad you spent time mining with us.