Podcast

Subscribe

Episode 4: Yassmin Abdel-Magied – Finding Strength Through Adversity

What do you do when you achieve your dreams…and then lose it all.

At the age of 25, Yassmin Abdel-Magied was an unbridled success. She achieved prominence at a young age, garnering awards and recognition as a teenager in Australia. She had been a successful engineer, author and TV personality. Her TED talk had millions of views and was named one of the top ten ideas of 2014.

Then it all changed in an instant. Ambushed by a Senator attacking her religion on live TV, she lost her cool and the video went viral. That was followed by a few ill-advised words on her personal Facebook page and suddenly she was a pariah. Vilified by Internet trolls and hounded by death threats, she left the only country she had ever really known.

Her shaming was so complete that her name became a verb. To be Yassmin-ed in Australia today means to be “canceled” as a woman of color. Yet she didn’t let it break her. She moved to London, continued to write and became a global force for inclusion, inspiring others to overcome adversity that the world so often subjects so many.

(more…)

Subscribe

Rob Wolcott – Creating Connection In the Service Of Change

Every successful changemaker thrives on connection. It is their ability to connect to different people, places and institutions that makes it that much more likely that they will come across that seemingly random piece of information or insight that helps to crack a really tough problem.

Nobody personifies that more than Robert C. Wolcott. As Co-Founder & Chairman of The World Innovation Network (TWIN), he leads a global community of 4,000 innovation and growth leaders from over 30 countries that meet and connect to tackle some of the world’s toughest problems. It is through these connections that Rob formed the vision that became his new book, Proximity.

Rob is one of the most talented and engaging people you can imagine and we learned a lot from our conversation with him. We know you will too.

Subscribe

Episode 2: Alister Martin’s Journey To Make The World Just A Little Bit More Fair

When human potential is wasted, we all lose something.

Most people who look at Alister Martin’s resume would assume he’s led a charmed life. A medical doctor as well as a White House Fellow, he holds dual appointments on the faculty of Harvard Medical School and Harvard Kennedy School of Government and excels in just about every way you can imagine. He even has a mean tennis serve.

Yet his life has not been charmed, at least not in the ways most people would imagine. He grew up rough, he had struggles and it all almost went sideways. He also had some luck, was able to push through and make it. Many of those he grew up with did not.Struggle and hardship can make people feel bitter. Some, once they make it to the top, want to pull the ladder up behind them.

But Alister feels a sense of gratitude and responsibility to those who did not make it and works to help the ones that still can. So he established his organization, A Healthier Democracy, to leverage the healthcare system to deliver crucial services to people in marginalized communities. One of these, @Vote-ER, has helped almost 100,000 people to register to vote at over 700 facilities.

Listen to the entire episode to learn more..

 

Subscribe

Episode 1: How Stephen Shapiro Turned His Back On Downsizing And Began To Help Companies Grow

Stephen Shapiro was a superstar. With an Ivy League degree and a hot job at a big consulting form, he spent most days jet-setting around the world, re-engineering business processes to help firms become more productive and efficient.

He liked the work, and he was good at it. Then one day a news story changed his path. A project he had worked on had resulted in 10,000 layoffs and there, on the TV, he saw first-hand how the executives’ lives were still shattered a year later.

Steve was devastated. He took a 6-month leave of absence during which he made a decision: He would no longer help companies shrink, he would help them grow.

Today, 30 years and seven books later, he still at it, travelling around the world, helping companies solve big problems. His newest book, “Pivotal, shows how you can stop spinning and pivoting and create a stable, lasting competitive advantage.

Download the episode and learn more about Steve’s amazing story.

Subscribe