Life Beyond The Numbers

#86 Bodily Intelligence - Madelaine Golec

"We don't have enough social practices or social norms around how to deal with our emotional and bodily intelligence. It's not something that is integrated in the way that we are being. And we are seeing on one side a great awakening where people are beginning to understand, wow, there's so much here that I didn't see, feel, connect with." Madelaine Golec
 
Madelaine and I begin this conversation exploring a quote from Thomas Hübl: "Movement is intelligence in action." We are both curious about presence, consciousness and bodily intelligence. How do we tune into the wisdom of our bodies, the meanings and purpose of sensations, feelings and emotions. We settle on anger as an example and that takes us to Will Smith at the Oscars and the slap that was felt around the world. Madelaine explains why she thinks we need a new paradigm of welcoming in our emotional and bodily intelligence, not to take over from our thinking but for all of them to work together in unison. We talk about the possible implications of disconnection from our bodily intelligence. And we discuss getting curious and doing our own inner work when we might rather bypass having to feel things or believe we can think our way into feeling differently. 
 
Madelaine Golec is a pelvic health physiotherapist and owner of a multidisciplinary clinic in Mississauga, Canada. As part of her professional development and growth she dove into the realm of trauma work, Poly-vagal theory and Somatic Experiencing to help her clients discover what is keeping them from achieving their health goals. She is now interested in applying these techniques in the business realm, to support deep inner work for entrepreneurs, business owners and professionals, who want to discover their patterns of self-sabotage/blockage preventing them from achieving their goals. Her approach focuses in what she calls, BQ: Body Intelligence, which is about tapping into the wisdom of the body, nervous system and subconscious through presence, attunement and relational healing. Rather than focusing on the content of the problem (story), she focuses on the context (what is happening in the body and nervous system as you engage with the problem). What is the patterned response that shows up in the body when you have to do something uncertain and unpredictable and she supports the nervous system into more regulation where the person can be more open, trusting, innovative and creative in their responses. She believes it is time to stop giving all our power to the IQ: Thinking Mind and open up to the vastness that lies beneath the Mind. 
 
Connect with Madelaine:
Website: BQ for Business COMING SOON! Email: info@bqforbusiness.com
Podcast Living A Better Life
On Instagram
TikTok handle is @madelainegolec
LinkTree
 
Resources Mentioned:
Episode 154 with Susan Living A Better Life
Thomas Hübl website
Coaches Rising Trainings
Will Smith at the Oscars

#85 Letting Go - John Purkiss (From the Archives)

"I realised, okay, so I've done all this left-brain clever stuff like accounting, finance, languages, strategy, marketing, dah, dah, dah. I feel suicidal. So clearly I am missing something. My father was in sales, my brother is in sales and I realised there were people who were far less academic than me who were leading much happier lives and were not trying to kill themselves." John Purkiss. 
 
John Purkiss finds himself drawn to anything that helps change the world in a positive way including in business, photography and writing books. Working as a headhunter John uses his training in banking and finance every day and shares the value of going beyond that to be far more effective. We talk about being present, the power of letting go and how letting go does not mean giving up but helps you become more powerful. Work-life balance John believes is a misnomer - how can you balance one thing that is part of the other?
 
John Purkiss studied economics at Cambridge University and has an MBA from INSEAD. He began his career with The First National Bank of Chicago, Mercury Asset Management and OC&C Strategy Consultants. John then co-founded a software company and worked in sales and marketing, in the UK, Belgium and France. He joined Heidrick & Struggles, where he set up and ran the CFO Practice in the London office and was promoted to partner. John is now a partner with August Leadership. He is the author of How To Be Headhunted, Brand You and The Power of Letting Go. www.johnpurkiss.com
 
Connect with John
On LinkedIn
On Instagram
Resources:
http://www.johnpurkiss.com/books/ 
http://nithyananda.org  
A Rich Man's Secret: An Amazing Story For Success, Ken Roberts
The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment, Eckhart Tolle
Headspace - Meditation and Sleep Made Simple

#84 Sibling Special - Siun, Alan and Susan

"It's so exciting to have my two amazing siblings here to sit down and talk about something that we've talked about. We have had conversations over the years about Aoife and about how it was to have a sister like Aoife. But I feel really honoured that I can sit down with you two here now and talk about her life and about our lives with her and share with other people in the hope that other people would benefit from hearing this or maybe just be interested in hearing it." Siun Creedon Prochazka (this episode was originally released in November 2020 on the Uniquely Wired podcast)
 
Our sister Aoife was born severely mentally and physically disabled.  She never spoke a single word nor walked a single step. We never really knew if she even recognised us.  She lived most of her life in care. She died at 33. I can't say that I ever knew her, ever formed a relationship.  But of course there was a relationship and I did know my sister.  In this episode my siblings and I explore our unique relationships with our sister and our unique experiences. 
 
Listening to this episode I'm reminded of a beautiful quote by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross:  
"The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss and have found their way out of the depths.  These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness and deep loving concern.  Beautiful people do not just happen."  
There is beauty inside all of us. All of us suffer, are defeated, struggle and feel loss. And we are all capable of compassion and self-compassion. Let your beauty shine through. Keep an eye out for that beauty in others and encourage it to shine through too. The world will be a better place.  
 
Connect with Siun & Alan
Siun's website Uniquely Wired
Alan's website Endless River
 
Resources Mentioned:
Uniquely Wired podcast
The Search for Still Waters by Alan Creedon (Alan mentioned his walk several times but the book had not yet been release at the time of recording)
 

#83 The Impact of Change - Dr. Susanne Evans

"...helping people think about the impact of change on people. And a big part of it is around people feeling secure, people feeling that they understand the impact that this is going to have on them, on their relationships. Uncertainty, because uncertainty is a really hard thing for people to deal with. And I think a big part of fear of change, resistance of change are those questions about what's in it for me?" Dr Susanne Evans
 
Dr Susanne Evans and I talk about organisational change. In particular we hone in on the importance of stories. Organisational change efforts are forward and future focused but sometimes digging into the past helps shape and inform the future. We ignore it our peril. Susanne uses the analogy of an archaeological excavation to explain the importance of digging into the past. We talk about understanding people's resistance to change, managing change and the right type of leadership needed for change. We discuss how change efforts go so wrong and how leaders might make it better for people. Susanne reveals some stories (decorations, toilet rolls and chocolate biscuits) that demonstrate how things that might seem small or inconsequential matter. And we dig why what goes on in organisations is often 'all talk' without really listening or having honest, open and, at times, uncomfortable conversations. 
 
Dr Susanne Evans is an organisation change consultant, trainer, coach and researcher on a mission to change the way that transformations are managed in organisations. Having spent 10 years in Big 4 consultancy firms she saw first-hand the difficulties that leaders and change practitioners had in achieving the benefits of large-scale transformation programmes. She founded Feldspar Consulting in 2007, helping her clients lead change in a more human, effective way. Her PhD research focused on the role of stories in organisational transformation and she distilled both this research and her 25 years of hands-on consultancy experience to create the ChangeStoriesTM approach, enabling her clients to use stories, ask questions and have powerful conversations to drive change. As well as writing and speaking about organisation change, Susanne hosts open storytelling workshops, supporting organisations and individuals in writing a compelling story for themselves, and she is the host of the popular ChangeStories podcast, in which guests share ideas for improving the world of work.
 
Connect with Susanne
On LinkedIn
Through her website: Feldspar Consulting
Listen to her podcast Change Stories
 
Resources Mentioned:
SCARF model by David Rock
Appreciative Inquiry Model
Manfred Ket de Vries who talks about lifting the rug
Steve Hearsum talks about “no silver bullet”
Kubler Ross Change Curve
Susan David
The School of Life on work

#82 An Edge-Walker - Nat Hunter

"Trying to describe myself has always been really hard. I've never fitted into anything. Someone described me as an edge-walker the other day. And I thought, oh my God, that's the first time anyone's put me into a category that I can relate to." Nat Hunter
 
Nat Hunter always felt pigeon-holed, like she could only bring a small sliver of herself to work and so she co-founded her own design company, Airside in 1999. We talk about their approach: what happens if you make work somewhere where people can really show up and be themselves? We also chat about their mantra of never do something just for the money and about the eventual winding up of the company. Nat decided life was short and only wants to do stuff that has a positive impact on the planet. And as 80% of the ecological impact for products is determined in the design phase Nat talks about various approaches designers can take to have a more holistic approach. We talk about sustainability, circular economy, regenerative design, net zero, co-designing with insects and more. And we delve into how we would decide what to buy if we could only buy three items of clothing a year? 
 
Nat Hunter, a Director of Other Today, is a designer, educator and coach, currently exploring how regenerative culture and organisational behaviour can positively impact people, society and the planet. A systems thinker and agitator for change, she brings her experience in business, design and coaching together in order to create and support change. She co-founded the multi-award winning Airside, one of the UK’s first digital design studios. In 2021 Nat co-created the influential Design Council report Beyond Net Zero and is currently a Design For Planet Fellow at the Design Council.
 
Connect with Nat:
On LinkedIn
By email redfishgreenfish@gmail.com 
 
Resources Mentioned:
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World by Tyson Yunkaporta
Sherri Mitchell
Beyond Net Zero: Design Council
Rob Hopkins Transition Movement
Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek
Carbon Tunnel Vision Diagram
B Corp
Reinventing Organisations by Frederic Laloux
 

#81 Help Others - Mason Cosby

"When you're a professional that has a mortgage and a family, the time to help is significantly less. To put it bluntly, you have to figure out how you can help others that makes sense within the context that you are." Mason Cosby. 
 
Mason Cosby was laid off at the beginning of the pandemic. A month earlier he got engaged and bought a house. He spent the next four months on the couch applying for jobs. And we talk about how since then he has done everything in his power to help others avoid a similar fate and make sure his family is never in that situation again. Mason loves his job as the dedicated marketer of a marketing agency and is also super passionate about career building. As he says, he is on a journey and he wants to show others he is in it with them. He does this by being bullish about kindness and learning in public. We chat about how he started a podcast, The Marketing Ladder, as a scalable way to help others build their marketing career. And we talk about how when you want to improve something: quantity and consistency result in quality and confidence. 
 
Mason Cosby helps marketers grow their company and their career.  He is the Marketing Director of Mojo Media Labs and Host of The Marketing Ladder. Mason is bullish about kindness and is actively learning in public. And he is a nurse husband. 
 
Connect with Mason Cosby:
On LinkedIn
The Marketing Ladder Podcast
 
Resources Mentioned:
Storybrand 
Megan Haupt Brio Career and on Life Beyond the Numbers episode 25 Your Career Story
 

#80 Why Do I Have To Fake It? Greta Solomon

"And it was a massive learning because I thought, why do I have to fake it? Why do I have to pretend that I'm okay? And I think that point comes to many of us at some point. It came to me really early, I was like 21. It came super early that I'm not going to fake it at work." Greta Solomon
 
Greta Solomon and I talk about self-expression. We talk about how to express ourselves at work so we get our message across, the importance of being our real self and not faking it to fit in, and how using our own voice, and not a Shakespearian persona, is okay. The idea of living a divided or disconnected life comes up and how connecting to our creative energy is massively underrated. Greta explains that being able to express our own creativity is the missing piece of the wellness picture. We explore gratitude and she explains why the practice needs to come with a warning. Greta shares insights on writing at work and on the power of journaling.
 
Greta Solomon is the founder of Heart, Sass & Soul Writing School. She is a writing teacher, intuitive life coach, and journal healer. She is the author of Just Write It! How to Develop Top-Class University Writing Skills and Heart, Sass & Soul: Journal Your Way to Inspiration and Happiness. She has over 14 years of experience in training individuals in multi-million pound companies in writing skills and is particularly skilled in working with internationally diverse teams of highly skilled experts for whom English is a second language. She has a former career as a women’s magazine journalist, and also set up a thriving English and writing tutoring business and she worked at industrial business-to-business PR consultancy. She still writes for newspapers and magazines, mostly about writing, creativity and self-development.
 
Connect with Greta:
Through her website
On Instagram and on LinkedIn
Read her book Heart, Sass and Soul
 
Resources Mentioned:
Are You Living a Divided Life? Article by Gregg Vanourek
Severance on Apple TV
Object Writing - Pat Pattison
Stories are data with a soul - Brene Brown

#79 Being Human - Various

"Happiness comes from a wide variety of different sources. And actually happiness is not the one single thing that we should pursue because part of being human is the whole world of emotion and feelings. And all of them are valid." Gavin Andrews
 
Being Human is a compilation, an exploration of the mind-body connection. The body is a source of wisdom and intelligence that is often untapped. We have a tendency to rely on our mental intelligence, our rational thought and not our emotional self or felt sense. In this episode we hear from six previous guests about tapping into this other source of knowledge. And many of them talk about the importance of feeling safe and feeling a sense of belonging. 
7:30 Steve Haines on how minds and body are connected and the importance of feeling safe including with our interactions with others
13:00 Gavin Andrews on accessing the wisdom of the heart and state of coherence - an optimal state for heart and brain to be in
17:55 Rebecca Cheetham on mind-body disconnection and squishing emotions
18:50 Lisa Milnor on bringing awareness to the body
25:10 Gavin Andrews on bringing our emotional self to work
26:55 Steve Haines on how to make sense of sensations in our body
28:50 Matt Phelan on emotional data in the workplace and a sense of belonging
35:55 Jenny Ashmore on the power of a sense of belonging for teams
 
Resources Mentioned:
Coaches Rising
Episode 10, Life Beyond the Numbers, This Feelings Business with Steve Haines
Episode 38, Life Beyond the Numbers, Wisdom and Technology with Gavin Andrews
Episode 48, Life Beyond the Numbers, Baby Steps with Rebecca Cheetham
Episode 49, Life Beyond the Numbers, A Sense of Belonging with Jenny Ashmore
Episode 59, Life Beyond the Numbers, Weird & Wonderful with Lisa Milnor
Episode 67, Life Beyond the Numbers, Better Understanding with Matt Phelan

#78 It’s All About Relationships - Travis L Scott

"It's about relationships. Bottom line, build relationships. Not just when you need to. I think the worst mistake people make is when they think of networking and using something like LinkedIn, they wait until they're desperate." "And that desperation comes through, right." "So I would say it's all about relationships." Travis L Scott.
 
Travis L Scott is a former recruiter who is annoyed by recruiters. He believes the way companies hire is broken and we talk about how transactional recruitment is, especially in larger companies. It's a numbers game. So we go into life beyond those numbers - from the perspective of recruiters and candidates. We talk about the importance of developing and nurturing relationships throughout our careers; not waiting until we are desperate, especially if we have a non-linear career. Travis shares a story about accidentally finding himself in a role where he became 'boxed-in' and how starting a side-gig set him free. We chat about being "an expert" and the cognitive entrenchment that might result in. And we cover the fact that there is always so much more to learn and some of the ways we can keep learning. 
 
Travis L. Scott is the Founder of RainierDigital, an inbound marketing consultancy and agency focusing on recruitment marketing, B2B, and non-profit organisations. Travis loves to help things grow - whether it's plants or a company's marketing potential. And he loves to teach and share what he has learned with people. The core of his business is helping companies and non-profits optimise processes and workflows to then leverage technology to save money, create efficiency, and, ultimately, grow.  Most recently, Travis was the Director of Marketing at ISM, a Denver-based B2B company. He has written for the employer brand sites of Microsoft and Dunkin' Brands, and has contributed to Recruiting Daily’s blog.
 
Connect with Travis:
On LinkedIn
Through his website Rainier Digital 
On Twitter
Podcasts: The Winding Road and Marketing Unboxed
 
Resources Mentioned:
Dorie Clark The Long Game
Benjamin Zander The Art of Possibility
Seth Godin Seth's Blog
Adam Grant WorkLife Podcast
Cal Newport So Good They Can't Ignore You
Gary Vee
HubSpot

#77 On a Daily Basis - Helen Joy

"We might have an idea of the kind of manager we want to be. But how often do we intentionally focus on that on a daily basis?" Helen Joy 
In this episode Helen Joy and I go in-depth into three areas that impact how we show up, lead and manage, on a daily basis, especially if we are new to the role or new to an organisation. 
What people forget first or need to be reminded of first is they're already doing a lot of the really positive, great work around nurturing, supporting, and developing their people because they're great people. And that they are in that role for a reason. We talk about people management versus task management. 
It's okay to focus on our own personal development and that personal development is absolutely critical for continued growth. And we talk about some of the many ways that we can do that. And we speak about the impact if we don't. We look at personal versus professional development. 
To not be so afraid of difficult conversations. We ask what makes this conversation difficult for you? We discuss how we can forget how much influence we have on the culture of our team and how our moods, feelings and emotions have an influence and impact on that. 
 
Helen Joy’s passion is Leadership and Management Development, particularly aspiring and new managers. She passionately believes that we are all capable of creating a work environment that is motivating, inspiring and enables people to achieve their potential. Prior to founding PeopleSpark Helen led and developed teams within operational and support environments to achieve results through coaching and formal training.
 
Connect with Helen:On LinkedIn
Helen's website is PeopleSpark
And email address
 
Resources:
Episode 6, Life Beyond the Numbers, Learning How to Manage
Lived & Learned Video Series