#38: Valerie Hope - Creating Work Culture through Curiosity, Connection and Centeredness
Insight at Work with Ken Blackwell
IN THIS EPISODE: We’re going to start 2023 with Hope, specifically Valerie Hope. Valerie brings a truly global approach to leadership and building diverse, inclusive and equal work cultures. For Valerie it starts with curiosity and she shares how her early life as a self-proclaimed “military brat” and global traveller taught her the skills she now. shares with her clients. The conversation is wide ranging just like her perspectives and has a little something for everyone. ABOUT OUR GUEST: Being a curious and creative learner has set Valerie Hope apart as an accomplished leadership coach...
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#37: Insight Bite - Embracing the Darkness
Insight at Work with Ken Blackwell
Today is the winter solstice, the darkest day of the year. Today is also a turning point. In this short "Insight Bite" episode, Ken shares a thought for using these dark hours to begin a transformation that will spark our growth in the year to come.
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#36: Insight Bite - Gratitude
Insight at Work with Ken Blackwell
IN THIS EPISODE: In the US, it’s the time of the year when we celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday and are grateful for the many blessings of the past year. Ken suggests a particular focus for this year’s reflections in this short, “Insight Bite” episode. INSIGHT AT WORK PODCAST THEME MUSIC: Our theme music is composed by Chris Lucca, Jr.. You can listen to more of Chris’ work at You can also connect with him on Twitter: and on Instagram: ABOUT THE HOST: Ken Blackwell is a speaker, trainer, facilitator and executive coach. His focus is on creating a more human workplace. His firm...
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#35: Tara Nolan - Building a plan for post-work
Insight at Work with Ken Blackwell
N THIS EPISODE: On the podcast, we tend to focus on our present-day goals for work, but what about our goals for post-work? What kind of life do we want to live after we leave the workplace? Today’s guest, Tara Nolan, builds on her background as a pilot and logistics officer for the US Air Force to help people see the whole picture of both their work, and post-work, lives and build a financial plan that makes sense. The key is “understanding the mission” and putting goals ahead of tools. While the topic is money, there’s also some great insights about problem-solving, connecting and...
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#34: Tim Mousseau - Beyond Psychological Safety
Insight at Work with Ken Blackwell
IN THIS EPISODE: Many of us are aware of Google’s Project Aristotle which discovered a key characteristic of high performing teams was a climate of “psychological safety” - that team members could speak up and share opinions without fear of any kind of reprisal or repercussion. Neuroscience backs this up - we do our best thinking when we feel safe and are working in an environment of trust. But feeling safe goes beyond just the ability to express thoughts and opinions, it extends to other aspects of our lives such as culture and identity. Today’s guest, Tim Mousseau, has...
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#33: Cait Donovan - Burnout, Boundaries and Resentments
Insight at Work with Ken Blackwell
N THIS EPISODE: We often think about burnout from an overwhelmed, overworked, and stressed out perspective. Today’s guest, Cait Donovan, suggests we also look at another source - boundaries, and the resentments caused when those boundaries are violated. She walks us through her own journey of burnout and boundaries and shares helpful lessons for all of us to have more resilient, balanced and healthy lives. Our conversation also touches on some eastern philosophy and neuroscience and how they impact our experience and responses to burnout. ABOUT OUR GUEST: Cait Donovan is one of New York...
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#32: Mackey McNeil - The 3 Freedoms of Prosperity
Insight at Work with Ken Blackwell
IN THIS EPISODE: For many, the topic of finances can feel confining and burdensome, certainly not freeing and uplifting. Today’s guest, Mackey McNeil, helps us break through some of the limiting thoughts about finances that can hold us back and limit our ability to not only become more prosperous but get more enjoyment out of life. Mackey will share how to achieve success and abundance utilizing the 3 Freedoms of Prosperity: Money freedom, Time Freedom, and Freedom from Worry. She is the author of several award-winning books, including “The Intersection of Joy and Money” and “The...
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#31: Deb Lewis - Friend instead of Foe? Using Stress to your Advantage.
Insight at Work with Ken Blackwell
N THIS EPISODE: Can we make stress a friend, or at least keep it from being a foe or an enemy? Today’s guest, Deb Lewis would like to challenge our thinking about stress and encourage us to look at it from a different perspective. Deb is no stranger to stress. As one of the first female candidates to graduate from West Point and then as a leader in combat, Deb understands the impact of stress on performance. In this episode, she shares her experiences, perspective, and several tools so we can pivot and instead of being crushed by stress, we can actually use it to our advantage. ABOUT...
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#30: Kori Reed - Is “Me Too” backfiring?
Insight at Work with Ken Blackwell
N THIS EPISODE: While “Me Too” and other movements had done tremendous good in amplifying the stories and voices of women who have not been treated fairly in the workplace, there may be a hidden cost. Researcher Kori Reed explores gender equality in the workplace and as she surveyed male leaders across the country she began to notice a trend. Many men, while wanting an inclusive workplace culture where men and women can both thrive, were nonetheless so uncertain about crossing the line from an innocent comment to a harassment complaint that they would avoid any conversation on gender...
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#29: Carl Seidman - Retire at 32? Diversify your life!
Insight at Work with Ken Blackwell
IN THIS EPISODE: Almost all of us see the wisdom in having a diversified financial portfolio, it’s smart investing not to have all your eggs in one basket. But what about the portfolio of our lives? Rarely do we think about the value in diversifying our lives and careers - not only to minimize risk, but also to create opportunities. The upside potential isn’t just monetary, there are mental wellness and life experience benefits as well. Today’s guest Carl Seidman applied his financial acumen to his career and began diversifying his life by retiring at age 32! There’s more to the story...
info_outlineIN THIS EPISODE:
Today were going to discuss one of my favorite topics which is neuroscience and the study of the brain!
About 20 years ago I was introduced to neuroscience through the lens of how it applied to coaching, training and leadership development. This understanding of neuroscience instantly gave me a context for why a particular development approach worked well and why another didn’t. I found that when the approach sync’d with how the brain works it was successful, when it ran counter it almost always failed. It changed the way I trained and coached. And ever since, I’m always on the lookout to increase my knowledge and understanding of neuroscience.
Needless to say, I was really intrigued when I heard a friend use the phrase “brain myths” during a conversation. Ooh, tell me more!
So let me step back a bit for a minute and tell you about my friend. Jess Walcott is an assistant professor at Bucks County Community College where she teaches neuroscience and biology. Her undergraduate work at Bryn Mawr College was in chemistry and psychology but she then went on to complete a Ph.D. in neuropharmacology at the University of Pennsylvania. After graduation, Jess began a career as a medical writer working on regulatory submissions for new drugs and writing publications in scientific journals which she found more gratifying that running her own experiments. On a lark, she began teaching biology at Bucks and realized this was WAY more engaging than sitting at a computer analyzing patient data. These days her focus is completely on teaching where she concentrates on boosting scientific literacy and getting messy doing real experiments.
Back to brain myths.
As as a fun and interesting way of pulling together the learning for her students at the end of the semester, Jess challenges them to identify a myth about the brain and then explain why it’s not true. There are many beliefs about the brain that we commonly believe are true, when in fact they’re not. What are we talking about here? You know things like there are left-brained and right-brained people. That the brain works like a computer. Another one is very common is the belief that we only use 10% of our brains. Of course a favorite of mine, and apparently of Jess’ students is the myth that drinking alcohol can kill brain cells.
Jess and I sat down to discuss these brain myths and others and to get into some of the science that underlies these fallacies and if there are parts of them that might in fact be a little bit true.
ABOUT OUR GUEST:
Jess is an adjunct professor at Bucks County Community College where she gets to learn along with her students in neuroscience and biology. Although she majored in chemistry and psychology for her undergraduate work at Bryn Mawr College, she studied neurodegeneration in an inherited form of muscular atrophy to complete her Ph.D. in neuropharmacology at the University of Pennsylvania. After graduation, Jess began a career as a medical writer working on regulatory submissions for new drugs and writing publications in scientific journals which she found more gratifying that running her own experiments. On a lark, she began teaching biology at Bucks and realized this was WAY more engaging than sitting at a computer analyzing patient data. These days her focus is completely on teaching where she concentrates on boosting scientific literacy and getting messy doing real experiments. Outside of the classroom, Jess serves on the board of directors for a residential summer camp and volunteers at an organic farm. Jess also has two boys who provide her with countless opportunities to marvel at the wonders of the developing brain.
INSIGHT AT WORK PODCAST THEME MUSIC:
Our theme music is composed by Chris Lucca, Jr.. You can listen to more of Chris’ work at: http://chrisluccamusic.comand find him on Twitter:@Flipluka and on Instagram: @_flipluka.music_
ABOUT THE HOST:
Ken Blackwell is a speaker, trainer, facilitator and executive coach. His signature practice is "rescuing Accidental Leaders and Dysfunctional Teams". His firm InKlaritas, based in Princeton, NJ, works with teams and leaders in companies in the U.S. around the world. You can find out more about InKlaritas at: www.InKlaritas.com and connect with Ken on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennethjblackwell/.