Not Simple: Cathy Carroll, Leading a Family Business With Love and Logic
Not Simple
Cathy Carroll is the granddaughter of an entrepreneur who led a Fortune 500 company and the daughter of an entrepreneur. She led a turnaround of her father's manufacturing business and encountered the distinctions between leadership in a corporate domain and leadership in a family business. She founded Legacy Onward, Inc. to support family business leaders through the complexities of family business leadership. Her book is out now. Rebecca and Cathy discussed the complexities of leadership in family businesses, with Cathy sharing her insights from her experience leading her father's business...
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Not Simple: Robin Katcher, Cooperative Leadership
Not Simple
"Societal change requires movements and networks of organizations working together—but what if the way we work together could be even better? Could it lead to greater freedom for our leaders and more realistic expectations? ... No one person holds the answer, but when the right people come together, we just might find a better one." Robin Katcher is a colleague at Cultivating Leadership and has spent the past 25 years supporting justice organizations, leaders, and networks as a faciliatior, consultant, and a coach. She and Rebecca discuss how leaders from across different organizations...
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Dr. Jaime Lee, the Power of Rest
Not Simple
"How do you experience rest while doing what you love? What if we could even experience a sense of relaxed focus while hosting a party for 20?" In our latest podcast episode, we dive deep into the art of grounded leadership with , a fellow CL colleague. Jaime believes that true leadership starts with connecting to our health and the innate intelligence of our bodies. She expertly guides her clients and teams through the intricate balance of work, life, health, and relationships, helping them reclaim their sovereignty, alignment, and wholeness for a more effortless flow. Jaime...
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Victoria Leavitt, Sex Differences in the Brain
Not Simple
“So it’s not that our brain constrains the activities we can engage in and the behaviors that we have. It’s the other way around. The behaviors we engage in change the brain we have.” Dr. Victoria Leavitt is an assistant professor of neuropsychology at Columbia University who studies brain resilience, brain reserve, and cognitive reserve, companion theories that help us understand individual differences in our ability to maintain brain function over the lifespan. She and Rebecca discuss the arc of evolution, the effect biologial dictates have on our brains, the challenges of thinking...
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Barry Bales, Small Moves
Not Simple
“In addition to it being small moves, I would say consistent moves. What are those consistent practices help that create the conditions for impact?” CL colleague thinks of leadership as an action rather than a title, and he knows that sometimes the most effective actions are small ones. He and Wendy discuss the importance of connection and engagement, as well as the small moves they’ve seen have big impact. Mentioned in this episode:
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Elena Tochilina, War in Ukraine
Not Simple
“It’s like our mind wants to categorize things, and it’s much easier to feel pity than trying to embrace the complexity that life goes on and you can live in the midst of war.” is a Ukrainian coach and consultant as well as a colleague at Cultivating Leadership. In this conversation she challenges Wendy, and all of us, to step away from pity and see life in the midst of war as changing, evolving, and composed of not just pain but also beauty. Mentioned in this episode: by Giovanni Boccaccio
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Fred Jones, Meanwhile
Not Simple
“I care about supporting people more as wayfinders and what it might take to ditch the maps and find your own way—and keep learning and growing.” CL colleague Fred Jones is a lover and collector of questions that he stays with a long time. One of those questions: how do you help people create time and space for reflection in periods of transition, those moments of “meanwhile” where what’s next isn’t obvious? Join Fred and Wendy as they explore the questions this question inspires that might help in these mapless moments. Mentioned in this episode: Learn more about Fred...
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Rehema Kutua, Primary Care
Not Simple
“It matters how we feel because how we feel and how we’re doing impocts everyone.” TV has taught us that doctors are sexy, mysterious superheroes, but what is really happening at the other end of the stethoscope is more complex than we realize. Rehema Kutua, a pediatrician and certified coach, came to Not Simple to discuss what it feels like to be a primary care physician today and what happens when we see the human behind the title.
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Bill Pullen, Change
Not Simple
“There’s a deep sense of letting go, of surrendering so they can open up into a new possibility for themselves, whether it’s becoming a coach or becoming a senior leader or leading in a new way.” We all know changing behaviors and habits is hard, but our language around it often “just” oversimplifies it. Bill Pullen brings his experience as a person in recovery, a coach, and a teacher of coaches to this thoughtful conversation that covers adult development, the importance of connection, and the slow and beautiful process of emergence. Mentioned in this episode: ...
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Jennifer Garvey Berger and Carolyn Coughlin, Unleash Your Complexity Genius
Not Simple
"Carolyn and I got excited about the question of how does your body know how to handle complexity in ways that are exciting and useful and even joyful—and how can you amplify that?" Wendy is back in the host's chair, talking to her longtime friends and colleagues about their book, Unleash Your Complexity Genius: Growing Your Inner Capacity to Lead. They cover action urges, the power of noticing, and the genius of breath, dance, and laughter.
info_outline“There’s something very powerful about the fact that we see ourselves in stories.”
Ann Kowal Smith, CEO of Books@Work, returned to discuss Franz Kafka’s very short story “Poseidon” with Wendy and a few colleagues. Together they discover the leadership lessons and complexities within what is, at first glance, a quite simple story.