My guest today is Dr. Emily Anhalt (@dremilyanhalt), a clinical psychologist and the co-founder of Coa, a startup building virtual and in-person centers to practice and improve mental health and resilience.
Emily spoke at a Responsive Conference event that I hosted on Mental Health in San Francisco in November 2019, and I was so impressed with her presentation on stage that I’ve been wanting to sit down with her ever since to talk about mental health.
Now, more than ever, this conversation is needed and I’m delighted that Emily is leading the way and sharing tools to improve wellbeing. Her research into the psychological components of leadership is fascinating, and I learn a lot every time I listen to Emily.
A few weeks ago, I sat down with Michael Roderick to discuss brand strategy and his work around creating “referrable brands.” This conversation covers a wide range of topics related to brand strategy, including his AIM model which stands for Accessibility, Influence, and Memory. We apply this framework to a variety of business examples, including my own efforts at Zander Media. I hope you enjoy!
In this episode, my friend, Daniel Stillman, interviews me for his podcast, The Conversation Factory. We discuss how to ask better questions, the value of loving, non- judgmental questions, and my story.
I hope you enjoy today’s podcast as Daniel flips the script and interviews me on the art of asking questions.
Our most trusted and important institutions – in business, healthcare, government, philanthropy, and beyond – are struggling. They’re confronted with the fact that the scale and bureaucracy that once made them strong are liabilities in an era of constant change.
Welcome back to another episode of the Robin Zander Show! I’m thrilled to share today’s interview with Aaron Dignan, author of the new book Brave New Work, as well as founding member of Responsive Org.
In today’s interview, Aaron and I discuss his work with The Ready, supporting the growth of some of the biggest companies in the world, how he came to co-found Responsive Org, and the idea of an organization’s “Operating System” – the driving principles and practices which shape an organization.
We dig into two specific aspects of the OS Canvas: strategy and compensation. How does any company – from AirBNB to Robin’s Cafe develop and hone a strategy that supports the company, and its people. But then, more tactically, Aaron lays out specifics approaches to compensation and pay that decrease stress and uncertainty at work and allow everyone to focus on doing work that matters.
I hope you enjoy this conversation with Aaron Dignan!
Show Notes
2:20 How Aaron found himself looking to change the future 7:00 OS Canvas 10:00 Strategy 14:00 Correcting course to find control 17:00 Finding purpose and serving that purpose 20:00 Compensation 22:15 Compensation model for new companies 27:00 Inspiring companies: Everlane, Inspiral, Bridgewater – Mentions Principles by Ray Dalio 31:00 Returning choice back to the local environment 34:00 Amazon and Whole Foods 40:00 Future of education – Adam Pisoni podcast part 1, and part 2 42:00 Tactical takeaways 45:00 Find Aaron: Brave New Work The Ready Twitter: @aarondignan
My guest today is Gayle Karen Young (@MissGayle), the former Head of Culture and Talent at Wikimedia, which is the parent company for the Wikipedia. Gayle shepherded a company which grew to 300 employees serving half a billion users each month! We discuss her role, and what made it possible for her to support both company employees and the much larger Wikipedia community around the world.
Since leaving Wikimedia in 2015, Gayle has returned to her practice consulting practice and now works with a variety of companies and executives to create dynamic organizational cultures in which people are empowered to do their best work.
I have rarely been as moved by the careful choice of words as I was throughout this conversation. I was impressed with Gayle’s depth of thinking about human development applied to organizations.
Gayle was one of our speakers at the 1st Annual Responsive Conference. I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I enjoyed conducting it!
Show Notes
1:00 – 4:00 Gayle’s interest in organization design 5:00 – 9:00 Wikimedia Foundation 9:00 – 13:00 How the Wikimedia Foundation is organized 13:00 – 15:30 Diversity within the team 15:30 – 23:00 Gayle time joining Wikimedia and the Wikipedia blackout 23:00 – 25:30 Leading with consciousness 25:30 – 28:00 Buddhist monk influence – 28:00 – 30:00 Robin’s podcast with:
30:00 – 35:00 Organizational dynamics created by leader’s shadows 35:00 – 38:00 Creating open feedback loops and a growth mindset 38:00 – 41:00 The mythic and the mundane of leadership 41:00 – 44:00 The power of poetry and understanding the spirit of an organization 44:00 – 48:00 Encyclopedias and editors 48:00 – 52:00 Why Gayle left Wikimedia 52:00 – 56:00 What Gayle is working on now 56:00 – 60:00 Working from cities versus isolated islands 60:00 – 102:00 Robin’s life 102:00 – 110:00 Embodiment
