10,000 Swamp Leaders
10,000 Swamp Leaders is a podcast that wades into muddy Swamp in search of people who have built social impact movements.The world needs 10,000 more people in the next five years who are willing to lead on issues like climate change, income inequality, peace building, and gender equality. If you are one of these people, you have found a home. Rick Torseth and his guests will unpack lessons learned, why small wins matter more than breakthroughs and how failure is our wisest teacher. We continue to confuse leading with authority. Leading is not a role or a position. It begins when...
088_Soren Porskrog - After Commitment - Leadership When Reversibility is Gone
Soren Porskrog visits the Swamp and brings his challenging perspective on leading. We discuss his new book “After Commitment - Leadership When Reversibility is Gone. He talks about what happens when the “room” closes and going back is no longer an option. He reminds us that the deepest form of failure in an organization is not the lost signal. It is the signal that lands perfectly and still changes nothing. We discuss the moves leaders can make under these circumstances. Soren brings the wisdom born from years of experience as a leader inside an organization, inside all these rooms.
Sor...
087_Mick Yates: Being In The World With Artificial Intelligence
Mick Yates makes a return visit to the swamp. This time he brings his deep knowledge and experience working inside the Artificial Intelligence movement. Mick has been a long-time student and teacher of AI. In our conversation, we discuss some of the many opportunities AI is bringing to our lives and work. But he doesn’t stop there. He shares his concerns about the power of AI to dominate our lives. This portion of the discussion also addresses ethics and the challenges that are bound to arise when so much AI power and control reside in a small group of...
086_Josette de Goede: Leading Creates Obligation
086_ Josette de Goede comes to the swamp to discuss her 40 years of leadership coaching and consulting experience. She brings a vibrant source of energy, education and wisdom to helping leaders develop more human effectiveness inside their organizations. We discuss her work helping leaders know themselves better by understanding their human “force fields”. She has a forthcoming book that addresses Professional Mastery, Human Capacity and Moral Mastery. We explore these elements and how to use them in ways that support the work of leading. Josette offers leadership resources for each of us.
Josette’s Links
Jose...
085_Tracy Roberts: Art of Stroke
Tracy Roberts visits the Swamp and shares her story of building her graphic design business. There are lessons here for all of us about the work required to build a successful business. But this is just the beginning of her story. What came next was Tracy’s biggest life challenge. With candor, resolve and determination she reminds us to take nothing for granted. Enjoy the “Art of Stroke.”
Tracy’s Links
https://www.instagram.com/art_of_stroke/
https://www.michaeljfox.org/
https://www.parkinson.org/
<...
084_Dave Cooper: The Map That Wasn't
Dave Cooper returns to the Swamp to explore his Substack post “The Map That Wasn’t.” Dave's post caught my attention because he explores the real challenges the United States government faces as a result of going to war with Iran. Dave is uniquely qualified to comment on this topic. He brings over 20 years of service as a US Navy Seal that is followed up with two Master’s Degrees that focus on complexity theory and complex, adaptive systems. How he sees and speaks to the unfolding conflict offers a perspective most of us do not have. He then offers s...
083_ Janet Hawkes: Mastering Culture Change Inside UK Government
Janet Hawkes comes to the Swamp to share her insights and experiences from leading for 18 years inside Kent County Council in the United Kingdom. Leading inside Kent taught Jan the art and craft of navigating a political culture while providing services to the citizens of Kent. She managed significant culture change processes and programs. She speaks directly to what she learned from mistakes, how to develop future leaders and the importance of listening and responding to frontline staff. We end with Jan discussing her own personal and professional transition from Kent County Council to private life.
082_Mau Espinosa: Let It Happen
Mau Espinosa joins me in the swamp to discuss his point of view on leadership and how he helps others through his “LET” approach to leadership development. Mau has travelled a challenging road to arrive at this moment. He is candid about his journey, how he learned from his mistakes and what he believes it takes to become a resilient leader of people and teams. Mau shares his Logic, Emotion, and Tactics approach to development and how it can work for all of us. Mau’s story of mistakes made, lessons learned, building resilience and fi...
Episode 081_Ryan van der Marel: Change Happens One Conversation at a Time
Ryan van der Marel comes to the swamp and brings his wisdom and experience facilitating group conversations for deeper understanding and shared meaning. He shares how he coaches, nudges and holds the space so that groups and teams get to the heart of their aspirations, address their blockages and produce new pathways for collective impact. Anyone who facilitates groups will come away with a few new moves that support group work.
Links:
Ryan’s Website https://ryanvandermarel.com
North Shore Nomads blog: https://nomadsmoto.wordpress.com
Radical Candor: https://www.radicalcandor.com/<...
080_Eula Rohan: Collaborative Change with Equine assistance
Eula Rohan visits the Swamp and shares how she walks alongside Australia's First Nation communities as they build cross sector leadership capacity. Eula is practicing the “harder craft” of large group facilitation processes that address layers of social complexity, difficult historical challenges and present day aspirations for healthy communities. Eula has a long history of training large horses. She understands that building a trusting relationship with an 800kg horse is similar to building trust with large groups of human beings. She tells us how that works.
Eula’s Links
What an 800...
079_Kelly Indira Buis: The Craft of Facilitation and Adaptation
Kelly Indira Buis comes to the Swamp to discuss the craft of group facilitation. Kelly is the founder of The Adaptation Company in The Hague, Netherlands. The work of facilitating groups of human beings is challenging. There are often multiple agendas and outcomes that need to be navigated for useful outcomes. Then there is the importance of getting all voices and ideas into the room and understood. Kelly has developed a clear process with four elements that help guide groups to outcomes they seek that lead to more helpful actions. I suggest you also check Kelly out on LinkedIn u...
078_Runa Sabore: Designing a New Frame of Society Through Architecture.
Runa Sabore was raised in a commune. She has carried the communal lessons of caring for community into her work helping design buildings that support how people can live well in the “age of aging.” Runa talks about the potential of “universal design” to keep people living at home and how she has learned to connect silos that form the basis for healthier communities.
Runa's Links
NORD Architects
Healthy Ageing
Explore Healthy Ageing
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077_Paolo Quattrone: The Wonder of Accounting and the Society of Jesus
Paolo Quattrone comes to the Swamp and brings his love of accounting as basis for better judgment and decision making. He also re-introduces us to The Society of Jesus (Jesuits). Paolo makes the case that in a globalized world, increasing technology and our faster life-pace are leading to more uncertainty and a misalignment of our purpose. In our conversation, Paolo provides a fresh orientation to using accounting principles to support deeper diagnosis and wiser decisions. Paolo also suggests that there is much to learn from the Jesuit’s exploration of the world. Their willingness to step into uncertainty and le...
076_ Graeme Findlay: Differential Voice: A Leadership Approach for Complexity
Graeme Findlay visits the swamp and brings his Differential Voice leadership meta-model. Graeme makes the case that to lead effectively today, a leader needs more than one voice. Graeme has us covered: his differential voice approach is based on six major ‘modes’ of leading. Take note as Graeme leads us through when and how we use these different leadership voices.
Graeme’s Links
Website
Differential Voice
Blog
Leadership Programme
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075_ Julie Drybrough: Transformation: From Moving Deck Chairs to Changing Ships
Julie Drybrough comes to the Swamp and shares her life wisdom fostering transformation. She is candid about her personal transformational path and how it shapes her coaching and group work. She learned how building a new narrative of trust can produce “magic” and people begin to shine. Hers is a story about how commitment, self-love, service to others and reflection reveal the best of who we can be and the means to navigate the “crunchy stuff.”
Julie’s Links:
Website: https://fuchsiablueblog.wpcomstaging.com/
Blog: https://fuchsiablueblog.wpcomstaging.com/2020/11/06/growlery/
074_CK and Clif McKenzie: Having The Right People Matters
Clif and CK McKenzie come to the Swamp and talk about their generational leadership transition of Watson Furniture. They discuss their different approaches to the work, how they make decisions and how they each lead. Clif has led Watson for a great many years. He didn’t start out loving office furniture. That quickly changed. He sets the high standard for the design and functionality of the Watson products. CK brings his US Naval Academy education and US Marine Corps training flying combat helicopters. They approach leading from different core influences and yet they are on the same page ab...
073_Wendy Tyner: I Am One Who Listens
Wendy Tyner visits the Swamp to share her wisdom gained from leading philanthropic organizations and building communities. She begins our conversation sharing what she learned teaching children with learning disabilities. We then discuss how she guided three not-for-profit organizations to become significant community assets that support bluegrass music, farms and public lands. She often guided all these projects at the same time. Wendy offers up a portfolio of lessons learned and “grandmotherly (Baba)” advice for all of us. Thanks Wendy.
Wendy’s Links
Wintergrass
Podcast- On...
072_Aidan McQuade: Ethical Leadership
Aidan McQuade joins me in the Swamp to discuss his book, Ethical Leadership: Moral Decision-Making Under Pressure and his model “The Cruciform of Agency.” Aidan was born in Northern Ireland and grew up during the period known as “the troubles.” He is wiser for that experience. He has dedicated his life to humanitarian work in some of the most difficult conditions over the last twenty years. Our conversation explores his experiences leading aid organizations and the hard decisions that need to be made that affect human life. We explore his model and how individuals can use it to locate a space o...
071_Benjamin Taylor: Differentiation, Integration and Four Dynamics of Groups
Benjamin Taylor makes his third appearance in the Swamp and he brings some useful distinctions with him. We discuss the value and importance of understanding the positive and negative dynamics that differentiation and integration have on group dynamics and productivity. But it is not all that simple. There are at least four dynamics at play at any time in your work groups. Benjamin maps these group dynamics and shares moves that you can make to lead, manage and facilitate more effective group-work outcomes.
Benjamin’s Links
Benjamin Taylor LinkedIN post
...
070_Joanne Murphy & Keith Grint: The Demanding Craft of Leading
Joanne Murphy and Keith Grint come to the swamp to discuss their views on leadership and the effort required to do it well. Joanne and Keith are deeply informed on this topic of leading. Their academic background includes teaching, research and writing. We discuss the differences between command, management and leadership. All three approaches matter and we explore the value of each role. The state of the world calls for more people with the stamina to lead. In this episode, stamina will be supported with craft.
Links
Joanne’s Links
...
069_Bill Sharpe: Three Horizons: The Patterns of Hope
Three Horizons: The Patterning of Hope
Bill Sharpe visits the swamp and brings his Three Horizon framework for navigating the future. Bill is an independent researcher who helps people work together to create transformational change in the face of an uncertain future. Bill will explain what makes each of the three horizons distinct and necessary for addressing the future. The beauty and significance of the Three Horizon framework is the simplicity of understanding and its ease of use. Bill will explain it all and then you can get to work sorting your own Three Horizons.
L...
069_Bill Sharpe: Three Horizons: The Patterns of Hope
Three Horizons: The Patterning of Hope
Bill Sharpe visits the swamp and brings his Three Horizon framework for navigating the future. Bill is an independent researcher who helps people work together to create transformational change in the face of an uncertain future. Bill will explain what makes each of the three horizons distinct and necessary for addressing the future. The beauty and significance of the Three Horizon framework is the simplicity of understanding and its ease of use. Bill will explain it all and then you can get to work sorting your own Three H...
068_Elvis Fraser: Advancing Social Justice and Equity through MLE
Elvis Fraser comes to the Swamp to share his commitment to helping non-profit organizations realize greater measurable results from their social impact investments through wise monitoring, learning and evaluation strategies.
He and his Sanfoka Consulting team align their strategies to advance social justice and equity in all aspects of their work. Elvis has a rich history of leading and mentoring teams around the world and he brings his wisdom to our conversation.
Elvis's Links
Sanfoka Consulting
Elvis LinkedIn
Sanfoka Case
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067_ Eva Grosman: Centre for Democracy and Peacebuilding
Eva Grosman joins me in the swamp to share how her “life factory setting” which is based on hope and courage, has guided her in building the Centre for Democracy and Peacebuilding as well as a community of peacebuilders around the world. Listen close because Eva offers a multitude of specific, actionable moves each of us can take to lead on difficult challenges. Eva’s life work and impact is a model for the potency of personal agency.
Eva’s Links
Centre For Democracy and Peacebuilding
Thanks...
066_ Nick Ellem: The Leadership Learning Cycle
Nick Ellem comes to the Swamp to share a comprehensive exploration of Adaptive Leadership as well as his journey to teach and help people building adaptive capacity. Nick speaks directly to the reasons why many leadership development programs fall short of expectations. He then introduces his antidote: The Leadership Learning Cycle which is built on four elements:
Academy LabPodiumTempleThe leadership learning cycle offers an integrated framework for building the range of capacities people need to build leadership craft. Enjoy a fresh approach to leadership development.
...
065_Joanne Murphy: Leadership is about creating change
Joanne Murphy, Professor of Inclusive Leadership at Birmingham Business School comes to the swamp and discusses how we can lead inside volatile environments. She brings a lifetime of lived experience on this topic. Joanne was raised in Northern Ireland during the “troubles.” She learned first hand what is required to lead in volatile environments. Joanne is an academic, author and teacher who is committed to helping individuals and organizations build the organizational scaffolding that is essential in these troubling times. She wraps all this information inside deep passion and energy.
Joanne’s Links
Joanne’s Book: Manag...
064_Ethan Schutz: The Human Element
Ethan Schutz, President and CEO of The Schutz Company pays a visit to the swamp and shares the history and the work that is The Human Element. Ethan takes us back to when his father, Will Schutz developed his thinking and motivation for helping people develop greater self-awareness, aliveness and candor through telling more truth. Will developed FIRO Theory which has become a fundamental philosophy that has influenced many people inside the world of organizational development. Ethan has led the organization for 15 years and he brings a deep understanding of group dynamics and how...
063_Jill Hufnagel: Leading Begins With Purpose
Jill Hufnagel comes to the swamp and shares her perspective and experience helping people develop leadership capacity. Jill served as guest faculty on the Harvard Kennedy School’s Art & Practice of Adaptive Leadership program and as a senior associate with Cambridge Leadership Associates, along with running her own consultancy JHC&C. In our conversation, Jill discusses the importance of having a clear purpose for leading, how to develop your leadership craft and she offers wisdom on navigating the challenges of leading
Jill’s Links
https://primacentral.org/education/prima-leadership-academy/
https://issuu.com/kansasleadershipcenter/docs...
062_Geoff Mead: Narrative Leadership
Geoff Mead returns to the Swamp to discuss narrative leadership. Often acts of leading begin as a conversation. A conversation that might be internal or conversations with other people. It is important for people who choose to lead, to understand how to craft and use narrative to mobilize people to take action. Geoff helps us understand how to do this work in this episode.
Geoff is the founding director of Narrative Leadership Associates, a consultancy focused on the use of storytelling for sustainable leadership. He is a master guide in the emerging field of narrative leadership and sto...
061_ Geoff Mead: Narrative Identity
Geoff Mead joins us in the Swamp to explore the significance of the stories we tell ourselves, the narratives we use to guide our life and how they shape our identity.
Geoff is the founding director of Narrative Leadership Associates, a consultancy focused on the use of storytelling for sustainable leadership. He is a master guide in the emerging field of narrative leadership and storytelling in organizations. He will share some stories and offer us guidance on how we can adapt our narrative to support the life we seek to live.
Geoff’s L...
060_Janie Ekberg: Camp Siberia and the life altering power of leading from the heart.
060_Janie Ekberg comes to the Swamp to share her stories of leading across multiple social impact projects. Her story is personal for me because she found a way to mobilize me and get me involved in Camp Siberia and in so doing, change my life and perspective on what it takes to lead without authority. Janie has also changed the trajectory of hundreds of other people in her community and around the world. She comes to share her stories of leading, her insights on how to foster a movement and how serving the common good turns is the best wo...
059_Natalie Trotta: Community Building Through Wellness
Natalie Trotta comes to the Swamp to share her decision to alter her career trajectory and lead herself in the pursuit of building a wellness community. Natalie’s journey is important because she highlights that leading is always a choice and it can come from anyone and at any time. Natalie models that leading has nothing to do with age or “life experience.” She has made a commitment to use herself to help others while she figures out the small details. Natalie understands that the next steps are revealed only when one has begun walking the path.
Natalie...
058_Maxime Fern & Michael Johnstone: Provocation as Leadership
Maxime Fern and Michael Johnstone are at the forefront of taking Adaptive Leadership out of academia and into boardrooms and learning spaces around the world. They come to the swamp to share their great book Provocation as Leadership: A roadmap for Adaptation and Change. Maxime and Michael have been working in family and organizational systems for most of their careers. They believe provocations are both necessary and helpful to building healthy groups. We discuss what makes up useful provocation, why it matters and they provide coaching on how to begin this important work. Our c...
057_Lianne Morgan: A Gardener of Mindfulness
Lianne Morgan comes to the Swamp and shares her thoughts on the value of following a mindfulness practice. Lianne is a role model for us all. She has a long history of navigating life as a corporate leader. Long enough to know when it’s time to depart and how to make that transition. Today Lianne is a mindfulness coach. She offers wisdom in this episode on how to design a practice of mindfulness, the value of following that practice and how to use your body as a medium for learning and growth.
Lianne's Links
Li...
056_Ellen Schall: A Reflective Practitioner’s Journey
Ellen Schall of New York University comes to the Swamp and shares her wisdom on how to develop a leadership reflective practice. Ellen’s journey began when she worked in New York City starting as a Legal Aid Society attorney. She moved to New York University in 1992 and it is still her home. She taught the Leadership course: Reflective Practice: Learning from Work.
Ellen shares her thoughts on the importance of distinguishing role from self, how to develop a self-reflection practice, her definition of leading and the deep value that comes from wor...
055_Tracey Camilleri & Samatha Rockey: The Social Brain - The Psychology of Successful Groups
Tracey Camilleri and Samatha Rockey come to the Swamp and bring a treasure trove of research based thinking that leverages both the art and science necessary for building successful groups. They share their recommendations from their new book: The Social Brain: The Psychology of Successful Groups. We discuss the Dunbar Number, the value creation that comes from investing time and energy in fostering belonging and forming bonds that lead to bigger results. Samatha and Tracey are committed optimists who are using their research and writing to help organizations today and foster better working environments fo...
054_Martin Thomas & Mick Yates: Artistry and Passion as the impetus for impact
Martin Thomas and Mick Yates, two friends I admire, come to the Swamp to share their encore stories and second acts. Both men returned to university late in their professional careers and that decision changed the trajectory of their lives, the focus of their commitments and how they have chosen to make a difference as they conjure up second acts and most likely, third and forth acts. All of us will learn a few things about how to design a life well lived.
Links
Martin Thomas
053_Nick Conigrave: Leadership bricolage that builds capacity to flourish
Episode 053_ Nick Conigrave brings to the swamp his marriage of deep leadership study with the pragmatism needed to help people build their capacity to lead for greater impact. You will hear Nick’s passion for helping people as he shares the range of approaches he uses to construct leadership programmes and coaching strategies that are useful to all. Nick is a true bricolage of leadership development.
Nick’s Links
LinkedIn profile
6 Team Conditions
Leadership as a learning activity
Leading Systems towards transformative learning
Thanks...
052_Joanne Flinn: A Sustainability “Guide” for Company Directors
Episode 052_ Joanne Flinn visits the swamp to discuss how company directors can integrate the environmental, social and governance agenda inside their organization and thrive. Joanne is the Chair of ESG Institute and the author of Greensight: The Sustainability Guide for Company Directors. She discusses the challenges of the ESG agenda as well as ideas for implementation.
Joanne’s Links
Book
ESG Institute
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051_Tom Tyner: The Sacred Trust of Public Land
Episode 051_ Tom Tyner comes to the swamp to share his decision to help preserve public lands for future generations. He shares his decision to leave his position as legal counsel to a global bank, move his family from San Francisco to the Seattle area and dedicate his time and expertise to secure parklands, forests, range land and wilderness for future generations. Tom’s a humorist guy so he holds our interest as he shares his lessons and his wisdom on life and leading. Tommy, the trees, the habitat and all of us thank you.
Tom's Links
050_Anne-Fleur Goll: Every cog drives the system and you can be one
Anne-Fleur Goll joins me to share her story of a call to action on climate change that started small and then suddenly it was big and global. Anne-Fleur balances being a climate consultant on the Deloitte Sustainability team with her climate activism. She has learned a few things on how to create and sustain a movement as well as how to manage and balance these dual roles and take care of herself.
Anne's Links
LinkedIn
HEC Speech
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