I love April. It is a sign of rebirth in nature. It is also a time for the promise of growth in our own lives and business. Whether you are someone who desires growth in their job, as a parent, or as a leader, you are best served when you hear from many different voices and perspectives. Leaders learn.

The following playlist provides such a sampling. From leaders on the edge of technology, organizational change and development to authors, entrepreneurs, and scholars, we pull up our chairs by the fire for another series of great conversations.

Intelligence at the Edge: Technology and Behavior

Words are real things. They shape our world. Security Leaders do not often talk about their employees as customers who deserve an exceptional experience from their services and the technology that facilitates those services. Words like convenience, frictionless, and delightful experience are not often associated with security. Which is why it is an excellent market for digital transformation. If Security is focused purely on keeping the bad guys out, it gets disconnected from the rest of the workplace/building experience that customers are looking for. Security and Convenience have been inversely related to each other - does that always need to be the case? Can we challenge that assumption and create "high security AND frictionless" access experiences? 

We wanted to meet up with someone who has lived through the disruption of other markets and found Saurabh Bajaj, the CEO and Founder of Swiftlane. Saurabh’s long tenure with companies like Instagram, Facebook, and Lyft gives him a unique perspective on how to best disrupt an established industry. It wasn’t too long ago that he was leading a team at Lyft exploring the advancement of the driverless car, before developing Swiftlane’s touchless access control and video intercom solutions. 

Swiftlane’s story has attracted investment capital because of the rapid intersection of computer vision and audio providing the context for creating a positive, delightful physical security and identity experience. Saurabh began exploring this with his Silicon Valley contacts and their security teams before creating the investment value proposition that started Swiftlane.  

The Art of Strategy and Innovation Begins with Play 

Kim Quaintance is the co-founder of two unique companies, ‘IQ Gemini’ and ‘Move to Think’  focused on personal development, organizational engagement, and the digital transformation of both.  

Our conversation starts with a huge source of human suffering: feeling disconnected from your work. If your employees experience this it builds pressure in the systems of your company eventually causing cracks that create uncertainty, doubt, and fear. With Covid amplifying these pressures, we must begin the journey of reinventing our dialogue and discovering the lost art of play in imagining our future.  

You Can Lead a Meaningful Life – Better Yet, You Can Help Others as Well

We have all been through some form of personal development. One of the courses I took was the Clifton Strengths Finder that later was purchased by Gallop. I read the original book, took the assessment, and, later, as a parent, experienced my kids doing the same. But you know the drill. The path to value is littered with good intentions without a persistent practice of discipline in achieving your goals.   

Because of this, I would later ‘rediscover’ Strengths Finder through a course taught by Brandon Miller of 34Strong right before the lockdown in 2020. I also recently noticed that Brandon has recently co-authored a book with his wife called ‘Incredible Parent’ and I asked him into a Great Conversation to help me connect great parenting with great leaders.  

The WiLD Ride of a Security Leader 

Tim Wenzel, the Head of Privacy Protection at Facebook, addresses the core skill sets of a Security Leader. He then works with leading organizational psychologist Dr. Rob McKenna and Dr. Daniel Hallak of WiLD Leaders to attempt to capture the essential experiences that created the foundation for leadership and change. We begin to articulate a "scorecard" for the emerging risk, resilience, and security leader... and perhaps for all leaders.

Tim is also the co-founder of The Kindness Games; an online forum focused on bridging the civil conversation divide by focusing on empathetic, but serious discussions about life and business.

Dr. Rob McKenna is focused on Whole and Independent Leadership Development (WiLD) and a global community of whole leaders transforming the world.

Dr. Daniel Hallak is the Chief Commercial Officer of WiLD and drives strategic commercial initiatives, and other operations, product development, and marketing initiatives that support the development of whole leaders.

Capturing the Voice of Healthcare in Security

Brine Hamilton is an example of someone who does not wait for position or power to have an impact. Yes, he has spent his career in the industry starting as a front-line guard and now a Healthcare Specialist and consultant. But he decided that the voice in the industry carried so many interesting stories and learnings that he launched a podcast called The Healthcare Security Cast, that is now reaching hundreds of people. We sat down with him to learn more about what drives him and what he has learned.

Resilient in the Face of Disruption

Cheryl Steele, Vice President, Global Security and Resilience at Starbucks, is someone you instantly recognize, a purpose-built leader. Our conversation last year, starts with her journey to Starbucks, but then shifts to capture her innate curiosity around people, individually and as a culture. She has created her own conversation with her company and her community. This “great conversation” has created the foundation of trust that leads to the security and safety of her people and company.

Leaving a Legacy

Brian Tuskan, CSO of Physical Security at Microsoft, shares his thoughts on his path to a senior leadership position and the intentional values-based approach that he employed including transparency and trust.

Brian is known as a generous leader within his market sector of risk, resilience, and security. He started his career as a patrol officer in Hawaii and became known, early on, as an innovator in the use of technology.

Although busy managing a multi-faceted global program as CSO, he still manages to give back to his original community of law enforcement officers by helping them understand the steps needed to cross the chasm into private enterprise. Check out his website at Life After Law Enforcement, Police Career Transition (coptocorporate.com)

The Authentic and Productive Business Owner

How do you become whole while you are becoming a successful leader of a business?

To be whole, you must know who you are, what your purpose is, and how you show up authentically within your chosen pursuits.

Authenticity infers trust.

One you have authenticity; how does it inform your actions and your mindset? Optimization implies you have the right people in the right roles, doing the right things in a measurable process using tools. (or technology) Authenticity requires empathy, humility, and discernment.

We turned to a business that helps owners of dental practices begin this journey to their authentic and productive leadership role transforming their practice into a business. And we quickly realized the principles apply to business owners across all markets.

Regan Robertson is the President & Chief Marketing Officer for Productive Dentist Academy. As an award-winning marketing professional, she is driven to help business owners communicate their vision so they can capture the market share they deserve.

A certified Storybrand Guide as well as member of the Women Presidents' Organization, Regan understands the importance of using messaging to generate revenue growth and make a lasting impact in the community. She is also the co-host of the  Everyday Practices podcast with Dr. Chad Johnson.

Conversations of Trust Leading to High Performance Teams 

We took a virtual ride up north from Seattle to sit by a virtual fire outdoors in the woods near Puget Sound. It was a camp that is used for corporate retreats and much more. Over 350 organizations visit Warm Beach Camp and Conference Center in Washington State every year. We wanted to know its secret sauce for creating the context for profound organizational change and innovation that for many, is repeated year after year.

We had a conversation with Ed McDowell, the Executive Director, to get his insights into why this venue has prospered, what he has learned, and how he is growing to meet the needs of our time.

Located just one hour north of Seattle Warm Beach offers year-round camp, conference, and retreat rental facilities and has programs for youth, families, and adults. Serving greater Puget Sound since 1956, Warm Beach Camp provides rental facilities and event planning services for church, school, non-profit, and governmental groups throughout the Pacific Northwest and the lower mainland of British Columbia, Canada.

“People need hope and purpose to sustain what they are doing in life”, Ed says. “The combination of camps, retreats, conferences and consulting provides a rich platform for me to help people sustain hope and purpose in their lives. My faith informs my purpose.”

The Measure of an Organization Rests on a Covenant Called Relationship

The core mission of Human Resources is focused on organizational strength: how an organization activates its purpose and mission by attracting the right people, integrating them into the operational processes, and sustaining a high level of engagement over time.

We turned to the Assistant Vice President of Total Talent Management at the University of Washington, Ujima Donalson, to help us understand what that looks like. Ujima first asked two questions before she assumed the role: “What are our strengths and how can we crank that up a notch? How do we move from excellent to premier?”

And now she has become an articulate and inspiring advocate for the university’s stakeholders.

This has become even more important during the era of the pandemic: not just the virus, but, according to Ujima, the pandemic of economic disparity and racial injustice. Now more than ever, leaders must come to terms with the fact that “Their next will become our next.” 

Cracking the Genetic Code of Leadership

Talking about leadership is one thing. Creating an empowered, engaged workforce and a leadership culture is another. There is every reason to believe that this should rise to a level of urgency when you speak with Daniel Edds, a researcher, practitioner, and thought leader in reinventing and innovating leadership for the 21st Century.

One of the first things we address is what George Clifton the CEO of Gallup states: "The American leadership philosophy simply doesn't work anymore".  We naturally want to know why it does not work and what should take its place.

Dan has written a book on the subject: "The Genetics of Leadership: Cracking the Code of Sustainable Excellence“. It provides case studies and results of personal interviews with experts such as General Barry McCaffrey, 4-star general and Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy for President Clinton.

You will want to hear all his stories and insights, including what the general said about leadership. It might just change the way you lead.  

The Art of Becoming

Laura Berland and Evan Harrel join us representing The Center of Compassionate Leadership. In many conversations with security leaders, we have seen more and more emphasis in building empathy into the leadership toolkit. But empathy takes a mindset that is foundational to the core curriculum that the center is using in its association with Cornell University and to its students worldwide.

Laura Berland is the Founder/CEO of the Center for Compassionate Leadership.  She is a weaver of transformative businesses and experiences, as a serial entrepreneur, Fortune 500 executive, meditation teacher, yoga therapist, executive coach, and creator.  Now, through the Center for Compassionate Leadership, she is sharing a new model for our time that melds evidence-based principles of leadership and the latest scientific research with the wisdom of contemplative practices.  Laura has extensive experience in teaching and facilitation with groups including military veterans, entrepreneurs, post-doctoral students, and yoga teachers. She is an E-RYT500 (accredited educator) from Yoga Alliance, and C-IAYT (certified yoga therapist) from International Association of Yoga Therapists. Laura is an alumna of Cornell University and New York University.

Evan Harrel is the Chief Operating Officer of the Center for Compassionate Leadership. He leads the Center’s thought leadership efforts and the integration of scientific and business research into the work of the Center. For the last fifteen years, he has worked in the nonprofit field, including as the executive director of a group of inner-city Houston preschools and of Houston Habitat for Humanity. More recently, as a consultant and board member to several nonprofits, he has focused on developing meaningful measurable outcomes and devising strategies to further organizational mission and impact for a number of clients. Evan has taught about compassion to both nonprofit organizations and for-profit corporate boards.

Prior to beginning work in the nonprofit sector, Evan was an investment manager for over twenty years where he managed a thirty-billion-dollar equity mutual fund. He was awarded a Master of Business Administration degree, with distinction, from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, from Princeton University.

Seizing the Moment with a Leadership Mindset

Cheryl Michaels is Director of Emergency Management and Associate Director of Safety and Security at Seattle Pacific University. Cheryl walks us through her evolving insights on how great leaders see, hear, and act in a defining moment.

Our conversation during the 2020 pandemic, reaffirms the need for a fundamental baseline for all leaders to ensure we imaginatively and confidently confront anything that happens in our business or in our lives.

Cheryl has worked in the security field for 31 years. In 1990 she joined Raytheon’s naval weapons-manufacturing division in Security Operations, where she oversaw the physical security and classified information protection program. In 2001 she began working for the Office of Safety and Security at Seattle Pacific University. As Associate Director, she is responsible for the Security Operations Center, a 24/7 emergency dispatch center for the campus that also monitors surveillance systems, fire systems, and the campus emergency notification system. For the last 16 years, she has been responsible for implementing the University’s emergency and crisis management plan, which has included training for first responders and the campus community through seminars and exercises.

Finally, she is also responsible for the campus gender-based violence awareness program which includes investigations of crimes and provides threat assessments for at risk individuals. She is a certified self-defense instructor with Rape Aggression Defense Systems. 

Summary

We publish a playlist of conversations we have been having at the beginning of each month. We also select archived conversations we had during the previous year. Whichever platform you decide to listen to, (Google, Apple, Spotify, or Podbean), you can subscribe allowing for a quick selection during your morning coffee, commute to work, or exercise time. Access all the platforms through our website. We would love your feedback (info@The-Great-Conversation.com) or you can contact Ron Worman, the voice of The Great Conversation at Ron@The-Great-Conversation.com.

Ideas matter. They are shared through great conversations. Leaders listen, learn, and contribute back to their industry and their global community. We look forward to having you in the next great conversation.