Ryan Fehr is a business professor at the University of Washington, where he teaches courses on leadership and personal change. His research focuses on helping people build more joyful and energizing relationships, with a particular interest in gratitude, compassion, and forgiveness. His work has been featured in news outlets such as the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.

His first book, focused on helping people build the skills they need for joyful, energizing relationships, is scheduled for publication in the Fall.

In this episode we discuss the following:

• As Ryan said, it’s okay to feel burned out by other people sometimes: 72% of parents say they're constantly stressed, 75% said they're too busy to enjoy their lives, and when workers quit, 57% say it's because their relationships are too much.
• Each of us has a different set point for how much alone time we need, so we should be thoughtful about how to cultivate solitude that energizes us.
• For Ryan, cultivating solitude that energizes him means going to movies, restaurants, or even new cities alone. At his daughter’s elementary school, that meant providing a room for students to take a break from the dance and watch a movie.
• Going to networking events can be overwhelming for some people. So a strategy Ryan recommends is to just try to have one meaningful conversation.

Judge Bruce Smith, the first judge to appear on Meikles & Dimes, served as a judge advocate in the United States Air Force for 22 years. After that, he served for more than a decade as an administrative law judge with the United States Department of homeland security. Following his time on the bench, he founded the successful business venture, BartlettJames, LLC, serving as CEO.

In this episode we discuss the following:

• Bruce shared an interesting story about a hospital that was responsible for a child’s death. Rather than lawyer up, the hospital admitted their mistake and took full responsibility. Sadly, in Bruce’s experience as a judge for decades, this sort of accountability is far less common than it should be.
• Saying we screwed up is not a sign of weakness, but rather it’s a sign of strength and character. And speaking of character and ethics, we should follow the law, we should make sure our behavior benefits people and the planet, and we should never do anything that we’d be embarrassed to tell our mothers about.

Martin Reeves is chairman of the Boston Consulting Group’s Henderson Institute, a think tank dedicated to developing new insights from business, technology, economics, and science. He is a coauthor of several books, including his most recent book, Like, which describes the genesis of the Like button, which was created in part, by his co-author Bob Goodson.

In this episode we discuss the following:

• Though we often think of innovation is heroic, deliberate, and isolated, it’s often serendipitous, unpredictable, and social.
• The idea of inventions as private property, which reinforces the often incorrect notion that inventions are made by single inventors, is a relatively recent invention in human history.
• We never know the impact of innovation. The Like button blew up an industry and created a host of new challenges and problems to be solved.
• Whether in the field of academic papers, the creation of the Davy lamp, or a simple Like button, innovation is rarely an isolated, independent event.

Todd Herman works with the highest performers in sports and business to help them achieve their most ambitious goals. He has been featured on the Today Show, Inc Magazine, NFL Films, CBS, and Business Insider among others. And his professional programs are delivered to over 200,000 professionals annually in 73 countries. Todd is also the author of the book, The Alter Ego Effect.

In this episode we discuss the following:

• When Kobe Bryant was struggling, Todd helped him create an alter-ego which would eventually become the Black Mamba. Though creating an alter-ego can feel inauthentic or weird, creating a model of the person we want to become can help us behave in ways that will allow us to reach our goals.
• We all have multiple identities, but being thoughtful about the identities we adopt and create can help us become the best versions of ourselves, whether we’re creating a Spiderman, fitness, public speaking, or business alter ego.
• The highest performing, most capable people have powerful tools in their tool belts. And creating an alter-ego, like we once did as children, is a tool we can add to our own belt. There is power in using our identity to reach our most ambitious goals.

Zach Mercurio is a researcher, author, and speaker specializing in leadership, mattering, and meaningful work. He is the author of the books The Invisible Leader and The Power of Mattering, and some of his clients include the U.S. Army, J.P. Morgan Chase, Delta Airlines, Marriott International, The Government of Canada, and The National Park Service.

Zach also serves as one of Simon Sinek’s “Optimist Instructors,” teaching a course with Simon on how leaders can show everyone how they matter.

Zach earned a Ph.D. in organizational learning, performance, and change from Colorado State University, where he now serves as a Senior Honorary Fellow in the Center for Meaning and Purpose.

In this episode we discuss the following:

• To show people they matter we can ask them, “When you feel that you matter to me, what am I doing?” And then do more of those things.
• We can show people they matter by providing evidence (e.g., pictures) of how their work benefits others.
• We can show people we need them by pointing out what wouldn’t get done without them.
• Just because something is common sense, doesn’t mean it’s common practice. But by taking simple steps to notice and affirm people, even scheduling our good intentions, we can help people know that they matter and close the knowing / doing gap.

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Tozer and I continue our discussion with Raul and we learn how Raul got Vicente Fox, the former president of Mexico, to visit Raul’s university. We also dive into the moral philosophy that Raul so effectively teaches his students.

In this episode Tozer and I talk with Raul Rodriguez, who has one of the most impressive life stories I’ve ever heard. I think you’ll really enjoy hearing about Raul’s life and the impact Tozer had on it it.

In this episode we talk with Tozer and Greg Fullmer (aka Fromer).