Intentional Performers With Brian Levenson

Dr. Bob Lefkowitz is currently the Chancellor’s Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Professor of Biochemistry and Chemistry at the Duke University Medical Center. He’s been an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute since 1976, and he began his research career in the late 1960s and early 1970s when there was not a clear consensus that specific receptors for drugs and hormones even existed. He’s a trailblazer. He’s a ground breaker. He’s a Nobel Prize winner. He’s an author; his memoir, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Stockholm, recounts his early career as a cardiologist and his transition to biochemistry. He is a researcher, he’s a teacher, and he’s just very very wise. And sometimes you meet knowledgeable people, smart people, who lack wisdom and emotional intelligence; that’s not what you’re going to find in this conversation. We talk as much about philosophy as we do about his groundbreaking research. This conversation was inspiring, it made me think, and it made me question how I thi

Dr. Emma Seppala is a bestselling author, she’s a Yale lecturer, and international keynote speaker. She teaches executives at the Yale School of Management and is Faculty Director of the Yale School of Management’s Women’s Leadership Program. She’s a psychologist, she’s a researcher, she is somebody who is constantly thinking and wondering about the science of happiness, emotional intelligence, and social connection. She is also an author, as I mentioned earlier, and her books are what we focus on in today’s conversation. The two we focus on are The Happiness Track, which has been translated into dozens of languages and was published in 2016, and her new book which we really dive into in today’s conversation which is called Sovereign. Dr. Seppala is also the Science Director of Stanford University’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education. Emma has been featured in just about every publication you can imagine, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and NPR, and she also has done

Simon Mundie is on a mission to have discussions that reveal something important about life and how best to live it. He’s the host of the Life Lessons Podcast, and that’s where he uses that vehicle to learn from some of the best performers in the world about how they are not just successful at their craft, but what they’ve learned along the way, and even some of the dark sides that come with high achievement. And he really is someone who has used sport as a metaphor for life. His podcast doesn’t just interview some of the best athletes in the world, but it also is a platform where he gets to sit with some of the best thinkers, philosophers, psychologists, and neuroscientists to try to unpack and discover what living a truly meaningful, successful life is all about. He has spent time in the sports world as a journalist. He worked for BBC Radio, where he covered sporting events like the World Cup and the Olympics. So, he’s been around some of the highest achievers in the world, and he often found that our obses

Dr. Gloria Mark is Chancellor’s Professor Emerita at the University of California, Irvine, and has spent ten years as a visiting senior researcher at Microsoft Research. She received her PhD from Columbia University in psychology. For over two decades, she has researched the impact of digital media on people's lives, studying how using our devices affects our multitasking, distractions, mood, and behavior. She has published over 200 papers in the top journals and conferences in the field of human-computer interaction, has received numerous paper awards, and was inducted into the ACM SIGCHI Academy in 2017 in recognition of her contribution to the field. She has also been a Fulbright scholar and has received the prestigious NSF Career Grant. Her work has been widely recognized outside of academia: she has appeared on The Ezra Klein show, NPR’s Hidden Brain, Sanjay Gupta’s CNN Chasing Life, CBS Sunday Morning, Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert, among many others. Her work has been featured in the popular media, e.g

Steve Clagett is the Director of Learning and Development with the Baltimore Ravens. Prior to arriving with the Ravens, he’s had quite a journey and quite an experience and a pretty incredible resume, which includes serving as a White House Fellow, where he got to interact with the President of the United States and a lot of other dignitaries and people that are making decisions that influence our daily lives. He also worked within the US Navy, rising to becoming a Lieutenant Commander where he also worked with the Navy SEAL Teams. We talk about mission, we talk about values in today’s conversation, and we talk about what is applicable and what may not be when it comes from the military to the sports world. We also talk about politics in today’s conversation. He also was a Pat Tillman Scholar. He is someone who cares about the work that he’s doing and is looking to make an impact certainly within the NFL, but beyond the NFL and in the community that he helps serve in Baltimore as well. So, this is a rich conv

Dr. Ruth Gotian has studied extensively what it takes to be successful. That is, at the end of the day, what she’s obsessed with, interested in, and curious about. She also has spent a lot of time thinking about mentorship and mentoring. She is currently the Chief Learning Officer, Associate Professor of Education in Anesthesiology, and former Assistant Dean of Mentoring and Executive Director of The Mentoring Academy at Cornell Medicine. And so, today we focus more on her focus on success and less on mentoring. She has a book coming up in the future about mentoring, but today this conversation is really about her research and dedication and, to be honest, an obsession with success. In 2021, she was one of 30 people worldwide to be named to the Thinkers50 Radar List, which is dubbed the Oscars of Management Thinking, and is a semi-finalist for the Forbes 50 over 50 list. During her extensive career, she’s personally coached and mentored thousands of people, ranging from faculty members to undergraduates, and

Stephen Panus is somebody that my path may have crossed with, and at some point led him to coming on this podcast professionally. He’s worked in the sports world, he’s worked as a marketer, as a lawyer, and as an agent. So, it would make sense that at some point he would be someone that I would interview. But the real reason and the impetus for today’s conversation is based, in part, off of adversity, tragedy, and trauma. Stephen’s son, Jake, was killed in a drunk driving accident when Jake was 16 years old. Jake’s girlfriend at the time was actually the one driving the car. We don’t get into the specifics as far as how Stephen feels about Jake’s girlfriend, and we really don’t get into all of the details around the accident per se. But this conversation gives us a window into the grief, the trauma, and also some of the inspiring work that Stephen has done since then. Make no mistake, this is an experience that Stephen went through that was a watershed moment for him in the worst of ways. He doesn’t mince wor

Mosheh Oinounou is an Emmy, Murrow, and Webby Award-winning Executive Producer. He worked in traditional news for quite some time. He was actually the youngest ever executive producer of the CBS Evening News in 2018 and 2019, where he led more than 150 people and covered everything from the war on Isis to natural disasters to mass shootings to presidential interviews. It seemed as though Mosheh was heading in the traditional media place where he was becoming a rock star and working on his craft and earning a title, something he had dreamt about when he was a little kid. And then some things changed. He went in a completely different direction. And so, this conversation is going to be about identity, it’s going to be about entrepreneurship, and it’s going to be about the future of our media and the way we consume information. He currently is the President of both Mo Digital and Mo News, where they provide a variety of outlets for us to digest content. One of the places where he plays a lot is on Instagram, whe

I was first introduced to Craig Wiley a number of years ago when I was starting my journey in executive coaching. The people that told me about Craig spoke about his integrity, his ability to think strategically, and help them as their executive coach. When we connected years ago, he was awesome, he was authentic, he was genuine, he had a clear vision for where he wanted to take his company, and it’s really cool to reconnect with him today and check in with him on where he’s at and where the company has gone. So, a bit about Craig: He is the CEO and Founder of Transcend, a company that helps to transform C-Suite leaders and their businesses. He’s been doing this for over 2 decades as an executive coaching expert and business strategy thought leader, two spaces in which he really does live. He lives in almost this consultant, strategy, thought leader space, which we get into in today’s conversation along with this executive coaching space. Ultimately, he’s really passionate about driving continual innovation t

Topaz Adizes is an Emmy Award winning writer, director, and experience design architect. Topaz is currently the founder and executive director of an experience design studio called “The Skin Deep,” which produces incredible, heartwarming, thoughtful, emotional videos that you can find on YouTube. They have over 1200 videos online, some of which are referenced in today’s conversation. I mention that experience design architect piece because at the beginning of this conversation, we talk about this concept that he created called “The And.” “The And” is a series of cards that you can purchase, and there are 199 questions in these boxes. These cards contain powerful questions that are meant to help build connections amongst human beings. In the beginning of this conversation, we reference the cards and how I might use them people with people in my life. He has also played in this writer/director space. His works have been selected to Cannes, Sundance, IDFA, South by Southwest, and featured in New Yorker Magazine,

Jared Freid is a comedian, he’s a podcaster, he’s a writer, he’s a TV host, and perhaps he may be best known at this point for his Netflix comedy special “Jared Freid: 37 and Single.” I watched it over the holidays and loved it, I watched it with my family. I’ve been watching Jared really since he got started in comedy; we have a mutual friend who we reference quite a bit in today’s show, and he brought me to see Jared and he just has the humor that I love. We talk about Jared’s journey and how he developed his style and really learned the mechanics of stand-up comedy. So, he’s going to give you the behind the scenes look at what it takes to be a comedian and his approach and what he’s done to build his brand. We do talk about branding, marketing, media, and the future of media and what he’s done to try to build his platform; I think there’s a lot to learn there. He’s also performed on TV; he’s been on The Today Show and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, so certainly he’s been on some big stages and arenas

Kyle Stark spent several seasons in Major League Baseball. He started his career with the Cleveland Indians (now the Cleveland Guardians). Then he went to the Pittsburgh Pirates for an amazing run, and he’s going to talk about that run and that experience working with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He started in 2007 and ended his run with the Pirates in 2019. And what’s pretty cool about Kyle is he’s vulnerable, open, honest, real, and genuine in today’s conversation about being fired. If you work in sports, you know that most teams, organizations, and people have a shelf life regarding the amount of time they work at an organization. So, we talk about that in today’s conversation. But he had an amazing run with the Pirates. In his 12 years with the Pittsburgh Pirates, he became the Assistant General Manager, worked as the Vice President, and started off in player development as a director. Today’s conversation is really about both player development and organizational development. I think Kyle is uniquely positio

Doug Lemov is the author of the International Bestseller Teach Like a Champion. That title really does speak to Doug and his background in the education system, but also that idea of a champion. “Play like a champion” is a line that Notre Dame Football uses in their locker room (and perhaps you know of the sign they hit before they enter the field), so “teach like a champion” is a nice play on that concept. Doug really does live at the intersection of sport and education, teaching and coaching, and that book, Teach Like a Champion, is now in its 3rd version and has had wild success, especially in the world of education and teaching and coaching. He also has written The Coach’s Guide to Teaching and is the co-author of many books. He’s a writer, he’s someone who likes to be with his computer and create theories, ideas, competencies, and concepts that can serve other people. In addition to his work studying teachers, he also is somebody who is obsessed with coaching in the sports world. He writes his books by s

Morag Barrett is a sought-out executive coach and leadership expert who helps leaders achieve outstanding results through the power of their professional relationships. At last count Morag and her company SkyeTeam have supported the development of more than 10,000 leaders from 20 countries and on 6 continents. She’s the award-winning author of three books: Cultivate: The Power of Winning Relationships; The Future-Proof Workplace; and her latest book You, Me, We: Why we all need a friend at work (and how to show up as one!) which has received NINE book awards! She’s recognized by Thinkers360 and PeopleHum as an HR Thought Leader to Watch and a member of the Marshall Goldsmith 100 Coaches organization.   Morag had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include: “When it comes to SkyeTeam, our values and why we do it is to have fun, to do great work, to have fun, to work with great clients, and to have fun” (8:00). “The game of work is a team sport” (9:15). “Our ability to be better t

Jack Green is a Double Olympian, a formal global wellbeing lead, and a performance coach. He has this unique perspective on what it takes to achieve high performance, and he also knows about the dark side of sport, elite sport, and high performance. He knows how some of the mindsets that he cultivated for himself professionally to get to some of the highest levels in his sport were also some of the mindsets that really led to him living an unhealthy life and getting into some mental health challenges that really did derail not only his career, but his life in general. His philosophy has become simple: if you are thriving personally, you will no doubt thrive professionally. He’s on a mission to help as many people as possible to be the best version of themselves. He retired from elite sport at the age of 28 after winning World and European medals. We talk about medals in today’s conversation, and also why finishing 4th were some of the proudest races and competitions that Jack had. He has a passion for high pe

Pablo Torre is thoughtful. He’s smart, he’s intelligent, and he’s funny. Today’s conversation we get into all of that; we get into his personality, how he approaches media, how he approaches storytelling. At his core, he is someone who deeply wants to tell stories that range in emotions, that make you laugh, that may make you cry, that may make you cringe, but mostly will make you think a little bit differently than you thought before digesting the story that Pablo is sharing. His background involves deep journalism at Sports Illustrated as a staff writer and a fact checker. His work there won awards. He then went on to work at ESPN as a senior writer for both its website and its magazine. He will say in today’s conversation that he got his start really in the magazine space and that shapes a lot of how he thinks about storytelling. But you will probably recognize Pablo if you’re interested in sports because he has appeared on air quite a bit, whether it’s on the show Around the Horn as a regular contributor,

Steve Shenbaum is the Founder and President of Game On Nation. For over 27 years, we’ve been helping sports teams, high performance organizations, government, and military personnel improve overall communication and relationship building by combining game-based exercises with practical techniques. Our end goal is to simplify the process and put words into action - moving from good to know to good to do - to enhance workplace behaviors, develop authentic connection, and improve overall team success. Steve had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include: “Are we practicing what we’re sharing out into the world?” (9:25). “We always say know your audience, but we rarely put our most important audience first: [our family]” (14:20). “Tone is key” (16:50). “Laugh with, not at” (17:10). “Tone is the most important thing that I’m aware of when I’m talking with my children” (17:55). “I know my children’s learning styles” (19:30). “Everyone is a presenter” (23:40). “All speeds are very val

Founder & CEO of Triple P Consulting LLC also a member of the Strong Skills team! Jon Tuteur is an Executive Coach, Facilitator, Speaker, Author, and Management Consultant with over 20 years of experience working across numerous industries including the U.S. Federal Government, State & Local Government, Nonprofit, Higher Education, Financial Services, Hospitality, Retail, Healthcare, Real Estate, High Tech, and Consulting. Jon had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include: “We’re not connecting in the ways that we used to” (9:40). “It’s so important for me in the work that I do to create that safe space for people to open up about whatever it is that’s going on” (11:55). “A lot of what drives disconnection is assumptions” (12:55). “When we’re just judging people based on behavior, there’s a lot of assumptions that go along with that” (13:20). “There’s a way to go deep and be vulnerable at work that isn’t inappropriate” (16:50). “Vulnerability is power. There is strengt

Amy Edmondson is the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School, which is a Chair established to support the study of human interactions that lead to the creation of successful enterprises that contribute to the betterment of society. And in today’s conversation we certainly talk about Harvard, what it’s like to work on a college campus, and what it’s like to be specifically at that college campus during this time in 2023 as we record today’s conversation. Amy has been recognized by the Biannual Thinkers50 Global Ranking of Management Thinkers since 2011, and recently was ranked #1 in 2021. She’s received that organization’s Breakthrough Idea Award in 2019 and Talent Award in 2017. She studies teaming, psychological safety (which is going to be a core concept and competency that you’ve probably heard about at some point if you study environments and teams and groups), and we’re going to talk about the famous Aristotle study that Google did that found that psychological safe

Today’s episode is going to be a little bit different than our past episodes: I’m actually going to interview two friends of mine, two colleagues, that are going to share their perspective on collaboration. Miranda Holder is an Executive Coach (and my own personal coach) that has a background in sport. She was a three-sport athlete in High School and then she found Rowing in College where she competed at an elite, high level. She then became a Rowing Coach and ended up becoming the Head Rowing Coach at Georgetown University. That journey of becoming a Rowing Coach ended up leading her to become an Executive Coach. Today, she spends a lot of time working with people in all walks of life in the corporate space, and she considers herself to be an insight wizard. She helps people see themselves in their situation more clearly, and for the people brave enough to do the work, there’s an incredible leader, person, and idea ready to surface. She loves to work with people on being the best leader or CEO that they can