According to Valerie Gordon, there are plenty of “unlikely” scenarios in our lives. By “unlikely,” she means those things that we really don’t want in our lives, those struggles and obstacles that make our lives more difficult, and we cannot find value in them in the moment.
Episode 68: Resilience is a Choice, No One is Coming to Your Rescue
Stories That Build Emotional Resilience
This third episode in the Resilience series features Amber Johnson, owner of Last Dance Gulch in Helena, Montana.
Andrea Amundson, the first guest in this series, saw her resilience as a product of her sense of responsibility to others. Charlotte Wittenberg, our second guest, saw resilience as more of a product of past experience, and being able to learn and grow from those struggles and opportunities.
Amber has a different perspective on this topic; she sees resilience as a personal choice not to be defeated, and not to be a statistic. She sees resilience as a choice to live your best life, despite challenges and struggles.
This episode was recorded on a road trip from Helena, Montana to Great Falls, Montana when we had an opportunity to see Pink Martini perform on Tuesday, April 2nd. I love the conversations that come up during windshield time, and this is no exception.
My favorite part of this road trip recording is when Amber said: "No one is going to rescue you. You must decide what you want in your life and make it happen."
We used a few analogies during this recording; my favorite was when we used food and cooking to describe how we use the ingredients in life to create something delicious.
"Resilience is like a muscle. The more you use it, the more strength you have to take some unfortunate news or circumstances, and survive it, overcome it, and create something tasty out of unexpected or unwanted ingredients."
Want to see Amber doing her thing, dancing the night away with her whole heart? Check out this video!
Episode 67: Resilience - Drawing Strength From Past Experience
Our Stories Offer Evidence That “This Too Shall Pass”
If we consider the struggles we’ve already survived, we can see the evidence to suggest we’ll survive any future challenges, especially if we really think about what it took not only to get through a difficult situation, but to thrive as a result of having that experience.
That’s what Charlotte Wittencamp and I spoke about in this episode; drawing strength to get through a challenge through recognizing the value of our past experiences.
During our conversation, we spoke briefly about Johari’s Window, a concept drawn to describe aspects of self awareness. If you’d like to learn more, here’s a great article from Charlotte’s website. She also published an ebook to download free about crossing cultural divides. It’s a great guide for people trying to settle into a new culture.
Episode 66: Resilience Isn't Just About Survival
Stories of Resilience - A Series, Part 1
When we share stories, whether in our personal or business lives, how we share them makes a difference in how we remember them, and in how we’re perceived by the people we’re sharing them with.
Think about a story a stranger recently told you; what did that story say about the person sharing it? Did it demonstrate a different aspect of their character than you were expecting? How we choose to share a story - the details about the characters, our body language, our facial expression and tone of voice - all contributes to the perception our audience will have of us afterward.
When listening to this podcast, I encourage you to listen to consider your related stories, to listen and consider which stories in your life might have impacted you in a similar way, and to consider how you share your own stories, and the messages they carry for yourself and for the people around you.
For the next few weeks, we’ll be exploring the word resilience.
According to dictionary.com, resilience is defined:
the power or ability to return to the original form, position, etc., after being bent, compressed, or stretched; elasticity.
ability to recover readily from illness, depression, adversity, or the like; buoyancy.
Andrea Amundson
Our first episode in this series explores that definition from the perspective of a cancer survivor, Andi Amundsen.
Though I’d never use that phrase, “cancer survivor” to describe or define this woman, it does give you a picture of the specific illness and adversity she has experienced.
I like to think of Andi as a magnificent tree, growing roots from her feet to hold her steady so she can support her many branches; her children, her grandchildren, the many who rely on her for comfort and as a resource when faced with struggle and tragedy. She is the picture of the word resilience, as far as I’m concerned, not because she has survived, or because, as the definition describes, she has bounced back to her former form. She hasn’t bounced back to her former form because cancer will never allow someone to go backward. She is the picture of the word because she continues to thrive, despite her diagnosis and ongoing treatment.
Andi has the positivity of a tree in springtime, with the reality of a future of snow and bitter cold. Her version of resilience comes from a love for super heroes, magical creatures, and her belief that she is here for a reason. She believes that when she provides support and resources for others facing a similar diagnoses, love and comfort for her family and friends, and constant encouragement for her daughters, she is serving her purpose; she is alive simply because she lives her purpose. (And maybe because she’s so damn stubborn.)
Curious? Listen to the podcast!
Visit the Lost & Foundation website to learn more about the organization and the people they serve.
Episode 65: Our Internal Disconnect and the Damage of a Perception Gap
Episode 64: Like Change, Uncertainty Is a Constant Undercurrent in Life
Stories of Risk and Addressing Uncertainty
Marylene Delbourg-Delphis doesn’t see risk the same way most people might define it. To her, it’s all about how prepared you are for whatever step you intend to take, the people you’ve surrounded yourself with and trust to take that step with you, and your ability to address uncertainty at any given moment.
Uncertainty is, like change, a constant undercurrent of life. There’s nothing certain in life, and there definitely isn’t anything certain in business. So how do we find ways to cope with an ever-uncertain world?
As a founding CEO and a turn-around CEO, Marylene has learned to quickly identify the resources she will need to address uncertainty and to make decisions effectively. She also has learned to trust that people truly want to learn, they have the capacity to learn, and they want to do a good job.
We covered a lot of ground in our conversation about how she sees risk, and how she addresses learning and innovation in her employees. One strategy Marylene uses in her presentations is to include music, particularly classical symphonies and opera. Here are a few links we agreed to share for you - our listeners - to get a better understanding of the impact:
Hector Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique
Why listen to what Marylene has to say about building a strong, engaged, trusting workplace? For one thing, she has had great success in this area. For another, she is the one who, when she started her first US tech firm, poached Guy Kawasaki from Apple, and wrote the French forward for his recent book!
The operatic piece she mentioned, featuring Maria Callas:
And the book The Republic, by the philosopher Plato.
Learn more about Marylene by checking out her book, Everybody Wants to Love Their Job, and by connecting with her on LinkedIn.
Are you enjoying listening to episodes of this podcast? Are you wondering how you can help me sustain this project, to support and encourage the sharing of important stories?
Here are a few ideas!
1) Leave a rating and comment on your favorite podcast service like iTunes or Stitcher
2) Share a link to the show and tell people why you like it
3) Become a sponsor (for as little as $2/month) by going to Patreon
Episode 63: Are You Listening to Your Instincts?
I was introduced to Bill Fox, who lives in Estonia, by a woman who lives here in Helena, Montana, who was introduced to Bill by her husband, who worked with Bill at some point in Washington DC.
So many things had to happen for us to have met, and statistically, it was highly unlikely. And yet...
These days, when a trusted friend or colleague suggests the Bill reach out to someone to connect, he doesn’t hesitate - not for a second.
Over the past 7+ years, every one of those suggestions has turned into something important, something magical, and something life-defining, if not life-changing.
If you’ve read or listened to my work over the past few years, you’ll know that I don’t believe in coincidence. I also don’t believe strictly in fate; that’s an awkward line to walk. Opportunities are everywhere when we’re looking for them, as are obstacles.
Our subconscious minds are powerful - far more powerful than our conscious minds. Our subconscious can pick up all kinds of information from our surroundings that our conscious minds could never keep up with, much less process as subtle, specific things. So when something happens that is incredibly unlikely, our subconscious mind has already picked up all sort so clues about why it happened. It was prepared for this likelihood, even when that thing happening is highly statistically unlikely, because statistics are human-made with information we absolutely know and have available at any specific moment.
Like me, Bill Fox has learned to trust his instincts and his subconsciously-given cues, and that’s how he ended up in Estonia with the love of his life.
Visiting her for the first time, she asked him: “Where will you park your car?”
“At the airport.”
“But what if you don’t return home?”
Learn more about how Bill Fox is helping leaders lead effectively with humanity and compassion on his website, Forward 2.0, and connect with him on LinkedIn.
This image was taken atop of one of the many 14th century artillery towers in Tallinn. It was a magical place and I was amazed to discover this space after climbing (crawling really) several hundred feet up a very narrow and steep stairwell that twisted around the tower. It’s called Kiek in de Kök.