Part 3 of 4 Geoff: Why did you become a leader? Why did you agree to do it? Matt: For me it was the passion for the work that we do, being passionate about the experiences that schools provide for students and realizing that the best way to maximize that impact is through leading others …
Matt Stem (Passionate)
Part 2 of 4 Geoff: Your goal wasn’t to become Deputy Secretary. How did you become Deputy Secretary? Matt: I told my wife when I first got into education that all I ever wanted to be was a teacher, that I didn’t have greater aspirations than that. And then one door after another continued to …
Matt Stem (Passionate)
Part 1 of 4 Matt Stem is passionate about his faith, his family, and his work. He's a talented musician and composer who has written, performed, and recorded some really interesting pieces (including the theme music to my concept for a podcast). But the trait I admire most about Matt is his relentless pursuit of …
Curtis Watkins (Curious)
Curtis and Cheryl at Yosemite National Park Part 4 of 4 Geoff: I know you as a master coach. I think the interesting thing about the pursuit of mastery is so different than the pursuit of being an expert in that, as Maricarmen Gwell says, staying in the “not knowing” is more important than getting …
Curtis Watkins (Curious)
Curtis and Cheryl above the town of Noli in the Liguria region of Italy. Part 3 of 4 Geoff: Are there other kinds of problems that you see in companies you work with that you could share? Curtis: Lots of problems. They want people to work as teams, but they are paid as individuals. That …
Curtis Watkins (Curious)
Curtis in Pisa, Italy (Check out the "Leaning Tower" between the two domed buildings) Part 2 of 4 In the previous post, we learned a little bit about Curtis and his background. In this post, we'll be looking at how he got into coaching and some of his experiences and insights with leaders and organizations. …
Curtis Watkins (Curious)
Part 1 of 4 Curtis Watkins and partner, Cheryl Palmer Curtis Watkins is a Master Coach who's lived a full and fascinating life. In 2004, I enrolled in an ontological coaching course through the Newfield Network and was assigned a mentor coach - Curtis. When the course ended, I asked Curtis if we could continue …
Horse Sense…
“… the intellectual ability of people who exceed others in practical wisdom.” “Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people.” – W.C. Fields Equine-Assisted Learning “We have almost forgotten how strange a thing it is that so huge and powerful and intelligent an animal as a horse should …
Tony Chivinski (Caring)
Part 4 of 4 Geoff: You and I lived through Enron, Qualcomm, and these big failures of businesses based on character breakdowns where we found that people who were really smart, who focused on results, drove their businesses into the ground because of failure of character. Talk a little bit for me how important character …
Tony Chivinski (Caring)
Part 3 of 4 Geoff: Let’s shift a little bit and talk about culture. How would you define the culture of an organization? How important is it? And how is it created? Tony: It’s the number one thing we should be looking at. It’s extremely important. Charles Koch defines culture this way: It’s stated values—everyone …