The Other Side of Hard

What happens when we deliberately put ourselves in places where our assumptions no longer work? In this episode of Becoming Unshakable, I'm joined by Wesley Warshawer to talk about curiosity, discomfort, listening, and what we can learn when we step outside the bubbles that shape how we see the world. Wesley spent years traveling across the United States and internationally while continuing his work remotely. He wasn't trying to prove a political or social point. He wanted to test his assumptions by talking to people whose backgrounds, communities, and experiences differed greatly from his own. What he discovered was often humbling. We talk about moments in South Korea and Togo when perfectly normal questions or behaviors took on a very different meaning in another culture. Those experiences reminded us that ignorance is not the same as malice, and that our assumptions are often far more visible once we leave the environments that created them. Our conversation also turns to polarization and the way binary questions can exaggerate perceived differences between people. Wesley explains why broader, more open questions often reveal far more common ground than we might expect. For me, this conversation is also about listening. How deeply are we willing to listen to someone whose lived experience differs from our own? And how willing are we to surround ourselves with people who challenge our thinking rather than constantly reinforce it? Growth can be uncomfortable. Sometimes we have to risk getting something wrong, looking foolish, or discovering that an assumption we have carried for years is not true. So where might you need to burst your own bubble to grow?

What does it really take for a CEO to build an organization that can keep moving when the pressure never stops? In this episode of Becoming Unshakable, I'm joined by Joel Trammell to talk about the unique responsibility CEOs carry in shaping an organization's culture, direction, and steadiness. Joel has spent decades building companies, leading as a CEO, and training executive teams. He explains why the CEO role differs fundamentally from every other C-suite position and why success depends on balancing the competing needs of shareholders, customers, and employees rather than focusing too heavily on any one group. We also discuss why mission, vision, and values are more than words on a wall. Joel explains why CEOs need to act as both the "mayor and sheriff" of the organization, setting expectations while ensuring those expectations are lived out consistently. Our conversation moves into the pressures leaders face right now, including the pace of AI adoption, growing uncertainty, and the challenge of communicating change without creating unnecessary confusion or fear. Joel shares why high-performing teams require deliberate investment. Trust does not appear simply because talented people are put in the same room. Leaders must create the time and space for people to build relationships, recover, and learn to work together under pressure. Most of all, we talk about adaptability. Change isn't going away, so the goal isn't to eliminate it. The goal is to create an organization where people know how to respond when it arrives. How are you preparing your organization to adapt before the next disruption hits?

What helps us stay grounded when life or work suddenly feels uncertain? In this episode of Becoming Unshakable, I'm joined by Dr. Josh Hartzell for a conversation about self-leadership, resilience, support, and the people we need around us when the ground starts to move. Josh brings a perspective shaped by more than two decades in military medicine, medical education, leadership, and patient care. One lesson from medicine has stayed with him throughout his career: before responding to an emergency, take your own pulse. For leaders, that can mean resisting the urge to react immediately and creating enough space to understand what is happening before deciding what comes next. We talk about leading through the early days of COVID, finding opportunity inside difficult circumstances, and focusing attention on what remains within our control when larger systems feel impossible to influence. Our conversation also turns to the everyday foundations of self-leadership, including sleep, exercise, recovery, and creating cultures where people have permission to take care of themselves rather than simply hearing leaders say that wellbeing matters. Josh shares what coaching has taught him about giving less advice and asking better questions. Sometimes helping another person does not mean giving them our answer. It means helping them find the answer that is right for them. Most importantly, we talk about the people in our corner. Life was never meant to be a solo sport, and becoming unshakable does not mean doing everything by yourself. So when the next storm arrives, who will be standing in your corner?

What does leadership look like when change never seems to stop? In this solo episode of Becoming Unshakable, I'm talking about how leaders can create greater steadiness for themselves and their teams when uncertainty, pressure, and disruption become part of everyday work. Many people are dealing with rapid technological change, organizational uncertainty, heavier workloads, and the feeling that the next disruption is always just around the corner. Leaders may not be able to control those forces, but they can influence how we respond and how our teams experience them. I share some of the thinking behind my new book, The Unshakable Team, including the idea that teams need trust, care, psychological safety, and a stronger understanding of what they can control and influence when everything around them feels unstable. I also cover the Steadiness Reset, a practical five-step process that can help leaders and teams ground themselves before difficult conversations, during challenging meetings, or when emotions run high. There is an important conversation here about recovery. Constant resilience without recovery eventually becomes exhaustion. Teams cannot keep absorbing pressure indefinitely without opportunities to reset, regroup, and regain their footing. Change is not going away. The question is how we lead ourselves and the people around us when the waves keep coming. How are you helping your team find steadiness when so much around them feels uncertain?

Have you ever wondered why people seem to have plenty to say after a meeting, but very little to say while they are actually in the room? In this solo episode of Becoming Unshakable, I'm talking about why employees stop speaking up and what that silence may be telling us about trust, psychological safety, and belonging inside a team. People rarely stop contributing because they suddenly stop caring. More often, they have learned through experience that speaking honestly is not worth the risk. Maybe they have been interrupted, dismissed, criticized, or watched someone else pay a price for challenging an idea. Over time, silence can become a form of self-protection. I also look at what psychological safety actually means. It is not about making every conversation comfortable. It is about creating an environment where people can ask questions, admit mistakes, disagree respectfully, raise concerns, and tell the truth without fearing embarrassment or retaliation. I share practical questions leaders can use to examine what is happening in their own meetings. Who always speaks first? Who rarely speaks at all? Whose ideas are developed, and whose are ignored? What happens when someone disagrees with you? Because silence is data. When people stop speaking, we should not automatically assume everything is fine. So when was the last time someone on your team challenged one of your ideas, and what happened next?