In Trust

Why do leaders get stuck? How can you expand when it can feel so much safer and easier to contract?

What would a more connected, supportive world look like?

We dive into the idea of connections, networks, and re-imagining communities with Kathryn Evans, an architect of a more inclusive future and the president of Rooted Strategy, a Kansas City-based consultancy she founded to provide support to organizations that improve the lives of people.

This conversation with Kathryn covers clarity, resiliency, network ecology, systems change, trauma responses, and of course, trust.

If you’re looking to learn how to create change in the world, this is a must-listen episode of In Trust.

Show Notes:

What would you be able to accomplish if you showed up as the leader you were meant to be?

Daniel Bauer, highly sought-after coach and mentor to thousands of school leaders, is on a mission to build better school leaders and help them step into possibility - and his insights and frameworks apply far beyond the classroom,

We were delighted to welcome Daniel back to In Trust to discuss practical leadership insights from his new book, Mastermind: Unlocking Talent Within Every School Leader.

In this episode we talk about Daniel ABC framework (Authenticity, Belonging, and Challenge), what makes masterminds special place, why you might as well jump, and much more.

If you’re eager to move into your full potential as a leader, you won’t want to miss this episode of In Trust.

Show Notes:

How might you create the context to build trust and meaningful connections with those who matter most to you, especially in our busy world?

What are some leadership lessons that come from connecting with children?

It’s harder to build trust at a distance, yet that’s exactly what we need to do to thrive in a remote work world.

So how do you build trust remotely?

In this episode, Spotlight Trust co-founders Rick Kitagawa and Lisa Lambert share how the 5 Facets of Trust framework can provide a practical lens to help leaders notice trust gaps in their remote work environment as well as opportunities to build and strengthen trust - a mission-critical asset for high-performing teams.

If you’re noticing some trust issues in your remote workplace or wanting to get ahead of them, then you’ll want to check out this episode of In Trust.

SHOW NOTES:

How do you untangle big, messy decisions?

How do you make collective decisions within organizations that everyone can get behind, even if they disagree?

What’s the difference between being trustworthy and being trusted? Why does it matter anyway?

For the 50th episode of the In Trust podcast, your trusted co-hosts, Spotlight Trust Co-Founders and Co-CEOs Rick Kitagawa and Lisa Lambert, unpack the semantics of the words trustworthy and trusted to surface practical insights for leaders wanting to better earn and extend trust.

If you’re curious about how you can more readily signal your trustworthiness so you can become trusted and how you can better discern who is worthy of your trust, you’ll want to give this episode a listen.

Show Notes:

How do you drive change instead of driving people?

This is a question April Mills has spent a lot of time thinking about, from both strategic and tactical perspectives. April is an engineer by training and a change agent by passion. She’s an international speaker, consultant, and trainer focused on unleashing the change agent potential in individuals and organizations. April’s the author of the books Everyone is a Change Agent: A Guide to the Change Agent Essentials and the new release Change Tactics: 50 Ways Change Agents Boldly Escape the Status Quo.

We had the chance to sit down with April and explore how leaders can earn trust and influence needed to drive change that matters, especially when confronted with new and complex challenges.

If you’re responsible for leading change, you’ll want to listen to this episode of In Trust.

Show Notes:

It’s really (really) hard to get people to do things in their own best interest, so how do you get people to care?

Your company or a brand you support posted a black square for #racialjustice on Blackout Tuesday 2020.

Now what?

What does it really mean to show up  for racial justice in a way that builds trust?

We unpacked this topic with Lynn Johnson, Founder and CEO of Hella Social Impact. Lynn is focused on helping businesses show up for racial justice authentically and impactfully. She believes her main job is to help today’s leaders access the courage and imagination needed to reshape our economy for the good of all people.

If you’re looking for practical ways to align your organizational culture, operations, and communication with your external commitments to racial justice and social impact, you’ll want to give this episode of In Trust a listen.

Show Notes:

Everyone makes mistakes. So how can leaders build a culture where mistakes are viewed as learning opportunities that strengthen trust and propel innovation?

In this episode of the In Trust podcast, your trusted co-hosts, Spotlight Trust Co-Founders and Co-CEOs Rick Kitagawa and Lisa Lambert, dig into the human act of making mistakes at work. They explore how leaders can collaborate with their teams to build the trust and psychological safety needed to do innovative work that may lead to mistakes and co-create a culture where people take accountability and embrace learning opportunities.

If you want to get better at making mistakes and owning up to them, you won’t want to miss this episode.

Show Notes:

What’s the root of burnout and why might burnout not be a helpful term? How does building self-trust help you design genuinely satisfying work experiences where you can sustainably show up as your best self without burning out?

How does compassion transform our workplaces and how people show up in them? How might we practice compassion as leaders and leverage it as a generous tool to build trust?

Most of us underestimate the extent to which we’re all involved in selling.

It may not be the traditional view of selling, but we’re all in sales: we’re all in the business of persuading, convincing, and influencing others.

So how do you sell in a way that genuinely serves others while bringing out the best in yourself? How might you build trust in yourself as you navigate the nos on the way to the yeses? How can you build a high-performance sales culture that priorities humanity over quotas?

How can project management be a tool to build trust? Why is building trust and psychological safety so important for project teams and what are practical ways project managers can develop these assets?

As organizations roll out their post-pandemic work plans, where are many getting tripped up? What must leaders and organizations consider in order to build a high-trust hybrid and remote work culture?

How can leaders effectively build bridges across disciplines so that different functions can team up and help their organization run more thoughtfully and successfully? How can greater empathy lead to greater business impact? How can design leaders in particular gain more business confidence so they can bring their problem solving expertise to co-create a different business world, by design?

These were just some of the questions we explored in our conversation with Alen Faljic, the Founder and CEO of d.MBA, an online business program made specifically for designers. Alen is an ex-IDEO business designer, one of the most prominent business designers internationally, and host of the d.MBA podcast.

In this episode of the In Trust podcast, Alen shares an abundance of wisdom and practical insights that transcend design leadership. We cover a wide-range of topics including how he and the d.MBA team are working to address a key gap in design education that can transform business, how developing a shared language facilitates cross-functional teamwork, how empathy is good for business and how to practice it, how to deconstruct big risks, and more.

If you’re interested in building a better business, improving cross-functional collaboration, and harnessing the power of empathy in business, then this episode is for you.

Show Notes:

How does the level of trust after a decision is made impact product teams (and other teams in your organization too)? How much waste might be happening in your organization because of cognitive biases and what are practical ways to avoid falling into the traps of these biases when it comes to decision making?

We explored these questions and many more with Adam Thomas, a product person and technologist based in Harlem, NY who is focused on strategy, team organization, and product management. Adam is currently the Lead Product Manager over at SmartRecruiters, a columnist at BuiltIn, and also shares weekly product management tips and other fun resources in his newsletter.

Adam believes that product management isn’t just about getting done what’s on the roadmap; it’s fundamentally about people. So he looks at things in a way that leverages behavioral science, psychology, philosophy, and more to build extraordinary teams that thoughtfully bake culture into what they are developing.

In this episode of the In Trust podcast, we talk to Adam about how he helps product teams get better results by putting people first. His practical perspectives and astute observations apply far beyond product management. Whether you’re a product person or a leader in a different domain, you’ll want to give this podcast a listen and take notes.

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What are assets that you have within your organization that external communities would be interested in having access to and even contributing in a way that adds value? What would it look like to take the bold step to open these assets up to the outside world?

These are questions Jaime Arredondo explores with public and private organizations of all sizes to multiply the impacts of their efforts and investments by creating innovation communities and open source business models. An international writer, coach, and entrepreneur, Jaime also publishes a newsletter where he shares practical insights to help leaders build bold, open, and community-driven organizations.

We had the opportunity to connect with Jaime to chat about the possibilities bold and open projects and business models provide to build trust at scale, create exponential potential, develop leaders, and even bring renewed value to assets that may be collecting dust within the walls of your organization.

From Patagonia opening up its supply chain, to Wikipedia, to new ways of thinking about patents, and more, Jaime shared broad ways to think about open source that go far beyond tech and software.

If you’re curious about fresh ways to think about community, collaboration, and scaling trust, you’ll definitely want to listen to this episode of the In Trust podcast.

Show Notes:

What risks are worth taking? How do you trust yourself to make big decisions when your head and heart are pulling you in different directions? How do you trust your team to blaze a new trail and bring a bold vision to life, especially when you’re working together remotely?

What are some common stories about entrepreneurship and innovation that actually hinder these pioneering pursuits? Why is trust so integral in the development and growth of entrepreneurship and innovation?

What is the relationship between vulnerability, play, and trust? What happens to team dynamics and performance when play is embraced as part of work instead of a bonus or afterthought?

It’s been a while since we’ve recorded a host conversation, so it’s just us - Spotlight Trust Co-CEOs Rick Kitagawa and Lisa Lambert - playing around this week. In this episode, we share insights into how norms are shifting when it comes to how people show up at work and what it means to be vulnerable and authentic as leaders. We also get into some of the ways we ourselves leverage vulnerability, levity, and play in our approach to working with clients on leadership development, team building, and organizational design.

If you’re interested in having more fun at work and getting more done while doing so, then you’ll want to give this episode a listen.

Show Notes:

What’s the relationship between inclusion, engagement, innovation, and trust? How can increasing Indigenous engagement in the economy create better opportunities and prosperity for all?

How can stories support actionable change in the nonprofit sector? Why is the relationship between a nonprofit executive director and their board chair so crucial to long-term success and stability and what are practical ways to strengthen this relationship?

What’s the connection between leadership, trust, and magic? What happens when we, as leaders, create more space for magic?

Who better to discuss these questions with than the Architect of Magic himself, Mark Stuart? So that’s just what we did!

Mark is the Founder and Executive Artistic Director of Mark Stuart Dance Theatre. Mark’s award-winning choreography and performances have been featured on Broadway, in films, commercials, and in print. He served as the Associate Choreographer of BANDSTAND on Broadway (recognized with the TONY Award for Best Choreography) and he created, directed, and choreographed the award nominated Off-Broadway dance-musical STANDARD TIME: When Change Comes. Mark is a coach for Seth Godin’s altMBA and is a four-time Director of the World Musical Concert series at Tokyo’s world famous Theatre Orb.

We enjoyed a magical conversation with Mark where we talked about how trust is like the game of Jenga, how hard discussions are vulnerable discussions and how these build a resilient community, the one question that has helped Mark trust in himself and that gave him the freedom to think differently, and much more.

If you’re interested in leading in a way that creates opportunities where what previously was thought impossible becomes possible, then you’ll want to listen to this interview with Mark Stuart!

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Show Notes:

What’s the difference between being transparent and being intentionally transparent? How can you go about cultivating a culture of intentional transparency with all your stakeholders when transparency is extremely uncomfortable (at first)? Why is this effort worthwhile when it comes to building trust and resilience while reducing red tape and boosting innovation and creativity?

How do you move beyond the idea of belonging to take meaningful action that builds and repairs cultures and communities in a way that actually roots them in belonging? How do we build a future for young people that fits them versus asking them to fit the future?

How do you build a meaningful brand that’s relevant and resonates with your customers when you’re swimming in an ocean of content? How can you leverage storytelling and community to build the trust needed to design the future with your team and your customers?

Hosts Lisa Lambert and Rick Kitagawa get the answers to these questions and more in this conversation with Paul Jun, an award-winning hybrid writer, strategist, photographer, author and community builder based in Brooklyn, NY. 

Paul works with mission-driven leaders and brands that believe in storytelling and design to build community, and he generously shared with us his behind-the-scenes perspective on how he thinks about brand building in addition to practical insights on harnessing the power of storytelling and community to build the trust needed to navigate transformation and make new things possible.

If you’re interested in building a brand and creating relationships with those you seek to serve that stand the test of time, then you won’t want to miss this episode of the In Trust podcast.

Show Notes:

How might your life be different if you made different choices? If you were given an opportunity to change and the support to do so? If you were given a second chance?

Hosts Lisa Lambert and Rick Kitagawa explore the answers to these questions and more in this conversation with John Jackson, Director of Correctional Partnerships and curriculum designer at Hustle 2.0, and organization that provides highly effective educational programming that equips incarcerated people with the tools to transform their lives, find healing, and reduce recidivism to 8% of its graduates.

We had the pleasure of connecting with John to learn more about the role trust played in his transformational story, about the remarkable work he does to maximize the potential of people who are incarcerated, and practical lessons we can all apply to our own lives so that we can take the baby steps that lead to big change.

If you’ve ever looked back on your life and wished you’d made a different choice or if you’ve ever felt hesitant or fearful about making a potentially life-changing choice, this episode is for you.

Show Notes:

 What is it like to make a documentary about a stigmatized subject? How do you trust in yourself when a project stretches on for years? 

Hosts Lisa Lambert and Rick Kitagawa explore the answers to these questions and more in this conversation with Alex Liu and Leo Neri, co-founders of Herra Productions, and the director/co-writer and co-writer/producer for the documentary feature A Sexplanation.

In our conversation, we discuss the power of listening and teamwork, the nature of shame, how they stayed focused over six years, storytelling and humor, and how to have conversations with people you don't agree with. 

Show Notes:

What does it look like to navigate without a map? How do you lead in the face of ambiguity?

Hosts Lisa Lambert and Rick Kitagawa explore the answers to these questions and more in this conversation with Steve Frost, an artist, author, consultant, community organizer, and executive director of the Tasai Foundation.

In our conversation, we discuss the true nature of collaboration and what's needed for it to succeed, unlearning structures of power, sitting with ambiguity and uncertainty, and the future of leadership and creativity. 

Show Notes:

How do you build trust when you’re inexperienced and unknown? How do you find your first ten customers in any new venture?

Hosts Lisa Lambert and Rick Kitagawa explore the answers to these questions and more in this conversation with Conor McCarthy, a business coach and consultant, host of The First 10 Podcast, and a software engineer who organized the world-record-breaking Street Performermance World Championship. 

In our conversation, we explore how Conor built one of the largest free family festivals in Ireland with no experience or credibility in the space. Conor also shares practical advice for prioritizing tasks, staying focused, and finding your first ten customers by building trust and relationships. 

Show Notes:

How do you make strategic decisions when the outcome is unknown? How can you build space into an already hectic life?

Hosts Lisa Lambert and Rick Kitagawa get the answers to these questions and more in this conversation with Jade Waterman, a serial entrepreneur, business coach, marketer, and strategic consultant.

In our conversation, we explore how Jade has built the trust in herself to build two companies and make decisions based on love, not fear, in the ever-demanding world of business. We discuss leadership, decision-making, and sustainability in this conversation with Jade. She also shares some essential, practical advice for anyone who is considering making a career change or is unhappy with their job.

Show Notes:

How does one thrive in adverse, difficult conditions? How can we reframe challenges as opportunities?

Hosts Lisa Lambert and Rick Kitagawa explore these questions with Dr. Cecilia Flori, an elite ultra-runner, theoretical physicist, neuroscientist, running coach, and university lecturer.

Cecilia, who already has a PhD in quantum physics, is working towards another one in neuroscience, all while she puts in the consistent training to win ultra-long races and prepare to represent her home country of Italy in the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships at the end of 2021. 

In our conversation, we explore how Cecilia pushes herself by taking on tough challenges on a regular basis, as well as her thoughts on making life-changing decisions. She shares the mindset and systems that have helped her trust in herself and thrive in the face of hard things. Cecilia also offers practical advice to anyone facing a difficult, scary challenge ahead.

Show Notes:

What is the worst scenario for starting a business of your own? How can you re-frame crises as opportunities?

Hosts Lisa Lambert and Rick Kitagawa get the answers to these questions and many more in this energetic conversation with Ramon Ray, best-selling author, speaker, and serial entrepreneur.

In the United States, small businesses account for 99.7% of all businesses. Ramon's current company, Smarthustle.com is on the mission to inspire and educate a million small business owners by 2025, and from what we've seen, we have no doubt he'll achieve it. 

In our conversation, we explore the mindset that has helped Ramon create multiple successful companies and overcome his own insecurities. Moreover, Ramon shares tons of practical insights for those interested in starting their own business and great reminders for seasoned entrepreneurs. And of course, we talk about how business is all about relationships and how crucial trust is to any business looking to thrive.

Show Notes:

How do you tackle challenging traditional modes of education and building new options that emphasize learning, connection, and community? How do you transition from leading a project to leading at scale?

Hosts Lisa Lambert and Rick Kitagawa explore the answers to these questions and many more in this conversation with Marie Schacht, teacher, designer, community builder, and Chief Learning Officer at Akimbo which has transformed the lives of 21,000+ people in more than 70 countries around the world. 

We dive into the reimagination of education and what it could be, how Marie sees the interplay between trust and leadership, and her journey of her definition of what it means to lead. Marie also offers plenty of practical, actionable insights into how she leads a global team of ruckus-makers. 

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The  time to remedy the failures of public health, our healthcare system, the research enterprise, and health policy-making is long overdue. 

Research shows implicit bias impacts providers’ interactions with patients and has negative effects on the health of people of color. Centering the lived experiences of Black, Indigenous, Latino/a/x and other people of color, immigrants, and LGBTQ+ people is necessary as we course correct toward building and repairing relationships, fostering trust, and being trustworthy.

This follow-up conversation to last week's episode explores the multifaceted approaches needed to remedy, and actions from small to big, individual to institutional, you can take to help shape a practical path forward towards transforming the healthcare system into one that earns and deserves our trust and provides high-quality, culturally literate, empathetic care to all. With lessons applicable to any leader in any industry, you won't want to miss this panel discussion.

Originally recorded live on Monday, December 7, 2020. This is Part 2 of a 2-part conversation on Understanding and Addressing Medical Mistrust hosted by Spotlight Trust. This conversation contains a few swear words, FYI.

Part 1 of this conversation explored the historical and current origins of medical mistrust and aired as episode 19 of In Trust.

Do you trust the healthcare system to provide YOU with the highest quality of care when you’re in need?

This is a crucial question as medical mistrust is associated with negative health outcomes.

COVID-19 has illuminated the deep inequities in healthcare access and health outcomes by race, gender, socio-economic status, and place. The medical mistrust experienced by many people of color, particularly among Black and Latino/a/x communities, creates enormous barriers.

The time to remedy the failures of public health, our healthcare system, the research enterprise, and health policy-making is long overdue. Research shows implicit bias impacts providers’ interactions with patients and has negative effects on the health of people of color. Centering the lived experiences of Black, Indigenous, Latino/a/x and other people of color, immigrants, and LGBTQ+ people is necessary as we course correct toward building and repairing relationships, fostering trust, and being trustworthy.

This is the first of a special two-part conversation on understanding and addressing medical mistrust.

Featured panelists:

Today we’ve got a special episode of In Trust for you where we’re sharing some clips from our 2020 interviews where our guests offered insights we want to be sure to bring forward with us into 2021.

How do you find the trust needed to turn your dreams into reality, especially when they're as ambitious as building your own adventure park? What does it take to design experiences people truly love? 

Hosts Lisa Lambert and Rick Kitagawa explore the answers to these questions and many more in this extended conversation with Massimiliano Freddi (who we like to call Max), a design professor, entrepreneur, coach, consultant, and CEO of Wonderwood, a family adventure park in the picturesque Lake Maggiore region of Italy. 

We talk about a wide-range of topics including Max's deep care for his customer's experience, exclusion and belonging, building trust with yourself and others, and four practical steps you can follow to turn your own big dreams into reality.

Show Notes:

How do you build trust with someone within the first few minutes of meeting them? 

What does working as a photographer, a bartender, and an entrepreneur have in common?

Hosts Lisa Lambert and Rick Kitagawa get the answers to these questions and many more in this deeply personal conversation with Oakland, California-based, award-winning photographer and brand designer Brian DeSimone. Brian is all about putting people and relationships first, and drops a masterclass in building relationships. You don’t want to miss out on this powerful, inspiring conversation whether you work on the front lines or in the C-suite.

Enjoy!

Show Notes:

How do you build trust in yourself in hyper-competitive industries that rely on subjective assessments?  How can you build collaboration in this same environment? How do you trust yourself to succeed?

In this episode, hosts Lisa Lambert and Rick Kitagawa speak with visual effects supervisor Mike Lyndon. He's also a problem-solver, storyteller, artist, Visual FX superstar, and reimagineer of education. Mike offers a ton of mic-drop moments in this interview.  

While this is a must-listen to any creative looking to make a living off their craft, Mike's advice applies to pretty much anyone seeking to make a difference.  

Enjoy!

Show Notes:

It's tough being a parent in a pandemic, let alone three different ones.  How do you manage your kids while you're managing your job?  How do employees, regardless of parenting status, deal with outdated management philosophies in this new world of work?  

In this episode, hosts Lisa Lambert and Rick Kitagawa speak with positive psychologist Dr. Robert Zeitlin. For the last 20 years, he’s been helping parents raise kick-ass kids. In fact - he wrote the book on it - Laugh More, Yell Less: A Guide to Raising Kick-Ass Kids. He’s also the author of But I’m Not a Teacher: A Parent’s Guide to Learning Under Lockdown.

This episode has time travel, practical tips for managing the winter holidays in this time of triple pandemic, parsing intuition from the lizard brain, and a reimagination of what a school can be, so you won’t want to miss this one.

Enjoy!

Show Notes:

How can we break out of the mold if we're not exposed to any other ways of being?  How do we become the best versions of ourselves and bring big ideas to life?

What does it mean to lead a community, and how does one do that effectively?

In this episode of In Trust, we’re super jazzed to bring you this conversation with Danny Bauer, Chief Ruckus Maker over at Better Leaders, Better Schools.  This mastermind of educational masterminds makes Rick laugh more than in any other episode and brings authenticity, compassion, and wisdom to the crucial conversation about finding one’s tribe and building better communities.

Show Notes:

How do we make a difference in the world?  How do we create a legacy?

Why can it be so difficult to make new friends as an adult?  How do we build connection with friends (old and new) in a time of social distancing?

In this episode of In Trust, we’re excited to bring you the fabulous work of Kat Vellos, a seasoned UX designer, connection coach, facilitator, community creator, illustrator, and speaker, and the author of “We Should Get Together: The Secret to Cultivating Better Friendships” and “Connected From Afar: A Guide for Staying Close When You're Far Away.” This conversation dives deep into building connection, so listen, learn, and enjoy!

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How do you lead effectively through crisis and care for your people without burning out? How do you start building trust in yourself when you're exhausted and afraid?

In this episode, hosts Lisa Lambert and Rick Kitagawa speak with Shannon Weber, a social entrepreneur, coach, facilitator, and author.  Essential listening for any leader, especially those who care (sometimes too much), this conversation looks at boundaries, medical mistrust, and what it looks like to earn trust from those we seek to serve.

Enjoy!

Show notes:

We’ve got a special Halloween episode of In Trust… it's a little bit of trick, but mostly treat.

Broken expectations can cause all sorts of problems, whether you are a freestyle rapper, or a leader seeking to make change.  In this host-led bonus episode, let Rick’s story about ‘House Mouse’ segue into what it means to break expectations, and how difficult it can be to build up trust when those expectations are broken.

Show Notes:

What are the real skills central to success, especially as a young person looking to grow and thrive in a time of quarantine?

In this episode, hosts Lisa Lambert and Rick Kitagawa speak with Stacy Richards, a recovering attorney, sales leader, mom of two college students, and coach for young people.  Whether you consider yourself a young person or not, Stacy's wisdom and experience shine in our conversation as she details the power of mentors, putting action and execution over results, and the real skills that true leaders need if they want to be successful. 

Enjoy! 

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