Simply, Practically Human with Mark LeBusque

Harps and Me chatting about all sorts of human stuff including being wrong (and admitting it), the cult of thought, acting on lightbulb moments, and a bit of corporate mischief that's been happening with our national carrier recently.

Always exciting and very unexpected (including some explicit language that is not unexpected). Go on I dare you......

I muse about the desire to pursue perfectionism and the impacts it has on humans when they put pressure on themselves to be perfect or pressure on others to do the same. Oh and I share some real life stuff ups and how I've learned from them, and why perfectionism and procrastination go hand-in-hand.

Colin Newlyn - Decrapifying Work

Martin G Moore has over three decades of working in multiple industries and roles experiencing the theatre and patterns within organisations that have led him to a desire to help remove the bullish!t from leadership.

We chatted about the common leadership myths, avoidance and ignorance, respect before popularity, and that there's never 'too much empathy' that can be displayed.

If you are after a little bit of 'truth telling' and 'sense making' that could 'sting' a bit then make sure you listen to this episode and check out Martin's 'No Bullsh!t Leadership Podcast'.

Regular guest and fellow podcaster Tiff Cook had me on recently for a chat about holidays, holding back information, and other human stuff that might get you thinking a little differently. Oh.... and as usual there's a bit of back and forth trying to trip each other up with some coaching moments. This is our latest co-share effort. 

Award-winning Author and Podcaster Mark C. Crowley is back and boy has he got some new human stuff to share that supports the importance of leading from the heart.

We chat about the detractors who constantly belittle the importance of compassion, care, empathy and vulnerability as important leadership skills, the impact of the last four years on leadership, why there's a place for hybrid working (and one size doesn't fit all), how the old system is looking to reclaim it's 'rightful place' and what leaders can do right now to combine leading from the heart with leading from the head. Oh, and the research is overwhelming - everything starts from the heart (if you're human of course). 

It's appropriate sometimes to bend the truth and tell a little white lie at the moment - isn't it?

Here's my take on a real-life situation that demonstrated that leadership and little white lies can co-exist when it meets certain criteria.

I share the criteria and the reality of what I recently experienced when swimming with whale sharks (and possibly other varieties) in Western Australia.

Author, Mentor and a 'Human Being That Shows Up Consciously' Robin Rice joins me to talk about all things unknown, uncertain and undiscovered.

I first met Robin 6 months ago and among many gems of wisdom she shared was this one 'certainty is death'. Today we dig a little deeper into leaving room for mystery, the power in saying 'I don't know', the soul is a chaos seeker and we even touch on AI Chat GPT and the need to open our minds to the good it can bring.

The podcast was a great example of the practice of not quite knowing what was coming next. Enjoy the uncertainty. 

Mark reflects on why 1:1 catch ups seem to be so bloody hard to schedule, maintain and prioritise, and he shares the approach that he used that was created by his team and set them up for success.

If you are creating a story about why 1:1 catch ups are challenging to sustain, then Mark calls bullshit on the usual excuses you use and the impact this has on team performance and engagement.

To access Mark's 1:1 editable meeting template click here: http://bit.ly/3XDftIK

Here's a great chat from late 2021, with communications expert and high conflict mediator Bill Stierle. Bill shares his wisdom about scary honesty, telling bad news early and making it safe to do so, language strategies, first impressions, the neurons in different parts of the brain, and why ice cream is good or not so good depending upon the stories we tell ourselves.

Mark is off on two weeks' holiday and shares his thoughts on why we don't let go and go on holidays when we all deserve to. From FOMO to fear of relevance, he explores how human hardwiring kicks in, and shares three simple tips to make sure you take that well deserved Life Design break. Oh and he also shares his out of office message that will be live from midday June 9th (which goes against the experts OOO guidelines). 

Tiff Cook, the host of Roll With The Punches Poddy, and regular SPH guest and I talk about lifting the cognitive load and having the courage to shine a light on and name and deal with some personal trauma. We explore how an identical form of trauma plays out differently for us both, as well as some ways to challenge your paradigms and make hard changes. Oh, and we're both talking from a lived experience not an expert in the field angle.

Ever been blindsided by the organisational 'unwritten rules'? Mark shares five common unwritten rules and some tips on how to be politically savvy and aware of them so you don't go from the 'penthouse to the shithouse' in one fell swoop. What are your organisations 'unwritten rules'? 

Fellow Opsimath (go google it) and bloody good human Craig Harper is back and he peels some layers off the 'Whiteboard Lessons' onion to unpack topics such as being the painter of your life canvas, embracing the certainty of uncertainty, showing the selfie of your mind and watching out for the quiet ones, not the chest beaters. Lots of gold here from one of the world's great thinkers about thinking. 

Why have humans built an aptitude to tiptoe around some workplace truth? Survival and fitting in come to mind. In this episode, Mark shares a real example where he was given an inconvenient truth that helped him to see what he was starting to see. Three words that changed something for the better. He gives you 3-4 tips on what to watch out for and how to bring up inconvenient truths in a very human way.

Mark explores why and how we humans make quick judgments and shares some recent examples of where he was judged as a bracelet-wearing, incense-burning hippie surfer dude who might also be pretty handy with a camera.  

Mark explores why we tend to go into rescue mode for others, when it would be better to let them sit in their catastrophe and feel it. He shares some real examples and some tips to stop rescuing others so they can learn and grow.

Mark C. Crowleys powerful podcast with me three years ago is getting a re-run as I think now more than ever we need to embrace heart based leadership and Mark has both lived it and now teaches it to humans across the world. Listen how Mark took a traumatic life experience and used it to shape up the human he became when leading others. This is one inspiring story from a human being that knows heart based leadership is not all 'warm and fuzzy, kumbuyah stuff'. How are you approaching leadership? 

Distracted Much? With between 12,500-60,000 thoughts per day what chance do we humans have of being present with another human when it matters most? In this short episode, Mark shares five simple and practical tools and tips that will help you to stay in the moment, build trust and a deeper connection with another human, and make sure that this human feels important and not usurped by the 'shiny things' you are being distracted by such as technology, what's for dinner tonight or a need to be needed by your boss so you feel important. 

Each month I catch up with my wellness coach, therapist, and holistic healer Loren Miller and I decided to hit record on the session and share it with you on the SPH Podcast. From a question I've been asking myself which is "Is this it?" came a deeper conversation about loneliness, how abandonment shows itself in many forms for me, and why I use sweet stuff to escape from more significant issues. Loren is an incredible human who has been helping me over the past 16 months do the 'work of Mark'.

Have you ever experienced a situation where you wanted to find your voice but something inside told you to 'stay quiet'? This week Mark shares some real examples of what happens when we choose to speak up or shut up and some simple and practical ideas that will give you the courage to find your voice and be helpful to you and others in the process.

From Medical School Dropout, Successful Career Executive to an award-winning Principal and Licensed Real Estate Agent, Jeanette Laffan shares some amazing life lessons about the courage to shift careers. Being told that she was making a backward step going into a 'mum job' that involved going out to "get the milk" was the catalyst for Jeanette to build self-belief and get mentally on top of her game to achieve incredible self growth. This is well worth a listen for any human considering their next move.

I’m all about flipping stuff to bring more human into the workplace and share some ways to flip ‘doing and being’ and ‘enjoyment and achievement’ to create deeper connection and reduce harmful assumptions. Give it a go humans! 

Roll With The Punches' amazing host is back and we're talking about the seasons, her rediscovered natural talent for sketching, Easter egg consumption and most importantly the 3 T's of change. Transactional, transitional and transformational. They're all important and we challenge ourselves and you to dig a bit deeper into what drives each one. 

Mark was reflecting on an Easter camping trip from 8 years back where he learned some valuable lessons from the playfulness, sense of adventure, freedom, lack of judgment, and sense of fun that young kids have in them and why it helped him to not worry about whether he was 'good enough' playing the guitar in front of grown-up kids (adults). These lessons apply as much in the workplace as they do in life. 

Friend, occasional mentor and owner of Possibility Arena, Alex Bakowski, joins me on this poddy. Only, she didn't know she was on a podcast until after we'd started recording!

Roll With The Punches Poddy Host Tiff Cook and I are back chatting and I'm pushing her buttons again about all things human including why your choice of words can define you, how I'm seeing Tiff's evolution right before me and of course, I check in on her progress on outsourcing as part of her Immunity to Change challenge. 

Coach and Host of the 'On This Walk' Podcast Luke Iorio epitomizes a human that walks the talk. He shares how significant life experiences coupled with researching various cultural modalities have impacted his desire the redefine success, overcome the need to fit in, redefine what identity means, embrace vulnerability and simply walk with being in the moment of 'right now'. This is a deep dive into self, masculine vulnerability, and recognizing the importance of indigenous teachings that everything is life. 

I sent out my fortnightly 'Mark's Musings' newsletter on the topic of vulnerability this week and it has had quite the response on how humans are starting to 'game' vulnerability. I share today why faking it, forcing it, measuring and comparing it are damaging the power of the 'V' word. Oh......and perhaps the most vulnerable thing we can do is often missed so I shine a light on it here. Are you a vulnerability faker and think you're getting away with it? Think again. 

Last weekend I attended an incredibly challenging self-development program and had some revelations about what I was hiding from. I share my insights and experience and how it has reduced my cognitive load by bringing the shame out into the light and not trying to hide it away. Oh and it was about substituting two words from "Am I really good enough?" to something else. We've all got to stop hiding.

Author of "Work Here Now: Think Like a Human and Build a Powerhouse Workplace" Melissa Swift likens work to the theatre, shares why capitalism is ok when we take care of human beings, economics, and empathy can co-exist and opens up candidly about why the future of work bothers her. She introduces us to the work anxiety monster and shares brilliantly her thoughts on why we humans incorrectly associate complexity with intelligence. 

I muse about the desire to pursue perfectionism and the impacts it has on humans when they put pressure on themselves to be perfect or pressure on others to do the same. Oh and I share some real life stuff ups and how I've learned from them, and why perfectionism and procrastination go hand-in-hand.

Founder & CEO of The Skill XChange Eden Spencer is driven by a desire for business to create positive social impact and has used his life lessons to establish The Skill XChange to impact positively on humans in the construction industry. He shares why trust, communication, and creativity are keys to business success, his tools and tips are transferable to any industry, and how an abundance mindset is critical in a new world of work.

Playing consistently well at golf takes time - just like getting change to stick also takes time. Why do we expect to hit booming drives on a change program without duffing a few shots? I share some thoughts.

CEO of BOLD HR Rebecca Houghton is one of lifes real gems who truly understands the need to help level up the 'B' Suite humans in any organisation. In this episode she shares why it's critical that 'C' Suite and 'B' Suite are talking about trust, why letting go is a key and underdeveloped skill, that empowering people and 'giving power' are misunderstood and we should be thinking about organisations as free flowing roundabouts.

I took five questions without notice and shared my insights on things such as finding time for continuous learning, promoting someone into management when to do succession planning, leader or leadership, and the biggest career risk I ever took. You might agree, disagree or not care about what I have shared here and that's OK, I've got broad shoulders. A big thanks to Joanna, Jason, Clinton, Samantha, and Kelly for the excellent questions.

Harps is back and as usual it’s a non-scripted look at life by a couple of 55+ year old country lads. Fear, Motivation, Talent, Cheerleaders and Values all get dissected.

Mark has two real-life stories from the past fortnight that highlight the importance of truly stepping into a higher purpose and why persistence is required if you are truly going to disrupt the system. From a new client experience that aligned with a higher purpose and a belief in a life design disruption that had him persist for over 11 years on a concept he truly believes in, he shares some tips on how to hang in there when shit gets hard.

Author of "Taming The Culture Tiger - The Art and Science of Transforming Organizations and Accelerating Innovation" Dr. Kate Price is back on the SPH Podcast talking about how her research and experiences have shaped the book. From fear stifling innovation, small things making significant impacts and the ripple effect a smile or a frown can have on culture, Kate generously shares her wisdom looking at culture through a very different lens.

This week Mark celebrated 20,454 days on the planet (56 years) and was reflecting on why we humans find it a challenge to celebrate milestones in all parts of our lives. He shares some reasons why and gives his five go-to's that help him move from his bad news to good news filing cabinet. When did you last celebrate a milestone? 

Dr Michelle Johnston is back for another chat. We go deeper into the importance of connection, and how it’s changed and challenged humans to think and act differently over the past three years.

Two worlds collided this past week and got me thinking about why humans are so caught up in the Shinyness of AI, Falling Off The Economic Cliff, Hybrid Work etc. etc. and I share my thoughts on the relationship between shiny stuff and humans as classic 'Avoidance' experts. There's a question at the end of the episode that all humans (this Podcaster included) need to answer in order to avoid avoidance and embrace courage over compliance and consensus.