Chief Change Officer Podcast Summary

Episode: #317 Edward & Tricia: The Gen X Way to Build Trust That Lasts
Release Date: April 23, 2025
Host: Vince Chan
Guests: Edward Van Duden & Tricia Cerone

Introduction

In Episode #317 of the Chief Change Officer podcast, host Vince Chan delves into the intricate dynamics of building lasting trust and effective collaboration in the workplace. Titled "Edward & Tricia: The Gen X Way to Build Trust That Lasts," this episode features a profound conversation with Edward Van Duden and Tricia Cerone. The discussion centers around their decade-long journey from collaborative professionals at Disney to co-founders of Authentic Collaboration Incorporated and co-authors of a book on collaboration.

Guest Introductions

Vince Chan opens the episode by introducing the dual guests, highlighting the uniqueness of having both Edward and Tricia share their insights in one episode.

Edward Van Duden, with a rich background in talent development, recounts his initial experiences as a Peace Corps volunteer in the 1980s, teaching English in Guinea, West Africa. This formative experience ignited his passion for making teams, companies, and leaders better over the past 35 years. Edward has honed his expertise at prestigious companies like Avon Products, Heineken, Sony, and Disney, predominantly under the mentorship of exceptional human resources leaders.

Tricia Cerone brings her extensive experience in designing and telling stories with new technologies. Her career, deeply rooted in innovation, saw her leading Disney's Blue Sky Studio for four years, where she spearheaded diverse projects across retail, bridal, restaurants, and more. Tricia's passion for teaching others to develop ideas and innovate naturally led her into talent development, where her paths crossed with Edward's.

Beginning of Collaboration at Disney

Vince Chen prompts Edward and Tricia to share their initial meeting and how their collaboration began.

Edward Van Duden reflects on meeting Tricia at Disney’s Imagineering division, recognizing her as a business leader who truly understands talent development. He notes, "This is something that is a beginning of a collaboration that I think could be very promising" (09:11).

Tricia Cerone shares her initial skepticism about the collaboration assigned by their leader, highlighting potential challenges such as organizational politics and communication barriers. However, Edward’s approach during their first coffee meeting—offering a plan and demonstrating genuine interest—helped her relax and see the potential for a successful partnership: "He understands where I'm coming from and he's offering to understand, like what, how I need to communicate, what my time availability is" (14:00).

Evolution of Their Relationship

Over the three-year project at Disney, Edward and Tricia's professional relationship deepened into a strong personal friendship, laying the foundation for future endeavors.

Tricia describes the project as a significant learning experience with ample opportunities to understand the nuances of collaboration: "It was always so positive that I think that contributed to us building a friendship" (15:02). Their consistent positive interactions and mutual respect fostered an environment where both could thrive and model effective collaboration for their teams.

Edward emphasizes the importance of building trust and maintaining respect: "We built up trust, that built up a track record of positive deposits in the emotional bank of goodwill" (25:57). Their ability to deliver on their goals while nurturing their relationship set them apart and created a team environment that others aspired to join.

Five Collaboration Behaviors and Noble Purpose

A pivotal part of their collaboration was the development of five key collaboration behaviors coupled with a noble purpose. These elements became the cornerstone of their methodology and their subsequent business venture.

Edward outlines the essence of these behaviors, emphasizing their originality and human-centric approach: "The core unit of collaboration is the individual. And so we all have to work on our individual skills first or we won't be able to collaborate with anyone" (31:54). He highlights that these behaviors—generosity, resourcefulness, co-creation, action, and gratitude—are essential for fostering meaningful and effective collaborations.

Tricia reinforces the significance of these behaviors in creating a positive workplace culture: "These five behaviors of generosity and resourcefulness, co-creation, action, and gratitude are five easy ones to remember and practice that anyone can get better at" (29:17). She underscores that authentic collaboration transcends technological tools, asserting, "We have lost a little bit of our humanity. And so these five behaviors… help you to grow in all your relationships" (29:17).

Their noble purpose revolves around enhancing workplace happiness and fostering environments where individuals can thrive: "We recognize a noble purpose bigger than ourselves… we want everyone in the workplace, in the world to... love their jobs" (25:57).

Founding of Authentic Collaboration Incorporated and Their Book

Following their successful collaboration at Disney, Edward and Tricia co-founded Authentic Collaboration Incorporated, extending their methodology beyond the corporate environment. They also embarked on writing a book to encapsulate their experiences and insights.

Tricia explains their motivation to document their approach: "We felt really strong about, we need to write this down… the behaviors of collaboration are not just great leadership behaviors, but they're these human behaviors that everyone can learn" (20:08). Their book aims to provide clarity on effective collaboration, ensuring that others can replicate their success by understanding both the "how" and the "why" behind their methods.

Challenges in Workplace Collaboration Today

Vince Chan probes into the current state of workplace collaboration, asking Edward and Tricia to identify prevalent issues and how their work addresses these challenges.

Tricia points out that many organizations misinterpret collaboration, often equating it with teams or tools rather than individual skills: "The core unit of collaboration is the individual. And so we all have to work on our individual skills first or we won't be able to collaborate with anyone" (31:54). She critiques the over-reliance on technological solutions, which she believes can be dehumanizing: "There's nothing wrong with technology. It's just we have lost a little bit of our humanity" (29:17).

Edward adds that effective collaboration is iterative and requires continual personal and professional growth: "It's truly evolutionary and it's relationship focused. And it takes awareness but also discipline to want to live these behaviors more and more" (25:57). They advocate for a human-centric approach, where individual growth and relationship building are prioritized over mere technological facilitation.

Conclusions and Future Episodes

As the episode wraps up, Vince summarizes the key takeaways, emphasizing the importance of personal skills in effective collaboration and the human-centric methodology developed by Edward and Tricia. He hints at the next episode, which will delve deeper into their vision and framework for collaboration, detailing the five key behaviors and their practical applications.

Vince concludes with reflections on his own experiences, drawing parallels to the guests' stories and underscoring the enduring value of authentic relationships: "Building and maintaining real connections isn't easy... How you kept that relationship strong and turned it into something much deeper" (23:47).

Notable Quotes

• Edward: "Create the change you want to be. Be the collaboration leader that you want to be" (19:29).
• Tricia: "Generosity in the beginning, when you are meeting someone to offer them a smile, to offer them a handshake to ask something about themselves first instead of making it about yourself first. That's like the most basic human thing that we can do" (28:00).

Closing Thoughts

Episode #317 of Chief Change Officer offers a compelling exploration of what it takes to build trust and foster effective collaboration in today's dynamic workplace. Through the insightful experiences of Edward Van Duden and Tricia Cerone, listeners gain valuable strategies grounded in human-centric principles, emphasizing the enduring power of personal relationships and individual growth in achieving collective success.

For those interested in enhancing their collaborative skills and understanding the human elements that drive successful team dynamics, this episode serves as an essential guide. Stay tuned for Part Two, where Vince, Edward, and Tricia will further unpack their collaboration framework and offer actionable insights to transform your professional relationships.

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Transcript Reference

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