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Passion Struck with John R. Miles
Adam Galinsky on How Great Leaders Inspire Their Teams | EP 560
01:07:11
In this episode of Passion Struck, Dr. Adam Galinsky, a renowned social psychologist and expert on leadership, unpacks the secrets behind what makes great leaders truly inspiring.
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- [00:01]
Unknown Marine Speaker
The wrongs we must right, the fights we must win, the future we must secure together for our nation. This is what's in front of us. This determines what's next for all of us. We are Marines. We were made for this.
- [00:21]
John R. Miles
Hey, Passion Struck listeners. In order to support our show, we need the help of some great advertisers, and we want to make sure those advertisers are ones that you actually want to hear about. But we need to learn a little bit more about you, our listeners, to make that possible. So go to podsurvey.com passionstruck and take a quick anonymous survey that will help us to get to know you better. That way, we can bring on advertisers that you won't want to skip. Once you've completed the quick survey, you can enter for a Chance to win $100Amazon gift card. Terms and conditions apply. Again, that's podsurvey.com passionstruck P A S S I O N S T R U C K spelled out. Thanks for your help. Coming up next on Passion Struck.
- [01:12]
Dr. Adam Galinsky
Leaders are made because there is a universal set of characteristics that make someone inspiring. We can study those, learn those, practice those, and develop those skills. It also means that it's our current behavior that inspires or infuriates. So that means that you could be inspiring today, but you could slide towards the infuriated end of the continuum tomorrow. But it also means no matter how bad you are today, tomorrow you can be a little bit better.
- [01:42]
John R. Miles
Welcome to Passion Struck. Hi, I'm your host, John R. Miles. And on the show, we decipher the secrets, tips and guidance of the world's most inspiring people and turn their wisdom into practical advice for you and those around you. Our mission is to help you unlock the power of intentionality so that you can become the best version of yourself. If you're new to the show, I offer advice and answer listener questions on Fridays. We have long form interviews the rest of the week with guests ranging from astronauts to authors, CEOs, creators, innovators, scientists, military leaders, visionaries, and athletes. Now let's go out there and become Passion Struck. Hey, Passion Struck fam. Welcome Back to episode 560. Imagine waking up every day with a clear sense of purpose, feeling deeply connected to the people around you, and knowing that your contributions truly matter. That's what we're all about here at Passion Struck. Each episode is a step toward creating a life filled with meaning, intention, and growth. And this week has been no exception. Earlier, I had the privilege of sitting down with Dr. Rick Hanson, who shared profound insights on resilience, happiness, and building an unshakable inner core. If you haven't caught that episode yet, I highly recommend it. Dr. Hanson's wisdom is truly transformative. As always, I want to begin by thanking you for being here and for your commitment to living more intentionally and passionately. Whether you've been with us from the beginning or are joining for the first time, your part is of an incredible community focused on growth, purpose and igniting passion in every area of life. If you're new here, we know that over 560 episodes can feel like a lot to navigate. That's why we've curated episode starter packs to help you dive into topics like Unlocking Creativity, the Psychology of Belonging, the Rise of Generative AI, Navigating Conflict, the Science of Happiness, Emotional Health, Human Powered Leadership, and Self Mastery. You can find them on Spotify or@passionstruck.com Starterpacks and don't forget to subscribe to my Live intentionally newsletter@passionstruck.com for weekly inspiration and tools to help you live with purpose. You can also Join our growing YouTube community to watch every episode with engaging visuals. Today, I am thrilled to introduce a conversation that will help you unlock one of the most transformative tools in life the ability to inspire others. My guest, Dr. Adam Galinsky, is a world renowned social psychologist and leadership expert whose work has been cited over 64,000 times. He's the co author of Friend and Foe and his latest book, the Universal Path to Leading Yourself and Others reveals the science of becoming an inspiring leader. Leadership often feels like an overwhelming challenge, especially in a world where the stakes are high and the pace is relentless. But Adam's research shows that inspiring leadership isn't a mysterious gift reserved for a select few, it's a skill that can be learned, nurtured and developed. In our interview, he provides a roadmap for transforming how we lead by focusing on three universal being a visionary, an exemplar, and a mentor. You'll discover practical strategies for creating a big picture vision that motivates others, modeling the behaviors that you also want to see, and empowering those around you to achieve their potential. Adam combines fascinating research with real world applications to show us how leadership isn't just about managing tasks, it about creating meaning, fostering belonging, and driving positive change in our teams, families and communities. Whether you're leading at work, guiding a family, or simply striving to make a difference in your relationships, this episode is packed with insights to help you inspire those around you and live with greater purpose. Let's dive in. Thank you for choosing Passionstruck and choosing me to be your host and guide on your journey to creating an intentional life. Now let that journey begin. Hey friends, Ever been stuck waiting weeks for a healthcare appointment or hours on a pharmacy line? It's the worst, right? Well, here's the good news. Amazon is now in healthcare. It's called Amazon One Medical and trust me, this is a total game changer. You know how hard it is to quickly see a medical provider when you really need one? 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- [07:40]
Unknown Interviewer
I am absolutely honored and thrilled today to have Dr. Adam Galinsky with me.
- [07:45]
John R. Miles
Welcome Adam.
- [07:46]
Dr. Adam Galinsky
Thank you so much. The honor is all mine.
- [07:48]
Unknown Interviewer
So Adam, I've been viewing your work for a long time. I remember your TED Talk from a few years ago and you've really had an impact on many people. But I wanted to go back to your own story and talk about impacts you have. And I know we have in our lives a series of defining moments that end up Shaping who we are. Is there one in particular that's meaningful for you?
- [08:17]
Dr. Adam Galinsky
That's a great question. I think that there are so many different moments that we can think of in our lives that really, you know, matter to me. Probably one of the biggest moments of my life was not just a single moment in time, but a little bit longer is. And when I was a junior, after my junior in high school, before my senior high school, I went and lived with a family in Yogyakarta, Indonesia for three months. And that was just such a transformative experience to be on the other side of the world, to be in a very different culture. The family I lived in was like solidly middle class, but like they. I had to use the bathroom and a hole in the ground, had to share a bed with my Indonesian brother because I didn't have more space. But it was just a time in my life that really changed who I was and helped me really ident. I guess that changed who I was, helped me identify who I was.
- [09:07]
Unknown Interviewer
Well, I think those identities can come to us at various different points of our lives. And so much of that is influenced by how we're brought up, our own self confidence, etc. And I also think it's through the inspiration that we get from mentors and other people in our lives who are guides. And this whole topic of inspiration is something that we're going to be talking about a lot today. What inspired you to explore this concept of inspiration as a leader's key trait and how has your own perspective on it evolved over the years?
- [09:46]
Dr. Adam Galinsky
So there are sort of two events that happened back in 2006 within a couple of months of each other. The first was very sadly, my. I was on a plane at the time, but my dad was walking to a basketball game in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and got hit by a car and killed. And I found out when I landed to go to a conference in Los Angeles about midnight. And the one saving grace from that moment, I was just, you know, you can imagine how. How wrecked I was emotionally and torn apart is. My dad's only sibling lived in Los Angeles. And so I was able to go to her house, my aunt's house. And I still remember very clearly when we. She opened the door, hugged in the sense of sorrow, but also this mutual comfort that we're giving each other. And I plaintively said to her, I can't believe I've lost my dad. And she said, we've all lost a dad. I was his big sister, but he was my dad. And that was Such just an incredibly transformative comment. Like, And I just kept coming back to it. Like, I kept asking myself, why did that ring so true? Why. Why did that sense that he was the dad to many matter so much? And I realized at his memorial service, which was about a month later at the university, he was a professor. Like, about 500 people showed up. And how many people told me stories about the impact of my dad had. And then about two months later, I was teaching the FBI, and I was with 60 FBI agents, and one of them started talking about a leader inspired them. And I still remember that moment too, because I. He stood up in his chair, he, like, got big in his posture, his eyes lit up, he used his hands, he leaned in, and it was just like. And there's almost like this sense of this, like, awe and admiration emanating from him. And so at that moment, I turned to the rest of the FBI agents and I was like, well, can any of you tell me about a leader that inspired you? And they all could. And so I started that, like, literally changed everything I do in teaching. That was the first thing I started to do whenever I taught leadership. I started asking people, tell me about a leader that inspired you. Now, about a year later, I was again teaching the FBI, but this time, one of the agents didn't want to talk about a leader that inspired him, but wanted to talk about a leader that infuriated him, that made his blood boiling, the seething cauldron of rage and resentment. And so over time, I started asking people those two questions. Tell me about a leader that inspired you. Tell me, what was that feeling, that sense of warmth and energy and light and that sense of awe and admiration, that wellspring of hope and possibility? And then I also asked people to tell me about a leader that infuriated them, right? That made their blood boil. And part of the reason why I did that is because in psychology, we know that when you make comparative analysis, you learn much more deeply and you discover things more unique and real. But one of the things I realized after starting asking hundreds of people and then thousands of people, and probably tens of thousands of people at this point on that same question is I started to realize that the inspiring leader and the fear and leader were actually mirror images of each other, right? Someone talk about a leader that empowered them, but someone else would talk about a leader that micromanaged them and infuriated them, or they talk about a leader that was. Could see the big picture versus the leader that was small minded or the leader that was courageous. Versus the leader. That was cowardly. And so I started to realize that they existed on this sort of enduring continuum, them. And then the second thing I realized was that all of these examples from every country in the world, every continent, regardless where I was, they. They tended to make up these three what I call universal factors, right? And they really captured what it means to be in the spotlight, to be a leader, to be impacting other people. And I can tell you more about those or we could talk about. But basically, you know, what the transformed moment was? This moment where my dad passed away, but my aunt said he was my dad, even though I was his big sister. And then this two FBI experiences. And here's what's the crazy part is I went back and I looked at the memorial speech I wrote for my dad, right? I looked at it, like two or three years later, and I realized that the entire speech was actually structured around these three universal factors that I hadn't even discovered yet. So I talked about how the way my dad saw the world, like, that he was visionary, right? I talked about how my dad was in the world, right? How he was passionate, but also courageously protected people. And I talked about how he interacted with people in the world, about how he empathized people and encouraged them, but also had high expectations and really challenged them to be the best person they could be. And so it's those sort of moments together in my dad's passing, these FBI moments, that really led me down this path.
- [14:20]
Unknown Interviewer
Adam, thank you so much for sharing that, and I'm so sorry about your father's tragic death.
- [14:25]
Dr. Adam Galinsky
Thank you so much.
- [14:26]
Unknown Interviewer
Well, what you're describing there is something that Dacher Keltner, who I'm sure you know, who Dacher describes as moral beauty, we see awe the most when we see other people performing acts of kindness or empathy to others. Yet we live in a world where so many people don't express that. And today we're going to be talking about your new book, Inspire, the Universal Path for Leading Yourself and Others. And I just wanted to note that a friend of mine, Dan Pink, gave you this quote, the best book on leadership I've read in years. So I wanted to put that out there. The audience will go and grab a copy of this fantastic book that we're going to discuss today. But congratulations on bringing this into the world.
- [15:14]
Dr. Adam Galinsky
Thanks so much. I really appreciate it.
- [15:17]
Unknown Interviewer
I think one of the best ways to describe this continuum is by actually going into the beginning of the book. In your introduction, you pose two strikingly different responses to crisis. On one hand, you profile Southwest Captain Tammy Jo Schultz, who turned a chaotic situation into calm. And then you also profile the opposite. Captain Francesco Schettino on a yacht, creating chaos through his actions. And I was hoping you might be able to explore those, because I think this example is really a great way to explain the duality that you talk about in the book and how each of these shows the essence of inspiring leaderships in moments of high pressure.
- [16:07]
Dr. Adam Galinsky
Yeah, absolutely. It's so funny to me that Schulz and Schettino both start with the same sort of pronunciation. Right, Schulz, Schettino. But Tammy Jo Schulz was flying. She was a captain of Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 going from LaGuardia to Dallas, when suddenly, as she described it, she thought she'd had air collision. It literally felt like a jet, a Mack truck, had just crashed into her because there was this incredibly loud jolt of the plane and then this like, loss of pressure, loss of oxygen, rushing sound. And she eventually realized what had happened, which was the left engine had exploded and tore a hole in the side of the plane. And this was not something that she caused or not something that. That she was. Had planned for. Right. But she did so many different things in that moment in time that were really remarkable. The first thing she did was she stayed calm. She tried to figure out exactly what was going on. Her first officer, Darren Elliser, was the one flying the plane. So she told him, continue to fly the plane, that he was in charge of moving the aircraft. Eventually they realized that she described it, the plane wanted to descend, so we let the plane do what it wanted to do. So she. She paid attention to what was happening in the moment, and they started descending. Now, here's the second that she did that is really important and really powerful is she uttered 10 words to the passengers. Those 10 words were, we are not going down. We are going to Philly. Now, that might seem like a simple comment, but she recognized right as they're descending with a hole in the plane, that the passengers might be freaking out. And they were. They were sending messages, emails, telling their loved ones, I may never see you again. I love you so much. And the passengers afterwards talked about how transformative those 10 words were. And it's really powerful because I describe in the book a number of other instances where there wasn't quite as much of a tragic situation, but planes precipitately dropped thousands of feet and flight attendants were injured and babies flew up in the air and were caught miraculously in more than one flight. And the pilots never said a word. So Tammy Jo Schultz knew that she needed to reassure her passengers. And then she landed the plane in Philadelphia. And then the other remarkable thing is that she kept thinking about what was best for her passengers, right? Not just telling them, we're going to Philadelphia, but she parked the plane so that the fire trucks were on the side where the engine exploded in case there was fire that needed to put out. She put the, fling the, the wing flaps down a little bit so then in case anyone panicked and went on the wing, they would have a little slide. And then she went row by row and looked every passenger in the eye and said, how are you doing? She checked in on them. And I think that was such a powerful thing that she did that was so important. And she said afterwards, I find it remarkable that more people have talked about what I did after the plane landed, which is talking to the passengers, each one, than the remarkable feat that it took to actually land this crippled plane. And so you can just see that this was a crisis. But she turned it into something that was more routine. She was calm. Even the EMT actually made a joke to her when he was checking out. He said, how did you get through security? She's like, wait, what are you, what are you saying? He said, how did your nerves of steel not set off all of the security alarms? And she was calm. And because she was calm and she was so good at her job, she could see the bigger picture. So she could see, let's go to Philadelphia. That was actually recommended by her colleague Darren Ellis are her co pilot. She knew that she needed to speak to them. She knew exactly what she needed. She let the plane descend. She knew exactly what she needed to do to land this plane. And then she made sure everyone was okay. Now, Francesco Schettino, he was also captain of a vessel. This was a cruise ship. And this was a situation where they were embarking on a seven day trip through the Mediterranean and he got too close to shore. Now, there's a lot of debate about why he did. He said he wanted to salute mariners on shore. Other people said he was trying to impress his mistress, Moldovan dancer who was on board. But this was a routine cruise ship that now became a crisis when they went too close to shore. There was a massive hole, just like Tammy Joe Schultz, a massive hole was put into his vessel. But he wasn't visionary. He was actually small minded. He spent the first hour trying to figure out how to protect his own reputation. He was only focused very smallly on this. It took him over an hour to contact the Coast Guard and then took him 20 minutes to come clean. He was like, he was trying to tell them that the blackout caused the accident rather than the accident causing the blackout. And then when it was time to start, like getting the passengers to start doing this. So he wasted 90 minutes, right, which led dozens and dozens of people to pass away. I think more than 100 people passed away on this trip. And it would have been very few if he had just acted immediately. But when the Coast Guard started communicating with him again, he wasn't on the ship. He was actually one of the lifeboats. And that just incensed, infuriated the Coast Guard. They demanded he go back on. He claims he fell into the lifeboat by accident, but you might not actually have recognized in the lifeboat because somehow, despite all the chaos, despite him being captain of the ship, he somehow found time to remove his captain's uniform and put on civilian clothing before he fell into the boat. And so you can start to see just the dramatic difference between these two people. Shatino was. Sorry, Schultz was visionary, right? She could see the big picture. She could understand what she needed to do. He was small minded, right. She was calm and courageous. Protector. He was cowardly, right. And then she was generous and empathic, and he was purely selfish. And at the very end, the person from the Coast Guard basically tells him, I am going to make you pay for this, Shatino, right? And he did. Shatino paid. He spent time, multiple years. I think he was sentenced to over 10 years in prison. And so you can really see that that's the infuriation that this person was experienced from that. So we really see these three universal factors, right? How we see and talk about the world, how we are in the world, and how we interact in the world between. You want to be a Schultz and not a Shatina.
- [22:38]
John R. Miles
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- [25:56]
Unknown Interviewer
For going through that Adam. I think it's a really good depiction and I'm gonna go into something I've never really talked about on this podcast before. When I was 9 years old I was living in Palatine, Illinois which is close to O'Hare and I remember it was a Friday, my mom had picked me up from school and we were driving to the Mall where as a young kid I observed the crash of American Airlines 191 in front of me. And this is the one where it was taking off, it lost the engine and quickly crashed. And it basically happened right before my eyes. And after that I was scared to go on an airplane for. For many years I. I would go on it, but I would always be white knuckled. And when I was at the Naval Academy, we had these great leadership talks. And one of these was the crew of another plane that suffered similar, but different incidents. Same aircraft, DC10, but this was United Airlines Flight 232. And I'm not sure if you remember this or not, but it happened in 1989. And what ended up happening is they had a complete hydraulic failure caused by the loss of their tail engine. And I remember this so fully because the team ended up through the actions of the captain and his inspiration. It's a case study in teamwork, crisis management and human factors in aviation. And because he inspired the team to work together, they were able to pilot the plane simply by using the engines because they had no way to fly it on hydraulics. And although a number of passengers died, he saved the majority of the people on board. And to me, it's similar to the story that you talk about with the Southwest pilot, where this crew, because of their actions and how they attuned to the situation, ended up saving so many people, including themselves. So I think all of these are great examples.
- [28:03]
Dr. Adam Galinsky
Thank you so much. Yeah. And there's another also amazing example as I look out on the Hudson River. To my right at my office here in New York, is Captain Sully, who landed, who lost both engines coming out of laguardia with bird strikes and basically glided his plane to land in the Hudson with no injuries, which is another remarkable story.
- [28:24]
Unknown Interviewer
I just saw a LinkedIn post that he put out that he just had a grandchild. Such an insane, inspiring story. And you're right, another one where someone used their instincts and inspiration in a moment where they had just seconds to decide. And the interesting thing is in both his case and in that case that I mentioned, in Sioux Falls, they put so many people through the same simulators, and in both cases, the vast majority, like 90% of them, did not land the plane. In either case, it really shows you how that inspiration pays off in these moments of intense decision making like that. So I wanted to take this in a little bit different direction. As I was describing to you before, I think there is a huge role between leadership and how you make people feel like they're valued, like they're seen, like they're contributing. And I think this is becoming a huge black hole in corporations and one of the major reasons why so many of them are facing such huge disengagement. And I was hoping you might be able to talk about it because it's a core aspect of your book.
- [29:40]
Dr. Adam Galinsky
Absolutely. One of the things that I've wondered about and thought about for almost two decades now is why are these the three universal factors of inspiring leaders or inspiring people more broadly? Right. Why is being visionary being exemplar and being a mentor? Right. And I use these sort of as descriptions to describe the ways that we can inspire others but also infuriate others is because each one of those satisfies a fundamental human need. And one of the fundamental human needs we have is a sense of meaning and understanding. That's where visionary comes from. Another is a sense of protection and energy. And that's where being exemplar comes from. And one of them is to be a sense of belonging and a sense of status or being respected. And that's where being a mentor comes from. And so what you just described is really that third factor, being a mentor and what it means to be seen and valued and recognized. And the way that I often describe what are the characteristics of being someone who's an inspiring mentor? And I use it not in a formal sense, but just in the sense of how we interact with other people. Right. And can fill them with that sense of inspiration or infuriation between those interactions. Is that inspiring leaders empower people. And empowering is really about trusting other people. Right. If I'm going to give you responsibility, I trust that you can live up to the moment. Right. Part of it is elevating other people and really recognizing what they do well and really celebrating those. And then also empathizing with people, like really understanding the context and their situations that they're in now. That doesn't mean. Right. Because we empathize people that we have low standards. Right. We have high standards. And that's what I mentioned earlier. Right. About my dad being able to encourage people and elevate them, but also challenge them to be the best person they can be. And it's really this fundamental human need. You mentioned Dacher Keltner earlier, one of his PhD students who's a professor at Berkeley now in the business school, Cameron Anderson, wrote a seminal paper basically demonstrating that we have a fundamental need to be respected by other people, to be elevated by other people, to be seen as having characteristics or traits or tendencies or talents that we can recognize. Another I have a paper under review right now where we're looking at the fact that so many people in the workforce are really freaked out about AI, right? It's very disempowering. They're worried about losing their jobs, they're worried about losing status. And so we did a study where we use the classic manipulation, and I use the same manipulation some of my studies. It's one of the best ways that we can get into a visionary state of mind. We ask people, think about a time when they. So sorry, think about what are their most important values in their life and how they've demonstrated those values and why they're important. And this has shown to make so many things better right in their lives. It can motivate people. I showed that when people reflect on their values and if they're unemployed, they're twice as likely to find a job in the next two months than, you know, if they hadn't reflected on their values. But in this case, in the workplace around AI, that values reflection task had no effect. It didn't impact. It didn't make people trust AI More likely to experiment with AI, they were still ostriches putting their head in the sand and wanting to avoid it because they were scared. But then we did something different and we asked, what is it? What are they worried about? Why is this value affirmation, this value reflection task not working? Is they're really worried about losing standing in their organizations, of not being valued, of not being respected. So we went back to the drawing ball and we did a different manipulation. And we asked people to think about the things about themselves that other people value in them. What is it about you that other people value that they respect you for? And then that sense of getting their standing, their sense of being seen, recognized, valued, respected, affirmed and confirmed in their own mind, then they started to open up to the possibility of looking at AI, understanding what it is and utilizing it.
- [33:45]
Unknown Interviewer
That's fantastic research. And I think it goes to really the core of what mattering is all about. When they don't feel like they're seen, when they think AI is going to take over their prominence in an organization, it creates a huge threat, a barrier to them thinking that they're going to hold value in the future and that they're going to be able to progress. I think it goes right into so many of the things that are bringing people fear right now.
- [34:15]
Dr. Adam Galinsky
Absolutely.
- [34:17]
Unknown Interviewer
So I wanted to go into this chapter a little bit more, and I'm Going to read from it. You write, identifying the motivation of others isn't a one shot solution. It's a dynamic and ongoing process. And you crafted a phrase to capture this principle. Different people have different needs at different times. And when I think about that, I remember I was in a job interview one time and I was interviewing with the CEO of this major company and he asked me, what is your leadership skill style? And I told him it's situational. And he said, what do you mean it's situational? I, I said different situations require different leadership depending on what is going on. Meaning if you have five or six different employees, you can't approach each of them with the exact same manner. You've got to look at what their motivations are and it's understanding those motivations which is going to get them to do the actions that you want them to do. And also you got to create a reward system for them based on knowing them. So in each situation you're going to, you're going to act differently. And you go on to say that this phrase encompasses a key insight about inspiring others. Just because you understood your colleagues or your spouses or your friends needs yesterday, it doesn't mean you will automatically be good at identifying them today. And even if you understood them today, the person's preferences may grow and change over time. That is why we need to really listen to others and carefully observe their behavior. It helps us recognize their evolution and changing desires. And this again goes into this whole situational leadership because people react differently over time and you have to adjust to it. But how big a gap do you think this is in most organizations, in the way leaders lead their teams?
- [36:16]
Dr. Adam Galinsky
I think it's a big gap. And part of the gap is a complicated one. Right? Because at one level we want efficiency. Right. And we want equity. Right. And fairness. And so the question is, when we start tailoring or personalizing motivational rewards, we can get into those problematic areas. But let's just start off with like, how do we understand the motivations of others? The single biggest mistake we make is we think everyone's a mirror image of ourselves. One of the examples I give in the book, which I really love, is that I've been dating my now wife for about just over two months and we were going, I had to give a talk in D.C. and she was going to come down, it was a birthday and I found out that one of my favorite comedians, Dimitri Martin, was going to be performing, but the show was sold out. So I spent like 36 hours doing everything I could, I have like friends of mine with AMEX cards trying to get tickets, like whatever I could do. And I, I finally was able to get two tickets and I thought I'd hit the boyfriend jackpot. But it turned out my wife hates stand up comedy. It's just like, I love it, she hates it. She loves opera. I hate opera, right? So you can imagine getting me opera for my birthday, right? And so one of the biggest problems is we really have to let go of our own perspective. And so one is they're not just like me, but they're also not just like each other. And anyone that has two kids immediately recognizes they come from us, right? But how different each of those kids are, it's just one example. My older son, you can, he's generally outgoing, but you can like go to a party and he'll just walk right in and start interacting with people. And my son, Aiden, it'll take him 45 minutes to go in that party. So what I, here's one of my great leadership inventions I did as a parent is I realized I just have to get to every party 30 minutes early. Early, because if I get to the party on time, it's going to take him 30 minutes to go in. But I've got there 30 minutes early. Then he's finally going to be ready to go in right when the party starts. So that's just one small example. Now one of the questions is how do we create equity in the fact that different people value things differently? Right. Just as one good example is some people may want more money, other people may want more flexibility in their job. And so one of the things that I think is really important is how do we create rewards for people that are equal value or cost to you, but can tap into their different needs and desires that they have? And actually, one of the first consulting projects I ever worked on in my life was back in the mid 2000s out there. I was at Northwestern University of Chicago. There's a little company that you might have heard out that's headquartered out in the suburbs there called McDonald's. You might have heard of them. And so anyway, they, I was working with them and another professor, Huggy Rao, because they were trying to figure out the fact they had two different types of workers. They had like teenagers, college students, and then they had people that were like mothers and fathers who were. This job was actually what they needed to feed their family and to give housing to their family. And so the question is, how do you set up a set of rewards that cost the company the same, but are equally valuable. And so one of the things that we talked about was, well, what do the younger people want? Well, they might want money for education, so you could give them as a reward. Right. For every six months, we'll pay X amount of dollars towards education. What are older people? Well, maybe they want health insurance, right. To help their family be healthy and safe. And so part of it is we want to think the things that we can offer and give people a choice. And that is probably the single, I think, biggest thing that I've done in my own research. I've shared shown in negotiations, one of the best ways to get the best possible outcome for yourself while leaving the other side satisfied is giving people a choice between different options that are equal value to you. And then that allows you to be ambitious or even what some people might call aggressive in your offers. Because the choice is signaling flexibility, is signaling your desire to reach a deal. That means the other side's going to trust you more. And so you're going to get this great outcome. They almost always don't get a worse outcome. You've expanded the pie, most of it's gone to you, but they walk away satisfied. So choice really matters in the psychology of people.
- [40:24]
Unknown Interviewer
It absolutely does. And that's one of the core things that I try to talk about here all the time on the podcast, is the power of choices. And especially our microchoices or micro decisions that we make. And as in behavior science, there's this thing called choice bracketing. I think people make narrow choices instead of looking at them as you would through choice bracketing. And on a longer horizon, what are your thoughts on that?
- [40:51]
Dr. Adam Galinsky
Yeah, I think that's exactly right. It's not just thinking about the choice. Like, one of my favorite movies is a movie called out of Sight by Steven Sonnenberg. And it's got George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez and so many amazing actors. But there's one point where Vin Rhines says to George Clooney, they put a gun on, you're going to prison. He's like, they put a gun on, you still have a choice. Right? And this idea that sometimes we don't see choices and options, and part of that sometimes is just the routines that we follow through. And so part of is how can we see the bigger picture? This is where Visionary comes in. I'll give you one example which I really love from my kids. So I took. I take my kids to school every morning. My wife picks them up in the afternoon. This is a special time we have together. And my one son was in a kindergarten. He was in the second floor, and my first grader was on the third floor floor. So naturally would walk up to the second floor, drop off the kindergartener, and then walk up to the third floor, drop off the first grader. But there is a big problem. The problem is my kindergartner, the second born is more relaxed. He likes to take his time. He liked having a big goodbye ritual with me and my older son. Older son, firstborn, type A. He hates the possibility of being even late. Even if he still had 10 minutes to get to his classroom, he'd be like, Aiden, hurry up. He would get so incense and I would get so frustrated. Be like. I was like, Asher, just be patient. And then he would storm up to the his classroom. So after about, I don't know, a few weeks of this, I was just thinking about how could I make this go more smoothly today? And then I realized we actually have a choice. And I said to the boys, I said, hey, I have an idea. Why don't we try something different today? I'll drop Asher all first. So I'll walk up to the third floor, drop Asher first, then walk and do Aiden on the second floor. And it solved everything. So Asher was now happy. He got to class without stress on time. He'd give me a hug goodbye. Now he just gives me a high five, and then we walk downstairs. Aiden got to take as much time as he wanted. Big hugs. And to me, I was in my own world. I didn't even recognize that the teacher was observing Asher's behavior in the dynamic. And so about day three of our new routine, she said to me, she's like, wow, it's really an amazing success dropping Ashero first. And I was like, oh, my God, you. You noticed all that? But even she noticed what a difference it made. And that's, I think, a great example of every time we're in a difficult situation, we can ask. We want to take a step back and ask ourselves, what's going on here? Right? How can I meet the needs of both people without a huge dramatic shift? Sometimes you need a dramatic shift. But in this case, all we had to do was get the younger one to walk up an extra flight of stairs and then come back down. But, like, it just. But it changed everything.
- [43:33]
Unknown Interviewer
So, Adam, I want to explore this concept of being a visionary in more detail. In my book, I came up with this metaphor that I call the be in turtle effect. And it goes something like this. We need to incorporate both of these principles into our leadership style. And in one regard, we need to be like the honeybee who goes out 100 times from the hive on a daily basis, really fanatical about the daily execution that needs to be done on behalf of the queen and the hive. And on the other side, we need to be like the sea turtle who is willing to travel thousands of miles because of their vision and is very patient about this. And a good scenario I'm going to bring to highlight this is let's go back a number of years before there was any payment type of solution that was mobile. And you had this Glassblower named Jim McKelvey who had this amazing piece of art that he wasn't able to send because the person didn't have enough cash, didn't have a check, wanted to pay for it, and he had no way as a small business owner to take it. So he and his friend Jack Dorsey come up with this idea that they're going to create this vision for this reader that's going to make mobile payments a possibility in the form of square. And yet, although they have this incredible vision, they run into obstacle after obstacle where they have to be like the bee to overcome them. So my question for you is, how do you balance being that visionary with driving the execution that's needed to close the gap? Because sometimes as a leader, you can have that vision and it can be far out, but others on your team don't see the vision or your shareholders don't see the vision. So how do you close that gap?
- [45:34]
Dr. Adam Galinsky
That's a great question. I love the metaphor. It's such a great example. I think there are a couple of things that I think are really matter. One of the benefits of being visionary, of having a vision and sharing that vision, that's really important. It's not just to have it, but share it and repeat it so that people really understand it is it gives context for people's work. And you talked about earlier about wanting to be seen, be valued. People want to know how their individual effort is contributing to the larger whole. So part of that really big vision really matters. If we go back, a great example of that is John F. Kennedy says, by the end of this decade, we will walk on the moon. And so then people always even. And it took a lot of little steps for NASA to get to the point where they were capable of doing that. But it was always in the context of we know why we're doing this because it's in the service of this larger one. And one thing that you're bringing up is the difference. Sometimes people contrast between the CEO, the chief executive officer and the coo, the chief operating officer. Right. Where that person is really tasked with the daily execution and operation of the. In kind of some ways mini visions that build up to the larger vision that someone has. And so I think that, yeah, we need to find, to be visionary means you have to find ways to implement your vision. Right. And help people take those individual steps towards achieving that goal. But I think the larger goal is still really critical for helping people make sense of those individual steps they're taking part of.
- [47:00]
Unknown Interviewer
Okay. And I want to go back to mattering here for a second. In leadership, often there's this balance between holding people accountable and a reward system and making people feel seen and valued. So how as a leader, can you ensure that you are making people feel that they matter, but it doesn't come at the cost of accountability or challenging, challenging them to grow.
- [47:27]
Dr. Adam Galinsky
Yeah, I think that's right. I think people generally, not everyone wants to achieve their full potential. Right. And they want to be challenged to do that. And there's something that they really value. But there's a, there's this balance between challenging people. Right. And let's say crippling their self esteem. Right. And so how do you challenge people but also encourage them at the same time? And there's actually, there's a famous study that I don't cite in this paper because I didn't make this connection until right in, right now in my book, but Jeff Cohen did this research, a guy at Stanford with David Jaeger also. And they just wanted to understand what's a type of. And Jeff Cohen's in the school of education, he's a social psychologist in the School of Education at Stanford. How can teachers give the best feedback to students and especially ones that can transcend different genders, different races, et cetera. And so part of it is that the, it's this three step process is the leader sets the standard that they expect of people. They highlight the ways that people have met the standard, but also ways they haven't. But also they show encouragement and belief in the other person. I know you can reach that standard. Right. And they help them maybe with a little coaching. So it's really this idea of setting high standards, documenting where people have and have not reached that standard, but also believing in that they can reach that standard and expressing that encouragement to them. And so I think that is really the key.
- [48:57]
Unknown Interviewer
Okay, thank you for sharing that. And another area I wanted to go into that you write about is the leader amplification effect. And I have seen this play out so many times, meaning when I was working at Dell, Michael could enter a meeting, and based on what he said, it could change the whole dynamics of the entire meeting and sway it one way or the other. I've seen the same thing when I was at Lowe's, where we had this president. Chief Operating Officer Larry Stone, who had been with the company 40 years, was highly respected. And if he came into a meeting and shot down the idea, it could create a ripple effect that would take months, if not years, to recover from. And in the book, you highlight the fact that you had a really dynamic and incredible mentor, Danny Kahneman, and you learned this leadership amplification effect through his mentorship. Can you describe what happened to you and how it highlights what this can do?
- [50:06]
Dr. Adam Galinsky
Yeah. Let me just say one thing about the leader. So this is a phrase that I coined, the leader amplification effect. It really captures the idea that when we're leaders, we're on stage and everyone's looking at us. And so that's the big thing, is that psychology tells us something really important. Anything that we're paying attention to that we're looking at, whatever that stimulus is, it's going to have an amplified reaction on us and we're going to have a more intense reaction to it. And so that's really what the leader amplification effect is. And that can be good or bad. Right. Like an offhand compliment versus an offhand criticism can have hugely monumental effects on people. That's also why Tammy Jo Schultz's phrase, we're not going down, we're going to Philadelphia was so powerful, is because she was that leader. Everyone was paying close attention to everything that she said. I started my PhD at Princeton University in 1993, and the first class I ever took was with Danny Kahneman, who is the only psychologist who would one day go on to win the Nobel Prize in economics. And he just arrived with incredible, incredible fanfare from University of Corner, Berkeley. He was one of the top five paid employees in the entire university. Like, I think he might have even been second or third. Like, after the President and General counsel, I think he was third, actually. Anyway, so there's 11 of us, so 10 other classmates that are first year doctoral students at Princeton in psychology. And on the first day class, I raise my hand and I'm eager to prove that I belong, that I'm valued and respected, as we've talked about already. And I still remember the four things Danny did That day, he crossed his arms, he shrunk up his face, he shook his head, and he said, that's not right at all. And then he smiled and he moved on, and the rest of the class moved on, but I was frozen in place, like I felt humiliated, right? His offhand comment, that's not right at all. It reverberated inside of me, right? But then. And it took me weeks before I felt comfortable speaking in any class, let alone Danny's class. Five or six weeks later, I was walking in the hallway, and Danny's walking this way, and I'm walking this way, and Danny, just over his shoulder, says, hey, Adam, I love reading your reflection papers. Then he turns the corner, and you're a great writer. He said, I love reading your reflection papers. You're a great writer. And that offhand compliment filled me with so, so much joy. I literally skipped down the hallway. I didn't know what to do with my energy. And so what I like about this example is these are two casual, offhand, inconsequential comments by Danny Kahneman that he doesn't even remember to this day. But because of his position of authority, but also because of the respect, so much eyes were on him, paying close attention to what he said, right? What he said got magnified, amplified, intensified, right? So that. That's not right at all became, like, humiliating criticism. Right? Crushing criticism, but that you're a great writer became glorious praise. And so I realized in that moment how these offhand comments can have a huge impact. Right? You mentioned the person at Lowe's who's well respected. One comment could, like, green light or red light. A project, right? One of my favorite examples of this is a man named Barry Salzberg who was CEO of Global Deloitte. And after he, you know, there's tens of thousands of employees. And after a few months, he realized there was always bananas at important meetings. And he's like, huh? Are bananas a symbol of Deloitte that I didn't discover my 30 years here? Does someone really important love bananas? So he asked his assistant, why do we have bananas at every meeting? And she said, because you love bananas. He's like, wait, what? So apparently the first meeting he ever attended, the assistant was, like, paying close attention to whatever he did, and she saw him pick up a banana with a little bit of enthusiasm and eat it. And so she coded that as, Barry Salzberg loves bananas, we have to have bananas at every meeting. And that's such a great example how he didn't even say anything. It was so incidental, it was so offhand, but it had this massive impact.
- [54:20]
Unknown Interviewer
Yeah. And I'm going to take you through a scenario that my daughter and I experienced. And I, as I go through this, I think this is a one off thing that happened, but it, it happened to occur at one of your alma maters, Harvard. I took my, my daughter at the time, she was between eighth grade and freshman year in high school. And she's one of these women who is extremely driven. She wanted to go to an Ivy League school and she was already thinking about where she might want to end up. So during the summer we go to, we go up to Boston to go to MIT and Harvard. And we go to Harvard on our first visit and we are in this huge auditorium, probably 300, 400 people around us, and the guidance counselor stands up, I guess it was an admissions counselor stands up in front of everyone and says, I want you to look in front of you, to each of your side and behind you. She goes, now I want you to turn your gaze to me and I want to realize that probably no one in this room is going to get into Harvard. And because of that fact, the way we conduct our tours of the campus is that we don't go into any of the buildings. We're not going to show you any dorms, anything like that, because it'll be a waste of time to you and to us. So we're going to just walk around the campus. Next day we went to mit, same room, same number of people, and in front of the room was an admissions counselor. And then there were about 20 students of different ages and etc. And this guidance counselor said, we want to give you the full experience of what it's like to be at MIT and to guide you on this. I can talk about it up here all day, but we're going to bring you into small groups where you can actually go on a tour with a student who's here. We got a student who was from Brazil. She had already graduated and was working on her master's. She took us into the labs that she was working in. She introduced us to professors, took us to the student union, took her into our dorm room, etc. And to me, this is an example of the leadership amplification effect of how those two different ways of approaching admissions create such a different experience for those and their desire to want to attend those two universities.
- [56:49]
Dr. Adam Galinsky
Yeah, and I think it also ties into so much of what we've talked about because I said there's these three universal factors Right. Being visionary, being an exemplar and being a mentor. And you've just highlighted how being visionary and being a mentor go together. What's the vision for campus visits? The vision for campus visits is I think, twofold. One is to present your university in an optimal way. Right. Positive way. But two is to make the people that are visiting feel excited and valued and respected. And so Harvard lost the vision. Right. The vision isn't to be realistic. Right. The vision is to create a sense of excitement and wonder in these people. Sure, they're probably not going to get in there, but that the dreaming of getting in there is also something that's really positive and powerful. And so why kill someone's dream? Right? Why not that dream? They might not get into Harvard, but maybe they'll get into Princeton or Cornell or Penn or Duke or UNC or Texas or ucl, other great schools. And so there's like the idea of like killing someone's dream is just so unnecessary. It's cruel, it's selfish, it's patronizing, it's small minded. Right. And so to me, what I see in that, what happened to you and your daughter was they didn't have a vision that was generous towards the people that they were interacting with. Right. And I'm sure it would have a huge impact. And you could just ask yourself, like, what was the point of the Harvard person saying that? Like, what purpose did it really serve? And so I think that's one thing that we learn as leaders is after we could be honest. But one of the things you talked about, visions you talked about goals you talked about, you could sona, NASA could have said, look, the odds of us ever walking on the moon are so low and it's certainly not going to happen for 20 years. Right. But like, what's the purpose of doing that? Let's work towards a goal. And maybe instead of 20 years, it becomes 12 years. It's not 10, but that's okay. We're still better off than we were by not having that ambitious goal. And there's a famous phrase, there's no point to rain on someone's parade.
- [59:01]
Unknown Interviewer
Absolutely. And I think the other thing you don't realize, and this happens in corporations or nonprofits alike, when you take that approach, like Harvard did in that situation, not only are you stifling things in that moment, but you could change the trajectory of how a high school student approaches everything. If they've just lost the hope that they're never going to be able to get in, it might change their whole approach to. I'm not saying it would, but it could. And I think the same thing a leader does. How you. I have this principle that we speak with our feet. And when you're out there and you're talking to people and you're showing up, it's how you do it that matters so much. It's the inflection in your voice, it's how you personalize the response. It's remembering something that an employee told you about their family or something. It's the way that you show up that really motivates people to take the hill, so to speak. Or not.
- [60:06]
Dr. Adam Galinsky
Yeah. And I think there's different ways that we can try to create rewarded motivational systems that matter for people. I personally, based on everything I know, am very much against rank and yank systems. And the rank and yank system would be something where like every year 10% of people have to be fired and only 10% of people get promoted or something like that. And those systems are horrible for collaboration, for teamwork. And Microsoft was famous at one point for doing that within teams. So you have a seven person team, one of you is going to be out of here. How are you going to collaborate with each other? But that's different from still having very high standards. So Netflix is famous for their keeper test where like when you decide whether you retain someone at the end of the year is would I fight to keep this person? And what's better about like you can say it's cutthroat, but what's better about that system is you're just competing against yourself. Right. You're not competing against anyone else. That means you don't have to undermine anyone else. We can actually help each other all be kept right. And so I think that's part of it is how do you create high standards that don't lead to cutthroat competitiveness and all the downsides that occur with that.
- [61:17]
Unknown Interviewer
You're so right. When I was at Dell, the average tenure of a VP was between three and six months. And they had adopted a lot of the GE Jack Walsh philosophy. And one of the things was we had mandatory 10 to 15% were gone every year. And, and when I was there, what I saw was you were trying to bring in all these visionaries with different perspectives. And yet the old guard who were in most of the leadership positions were protecting the old guard. And so the people that they were taking out were the very people that were coming in to bring change. So it had a negative effect. And Adam, I want to use that to Go into the last topic I wanted to explore with you, which is the power of perspective. And you write in chapter seven that highlighting expertise is so critical because people feel more comfortable speaking up when they possess unique knowledge or insights. When people feel they know what they're talking about, they're more likely to talk about what they know. Along with feeling supported, having expertise is one of the biggest predictors of speaking up when in a low power position. In fact, when people feel they have a unique and relevant perspective, they are often compelled to put their insights or information on the table. It's why expanding the status pie is a key solution to making wise decisions. I think this power of perspective is one of the most important things that we can bring and it's one of the most undervalued superpowers. And I was hoping you could go into this and explain its power.
- [62:53]
Dr. Adam Galinsky
So I've been studying this concept called perspective taking for almost 30 years now. And actually 1995, I started my dissertation and that was what I ended up studying. And the title of my dissertation was Perspective Taking Debiasing Social Thought. And one of the things that I've discovered over the years is that perspective taking really is this superpower and it functions in so many different ways. One of the ways it functions is it helps us navigate a diverse world, right, by understanding the different perspectives. So I've shown in my research, my award winning dissertation, right. That perspective taking decreases the tendency to stereotype others. I've also shown in negotiations that when we're really good at understanding the other side, we can propose creative solutions that not only get us what we want, but but also solve whatever issue our partner, our opponent, the other side is experiencing. It's also really helpful for innovation to take perspectives. And sometimes we're taking the perspectives of individuals and other times we're taking the perspectives what we might call a class of people. So one of the things I've studied in my research, and you mentioned my TED talk earlier about how to speak up for yourself, is I've studied power dynamics. And so one of the things that we know is there's a term I mentioned, the leader amplification effect. I have another term that I coined called the leader silencing effect. And the leader silencing effect is that because of our power and our authority and our position, we tend to silence the perspectives of other people. But those perspectives can be incredibly valuable. They can carry the critical insight even if someone's like lower down in the social hierarchy. And so one of the things we have to do to get to wise decisions or innovative solutions as a leader of a group is we gotta lower the risk of speaking up. We gotta reduce the leader silencing effect. And so one of the ways that we can do that is we can take the perspective of what prevents low power people from speaking up. And if we can identify those things that prevent them from speaking up, we can counteract them. So one of the things that you mentioned is, and I mentioned this word, elevating other people before elevating. If you know someone in the room has unique expertise or experience, you want to highlight it, say, hey, I know Jane over here has worked for 20 years in this industry and I'd love to get her perspective on what might be a solution, you know, as we try to enter that market. Right. And so by highlighting that is letting. It's elevating that person saying their opinion really matters. It's lowering their risk of speaking up.
- [65:26]
Unknown Interviewer
Up.
- [65:26]
Dr. Adam Galinsky
Right? Versus Danny Kahneman telling me my point wasn't right at all. Right. That was so shattering to me of my confidence. It increased the risk of my speaking up for a very long time. And so that's one of the things we want to do is we want to take the perspective of our opponent, negotiation of our interaction, the person we're trying to motivate. Like what's going to motivate this person? But also because I'm a leader, what is the perspective of someone with less power than me? And how can I mitigate some of those constraining forces that prevent them from sharing their perspectives and therefore not allowing for wise decisions or innovative solutions?
- [66:04]
Unknown Interviewer
Adam, I want to end on this as a tribute to your father. In at the end of the book, when you were giving your salulation speech at high school graduation, you wrote, read something from the great Gatsby that goes like this. And as I sat there brooding on the old unknown world, I thought of Gatsby's wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy's dock. Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter. Tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms. Father. And one morning, so we beat on boats against the current. And you write that Gatsby's and my dad's green light speak to the universal, inspiring, infuriating continuum. The life worth living is one where we perpetually strive towards the inspiring. And so my last question for you would be, we all have the capacity to Inspire others. What's the most significant shift people can make to unlock this potential in their own lives?
- [67:12]
Dr. Adam Galinsky
It's a great point. I still remember when I was reading the Gatsby, my dad, without skipping a beat, could quote that entire last page. And that's again an example of being in awe of his competence, right? But he also, that was part of his vision, right? And I write in the book that my parents had infuriating flaws, but really inspired me about both my mom and dad is they wanted to be a better person today than they were yesterday and they wanted to be more inspiring tomorrow than they were today. And so just like that green light, they strove towards that. So I would say the single biggest thing, maybe the core of this book is that it answers centuries old question, right? Are leaders born or are they made? And I think that I've shown definitively that leaders are made because there is a universal set of characteristics that make someone inspiring. We can study those, learn those, practice those and develop those skills. It also means that it's our current behavior that inspires or infuriates. So that means that you could be inspiring today, but you could slide towards the infuriated end of the continuum tomorrow. But it also means no matter how bad you are today, tomorrow you can be a little bit better, right? You can strive towards that green light of inspiration. And so part of it is that we have to stay the course, right? Even when the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune and the winds of chaos are all around us, we have to keep going forward. And here's a final thing that I think is really important from my research is that don't be too hard on yourself. One of the things I've shown in my research is shame is a particularly destructive emotion. It makes us into defensive monsters or hiding ostriches putting our head in the sound. And so none of us are perfect. We're all going to make mistakes, right? I'm going to be an infuriating person tomorrow, even with the best efforts. And so the question is, how do we recover from that and how do we become more inspiring tomorrow? If we dwell on those moments and we beat ourselves up, right, we're going to be incapable of seeing the big picture, right, of being that calm creatus protector and really empathizing with others. So we got to focus outward, we got to strive towards that. And one thing I think that all of us can do is once a month, reflect on times when you are infuriating, but also when you're inspiring and also to reflect on the people in your life and when they inspired you and how you might emulate those behaviors. And then just once a month, take whatever you've reflected on those emulations and reflections and just make one commitment for the next month. Here's one thing I'm going to do better now. I'm going to do is I'm visionary, but my message is too complex. I'm going to simplify it. I'm going to do this next month. I'm going to try to be calmer even when I'm experiencing time pressure. You know, I'm going to do this month, every couple days, I'm going to elevate someone and point out what a great job they're doing. If we can do those reflections and emulations into intentions right, we're going to be more inspiring more of the time. We're going to spread the seeds of inspiration and we're going to make the world a better place to be.
- [70:26]
Unknown Interviewer
Well, thank you for ending on that, because this podcast is all about intentions and Adam, where is the best place for people to go to learn more about you?
- [70:34]
Dr. Adam Galinsky
Adamgalinsky.com awesome.
- [70:37]
Unknown Interviewer
Well, it was such an honor to have you today and congratulations on such a fantastic book. Highly encourage the audience to pick up a copy.
- [70:45]
Dr. Adam Galinsky
Thank you so much. It was such an honor to be here and thanks for all of your generosity today.
- [70:50]
John R. Miles
What an extraordinary conversation with Dr. Adam Galinsky. His work on the science of inspiring leadership is a testament to the idea that we all have the potential to lead and influence with purpose and intentionality. Through his research and insights, Adam reveals how becoming a visionary, exemplifying desired behaviors, and mentoring others can transform not only how we lead, but also how we live. Adam's message is a powerful reminder that leadership isn't just about managing tasks. It's about creating meaning, fostering belonging, and empowering others to thrive. As you reflect on today's episode, consider how can you inspire those around you through your words, actions and presence? What steps can you take to shift toward the inspiring end of the leadership continuum? Remember, as Adam shared, inspiring leadership is not reserved for a select few. It's a skill we can all develop with intentionality and reflection. For more on Adam's groundbreaking work, including links to his books Inspire and Fran and Foe, as well as his viral TED Talk, visit the show notes@passionstruck.com Be sure to check out today's episode on YouTube and explore exclusive offers from our sponsors at passionstruck.com Deals supporting our sponsors helps keep the passion Struck Community Thriving and allows us to bring you conversations like this one. You can connect with me on Instagram and Twitter johnrmiles or find me on LinkedIn. I'd love to hear how this episode impacted you and what steps you're taking to become a more inspiring leader in your life. Looking to take your growth to the next level? Head over to passionstruck.com and take the Passion Struck Quiz to see where you are on your journey to living intentionally. And don't forget to sign up for the Live Intentionally newsletter for weekly tools, exercises and insights to help you apply these lessons to your everyday life. If you found value in today's episode, please take a moment to rate and review the show with five stars and check Share it with someone who could benefit from Adam's incredible insights. Your support helps expand our mission to empower people worldwide to lead intentional, impactful lives. Now here's a sneak peek at what's coming up next on Passion Struck. I'm joined by Dan Heath, the best selling author of Upstream and the Power of Moments, to discuss his transformative new book, how to Change what's Not Working. Dan shares powerful strategies for identifying what's holding us back and actionable steps to create lasting change in our lives, teams and communities. You won't want to miss it.
- [73:00]
Unknown Speaker
We're looking at the employees who gave a 1 or 2 or 3 out of 10 because they're very disengaged. They may be in danger of leaving. And so we've got a fire, we've got to put out the fire. It's an emergency. And what we don't do a lot of times instinctively is say, well, hang on a second. Yes, it's important to pay attention to problems, but do we understand why the nines and tens, the employees who are super duper happy at the far other end of the curve. Do we understand why they're happy?
- [73:28]
John R. Miles
Thank you as always for spending your time with us and for being part of the Passion Struck community. Remember, the lessons you learn here are only as powerful as the actions you take. Live Life Passion Struck.
- [73:51]
Dr. Adam Galinsky
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- [74:05]
Unknown Marine Speaker
To the people, the wrongs we must right, the fights we must win, the future we must secure together for our nation. This is what's in front of us. This determines what's next for all of us. We are Marines. We were made for this.