Leadership Matters

Successfully Advancing Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion -- EDI -- Initiatives and Change Commitments Join us for this special episode of Leadership Matters as David Tolbert takes the seat as host and our regular hosts Dr. Sheryl White and Dr. Undraye Howard move over to take the seat as guests. Dr. Sheryl White, cultural psychologist and Vice President of Training and Organization Development with the Neighborhood House Association in San Diego, CA and Dr. Undraye Howard, Senior Director of EDI and Leadership with the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities headquartered in Milwaukee, WI will discuss strategies for successfully advancing EDI initiatives and change commitments.

Leadership in Driving Age-Inclusive, Intergenerational Organizations Emily Merritt, director of the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities’ Second Acts for Strong Communities initiative, will be joined by two Second Acts cohort members to share their insights on how leaders can improve their organizations by implementing age-inclusive, intergenerational approaches, and why this is such an important, timely issue, especially for the nonprofit sector.

Abrasive Leaders: The Bad, The Good, A Unique Perspective and Solution! Join co-host Dr. Sheryl White and guest Jordan Goldrich, author of Workplace Warrior: People Skills for the No-Bulls_ _t Executive, as they discuss solutions for addressing executives and leaders that are identified as abrasive or bullies. Goldrich, a speaker, author, executive coach, and self-identified recovered abrasive executive will share his unique perspective on why these often “warrior spirit” leaders can be crucial agents for success during our current VUCA environment (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity), and how to leverage their good and rid their negative style and impact.

Health and Human Services Intersection – The Social Determinants of Health Jane Pirsig will share the leadership and change management challenges when a large family service agency merged with a growing healthcare system, and staff continued to long for the good old days 7 years later. After 15 years, Jane and the agency is now playing a major role in the Advocate Aurora Health's response to social determinants of health. Learn about the strategies and tactics employed to support organic collaborative innovation and program development through the lens of systemic leadership and its applicability to multiple settings at the emerging intersection of human service sector, healthcare delivery, and place-based health and well-being.

Want to advance your or others' leadership effectiveness? Yes! Then, you will not want to miss this episode with our host Dr. Sheryl White and Verna Jaggers, Mindfulness Teacher/Personal and Professional Coach, on the what, why and how to advance leadership effectiveness through the artful use of listening and asking powerful questions.

Genshai is an ancient word that means, “Never treat another person in a manner that would make them feel small—including yourself.” Genshai reminds us to check in with ourselves and do our best to right what is wrong within and do our best to impact the exterior forces that can seize us if we are not equipped to release their grip. Join our host Dr. Sheryl White, as she explores how to and the power of living, giving, and mastering Genshai with Kristin Andress and Lance Schiffman, co-authors of the Genshai Effect.

What is inclusive economics and what role do nonprofit organizations play as agents for good and economic engines within their local communities and beyond? What is the business case and benefit to having nonprofit leaders at the table to discussion economic development policies, practices, opportunities and community impact? Join host Dr. Sheryl White and, special guests from the Neighborhood House Association of San Diego, CA, Rudolph A. Johnson, III, President and CEO and Dwight Smith, Esq., General Council/General Manager Legal to answer these questions and much more.

According to Verna Jaggers, Mindfulness Teacher/Personal and Professional Coach, kindness opens our hearts to suffering, so we can give ourselves what we need. Self-compassion provides emotional strength and resilience allowing us to admit our shortcomings, motivate ourselves with kindness, forgive ourselves when needed, relate wholeheartedly to others, and be more authentically ourselves. Mindfulness opens us to the present moment so we can accept our experience with greater ease. Together mindful self-compassion comprises a state of warm-hearted, connected presence. You will not want to miss this episode of Leadership Matters with host Dr. Sheryl White, cultural psychologist and Verna Jaggers exploring the key component and steps to practicing Mindful Self-Compassion as a path to a greater confidence, authenticity and effectiveness as a leader.

Join host Dr. Sheryl White and special guest Charlie Fleishman, Services to the Armed Forces Regional Director of the American Red Cross San Diego and Imperial Counties as they discuss resiliency and leadership. Tune into Leadership Matters: Informing Leaders. Inspiring Solutions!

Why have a Chief Strategy Officer position? The biggest advantage is just having someone dedicated to the strategic perspective of the organization. For many leaders, strategic priorities compete for attention with the crises of the day, and that can lead to less than ideal execution of strategic ideas. Having someone dedicated to looking after those longer-range priorities is beneficial. The interviewee will describe his specific responsibilities and emphasize key relationships within the organization.

The Unconditional Education (UE) model seeks to disrupt the cycle of poor achievement and exclusion by transforming schools into communities where all students are welcomed and can thrive. UE was designed to support educational transformation within low-performing schools. This transformation is aimed at promoting the academic success of historically underserved student groups, based on the belief that whole-school interventions focused on improving outcomes for the most vulnerable students will ultimately benefit all students in the school community. Ken Berrick is founder and CEO of the Seneca Family of Agencies, and is the co-author of the book, Unconditional Care: Relationship-Based, Behavioral Intervention with Vulnerable Children and Families.

John Tropman, the Henry J. Meyer Collegiate Professor Emeritus of the School of Social Work at the University of Michigan, teaches nonprofit management courses at the School of Social Work and organizational behavior and human resources management courses at the Ross School of Business. John also teaches courses in effective decision-making and creativity for the University’s Executive Education program. During this podcast, he will describe the ways that the “Challenges of Leadership” have changed over the years, and, will explore the need to orchestrate high performing persons into high performing organizations.

“Business leaders believe a strong organizational culture is critical to success, yet … most executives manage it according to their intuition,” asserts Lindsay McGregor and Neel Doshi in the Harvard Business Review. In most cases, organizational outcomes are clearly defined and measured, while organizational culture is left up to “good intentions.” This lack of intentional focus on the design and creation of culture often leaves a disconnect between the stated values of the organization and the actions of its employees, resulting in increased turnover and decreased performance. In this episode, Dr. Sheryl White will discuss with special guest Tony Moore, Culture Architect, Speaker and Author of Culture in 4D a blueprint for a culture of engagement, ownership and bottom-line performance.

Valerie Wright hosts this segment with guests Michael Pinkney, Director, Salvation Army Community Center and Teresa Johnson, Northwest Community Consortium, Inc. as they discuss leadership, collaboration, and community change in marginalized communities. These leaders will discuss how they navigate multiple constituencies, organizational priorities while engaging residents for effective change? What is necessary for collaborating and remaining focused on the organizations’ mission? How does one go about managing all the moving parts to influence the type of impact is required for the betterment of the community and quality of life for members? Join the conversation and hear how these leaders and their organizations are helping to make a difference for their community.

To continue building upon successful talent, Linda Scott, Vice President of Child & Family Solutions and Gerald Peters, Director of Training and Development at JFCS, will discuss why JFCS chose to develop a Leadership Academy to develop human capital within their organization. They will provide an overview of the Leadership Academy’s curriculum, structure, staff involvement, impact on the organization and on those participating in the academy, as well as lessons learned for steps moving forward to make a greater impact.

What is the Impact When Innovation and Creativity are an Organization’s Core Values? Auberle, a nonprofit human serving organization in the Pittsburgh area, recently received the Innovation Award from the Pittsburgh Business Times. The award speaks to the talent and creativity of their staff and their partnership with the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities headquartered in Washington, DC. John Lydon, CEO, tells new employees that they are hired to make mistakes. What they have learned is that in trying new approaches and being creative, and sometimes failing, is what ultimately leads to disruptive change and innovation. Join the conversation and hear John’s examples of how the organization is helping to change the world for the people they serve.

Bestselling author, educator, and entrepreneur Stedman Graham has developed a 9 step process to realize your leadership potential through Identity Development. His process to success challenges fundamental assumptions of leadership in the 21st century. Join host Dr. Sheryl White as she discusses with New York Times and Wall Street Journal Bestseller author Stedman Graham the nexus between Identity Development, leadership, and success!

David Duea is president/CEO of Lutheran Community Services Northwest, a non-profit human services agency serving communities throughout Washington, Oregon and Idaho. He has lead his organization to receive the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities 2017 Commitment Award for the Commitment Engaging All Voices. Lutheran Community Services NW exemplifies that when people are at the center of identifying their goals and aspirations and developing the plan to achieve them, they are more committed to the process and to being successful. High-impact organizations engage all voices in every aspect of their work. Duea created a public/private partnership called Pathways to Wellness (P2W) to systematically intervene by detecting mental disorders and emotional distress in refugees arriving in the U.S.