When you ask for feedback, you reinforce any existing power dynamic. When you ask for advice, you eliminate the power dynamic completely. People feel more comfortable giving advice, and you'll receive it better.Blog version: https://brianmillerspeaks.com/stop-asking-for-feedback/ Video version: https://youtu.be/VkqVdbCeThg

One New Person

Stop asking for feedback

Empathy isn't all that it's cracked up to be. It leads to burnout and irrational decisions. Plus, it's nearly impossible to teach. But instead you can learn perspective-taking, a skill that leads to understanding, connection, and yes, even empathy.Watch the video version instead: https://youtu.be/DQZKlzlczOQRead the blog version instead: https://brianmillerspeaks.com/perspective-taking-vs-empathy-2/Free resource - "Stop Cringing, Start Connection: 7 Ways to Talk to Anyone Without Looking Like an Idiot" - https://SoftSkillsAreHard.com

Obama was wrong about empathy

In 2019 I had the privilege and honor of chatting with legend Seth Godin for an hour. We spoke about marketing, work-life balance, and human connection. But when I asked him for a story of a chance encounter with lasting impact, the story he told me was absolutely insane. And exclusive - it's the first and only time he's ever told it in public. Listen to the full episode: https://www.beyondnetworkingpodcast.com/where-you-are-and-what-you-do-with-seth-godin/

From the Vault: Seth Godin's INSANE story of a chance encounter

Connection is not about agreement, but understanding- by being grateful, being humble, setting the tone, and seeking common ground.Read the blog or watch the video instead: https://brianmillerspeaks.com/how-to-respectfully-disagree-respectfully/

How to Respectfully Disagree, Respectfully

From the vault, serial social entrepreneur Getrude Matshe teaches us the African philosophy of Ubuntu. Getrude was my guest back in Season 2 when the show was still called One New Person.Listen to or watch her entire episode here: https://beyondnetworkingpodcast.com/the-magic-of-ubuntu-with-getrude-matshe/

Vault: Getrude Matshe on how Ubuntu can save us in a world gone mad

Life is sometimes unbearably difficult and unreasonably cruel. Let’s all give each other a break. Here's a lesson I learned from my grandmother.Read or watch instead of listening: https://brianmillerspeaks.com/i-havent-bought-a-sponge-in-15-years/

I haven't bought a sponge in 15 years

People aren’t going to do what you consider respectful, or fair. They’re going to do what they believe serves the audience, which is not you.Read or watch instead of listening: https://brianmillerspeaks.com/youre-not-special-an-open-letter-to-artists/

You're Not Special: An Open Letter to Artists

Being an artist is hard. People aren’t going to do what you consider respectful, or fair. They’re going to do what they believe serves the audience, which is not you. How do you stand out as an artist? What can you do if people don't respect your work?The War of Art: https://amzn.to/2UuWQKq 2 More Tools:Article: https://brianmillerspeaks.com/how-to-be-seen-as-a-professional/Video: https://youtu.be/FzmHm6Q19YY

How to Act, Feel, and Be Seen as a Professional

Now that we have 18 months of practice in virtual experiences, let’s not have our excitement get away from us. “In-person” is finally an option again, but it’s only one option. Ask yourself these 3 questions before planning or attending your next in-person event, or going back to the office.Read instead: https://brianmillerspeaks.com/the-pivot-back-to-in-person-events/Watch instead: 

3 Questions Before Your Next In-Person Experience

Kelly Leonard spent most of the 90s and 2000s as an executive producer at the world famous Second City improv theater in Chicago. He is personally responsible for hiring Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert, Amy Poehler, and Steve Carell. He also wrote the book Yes, And…, a book on creativity and collaboration in the workplace, based on lessons from improv comedy and Second City.In this conversation, Kelly talks us through Second City’s Pivot into virtual improv performances during the 2020 pandemic. We learn about the difference between improv and spontaneity, how to gain agency over our emotions, a brilliant exercise you can do to achieve clarity and mental calmness in difficult times, why he describes COVID as a period of “sway,”  and of course, he teaches us the “yes, and…” principle.This was a blast, and a perfect way to close out an absolutely wild year of Pivot stories.Connect with Kelly:Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/klsecondcity/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-leonard-he-him-his-b8495047/Podcast: https://www.secondcityworks.com/podcastWatch instead of listen: https://beyondnetworkingpodcast.com/kelly-leonard/? Visit our sponsor https://Riverside.fm for the highest quality remote recordings.? Join the Pivot Power newsletter & community: https://beyondnetworkingpodcast.com/year-of-the-pivot

Yes, And a Pandemic

Kay Reeve speaks and writes about emotional awareness. She is the author of Brain Unchained, a book created to help teenagers, young adults, and parents understand the four core emotions and build a strategy for positive emotional change. (continued below) MENTAL HEALTH DISCLAIMER: None of the participants in this video are doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists, or medical practitioners of any kind. The content of this video is presented solely for the purpose of creating awareness and conversation. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your mental health professional or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding your condition.⚠️ If you are in crisis or you think you may have an emergency, call your doctor or 911 immediately. ⚠️ If you're having suicidal thoughts, call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) to talk to a skilled, trained counselor at a crisis center in your area at any time (National Suicide Prevention Lifeline). ⚠️ If you are located outside the United States, call your local emergency line immediately. Kay and I met years ago when she included a reference to my TEDx talk in her TEDx talk. We were connected via social media and have stayed in touch ever since. But this was the first time we ever spoke face-to-face, albeit via video conference.In this conversation, Kay helps us understand what she believes are the four core emotions, and a clear system for navigating them.We also spoke at length about her own Pivots - in her career and personal life. Kay was thrown one devastating curveball after another these past few years, and this episode is really a testament to resilience and creative adaptation.In particular, pay attention how Kay actively and intentionally learned from each setback, and used those lessons to inform her next move. What may have seemed like failures at the time laid the path for achieving her lifelong dream of becoming an author and a voice for positive change.Connect with Kay: Watch instead of listen: https://beyondnetworkingpodcast.com/key-reeve/? Visit our sponsor https://Riverside.fm for the highest quality remote recordings.? Join the Pivot Power newsletter & community: https://beyondnetworkingpodcast.com/year-of-the-pivot

Talking to Depressed Teens with Kay Reeve

Xabier Marshall is a personal trainer and the owner of Multiply Performance in the UK.I discovered Xabier while reading a BBC article about gyms in a COVID and post-COVID world. I’ve never been to a gym in my life, so I couldn’t tell you why I was reading that article. But Xabier was quoted about successfully Pivoting his personal training to an app-based plan.I had to know more. So I sent him a cold message on LinkedIn and 3 days later we recorded this episode.In this conversation we discussed people’s perceptions of personal trainers, Xabier’s initial emotional response to the 2020 lockdowns, how being marketing-minded allowed him to see what was next and what was needed, his new app-based training program, and his predictions about the future of the gym and fitness industry.It’s a deeply insightful conversation, and a lot of fun.Connect with Xabier:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/multiplyperformance/Website: http://www.multiplyperformance.com/ Watch instead of listen: https://beyondnetworkingpodcast.com/xabier-marshall/? Visit our sponsor https://Riverside.fm for the highest quality remote recordings.? Join the Pivot Power newsletter & community: https://beyondnetworkingpodcast.com/year-of-the-pivot

From Weights to Waiting with Xabier Marshall

Ken Davenport is a two-time Tony award-winning Broadway producer. He is best known for Spring Awakening, Kinky Boots, and the revival of Godspell.Ken is renowned in the theater community as an innovative marketer. In 2008 he started a blog called The Producer’s Perspective, dedicated to making the business of Broadway accessible and understandable.He also created Be a Broadway Star, the only Broadway-themed board game.Ken and I met when we were both panelists on the same livestream. He spoke so passionately about theater’s resilience, I knew I had to invite him to our little corner of the Internet.In this conversation, Ken helps us understand where Broadway is and where it’s likely going. In particular, he answered the burning question: Did Hamilton’s streaming success open the doors to an entirely new revenue stream for theater?My wife Lindsey and I are Broadway fanatics, as you know, so this was a huge treat. Also, a last-minute update. Ken and I recorded this conversation in January of 2021, but as I’m releasing it in May, after months of successful vaccine rollouts, it has just been announced that Broadway will be allowed to reopen at 100% capacity in September. Great news!Connect with Ken:Blog:  https://www.theproducersperspective.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/KenDavenportBwayFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/KenDavenport/Twitter: https://twitter.com/kendavenporthttps://twitter.com/kendavenport Watch instead of listen: https://beyondnetworkingpodcast.com/ken-davenport/? Visit our sponsor https://Riverside.fm for the highest quality remote recordings.? Join the Pivot Power newsletter & community: https://beyondnetworkingpodcast.com/year-of-the-pivot

Theater's Next Renaissance with Tony Award-Winning Producer Ken Davenport

Dr. Caitlin O'Connell is a scientist, author, and storyteller. She holds a PhD in ecology, holds positions at both Harvard and Stanford, is an award-winning author of non-fiction, children’s books, and graphic novels, AND is a renowned expert on elephants.What’s that got to do with Pivoting, resilience, adaptability, human connection, or even just networking, for that matter?I had no idea. We were connected through a mutual acquaintance and, if I’m being honest, I only agreed out of politeness. I’m so glad that I did. This was the most unexpected, dare I say wild, conversation of the season, and quite possibly my favorite.Dr. O’Connell was just gearing up for a huge fundraising effort for her nonprofit organization, Utopia Scientific when the pandemic wiped out all possible fundraising events for the foreseeable future.In her words, she was forced with a decision: Implode, or explode?And boy did she explode, in the most creative way possible.In this conversation, Caitlin and I discuss everything from the bone conduction properties of elephants, to how hard it is to take our own advice, to the value of pressing pause, and how critical travel is in developing empathy, perspective, and understanding of both ourselves and our place in the world.And of course, we talked about Dr. O’Connell’s new book “Wild Rituals: 10 Lessons Animals Can Teach Us About Connection, Community, and Ourselves.” I’ve just started it, and it’s wonderful.Now an asterisk.Upon listening back to our conversation, I noticed that Caitlin and I both advocated passionately for some things that are only afforded to people of privilege. Pausing during a pandemic, to think critically about the future, was not an option for people who didn’t have savings or financial security. Travel has always been prohibitively expensive - particularly the kind of air travel we discussed, to far off lands and foreign cultures.So, I wanted to underscore once again the critical role of luck, in this case the luck of privilege, in the ability to Pivot success during a pandemic. With that said, this conversation is truly magical and I know you’re going to love it.Connect with Caitlin: Website: https://www.caitlinoconnell.com/Non-profit Website: https://www.utopiascientific.org/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elephant_skinny/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ElephantSkinnyFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/caitlineoconnellWatch instead of listening: https://beyondnetworkingpodcast.com/caitlin-oconnell? Visit our sponsor https://Riverside.fm for the highest quality remote recordings. ? Join the Pivot Power newsletter & community: https://beyondnetworkingpodcast.com/year-of-the-pivot

Returning to Rituals in the Age of Change with Dr. Caitlin O'Connell

Allen Williams is an audio professional in the TV and film industry. He’s worked on projects like The Vampire Diaries, Spider-Man Homecoming, Creed, The Founder, Stranger Things, Cobra Kai, Avengers Infinity War… and some big name projects, too.Like everyone else in the entertainment industry, when COVID hit Allen found himself suddenly without income, prospects, or even hope that work would come back. But that was only the beginning of his 2020 nightmare.Two months before the pandemic, in January 2020, a contractor discovered an outdated part of their house that was no longer up to code. It was exorbitantly expensive to fix, but Allen and his wife decided to empty their savings rather than take out a loan, because he had plenty of work lined up.Then the TV and film industry collapsed, leaving him without an income for what would become 9 months.To make matters worse, his wife got COVID almost immediately, putting her on bedrest for nearly 2 months while fighting alternating fever and near-hypothermia episodes.During which Allen had to spend even more money getting his older daughters set up for remote learning.When his wife finally recovered, they discovered many friends and family had also been hit hard by the virus, some in critical condition.In this conversation Allen walks us through everything.For the nerds like me, he also teaches us exactly what a boom operator is, and how the TV and film industry economy works and why its shutdown was so destructive to local businesses across America, not just the actors and immediate crew, and how the industry changed in order to safely return to work.Plus, we learn about Allen’s personal pivot, driven by generosity and charity, which is something we’ve hardly heard at all this season on the podcast.Connect with Allen: Website: http://SoundSpeeds.usYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/SoundSpeedsTwitter: https://twitter.com/SoundSpeedsYTWatch instead of listen: https://beyondnetworkingpodcast.com/allen-williams/? Visit our sponsor https://Riverside.fm for the highest quality remote recordings. ? Join the Pivot Power newsletter & community: https://beyondnetworkingpodcast.com/year-of-the-pivot

From Superheroes to Super Broke with Allen Williams

Every interaction is meaningful. Every person we meet is important. Welcome to the One New Person podcast with Brian Miller, a globetrotting magician turned author, speaker, and consultant on human connection. Brian's guests represent the best of humanity: successful people doing meaningful work and creating a better world for everyone they meet. Connect with Brian on Twitter and Instagram (@bmillermagic).

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One New Person

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