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10,000 Swamp Leaders is a podcast that wades into muddy Swamp in search of people who have built social impact movements.The world needs 10,000 more people in the next five years who are willing to lead on issues like climate change, income inequality, peace building, and gender equality. If you are one of these people, you have found a home. Rick Torseth and his guests will unpack lessons learned, why small wins matter more than breakthroughs and how failure is our wisest teacher. We continue to confuse leading with authority. Leading is not a role or a position. It begins when you raise your hand and intervene in a heated environment that matters to you. Our conversations will dig into what is at stake when the heat is high and the only way forward is wadding into swampy conditions. These are human stories that don’t always have hero endings. We want to understand how these leaders’ lives are turning out differently because they chose to lead. What are the rewards for all this exposure and risk? Each episode will be a little different, as each guest will be different. Hit subscribe so you can prepare to lead.
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Ryan van der Marel comes to the swamp and brings his wisdom and experience facilitating group conversations for deeper understanding and shared meaning. He shares how he coaches, nudges and holds the space so that groups and teams get to the heart of their aspirations, address their blockages and produce new pathways for collective impact. Anyone who facilitates groups will come away with a few new moves that support group work. Links: Ryan’s Website https://ryanvandermarel.com&nb...
Eula Rohan visits the Swamp and shares how she walks alongside Australia's First Nation communities as they build cross sector leadership capacity. Eula is practicing the “harder craft” of large group facilitation processes that address layers of social complexity, difficult historical challenges and present day aspirations for healthy communities. Eula has a long history of training large horses. She understands that building a trusting relationship with an 800kg horse is similar to building...
Kelly Indira Buis comes to the Swamp to discuss the craft of group facilitation. Kelly is the founder of The Adaptation Company in The Hague, Netherlands. The work of facilitating groups of human beings is challenging. There are often multiple agendas and outcomes that need to be navigated for useful outcomes. Then there is the importance of getting all voices and ideas into the room and understood. Kelly has developed a clear process with four elements that help guide groups to outcomes they...
Runa Sabore was raised in a commune. She has carried the communal lessons of caring for community into her work helping design buildings that support how people can live well in the “age of aging.” Runa talks about the potential of “universal design” to keep people living at home and how she has learned to connect silos that form the basis for healthier communities. Runa's Links NORD Architects Healthy Ageing Explore Healthy Ageing Thanks for listening. Send me your feedb...
Paolo Quattrone comes to the Swamp and brings his love of accounting as basis for better judgment and decision making. He also re-introduces us to The Society of Jesus (Jesuits). Paolo makes the case that in a globalized world, increasing technology and our faster life-pace are leading to more uncertainty and a misalignment of our purpose. In our conversation, Paolo provides a fresh orientation to using accounting principles to support deeper diagnosis and wiser decisions. Paolo also suggests...
Julie Drybrough comes to the Swamp and shares her life wisdom fostering transformation. She is candid about her personal transformational path and how it shapes her coaching and group work. She learned how building a new narrative of trust can produce “magic” and people begin to shine. Hers is a story about how commitment, self-love, service to others and reflection reveal the best of who we can be and the means to navigate the “crunchy stuff.” Julie’s Links: Website: https://fuchsiablueblog....
Clif and CK McKenzie come to the Swamp and talk about their generational leadership transition of Watson Furniture. They discuss their different approaches to the work, how they make decisions and how they each lead. Clif has led Watson for a great many years. He didn’t start out loving office furniture. That quickly changed. He sets the high standard for the design and functionality of the Watson products. CK brings his US Naval Academy education and US Marine Corps training flying combat he...
Wendy Tyner visits the Swamp to share her wisdom gained from leading philanthropic organizations and building communities. She begins our conversation sharing what she learned teaching children with learning disabilities. We then discuss how she guided three not-for-profit organizations to become significant community assets that support bluegrass music, farms and public lands. She often guided all these projects at the same time. Wendy offers up a portfolio of lessons learned and “grandmothe...
Aidan McQuade joins me in the Swamp to discuss his book, Ethical Leadership: Moral Decision-Making Under Pressure and his model “The Cruciform of Agency.” Aidan was born in Northern Ireland and grew up during the period known as “the troubles.” He is wiser for that experience. He has dedicated his life to humanitarian work in some of the most difficult conditions over the last twenty years. Our conversation explores his experiences leading aid organizations and the hard decisions that need to...
Benjamin Taylor makes his third appearance in the Swamp and he brings some useful distinctions with him. We discuss the value and importance of understanding the positive and negative dynamics that differentiation and integration have on group dynamics and productivity. But it is not all that simple. There are at least four dynamics at play at any time in your work groups. Benjamin maps these group dynamics and shares moves that you can make to lead, manage and facilitate more effective group...
Elvis Fraser comes to the Swamp to share his commitment to helping non-profit organizations realize greater measurable results from their social impact investments through wise monitoring, learning and evaluation strategies. He and his Sanfoka Consulting team align their strategies to advance social justice and equity in all aspects of their work. Elvis has a rich history of leading and mentoring teams around the world and he brings his wisdom to our conversation. Elvis's Links Sanfo...
Eva Grosman joins me in the swamp to share how her “life factory setting” which is based on hope and courage, has guided her in building the Centre for Democracy and Peacebuilding as well as a community of peacebuilders around the world. Listen close because Eva offers a multitude of specific, actionable moves each of us can take to lead on difficult challenges. Eva’s life work and impact is a model for the potency of personal agency. Eva’s Links Centre For Democracy and Peacebuilding L...
Nick Ellem comes to the Swamp to share a comprehensive exploration of Adaptive Leadership as well as his journey to teach and help people building adaptive capacity. Nick speaks directly to the reasons why many leadership development programs fall short of expectations. He then introduces his antidote: The Leadership Learning Cycle which is built on four elements: Academy LabPodiumTemple The leadership learning cycle offers an integrated framework for building the range...
Jill Hufnagel comes to the swamp and shares her perspective and experience helping people develop leadership capacity. Jill served as guest faculty on the Harvard Kennedy School’s Art & Practice of Adaptive Leadership program and as a senior associate with Cambridge Leadership Associates, along with running her own consultancy JHC&C. In our conversation, Jill discusses the importance of having a clear purpose for leading, how to develop your leadership craft and she offers wisdom on n...
Geoff Mead returns to the Swamp to discuss narrative leadership. Often acts of leading begin as a conversation. A conversation that might be internal or conversations with other people. It is important for people who choose to lead, to understand how to craft and use narrative to mobilize people to take action. Geoff helps us understand how to do this work in this episode. Geoff is the founding director of Narrative Leadership Associates, a consultancy focused on the use of ...
Lianne Morgan comes to the Swamp and shares her thoughts on the value of following a mindfulness practice. Lianne is a role model for us all. She has a long history of navigating life as a corporate leader. Long enough to know when it’s time to depart and how to make that transition. Today Lianne is a mindfulness coach. She offers wisdom in this episode on how to design a practice of mindfulness, the value of following that practice and how to use your body as a medium for learning and growth...
Ellen Schall of New York University comes to the Swamp and shares her wisdom on how to develop a leadership reflective practice. Ellen’s journey began when she worked in New York City starting as a Legal Aid Society attorney. She moved to New York University in 1992 and it is still her home. She taught the Leadership course: Reflective Practice: Learning from Work. Ellen shares her thoughts on the importance of distinguishing role from self, how to develop a self-reflection practice, he...
Martin Thomas and Mick Yates, two friends I admire, come to the Swamp to share their encore stories and second acts. Both men returned to university late in their professional careers and that decision changed the trajectory of their lives, the focus of their commitments and how they have chosen to make a difference as they conjure up second acts and most likely, third and forth acts. All of us will learn a few things about how to design a life well lived. Links Martin Thomas LinkedIn...
Episode 053_ Nick Conigrave brings to the swamp his marriage of deep leadership study with the pragmatism needed to help people build their capacity to lead for greater impact. You will hear Nick’s passion for helping people as he shares the range of approaches he uses to construct leadership programmes and coaching strategies that are useful to all. Nick is a true bricolage of leadership development. Nick’s Links LinkedIn profile 6 Team Conditions Leadership as a learning activit...
Episode 051_ Tom Tyner comes to the swamp to share his decision to help preserve public lands for future generations. He shares his decision to leave his position as legal counsel to a global bank, move his family from San Francisco to the Seattle area and dedicate his time and expertise to secure parklands, forests, range land and wilderness for future generations. Tom’s a humorist guy so he holds our interest as he shares his lessons and his wisdom on life and leading. Tommy, the trees, the...
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