Victor Jimenez

Grow a Business - Make an Impact - Build a Life

TFP-031-Entrepreneurship, passion, and communities – Ernesto Sirolli

Why passion is the ultimate driver in entrepreneurship and economic development

Entrepreneurship is really about doing what you are passionate about, then finding others to help you by doing what they are passionate about.  Working alone in the garage to build a business is just a myth, it never happens. Even Steve had Woz, and virtually every successful business ever built has been a group effort.  Businesses and people thrive when each individual is able to focus on what they love and do best. Instead of becoming the typical “superhero entrepreneur” by doing everything on their own.

In this episode, I am speaking with Ernesto Sirolli. For 35 years he has helped communities and organizations grow entrepreneurs through what he calls “Enterprise Facilitation” and Social Infrastructures. He has worked all over the world and they have helped start over 50 thousand businesses.  Listen in to this insightful conversation.

Some of the things we discuss

  • What the word entrepreneur really means.
  • The psychology of entrepreneurship.
  • Why you should only work at the things you are passionate about.
  • Where communities can find new entrepreneurs.
  • Rebuilding our social infrastructures to help each other become the fullest human they can be.

Ernesto Sirolli

Ernesto Sirolli is a noted authority in the field of sustainable economic development and is the Founder of the Sirolli Institute, an international non-profit organization that teaches community leaders how to establish and maintain Enterprise Facilitation projects in their community. The Institute is now training communities in the USA, Canada, Australia, UK, Africa, Asia, Central and Latin America. In 1985, he pioneered in Esperance, a small rural community in Western Australia, a unique economic development approach based on harnessing the passion, determination, intelligence, and resourcefulness of the local people. The striking results of “The Esperance Experience” have prompted more than 250 communities around the world to adopt responsive, person-centered approaches to local economic development similar to the Enterprise Facilitation® model pioneered in Esperance.

Sirolli Institute- International Enterprise Facilitation Inc. www.sirolli.com

TFP-025 – Happy Startup – Carlos Saba

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Building a Happy Start-Up

When many of us hear the words startup we think of the lone genius working in her garage with some breakthrough idea that is going to turn into a huge business that they can then “exit”, then go sit on the beach for the rest of their lives.

My guest and his co-founder have taken a different approach. Through their business The Happy Startup School they have built a strong community of changemakers that value happiness over profits.  In our conversation, we talk about what The Happy Startup School does, their origin and why they do what they do.

Some of the key ideas discussed

Community and connection

The power of a like-minded group

How making space creates breakthroughs

About the Alptitude Event

From the Alptitude website:

It’s not a retreat, nor a training camp. It’s not a vacation, nor an unconference. It’s all of those things, yet none of them.

Think of it as a week where you’ll have the time and space to figure out where you’re at with your life and projects, whilst having more fun than you’ve had in years. This is the future of business events – emergent, playful and transformational.

Brought to you by The Happy Startup School and Dream Valley Projects and now in its third year, Alptitude brings together 25 purpose-driven entrepreneurs and changemakers from around the world for a unique, meaningful experience in stunning natural surroundings.

The lucky few that come leave with a renewed vigour for life, a ton of game-changing ideas to implement, but most importantly a shared experience and group of new friends that will stick with them forever. Friends they never knew they needed, but now can’t live without.

Go to the  Alptitude Site to learn more

Other links mentioned on this episode

The Happy Start-Up School

The Happy Start-Up podcast

The guest on this episode

Carlos Saba

Carlos Saba - The Happy Start Up School

Visit The Happy Start-up to learn more about Carlos and his journey.

Related Episodes.

Creating Meaning In your Business with Emily Esfahani Smith

Building Communities That Inspire Connection with Charles Vogel

People-Centered Workplace

Relationships at The Core of Your Business

TFP-024-Compassion in Business- Monica Worline

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Compassion-One of Our Best Business Tools.

Since the beginning of the industrial revolution (likely earlier), societies have treated business and work as something separate from our humanity and our compassion.  We tend to think as if we can compartmentalize and keep various parts of our lives separate.  In practice, this is not the case at all. While many of us are good at masking personal suffering in the context of our work, it’s still there, behind the scenes. It makes us less productive, less creative and possibly keeping us from finding meaning in our work and lives.

In this important episode, I talk with one of the world’s top researchers on compassion in organizations and the workplace, Monica Worline Ph.D.

During the conversation, you will learn why it’s so important and how entrepreneurs and organizations can build a more meaningful business by creating a culture of compassion.

    • We discuss the four keys to awakening compassion in our work.
    • The role of recognizing suffering as one of the keys to being compassionate.
    • The role of leadership in creating a culture of recognizing suffering even in tiny businesses and startups.
  • Pitfalls and common mistakes that leaders make when trying to awaken compassion at work.

We talk about Monica Worline’s Ph.D. new book, co-authored with researcher Jane Dutton; Awakening Compassion At Work “The quiet power that elevates people and organizations”

About the book

Caring Is a Competitive AdvantageAwakening Compassion at Work

Suffering in the workplace can rob our colleagues and coworkers of humanity, dignity, and motivation and is an unrecognized and costly drain on organizational potential. Marshaling evidence from two decades of field research, scholars and consultants Monica Worline and Jane Dutton show that alleviating such suffering confers measurable competitive advantages in areas like innovation, collaboration, service quality, and talent attraction and retention. They outline four steps for meeting suffering with compassion and show how to build a capacity for compassion into the structures and practices of an organization—because ultimately, as they write, “Compassion is an irreplaceable dimension of excellence for any organization that wants to make the most of its human capabilities.”

Book link to Amazon: Awakening Compassion at Work

Links Mentioned on this episode:

awakeningcompassionatwork.com — book website; downloadable chapter; 100 Days of Awakening Compassion and more content coming soon
compassionlab.com — research site; downloadable papers for those who want to read the original research

About the Authors of Awakening Compassion at Work

The guest on this podcast

Monica Worline Ph.D.Monica C. Worline, Ph.D., is founder and CEO of EnlivenWork, an innovation organization that teaches businesses and others how to tap into courageous thinking, compassionate leadership, and the curiosity to bring their best work to life. She is a research scientist at Stanford University’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education and Executive Director of CompassionLab, the world’s leading research collaboratory focused on compassion at work. Monica holds a lectureship at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, and is affiliate faculty at the Center for Positive Organizations.

Jane E. Dutton, Ph.D., is the Robert L. Kahn Distinguished University Professor of Business Administration and Psychology at the Ross School of Business. She is a co-founder of the Center for Positive Organizations, and passionate about cultivating human flourishing at work. Her research focuses on compassion, job crafting, high-quality connections, and meaning making at work.  She has written over 100 articles and published 13 books (see http://webuser.bus.umich.edu/janedut/), including How to be a Positive Leader: Small Actions, Big Impact. She is a founding member of the Compassionlab—visit us and read more about our research at www.compassionlab.com.

Related posts:

Creating Meaning In your Business with Emily Esfahani Smith

Building Communities That Inspire Connection with Charles Vogel

People-Centered Workplace

Relationships at The Core of Your Business

TFP-022-Creating Meaning in Your Business-Emily Esfahani Smith

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Man’s search for meaning is fundamental to what makes us human. Yet we live in a culture that encourages us to set this search aside when it comes to work and business. In this episode, my guest and I are talking about here book The Power of Meaning: Crafting a Life That Matters.

We talk about the four pillars of finding and creating meaning in your business and in life.The Power of MeaningThe Power of Meaning

The Four Pillars:

  • Belonging
  • Purpose
  • Story Telling
  • Transcendence

I would love to hear your comments, questions and especially how you find meaning in your life.

Emily Esfahani SmithEmily Esfahani Smith is the author of The Power of Meaning: Crafting a Life That Matters (Crown). She writes about psychology, culture, and relationships. Her writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Time, The Atlantic, and other publications.

Emily is also a columnist for The New Criterion, as well as an editor at the Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, where she manages the Ben Franklin Circles project, a collaboration with the 92nd Street Y and Citizen University to build meaning in local communities.

Born in Zurich, Switzerland, Emily grew up in Montreal, Canada. She graduated from Dartmouth College and earned a master of applied positive psychology from the University of Pennsylvania.

TFP-021 The Art of Building Community

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Building Communities That Inspire Connection

In this episode, we are talking about community and connection.  Consider this, most businesses rise and fall based on the strength and depth of connection Communitythey build with employees, partners, and even their customers. Many of us don’t give a lot of thought about building a structure that can create a sense of belonging within our broader community and the micro-communities that form as a result of doing business.

Building that belonging takes work and strong leadership and commitment. Listen carefully to this episode and learn some of the principles that create and maintain those connections.

Some of the ideas we touch on that make strong communities

    • Boundaries
    • Space and safety
    • Implicit and explicit values
    • Creating paths to growth
    • Leadership

Please listen and share your ideas and stories about communities.

Charles Vogl - Author The Art of CommunityCharles Vogl

An author and executive consultant, Charles Vogl uses principles drawn from more than 3000 years of community and spiritual tradition to teach others how to inspire powerful connections and produce the kind of change that lasts for generations. He works with leaders in technology, finance, media, government, and social good organizations to inspire powerful connections in critical relationships and create cultures of belonging.The Art of CommunityThe Art of Community

Making a difference has always been a key part of Charles’ life. In his early 20s, he volunteered full time at a homeless shelter in Santa Ana, California, before entering the Peace Corps and relocating to northern Zambia. There, he witnessed inspirational community in the face of extreme poverty, as neighbors with very little shared with those who had even less. Charles then moved to New York City to become a PBS filmmaker, producing documentaries including 2006’s “New Year Baby,” which chronicled the lives of Cambodian genocide survivors becoming Americans. The film won numerous honors including Amnesty International’s prestigious “Movies That Matter” award. He also volunteered as a labor organizer, working to empower abused workers in the restaurant industry.      

Charles received his B.S. from the Annenberg School at the University of Southern California and a Master of Divinity at Yale University. A regular guest lecturer at several Yale departments, his first book, “The Art of Community: Seven Principles for Belonging”, was recently published by Berrett-Koehler. Building on the concept that community and belonging can be developed through time-tested ideas and rituals, the book is a guide to creating and fostering meaningful cultures of belonging that benefit individuals and humanity.    

Charles lives in Oakland, California, with his wife Socheata. He includes surviving a plane crash, a spitting cobra attack, and acute malaria (all in one year) among his life-changing experiences.

CharlesVogl.com

The Art of Community Book

TFP-019 Building a People-Centered Business- Jeb Banner

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Are you building a people-centered business?

Ask any business owner or CEO,  Who the most important people in their business are, and most will say “the customer is of course.”

But what if we refocus that lens and make our employees and colleagues most important?  What happens when we create a business that gives meaning to our employees? How will they interact differently with customers and how does that affect the bottom line?

Listen in to this episode where I talk with Jeb Banner the CEO of Small Box creative agency.

Jeb BannerJeb Banner CEO, Co-Founder of Small Box

Jeb was born in Chicago but moved to South Bend, Indiana when he was 6. Childhood was spent fidgeting at school, raising tadpoles in pools while building go-karts and tree forts in the rain.

Growing up it seemed that starting a business was the furthest thing from Jeb’s mind. After graduating with an English degree from IU in 1996, Jeb moved to Chicago to live in a ballroom with some friends, work odd jobs and play music. This lost weekend turned into a two-year stretch that brought Jeb to Indianapolis in 1998.

Finally the business bug bit. In 1999, Jeb discovered eBay. A few months and a large record collection later and StuffE was launched. It should be noted that said record collection also inaugurated Jeb’s record collecting habit which he has yet to kick. His vinyl collection clocks in around 3000 albums. After building StuffE into a mildly successful eBay consignment business he partnered with Dan Ripley to launch Antique Helper, an online auction house that married Dan’s knowledge and network with Jeb’s online auction systems.

In the meantime, Jeb and fellow Antique Helper employee Joe Downey collaborated on building Musical Family Tree, an online archive of Indiana music, which was founded in January of 2004. By the end of 2005, Antique Helper had grown into a successful business with $3 million in annual sales, but Jeb decided it was time to move on. Antiques were fun but the internet was calling.

In 2006 Jeb and Joe founded SmallBox, landing NUVO Newsweekly as their first client. As the company grew it moved beyond websites to become a fully integrated web marketing company. In early 2012, Jeb began to lead the company towards deeper consulting engagements, working with clients on organizational health issues. 2016 has seen a transition to what the SmallBox team calls 3.0. In essence, a quest to turn work into play and help clients do the same. Learn about this new direction here.

Jeb is very happily married to the amazing Jenny Banner and they have three strong, smart and bold girls. They live about 4 miles north of Broad Ripple with 2 cats, 1 dog, and 1 tiki bar.

Small Box Website

Twitter: @jebbanner

Personal Blog: www.jebbanner.com

SmallBox is a creative agency focused on helping clients find opportunities, solve big, fuzzy challenges, and build meaningful employee, brand and service experiences. We take a people-centered approach to designing solutions with you. Our services, from branding to strategic consulting to employee engagement, all speak to one goal: partnering with people to create distinctive and meaningful experiences. We thrive on curiosity, courage, collaboration and persistence, and these core values drive everything we do.

TFP-016 Building Connections with Podcasting

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Building connections through podcasting.

Most people think about podcasting as a way to reach and build an audience. It is a great medium for building an audience, but there are many other ways to use podcasting to grow our network and build connection within your area of expertise.

Listen to this episode and learn

  • How to grow your network with podcasting
  • The important aspects of designing a show
  • Why the number of listeners may not be so important.

Kevin Anselmo is the Founder and Principal of Experiential Communications. He helps individuals and groups communicate with stakeholders. He also teaches communications and public relations workshops. He primarily serves the higher education, research, and entrepreneurial communities. Kevin is the host of the For Immediate Release on Higher Education podcast. The interview show – published twice per month since 2013 – provides communications insights for stakeholders within higher education.

TFP-017- Are You Using Stories in Your Business?

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What is it about stories?

I have always been interested in stories. How they help us convey what can be otherwise very difficult to express. They also have a way, (if told well) to create lasting memories and learning.

In this episode, I brought on a master at structuring stories for businesses and organizations.

Some of the things we touch on are

  • What exactly stories are.
  • When and how to use stories.
  • Different story structures and how to find them.
  • What is not a story
  • When not to use stories
  • and so much more

My guest David Hutchens is an absolute master at breaking down story structure and making it simple for each of us to see how we can start using stories in our businesses and in our lives.

David Hutchens is and author and creator of learning experiences for organizations around the world. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee. Learn more at David Hutchens.com

I hope you will pick up Davids amazing Circle of the 9 Muses. It’s now my go-to manual for creating stories in business.

Circle of the 9 Muses

Outlearning the Wolves

http://www.davidhutchens.com/

TFP-015-Finding your Way with Purpose Mapping-Craig Filek

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Are you living your purpose through your business?

It sounds so cliche, (What is your purpose?) yet it is one of the most important things to think about in your business. If you On the right trail
can get crystal clear on your purpose then you have a much lower risk of getting burned out in your business and you will add much more value to your customers, employees and colleagues. In this episode , my guest is Craig Filek creator of a process called Purpose Mapping.  Both of us share our stories of how we built financially successful businesses that left us feeling less than fulfilled.

  • We talk about the question; How can we create something that feels authentic?
  • How we can use the top 5 regrets of the dying to help us. Link
  • We talk about my guiding principles and how I use them.
  • How to separate purpose and mission. 
  • We touch on creating a business as a flow state.

Books Mentioned in this episode

Good To Great – Jim Collins

Built To Last – Jim Collins

EMyth – Michael Gerber

craig-filek-creator-of-purpose-mappingCraig Filek, Creator of Purpose Mapping

Craig Filek knows success and significance are not the same things. After building a 7-figure business, he walked away from it all to focus on what matters most — raising his daughter and living his purpose. With over 20 years experience coaching and facilitating deep, transformative work, Craig developed Purpose Mapping® to bring his own life into alignment. Now, he guides High-Achieving Misfits to reclaim their authenticity and find true fulfillment by using their talents to full capacity in service to a larger mission.

Executives, entrepreneurs, investors and professionals in the US, Canada, Australia and Europe seek Craig’s support when making life-changing decisions. If you’re ready to unlock your full potential without blowing up the success you’ve already created, request an invitation to speak with Craig.

TFP-014-Becoming an Expert in a New Business -Tim Christen

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Building a business around your passion and becoming an expert.

Most entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs never start because they have the mistaken belief that they need to be anOORR Cycling Clothing
expert in the area.  In most cases, it’s not the expertise you need but rather its the interest or passion that moves the business forward.

In this episode, my guest shares his journey as an entrepreneur and how he has been able to become an expert in cycling clothing and sustainability. He started out because of a health issue that kept him from working at his normal job and now as we publish this he is launching  a Kickstarter campaign to launch his new line of “coffee infused” cycling clothing.

His company is called OORR (Out Of the Rat Race) and makes technical cycling clothing with a keen eye towards sustainability.

This is a great episode and I think that entrepreneurs at any level would find some great nuggets in our conversation.

Tim Christian - OORRTim Christian

A 37-year-old, a father of 3 boys under 6, airline pilot of 17yrs and founder of OORR. I live in Chatswood, a satellite CBD just 10 minutes north of Sydney, Australia. I love riding my bike and am a voracious consumer of cycling related news, and student of self-improvement. Everything I do tends to be about making this world better for my family, for others, and for future generations. Go to his site here.

TFP-013- The Neuroscience of Creativity- Dr. Andrew Newberg

What happens in your brain when you are creating?

In this fascinating episode, I am talking with Neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Newberg. We talk about his research field of Neurotheology and the connection between brain activity during creative states and religious or spiritual experiences.Creative Shadows

Have you ever wondered what happens in your brain during a creative process, meditation or even during a spiritual or religious practice? Turns out many of these experiences are closely related in terms of what is happening inside our brain.  Dr. Newberg talks about how they have used brain scan studies as well as looking into the subjective research into what people actually experience.

One of the most interesting areas we discuss in this episode is how words can actually change your brain and how you can use language in ways that create a deeper understanding and better relationships.

He touches on his research on the importance of communicating with our own personal values base actually creates a more meaningful connection.

Dr. Newberg talks about a simple values exercise that you can do to help you get clear on what your values actually are and how you can use them to help form better relationships.  We also talk about how values seem to change from materialistic oriented to more empathetic or outward oriented values when people practice compassionate communication skills.

One of the questions I am always exploring the how we connect in the online world and what that might mean to how humans communicate.  We talk about how some brief forms of virtual communication can actually be more effective than some types of in-person communications.

Listen to this fascinating episode and please share your comments and experiences.

 

Newberg-Photo-2011

Dr. Andrew Newberg

Dr. Andrew Newberg is the director of research at the Jefferson-Myrna Brind Center of Integrative Medicine and a physician at Jefferson University Hospital. He is board certified in internal medicine and nuclear medicine.

Andrew has been asking questions about reality, truth, and God since he was very young, and he has long been fascinated by the human mind and its complex workings. While a medical student, he met Dr. Eugene d’Aquili, who was studying religious experiences. Combining their interests with Andrew’s background in neuroscience and brain imaging, they were able to break new theoretical and empirical ground on the relationship between the brain and religion.

Andrew’s research now largely focuses on how brain function is associated with various mental states—in particular, religious and mystical experiences. His research has included brain scans of people in prayer, meditation, rituals, and trance states, as well as surveys of people’s spiritual experiences and attitudes. He has also evaluated the relationship between religious or spiritual phenomena and health, and the effect of meditation on memory. He believes that it is important to keep science rigorous and words-can-change-your-brainreligion religious.

Andrew has also used neuroimaging research projects to study aging and dementia, Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, depression, and
other neurological and psychiatric disorders. Learn more at his website http://www.andrewnewberg.com/

Learn about his recent book “How Enlightenment Changes Your Brain” as well as the book we mentioned
during the show “Words Can Change Your Brain” as well as other books, and current research projects

TFP-011- Relationships at the Core of your Business? – Robert MacNaughton

How can we deepen the relationships we have in business and in our lives?

In this episode, we are talking about building meaningful relationships in eRelationshipsvery aspect of our lives.

My guest and I talk about building relational intelligence. Not just personal relationships with your family and friends but also within your business.

Somehow we have been taught that it’s ok to be more guarded in business relationships. Most of us have heard someone say “but this is business”, especially when it comes to sales. Typically this is the opposite of what it really takes to have a meaningful transaction that leaves both parties a feeling of fulfillment.

I share a story where I felt like I was only looking out for my agenda and not the customers that left both parties feeling like they got the bad end of the transaction.

We pay a relational game where Robert and I try and guess what the others emotions are during our conversation.

He did really well at picking up on my feelings at that particular moment but missed one key element. What’s interesting is what happened next when I told Robert that I was a bit nervous. It opened up a whole new depth of the conversation and how we were relating.

This is incredibly powerful personal development. I truly believe that we could solve most of the world problems if each of us takes down our guard and try to connect on a deeper level with each other.

Listen to this show and send in your comments.

We mentioned the Invisiblia podcast and a show they had about deepening relationships. It is a must listen. The episode is called The New Norm and there is a powerful story about oil rig workers.

R25b5ccae-4f1f-4afa-9b5f-b2b2904b0c80obert MacNaughton,

Executive Director and Co-Founder of The Integral Center in Boulder Colorado, has been facilitating experiential group education and been in the trenches of Integral community development for over a decade. Robert believes that before he can save the world, he should start by cleaning up his own room.  He organized the Integral Center with the vision of fostering more Integral consciousness through community practice and has trained thousands of people in relational and evolutionary leadership.

The Integral Center