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In this first in an occasional series on what we owe each other after collective traumas, bioethicist Alham Saadat shares unique insights from her experiences as a refugee and her work in bioethics at the Broad Institute.

Alham offers insights into the obligations we have toward one another both during crisis and in everyday life. "What we owe to each other is at the core of my belief system," she reflects, challenging listeners to expand their understanding of human responsibility.

The conversation ventures into leadership accountability, the weaponization of resilience, and the courage required to acknowledge harm. She argues that institutional acknowledgment of wrongdoing is often the crucial first step that takes pressure and strain off a person who's experienced harm. And emphasizes that truly supporting others requires humility, deep listening, and recognition that there are few clear-cut answers in life's most important areas.

"It's short-sighted in assuming that being strong is somehow equated with being a good person," Alham observes, advocating instead for normalizing vulnerability both personally and professionally. This perspective offers a refreshing counterpoint to society's relentless pressure to demonstrate unwavering strength and fortitude.

Whether you're navigating personal trauma, leading an organization through crisis, or simply seeking to deepen your connection with fellow humans, this conversation offers practical wisdom for building what Alham describes as the muscle of empathy. Listen now and reconsider what we truly owe each other as we journey through life together.

Alham Saadat, M.S. is the Associate Director of Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications (ELSI) in Biomedical Research at the Broad Institute and the co-director of the Broad Bioethics Initiative, which fosters bioethical engagement within the Broad community. As a scientist, ethicist, and community leader, she strives to advance biomedical research and maximize its potential to improve patient outcomes, particularly for underserved communities.

You can learn more about Alham or on LinkedIn and more about the Broad Institute on its website.

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Producer / Editor: Neel Panji

Invite Manya to inspire and empower your teams and position your organization as a forward-thinking leader in well-being, resilience, and trauma sensitivity.

Please subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your listening platform of choice. It really helps others find us.

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Ever noticed how the most successful leaders somehow manage to build thriving businesses while maintaining genuine human connections?

Rob Gallaher discovered this secret the hard way. After years of working excessive hours, micromanaging his team, and watching his personal life deteriorate, he knew something had to change.

Rob joins us to share how compassion transformed his approach to leadership. As a CEO leading multiple companies and author of Profit Sharing: The Power of Shared Success, he explains why business relationships don't have to remain purely transactional. "When you are compassionate, when there's a relationship with your team members... business is easier and smoother," Rob explains, challenging the notion that professional success requires personal sacrifice.

The conversation reveals how Rob revolutionized his companies through profit-sharing as a way to create genuine alignment between business owners and employees. What's particularly refreshing is Rob's emphasis on simple, practical approaches to building workplace relationships. Rather than elaborate team-building events, he suggests brief walks with colleagues, shared lunches, or handwritten thank-you notes. These small investments yield massive returns through increased trust, better delegation, and stronger overall performance.

Whether you're a business owner feeling isolated at the top or a team member seeking more meaning at work, this episode offers a roadmap to more fulfilling professional relationships. As Rob powerfully states, "Whatever your measurement of success is, it really comes down to the number of lives that you affect every day and the quality of that influence that you have."

Rob Gallaher is CEO of Gallaher Co. and is passionate about profit sharing. He is the author of Profit Sharing: The Power of Shared Success and is launching an online course to teach others about profit sharing. You can learn more about Rob on his website, LinkedIn, or Facebook.

Go to https://betterhelp.com/resilience or click Notes on Resilience during sign up for 10% off your first month of therapy with my sponsor BetterHelp.

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Producer / Editor: Neel Panji

Invite Manya to inspire and empower your teams and position your organization as a forward-thinking leader in well-being, resilience, and trauma sensitivity.

Please subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your listening platform of choice. It really helps others find us.

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What happens when we acknowledge our full humanity in the workplace?

Fran Benjamin, Managing Partner at GoodWorks Consulting, delivers a masterclass in organizational transformation that challenges longstanding assumptions about leadership.

Fran offers a definition of compassion: "that moment in which one can no longer distinguish themselves from the other," and explores how this concept applies to modern organizational structures. Rather than viewing companies as collections of individual cogs, they advocate for seeing people as interconnected ecosystems where mutual benefit and reinforcement drive success.

The conversation takes a fascinating turn as Fran traces the evolution of leadership competencies through major historical events.

• During the Cold War, decisiveness reigned supreme.
• After 9/11, empathy emerged as crucial.
• The 2008 financial crisis elevated transparency.
• 2020's dual crises highlighted psychological safety.

Now, as we face what Fran calls the 2025 polycrisis, new leadership qualities are emerging: principled dissent (values-based courage), regenerative leadership, and coalition building.

For leaders hesitant to embrace compassion, there are tangible costs: increased employee attrition, legal liability, reduced market access, and diminished community impact. The antidote? Building systems that institutionalize compassionate leadership beyond individual personalities or initiatives.

Whether you're leading a Fortune 500 company or a community organization, this episode offers practical wisdom for creating more resilient, innovative, and human-centered workplaces. Join us to discover how acknowledging our full humanity (emotions, bodies, relationships and all) unlocks our collective potential.

Fran Benjamin (they/he/she) is the Managing Partner and Principal Consultant at Good Works Consulting, an organizational development, human capital consulting, and executive coaching firm. With 20 years of experience guiding organizational transformation and inclusive cultures, Fran has led global teams through 50+ successful engagements with clients ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies. An MBA graduate from UCLA Anderson, Fran is also a certified Integral Coach, yoga instructor, and a somatics practitioner, blending professional rigor with creative and holistic approaches to leadership.

You can learn more about Fran on LinkedIn or email them at: fran@goodworks.consulting. Learn more about Good Works Consulting on the website: https://www.goodworks.consulting/

Go to https://betterhelp.com/resilience or click Notes on Resilience during sign up for 10% off your first month of therapy with my sponsor BetterHelp.

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Producer / Editor: Neel Panji

Invite Manya to inspire and empower your teams and position your organization as a forward-thinking leader in well-being, resilience, and trauma sensitivity.

Please subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your listening platform of choice. It really helps others find us.

#trauma #resilience #compassion #MentalHealth #CompassionateLeadership #leadership #survivor

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When you think of manufacturing environments, compassionate leadership and unconditional love probably aren't the first concepts that come to mind. Yet at Cambridge Air Solutions, these principles form the backbone of a thriving culture that's delivering remarkable business results.

Meg Brown, Chief Operating Officer, reveals the surprisingly simple practices that have transformed their workplace. The most powerful is a ritual called personal-professional check-in, where team members briefly share their highest highs and lowest lows in work and life. With "thank you for sharing" as the only permitted response, this creates psychological safety while fostering genuine human connection.

What makes Cambridge Air's approach particularly compelling is its absolute clarity about values. Leadership has literally posted the definition of workplace unconditional love on their walls, describing specific behaviors that demonstrate this value: investing time to know each other, creating space for authenticity, staying curious during conflict, and offering forgiveness.

The business impact speaks volumes: Higher retention, increased safety, improved productivity, and stronger financial performance.

In divisive times, this approach offers something increasingly rare: a community where people feel seen and valued regardless of differences in background or belief.

Listen now to discover how compassionate leadership might be the strategic advantage your organization needs.

Ready to see this culture in action? Cambridge welcomes visitors—virtually or in person. Sign up at the website: cambridgeair.com/tours.

Meg Brown is COO of Cambridge Air Solutions, leading supply chain, manufacturing, and people functions, driving operational excellence and leadership development. Previously, as VP of Human Resources, Meg shaped Cambridge’s employee experience, talent processes, and leadership growth. She is passionate about unlocking potential in others and her true focus has been growing heart based culture, building strong teams and fostering growth.

Go to https://betterhelp.com/resilience or click Notes on Resilience during sign up for 10% off your first month of therapy with my sponsor BetterHelp.

Support the show

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Producer / Editor: Neel Panji

Invite Manya to inspire and empower your teams and position your organization as a forward-thinking leader in well-being, resilience, and trauma sensitivity.

Please subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your listening platform of choice. It really helps others find us.

#trauma #resilience #compassion #MentalHealth #CompassionateLeadership #leadership #survivor

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"We have more information than ever and less knowledge. We talk at each other more than ever and we're less connected."

James Warren, founder and CEO of Share More Stories, takes us on a journey through the transformative power of stories as the lifeblood of the human experience. He reveals how storytelling creates three essential benefits for organizations: enhanced self-awareness for leaders, strengthened empathy through neurological connection, and accelerated collective learning. Our brains are literally wired for narrative, activating empathic responses that bridge differences and create shared understanding.

He describes the ecosystem involving the teller, the listener, and the story that requires psychological safety to flourish. When we share vulnerably, a transformative alchemy occurs—a rising tide of empathy where both parties want to be heard and develop enhanced capacity to hear others. This directly addresses what Maya Angelou called "the agony of bearing an untold story inside you."

As workplaces increasingly function as communities, James challenges leaders to reconsider the fundamental value proposition of work itself. Organizations demanding more while offering less security and community face unsustainable imbalances. The path forward requires leaders who understand that profitability and human-centered approaches aren't contradictory but complementary strategies for lasting success.

Ready to transform your organization through the power of story? Listen now to discover how compassionate leadership creates workplaces where people genuinely belong. Then share your thoughts—what story are you waiting to tell?

James Warren is the Founder and CEO of Share More Stories, a human experience insights company that built the SEEQ Platform to uncover emotional drivers behind employee and customer experiences. He is a researcher, strategist, writer and facilitator who blends storytelling, AI, and insights to help organizations better understand themselves, their customers, and their communities.

You can learn more about Share More Stories on their website, connect with James on LinkedIn, or email him at: james@sharemorestories.com

Go to https://betterhelp.com/resilience or click Notes on Resilience during sign up for 10% off your first month of therapy with my sponsor BetterHelp.

Support the show

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Producer / Editor: Neel Panji

Invite Manya to inspire and empower your teams and position your organization as a forward-thinking leader in well-being, resilience, and trauma sensitivity.

Please subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your listening platform of choice. It really helps others find us.

#trauma #resilience #compassion #MentalHealth #CompassionateLeadership #leadership #survivor

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Have you ever wondered why good people sometimes make terrible decisions?

Kevin McCarthy lived this question when he unwittingly became involved in what turned out to be Washington state's largest fraud case—an experience that landed him in federal prison for 33 months despite having no knowledge of the crime. Rather than becoming bitter, Kevin transformed this devastating setback into profound insight about human blind spots and leadership.

In this thought-provoking conversation, Kevin shares his journey from successful entrepreneur to federal inmate to leadership development pioneer. He explains how blind spots—our unconscious biases, thinking errors, and limiting beliefs—affect even the most well-intentioned people, especially as they rise to positions of greater authority.

Kevin discusses the fundamental flaw in leadership development: we promote technical experts without equipping them with essential people skills. While organizations invest heavily in teaching processes and methodologies, they neglect to help leaders understand themselves and others. The consequences are severe—with Gallup research showing only 23% of the global workforce is engaged, while a staggering 18% actively sabotages their organizations.

Kevin's metaphor of prison life brilliantly captures the challenge we all face: we can choose the wide, easy path of remaining unchanged, or the narrower, more challenging path of growth and self-improvement. "I challenge every leader to choose the narrow path and decide to proactively become a better version of yourself," he urges. "We can all learn to think better, be better, and do better."

Whether you're a seasoned executive, an aspiring leader, or simply interested in understanding the human factors that influence decision-making, this episode offers invaluable insights on developing self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and compassion in leadership. Listen now to discover how Kevin's assessment tools and training programs are helping organizations build better leaders and healthier workplaces worldwide.

Kevin McCarthy is a consultant, leadership development coach, and author of the bestselling book, BlindSpots – Why Good People Make Bad Choices. You c

You can learn more about Kevin on his website or connect with him on LinkedIn.

Go to https://betterhelp.com/resilience or click Notes on Resilience during sign up for 10% off your first month of therapy with my sponsor BetterHelp.

Support the show

__________

Producer / Editor: Neel Panji

Invite Manya to inspire and empower your teams and position your organization as a forward-thinking leader in well-being, resilience, and trauma sensitivity.

Please subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your listening platform of choice. It really helps others find us.

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What happens when disaster strikes a community and the ripple effects touch everyone differently?

This episode originally aired on The Security Circle podcast, where I joined host Yoyo Hamblen to talk about trauma, recovery, and resilience. I'm sharing it here because the conversation gets to the heart of what we're exploring on Notes on Resilience: the real work of rebuilding trust, leading with empathy, and supporting people through change.

In this revealing conversation with Boston Marathon bombing survivor Manya Chylinski, Yoyo and I discuss the complex world of trauma, healing, and organizational support during times of crisis.

I share my firsthand experience as someone who walked away physically unharmed from the 2013 bombing but carried invisible wounds that profoundly impacted my life. This story illuminates how differently people process trauma, with some bouncing back quickly while others face a longer road to recovery.

At the heart of this conversation is a perspective on workplaces as communities—spaces where our full humanity deserves acknowledgment, especially during difficult times. People are messy, and organizations can either hinder or support healing through their responses to employees experiencing trauma. Whether it's a suicide that affects the entire company or widespread disasters like wildfires, how leadership responds matters deeply We discuss how resilience is a tool we all possess but may not recognize in ourselves.

Whether you're a security professional, leader, or someone navigating your own relationship with trauma, this episode offers invaluable insights about human experience during crisis. Listen in for a compassionate, thoughtful discussion that will transform how you think about resilience, workplace support, and our shared humanity during life's most challenging moments.

Go to https://betterhelp.com/resilience or click Notes on Resilience during sign up for 10% off your first month of therapy with my sponsor BetterHelp.

Support the show

__________

Producer / Editor: Neel Panji

Invite Manya to inspire and empower your teams and position your organization as a forward-thinking leader in well-being, resilience, and trauma sensitivity.

Please subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your listening platform of choice. It really helps others find us.

#trauma #resilience #compassion #MentalHealth #CompassionateLeadership #leadership #survivor

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Have you ever wondered why inspiring speeches from leaders don't always translate to motivated teams?

In this conversation with Rob Lion, we discuss how leaders often forget that employees don't necessarily love the organization the same way they do. While executives might focus on purpose and vision, many employees are primarily concerned with meeting foundational needs like providing for their families or maintaining stability.

This disconnect explains why what works at the leadership level doesn't always resonate throughout the organization.

One of the most thought-provoking parts of our conversation focuses on rethinking onboarding. Rob draws a parallel to vacation: What do you do day one on vacation? You explore, you have fun...

Yet most companies approach onboarding like reading emergency procedures instead of letting employees explore and understand the culture they've joined. This simple shift in thinking could transform how organizations welcome new team members.

Rob emphasizes that culture work and performance objectives must operate concurrently. Becoming too culture-focused can make an organization self-centered, while overemphasizing performance can lead to forgetting employees' humanity. Finding this balance is the sweet spot for leadership that delivers both fulfillment and results.

Dr. Rob Lion is a professor at Idaho State University and co-founder of Black River Performance Management, where the motto is "Work should fuel the spirit, not drain it." With over 20 years of expertise in leadership, organizational development, and performance improvement, Rob is renowned for his innovative, people-first approach. He specializes in creating human-centric, sustainable systems that drive growth and success within organizations.

Learn about Black River Performance Management on their website or connect with Rob on LinkedIn.

Go to https://betterhelp.com/resilience or click Notes on Resilience during sign up for 10% off your first month of therapy with my sponsor BetterHelp.

Support the show

__________

Producer / Editor: Neel Panji

Invite Manya to inspire and empower your teams and position your organization as a forward-thinking leader in well-being, resilience, and trauma sensitivity.

Please subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your listening platform of choice. It really helps others find us.

#trauma #resilience #compassion #MentalHealth #CompassionateLeadership #leadership #survivor