It’s often true that the most challenging conversations are often the ones most worth having. Conversations that bring up strong feelings, different experiences, and questions without easy answers. Policing, and how we can make it better, is one of those conversations.

San Leandro Police Chief Angela Averiett has spent nearly three decades in law enforcement, navigating the profession’s challenges while advocating for a healthier path forward. I met Angela through The Curve, my organization focused on helping policing evolve to meet the needs of a modern world. She’s a powerful example of forward-thinking leadership, exploring how culture, mindset, and psychological safety shape the way officers show up for each other and for the communities they serve.

In this episode, Angela and I unpack why cynicism is so common among officers, how strong leadership creates healthier team cultures, and why rebuilding trust in policing starts from the inside out. Angela shares stories from her career that reveal a different side of police work: where compassion improves safety, discretion matters more than enforcement, and leadership means creating space for people to be human. Together, we explore the balance between strength and empathy, and why healthier internal cultures lead to stronger relationships with the public.

Whether you’re a leader interested in organizational culture or simply curious about how policing can evolve, I hope this conversation offers an honest and hopeful perspective on the work ahead.

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If you want to learn more about the work The Curve is doing, head to: https://www.thecurve.org

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Fanbases are some of the most powerful forces on the planet.

They show up. They buy the tickets. They travel across countries and time zones. They memorize lyrics, study interviews, hunt for Easter eggs, and turn the smallest detail into an entire universe of meaning. They collaborate, they organize, and they care deeply.

Fan communities are savvy. They are smart. And when they are invited in, they create extraordinary momentum.

Adam Met, best known as the “A” of indie-pop band AJR, believes that this kind of energy can extend far beyond concerts or comment sections. He is asking a bigger question. What if we harnessed that same passion, creativity, imagination, and sense of belonging to improve the communities we live in?

Adam has spent years studying how to move people from curiosity to action. He’s also a climate activist, the founder of the nonprofit Planet Reimagined, an adjunct professor at Columbia University, and the author of the bestselling book Amplify: How to Use the Power of Connection to Engage, Take Action, and Build a Better World.

In our conversation, Adam explains how the same principles that make music meaningful - ownership, storytelling, participation, and belonging - can be applied to social movements, civic engagement, and climate action, to name a few. From designing fan-first concert experiences to rethinking how we engage people around complex issues, Adam argues that emotion is the engine of progress.

This episode isn’t really about music.
And it’s not really about climate either.

It’s about how we bring people together, help them feel invested, and create experiences that inspire them to act.

This… is A Bit of Optimism.

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To buy Adam’s book Amplify: How to Use the Power of Connection to Engage, Take Action, and Build a Better World, head to: https://www.adammet.net/amplify

If you want to learn more about Adam’s climate work, check out: https://www.planetreimagined.com

And don’t forget to stream AJR’s latest EP, What No One’s Thinking: https://www.ajrbrothers.com

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We’re often told that the secret to success is grit - more discipline, more perseverance, more individual effort. And grit does matter. But what if it’s only half the story?

In today’s world, we’ve become experts at tracking achievement, yet novices at nurturing belonging - and the cost of that imbalance is showing up everywhere from burnout to loneliness.

Few people are better equipped to help me make sense of that tension than today’s guest, Angela Duckworth. Angela is a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, a MacArthur “Genius” Award winner, and the bestselling author of Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance.

Angela is one of those people I could talk to for hours and we cover a lot of ground, but our conversation isn’t just about grit or performance. It’s about something deeper: why belonging gives achievement meaning and why human beings are actually wired to thrive together.

In this episode, Angela and I explore how a culture obsessed with individual success quietly erodes teamwork, trust, and wellbeing. We talk about the loneliness epidemic among young people, why grit is so often misunderstood, and why character isn’t just about what you do for yourself, but what you do for others. Along the way, we unpack why the smartest people don’t always make the best teammates, how incentives shape behavior in ways we rarely notice, and why purpose and people—not willpower—are what sustain us over time.

If you’ve ever felt burned out, disconnected, or wondered why success doesn’t feel as satisfying as you thought it would, this conversation is a reminder that meaning doesn’t come from standing alone at the top—it comes from being part of something bigger than yourself.

This is… A Bit of Optimism.

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To buy Angela’s book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, head to: https://angeladuckworth.com/grit-book

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