In this episode, Arlia and Mark share some personal stories about customer service experiences during the pandemic, which lead to a discussion about what it is like to being trapped in the need for being right. In those situations, what do we do when we get defensive or triggered? How can we grow, change, and follow our own sense of ethics?

Other topics include:

Ethical considerations during the pandemic

Written law vs. natural law

Growth out of chaos

Leadership and followership

Useful links:

Dr. Hasan Gokal

Sharna Fabiano

Parable of the Great Banquet from Luke 14:23

Spiral Leadership Radio is sponsored by Spiral Leadership Group. Founders Mark Elberfeld and Arlia Hoffman are the show hosts. Spiral Leadership Group facilitates growth in depth leadership, emotional intelligence, and diversity. Through a custom curriculum, retreats, experiential workshops, and coaching, Spiral empowers leaders to be innovative, responsive, and effective. Learn more at spiralleadershipgroup.com.

Arlia Hoffman invites her co-host Mark Elberfeld to share his experience of recently achieving a long-time goal of his: to write 50,000 words during the month of November through the online platform National Novel Writing Month, affectionally known as NaNoWriMo. Mark shares what he learned during the process, especially how to leverage the current circumstances of his life to help make this happen. This conversation is part of an ongoing one Arlia and Mark have regarding the creative process. They will offer a series on creativity in 2021.

Topics include the following:

The role of motivation and competition
Using circumstances such as time, energy, and space to work
How the stress of 2020 helped create spaciousness for creativity in many people
Breaking down the goal into manageable increments (15-minute bursts)
Having the support of others
The concept of Flow by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi; flow is a useful state in which to create
Allowing for forgiveness
Not focusing on content
Letting the inner critic and editor sit over there in the corner
Unlearning the age-old process of editing as I go
No more perfect first draft; using Anne Lamott’s concept of the Shitty First Draft
Brené Brown uses SFD in processing our relationships with others
Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic also helpful
Identifying as a writer: “this is what writers do; they sit down and write.”

Useful links:

Bird by Bird

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (we discuss this book in Episode 5)

The Pomodoro Technique

NaNoWriMo

Rising Strong by Brené Brown

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

Mark's Handmade Pottery Mug from Vermont

Photo by Arlia Hoffman

Spiral Leadership Radio is sponsored by Spiral Leadership Group. Founders Mark Elberfeld and Arlia Hoffman are the show hosts.
Spiral Leadership Group facilitates growth in depth leadership, emotional intelligence, and diversity. Through a custom curriculum, retreats, experiential workshops, and coaching, Spiral empowers leaders to be innovative, responsive, and effective.
Learn more at spiralleadershipgroup.com.

In the second episode of SLR’s podcast, co-hosts Arlia Hoffman and Mark Elberfeld continue their earlier discussion about boundaries in this new era of living on Zoom and the continued challenges in the education system.

They also discuss the importance of having a code of ethics when engaging in work with colleagues and clients. When ethics are spelled out and agreed upon, it is much easier to point to difficult moments when ethics have been breached. But what about seemingly impossible situations such as the decades-old “Trolley Problem”?

Topics include:

What a Code of Ethics may look like
The “Trolley Problem” thought experiment of ethical decision making
Skills for reflecting on an ethics violation

Useful links:

Becoming A Servant-Leader

Nonviolent Communication

Would You Pull the Trolley Switch? Does it Matter?

Spiral Leadership Radio is sponsored by Spiral Leadership Group. Founders Mark Elberfeld and Arlia Hoffman are the show hosts.
Spiral Leadership Group facilitates growth in depth leadership, emotional intelligence, and diversity. Through a custom curriculum, retreats, experiential workshops, and coaching, Spiral empowers leaders to be innovative, responsive, and effective.
Learn more at spiralleadershipgroup.com.