Leadership And The Environment

Lately, I've thought of people who say they can't avoid plastic bags, bottles, flying. I suggest just declining, but they say they can't. Saying no reminds me of Rosa Parks.She said no. She didn't just act on her own as the campaign was planned and strategized, but she did it. She was arrested, which no one will be for declining a water bottle.Why do we honor someone if not to follow when the chips are down? Why remember her if when we feel it's right to say no, we don't?Her actions also suggest that even when many people agree and want to act, a spark helps. It seems everyone wants cleaner air, land, and water. As long as everyone thinks, "If I act but no one else does then what I do doesn't matter," everyone keeps sleepwalking, keeping polluting.She was a leader who accepted her fate of arrest, risking more in context of activists being lynched and killed. We have it easy in comparison. We can say no and lead others at no risk.Also like her, saying no is the beginning or a big escalation. For her it escalat

People see my apartment and often describe me or my lifestyle as minimalist.I don't like labeling people or being labeled, but if anything, a more apt label would be maximalist.You might see the lack of stuff, but my focus is on values, relationships, self-awareness, free time, fun, joy, mental freedom, physical freedom, simplicity, space, delicious food, beauty, fitness, social and emotional skills, happiness, emotional reward, and so on.You can't see those things, but I focus on them. The more joy I create in my life, the more I want to create more, which a TV gets in the way of for me. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

If you haven't started plogging, I recommend it.What's plogging? It's a term the Swedish created for picking up garbage when you run.I've picked up at least one piece of trash per day for a few years. In fact, this podcast began from a former student who, when he heard of my practice, committed to picking up 10 pieces of trash per day for a month.Most people do it by bringing a bag to collect the garbage with. I wasn't sure how to start plogging in New York because there's so much garbage. If I picked up everything I passed I might not make a block.Also, I don't want to run with a bag.Listen to my second conversation with John Lee Dumas and you'll hear how his commitment to picking up trash from the beach near his home inspired me to stop analyzing, planning, and thinking, and act. I have to relearn that lesson over and over.Action raises awareness more than raising awareness leads to action. Actually, planning, analysis, and raising awareness delays action, at least environmental action given that everyone i

A friend who treats opioid addicts told me about the squalor they live in. They don't see it because they're thinking about their next hit, which will bring them euphoria. They'll steal and prostitute themselves to maintain their habit, not thinking about the filth they live in or whom they hurt to bring their next hit.People don't seem to see the filth we've turned our world into. People seem willing to ignore whom they hurt with their single-use plastic and the jet exhaust they impose on billions of others.The longer I go without packaged food and flying the more people talking about them sounds like people talking about heroin. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

"To start, I need to build awareness."Who hasn't said that about polluting less? It seems the standard starting point. On the contrary, it's the standard delay tactic.In a world where environmental issues are front page news and everyone sees the pollution that they create, claiming a goal of awareness more often delays action. You're already aware. Plenty aware.Action creates awareness more than awareness creates action.Beth shows personal leadership---accountability, responsibility, openness, honesty, and more---in revealing that someone who is plenty aware, when she chooses to act, reaches whole new levels of awarenessI believe most people delay action because they anticipate how much awareness of themselves they know action will create. They'll realize they could have acted long before and will feel bad about it.She got hit over the head with how much more she depends on plastic than she expected. She didn't hide from it. Unlike most people, instead of giving up, she used the opportunity to grow, to try t

Jeff teaches a class in making a living through a creative life. I've sat in on his class for years for his interviews and the guests. I don't need more formal education. Look at some of the people he's interviewedRalph Lauren, Halston, Brooke Astor, Liza Minnelli, Donna Karen, Martha Graham, Tom Brokaw, Tony Bennett, Renee Fleming, Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum, Gisele Bundchen, Adriana Lima, Candice Swanepoel, Miranda Kerr, Karlie Kloss, Doutzen Kroes, Alessandra Ambrosio, Justin Bieber, Usher, Black Eyed Peas, Maroon 5, Katy Perry, Akon, Halle Berry, Salma Hayek, Ray Kurzweil, Sanford Weill, Tim Ferris, and Peter DiamandisThe celebrities are not the main reason I like his class. You know how no matter how productive you feel, when you take a vacation, things resolve themselves and you realize your priorities?I get that from his class in an hour or two nearly every time. Jeff brings out creative thoughts, reflection, and solutions. I wanted to bring that culture to the podcast.This episode is about leadership, esp

First, if you haven't watched Story of Stuff, as much as I love my podcast, watch the videos from the organization Michael O'Heaney leads---the Story of Stuff.You'll hear that simple things he could have always done are available and doing them improves his life, as I heard.As experienced leaders often do, he involves others---in particular, his daughter---in contrast to many others, who tend to think of other people as problems. They think, "I can't stop flying because of family," or because of work. Always someone else.Leaders involve others solutions that affect them a strategy that usually works, at least among this podcast's guests.He's not the first to find acting on his environmental values overcomes separation with children. I recommend listening to Jim Harshaw's episodes for another example of a parent using acting on his environmental values to connect with people he cares about.The links Michael mentioned:The first group is TEJAS, based in Houston.Yvette, a staffer, was featured in the first short

First, watch the video Sandy made through Generation 180, the nonprofit he started to promote reducing consumption. His for-profit companies are already responsible for significant increases in solar, wind, and other renewable.I think you'll find the video effective in reaching people in ways the environmental movement have neglected, but work. It presents a new way of looking at renewables: freedom, independence, and creating jobs, coming from an actual veteran experienced in energy.https://youtu.be/jtX-lGOUP8AI'm pleased to announce that the Leonardo DiCaprio foundation tweeted Sandy's last conversation, leading to a big surge in its downloads.Our second conversation covers the origin of video and his vision driving it.Note that reducing consumption achieves more than providing more energy, hence Generation 180 and my focus.Sandy's challenge of reducing his meat consumption is yet another case of someone finding it easier than expected and rewarding---something he wants to continue. Listen for yourself, but

If you're like me, you've heard of Bulletproof coffee. Since I don't drink coffee I didn't think much of it, but since I heard about it, I figured the guy behind it was good at internet marketing.I'd come to hear Dave name. Also I kept hearing about people losing weight on it and saying they had tons of energy. Still, I didn't pay too much attention? Was it keto?When I found out he was speaking at the coworking space where I was hosting one of my famous no-packaging vegetable stew and sustainability events, Assemblage, I decided to go and learn more.I was surprised several times over. First, the place was more packed than any event there that I'd seen. Second, everyone was rapt with attention. Third, he wasn't trying to entertain to get that attention. He just talked. Fourth, a lot of people stayed well after it officially ended.He talked a lot about supplements, eating habits, and behavioral change. I thought:Some so-called leaders lead poorly, even if they have authority.Some leaders lead okay.His followers

You'll love how I met Ann-Marie, a friend whose perspective I value despite not having met in person yet.After the 2016 election, I posted a piece on Inc., If You Voted for Trump, Let's Meet, because living in lower Manhattan means what Trump voters are around get bullied, effectively, into keep quiet about it. I disagree with many Trump policies, to say the least, especially on the environment, but he won. I wanted to know more about him and his voters.She responded, among others, as I wrote in a follow-up Inc. piece, Leaders Listen: Crossing the Political Divide, What happened when I spoke to people on the opposite pole of everyone around me. I think we both pleasantly surprised each other on our civility, curiosity, and mutual unhappiness with our nation's level of political conversation, if you can call it that.We've kept in touch. My podcast conversation with Jonathan Haidt and reading his book led me to want to bring more diverse views on the podcast. I thought of Ann-Marie, invited her on, and here is

Bethany made her name as the first to report that Enron was overpriced, which meant going deep into the numbers and people, understanding them, and then facing overwhelming criticism. Turns out she was right, but can you imagine the friction and hostility she must have faced?Now she's looking at fracking. We want journalists like her investigating and reporting what's happening that we don't know about. Are we increasing our nation's security?She looks at the people and numbers, makes sense of them, and wrote a short, colorful, informative book on it.The short answer is that it doesn't make sense except for some economic anomalies, but getting into more detail helps you understand the direction of the country. She explains the short-term perspective of oil and gas, though the main point seems that the U.S. has no energy policy. This is our world.If you want to influence fracking, environment is not the most effective lever. If you want to understand this critical part of the U.S. becoming an exporter again an

Marion Nestle is a hero for me. Food may be the greatest interest that got me into acting on my environmental action. Avoiding packaged food emerged from avoiding fiber-removed foods, which emerged from reading Diet for a Small Planet in the 80s, which also motivated her.She, her books, and blog, Food Politics, are voices of sense in a crowded field. Her most recent book is The Unsavory Truth: How the Food Companies Skew the Science of What We Eat. I've read most of it and seeing her present on it led to meeting her in person. I recommend it.Her other books include What to Eat, Food Politics, Why Calories Count, Soda Politics: Taking on Big Soda, and Safe Food. I've read about half of each of the first three, expecting to finish all, and recommend any to start---whether your interests include food, the environment, acting on your values, health, or nearly anything, really. There's a big overlap between food and the environment regarding leadership, which she and I talk about.This conversation covers the path

My third conversation with Geoff covers using his research to figure out what to do.I start with a few questions on how to create a vision for the future based on his research. Can we change our growth trajectory, currently leading to ever-accelerating growth, without sacrificing the superlinear growth that makes cities and presumably culture stable? Recall that sublinear growth leads to companies' and animals' limited lifetimes.Without leadership, it seems inevitable to me that we'll reach collapse. Leadership---changing cultural beliefs---seems our best hope. Creating new technology keeps us on the same track. We'd have to work hard to stay off the track we're on.He talks about how futurists from generations ago predicted technology would free up so much time we wouldn't know what to do with ourselves. History shows we found the opposite. The research I've seen on technology creating efficiency has led to more pollution, not less.Listen to the conversation to see what we can do. See acast.com/privacy for pr

This episode is for people who detest Trump. I'll speak to people who love him in future episodes.If you pollute and emit greenhouse emissions beyond the IPCC recommendations, which one round-trip cross country coach flight will nearly do, you personally pulled out of the Paris Agreement so many people criticized Trump for pulling out of.If you defend your flying and other pollution as necessary for your job, congratulations, you used the same excuse behind killing every piece of environmental legislation that's lost.Beyond your actions' effects on the environment, when you tell others to sacrifice for things you don't, you motivate people to vote against you. If you care about issues you differ with Trump on---abortion, gun rights, Supreme Court justices, how the world views our nation---your saying coal miners should sacrifice their jobs while you use your job as an excuse to keep flying motivates people to vote against you. Many people want to stick it to the liberal elite.How to winIf you want to win in 2

I talk to a lot of people who aren't acting on their environmental values. They explain their inaction in many ways, but one of the top ones is that they claim they first have to raise their awareness or become more conscious.To claim unawareness of an issue making global front page news monthly, maybe weekly, when anyone who has ordered takeout or considered eating less meat or driving fewer miles, everyone is plenty aware of the situation and things they can do about it.Action leads to awareness more than the other way around.People will deny it, but nearly everyone uses the specious, fatuous, self-serving pursuit of awareness as a delay tactic, a smokescreen to distract from action.Sadly, beyond delaying awareness, delaying action also delays transforming the internal conflict they're trying to become aware of into joy, discovery, growth, meaning, purpose, saving money, delicious food, and all I created this podcast to share.If you want awareness, act, and bring more joy into your life.I also read a passag

Beth personifies whom this podcast is designed to showcase: someone whose hard work, risk-taking, and personal challenge brought her to the pinnacle of her craft, which she is willing to share. That is, someone who did what leaders in the environment have to---to work hard before you can see the light at the end of the tunnel, having faith in yourself.She shares inside views of cultural change toward environmental stewardship at General Electric, with over 300,000 employees, a world of suppliers and clients, a century of history including major environmental damage. To this day, when I mention swimming across the Hudson, people ask about GE, PCBs, and carcinogens.She didn't shy from the challenges. She took them on. As I saw it, she worked as successful leaders do, with people, seeing them as allies and resources. You'll hear her story, results, and lessons, which apply to my work with large corporations. You'll hear me learning from her how I can help my clients.She also takes on a challenge that sounds big

Many people believe that technology will save many of our environmental problems. I've written and spoken on how making a polluting system more efficient will lead to it polluting more efficiently.My recent cross-country trip by Amtrak, which prompted me to wonder what it would take to transform Amtrak into a first-world train system, illustrated the challenges of systemic change and how pushing on one lever won't do it.Do you think just putting faster trains on Amtrak's tracks would create a system with trains running at first-world speeds, which are double Amtrak's current maximum speeds? Not a chance.This episode considers what goes into systemic change.I close with a reminder that despite its difficulties, the first steps are obvious: you and me, here and now, changing our beliefs and behaviors, which will improve our lives. All my changes to live by my environmental values improved my life.I'm talking about creating joy, meaning, value, purpose, passion, closer relationships, more delicious food, saving

Evelina said she'd avoid plastic for a month before she could think twice about it. Did she complain or back out? You'll hear in this episode, but the big picture is that instead of giving up, she worked harder.I've spoken to a lot of people who started from less and took on smaller projects, if anything. A lot of people talk. Evelina acted. She did a lot.And what do you know? She enjoyed acting more than most people, who seem to prefer saying how helpless they are, despite the sorrow it seems to bring them.Recall, she is a travel writer and chose not to fly. She's already done more than nearly anyone. She takes personal responsibility for what she does. But hearing her speak, you don't hear sadness or missing. I hear her creating joy, taking initiative, not waiting for others.I think the root of her activity and joy is for doing the opposite of what most people do when they face not acting by their values. Most people delay acting by making a goal of "awareness" or "being more conscious," as if reading front

Since appearing on his podcast, he and I have become friends. You can't hear it in this recording, but since meeting on line, I've met him in San Diego, where I stayed in his guest bedroom, meet his family, and cooked my famous no-packaging vegetable stew together.So this episode is more personal.Jared has acted more than most to live by his environmental values, so you'll get to hear someone not complaining. You get to hear people who have acted sharing our experiences. If you haven't acted and mean to, you'll hear that from other side. We don't complain, though we wonder why people don't act.To me this was an open, honest conversation among people who are making meaningful changes in their lives and enjoying it. The leadership part of this podcast is about that joy, as well as meaning, value, importance, and purpose.I hope this conversation showed that you'll enjoy changing when it's to live by your values and you'll wish you had earlier. Yes, you'll stop doing some things you are. Think of great historical

In our second conversation, Geoffrey and I continue to pursue his unique approach to viewing the environment. I find it fascinating because he approaches the environment from a different direction, but he arrives to the same conclusion---the need for leadership to change cultural norms.Talking here gave him the chance to explore ideas he raised in his book but didn't pursue. He wanted to do so, as I understand him. His book went in that direction, but he kept conservative.We also considered the role of a scientist in our world's situation, then spoke about science, culture, the environment, and the role of scientists. It seems to me that we have to change the goals of our system, which doesn't mean stopping capitalism.On the contrary, rules like bankruptcy and antitrust legislation fix inherent problems in capitalism of monopoly and debt turning into slavery. Markets also overproduce. We've accepted laws fixing such problems. Why not things like pollution taxes and externality taxes?We also regulate accountin