Welcome to OtherWise Insights!
A podcast on leadership and entrepreneurship, each episode features an expert from the business world and a guest who has faced a similar challenge in a very different way.
In this short trailer, you’ll hear about the origin of OtherWise Insights and what to expect from the show. You’ll also get a sneak peak of a few of our guests in the first season.
OtherWise Insights is brand new and I’m learning every day, so I’d love to hear what you think, who you want to hear from in future episodes, what other topics you’d like to explore.
Thank you so much for listening. I’m delighted you’re here!
Disclaimer: All views provided by government officials are their own opinions and do not represent the government by which they are employed.
Katarina Jones: What would you imagine a refugee could tell a tech entrepreneur about starting over?
While their lived experiences might be completely different. It turns out they can also have a lot in common.
Welcome to OtherWise Insights.
Thanks so much for joining me as I talk to fascinating people from all walks of life. OtherWise Insights brings together business leaders with people from completely different backgrounds to talk about leadership and entrepreneurship topics that are relevant to both of them.
Jo Sletbak, Consul General, Norway: It resonates because it’s so different, but it’s still the same way of doing it.
Katarina Jones: On this show, you’ll discover that leadership wisdom lives in many different places. Each episode focuses on a different topic, like reading a room, bootstrapping, and adapting when things go wrong. We always feature two experts who approach the subject from different angles.
David Hornik, Venture Capital Partner, August Capital: In many ways, mine and Holly’s world are very similar in that we’re sort of everyday waiting for that moment when something has broken to then figure out if it’s fixable or not.
Katarina Jones: On the show, you’ll hear conversations between an Air Force general and a CEO about building culture on remote teams.
You’ll listen to a Diplomat and the Director of a business accelerator talk about influence and building ecosystems. You can even hear an FBI agent and a CEO talk about staying calm under pressure. In a time where people focus on what sets them apart, OtherWise Insights looks at the intersections of our experiences and discovers what we can learn from each other.
David Shoemaker, Brigadier General, US Air Force: I gotta tell you, I knew I was going to learn a lot today. I’ve already had one big aha moment.
Katarina Jones: So how did it start? My name is Katarina Jones and I’m a leadership coach and consultant. Before becoming a coach, I worked in strategy and operations for about 10 years. So that means I’ve worked with a lot of leaders. I’ve seen some great examples of leadership and some not so great examples of leadership.
I’m always looking for the little nuggets of wisdom that can support leaders like you in your professional development. So the day that I realized that some of the best leadership advice can come from outside the boardroom, I was volunteering in a prison. I was teaching about empathy and communication.
During the workshop, a prisoner came in late. So he apologized and he said he was preparing for his parole hearing, which seemed like a reasonable excuse. It was also a great time to model what we were teaching. So I asked the prisoner how he was feeling about it and what he said really surprised me. He said, I’m nervous, but I’m trying to focus on what I can control and let go of what I can’t control.
He was highlighting something that I wish a lot more leaders understood. I’ll be honest, I did not expect such simple but profound wisdom to come from him. It expanded my worldview on where our best leadership lessons can actually come from. After that experience, I started finding brilliant lessons in what seemed like unexpected places.
Over time, however, I started to realize that leadership skills are ubiquitous. People from all walks of life, especially when they are put under pressure, have to learn how to lead themselves and others.
I love learning from all kinds of people. That’s what makes these conversations so fun. I’ve also discovered they’re pretty fun for the people I interview too.
Joel Gascoigne, CEO, Buffer: Wow. That was really amazing to listen to. I think what really stood out as well in that is the power of story…
Katarina Jones: and they can be incredibly powerful.
Mysty Rusk, Director, The Brink: If at the end, if it blows up and there’s just a pile of ashes, I will stand in the ashes alone and take all the blame. And if it goes well, I will share all the credit.
Katarina Jones: In OtherWise Insights, we compare and contrast situations. And then we build on each other’s experiences so we can discover the best of all worlds and become better leaders together. The magic is in the intersections.
David Shoemaker Brigadier General, US Air Force: End of the day, people are people and leadership is leadership. And that’s why the more we can talk with leaders from all different places the better we can be.
Katarina Jones: Thank you for listening. I am so glad that you’re here with me to absorb these wise insights from others. These conversations have made me a better leader and coach and I hope you’ll find great wisdom to apply in your life too. I would love to hear what you think, who you want to hear from next, and what questions you think I should be asking, so feel free to reach out to me through the website at otherwiseinsights.com.
And to be the first to know about new episodes, please subscribe.
Music:
Adventures by A Himitsu
https://soundcloud.com/a-himitsu
