The Smart Thinking Podcast

Ted is sharing books that he believes must be read this summer to help us all grow as leaders. Especially, those that serve children or have children. The curated list of texts are meant to be read in order to help each of us grow. There is a growing crisis on how children are learning and behaving, and these books will help you help the children in your life. Take a listen as Ted shares seven books – in order – that you need to read this summer.
 
Psych, The Story of the Human Mind: Paul Bloom
Radical Respect, How to Work Together Better: Kim Scott
Hidden Potential: Adam Grant
Meditations: Marcus Aurelius
The Anxious Generation, How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness: Jonathan Haidt
The Body Keeps The Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma: Bessel Van Der Kolk
Bryson the Brave Bison: Davenport, Freshwater, and Cowdrey

When the seasons change, it provides us the opportunity to seek improvement through process. Take a listen as Ted describes a process to help you find the joy in your life. We choose to enJOY our work and there are two hungers we have to feed- ourselves and our passions.
 
Describe what your passions are.
List the people who could be coached to reflect upon their passions.
List who you trust to guide you through a reflective process.
Describe how you can increase your own ability to be engaged and self-empowered.
 
 

How do we get more children and adults to read? Take a listen as Ted shares a strategy for increasing the amount of children reading. It all boils down to one key idea -- if we want children to read - -the adults have to read!
List who you should read with.
Describe the books you like to read verses the books others like to read. .
List the books you'd like to read with others. 

How will you remember this school year? Take a listen as Ted explains a process to use to help you and your system reflect - with intention - in an effort to create a realistic memory of the year. Learn how to identify the peaks, the pits and the transitions so that you can celebrate and acknowledge the real journey and use the information to better serve your classroom, school or system in the future.
 
Describe how you can increase the awareness of others while on the journey.
List who would benefit from reviewing the peaks, pits, and transitions.
Describe how you can solidify the memory of the end. 

Ever wonder how memory is impacted by emotions, or how the amount of books in your home informs your child's intellectual skills, or how electronics are impacting development or what AI is doing to the brain? Wonder no longer -- these and many more questions are answered in this conversation with Jared as we explore the brain and his newest research and discoveries. 
Find him: https://www.youtube.com/@JaredCooney
Song: Andrew Hoyt - Dance with Somebody 
 

We all need to be both leaders and followers and we can do that if we CARE. Listen as Ted explains the need for us each to be in two lanes at once - lead and follow. CARE is a simple way of explaining what a good follower does.
 
Collaborate
Accept responsibility
Resilient
Engagement with intention

Listen as Ted reminds us of the power of listening to the "nudges." This is the 300th episode of the podcast and Ted walks through how important it is to listen to the ideas of others and shares a simple process to support coaching yourself to higher levels of engagement and happiness.
Song: Sunflower Bouquet by Anderson Coates - Golden Bear Studios
 
Reflections: 
List the "should’s" you heard this past week.
Describe who in your life nudges you towards excellence.
List the people and the nudges that have changed your life.
 

Too often in our organizations, we forget to provide the leadership so that we have a strong cultural understanding of our journey. As a result, we need a process. Join Ted as he explains why and how to create a unified story(narrative) so that more people can celebrate all they've done together so that you can end the year together! 
 
Process prompts: 
Celebrations (Internal)
Celebrations (External)
Grow my engagement
Professional development WE need
Elephants in the room
Recognitions
Can you believe?

What is your process for advocating for yourself and your strengths? Too often other people judge us and do not understand us so we need a process to help others see our strengths. Join Ted as he shares a process to employ for you to create your own self advocacy plan or IAP. 
Identify your strengths and soft strengths.
Describe who in your world needs to be coached to self-advocacy.
List ways in which you can support others through their strengths and weaknesses.

This conversation with author and mental fitness guru Greg Harden is going to change you, your leadership and maybe even your life. His book is fantastic, his career is amazing, and this conversation is a game changer. Take a listen as Greg and Ted – two obnoxious optimists – discuss how to support your own journey and how to focus on being your own best friend.
 
Book: Stay Sane in an Insane World: How To Control the Controllables and Thrive