The Culture of Things

Mike Goldman is a well-known Australian personality. He’s an actor, voice-over artist, and presenter. He is most widely known as the host of and voice of BigBrother in the popular reality TV show, BigBrother Australia. He has many years of experience in the entertainment industry and has all the inside scoop around what it takes to work in television production and more specifically, reality television. He shares some of his highs and lows of being part of a big production, the pressure, the excitement, and the “never knowing what to expect” - all included in the live production package.  We also chat about his evolution in how he has offered his services to be able to continue to work during the pandemic. Mike is an all-around great guy, hilarious, and full of positive energy -  I have really enjoyed picking his brain on some of these questions around the culture of his industry. Mike has so many channels available to connect with him so take some time to get to know Mike Goldman today - starting with this episode.   Discussion Points Getting to know Mike Mike’s perspective on reality TV What makes a great producer Mike’s thoughts on the success of BigBrother worldwide  Talking about streaming services Mike’s favorite type of team to work with Mike’s work environment challenges How bad work environments filter through to ratings Reality TV show Q&A Comparing BigBrother show to ...

In today’s episode, I have an incredibly informative and interesting conversation with Dr. Dan French - a rhetoric specialist. He’s a bit of a chameleon in his career in that he has two Emmy nominations for late-night comedy writing and a Ph.D. in Rhetoric. He has become an expert in linguistics and using words to influence and persuade - ethically. He believes that a better understanding of rhetoric would make a great deal of difference in the craziness we are seeing in the world right now.    Dan is passionate about sharing his knowledge about rhetoric and does so in his book The 21 Coliseums of Persuasion as well as in today’s episode. I have enjoyed learning about the way he thinks and the level of consideration he puts into his words - it’s been eye-opening for me and I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did. Discussion Points Dr. French’s Bio What is rhetoric? How Dan uses Rhetoric in everyday life What is Dr. French looking to achieve with his work? Rhetoric and persuasion in business and relationships The difference between rhetoric and influence How Dan uses rhetoric to teach leaders in business to influence The 21 Coliseums of Persuasion - where to start? Arguments  Common persuasion flaws and false equivalency  Resources Brendan Rogers Website Brendan Rogers LinkedIn ...

In today’s episode, I speak to Jodie Hill, the founder, and director of a company called Custodians of Change. They focus on educating the world on self-sustainability and self-worth. Jodie is a brilliant speaker and articulates with near perfection a model she created around the concept of UBUNTU. This concept has been around for many years in the African cultures - and it means “I am because we are” - referring to the idea that as individuals, we are better when we are contributing to the collective community.  She experienced this idea most powerfully during her time living in South Africa. Her feeling, now, is that the rest of the world could greatly benefit from embracing an “Ubuntu” point of view - both personally and in business. Jodie shares great personal experiences and examples of people “living Ubuntu” and it’s difficult to argue with the proven success in using this outlook to help communities flourish and take care of each other. This episode is one that will hopefully help you see the ways in which you can help others win so that we as a community can win.    Discussion Points What is “Ubuntu”? Behind the philosophy fellowship The “Lebola” system The meaning of “Ubuntu” How Nelson Mandela lived “Ubuntu” Jodie’s experience in South Africa and connecting with the community Jodie’s Ubuntu Model Understand Being Unite New ...

Rex Buckingham is a self-proclaimed old-style leader. With his vast amount of corporate experience, he is able to help guide people to change the way they think and speak in order to change difficult situations. These changes can of course be applied in work situations but they are also powerful tools to use in personal relationships.  In today’s episode, Rex shares a bit about where he started his career and - that he, in fact, believes that those early days (and the managers he worked with) - played a major role in shaping his work ethic and helping him become the leader he is today. Rex shares some great examples of clients he’s helped and how we can each take responsibility for changing our situations.  Discussion Points Rex’s career history Command and control vs leadership Rex’s “old-style” leadership Intelligent disobedience Taking responsibility for changing your life Leadership style is linked to expectations Allowing command and control leadership Impacts of command and control leadership on mental health Rex’s thoughts on HR in a business The things that had the biggest impact on Rex   Resources Brendan Rogers Website Brendan Rogers LinkedIn The Culture of Things Podcast Website The Culture of Things LinkedIn The Culture of Things Facebook Page The Culture of Things YouTube Channel The Culture of Things Instagram  Woolworths ...

Tom Lawrence started out as an engineering apprentice at an automotive company in Liverpool in the UK. He worked in this industry for a few years, throughout which he found himself working under multiple managers who were not particularly good leaders. These were the quintessential managers of the past… people who just focussed on “getting the job done”. Once he became a manager, he found himself scrambling to figure out the job of leading a team - wishing he had been trained by his predecessor. This led him to the realization that if a manager really does a good job, they are actively upskilling their team to become leaders themselves.  Today you will hear about how Tom came to write his book “Manager to Leader” and we dig a little deeper into a few of the topics he covers in this book. Tom is passionate about teaching people to lead well and I was inspired by his worldview on leaders.    Discussion Points Tom’s leadership journey Writing “Manager to Leader” Managers vs Leaders False influence vs genuine influence How to influence genuinely Leaders being developed before becoming leaders Insecure leaders vs secure leaders What is micromanagement? Changing managers’ mindsets Tips  Leading up What has had the biggest impact on Tom’s leadership journey   Resources Brendan Rogers Website ...

In this episode, Amber and I are both in lockdown in our homes (once again) which means we could unfortunately not record this episode in person but we still managed to get into a cracker conversation about leadership, communication, and personal development.  Amber Daines is one of Australia’s most agile communications professionals. She is known for her ability to devise and implement successful strategies across all forms of external and internal communications. She helps leaders improve their ability to advocate for their business to their employees and the outside world through speaking and writing. By understanding how important communication is to success, she pushes leaders to understand that listening is the first step in being heard. So often leaders are in the position of simply telling people what to do without sharing the philosophy behind it. Amber shares that a leader’s philosophy (and the proper communication of that philosophy) is the thing that really gets the buy-in from his/her team. Without buy-in, unfortunately, a leader will struggle to gain trust which will, in turn, ensure a full effort from team members when working to achieve a goal.  Amber helps us understand the best way to go about getting ourselves heard through better communication.  Discussion Points Why is communication so important when you are a leader Remember who your audience is and remain consistent How leaders can get comfortable with who they are? The impact of a leader with poor communication skills The importance of vulnerability in a leader The media its ...