Courage, Finding Common Ground & Choosing Love with Nisha Anand

01/12/21 • 62 min

Nisha Anand (CEO of Dream Corps) burst onto the public scene with her 2020 TEDTalk “The Radical Act of Choosing Common Ground ” which now has more than 1 Million views in over 5 languages. Her unique, powerful, and quite timely take on solving some of the world’s biggest problems has shed a spotlight on the way she has lived, led and worked all her life.

In this powerful interview, we shift that spotlight to behind the scenes for an inspiring (and entertaining) story. How does a public CEO, a leader, an activist, a wife and mother balance such important roles in such an intense environment? The answers may just surprise you as we cover everything from stepping into courage and taking on bold challenges to balancing the discomfort of achievement and choosing love for ourselves. Plus a ton of wild and amazing behind-the-scenes stories along the way.

Sometimes the timing is just right - and it certainly is for this episode. Enjoy!

Some of what we cover during the interview includes:

Beginner’s mind
Leadership lessons & letting others lead
Taking risks
Taking on big problems in a bold way
Growth and getting uncomfortable
A message or leaders that survived 2020
Expanding your circle to solve problems
Fear and finding your purpose
Stepping into your courage
Dealing with stress and overwhelm
Staying calm in the middle of chaos
Friends, mentors and family
Staying curious
Self-talk
The competitive advantage nobody talks about
Choosing love

GUEST BIO - Nisha Anand
Nisha Anand is the CEO of Dream Corps, the national nonprofit organization bringing people together across racial, social and partisan lines to create a better future for all. Previously, Nisha served as Chief of Staff to Van Jones, CNN commentator and NY Times Bestselling Author.

A veteran fundraiser and consultant with decades of experience in nonprofit development and management, Nisha has also served as Director of Development for The Ruckus Society, a national direct action training organization, and for San Francisco Women Against Rape, the city’s rape crisis center. Nisha is a senior trainer and consultant with GIFT, the Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training. As a certified coach, Nisha is a pioneer in the field of “fundraising coaching”–providing a unique blend of coaching people through their issues around money.

In 1998, Nisha was arrested passing out pro-democracy leaflets in the military dictatorship of Burma and sentenced to five years in jail with 18 other international activists. Her arrest put her on the international stage, delivering speeches at numerous events and conferences and interviewing for TV, radio, and print. In 1999, she received her Masters Degree in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from the American University in Washington, D.C.

Nisha lives in Berkeley, California with her husband, two teenagers, and their Great Dane.

RESOURCES

Twitter: https://twitter.com/nishamanand
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nisha-m-anand/
Website: https://www.thedreamcorps.org/
Personal Blog: http://nishaanand.org/
TEDTalk: The Radical Act of Choosing Common Ground (Feb 2020)

Sometimes the timing is just right - and it certainly is for this episode. Enjoy!

Some of what we cover during the interview includes:

Beginner’s mind
Leadership lessons & letting others lead
Taking risks
Taking on big problems in a bold way
Growth and getting uncomfortable
A message or leaders that survived 2020
Expanding your circle to solve problems
Fear and finding your purpose
Stepping into your courage
Dealing with stress and overwhelm
Staying calm in the middle of chaos
Friends, mentors and family
Staying curious
Self-talk
The competitive advantage nobody talks about
Choosing love

Nisha lives in Berkeley, California with her husband, two teenagers, and their Great Dane.

RESOURCES

Twitter: https://twitter.com/nishamanand
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nisha-m-anand/
Website: https://www.thedreamcorps.org/
Personal Blog: http://nishaanand.org/
TEDTalk: The Radical Act of Choosing Common Ground (Feb 2020)

Previous Episode

Finding Moments, Giving More & the Art of Asking for Help with Sean Boyd

What does someone do that is in the top 1% of their profession, has successfully built and sold a company (and helped many others do the same), and committed to significant philanthropic work? They ask for help. And that’s exactly what I get to talk with my good friend Sean Boyd about in this episode.

This conversation is special because this guy is special to me. I get to flip the script and pull back the curtain on someone that I’ve watched countless times make a meaningful impact in the lives and businesses of others with his expertise, advice, and empathy. We cover a wide range of ideas and strategies from mindfulness to mastery and managing stress to brainstorming. This interview is packed with useful insights and ideas that we can all relate to and benefit from.

Some of what we cover during the interview includes:

Asking yourself (and your spouse) hard questions
Finding moments
Handling anger and stress
Finding purpose and taking chances
Psychology vs. technique
The art of asking for help
Why moms are the best
Working through pressure situations
Saying no
Walk & Talks
Personal retreats
Spending time alone
Finding fulfillment
Giving to be successful

GUEST BIO - Sean Boyd, CPA, CFP, CVA
Sean has over 20 years of public accounting experience specializing in small business and real estate taxation. He is one of northern California's most highly regarded and sought after CPAs with three professional designations; CPA (Certified Public Accountant), CFP (Certified Financial Planner), and CVA (Certified Valuation Analyst) place him in a professional category that less than 1% of all U.S. CPAs have achieved.

He has helped hundreds of clients all across the country turn small ideas into successful and profitable businesses and legacies.

Sean graduated from George Mason University with a dual major in finance and accounting. After working for the largest Washington DC based CPA firm, he moved to South Lake Tahoe in 1999 to be a glorified ski bum, however, his career followed him and he developed and refined his client niche between powder days.

While in Tahoe he was the assistant mogul coach for Heavenly Valley Ski Foundation's freestyle team and has coached and developed three athletes to the U.S. Team, including current member Sho Kashima.

Sean is married to his wife Andrea and they have two boys, Jeremy and Josh, both of whom show early signs of adrenaline addiction. Sean loves the outdoors and being with his family. You will often see them taking family walks in the evenings for what Sean calls "life's perfect time".

RESOURCES

Next Episode

Productivity, Overcoming Overwhelm & Prioritizing Yourself with Matthew Gaddy

This week’s interview is with productivity expert, Matthew Gaddy. As a fellow time management nerd, I anticipated (and looked forward to) getting into the weeds on all things productivity - but there was so much more.

Packed with tons of great tips this conversation also takes some unexpected twists that challenged how I thought about my time. As a husband, dad and entrepreneur, Matthew shares keen insight into common traps we all fall into, but more importantly, simple steps to get out. From managing stress and overwhelm to starting your day and making “me time”, I think you’ll take away some valuable insight from what I hope you will find to be a productive episode.

Some of what we cover includes:

Study habits for all of us
Starting early and making “Me Time”
Giving yourself grace
4 cornerstones of a good morning routine
Defining productivity and boundaries
The core principles of productivity
The most important hour of your day
Balancing High Performance Happiness
Being overwhelmed and how to manage it
The magic of microsteps
How to define a good week
Burnout and the importance of self-care

GUEST BIO: Michael Gaddy

Matthew Gaddy has been a student of productivity for over 8 years. His journey started in college with the desire to learn how to study effectively and get good grades. This first venture into learning about effective actions, goal setting and increasing productivity carried over into his first job working for the largest utility in Texas.

In this position, Matthew saw the need for productivity coaching, not as a way to add more to already crammed days, but to teach others how to identify the goals they want to achieve, select and prioritize the steps to achieve them, plan days that supported their productivity, and execute their actions to their best ability.

Matthew is on a mission not only to help engineers become more productive but to also do so in a way that lessens stress and fosters an environment to produce high-quality work.

RESOURCES

Website: https://matthewgaddy.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewgaddy/