Take It Or Lead It

Jenny and I have been working in the same corporation for more than 20 years, and we're both engineers on paper... but we currently have very different roles and have had quite dissimilar career paths. It's fascinating to see how people with similar academic backgrounds can have so different career trajectories and yet have akin ending points in terms of values and preferences, in our case, the common desire to help individuals grow and team collaborate effectively. In this vibrant episode, Jenny and I talk about different dimensions of career management, leadership, and coaching, but not without taking interesting tangents and sharing meaningful stories.

Join us in this episode as we chat with Timea, a "location-independent entrepreneur" currently on a sabbatical and a dedicated Muay Thai fighter. Timea constantly strives to improve her circumstances and herself, following her heart with a blend of discipline and business savvy. In our conversation, Timea shares captivating stories from her life journey, including her adventures traveling the world, her success in digital marketing, mastering Muay Thai, and even participating in the Hungarian edition of "The Apprentice." Discover more about Timea's retreats in Thailand here: ⁠https://www.timeapintye.com/retreats.

Meet Marwa, a remarkable HR Leader whose journey through both her career and life has been anything but conventional. Marwa proudly labels herself as a "fierce risk-taker," and her life story undoubtedly reflects this bold spirit. From bravely leaving home as a teenager to pursue her aspirations—a decision considered unconventional in her society—Marwa has navigated through various industries as an employee, a leader, and an entrepreneur. In our engaging conversation, we explore themes ranging from spiritual transformation to the challenges and joys of parenthood, culminating in insights into the role of HR professionals in shaping and strengthening leaders and organizations. Listen till the end, there is a powerful story in the closing minutes!

"I'd love to deliver a Yoga session for your community", said Vera the first time we met during a storytelling event at InSpiral, the community I founded in Budapest in 2016. I said "Yes, why not?", and she did. At that time, I ignored that she had studied acting... I found that out a few months later through some of her social media posts in which she was terrific! More recently, she was part of the production crew of a mini-series on Netflix called "All the light we cannot see". I'm sure you'll find our conversation as interesting and cheerful as I did while we recorded it!

Derrick is a colleague and a very authentic example of someone who learned to "lead it" and make vulnerability a strength. We already recorded episode 23 together... at that time we talked about the importance of prioritizing habits of self-care and "cleaning up your backyard" first. In this episode, we are conversing about being intentional in the realms of taking a break, being grateful, and celebrating. Listen in!

Take It Or Lead It is back! This is gonna be an educational and eye-opening episode for everyone, I promise. Sue Mason is an inspiring woman and a principal of a consultancy firm who helps companies and leaders grow their awareness around DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion). More specifically, she supports them in their journey to "operationalize their commitment to fair chance opportunity". Sue has a number of tough stories to share, starting from her own. Like others, MILLIONS of other people in the US with a conviction history, she has been told "no" many times, whether it's a job opportunity, or renting a house, for mistakes she made when she was young and came from adverse life circumstances, now almost two decades ago. In a pivotal moment in 2015, enough was enough, and Sue decided she would dedicate her life to changing the status quo, for leaders, regulators, and corporations. If you want to connect with Sue, here's how: -Email: [email protected] -Website: https://susanmasonconsulting.com/ Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the individuals and do not represent any company's views, position, or opinions.

Derrick is a colleague and a very authentic example of someone who learned to "lead it" and make vulnerability a strength. In this episode, Derrick will share how a number of "life storms" and the ensuing growth helped him strengthen his ability to cope with life challenges through his own recipe: a blend of analytical skills, faith, self-care, morning habits, and asking for help when in need. I love that Derrick stepped up in recent years to share his stories and what he learned about resilience with the sole purpose of contributing to other people's lives. This is another very inspiring conversation I had the pleasure to host... looking forward to having Derrick again on the podcast to go deeper on some of the things we touched upon in this episode!

Episode recorded in Atlanta, Georgia, United States!  Meet Jenny Williams, HR by profession, mother, spiritual enthusiast, and much much more. In this episode, Jenny shares how she made significant changes in her life through a ‘layered’ approach. As our conversation flows and takes some tangents, we talk about spiritual life, being intentional on social media, transformational leadership, and the importance of having clarity of purpose. In the end, she also asks me a few (difficult!) questions, which I wasn’t really ready for. Loved recording this episode, and enjoyed it even more listening to it! Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the individuals and do not represent any company's views, position, or opinions.

"I've been where you are" - said Liam's Guardian Angel - and that made all the difference in the world. As Liam says, "He managed to give me just enough hope". Liam had it all planned: it was meant to happen on July 2nd, 2017, one day after he was supposed to get married. But after he broke up with his fiancé, it wasn't a marriage he was planning. In the first part of this episode, Liam and I have a very vulnerable yet inspiring conversation about how he came back from the brink.  We then talk about the importance of surrounding ourselves with inspiring people who encourage us and say "YES" to our dreams and goals. Finally, Liam shares how he created, almost unintentionally, a supportive community called Stay Sane Social Club Budapest, a safe "bubble" (quoting Liam) for people to have a great time together and detach, even for a few hours, from their worries and challenges.  I loved recording this with Liam, his story is unique and I'm sure it will bring hope to your hearts as well. Enjoy it!

"At 17, with no business know-how, I opened a confectionary store to be able to afford higher education. Each day, I would go to an exchange point and buy 1$ toward my college fund”. I already knew that my guest and dear friend Dursun had an inspiring story, but this is a piece of her story that I discovered on air, as we recorded this podcast. In this episode, Dursun shares how she fulfilled her childhood dream of going to university in spite of unfavorable circumstances... and went far beyond that. Dursun also describes her current dreams and goals, and then we almost swap roles as she starts asking me questions. We end up discussing how story-telling and story-listening can open our minds to accept new perspectives, and our hearts to become more compassionate.

Meet Dorka, one of the leaders of the Hungarian branch of AIESEC, a global student organization that aims to "achieve peace and fulfillment of humankind's potential".  I've been partnering with AIESEC for more than a year now, and I cannot be more grateful for the amount of joy and fulfillment this cooperation brought to my life. In this episode, Dorka will share snippets of her journey and the value of being part of an inspiring organization built on shared values such as peace, sustainability, and servant leadership.

It's a foggy November night... but today I'm on a roll: I've just recorded a new episode of Take It Or Lead It, with my friend Ali, after six months of podcast silence. So -why not?- let me share with you how I feel tonight, my reflections on the seasons of life, and on my particular season.

Take It or Lead It is back! Once more, my guest is my dear friend Alitzel (Ali) Guerrero. Several months after we recorded our first episode together, a few things have changed in Ali's life, but most importantly she made a BIG decision recently, something that we'll discuss in the first half of the episode. We then go on talking about Ali's favorite topic: Mindfulness, mostly focusing on the power of a non-judgmental mindset and practices to cultivate mindfulness. Listen in to find out more! Here's the link to Ali's podcast on Mindfulness: https://open.spotify.com/show/2eAkk1byyfWxbbqs4fhUiV?si=4453ed56c6fe4bd2

Human Relationships are such beautiful, complex, and fluid creatures. Sometimes they grow but most of the time, they simply change, transform or evolve. My relationship with Cris spans almost 25 years and started with a high-school crush, and since then has gone through half a dozen very different seasons. In this episode, Cris and I talk about how our connection has evolved over time and how we changed and matured in the last 25 years. We also discuss how during a personal crisis it's important to reach out for help, and where and how we can find support and inspiration. It's a gracious, insightful, authentic, and (to me) inspiring conversation. I am positive you'll enjoy it, too.

Mohaned is an IT Leader who is very passionate about mentoring others and what he calls "intellectual volunteering". In this episode, we mostly talk about mentorship and coaching in the corporate world, and look at these activities in terms of benefits for the mentee AND the mentor. On inclusion, we discuss how leaders can foster an environment that promotes bonding and belonging. We end up with some reflections on diversity, in particular how corporations can create mentoring networks, connections and communications aimed at supporting women in pursuing careers in STEM.

Raffaella has a unique story: she went through a double lung transplant in 2010 and today she can lead a healthy and fulfilling life. In this episode, she shares her story with grace and depth while providing very meaningful insights and perspectives on what it means to deal with a life-threatening disease. During our conversation, we are covering many dimensions of Raffaella's experience: how to communicate difficult messages to children, her connection with Michael J. Fox (the actor of "Back To The Future"), her relationship with death, and how this challenge has changed her over time. It's been an incredible pleasure to have this dialogue with Raffaella, and I'm sure you'll find meaning and inspiration in our talk, too.

S2E3: Alitzel (Ali) is a coach and an entrepreneur from Mexico who lives in Budapest since 2016. Ali holds events and workshops specifically designed to empower women in their respective journeys to a more fulfilling and centered life. During this conversation, we begin with the challenges that she had to face as a woman in a society that had expectations and limitations as it relates to gender and ethnicity. As we spontaneously dance from topic to topic, we get to discuss the cultural subjectivity of beauty, the importance of authenticity, the limiting belief of “hard work”, the importance of fun at work, the value of communities, and we end up talking about feminine and masculine energies. It’s been super fun to hold this conversation with Ali and I’m sure you’ll experience the vibes as you listen!

S2E2: Claudio is an architectural photographer, a tour guide, and a friend. He is one of the people that have been in my life for a relatively short period, and yet, managed to leave a long-lasting impression and meaningful, cheerful memories. In this episode, Claudio will share how he finds himself in a place in life where he’s been able to intentionally integrate his passions for art, traveling, and social interactions through a personal development journey that includes travels, meditation, coaching, reading and resiliently seeking meaning and fulfillment. Our dialogue will range from architectural photography to his passion for Iceland, passing through the memories and lessons learned from our shared experience of speaking on a TEDx stand at the Sziget Festival in 2017, ending with books recommendations. RESOURCES: A) Book Recommendations by Claudio: *Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman (Vale loved this too!) *The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle (one of Vale's favorite spiritual masters) *The War of Art + Do The Work by Steven Pressfield *The Purple Cow by Seth Godin *No! The Power of Disagreement in a World that Wants to Get Along by Charlan Nemeth B) Link to Vale's TEDx Speech (text): https://medium.com/the-inspiration-blog/i-spoke-at-tedx-one-year-ago-and-here-is-my-speech-2b54a9f11499

Season 2, Episode 1: Waldek is a friend and a leader who spent a great deal of time coaching me early in my career and offered me the opportunity to grow and develop as a leader. In this dialogue, we’ll talk about the importance of developing ALL your team members, growing your successors, and creating an inclusive culture in the workplace. We'll both share stories from our respective journeys as leaders... but not just that. In fact, if you listen until the end of the episode, you'll hear about Waldek's skills in different sports, books recommendations, his leadership role model, and how I plan to increase the podcast's audience.

In this solo episode, I will focus on GRATITUDE, which I consider a true spiritual muscle. I will first share a couple of quotes that constantly remind me to cultivate a mindset of gratitude, and then you will see how I'm learning to be grateful by looking at my daughter when she plays. I will also give you a few practical ideas on regularly inviting gratitude in your life. Listen in! Remember you can reach me at [email protected].

In this episode, we attempt to unpack Humility. How can we define it? What are the behaviors that it entails? How do we feel in the presence of deeply humble people? We also suggest a simple framework to analyze our life with an eye for humility, looking at three elements: nature, nurture, and circumstances.

Friends! This is the first episode with a guest, more specifically Diana, a gentle and bright soul that I (Vale) have the privilege to have as a dear friend. The main theme of our conversation revolves around Feminine and Masculine energies, particularly how important it is for each of us to become aware and stay connected to both these dimensions of our Being. During our dialogue, we discuss how these energies show up in the space of leadership, and beyond. Diana also talks about the work she's doing in creating spaces for women to reconnect with their true selves, as well as her passion for aquatic healing modalities. 👉RESOURCES:  During our conversation, Diana talks about Global Sisterhood, here's their webpage: https://www.globalsisterhood.org/ Also, I reference a book by Wayne Dyer without mentioning the title. The book is: Change Your Thoughts Change Your Life

Is being a "perfectionist" good or bad? Well... neither, because "Perfection is perception". What really matters is having an attitude towards outcomes that makes us feel empowered, harmonious, and effective. In this episode, we will explain why "high-achiever" is a probably a better verbiage to describe our need to be successful in what we do. We will also talk about the 3 types of perfectionism, the law of diminishing returns, Bianca's squeaky chair... and many other stories! NOTE: during the episode, Bianca makes a reference to an article. Here's the link to the source: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-athletes-way/201801/is-the-perfectionism-plague-taking-psychological-toll

In this episode, we discuss a popular topic surrounding our own personality traits of introvert (Bianca) and extrovert (Vale). We also explore the power of partnerships between people with these contrasting traits. 

It takes courage to be authentic in a world that can be very judgmental and has a number of social norms, expectations, and standards that oftentimes don't resonate with us. In this episode, we try to unpack AUTHENTICITY, a topic we feel strongly about as we navigate our respective journeys and try to show up as our whole selves in every realm of life.  We also discuss how we can help others show up authentically in relationships, at work, and in society. All of this, spiced with a lot of stories, in the typical spirit of "Take It or Lead It"!

Without conscious effort, we automatically notice the differences between us and others first. In this episode, we are discussing ways to move toward seeing people's humanity before we see their differences.  

Why is Community so important to us as human beings? Today we talk about our experiences of belonging and psychological safety with groups of people that feel like "family". We also try to answer the question: "Where and how can we experience a sense of community and belonging in today's world?"

In this episode, we share what "The Power of Connection" means to us and why we think that a non-judgmental mindset, vulnerability, authenticity, and depth are the pillars to build meaningful and fulfilling relationships.

In this episode, we talk about Compassion and explore what this beautiful word means to both of us, its etymology, and its relationship with empathy. As usual, we share a bunch of personal stories and how we try to exercise our "compassion muscle" in our day-to-day life.

Meet Bianca and Vale! In the first episode of "Take It or Lead It" we're sharing our motivations, and how we came up with the idea of this podcast. We will share why we would do this even if only 3 people were ever to listen to it... and most importantly, we'll try to answer the difficult question: "Who am I?".