FDR: He Didn't Let Polio Derail His Calling This week, in the latest episode of our series within the show Stories from the Book Crucible Leadership, we look at the courage, good humor and determination– both personal and political – that made Franklin Delano Roosevelt one of history’s most celebrated figures. None of what he accomplished in the White House, we discuss here, would have been possible if Roosevelt didn’t have two critical things necessary to move beyond a crucible: a mindset shift that he wouldn’t let his polio prevent him from living an active life; and fellow travelers who helped him keep going so that he could indeed, move from private trial to public triumph. “A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor,” Roosevelt once said --- and his life is a ringing testament to that truth we’d all be wise to remember. To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and be sure to tell your friends and family about us. Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

Seek to Win A Friend, Not an Argument Do you find yourself, when engaging in discussions about hot-button subjects, spending more time trying to win an argument than trying to build or maintain a relationship? If so, then this episode is for you. This week, we discuss his latest blog at beyondthecrucible.com, in which he offers seven tips for not turning a discussion of issues into an us vs. them war of words. Among the insights he offers: don’t judge the motives of people we disagree with, respect those who differ from your perspective, share the backstory behind your worldview and seek to find common ground.  “Having positive engagement with those we disagree with is possible,” Warwick says. `“Isn’t this more of what the world needs? To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and be sure to tell your friends and family about us. Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

5 Years, 5 Big Learnings Inspiring, uplifting and so much fun. That Warwick’s summary of the milestone we celebrate on this week’s episode: the five-year anniversary – to the day, on the date this show drops – of the Beyond the Crucible podcast. Our look back focuses on five key learnings from these past five years that have come from interviews and discussions on the show. Those insights – your worst day is your worst day, your crucible can be a gift, you can't get beyond your crucible without forgiveness, it's never too late to pursue a fresh life of significance, and knowledge is power – have become critical parts of our knowledge base for helping you move from trials to triumphs. And you’ll also want to pay special attention at the end, when Warwick and Gary pick one episode each from among the 234 that have come before this one that we believe captures the essence of what Beyond the Crucible is all about. To watch the Heather Kampf episode discussed in the show, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgbGo6Z1Xms&list=PLLohc3aLoBACZkgOBuRE1LtBBMSqc0OOO To listen, click here: https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/harnessing-resilience-iii-heather-kampf-82/id1484108280?i=1000534538329 To watch the two Lisa Blair episodes discussed in the show, click on these two links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=413wO70tLuk&list=PLLohc3aLoBACZkgOBuRE1LtBBMSqc0OOO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC25FPb4lSA&list=PLLohc3aLoBACZkgOBuRE1LtBBMSqc0OOO To listen, click here: https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/lisa-blair-part-1-reframing-failure-47/id1484108280?i=1000501701291 https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/lisa-blair-part-2-how-do-i-survive-tonight-48/id1484108280?i=1000502437093 To explore other Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app or You Tube and be sure to tell your friends and family about us. Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

Emotionally Paralyzed By Her Dad's Paralysis Charis Santillie was plagued by undealt-with emotions after her father was paralyzed in a hot-air balloon crash when she was just 19 years old. The accident’s aftermath left her a workaholic, allowing her to live the illusion of safety and control. It was only after meeting a coach who asked her why she was suffering from emotional paralysis that Santillie emerged from her self-imposed shackles to help others emerge from theirs. As a certified Fearless Living coach, she now specializes in guiding successful entrepreneurial men to become the Chief Emotional Officers™ of their lives as they face personal and professional transitions. The insights she offers her clients, she says, have helped her continue her own healing journey. To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and be sure to tell your friends and family about us. Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

Horatio Nelson: Naval Hero, Leadership Icon Confident. Calm. Decisive. A man of sound judgement. That’s Lord Horatio Nelson, one of the most celebrated military leaders in British history. He was a hero of Warwick’s growing up, who’s become an example of someone with the personal character and interpersonal skills that can benefit all of us as we navigate our journey to lives of significance. This week, in the eighth installment of our series within the show -- STORIES FROM THE BOOK CRUCIBLE LEADERSHIP -- we discuss what made Nelson a brilliant and beloved leader and the lessons we all can learn from him about motivating and mobilizing teams to achieve a critical goal. We also unpack the details of the two defining battles in Nelson’s naval career: The Battle of the Nile and the Battle of Trafalgar. The first one made Nelson a national hero. The second made him an icon for the ages. “Living your values, living your beliefs, is absolutely key to living a life of significance,” Warwick says. "And that’s what Nelson did.” To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and be sure to tell your friends and family about us. Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

How to Avoid a Professional Identity Crisis Remembering you’re more than your worst day and less than your best day is just one of the nuggets of wisdom we discuss this week in our examination of Warwick’s latest blog at beyondthecrucible.com about the truths that will help you avoid a professional identity crisis. Among the points from his blog Warwick and I discuss are the need to do some serious self-examination and self-reflection; asking others for help if you feel like your identity is wrapped up in what you do, and making sure you’re tackling the soul work that will help you keep your identity in an emotionally healthy balance. Along the way, we also discuss the inspiration for the blog, which came from two recent podcast guests … and Warwick’s own struggles with his professional identity and how he’s moved beyond them. To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and be sure to tell your friends and family about us. Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

Leaning Into Her Own Homelessness to Help Other Women Escape Theirs: Leanna Fairfax Leanna Fairfax, a distant relative of Warwick's, talks about her rough early years – homeless at 15 and off-and-off again through the years after that, in an abusive relationship, plagued by the gnawing feeling that she would always live her life on the margins. But that’s just the start of Leanna Fairfax’s journey. Leanna traced her ancestry to John Fairfax, Warwick's great-great grandfather, the founder of the family media empire Warwick lost in a failed takeover bid that led to his life's greatest crucible. She tracked Warwick down on LinkedIn – discovering that the details of his crucible and John Fairfax's life of perseverance helped her make sense of how she was able to persevere through her setbacks and trials. What has her perseverance looked like? Going to college after dropping out of high school, earning top marks while getting her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and now pursuing her PhD studying women going through the same crucibles she did. Her focus is on researching homeless women living in temporary accommodations, which will not only help improve their lives but has also helped her learn things she didn’t know or feel when she herself was homeless. To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com. Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and be sure to tell your friends and family about us. Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

His Dreams of Being a Doctor Dashed,  He Found a New Calling Running a Physiotherapy Business: Jason T. Smith Jason T Smith thought he'd missed out on his calling to be a medical missionary, until he realized he'd been gifted a new one. Smith's vision for being a doctor helping heal those in underserved nations came crashing down when he didn't qualify to study medicine. So instead, he pursued physiotherapy, first as a backup plan, but then with a passion for not only restoring health, but for reimagining the field. He became founder and CEO of Australia's largest physiotherapy network, the Back in Motion Health Group. He never wanted a business, he says, yet ended up as a franchisor, with more than 140 of them supported by a team of more than 700 employees. But that isn't the final chapter of his life of significance. He sold the businesses for $100 million to focus full time on pursuits like his Iceberg Leadership Institute, where he's mentored more than 1000, others just like him. To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com. Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and be sure to tell your friends and family about us. Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

From a Tin Shed to the United Nations: Stephanie Woollard Not a handout but a hand up. That’s what our guest this week, Stephanie Woollard, just described about how she responded when did when, during a visit to Nepal, she encountered seven women living in a tiny tin shed. They were suffering from physical handicaps and from being marginalized by their society because of those challenges. And her efforts empowered them to change their own lives and to help others do the same. Through the charity she founded, which she named 7 Women, Woollard has bettered the lives of thousands of women in Nepal.  While equipping them with the power overcome their crucibles, she leaned into her strength and discovered the faith to help her overcome her own setbacks and challenges along the way – which included debilitating burnout. “I’ve always had the desire to make a difference,” she tells Warwick. And she’s done that – as the title of her book says – from a tin shed to the United Nations. To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com. Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and be sure to tell your friends and family about us. Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

Stories from the Book Crucible Leadership: Abraham Lincoln on the Character to Build a Team of Rivals The best people possible. That’s who Abraham Lincoln drafted for his Cabinet during the most precipitous time in U.S. history. And most of them weren’t the biggest fans of the country’s 16th president. This week, in the latest episode of our series within the show, STORIES FROM THE BOOK CRUCIBLE LEADERSHIP, we examine how Lincoln managed to achieve such momentous results by assembling a team of rivals. Key to his success, Warwick explains, was Lincoln’s character and the humility that flowed from it, allowing him to surround himself with men who had what it took to help him win the civil war and end slavery … even if they didn’t much care for their boss when they started working for him. In the end though, because of his lack of ego and his ability to forgive slights both big and small, Lincoln’s team came to view him, as one of them said, “as the best and wisest man he had ever known.” To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com. Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and be sure to tell your friends and family about us. Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

Kind, compassionate words are life-giving to us when spoken by others after we’ve been through a crucible. And they’re also life-giving to us when we speak them to others .. a truth the main characters in the movie TOY STORY learn when their initial rivalry turns into an unlikely friendship. This week, in the 9th and final episode of our summer series CLASSIC FILMS, CLASSIC CRUCIBLE LESSONS, we discuss the dangers of comparing our life of significance to someone else’s … and unpack why great fellow travelers don’t have to necessarily be those with whom we have a lot in common. In the end, we discover, building each other and ourselves up rather than tearing each other and ourselves down is what allows us to say, to quote TOY STORY’S title song, "You've Got a Friend in Me." To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com. Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and be sure to tell your friends and family about us. Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

Compassion and empathy. Two traits that help elevate Rocky Balboa out of his hardscrabble life as a small-time boxer who will need both his fists of stone and his heart of gold to escape the crucibles that have dogged him most of his life. This week, in the eighth episode of our summer series CLASSIC FILMS, CLASSIC CRUCIBLE LESSONS, we take a look at 1976’s Oscar-winning ROCKY, both written by and starring Sylvester Stallone.  The movie is a simple yet monumental achievement that explores the power a mindset shift and the support of fellow travelers can have on turning a life of aimlessness into a life of significance. Rocky Balboa always dreamed but never really thought he’d get his shot to change the spiraling trajectory of his life … but then a chance to fight for boxing’s grandest title, and his romance with his best friend’s shy sister, gave him a vision he could believe in and the self-respect he’d never been able to muster. To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com. Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and be sure to tell your friends and family about us. Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

Courage. It’s indispensable to our pursuit of a life of significance in the wake, and especially in the midst, of a crucible. That’s one of the key truths we unpack in our discussion of THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, the latest movie from the American Film Institute’s Top 100 we discuss in our summer series CLASSIC FILMS, CLASSIC CRUCUBLE LESSONS. The first movie in director Peter Jackson’s trilogy of films based on JRR Tolkien’s epic novel has at its center the most unlikely of heroes: Frodo Baggins, a Hobbit – a race of beings known for pursuing leisure more than adventure. But when dark forces threaten to overtake the fantasy world in which the movie is set, it’s Frodo who is entrusted to carry the powerful ring of the title, not the heroic men, elves and dwarves who become his trusted fellow travelers – not to mention the wizard who becomes his mentor and guide. And although he didn’t seek, doesn’t want and is in fact often terrified by the calling he’s inherited, Frodo finds the bravery and resolve to lead the charge to save civilization, discovering along the way that true heroes don’t need to expertly wield swords, just humbly wield character. To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com. Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and be sure to tell your friends and family about us. Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

Classic Films, Classic Crucible Lessons VI: To Kill a Mockingbird  One person doing the right thing. That sums up succinctly TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, the movie we discuss this week on the sixth episode of our summer series, CLASSIC FILMS, CLASSIC CRUCIBLE LESSONS. The person who keeps doing the right thing in this movie the American Film Institute ranked at number 25 on its Top 100 list is Atticus Finch. He’s a kind, compassionate lawyer and honest, dedicated father who refuses to bend to the racial prejudices of his time and place – 1930s Alabama. In defending his client, a wrongly accused black man, he models for his children, Jem and Scout, what character that doesn’t see color looks like. As one of his neighbors tells the children at the tragic conclusion of the trial, “Some men in this world are born to do our unpleasant jobs for us ... your father is one of them.” That would have been an agonizing crucible for many men of the era, but for Atticus Finch it was a role he fulfilled with honor and humility that can teach us a lot about weathering our own crucible experiences. To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com 

Helping other people and having a higher purpose. That's a spot-on definition of what a life of significance is all about ... and also what IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE -- the movie we discuss on this week’s episode of our summer series -- is all about. The movie’s become an iconic Christmas tale because, as we discuss here, it shows that when we live our lives guided by our character and values, rather than simply by the things we want, or at least think we want, we find the kind of joy and purpose self-interest can never give us. That’s the lesson of George Bailey’s life … the kind of life that’s within our grasp when we place the needs of others ahead the desires of ourselves.  To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com. Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and be sure to tell your friends and family about us. Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

This week, we focus our summer-series discussion on the Oscar-winning SCHINDLER'S LIST, No. 8 on the American Film Institute's Top 100 Movies. Specifically, we focus on Oskar Schindler’s journey from an amoral man focused on profiting from World War II and his fellow Nazis’ barbaric treatment of Jews … to a savior of those victimized people. How does he end up there? His compassion and his character grow after witnessing atrocities that take his focus off making a fortune for himself to spending that fortune to buy the freedom – and the very lives – of endangered Jews. He expresses his hopes early in the film that he people would say of his business acumen after the war started “He did something extraordinary” by amassing “all the riches in the world.” That is indeed what is still said today about Oskar Schindler … but in a far different, far more significant way than he was capable of imagining when he said it. To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com. Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and be sure to tell your friends and family about us. Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

SINGIN' IN THE RAIN is one of the most beloved movie musicals of all time, its title song a fabulous exhortation to face crucibles with a happy refrain and a smile on our face. This week, in part three of our summer series CLASSIC FILMS, CLASSIC CRUCIBLE LESSONS, we talk in entertaining depth about the lessons the movie – number 5 on the American Film Institute's list of the top 100 U.S. films – can teach us about the importance of living life with authenticity and navigating our journey from trials to triumphs with a team of fellow travelers who pick us up when we're down and help us define and embrace our unique life of significance. What the hero of the story, Don Lockwood, sings in the film in the midst of a downpour is a perspective we all would be wise to adopt when life's storms come: What a glorious feeling. I'm happy again. To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com. Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and be sure to tell your friends and family about us. Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

In this week's episode, the second in our summer series CLASSIC FILMS, CLASSIC CRUCIBLE LESSONS, we discuss THE GODFATHER, number 2 on the American Film Institute's Top 100 list. It's a cautionary tale that spotlights how critical it is we live a life guided by beliefs and values rooted in something nobler than our own self-Interests. We zero in on Michael Corleone, the youngest son of the mafia family depicted in the film. His father, Vito, the godfather of the title, had plans for him to live a life in the legitimate world as a senator or governor, but they were upended by the violent realities of the mob life and Michael's own ambivalence about the family's business. The tragedy of THE GODFATHER is that Michael had the temperament and skills to have led a great life of significance, but he never seizes the opportunity to live that life. To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com. Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and be sure to tell your friends and family about us. Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

This week we kick off our special nine-week summer series, CLASSIC FILMS, CLASSIC CRUCIBLE LESSONS. We begin our examination of the lessons we can learn from movies on the American Film Institute’s list of the top 100 U.S. films of all time by discussing CITZEN KANE – No. 1 on AFI’s list. Unlike most of the conversations we have on the podcast (and unlike most we’ll have on this series), our look at Charles Foster Kane, the title character of this classic, is not an examination of the trials he faced and how he triumphed over them – but how his inability and refusal to grow from the setbacks and failures of his life doomed him to allowing his worst days to define him. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty we can learn from CITIZEN KANE. The movie is a masterclass in why character and serving others rather than selfishly thinking only of ourselves is the only way to lead a life of joy and fulfilment – what we call a life of significance. In exploring how Charles Foster Kane failed to leave behind a legacy to be proud of – we can discover how to do just that. To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com. Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and be sure to tell your friends and family about us. Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

A life of significance is not a numbers game. That’s just one of the kernels of wisdom and inspiration you'll hear in this week’s episode, in which he unpacks his new blog at beyondthecrucible.com – titled Why Your Life of Significance matters. It offers you the hope and insight you need to turn your worst day into your greatest opportunity.   Warwick runs through some things you should think about when journeying from setback to significance, things like, Why do you want to help the people you want to help, what would happen to them if they aren’t helped and whether you have the skills and passion to bring your vision for helping them to reality.   If you listen closely, you'll also hear Warwick say your vision doesn’t have to be about saving the galaxy. What does he mean by that? Pay attention and you’ll discover the answer – rooted in his inspiration for the blog, a beloved character from a classic movie who can inspire you to go … to infinity and beyond.   To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com.   Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and be sure to tell your friends and family about us.   Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

Our guest this week, Kim Cantin, discusses a tragedy of the deepest sorrow: the 2018 flash floods in Montecito, California, that obliterated her home and took her husband and son from her. Yet the rain and the mud and the devastation could not take her hope.   Cantin was herself injured seriously and her daughter, Lauren, trapped for six hours under the debris. While the body of her husband, Dave, was found quickly in the mudslide’s aftermath, the remains of her son, Jack, would not be discovered until three years later, after an exhaustive search.   In her conversation with Warwick, she explains how she had to muster the tenacity and perseverance to rediscover hope. She’s also documented that journey in her book, WHERE THE YELLOW FLOWERS BLOOM. Its title refers to the yellow flowers that grew in a place that they shouldn’t near her son’s remains … and how their presence helped her see the beauty where there should be none.   Indeed, as she says here, love found a way.   To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com.   Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and be sure to tell your friends and family about us.   Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

Winston Churchill was known for many things – always looking for ways to move onward after a trial or challenge chief among them. That’s the perspective we all should hope to have when life’s crucibles knock us for a loop. When setback and failure are all-too-common companions. When we’re wrestling with our own darkest hour.   This week, as part of what we’ve dubbed our series within the show – Stories from the Book Crucible Leadership – we have a deep-dive conversation about what a great role model of perseverance Churchill is for all of us hoping to turn our trials into triumphs.   Though he faced personal and professional crucibles all his life, Churchill rose above and moved through them by doing some critical things right: leaning into pursuits like writing to calm his soul; a happy marriage he worked hard at protecting; and  -- maybe most importantly – adopting a magnanimous and forgiving nature when family, friends and political opponents disrespected or outright attacked him.   “Success,” he once said (and then modeled throughout his life), “is to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.”     To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com.   Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and be sure to tell your friends and family about us.   Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

Bolstered and resilient. That’s how we all want to feel after we’ve been through a crucible. And this week’s guest, Vanessa Vershaw, is known as the CEO whisperer because she has an impressive track record of helping leaders arrive at that very destination.   In her conversation with Warwick, Vershaw speaks candidly about her own crucibles – some she’s never spoken publicly about before – which include being bullied in school and as a leader in the workplace, often by other women.   She’s emerged from those challenges to help organizations and those who run them reimagine their future, creating strategies and orchestrating experiences that ensure they thrive.   To do so, she explains, they have to commit to shifting mindsets from desperately holding onto past practices to being open to new approaches and possibilities. It’s ground she covers in her latest book, Unreasonable Ambition: Renegade Thinking for Leaders to Create Impossible Change.   The principles she shares in the book, and in this episode, she says, help her clients believe in magic and miracles.   To learn more about Vanessa Vershaw, visit reinventionconsulting.com.au   To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com.   Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and be sure to tell your friends and family about us.   Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

A team so connected, so authentic with each other and committed to the leader’s vision – sounds like a great place to work, doesn’t it? Listen to our discussion on this week’s episode that unpacks Warwick’s latest blog.   That blog, HOW TO BUILD A GREAT TEAM, extrapolates lessons learned during a recent team strategy meeting we had in Savannah, Georgia. From our sessions, Warwick discusses the essentials to top-notch team building – which include picking the right people on the team, the necessity of team members being authentic and vulnerable, the power of differences among team members and why it’s critical everyone on the team genuinely cares for each other and is committed to the mission of the organization.   The big headline of the conversation? Character and commitment matter … and not just to an organization’s bottom line.   To explore Beyond the Crucible assets, including the blog we discuss here and our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com.   Enjoy the show? Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and be sure to tell your friends and family about us.   Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

A little more hope. That was a lifeline our guest this week, Teri Wellbrock, desperately needed after a soul-crushing series of crucibles that began in childhood. She suffered through the traumas of sexual molestation, rape, bank robberies, the murder of a co-worker, emotional abandonment by an alcoholic parent, physical abuse, poverty and the resulting panic attacks that eventually would lead her to the depths of despair. But as she explains in our conversation, she discovered breakthrough the form of EMDR therapy -- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing -- a psychotherapy technique that uses eye movements to help people heal from trauma. Within the confines of that safe space, she explains, she was able to dump the contents of her compartmentalized traumas into a heap of unprocessed memories. Sifting through that pile, trauma by trauma, with the help of her therapist, she embarked on a life-altering healing journey. Today, she shares her insights as host of The Healing Place podcast – exhorting her listeners with a simple charge: Choose Happy. To learn more about Teri Wellbrock, visit www.teriwellbrock.com To explore Beyond the Crucible assets, including our free Life of Significance assessment, visit www.beyondthecrucible.com Enjoy the show? Be sure to tell your friends and family about us. Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

We hope our series exploring the methodology and the profiles of our Trials to Triumphs Self-Assessment has offered you an exciting opportunity to process the crucible you’ve been through and apply what you learn from reflecting on it toward your unique life of significance.   In this eighth and final episode of the series, we revisit the three big takeaways our discussions have unearthed: that knowledge is power, how one small step is all it takes to get the flywheel of significance turning and that there’s always hope – no matter where you find yourself on the roadmap from navigating your way from trials to triumphs.   What we ultimately discovered during the series, and what we hope you discover, too, is that there are six starting points on that map … but a million journeys, no one the same as another.   To take the Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment and discover your own "you are here" mark on your roadmap to a life of significance, visit www.beyondthecrucible.com

An exciting opportunity. That may not seem like an apt description for In a Mad Dash, the profile we discuss this week on the seventh episode of our series unpacking our Trials to Triumphs Self-Assessment. But stay tuned – we think you’ll be surprised, encouraged and equipped.   People whose assessment results return this profile are high performers who’ve had a crucible and seemed to have moved on. But here's their challenge: They've leapt right over the processing phase and started executing on a new vision without facing the hurt or anger they're still holding on to. On the outside, they look successful; but inside, they have a niggling feeling they're being held back in some way.   Eventually, those emotions will come roaring up, and they'll have to "bounce back" to the processing phase to bounce forward. So, here’s the good news to hold onto if this is your result: It's better to face those pushed-down emotions — before you hit the wall and are forced to do it.   To take the Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment and discover your own "you are here" mark on your roadmap to a life of significance, visitwww.beyondthecrucible.com

Life can be better. That’s the cry of the heart and the hope of the spirit for those who take our Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment and get as their result the profile of On A Different Track, the subject we discuss this week on the latest episode of our spring series.   Those who find themselves On A Different Track make up the 28 percent of people who have taken the assessment who don’t believe they’ve had a crucible that has changed the trajectory of their life. But as we unpack here, when they reflect at a deeper level on their lives, they realize there is a gnawing sense of “Is this all there is?”   They may look happy and successful on the outside, but there remains some inner turmoil they haven’t dealt with that’s keeping them from achieving their unique life of significance.   But here’s the good news: as we explore here, just taking a small step in the direction of what truly brings you joy, even if you’ve never dared to do more than dream about it, can move you beyond “Is this all there is?” to “This is all I’ve ever wanted.”   To take the Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment and discover your own "you are here" mark on your roadmap to a life of significance, visit www.beyondthecrucible.com

A really hopeful place to be. Maybe you’ll be surprised to learn that the profile from our Trials to Triumphs Self-Assessment we’re describing is the one we call Afraid to Trip. What’s hopeful about that?   You’ll learn the answer to that question in this week’s episode as we discuss how those who receive this result are closer to living their life of significance than they likely realize. They’ve processed their crucible, they have a vision they’d like to pursue … but they’re wrestling with emotions that are keeping them from moving forward.   But if they tap into the safety, encouragement and support that can come from others and from shifting their self-talk and the worries and fears that guide it, the obstacles they’re worried about stumbling over can change from virtual boulders that seem insurmountable into pebbles they can’t even see.   To take the Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment and discover your own "you are here" mark on your roadmap to a life of significance, visit www.beyondthecrucible.com

Not filling your bucket but draining it. That’s what it can feel like if you find yourself living the profile of Running in Place from our Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment.   This week, in our fourth episode of our spring series unpacking what your assessment results can teach you about where you are on your journey of moving beyond your crucible, we examine this unique situation in which you find yourself with a vision in your mind you can’t seem to get started pursuing.   The good news is, we also offer you insight and action steps on how you can get off the treadmill – move past living in the gray and feeling like “OK” is about the best you’ll ever feel – and start truly moving forward to a full-technicolor life of significance.   To take the Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment and discover your own "you are here" mark on your roadmap to a life of significance, visit www.beyondthecrucible.com

Not able to get ahead. That feeling is one of the hallmarks of being Stuck at the Starting Line, the profile from our Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment we discuss on today’s show. But fear not: While feeling stuck after a crucible is normal, it does not have to be forever. In this third episode of our series delving into our statistically valid self-assessment, we not only explain what it looks and feels like to be stuck at the starting line, but how to get yourself unstuck. A critical aspect of breaking free is mustering the wherewithal to make a mindset shift that allows you to see your crucible not as something that happened to you, but something that happened for you.  And then, with that perspective in hand, setting a course for your unique vision for a life of significance.   To take the Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment and discover your own "you are here" mark on your roadmap to a life of significance, visit www.beyondthecrucible.com

Living as your best self. Pursuing your vision. Fulfilled by your life of significance. If so, we’ve got good news for you. Just keep listening. Does that sound like a place in which you’d like to stand?    This week, in the second episode of our spring series exploring our Trials-to-Triumphs self-assessment, we begin examining the assessment’s unique profiles by starting with the end in mind. So the first one we unpack here is Hitting Your Stride.  But listen closely.  Even if you are Hitting Your Stride, there is still more to do and crucibles have a habit of appearing when you least expect it.   It’s our way of casting a vision for the goal of the race we’re all running as we look to bounce forward from our crucible experiences. No matter where your “you are here” mark falls on the map, you can get to Hitting Your Stride.  Stick with us … and we’ll help you get there.   To take the Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment and discover your own "you are here" mark on your roadmap to a life of significance, visit www.beyondthecrucible.com

Could we really prove it? The stages and the process we go through – each of us individually – after we’ve been through a crucible … and then chart our way beyond it? The answer? Absolutely. As you’re about to discover in our spring series that begins this week on how we built and how you can benefit from our Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment.   In this first episode of our eight part series, we’ll explain how and why we created a statistically valid survey and the surprising – sometimes shocking, even – things it told us about how we experience crucibles and chart our own unique course to a life of significance after them.   So get ready: You’re about to better understand how your setbacks and failures have affected you … and how you can move on from those trials to experience life-changing triumphs.   To take the Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit www.crucibleleadership.com. You'll get your results immediately and be able to better dig into your unique results as our series unfolds.

Someone you admire. Someone who knows more than you about your job or about the lifestyle you want to live. Someone who shares your values. People like that are the ones you should be on the lookout for in selecting a mentor.   On this week’s episode, we discuss Warwick's latest blog at BeyondTheCrucible.com, titled “How To Find the Right Mentor.” Among the seven tips he offers to assist us in securing a helpful mentor are to make sure we’re ready for one, find one who will make us do the work rather than do it for us and be on the lookout for someone who is a great listener and asks great questions.   “Mentors are there to assist us and help us," he says. "Not to fix us."   To explore Beyond the Crucible assets, including our free Life of Significance assessment, visit www.beyondthecrucible.com   Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

Lion Goodman recounts his harrowing experience of being shot twice (two other bullets narrowly missed him) by a man whose car broke down in the middle of the Mojave Desert to whom he was being a good Samaritan – and the hours of discussion that he engaged in with his attacker, finally, miraculously convincing the gunman to let him go.   The incident, he tells Warwick, set him on the path to becoming a coach helping clients eliminate negative and limiting beliefs, resolve childhood wounds and delete traumatic memories at their source.   Today he’s CEO of the Clear Beliefs Institute, dedicated to awakening, healing, and enlightening humanity so we can get on with the job of being fully human, working in collaboration to create a world that works for everyone.   To learn more about Lion Goodman and his work, visit www.liongoodman.com   To explore Beyond the Crucible assets, including our free Life of Significance asseo2ssment, visit www.beyondthecrucible.com   Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

The horrors our guest this week, Amanda Blackwood, endured almost from birth are hard to hear. Decades of physical, emotional and sexual abuse … but heartache was not the end of her story. Healing was.   Our interview with Blackwood, by necessity, covers the traumas she experienced being sex-trafficked on more than one occasion. But make no mistake about it: Amanda Blackwood may have been victimized, but she has emerged as anything but a victim. She fought for freedom from the demons of her past, assisted by therapy and her faith, to emerge as an author, artist and public speaker who offers hope to women who’ve been wounded by the same devastating crucibles.   “The first time I got up on a stage I had a speaking voice like a mouse,” she says. “But I found there was a lion in my lungs.”    To explore Beyond the Crucible assets, including our free Life of Significance assessment, visit www.beyondthecrucible.com   Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

Character. Discipline. Overcoming a natural weakness like impatience. These are critical characteristics for leaders, and for bouncing back from a crucible, and we explore this week how George Washington modeled them. It’s our focus on this fifth episode of our series within the show, STORIES FROM THE BOOK CRUCIBLE LEADERSHIP.   Warwick discusses his appreciation of and respect for Washington as a man of inviolable character who walked away from power after winning the American Revolution even when many clamored for him to keep it as long as he wanted it and America needed it.   He also examines Washington's rare gift for listening, not just hearing but heeding his advisors at a key point in the war when he wanted his army to attack the British but those who counseled him urged restraint. The advisors proved right, and Washington proved his greatness.   It's a greatness we all can lean into by modeling America’s founding father, Warwick says, even though our vision will almost certainly be different than winning a nation its independence.   To explore Beyond the Crucible assets, including our free Life of Significance asseo2ssment, visit www.beyondthecrucible.com   Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

This week, we commemorate our 200th episode by revisiting three moments from past shows that moved Warwick and have shaped the kind of podcast we have now. You’ll discover how crucibles can often be vastly different in details but so similar to be almost identical in emotion; the power of being able to find gratitude in your traumas and tragedies; and how mindset and perseverance can be your superpowers in turning what’s been broken into breakthrough.   The basic truth we aim to unpack here? As Warwick says: "We can learn something not just from everybody’s crucibles, but from how they navigate their journey back."   To explore Beyond the Crucible assets, including our free Life of Significance assessment, visit www.beyondthecrucible.com   Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

This week, we discuss Warwick's latest blog, “Seven Ways to Live By Your Passions, Not Others’ Expectations.” In the piece, and on this episode, he unpacks key building blocks to develop and deploy a vision for a life of significance that you, not your friends or family, are uniquely off-the-charts passionate about.   What's a stake if we pursue what pleases others, not what ignites our spirits? Warwick says it can be "soul-destroying." Not just hard. Not just unfulfilling. Not just feeling trapped. But having your dreams and passions, the essence of who we are, obliterated.    The bookend exhortations we discuss are “Remember, it’s your life!” and “Do something!” In between, you’ll discover what you need to know -- and do – to avoid living, as Warwick puts it, “A dreary black and white life of obligation and people pleasing.”   To explore Beyond the Crucible assets, including our free Life of Significance asseo2ssment, visit www.beyondthecrucible.com   Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

Brad Jeffery was visiting a Kenyan slum on a business trip focused on finding ways to financially help those who lived there when he found himself asking questions about what it would really take to help the impoverished, endangered women he talked with. Just giving them money, he determined, would not solve their dire situation.   So he founded Made Free, an apparel accessories brand that competes on the world stage in design and quality while serving as a vehicle for consumers to help create sustainable change through dignified work and livable wages.   Every purchase supports a day of freedom from human trafficking and poverty … and moves Jeffery further beyond his crucible of feeling that his life – running a successful family business founded by his great-grandfather – lacked the significance to leave a legacy that truly helped others.     To learn more about Made Free, visit www.madefree.co   To explore Beyond the Crucible assets, including our free Life of Significance assessment, visit www.beyondthecrucible.com

Trusting ourselves and our vision, especially when naysayers offer all sorts of reasons designed to dissuade us from pursuing it, is a necessity in our journey to a life of significance.   This week, in the latest episode of our series within the show, Stories from the Book Crucible Leadership, we discuss how Walt Disney did just that, not letting the doubts of others or the crucibles he encountered stop him from pursuing his dreams. Disney refused to let his vision get derailed – and it resulted in seismic changes in entertainment and culture across the globe.   From bouncing forward after being swindled out of his first comic creation, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, to envisioning a family-friendly theme park at a time when such places were seedy and suspect – leading to the creation of Disneyland – Walt Disney was, as Warwick says, never one to give up.   That’s why we’d all do well to summon the same determination in bringing our own visions to reality.   To explore Beyond the Crucible assets, including our free Life of Significance assessment, visit www.beyondthecrucible.com   Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

Turning tragedy into triumph. You’ve heard us use those words scores of times, because we know, from experience, that it’s not only possible to turn what’s broken into breakthrough – but that brokenness is often a key ingredient of the breakthrough.   This week's guest, Tyler Sexton, has cerebral palsy, a condition that has forced him to endure 18 surgeries and decades of insults and being regarded as incapable of doing much with his life. Well, Dr. Tyler Sexton has proven the taunters and doubters wrong.   He's become a pediatrician who can connect with the children he treats because of his crucibles – using his skills and experience to not just treat their bodies, but to plant hope in their spirits.   The philosophy he’s lived by and encourages others to adopt is rooted in what he’s discovered is a life-changing truth: “There’s always something to be thankful for.”   To learn more about Tyler Sexton and his book, No Such Thing As Can't, visit www.tylersexton.com   To explore Beyond the Crucible assets, including our free Life of Significance assessment, visit www.beyondthecrucible.com   Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

Original air date: June 20, 2023 Janine Shepherd was on track to represent her home nation of Australia in the Olympics as a cross-country skier – but then her dream, quite literally, crashed when she was hit by a utility truck while on a bicycle training exercise with her teammates. She came out the other side of that horrific accident and the 6 months of arduous recovery that followed to discover she was a paraplegic. But as she explains to Warwick, her identity as “Janine the Machine,” the elite athlete, was not to be her destiny. She had another calling, learning to fly and training others to be pilots, and inspiring multitudes who have suffered tragedies and trials to embrace loss as their lives’ greatest teacher. An in-demand speaker whose Ted talk was been viewed more than 2 million times, Shepherd calls herself “a mirror to help people see their own defiant spirits." Her guiding philosophy? “Nothing comes easy, and if it did, it wouldn’t be worth having.” To learn more about Janine Shepherd, visit www.janineshepherd.com To explore Beyond the Crucible assets, including our free Life of Significance assessment, visit www.beyondthecrucible.com Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

Original air date: May 9, 2023 Lauren Sisler was a freshman at Rutgers University when learned she had lost her father just hours after she had lost her mother. Having come home to grieve one parent, she was blindsided by the news that the other had died, too. And she had no idea how any of it had happened We speak with Sisler about that 2003 tragedy, when she was not only hit with the unfathomable news of the deaths of her mom and dad, but the shame she couldn’t shake after she learned how they died: from prescription-drug overdoses. It would take her years to break free from what she calls the shackles of that shame, keeping the truth to herself even as she launched a successful career as a sideline reporter for college football and gymnastics on ESPN and the SEC Network. But as she began to share the true story of her parents’ deaths, she discovered she could transfer the hope and healing she experienced in facing those hard truths to the audiences that heard her speaking them. To learn more about Lauren Sisler, visit www.laurensisler.com To explore Beyond the Crucible assets, including our free Life of Significance assessment, visit www.beyondthecrucible.com Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

The way of others before self. The path lined with humility, authenticity and selflessness. That's the road we discuss this week in our latest episode of the Series Within the Show, Stories from the Book Crucible Leadership.   The historical figure we discuss here is Jesus – specifically His example of servant leadership and His exhortation for us to do as He did. Our conversation is designed to encourage you to think and act counter-culturally: leading in your workplace, your community, as a parent … in a way that makes the needs and wellbeing of others your highest priority.   Why is that not only a noble goal, but a wise one, to aim for? As Warwick says, “Joy and fulfillment come when you’re serving other people, living with some other-centered purpose.”   To explore Beyond the Crucible assets, including our free Life of Significance assessment, visit www.beyondthecrucible.com   Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

Misaligned, misguided identity is one of the greatest tripwires to our crucible experiences. Placing our worth in other people’s perceptions of us – based not on our true inner selves – is a recipe for struggle and setback.   This week, we talk with former NFL quarterback Jeff Kemp, author of the new book, Receive: The Way of Jesus for Men. He stresses the necessity for men to build deep and meaningful friendships with each other in which they share the most intimate and important details of their lives. Because in doing so they will be all that God created them to be … in the areas that truly matter.   And Kemp doesn’t sugarcoat how challenging forging such relationships can be. You’ll be floored when he talks about just how high the percentage is of men who don’t have a close and trusted friend they can share anything with on any topic. The insights he shares here are aimed at lowering that number considerably.   To learn more about Jeff Kemp and to download his free Level-5 Friendship Playbook, visit www.jeffkempteam.com/men-huddle/   To explore Beyond the Crucible assets, including our free Life of Significance assessment, visit www.beyondthecrucible.com   Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

A parent’s worst nightmare. That’s what Gerard Long and his wife, Jeannie, endured in 2005 when their son, Alex, committed suicide. And, inconceivably, it wouldn’t be their last nightmare. Their daughter, Rebecca, was killed in an accident in 2014.   How did the Longs bounce back from their pair of life-shattering crucibles? Not quickly. And not easily. The trauma of the events nearly ripped their marriage in two, but as Gerard tells Warwick, they both found their way back to their faith – which not only helped them make sense of the tragedies, but create a life of greater significance and impact in their aftermath.   Out of their pain the Longs created Awakened to God Ministries, where they carry out a mission close to their now-healed hearts: Showing others who’ve suffered hard times and loss that God can take the worst things that happen to us turn them for good.   As Gerard explains, “Everything that God permits us to go through in our lives is preparation for what He’s got for us later on.”   To learn more about Gerard Long, visit www.awakeningtogod.org   To explore Beyond the Crucible assets, including our free Life of Significance assessment, visit www.beyondthecrucible.com   Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]

Conflicting. Confounding. Confusing. Did you feel any of those emotions when gathering with family and friends over Thanksgiving? If so, we’ve got the antidote for turning those difficult feelings into warm memories.   This week, Warwick discussed his latest blog at Beyond the Crucible.com, “Not Feeling Thankful? These Seven Tips Can Get You in the Holiday Spirit.” We recorded this episode before Thanksgiving (the blog had already been posted) knowing you wouldn’t hear it until after Thanksgiving. Why? Because the tips we discuss to truly celebrate Thanksgiving with a capital T will equip you for day-to-day thanksgiving with a lower-case t.   The key points touched on here – which include ALLOW YOURSELF TO REFLECT, CRAFT A MISSION FROM THANKFULNESS and BE PRESENT -- will serve you and your relationships the other 364 days of the year that aren’t the fourth Thursday in November. And remember – Christmas is coming.   What’s the ultimate takeaway here? As Warwick says, “It’s a lot easier being thankful when you’re serving a mission beyond yourself.”   To explore Beyond the Crucible assets, including our free Life of Significance assessment, visit www.beyondthecrucible.com   Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]