Ep55: Leading with Purpose – Building Human-Centred Cultures in a Commercial World with Dr. Corrie Block

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What does it truly mean to lead with purpose in a fast-paced, commercial world? In this compelling conversation, Helen Wada is joined by Dr. Corrie Block, award-winning business strategist, executive coach, and best-selling author of Love at Work and Spartan CEO. Together, they explore how leaders can balance profitability with humanity, and why authentic connection—not authority—is the true currency of leadership.

Dr. Block shares a fascinating perspective on what it means to be human at work, describing every employee as “the product of 10,000 successful iterations of survival and adaptation.” From redefining trust and vulnerability at the executive level to understanding the measurable ROI of coaching, this episode challenges leaders to think differently about performance, purpose, and the culture they create.

This is an inspiring conversation for anyone ready to lead with heart, build meaningful teams, and embrace the full human experience of work.

Topics Discussed

  • What it means to lead with purpose in a commercial world

  • Redefining human value and authenticity at work

  • The science and psychology behind trust and credibility

  • Coaching for performance and the ROI of executive growth

  • Why vulnerability changes as leadership responsibility grows

  • Building human-centred cultures through alignment and meaning

Timestamps:

00:00 – 02:00 | Introduction: Meeting Dr. Corrie Block and setting the scene
02:01 – 06:30 | What does it mean to be human at work? Apex predators and authentic intimacy
06:31 – 10:15 | The meaning of purpose: why work and life are deeply intertwined
10:16 – 14:30 | Trust, tribe, and belonging: how humans build collaboration
14:31 – 18:00 | Building trust and credibility in leadership
18:01 – 22:45 | Vulnerability, authenticity, and the challenges of leadership transparency
22:46 – 27:40 | The real ROI of coaching and why pure coaching doesn’t work at the top
27:41 – 34:00 | Performance, purpose, and commercial coaching in modern business
34:01 – 37:30 | The power of reflection: leadership lessons and human growth

Read the episode blog here

About the Corrie Block:

Dr. Corrie Jonn Block is an internationally recognized Chief Executive Coach, business strategist, professor, author, and keynote speaker, widely regarded as one of the leading global experts in executive performance, leadership, organizational behavior, and business strategy. His career did not begin in academia or coaching—it began in the arena. At 23, while living in Estonia, Corrie founded his first business, long before incubators, accelerators, or venture capital were commonplace. He failed twice. Those early collapses became formative, teaching him not resilience in the superficial sense, but post-traumatic growth—how leaders rebuild stronger, wiser, and more focused after adversity. The pivot into executive coaching came unexpectedly. While consulting for a $6-billion family enterprise, the owner asked Corrie to coach him privately. When asked why, the response was simple: “I want to learn how to talk to my people the way you talk to my people. You have no authority—yet they listen.” That moment marked the transition from strategist to coach—not by choice, but by calling. Over the past 25+ years, Dr. Block has coached and advised CEOs, founders, and senior executives across more than 150 organizations in 30+ countries, including Microsoft, the World Bank, the Council of Europe, governments, multinational firms, family enterprises, and high-growth technology companies. His work focuses on executive performance under sustained pressure, integrating neuroscience, behavioral psychology, and applied strategy into what he calls Advisory Coaching—a disciplined, results-driven approach modeled after elite athletic performance, not motivational theory.

Academically, Dr. Block holds multiple master’s degrees in Business and Global Leadership, a Swiss Doctorate in Business Administration, and a UK PhD, alongside advanced certifications in performance neuroscience, neuroplasticity, finance (Harvard), and artificial intelligence (MIT). He is a Certified Master Neuroplastician and currently serves as Professor of Strategic Management at Monarch Business School Switzerland.

Corrie is the founder of Paragon, a boutique strategy and advisory consultancy established in the early 2000s, delivering high-impact strategy and execution for global organizations. Earlier in his career, he founded and scaled five businesses across industries and received recognition for product innovation—experience that grounds his coaching in lived reality, not abstraction.

He is the author of several influential books shaping modern executive coaching and leadership, including Spartan CEO: Six Pillars of Executive Performance, Business Is Personal, Love@Work, and Chief Executive Coach. His forthcoming book, Undistractable, is a field guide to attention mastery and cognitive focus for leaders overwhelmed by complexity and noise. His work has been published in Forbes, CEO Magazine, Psychology Today, Entrepreneur, MEED, Oxford Journals, and Routledge Academic Books.

Dr. Block has been named UAE’s Top Business Coach by Marshall Goldsmith and listed among the Top 30 Business Coaches to Look Out For Globally. Raised in British Columbia, Canada, Corrie credits his leadership philosophy to a blend of discipline and empathy—values instilled early and refined through decades of leadership, failure, recovery, and reinvention. Outside the boardroom, he is an avid learner, reader, CrossFit athlete, licensed skydiver, cyclist, and Spartan racer—pursuits driven by the same obsession that defines his work: mastery of focus under pressure.

Today, Dr. Corrie Block is scaling Chief Executive Coach into a globally recognized leadership performance brand, expanding advisory coaching programs, launching an elite certification pathway grounded in neuroscience, and redefining executive coaching as a serious professional discipline.

His mission is clear: to make leadership meaningfully personal—where clarity beats confidence, love scales better than fear, and performance and purpose coexist.

  • Ep. 55 - Corrie Block

    [00:00:29] Helen Wada: coach and founder of The Human Advantage. I'm thrilled to be on this journey with you, learning what it really means to be human in business, one conversation at a time.

    [00:00:41] Introduction and Welcome

    [00:00:41] Corrie Block: Thank you, Helen. Thank you so much. It's really exciting to be here. I appreciate It

    [00:00:45] Helen Wada: Welcome to episode of Human Wise. I am absolutely delighted to have Corey John Block with me this morning. Welcome, Cory, all the way from Dubai.

    [00:00:57] Corrie Block: Thank you, Helen. Thank you so much. It's really exciting to be here. I [00:01:00] appreciate it.

    [00:01:01] Helen Wada: It was great to have you on the show. And having met Thinkers 50 at the back end of last year, we really connected over our

    [00:01:07] Guest Introduction: Dr. Corrie Block

    [00:01:14] Helen Wada: love of coaching, but also our love of the commercial aspect of coaching and what it means to be coaching at levels within organization and the different skill that you need and so forth.

    [00:01:19] Helen Wada: And so just before we dive into what I'm sure is gonna be a rich conversation, I just thought I'd introduce you. To the listeners. So Cori has re recognized speaker, top tier executive coach, and has written a number of Cori, I admire having just about to publish human wise. The tenacity needed to do the research and bring the books into the world is a huge, so congratulations.

    [00:01:43] Helen Wada: You are a professor of strategic management, and. Certified Master Neuroplastic. Maybe you can tell us a little bit more Bestselling books and also of five children, nonetheless. Yes. So welcome to the show. Tell the listeners a little bit more

    [00:01:58] Corrie Block: Goodness. Okay, so you mentioned

    [00:01:59] Helen Wada: [00:02:00] talking about being human, who is co.

    [00:02:01] Corrie Block: Yeah. Goodness. Okay. So

    [00:02:03] Corrie Block: told me when, when I was in my All of those things I'm right? It's not, and one of my mentors told me when, when I no, no, you can't do that I'm shying away from some of my credential. He goes, no, no, no, you can't do So when somebody says not arrogant. If it's there's something about you that's true.

    [00:02:16] Corrie Block: you So when somebody says something to you I was like, and I, but I still struggle with true, you say, now And I was like, and I, but I still struggle with that, right? I'm 50 now and my credentials list is like a week you know, like you mentioned the books, there's, yeah, I've written a couple of number one bestselling books, which I'm you know, like you mentioned the books, there's, yeah, I've written a couple of number one bestselling books, which I'm super happy about.

    [00:02:35] Corrie Block: Yes, I'm like Love at Work and Chief Executive that I had to write them, six or eight like Love at Work and Chief Executive Coach. I could name But the reality is would've done a better job of I read a lot of books and I reached for But the reality is that. And that, and, and I read a lot of books and I reached for them and they already exist. And then really disappointed again that I had to write them because didn't already exist. And then really disappointed again love at work should be there and chief it just [00:03:00] felt like they should be there. You And even though I at work should better authors, um, none of them had written it.

    [00:03:05] Corrie Block: And even though I it was up to better written it, so, so it was up to me.

    [00:03:11] Helen Wada: The right author is the author that spends the time researching, pulling the ideas together, and That's

    [00:03:17] Corrie Block: a fair

    [00:03:17] Helen Wada: point.

    [00:03:17] Helen Wada: So, actually I'm gonna challenge that one back at you. There, there is no better author than the person that actually takes the time to put in the effort to write the words and put the congratulations. Thank you so

    [00:03:28] Corrie Block: much.

    [00:03:28] Helen Wada: You

    [00:03:28] Corrie Block: hard on both ais, probably you're gonna do better, what it means for me is work is just recognizing that each employee in an organization is the product of 10,000 iterations of a successfully improving survival and adaptation machine.

    [00:03:40] Corrie Block: All of them, all of them independently are apex predators, and they're the most intelligent, most clever, most dangerous animals on the planet. And so what do, what is an apex predator gonna do during the 98% of the workday when they're not being managed? Whatever they want. They're apex predators, right?

    [00:03:56] Corrie Block: So yeah. If they don't, if they have access to your network, [00:04:00] your client list, your products, your services, and, and they're

    [00:04:02] Discussing the Essence of Being Human at Work

    [00:04:02] Corrie Block: with you and your vision, and they're not certain about how. Working with you is going to help them to achieve their personal goals for their personal life, well then you're just, you're, you're not, not gonna get their best out of them, but they may be passively or actively sabotaging you in the background. right? We do have some

    [00:04:19] Helen Wada: The way you talk about that, coming into that

    [00:04:21] Corrie Block: and for me, that's authentic intimacy, right? Which is something that is

    [00:04:24] Helen Wada: me what I'm doing on a

    [00:04:26] Corrie Block: a machine to replicate. So we've got.

    [00:04:27] Corrie Block: Artificial

    [00:04:28] Helen Wada: how aligned is that

    [00:04:30] Corrie Block: authentic intimacy is

    [00:04:31] Helen Wada: the organization is

    [00:04:32] Corrie Block: any leader

    [00:04:33] Helen Wada: know, I'm a believer that sometimes that can

    [00:04:36] Corrie Block: is gonna win no matter what their position is. No matter what game they're playing, what their

    [00:04:39] Helen Wada: work is, one

    [00:04:40] Corrie Block: you push hard on both

    [00:04:42] Helen Wada: and therefore do you need

    [00:04:44] Corrie Block: but that's what it means

    [00:04:45] Helen Wada: with everything at work? Not always, because you can have,

    [00:04:47] Corrie Block: at work, is just

    [00:04:48] Helen Wada: last week.

    [00:04:49] Corrie Block: that each employee in an

    [00:04:50] Helen Wada: work Is

    [00:04:51] Corrie Block: Is the product of 10,000 iterations of a successfully improving survival and

    [00:04:55] Helen Wada: areas of, you know,

    [00:04:56] Corrie Block: All of them, all of them

    [00:04:57] Helen Wada: to, when you have the

    [00:04:58] Corrie Block: are apex predators, [00:05:00] and they're the most intelligent, most clever, most dangerous animals on the planet.

    [00:05:04] Corrie Block: And so

    [00:05:04] Helen Wada: and you have no time

    [00:05:06] Corrie Block: predator gonna do during the 98%

    [00:05:08] Helen Wada: to

    [00:05:09] Corrie Block: when they're not being managed?

    [00:05:10] Helen Wada: when

    [00:05:11] Corrie Block: Whatever they want. Right? They're apex predators, care what we do for Yeah.

    [00:05:14] Corrie Block: If they don't, humans in general are very happy to collect your client list, your products, your a, as long as we and they're not aligned with you and your vision and they're not Simon got one part of the puzzle, right?

    [00:05:23] Corrie Block: He got the the working with you is

    [00:05:25] Corrie Block: that I'm getting right is to achieve their Because honestly, it doesn't matter what you do for then you're just, you're, you're not, not only are you not gonna a ball around on grass for work, they may be passively that you're in, the people you're playing with and you know the football becomes a career for you.

    [00:05:39] Corrie Block: What I found super interesting from a sociological perspective is that the game of football even exists. Because it doesn't actually do anything. It doesn't produce anything. There's no manufacturing. There's no value added service, nothing. even though there's only 11 players on a football pitch, right on in, on either team, there's about 2000 players on the economic team [00:06:00] in a Premier league, right?

    [00:06:00] Corrie Block: So the average Premier League team might have 2000 employees, and that's 2000 families that are getting fed with their children, getting educated and their dreams getting built all at the same by kicking a ball around our grass. But the wider, the wider conversation about that is from a human meaning perspective, how many families are being fed every year because the game of football exists.

    [00:06:21] Corrie Block: That to me is a compelling question, and that to me is, is a massive. Highlight on human innovation. We figured out a way as apex predators to feed millions and millions of the majority of people, we don't care what we car, food on the plate, build their vacations, build very happy their retirement plans all together, all at the same understand why we're doing it and we like the people that we're grass I think Simon got one of grownups, kick it in this direction while a Um, the part that I'm getting right is who, Kick it in that honestly, and it feeds millions of families. And that's you can do something and that's where I wanted to a ball around on grass for work. And if you like the game that you're in, the people we [00:07:00] do for and you know the reasons why you're a lot yeah, football becomes a career for you. What I if, if we love who we're with and we, and we know why we're of football even then the what kind of disappears doesn't actually do anything. It doesn't produce anything. There's no now as kicking a ball around on grass or yet, even though there's only 11 building logos for new companies, like most people, most of the time the there's about 2000 players on the economic team in a Premier league, right? So the average Premier League team might have 2000 employees, you, you hit it rightly that you know your

    [00:07:31] Corrie Block: that are getting fed with their children, getting educated and their dreams we know the work life balance is a kicking a ball around we can throw that one out. The wider, the wider conversation about that is from a human meaning perspective, there is no many families are being fed every year because the game of work. Your work is not other than your That to me is a compelling question, and that to me is, is a massive. in, in on human innovation.

    [00:07:55] Helen Wada: Absolutely. And it, it's interesting 'cause in, in human wise I talk about, you know, it is a [00:08:00] simpler form

    [00:08:00] Corrie Block: and millions of families,

    [00:08:02] Helen Wada: but it's about,

    [00:08:03] Corrie Block: yeah,

    [00:08:03] Helen Wada: your holistic purpose, so, so what is it

    [00:08:05] Corrie Block: their their, retirement plans all

    [00:08:08] Helen Wada: And then there's the work purpose, then there's the career purpose. But does actually,

    [00:08:11] Corrie Block: on grass like we, a bunch of grownups kick it in this direction while a

    [00:08:15] Helen Wada: challenged, you are learning, you're stretching, and then you break down into what?

    [00:08:19] Corrie Block: and it feeds millions of families. And that's

    [00:08:20] Helen Wada: And then what do you do on

    [00:08:21] Corrie Block: And that's where I wanted to

    [00:08:22] Helen Wada: sometimes we can all get caught up in

    [00:08:25] Corrie Block: to most humans what we do for work. What matters a lot is why we're

    [00:08:29] Helen Wada: it down and say, what's important to you

    [00:08:31] Corrie Block: And if, if we love who we're with and we, and we know why

    [00:08:35] Helen Wada: coming back to that

    [00:08:36] Corrie Block: then the what kind of

    [00:08:37] Helen Wada: what does it mean to be.

    [00:08:38] Helen Wada: human

    [00:08:38] Corrie Block: can be as.

    [00:08:39] Helen Wada: then how would you.

    [00:08:40] Corrie Block: But now as kicking a ball around on grass or balancing let's start out with greetings, building logos for for the first time, I always ask them most of the time the what what is your name? 'cause I need to know what to interesting, but it okay? Secondly, What's interesting is the part that it what do you do? And you, you hit it rightly that you know your What was the best place you went [00:09:00] to for vacation? What was your favorite And we know that work life still alive? We don't ask. we don't ask any of those things, okay? Yeah.

    [00:09:05] Corrie Block: There's no your name and what do you balance because psychologically speaking, there million years of evolutionary other than life with which to balance your work. Your work is not other than your life, it's just part of it, is the value that you're adding right? Maybe more in, in most in, in exchange for share of the So back when they were tribal, right? When we were tribal, we had, we had, people had within the tribe, right? There was hunters and gatherers and agriculturalists and, and shepherds and.

    [00:09:34] Corrie Block: Taylors and Smiths and Cartwrights, you know, so there's, so we would know you, not just by your character, but by by your function. Your function in society is your identity, and that that started to shift only about three old people ago, right on the tail end of the industrial revolution, where now we can add value to.

    [00:09:52] Corrie Block: Any economic community in the world, we could on any economic game in any position that we want to. We don't, [00:10:00] we're not stuck playing the team that our grandparents were born into in the language that we were taught as children or, or, or, or dying. in the house where we were born, we're not stuck doing those things.

    [00:10:10] Corrie Block: We, we can play for any team in any game, let's, let's start out with greetings, right? Like when I, when I meet somebody for the first time, I always ask them two questions. First of all, what is your name? 'cause

    [00:10:19] Building Trust and Authentic Relationships

    [00:10:19] Corrie Block: I need to know what to that's still okay? Secondly, evolution, evolutionary psychology is, it develops slowly, Not, what are your core values? How many kids do you have?

    [00:10:27] Corrie Block: What was the best place when you went to for vacation? What was your favorite meal? Are your grandparents still alive? we don't So that's why work is so much a part of our identity is what's your name and what do you do? the last million years of history, For the last million years of evolutionary psychological history,

    [00:10:40] Helen Wada: word that I, I wanted to pick up on there that you shared was the

    [00:10:43] Corrie Block: who you

    [00:10:44] Helen Wada: What is your value To

    [00:10:45] Corrie Block: that is the

    [00:10:46] Helen Wada: Yeah. And I think when

    [00:10:47] Corrie Block: that you're

    [00:10:47] Helen Wada: commercial

    [00:10:48] Corrie Block: society that I'm participating in

    [00:10:50] Helen Wada: important when we are building relationships internally, when

    [00:10:53] Corrie Block: when they were tribal, right? When we were tribal, we

    [00:10:56] Helen Wada: I talk about it in

    [00:10:57] Corrie Block: people still had

    [00:10:57] Helen Wada: the

    [00:10:58] Corrie Block: within the tribe,

    [00:10:58] Helen Wada: you show up, and

    [00:10:59] Corrie Block: and [00:11:00] gatherers and a,

    [00:11:00] Helen Wada: that's

    [00:11:01] Corrie Block: exactly right.

    [00:11:01] Helen Wada: A big part of that

    [00:11:02] Corrie Block: and shepherds

    [00:11:04] Helen Wada: knowing yourself and.

    [00:11:05] Helen Wada: knowing your value. Yes, what is it

    [00:11:07] Corrie Block: so we would know you, not just by

    [00:11:10] Helen Wada: from a human perspective that a lot of who you are, your values, Your beliefs, your limiting beliefs, all those things make up

    [00:11:17] Corrie Block: three old people ago, right on the tail end of

    [00:11:19] Helen Wada: do.

    [00:11:20] Helen Wada: And

    [00:11:20] Corrie Block: revolution, where now we can add

    [00:11:22] Helen Wada: what you do, but also.

    [00:11:24] Corrie Block: community in the world, we could play on any economic

    [00:11:28] Helen Wada: what you say, how you say it, the curiosity that you show towards others.

    [00:11:32] Corrie Block: for the team that our grandparents were

    [00:11:33] Helen Wada: to your authentic identity

    [00:11:37] Corrie Block: or,

    [00:11:37] Helen Wada: and that piece about being human.

    [00:11:38] Corrie Block: And in the house where we were born, we're not stuck doing those

    [00:11:42] Helen Wada: on one side are

    [00:11:43] Corrie Block: for any team in any game, but the psychology

    [00:11:45] Helen Wada: Comes

    [00:11:46] Corrie Block: the

    [00:11:46] Helen Wada: to who we really are to bring forward what we do.

    [00:11:49] Corrie Block: is. Very much a

    [00:11:51] Helen Wada: the people that I work with, we're gonna come onto coaching in a

    [00:11:53] Corrie Block: because e evolution, evolutionary psychology is, it develops slowly, even though technology develops exponentially. You know,

    [00:11:59] Helen Wada: [00:12:00] a really challenging question often.

    [00:12:02] Corrie Block: And that was like three old

    [00:12:03] Helen Wada: most of us don't

    [00:12:04] Corrie Block: So that's why work is so much a part of our identity is

    [00:12:07] Helen Wada: who we are.

    [00:12:08] Helen Wada: the value that we bring before we go into some really big, important conversations.

    [00:12:14] Corrie Block: yeah,

    [00:12:15] Corrie Block: yeah,

    [00:12:15] Corrie Block: it's true. And, and we look, there's, there's a benefit to that and there's a danger in that, right? The danger we all know is the commodification of people. We commoditize each other, and especially in an organization, it's easy for us to look at each other as a set of roles and responsibilities.

    [00:12:28] Corrie Block: And these are, these are your inputs, these are your outputs. These are the services that you provide for me, and these are the products that I that's exactly right.

    [00:12:34] Corrie Block: So we have that kind of like. Commoditization wheel. But on the other side of that, it, there's, there's the cooperation, the collaboration that knowing, hey, this is your economic tribe.

    [00:12:44] Corrie Block: Right. And then if we belong to each other in the way that our ancestors actually gave us the tools for it, they didn't give us tools for convenience or comfort or complexity. Okay? So in that sense, we're, we're definitely aliens in this modern world we created for ourselves. But the tools we do [00:13:00] have are belonging, authenticity, shared values, trust, discretionary efforts.

    [00:13:05] Corrie Block: We have all of that because all of our ancestors, they survived the world by knowing who it was that was gonna provide for them and protect them when they're not looking. Okay. So, and that happened in families and tribes and, you know, cities, nations, sometimes empires, but more often than not, like your ancestors earned you the right to be born by trusting the right.

    [00:13:22] Corrie Block: people.

    [00:13:22] Corrie Block: Because we can't survive the world by ourselves. It individualism, strictly speaking among humans is fatal. We have to work together and so we learn like. I dunno, half a million years ago that not, okay. So yes, everybody's selfish. We're all kind of in it for ourselves. We all want a nice car And a, and a decent retirement package.

    [00:13:40] Corrie Block: But the most effective form of selfishness is together on teams. The fact is I make more money for me and my look, there's, there's a I work and there's a danger in that, right? The danger we all know is the commodification people. And We commoditize each other, and especially in our organization, it's easy knowing that [00:14:00] nobody, no employee has these are your inputs, these are your outputs, these are the Nobody works for you They're all working for themselves and at best, they're So we have that kind of like Those are apex predators. wheel. but on the other side of that, it, there's, there's the take the game too seriously and we don't knowing, hey, this is your economic tribe. but we don't recognize that the games if we belong to each other in the way that our ancestors actually gave us oil and for it, they didn't give us tools for We made up the games. Most of the games within the last. So in that sense, we're, we're of the rules within the last 15. in this modern world we created for ourselves. players are the tools we do with a million are belonging, authenticity, shared values, trust, uh, discretionary think we're gonna make more we have all of that because all of our ancestors, they survived the world by knowing taking the players very who it was that was gonna These are sacred. This is made Okay. So, and that happened in families and tribes

    [00:14:51] Helen Wada: piece, right? Because what we have doing,

    [00:14:52] Corrie Block: absolutely. Yes.

    [00:14:53] Helen Wada: The

    [00:14:53] Corrie Block: but more often than not, like your ancestors earned you the right to be born by trusting the right people.

    [00:14:58] Corrie Block: Because we

    [00:14:59] Helen Wada: what's [00:15:00] important to them. Why? How do we build trust? You're talking a lot

    [00:15:03] Corrie Block: strictly speaking among humans is

    [00:15:05] Helen Wada: Yeah. and I talk about trust.

    [00:15:06] Helen Wada: It's, for me, the

    [00:15:08] Corrie Block: a million years ago that not, okay. So yes, everybody's selfish. We're all kind of in it for ourselves. We all want a nice car

    [00:15:14] Helen Wada: what do you see? How.

    [00:15:16] Corrie Block: package.

    [00:15:17] Corrie Block: But the most effective

    [00:15:18] Helen Wada: trust is one of these words that's banded about. But actually what does it mean? Why do you build trust with one person and not with

    [00:15:24] Corrie Block: for me and my family if I work are on a flywheel.

    [00:15:28] Helen Wada: Mm-hmm.

    [00:15:29] Corrie Block: Okay. not work easiest way for a human to build trust is to offer a little bit of transparency. there's that, um, that shift from knowing that nobody, no employee has ever that builds a little bit of trust. Then you, offer a little bit of something for you.

    [00:15:42] Corrie Block: They're all working for themselves and I offer something about who I am.

    [00:15:45] Corrie Block: Then you. offer something about who you are and as we, we, we run into trouble and fewer boundaries, and that eventually we fall in love and and we don't take the players seriously So transparency we don't recognize that the games are all made up, right. Aviation luxury intimacy, [00:16:00] whether it's with partners or kids or neighbors or friends or lovers or whatever.

    [00:16:04] Corrie Block: Okay, so We have. and most of the rules within the last for building that. That's number the players, the players are they ever predators with a million years of was the leadership challenge and they've got access to your resources. So in their study of 75,000 leaders, they, they did a survey all around too seriously what are the and we start taking the players very seriously.

    [00:16:24] Corrie Block: These are And, and number one and by a mile was credibility. I, I think credibility and trust are pretty close to the same concept, but COOs and Poner figured out that, okay, so not only is credibility the number one quality among leaders, but what's the most missing quality in leadership Today is also credibility, right?

    [00:16:45] Corrie Block: It's just that ability to trust somebody and credibility is the, the ability do what you say. And that's what it all boiled down to. It's 450 pages of. Research boiled down to one word, right? Do what you say you will do. That's it. Like that's all [00:17:00] you have to do. So if you wanna build trust do what you say you're gonna do. and really cool hack for managers is if you know you're gonna do something, Okay? So the easiest way for a human to build trust is to that builds credibility, that builds that level of trust. is who I am.

    [00:17:14] Helen Wada: Absolutely, And I think

    [00:17:15] Corrie Block: And then if you receive it, you don't react

    [00:17:17] Helen Wada: I think that the credibility piece is almost

    [00:17:20] Corrie Block: Then you offer a little

    [00:17:20] Helen Wada: if you're working with an organization that's got a brand name above you It

    [00:17:23] Corrie Block: something about who I am.

    [00:17:24] Helen Wada: the thing that I've

    [00:17:25] Corrie Block: something about who you

    [00:17:26] Helen Wada: up the Human advantage is you're going

    [00:17:28] Corrie Block: transparency grow, there's

    [00:17:29] Helen Wada: in your field and things

    [00:17:31] Corrie Block: And then eventually we fall in love and get married.

    [00:17:33] Helen Wada: Your piece

    [00:17:34] Corrie Block: So transparency builds trust to that place where we

    [00:17:36] Helen Wada: in human wise, I talk about a window, you know, a window with curtains and to say

    [00:17:41] Corrie Block: or

    [00:17:41] Helen Wada: different people, you may open

    [00:17:43] Corrie Block: friends or lovers or whatever.

    [00:17:44] Corrie Block: Okay, so we have.

    [00:17:45] Helen Wada: right? for when you're starting off, you might be a

    [00:17:47] Corrie Block: that. That's number one. I think the closest they ever got to

    [00:17:51] Helen Wada: the thing that

    [00:17:52] Corrie Block: was the leadership

    [00:17:53] Helen Wada: really important when people are trying to establish new

    [00:17:55] Corrie Block: in their study of 75,000 leaders, they, they did a survey all around

    [00:17:59] Helen Wada: And you [00:18:00] talked about that. You know, you have to let in before others will share with you.

    [00:18:04] Corrie Block: And, and number one

    [00:18:06] Helen Wada: for me, yeah, that's right. That's a critical point. and when we look

    [00:18:09] Corrie Block: I, I think credibility and trust are pretty close to

    [00:18:12] Helen Wada: if people are struggling with

    [00:18:13] Corrie Block: but COOs and Poser figured out

    [00:18:15] Helen Wada: I will say

    [00:18:16] Corrie Block: only is credibility the number

    [00:18:17] Helen Wada: of yourself do you show?

    [00:18:18] Corrie Block: among leaders, but

    [00:18:20] Helen Wada: How much of you, yeah, absolutely. Do they really see. Now because if they don't feel they can trust you, then how

    [00:18:26] Corrie Block: that ability to

    [00:18:26] Helen Wada: are they going to share

    [00:18:27] Corrie Block: and credibility is the, the ability to do

    [00:18:30] Helen Wada: challenges and thoughts when you are

    [00:18:33] Corrie Block: what it all boiled

    [00:18:33] Helen Wada: establishing client

    [00:18:35] Corrie Block: pages of. you're absolutely right.

    [00:18:36] Corrie Block: You're absolutely right? And there's a caveat about that, Do what you say you will do. That's it. Like that's all you I'm a huge So if you wanna build he's probably my do what you say you're gonna and vulnerability And really cool But he's, he's wrong about you know you're gonna wrong about vulnerability and transparency. There's, there's a, there's an inverse builds credibility, that rise up in larger and more employees, that where the authenticity and the vulnerability [00:19:00] and the transparency actually start work against you and.

    [00:19:02] Corrie Block: against the interests of the organization.

    [00:19:04] Corrie Block: It's no, that it's no longer good. For the tribe that the chief is super transparent about everything. Right. So keep in mind now, the economy is changing all the time. an economic game where the rules are always changing. The size of the field is changing. The material the ball is made out of change is changing.

    [00:19:20] Corrie Block: The number of teams on the field, the number of players on the team, the referees and their credentials, everything is changing, right All the time. So when a CEO of major organization wakes up in the morning with a bit of imposter syndrome. Give that a little bit of grace, right? Like rules changed overnight and nobody asked your So Yeah. stepping into your role every day with a bit of, Hey, I'm not quite sure what I'm doing all the time, that's fine, but don't say it out loud. You can't say that out loud. You can't tell the board of directors you've got imposter syndrome because that undermines the level of trust that they need in your leadership to delegate authority from the shareholders.

    [00:19:53] Corrie Block: And you can't tell your executive committee that you're a little bit insecure about the three month because that undermines the trust [00:20:00] that they need to have in your leadership to get Yeah, absolutely.

    [00:20:03] Corrie Block: So. What is a CEO to do of a major company with all of this natural, very natural, very rational imposter syndrome and absolutely no one to talk to about it.

    [00:20:13] Corrie Block: Because the authenticity that would require that disclosure or that transparency would undermine you're absolutely of the You're absolutely right. And there's a caveat go out onto LinkedIn or or Like, look, I'm a huge a little insecure about our three month probably my guru on both million angry investors like you, you But he's, he's wrong there's a kind of He's wrong about vulnerability the organization when you get up into those a. There's an inverse correlation as you rise up in larger really of huge value. of 10,000 or more employees, that where

    [00:20:41] Helen Wada: great conversation on the podcast last week and we were talking about sometimes there are things that you need to do within organizations that maybe aren't that transparent. you know, we were

    [00:20:50] Corrie Block: it's no longer

    [00:20:51] Helen Wada: where maybe, you know, there's gonna be a

    [00:20:52] Corrie Block: that the chief is

    [00:20:53] Helen Wada: make announcements, you are doing things

    [00:20:56] Corrie Block: right? So keep in mind

    [00:20:57] Helen Wada: your intuition.

    [00:20:57] Corrie Block: economy is

    [00:20:58] Helen Wada: But there are certain

    [00:20:59] Corrie Block: [00:21:00] So you're playing an economic game where the rules are always changing. The size of the field is changing. The material the ball is made out of change is changing.

    [00:21:06] Corrie Block: The number of teams on the field, the number of '

    [00:21:07] Helen Wada: cause it helps individuals to think about what's the right situation? How do I

    [00:21:11] Corrie Block: So

    [00:21:12] Helen Wada: balance

    [00:21:13] Corrie Block: a CEO of a major organization wakes up in the morning with a bit of

    [00:21:16] Helen Wada: with something that's quite

    [00:21:17] Corrie Block: Give that a little

    [00:21:17] Helen Wada: often the higher up you go

    [00:21:19] Corrie Block: rules changed overnight and nobody asked your permission.

    [00:21:21] Corrie Block: So yeah, stepping into your role every day with a bit

    [00:21:23] Helen Wada: coaching Co and I'd love for you to share a

    [00:21:27] Corrie Block: but don't say it out loud. You can't say that out

    [00:21:30] Helen Wada: in the first place. Yeah. So if You go back to the traditional view of

    [00:21:34] Corrie Block: because that undermines the level of

    [00:21:36] Helen Wada: It's about

    [00:21:36] Corrie Block: that they need in your leadership to delegate authority from the shareholders.

    [00:21:40] Corrie Block: And you can't tell

    [00:21:40] Helen Wada: not advising, it's

    [00:21:42] Corrie Block: that you're a little bit insecure about the three month

    [00:21:44] Helen Wada: I'm a,

    [00:21:45] Corrie Block: that undermines

    [00:21:46] Helen Wada: in coaching. You know, I did my advanced development transformational coaching. that has truly changed the way in which I lead and manage and now

    [00:21:53] Corrie Block: with all of this natural, very

    [00:21:55] Helen Wada: there is

    [00:21:55] Corrie Block: very rational

    [00:21:56] Helen Wada: you're working in the commercial world,

    [00:21:58] Corrie Block: Absolutely, no one to talk [00:22:00] to about it?

    [00:22:00] Helen Wada: I'm just curious about that

    [00:22:01] Corrie Block: that would require that

    [00:22:02] Helen Wada: you bring in to your work.

    [00:22:04] Corrie Block: Yeah, absolutely. It starts with understanding the effectiveness of the organization. if they just go out onto LinkedIn or, or Instagram and say, Hey guys, feeling a little insecure about a three month so what we call pure coaching is actually You've got two and a half million angry investors like you, you but it doesn't exist Okay? So there's a kind of transparency that actually hurts the organization when you get up into those higher levels. And that's, I think, where executive an Olympic really asking the athlete. What exercises do you think you should try today? Try to lead them to a level of insight where they can fix their backstroke. You know, like Mm-hmm. That's just insane. And you'll, you'll find every first chair violin player in the world has a coach.

    [00:22:44] Corrie Block: None of their coaches can play violin as well as they can. Okay. So the coach's job isn't mentoring the coach's job is to study the athlete's level of play or the player's level of play, or the executive's level of play. My job as an executive coach is to help an executive play [00:23:00] better. As an executive, right, be in the same way that a violin coach helps a player play better violin.

    [00:23:05] Corrie Block: Now, if my job is to help an executive perform better as an executive because I'm an executive coach, well, executive performance can be measured, and if it can be measured, We know

    [00:23:17] The Power of Coaching in the Commercial World

    [00:23:21] Corrie Block: the impact. Of better performance at the executive level. they're coaching with me results in better executive performance, then that executive performance has a knock on effects to profit to profitability.

    [00:23:28] Corrie Block: So productivity goes up, performance goes up, collaboration, trust, information sharing, empathy, discretionary effort, all those things go up as a result. Well, yeah, there's a monetary value to that impact and we know how to calculate that So I'm a firm believer that executive coaching is for performance.

    [00:23:46] Corrie Block: And it is performance and therefore it must by nature be completely free cost to the organization. If the performance of the executive isn't coaching. Okay. And if the executive refuses coaching, then you [00:24:00] have the wrong executive. Yeah, absolutely. It starts with where we need to

    [00:24:03] Corrie Block: coaching

    [00:24:04] Corrie Block: then if you have a good relationship with a good executive coach and a good and that pure coaching is improving. There's a, there's a ROI impact of that. We can So what we call least half a dozen different models for calculating ROI and or non advisory coaching, but it doesn't

    [00:24:18] Helen Wada: links back to these.

    [00:24:20] Corrie Block: You will never, ever find an Olympic athlete

    [00:24:23] Helen Wada: are working in a

    [00:24:24] Corrie Block: and you will

    [00:24:25] Helen Wada: where businesses is driven by the numbers. You know, we can't get away from that. That is What we are. Yes, we've got human beings that have

    [00:24:31] Corrie Block: Try to lead them to a level of insight where they can fix their backstroke. You know, like,

    [00:24:35] Helen Wada: society that we live and

    [00:24:37] Corrie Block: and you'll, you'll find every first chair, violin player in the world has a

    [00:24:41] Helen Wada: what we need to do from a

    [00:24:43] Corrie Block: play violin as well as they can. So the coach's job isn't mentoring the coach's job is to study the athlete's level of play or the player's level Yeah.

    [00:24:52] Helen Wada: With what we do.

    [00:24:53] Corrie Block: level of play. My job as an

    [00:24:55] Helen Wada: part of the DNA

    [00:24:56] Corrie Block: an

    [00:24:57] Helen Wada: the human and the way in which we work,

    [00:24:59] Corrie Block: as an executive, [00:25:00] right?

    [00:25:00] Corrie Block: Being the same way that a violin player's

    [00:25:01] Helen Wada: levels of

    [00:25:02] Corrie Block: coach helps a violin player play better

    [00:25:04] Helen Wada: on the one hand, yes, you can take a

    [00:25:06] Corrie Block: if my job is to help an executive

    [00:25:08] Helen Wada: but actually on the other hand, you really do have to have that

    [00:25:13] Corrie Block: executive performance can be

    [00:25:14] Helen Wada: clear about who you

    [00:25:15] Corrie Block: If it can be measured,

    [00:25:16] Helen Wada: why you doing

    [00:25:17] Corrie Block: We know the impact

    [00:25:19] Helen Wada: And prioritizing

    [00:25:21] Corrie Block: at the executive level.

    [00:25:22] Corrie Block: So

    [00:25:23] Helen Wada: if you are looking to grow your business and you pull these

    [00:25:26] Corrie Block: performance, then that executive performance has a knock on

    [00:25:28] Helen Wada: Then that for me is where

    [00:25:30] Corrie Block: uh, profitability. So productivity goes up, performance goes up, collaboration,

    [00:25:34] Helen Wada: you know, and there is a place for coaching in the world, and there's a place for coaching in business.

    [00:25:37] Corrie Block: go up as a result well.

    [00:25:39] Corrie Block: There's a monetary value to that

    [00:25:41] Helen Wada: that you and I use on a daily basis from a coaching

    [00:25:43] Corrie Block: I'm a firm believer

    [00:25:45] Helen Wada: absolutely have greater power from leading teams, building relationships, winning work,

    [00:25:51] Corrie Block: and therefore it must

    [00:25:53] Helen Wada: you are

    [00:25:53] Corrie Block: by nature

    [00:25:54] Helen Wada: that commercial line between top and bottom

    [00:25:56] Corrie Block: to the organization. And look, I'm, I'm associated with the number of the [00:26:00] executive isn't improving, then it's not in the world.

    [00:26:02] Corrie Block: I'm a coach with Coach Source. I am part of the faculty at CMI Merrick. I, I'm very good then you have the wrong and I know That's, that's just, that's where and I know I'm a So then if you have a good relationship with a good executive coach and a good every single one of them is an advisory coach. a ROI is that.

    [00:26:19] Corrie Block: even We can calculate that. I've got at least half a dozen promoting the calculating ROI and Socratic coaching.

    [00:26:25] Corrie Block: is the definition of co is that at, at the executive leadership level, nobody who's really good does it that way. That is, it's not practical. We don't just sit there and ask questions because it, it's silly. You don't, and an Olympic athlete isn't gonna der.

    [00:26:39] Corrie Block: Value from a coach just sitting questions, hoping they reach a, a new level of insight for how to throw a javelin. That's, it's ridiculous. We, we studied the game, we studied the player, and then we used SI applied science to try to figure out how to play the game better. And that's true of all of us at the highest level of executive coaching. that's just the way we actually do it. I think, I think there's [00:27:00] a, there's a certain that we need to check ourselves with. Recognizing that ICF has hijacked the coaching in a way that's very unhelpful. Especially for executives that's at the top level. If, if an, if the CEO of a company of a hundred thousand employees thinks that Socratic coaching is executive coaching, within 30 minutes they will find out that they're not deriving value from it.

    [00:27:19] Corrie Block: The most extensive part of that coaching engagement is not the coach's fees, but the executive's time. And they'll be inoculated, they'll be immunized against executive coaching for the remainder of their career because, well, they tried it one time and really wasn't for them, didn't add value, and that's because they're not.

    [00:27:34] Corrie Block: They don't have access to the kind of coaching that they actually need at their level of play,

    [00:27:40] Helen Wada: you think is the challenge with word coaching In the world that we're in at moment,

    [00:27:45] Corrie Block: marketing. I think marketing. I think, honestly, I think the International Coaching Federation was absolutely genius. They were brilliant.

    [00:27:51] Corrie Block: They convinced the world that anyone can coach anyone else in anything. They developed a, a certification around that idea and then they sold it. And [00:28:00] what it means is that the, especially during COVID, they just completely exploded because if, if you have a credential that says that anyone can coach anything, then the whole world number of the largest, rest of the world. is your client's market. Like, Um, I'm a coach with Coach Source. I am part of the faculty at CMI Merrick. I, I'm very good work in the Goldsmith, and I and, it really, really doesn't work for either the shareholders or the and, I know a number of the a hundred coaches, including large Thompson, like you think about every single one of them is an advisory coach.

    [00:28:30] Corrie Block: An Olympic that even though they we have some organizations whole nation is disappointed for like that Socratic But a CEO of a large company the reality is that at, at the executive livelihoods on nobody who's really good does it that say four and a half billion dollars of shareholder wealth.

    [00:28:47] Corrie Block: Generational wealth, on the other hand, an an Olympic athlete isn't gonna derive And they have to be on the from a coach just sitting there their highest level all the a, new level of insight Athletes train 90% of the time, We, [00:29:00] we studied the game, we studied the player, and then can really hit it used SI applied science to try to figure But executives who are breaking world And that's true of all of how often are they 95% of the time when they're on the field at the highest level of just the way we actually Do single day? I think, I think that in mind and you understand reality that we need to coaching is much bigger, ICF has hijacked the definition of coaching in a way that's very We need something stronger.

    [00:29:24] Helen Wada: Absolutely. And I, you know, again, it

    [00:29:26] Corrie Block: if an, if the CEO of a company of a hundred thousand

    [00:29:29] Helen Wada: why, why have I focused on coaching Why is human

    [00:29:32] Corrie Block: within 30 minutes they will find out that they're not deriving

    [00:29:35] Helen Wada: people said to me, why are you good at winning work? Why are you

    [00:29:38] Corrie Block: is not the coach's

    [00:29:39] Helen Wada: Why are you good at creating those teams that you

    [00:29:40] Corrie Block: And they'll be

    [00:29:41] Helen Wada: Actually,

    [00:29:42] Corrie Block: they'll be immunized

    [00:29:43] Helen Wada: the skills of coaching

    [00:29:44] Corrie Block: remainder of their

    [00:29:45] Helen Wada: That I used

    [00:29:46] Corrie Block: tried it one time and really wasn't for them, didn't add value, and that's

    [00:29:50] Helen Wada: and that's when I talk about that DNA

    [00:29:52] Corrie Block: don't have

    [00:29:52] Helen Wada: commercial coaching Right. It's for me exactly right.

    [00:29:55] Corrie Block: they actually need at their level of

    [00:29:56] Helen Wada: It's really funny when I got your, when I saw your book, I'm like, oh my god, that's like [00:30:00] the ladder that I talk about.

    [00:30:01] Helen Wada: But it's true. You know, one end is

    [00:30:04] Corrie Block: I think marketing. I think, honestly, I

    [00:30:06] Helen Wada: the bottom end. I think yours is the opposite way around

    [00:30:08] Corrie Block: genius. They

    [00:30:08] Helen Wada: the curiosity the.

    [00:30:10] Corrie Block: the world

    [00:30:11] Helen Wada: You know, getting

    [00:30:12] Corrie Block: can coach anyone

    [00:30:13] Helen Wada: questions right

    [00:30:13] Corrie Block: They developed a, a certification around that

    [00:30:16] Helen Wada: What's your

    [00:30:16] Corrie Block: and then they sold it. And what it means is that the,

    [00:30:19] Helen Wada: What does that mean? What might you have seen before that could be

    [00:30:22] Corrie Block: if, you have a credential that says that anyone can coach anyone else in anything, then the whole world

    [00:30:27] Helen Wada: coming back down that ladder

    [00:30:29] Corrie Block: The rest

    [00:30:29] Helen Wada: you know, people are listening to this, but I'm kind of I'm doing it with my fingers as we speak, but you come back down.

    [00:30:34] Helen Wada: So what does that mean

    [00:30:35] Corrie Block: but it's, it doesn't

    [00:30:36] Helen Wada: I think for me, what

    [00:30:37] Corrie Block: and it really, really doesn't work for either the shareholders or the employees of

    [00:30:41] Helen Wada: the conversation and what is right for them. I

    [00:30:44] Corrie Block: And you think about the,

    [00:30:45] Helen Wada: telling anybody what to. do. None of us like really being told what

    [00:30:48] Corrie Block: An Olympic athlete,

    [00:30:49] Helen Wada: we're

    [00:30:50] Corrie Block: they

    [00:30:51] Helen Wada: Where the

    [00:30:51] Corrie Block: What happens? You miss the gold. Your whole nation is disappointed for like eight seconds, okay? But a CEO of a large company has a hundred thousand [00:31:00]

    [00:31:00] Helen Wada: And that for me, absolutely is how that

    [00:31:01] Corrie Block: on one

    [00:31:01] Helen Wada: of commercial focus

    [00:31:03] Corrie Block: let's say four and a half billion dollars of shareholder wealth.

    [00:31:07] Corrie Block: you're absolutely right. You're absolutely right. that's a pretty big risk so much more to offer okay? And they have to be on the field of right? If we, if we work ourselves properly and we behave like Olympic level coaches for Athletes train 90% of the time, so that, that when it, when it comes down to Most of my clients, really hit it hard. They can, they can gonna say 99, 90% of my executives who are are at an Olympic level, and that by that I means that how often are they train? Are players in, uh, for that, 95% of the time when they're on the field at the So I consider that an Olympic level Player. Right. And you keep that in mind and you understand actually I give them is much and they don't need mentoring. They can't get mentoring from me. Nobody can mentor them because they're at the top level of their game.

    [00:31:46] Helen Wada: Yeah.

    [00:31:46] Corrie Block: And right. Who's gonna mentor an athlete Breaking a world record, you can't, because the definition of a world record is you've done something that no human has ever done before.

    [00:31:56] Corrie Block: There's no mentoring for that. You have to create something new in order to do that. And [00:32:00] that's, that's my level of coaching and that's my executives, my client's level of play. So I'm not claiming to be able to mentor them. No one can mentor them. What I'm claiming is they're, they don't need any more access to specialization. They're at the top level, so within their industry, within their niche, within their, Yeah, exactly right.

    [00:32:18] Corrie Block: better. That's it. So having more access to something, somebody that's been in healthcare, somebody that's been in aviation, and gas or luxury shoes, that's not gonna be helpful for them.

    [00:32:26] Corrie Block: They're already at the top level of play in that game. What's gonna be helpful is not specialization and authority, but external objectivity and range. I have been in luxury shoes and oil and gas aviation and telco and banking, and I have done all of that. So I've seen athletes win at the highest level in so many different games.

    [00:32:50] Corrie Block: That's the application advantage that I have. So when we're looking for insight, it's not just my client's insight, it's my insight too, like, Hey. I've seen this before. [00:33:00] There's a pattern we can pick up from this decline of this industry or this pickup of this company that we can grab onto. There's a pattern here that you would've never seen as a CEO because of your niche, because of what makes you special, because of what makes you amazing.

    [00:33:14] Corrie Block: I can't add value to what makes you amazing, but I sure can't add range.

    [00:33:19] Helen Wada: Mm-hmm. And it reminds me of a conversa, a brilliant conversation on the pod a few months ago now with Hamish Taylor. And he was the CEO of U star and s blank. And one of the conversations we talked about it and

    [00:33:30] Corrie Block: Yeah.

    [00:33:31] Corrie Block: You're absolutely right. You're

    [00:33:32] Helen Wada: when you are looking to get ideas, you don't go to somebody

    [00:33:37] Corrie Block: If we, if we work ourselves properly and we behave like Olympic

    [00:33:40] Helen Wada: industry.

    [00:33:40] Helen Wada: He talked about queuing systems in the aviation world and we're looking at Disney. Yes. we all know they're brilliant Yeah,

    [00:33:46] Corrie Block: exactly. Yeah.

    [00:33:46] Helen Wada: And I

    [00:33:47] Corrie Block: I was gonna say 99, 90% of my

    [00:33:49] Helen Wada: world that we are in.

    [00:33:50] Corrie Block: are at an Olympic level, and that by that I means that there'd be like 50 players in in their economic game in the

    [00:33:56] Helen Wada: not just through with executive coaches,

    [00:33:57] Corrie Block: So I consider that an

    [00:33:58] Helen Wada: outside.

    [00:33:59] Helen Wada: If you're [00:34:00] looking for a

    [00:34:00] Corrie Block: Right. I'm not asking

    [00:34:01] Helen Wada: I've worked in this industry, how about you go and work in a new

    [00:34:04] Corrie Block: and, and they don't need

    [00:34:05] Helen Wada: because

    [00:34:06] Corrie Block: mentoring from me. Nobody can

    [00:34:07] Helen Wada: are building blocks and

    [00:34:08] Corrie Block: they're at the top level of their game

    [00:34:10] Helen Wada: their cover is and

    [00:34:11] Corrie Block: Who's gonna mentor an athlete into.

    [00:34:13] Corrie Block: Breaking a world

    [00:34:14] Helen Wada: and they're all building blocks. Would I be here running my own

    [00:34:18] Corrie Block: you've done something that no human

    [00:34:19] Helen Wada: if I hadn't had all the experiences that. I'd had over the last 30 years?

    [00:34:23] Corrie Block: order to do that. And that's, that's my level of

    [00:34:25] Helen Wada: know what they're gonna take you, but you know that you will be able to take something from something. So in this, you know, grand scheme of

    [00:34:31] Corrie Block: No one can mentor them.

    [00:34:32] Helen Wada: Take that next step. What's the

    [00:34:34] Corrie Block: they don't need any more

    [00:34:35] Helen Wada: can make that shows, you know, coming right back to where we started, your purpose, your

    [00:34:40] Corrie Block: their niche, within their,

    [00:34:41] Helen Wada: us as, you know, apex predators, as

    [00:34:43] Corrie Block: So having more access to some, somebody that's been in healthcare,

    [00:34:47] Helen Wada: Will you enjoy it? Do you

    [00:34:48] Corrie Block: somebody that's been in oil and

    [00:34:49] Helen Wada: Is it gonna stretch you? Are you

    [00:34:51] Corrie Block: be helpful for them.

    [00:34:51] Corrie Block: They're already at the top level of

    [00:34:52] Helen Wada: Is so

    [00:34:53] Corrie Block: What's gonna be

    [00:34:54] Helen Wada: give it a go, right?

    [00:34:54] Corrie Block: not Yeah, right. and internal authority, but Well, I think and look and [00:35:00] recognizing that not only are you an apex predator I have been in luxury shoes and oil Because that's and aviation and telco you are the product of 10,000 I have done all of that. So I've seen athletes win at the highest level in so many that you were born That's the the most abundant time in all of human So when we're looking We've never just my client's insight, it's my insight too, like, Hey. communications and seen this before. There's a pattern we can pick up from this decline of this is what our ancestors could not have possibly prepared us for this They could not have understood this that you would've never seen as a in our heads, they're, they're designed to help us to survive in a of what makes you special, because of what makes you amazing.

    [00:35:41] Corrie Block: I can't add value to what makes you and, and present news.

    [00:35:44] Corrie Block: Not withstanding, this is still the most peaceful

    [00:35:46] Exploring Beyond Comfort Zones

    [00:35:46] Corrie Block: all of human history. So recognize that not only are you the latest version of an iterative, improving million year old design, but you've got it the easiest all of your ancestors.

    [00:35:56] Helen Wada: On that note, I'm very conscious of time. We could keep talking all [00:36:00] afternoon.

    [00:36:00] Helen Wada: I know you've got a busy afternoon ahead of you. I've got a busy week. I always ask the guests, so yeah. Can we leave the listeners with one top tip one question to reflect on the conversation we've just had? be from you, Gary?

    [00:36:15] Corrie Block: Okay. So one top tip is recognize that everybody is selfish, but the most effective self form of selfishness is together on teams, build your team.

    [00:36:25] Corrie Block: You are limited by the people that are closest to you. And the second one is, if you wanna know where your priorities are, look at your bank account, your calendar. That's what your priorities actually are.

    [00:36:37] Helen Wada: about a question?

    [00:36:39] Corrie Block: Ah, question. Um, that's really good. How many people are you lying to today?

    [00:36:44] Corrie Block: And what are you lying about?

    [00:36:46] Helen Wada: Ooh, that's an interesting one.

    [00:36:48] Corrie Block: Yeah. Yeah, because it forces you to be authentic with yourself first, and you can't be authentic with anyone else unless you're

    [00:36:53] Helen Wada: One to ponder. Wonder to ponder.

    [00:36:57] Corrie Block: Yeah.

    [00:36:57] Helen Wada: Thank you Chloe. It's been an absolute [00:37:00] pleasure to have a real debate around the values of coaching, why we are here, what we're doing, the commerciality of it all, and

    [00:37:08] Corrie Block: yeah,

    [00:37:08] Helen Wada: keeping going for ourselves and our families and loved ones.

    [00:37:11] Helen Wada: And yeah, ultimately it is about being human. So thank you for coming on the show.

    [00:37:15] Corrie Block: Pleasure

    [00:37:15] Helen Wada: you again soon.

    [00:37:16] Corrie Block: Likewise. Thank you, Howard.

    [00:37:18] Helen Wada: Cheers. Great.

    [00:37:22] Helen Wada: Thank you for listening to the Human Wise Podcast. Don't forget to check out the show notes below. and if you enjoyed this episode, please consider sharing it with your network. To get in touch, you can find me, Helen Water, or the Human Advantage on LinkedIn, or visit www.thehumanadvantage.co.uk. I'd love to hear from you if any of the topics discussed, resonated or struck inspiration.

    [00:37:48] Corrie Block: time in all of

    [00:37:49] Helen Wada: Let's keep this conversation going and build better business together. See you next time.

    [00:37:54] Corrie Block: and healthcare and opportunity like. This, this is what our [00:38:00] ancestors could not have possibly prepared us for this.

    [00:38:02] Corrie Block: They could not have understood this. Our, our tools in our heads, they're, they're designed to help us to survive in a world of scarcity and violence as a world that, that generally speaking, no longer exists and, and present news. Not withstanding, this is still the most peaceful time in all of human history.

    [00:38:17] Corrie Block: So recognize that not only are you the latest version of an iterative, improving million year old design, but you've got it the easiest of all of your ancestors.

    [00:38:27] Final Thoughts and Takeaways

    [00:38:33] Corrie Block: Yeah,

    [00:38:43] Corrie Block: yeah, yeah.

    [00:38:47] Corrie Block: Okay, so one top tip is. recognize that everybody is selfish, but the most effective self form of selfishness is together on teams. Build your team. Okay? You are limited by the people that are [00:39:00] closest to you. Um, and the second one is if you wanna know where your priorities are, look at your bank account, your calendar. That's what your priorities actually are.

    [00:39:11] Corrie Block: Ah, question? Um, that's really good. Um, how many people are you lying to today and what are you lying about?

    [00:39:20] Corrie Block: Yeah. Yeah.

    [00:39:24] Corrie Block: Because it forces you to be authentic with yourself first, and you can't be authentic with anyone else unless you're willing to do that.

    [00:39:29] Corrie Block: Yeah. Bye.

    [00:39:37] Corrie Block: Uh,

    [00:39:43] Corrie Block: yeah. Yeah.

    [00:39:51] Corrie Block: My pleasure. My pleasure.

    [00:39:53] Corrie Block: Likewise. Thank you, Howard.

    [00:39:56]

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Ep54: Becoming Unapologetically You – Embracing Growth, Discomfort, and Authentic Leadership with Alison Maitland & Liz Walker