Leading in a Lonely World Clark Hill

Meet Jason Marsili. Jason is a dynamic leader and successful employee and union side attorney in LA and now neutral (mediator/arbitrator). Jason always knew he wanted  a career in Conflict Dispute Resolution. Join us as we discuss the roots of his passion for dispute resolution, beginning in high school where he emerged as a leader in addressing racial tensions among his peers. He describes  how his leadership style has evolved over the years from an initial vocal participant when he was striving as a diverse individual to be granted a seat at  the table and be heard. And now that he has earned his seat through his dedication, experience and skill, he can lead with quieter confidence, flexing his Emotional Intelligence skills and listening before jumping in with his ideas.  

We have a spirited discussion on the lack of diversity in our nation’s judiciary and in the alternate dispute arena. We also offer up some suggestions for moving the needle forward to more balanced equitable opportunities for mediators and arbitrators. Lastly, Jason, a law professor in dispute resolution, offers some advice for emerging leaders that is both funny and on point.
This is a must listen for individuals wanting to learn more about leadership and creating opportunities for diversity.

DISCLAIMER – No information contained in this Podcast or on this Website shall constitute financial, investment, legal and/or other professional advice and that no professional relationship of any kind is created between you and podcast host, the guests or Clark Hill PLC. You are urged to speak with your financial, investment, or legal advisors before making any investment or legal decisions.

During this episode, listeners are in for a treat, as well-known leadership expert and business guru to the Fortune 500, Steven Gaffney, shares his vision on creating highly performing teams and organization.  You will enjoy his insights on why executive committee members should not be constrained to addressing only their siloed area of expertise, but rather, encouraged to take ownership of the organization/team as a whole and share perspectives.  One key component to highly functioning teams is to create a place of “emotional” safety and trust by utilizing the Vegas Rule: what happens in the team discussion, stays in the team discussion. In this way, team members develop trust and feel empowered to share authentically and honestly. Honesty does not equal brutality and Steven shares effective ways to tackle challenging (toxic) personalities and address performance issues.  
Get ready with a pen and paper for this episode. You will want to take notes for actionable steps to creating more effective teams.
As a bonus for listeners of Clark Hill’s Leading in a Lonely World: Conversations with Transformative Leaders, Steven is offering a free toolkit on conducting honest conversations.  Just send an email to Steven, sgaffney@stevengaffney.com, and mention you listened to our podcast. 

On this episode, Vanessa Kelly speaks with Gabrielle Dolan of Gabrielle Dolan Consulting, based in Melbourne Australia. Gabrielle has written 7 books on leadership, the most recent of which is, “Magnetic Stories: Connect with customers and engage employees with brand storytelling.” Gabrielle shares the science behind storytelling and how storytelling in a business setting, if done right, can be one of the most effective methods of communication. The story must relate to the business message and be authentic. When done correctly, storytelling taps into the listener’s emotions and helps listeners to better retain the information being contained. As a leadership trainer, Gabrielle helps business leaders connect more authentically with their stakeholders, boards, employees, customers, business partners, and the like. As humans, we are all storytellers to a degree; listen in to this episode to learn more about using storytelling to communicate and create lasting impressions. 

Just in time for mother’s day, I got to sit down with my colleague Kimberly Reisman, a Business Development Manager for Clark Hill, and her dear friends, Barbara and Nichelle Robinson. Barbara and Nichelle are a power team in Los Angeles real estate. They refer to each other as best friends and thoroughly enjoy working together. Barbara’s husband and Nichelle’s dad was Frank Robinson, MLB great, Hall of Famer,  first black manager, and medal of freedom winner. Mother and daughter reflect on moving around the country for Frank’s career, encountering discrimination in housing and segregation. Through it all, Barbara made every new house a home, which has shaped Nichelle’s later career to connect buyers with a home that will resonate with them. They reflect on meeting the Queen, and more.  Frank, through all his fame, remained a humble centered individual who enjoyed making pathways to others. This trait, coupled with both of her parent’s work ethic and compassion made an indelible impression on Nichelle.
On leadership, I asked each to describe the other. According to Barbara, Nichelle s decisive and not afraid to make decisions. Where Nichelle says Barbara is warm, engaging and a genius at making people feel comfortable. Words of wisdom for those starting out, go to a company that will teach and find what works for you.  
I think you will enjoy this episode that gives a glimpse of life-long friendship formed between mother and child, triumph during troubled times, and humility and grace even through the fame.

DISCLAIMER – No information contained in this Podcast or on this Website shall constitute financial, investment, legal and/or other professional advice and that no professional relationship of any kind is created between you and podcast host, the guests or Clark Hill PLC. You are urged to speak with your financial, investment, or legal advisors before making any investment or legal decisions.

On this episode of Leading in Lonely World: Conversations with Transformative Leaders, we meet Ruvin Levavi and Bobby Kaslander of Power Forward Group, who provide financial advisor and estate solutions services. Ruvin, as a self-proclaimed reformed attorney, founded Power Forward with intention of pairing collaborative teams with clients to attain creative solutions and the best possible client results. 

During our chat, we learn from Bobby the lessons he learned from his father, which he still practices today, about the importance of goals and planning for your success with a positive mindset. From Ruvin we learn about the ingrained notion of mentorship and learning from those he mentors. We also talk about teams – pairing skill sets that complement and augment the others on the team. 

DISCLAIMER – No information contained in this Podcast or on this Website shall constitute financial, investment, legal and/or other professional advice and that no professional relationship of any kind is created between you and podcast host, the guests or Clark Hill PLC. You are urged to speak with your financial, investment, or legal advisors before making any investment or legal decisions.

In this episode we meet Dr. Tara Chalakani, who holds a doctorate in Behavioral Health Leadership. As a practicing counselor and Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Preferred Behavioral Health Group,  she has extensive knowledge of the behavioral health issues we face today. She describes herself as having a “Not for Profit Heart” and a “For Profit Brain” melding the best of both worlds to serve her organization, employees, clients and community. Having to pivot to tele-medicine, Dr. Chalakani describes that Preferred Behavioral Health held over 100,000 tele-health appointments. They were one the swiftest adopters of virtual medicine so that mental health services were uninterrupted. We talk a bit about the importance of getting help and dispel the myth of  “high functioning depression” or “high functioning alcoholism.”  “We need to normalize that mental health needs are important” and remove the stigma around care. As a leader with good boundaries, she sees herself as the head of a family who sets structure, a sense of security, providing opportunities for employees to grow. 

DISCLAIMER – No information contained in this Podcast or on this Website shall constitute financial, investment, legal and/or other professional advice and that no professional relationship of any kind is created between you and podcast host, the guests or Clark Hill PLC. You are urged to speak with your financial, investment, or legal advisors before making any investment or legal decisions.