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Learning Styles and Hidden Potential in the Roaring 2020s

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The Roaring 2020s Speakeasy Team – Authors Kimberly Layne Roberts, Twiana Armstrong and Matt Schlegel – share examples of different learning styles and the role they play in tapping into your hidden potential.

Kimberly shares some personal examples and introduces Adam Grant’s book Hidden Potential.  Matt shares the example of Steph Currey’s learning style as an Enneagram Type 7 and the importance of making learning fun for Type 7s. Twiana describes the role of synchronous learning and asynchronous learning.

Find more about Kimberly, Twiana and Matt here:

Kimberly Layne: https://www.kimberly-layne.com/

Twiana Armstrong: https://linkedin.com/in/twianaarmstrong

Matt Schlegel: https://evolutionaryteams.com

#Leadership #Roaring2020s #hiddenpotential #stephcurrey #enneagram #learningstyles

Transcript

[Kimberly Layne]

Are you a self-learner, a self-starter, somebody who teaches themself? I can remember when I was in elementary school, I taught myself to French braid my hair. Now, how many hours and how many days? I sat in front of the mirror before it was good enough to wear to school that day. As a teenager, I taught myself how to cook as both mom and dad were working and to assist our five-person family.

In high school, I was quite shy and introverted, and I taught myself how to be social and preparation for my college years. It changed my life. I taught myself emotional intelligence and psychology, which has become a key component of my executive coaching and energy healing practice. Yes, I was an initiative taker.

When I see a roadblock, I usually find a way around it. You just have to be creative enough to figure it out and find ways to learn. I’m not saying it was easy, that I got it right the first time. I certainly was uncomfortable, especially in becoming a more sociable and extroverted person in college. If I really look at the scenario, I suspect I probably was a self-starter merely as part of my survival because I felt as a child I could not trust anyone, and I could not rely on anyone else for help.

So, as a consequence, I became a self-starter. Being a self-starter and allowing yourself to be uncomfortable. These are the traits, according to Adam Grant and his book Hidden Potential, that are keys to success . After all, according to Ted Lasso, if you’re not uncomfortable, you’re not doing it right. Matt, what are your thoughts on this topic?

[Matt Schlegel]

Oh, thanks, Kimberly. Those are great stories, and I wish you would have braided your hair for this.

[Kimberly Layne]

I was thinking about it so…

[Matt Schlegel]

You know, another really great example that Adam Grant brings up in his book, Hidden Potential is the story of Steph Curry. And he says that Steph Curry wasn’t really that great of a player when he was younger, but then he teamed up with a coach who really understood Steph’s learning style and crafted a training plan that was suited to that.

Now I have a friend who is a professional basketball player who also knows the Enneagram, so he’s pretty sure that Steph Curry is an Enneagram Type 7 and Enneagram Type 7s need to have fun. So if you can have fun while you’re learning Type 7s will just do better. And this coach identified that and created fun games for Steph to use to learn to shoot three pointers. And that was so effective that Steph Curry became the best three point shooter on the planet. So understanding your own learning style and when when necessary, teaming up with somebody who can help you do that and help you become more effective in your learning style is also a great way to learn. Tswana. What are you thinking about? Emily and Matt?

[Twiana Armstrong]

Both of you provide concrete, descriptive and experiential examples of how leaders learn. Kimberly Your examples lends itself to a type of asynchronous learning driving a development plan based on your self-awareness that you need it to change your learning environment. You built are developed a process that met your needs without the need to interact with a coach or a pseudo instructor.

Matt. The Steph Steph Curry example lends itself to synchronous learning, which can be described as instructor led or in this case, coach led. The coach identified a style of learning that fulfilled Steph self awareness. The need for the learning environment to be fun and the rest, as we say, is history. Self-Aware leaders do the work. They determine their learning style, be it asynchronous a type of education that allows one to learn at your own pace, your own schedule, and you direct the curriculum burst the synchronous learning and environment where learners and instructors come together at a specific time and progress through the curriculum at the same pace.

Therefore, world leaders know that understanding their their learning style is fundamental to their ability to lead. See the links below for more information about being an asynchronous learner versus a synchronous learner.

 

DEIB Value in the Roaring 2020’s

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The Roaring 2020s Speakeasy Team – Authors Kimberly Layne Roberts, Twiana Armstrong and Matt Schlegel – reflect on the changing landscape of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) initiatives in organizations.

 

Find more about Kimberly, Twiana and Matt here:

Kimberly Layne: https://www.kimberly-layne.com/

Twiana Armstrong: https://linkedin.com/in/twianaarmstrong

Matt Schlegel: https://evolutionaryteams.com

 

#DEI #DEIB #Leadership #Roaring2020s

 

[Video Transcript]

0:00 [Kimberly Layne Roberts]

1:18 [Twiana Armstrong]

What’s occurring in workspaces in which we see institutions and organizations contorting or eliminating their DEIB initiatives is a contrived conflation set in motion by outside machinations.  Such conflating has these same institutions and organizations undermining their most valuable asset, their employees, while also failing to profitably penetrate new or obscure markets and not fully understanding the needs of their consumers. Making decisions not in the best interest of the company, but in the interest of risk management and partisan public opinion in an attempt to stave off potential monetary liabilities, lawsuits and litigation. Even in the face of proven success. Strategic plans that maximize profits through leveraging DEI and B initiatives should not be thrown out with the proverbial bath water. Leaders should  invest in a cultural competence assessment to determine how well you understand not only your workspace environment, but also your stakeholder and consumer environments.  Opportunities and profits abound when you are fluent in operating and working in diverse cultures. Assessments will collect data about cultural awareness, knowledge, skills, encounters and desire. I’m encouraging leaders I work with to complete a cultural competence self-assessment. Analyze the data and construct a strategic plan that achieves your goals whether it’s increasing revenue, reducing expenses, recruiting or workforce management.

3:19 [Matt Schlegel]

First of all, I love Kimberly’s story about how building a diverse and inclusive group can be so exhilarating. That’s certainly a great benefit. And Twana, as you point out, the backlash that we’re seeing to DEI efforts lately is quite remarkable.

I would encourage people in DEI leadership roles to be sensitive to your organization’s culture and understand how to really demonstrate the value of DEI initiatives in your context.

Remember, company boards of directors are becoming more diverse at a much slower rate than organizations themselves, and DEI leaders must be sensitive to that dynamic and be able to demonstrate value to their leadership.  Especially the financial benefits and positive impact to company profits, both on the cost side and the revenue side.

Your organization will reduce costs if you have a culture where people feel included.  It’s going to lower turnover rate, and you will reduce your recruitment fees. Also, if you have a welcoming, inclusive environment, you have a much bigger pool of people to draw on and will make it just that much easier for your organization to find extraordinary talent to help it grow and thrive.

On the revenue side, having diverse staff will help you better position your products to address broader marketplaces. Your diverse team’s perspectives will help you position your products and your services to identify with a more diverse customer base.

Diverse perspectives also reduce or eliminate blind spots that you may have in your marketing efforts, and that will help you grow your revenue and your sales.

So these are just a few examples of how a DEI leader can demonstrate the financial benefits of DEI efforts to their organization.

Are you Maintaining Healthy Habits and Resiliency in the Roaring 2020s?

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Life continues to throw us curve balls. How are you reacting to unforeseen challenges.  In this episode, authors Kimberly Layne, Twiana Armstrong and I share our thoughts and experiences about how we are maintaining healthy habits to create a wellness baseline that gives us resiliency while navigating challenging times.

 

Find Kimberly and Twiana here:

Kimberly Layne: https://www.kimberly-layne.com/

Twiana Armstrong: https://linkedin.com/in/twianaarmstrong

#leadership #wellness #habits #health #Roaring20s #Roaring2020s

 

[Video Transcript]

[Twiana Armstrong]

Leaders as you strategize about finishing the year strong, take stock, what successes are YOU checking off your personal leaderboard? Your organization relies on you to show up at your best, physically and mentally. Recent studies recommend parents include mental health exams in their children’s health checkups; examinations that check for anxiety in kids of elementary school age and examinations that check for depression in teenagers.  When you stop and reflect on these recommendations, adults should include mental health exams in their checkups, as well.  We can all agree that our lives are jam packed, each day brings experiences that we may or may not control. Your personal leaderboard must list key performance indexes, KPIs, that promote habits and behaviors that focus on you taking care of yourself. As you take stock, are you performing at your peak, physically and mentally? Your KPIs should indicate daily, weekly and monthly healthy behaviors that you consistently perform and consistently track. Take advantage of your organization’s wellness perks and benefits, regularly schedule vacations and retreats to refuel and see your medical expert for health and wellness checkups.  These KPIs keeps you performing at your best!

 

[Matt Schlegel]

Thanks, Twiana.

It’s so important to create habits that allow you to maintain good physical and mental health.

I really I try to do that. I try to eat well; I try to get regular exercise; I try to make sure that I get eight hours of sleep.

But sometimes life just throws things at you that disrupt your patterns, and your resiliency in those times depends on your base, where you’re starting from. That’s why it’s so important to make the investment in yourself to establish that healthy base while  you’re well.  When you start from a good base, you’ll be better able to navigate through challenging times.

And I just went through one of those challenging times with my mom’s health, where all of my routines ended up being disrupted. I had to spend time over at her place and then sometimes at the hospital. My eating habits were disrupted, as well as my exercise habits, and my sleep habits; everything got disrupted, and I could feel my ability to maintain composure and keep my anxiety levels down start to fade as that went on for what ended up being around two and a half weeks.

It really tested me, and I can’t imagine how I would have managed if I were already in a stressed state going into that.

Thankfully I was at a good starting point, and thankfully she’s now recovered. Since then I’ve been able to resume my normal patterns, and now I’m starting to feel much better myself.

You don’t know when something disruptive is going to come at you. It seems like disruptions are becoming more and more frequent all the time.  That raises the stakes for maintaining a healthy baseline when you can.

Kimberly, what are your thoughts?

 

[Kimberly Layne]

Matt and Twiana, thank you for sharing your insights into self-care, especially amidst change.  Very often when life happens, we abandon self-care.  I like to look at change as a test in self-care.  In essence it is teaching us to honor our core foundations of wellness in order to best get through it.

I recently read a book by Matt Kahn who is considered as much as a spiritual influencer as the Dalai Lama and Eckhart Tolle.

In his book, the universe always has a plan, he discusses that change, and adversity, is really an opportunity.  Very often when we have change in our life, or when ‘Life Happens” such as an elderly parent now requiring our presence and extra care,  our company goes through a reorg and we are no longer employed, or we find ourselves in the midst of a pandemic and an isolated lockdown, we  assume this kind of outcome as disappointing, an inconvenience and even a set back to our life.

Matt on the contrary encourages us to realize and know that change will always leave us in a better state than before the change. We may feel at first the loss of our job, or a divorce is excruciatingly devastating, but very often years later we realize it was the best thing that happened to us.  Realizing that there is a gift we cannot see in the midst of the pain, fear, and inconvenience can permit us to not abandon our habits of self-care, but to actually reach for those moments of self-care, knowing the outcome will be fine and we will be eventually too.

I will even take it a step further.  when so called “Life” takes over, we should view the challenge by (1) accepting and knowing it is a gift unseen. (2) Reach for self-care to help us through the process as we know we will better for this experience, and (3) By accepting our circumstances even to the point of being thankful for our adversity, we can fast track through the adversity and challenge.

So, stop resisting, start accepting, reach for self-care and be thankful for the adversity and you will get to the other side much quicker.

 

 

Maya Steinberg — Enneagram Type 9 brings a Positive Outlook to Climate Leadership

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Maya Steinberg shares how her feelings of hope and optimism motivate her to action and leadership in the climate space. While it was feelings of sadness that first alerted her to the need for action, these feelings are not what keep her feeling empowered day-to-day. Though some climate leaders tap into anger for motivation, Enneagram Type 9s tend to minimize anger and lean into other feelings for motivation.  As Climate Justice Development Manager at Hammond Climate Solutions, Maya manages the clean energy programs and supports the philanthropic efforts for her organization. Hammond Climate Solutions is on a mission to expedite positive change for a just and livable future for all. Maya is dedicated to ensuring that climate solutions are implemented in a just and equitable way. Maya is an excellent example of how Enneagram Type 9s become leaders in the climate space, and she share the feelings that motivate her.

Connect with Maya here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maya-steinberg-50ab951a8/PA

Learn about Hammond Climate Solutions here: https://www.hammondclimatesolutions.com/

#Leadership #Energy  #climatechange #EmotionalIntelligence #EQ

[Transcript]

Matt Schlegel:

Thanks for joining me in conversations with leaders who are using their feelings as a leadership tool for both inspiration and motivation. Today I’m speaking with Maya Steinberg, a climate leader who brings a positive outlook to her work on the climate crisis. Maya shared that she is Enneagram Type 9. And listen closely to her emphasize the importance of staying positive and how she’s connected with feelings of sadness and anxiety, but keeps a focus on those positive feelings. And now for the conversation. Today, I’m joined by Maya Steinberg, Climate Justice Development Manager at Hammond Climate Solutions. Hammond Climate Solutions is on a mission to expedite positive change for adjust and livable future for all. Maya manages the clean energy programs and supports the philanthropic efforts for her organization. Maya is dedicated to ensuring that climate solutions are implemented in a just and equitable way. Maya, thank you so much for joining me today.

Maya Steinberg:

Thank you so much for having me.

Matt Schlegel:

Yeah, so great to have you, and I’m really looking forward to our conversation. And, what I’m really trying to do is understanding the underlying feelings that impassion people into their leadership and actions in the climate movement. And I wanted to just start off and ask you, how are you feeling now about climate change?

Maya Steinberg:

Well, I would say my feelings are honestly all over the place. Generally, I’m a very optimistic and positive person. I definitely value inner peace and harmony in my environment. But, when it comes to the climate crisis in particular, at times I’m hopeful, and optimistic, and strong. But, at other times, I feel discouraged and uncertain, just because, I mean, we all see the news. We all know rising sea levels and temperatures, rampant wildfires and droughts, among many, many other disasters. So, it’s hard to remain hopeful, but just being the optimistic person I am, I know that, that is the guiding light for me in terms of how I handle my thoughts on climate change as a whole.

Matt Schlegel:

Yeah. Yeah. And certainly, we need to find hope and optimism as we work through this. It’s so important. And I so appreciate you bringing that hopeful, positive, and optimistic energy to this. And one of the things I like to understand, because there’s usually a different starting point for people, and the big three are generally anger, some people start with anger, “Ugh. That just frustrates me.” Another one is just sadness. And, another one is anxiety. And, I know we all cycle through these, but would you characterize one of those as your starting point?

Maya Steinberg:

In terms of, what made me feel impassioned to make a difference?

Matt Schlegel:

Yes.

Maya Steinberg:

That’s a great question. Probably, sadness. When I look at the world around me… I grew up in Los Angeles, a major city, so I didn’t have real exposure to the natural environment. So, it wasn’t until I entered adulthood where I started camping, spending more time in nature. And, although I did go to an outdoor sports camp when I was younger. So, we would go into different creeks, and rivers, and lakes. So, I had that exposure to the natural environment. But just as I’ve gotten older, just becoming more aware and seeing my surroundings change, that has… And also, when you think about the impacts that climate justice has, the fact that marginalized communities are impacted first and worst, the fact that defenseless animals are having their habitats and ecosystems destroyed. I mean, I think that definitely instills the feeling of sadness. So, I think, for me, I try to use that as a motivating factor in terms of wanting to make a difference and make a change for the world.

Matt Schlegel:

Right. Right. So, just your compassion for the other life, that you’ve now experienced this. And you bring up such a good point, because so many people who grow up in an urban environment, they aren’t necessarily connected with nature. And so, it’s hard to appreciate what we’re losing, unless you’ve experienced nature at some point in your life.

Maya Steinberg:

Definitely.

Matt Schlegel:

For somebody who grew up in the South Pacific with beautiful, colorful coral reefs, and then seeing them turned bleached white, it’s just got to be devastating for them. But they have that close, personal connection with what’s going on, and oftentimes a lot of us are so busy leading a more urban life that we don’t see that happening. So, that is really such a good point. So, how now do you find that these feelings are influencing your behaviors and your direction as a leader?

Maya Steinberg:

Sure. So, I would say, again, generally I try my best to be a very positive and optimistic person. So, I like to be fueled by that. I mean, of course, the sadness, the climate anxiety, that is definitely a source of fuel to keep people going. But, I choose to focus on the positive and the win. So, I use the more negative views to push myself to work harder and to make more of an effort in terms of networking and just spreading the word, raising awareness of the climate crisis. And, I think also, just having discussions with people that have both similar and differing viewpoints than me is something that has definitely been beneficial in terms of seeing how different leaders and different people across the movement are influenced by climate change.

Matt Schlegel:

Right. Right. Yeah, it’s interesting. Sadness is such a important feeling for raising awareness, and compassion, and caring, and it’s a really good starting point. But, I find that the feelings that really motivate us to action are more anxiety and anger. Those are the two that get you going.

Maya Steinberg:

Mm-hmm.

Matt Schlegel:

And I noticed that you mentioned climate anxiety as a motivating force. And I relate to that because I think that’s one that really energizes me when I’m not feeling sad. Then, my anxiety for, “Oh, we got to do something,” is a important one to get you going and get you doing stuff.

Maya Steinberg:

But I also feel like there is such a fine line between those more negative feelings and also just having a general feeling of hopelessness or despair, because I think if it’s the latter feelings, it’s not going to motivate you to try to make a positive change, to try to make an impact, because people can tend to be focused just on the negative. So I think, a pinch of that, just a healthy amount is great, and I think is motivating. But I think, just focusing on the positive on what we as individuals can do, even starting at the local level and then working our way up to the state level, national level, global level, I think, is something that has definitely resonated with me as well.

Matt Schlegel:

And what is it that you are finding right now in your leadership that really is the beacon or guiding light for that optimism? What is drawing you towards that optimism?

Maya Steinberg:

Well, I think, we’re obviously living in a time where there’s a lot of different opinions, but I would say that there is the general consensus that climate change is real and climate change is happening. And I think that the millennials, Gen Z, the younger generations, this is something that is at the forefront of their agenda. So, when I think about the future, I’m hopeful, and I’m positive that effective climate policies will be put into place, and that we’ll be able to mitigate the climate crisis, and hopefully undo some of the damage that’s done. But just knowing that the rising generations are so passioned and invigorated by making a positive change for the planet is something that definitely gives me a source of optimism.

Matt Schlegel:

Yeah. Just the increasing awareness and passion about doing something and how it’s becoming easier and easier to build these communities that are interested in doing the work, I agree, that’s very, very motivating, and hopeful, and optimistic.

Maya Steinberg:

Mm-hmm.

Matt Schlegel:

Yeah. Thank you. So now, what advice would you give to leaders and aspiring leaders, who are, they themselves having starting to have feelings about the climate crisis?

Maya Steinberg:

I love this question, just because I think that there are so many different answers and so many different right answers. There is no wrong answer just because it really depends on the individual person. But I would say, spreading the word, getting involved, volunteering. I know threefifty.org and the Climate Reality Project have chapters in different cities across the country, and I know their work is virtual as well. I think that’s a great starting point. But I also think that if you are experiencing some of the more negative emotions or climate anxiety, just knowing that you’re not alone and experiencing those feelings, I think, is definitely beneficial. I think having an open dialogue with family, friends, peers, mentors, just people around you that you’re close to, I think that could be a great way to combat those more negative feelings and just being proactive, I think.

Maya Steinberg:

Personally, since rejoining the climate realm after graduating college, I felt a lot of inspiration and connection to those around me, and it’s just, yeah, instilled a lot of hope and positivity. And yeah. So I think, also practicing gratitude and journaling has been something that has personally resonated with me a lot. So I think focusing on what you can do at the individual level, and also advocating for elected officials, and leaders, and CEOs that have the climate crisis as a priority agenda item on their docket, I think that would be a great starting point.

Matt Schlegel:

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, you mentioned so many great things. Starting with, just having conversations with those around you, because that helps you process your feelings, and then finding like-minded people who are sharing similar feelings, and joining communities of like-minded people, and focusing those feelings into action.

Maya Steinberg:

Mm-hmm.

Matt Schlegel:

And I love the way you say, “There’s no wrong answer.” It’s like, everybody needs to be doing everything. So, it’s like, whatever you’re passionate about, there’s something that you can be doing to address the climate crisis in that realm. So, it’s such grace advice.

Maya Steinberg:

Thank you. For better or for worse, the climate crisis is very expansive in terms of what it entails and what it covers from communities of concern, to different ecosystems, to impacts on the environment, to other social justice types of concerns. So I think I truly believe that there is something within the umbrella of climate change that every single person can resonate with. It’s just about finding what truly speaks to you and running with those feelings to try to make a difference.

Matt Schlegel:

Perfect. Yes. Well, thank you so much, Maya, for all the terrific work that you are doing and your leadership in this area. It’s so important. And thank you for sharing your feelings and joining me in the conversation today. I really appreciate it.

Maya Steinberg:

Thanks. It’s been a pleasure to chat with you.

Matt Schlegel:

Thank you. Thanks for listening. Maya shared so many great points. I love how she emphasized the importance of having conversations and building community. Also, as an Enneagram Type 9, who tend to minimize feelings of anger, she uses positive feelings like hope and optimism to maintain the energy and direction for her leadership. We definitely need more Enneagram Type 9s like Maya as climate leaders. If you found this helpful, please subscribe to the channel and click on the bell to get notifications of future episodes. Thanks again.

 

 

Climate Leader Martin Stanley Gets Energy From Feelings and Trees

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Martin Stanley who goes by his nickname “Stan” shows us how we can address the climate crisis in any occupation or endeavor we undertake.  Stan is CEO at Treewise, a UK-based vegetation risk management service that keeps trees from disrupting critical infrastructure like electrical power lines. Stan is passionate about turning tree cuttings into energy that helps reduce the need for fossil fuels and their unwanted emissions.

More about Stan here:

Martin Stanley, known to his friends and colleagues as Stan

Stan is a passionate and committed entrepreneur, who built and sold his first Tree Surgery company to FTSE250 company in 2009.

More recently Stan developed and patented game changing methodologies for the way we manage trees a ”Assets” in particular around powerline and rail track Rights of Way.

To validate Stans methodologies he secured £2.1m funding from the European & UK Space Agency where his project identified how to efficiently measure trees with geospatial data. Measuring trees is one thing but with global warming it was apparent more and more waste was being produced from tree surgery and forestry operations.

As ever with the entrepreneur spirit Stan looked at doing something more efficient with the waste, something to better the environment, so with his UK based company Treewise has now partnered with a European technology provider who are leading a Blue Revolution, and between them their delivering ground-breaking projects where they turn tree waste into Hydrogen, food grade carbon dioxide or electricity, at the same time capture carbon in the process.

Stan also presents his other projects on the international vegetation conference circuits which include:

  • Establishing ground-breaking principles on effectively processing LiDAR data for vegetation management for field crews and regulatory reporting
  • Working with University of Leicester established new principles for using high spatial resolution, multi spectral satellite imagery for a new wildfire ignition risk index

www.tree-wise.com

#Leadership #Energy  #climatechange #EmotionalIntelligence #EQ

[Video Transcript]

Matt Schlegel:

Thanks for joining me in conversations with leaders who are engaging with their feelings as a leadership tool for both inspiration and motivation. Today, I’m speaking with Martin Stanley, who is using his feelings about the climate crisis to fuel the transformation of the tree maintenance industry into a source of green energy. And now for the conversation.

Matt Schlegel:

Today, I’m joined by Martin Stanley, who goes by his nickname, Stan. Stan is CEO at Treewise, a UK based vegetation risk management service that keeps trees from disrupting critical infrastructure like electrical power lines. Stan has increasingly become concerned about the climate crisis and realized that he could take innovative steps in his own business to develop alternative energy sources that will move us away from extracting and burning fossil fuels. I’m eager to hear about his climate journey. Thank you Stan for joining me today.

Martin Stanley:

Thanks Matt it’s an absolute pleasure. It’s great to be on your podcast so thanks for inviting me. I must say I’ve seen some of your previous podcasts and must give a big shout out I think to Betsy Rosenberg, I think I’m a big fan there. Some great comments there. “Wake up, smell the carbon” was great and “Go forth and greenify” I thought brilliant, when’s the t-shirts coming out?

Matt Schlegel:

Yes, yes. Yeah, she is great with her Betsy-isms, I love them. So thanks again for joining me today and I would like to start off and just ask you how you’re feeling about the climate crisis now?

Martin Stanley:

Well I mean it makes me very angry, the state of the crisis at the minute. I mean we live on a beautiful planet, which over billions of years, nature has made incredibly robust, diverse, and successful. The one thing that keeps it all in check and keeps us alive, the atmosphere, we’re destroying. And yeah it concerns me because it seems as a race that we’re happy to do that.

Martin Stanley:

And we often ask the question, why are these things happening? We like to understand it and obviously it comes down to people’s choices I think. Choices and the decisions that people make, a decision leads one way or another and obviously I think all in all we seem to be making some poor decisions. Whether it comes back down to education, is it the government? Is it society? I don’t know. I have to ask myself with the things I’ve seen in business that in today’s world it’s often about the bottom line. The pounds, the dollars, the euros that sort of call the shots and they seem to override some of the common sense about what we do with the environment. And its as somebody said to me recently, there’s a lot of pressures on businesses and sometimes it’s just about doing the right thing.

Matt Schlegel:

Yeah. And it is really interesting that you bring up anger and so many people they come into their climate journey from a different point. Some through grief or sadness or some through anxiety. So it’s really interesting that you highlight anger, which is a perfectly valid response and a perfectly valid feeling. And in your business you are out in nature all the time. You are with the trees and you’re working with the trees and you’re managing and preserving them and I can imagine that also impacts you as you see all of your tree friends being impacted.

Martin Stanley:

Absolutely, yeah. And I suppose mentioning the world of trees, it’s where we started off and when we looked at how better to manage trees, in relation to power lines, the best time to prune them, the best times to work on them, it’s an industry that we say that… I don’t think there’s another industry with so many anomalies because we have different tree species, different growth rates, different landowners, voltages, safety distance to work with. And one of the things to help us look at the impact of managing trees is the methodologies we’ve produced where we manage trees as assets, which was great for the operational side of life. Then we started to learn about the environmental benefits we could add to that.

Martin Stanley:

So when we looked at a tree as an asset, we also thought, well actually it’s not just about safety clearances, it’s about the environmental, the green tag to that.

Matt Schlegel:

Right.

Martin Stanley:

What’s the benefits of that tree if we remove it, what would be done to the wildlife habitat? What’s it mean in terms of biodiversity? Is it a good thing? Is it a bad thing? And all that builds up into what we call the green balance sheets. So when we’re working on power lines, we have power line corridors and we look at what that means in terms of a green balance sheet and biodiversity.

Matt Schlegel:

Right. So just taking a much more holistic view of the tree and all the benefits that we accrue from that tree being in our environment. I think that’s great. So you mentioned anger specifically, and I’m just wondering now, how are the feelings that you’re having, anger, whichever that you’re having, how are they influencing your behaviors and your direction as a leader?

Martin Stanley:

Well, it’s an interesting one because there’s many roads we could take with this, but what became really apparent through the work we did, it was validating some projects working alongside European Space Agency. So that led us into looking deeper into data for climate, particularly with the Met Office and certainly-

Matt Schlegel:

And the Met office is the UK version that looks at weather, right? It’s the weather, the National Weather Service?

Martin Stanley:

That’s right, yes. And certainly in terms of UK and the climate we have, we’re getting longer growing seasons, so we’re getting up to 336 growing days a year. So when we said to the Met Office, “What’s that mean more in real terms, in layman’s terms?” So they said that the growing seasons actually kick in when the temperature is five degrees or more for five consecutive days and then the growing season ends when the temperatures five degrees or less for five consecutive days. So the example of the UK over the last 10 years, we’ve gained an extra month of growing season compared to the last 40 years. So this is all down to climate warming.

Matt Schlegel:

Right.

Martin Stanley:

So what that means for us, we’re getting more tree growth. So more growth means on the maintenance operations we’re getting a lot more waste. So if we take a context of the UK, and as we said the National Critical Infrastructure, just say power, rail and highways, we would estimate 2 million tons of waste are produced each year. So if you like to take the anger out and channel it in the right direction, we started to do some more research and ended up teaming up with a company in the Netherlands that make a very clever technology to actually do something useful with this waste. So it’s a process whereby we can feed waste into, for a better word, a gas fire machine, and we can turn that green waste into either hydrogen, food grade carbon dioxide or electricity. And the beauty is because it’s carbon based waste it captures the carbon in the same process. So we’ve actually nicknamed this within the company, the Magic Machiner.

Matt Schlegel:

Nice, nice. So that’s amazing. So as a part of your business, you have this waste, you’re finding you’re getting more and more from the lengthening growing season and then you found an innovative solution through this company. And do you want to tell us the name of the company that you’re partnering with?

Martin Stanley:

Absolutely. The company’s name is BlueRevo based in the Netherlands, and a quick www.bluerevo.nl and you can check them out. They are leaders in what’s known as the Blue Revolution. It’s an amazing technology that’s been developed and certainly for what was in the tree and forestry industry, it’s going to absolutely revolutionize how we operate.

Matt Schlegel:

Oh wow.

Martin Stanley:

It will take the road miles out of [inaudible 00:10:34] if you like, by the way this can be set up. So we’re getting a very low footprint on the carbon waste. The waste itself is unwanted material, so it’s a win-win. And every day that we use it, we are capturing carbon.

Matt Schlegel:

Right. I mean, that’s brilliant. That’s such a great way to address what you’re seeing, what somebody might see as a growing waste problem, but you’re saying no, here’s an opportunity for us to capture that carbon and then turn it into something useful that will provide energy and allow us to move off of fossil fuels. So that is brilliant.

Martin Stanley:

Yeah and it’s a dream scenario. So again, for the power companies that are producing their own waste, they can install these machines into their depots and as the waste comes back at the end of the day, it can be figured to produce different products. So if the company’s recently invested in the electric vehicles, they can charge the electric vehicles within their own environment from their own waste. And it’s the same as hydrogen for the crews that could adapt hydrogen vehicles, again they can bring their own waste back to create the hydrogen, they fuel the vehicles and fleet them back into the field the next day. So it’s an absolute dream scenario.

Matt Schlegel:

And it sounds like it’s very localized. So you are not transporting these materials long distances. You’re collecting them locally and then you are converting them into these useful products locally and being able to use those products locally, it sounds like. So it’s a very self contained system.

Martin Stanley:

Absolutely, and I think the difference compared to what’s out there today in terms of biofuel plants, set int the UK the size of plants will be few and far between, so the feed stock, if you like, that they use has to be taken to them. So that’s arctic lorries, tractors and trailers on the highways collecting road miles as they go. So these are of a size, if you like, 60 feet by 18 by 30 feet if you like. It’s something that’s a unit size that can be installed in local depots.

Martin Stanley:

So the way we look at reducing the road miles and the thought process behind it is that tree surgery crews leave a depot in the morning, it may mean a changing configuration of vehicles as in the carrying waste back, they bring it back at the end of the day. So that journey was being made, there’s no more road miles. With the waste is in one spot and it can be fed through the machine. And I think part of the clever technology behind this, tree surgery waste in this world, in the biofuel world, is often frowned at. But the technology deals with that. So we open up a new market to actually utilize a very low grade waste.

Matt Schlegel:

Yeah. This is brilliant and we have a lot of trees in my community. I’m in Palo Alto, California, and the city does put a lot of effort into maintaining a tree canopy, but also there’s a lot of maintenance. We have tree crews coming down our street several times a year collecting a lot of tree waste. So I will definitely share this with my city to give them some ideas about how they could use this. This is really brilliant.

Martin Stanley:

We’d appreciate that. Yeah, well we’re open for business, so anybody that wants to contact us for more information, then yeah, please don’t hesitate.

Matt Schlegel:

Absolutely.

Martin Stanley:

It’s an absolutely great opportunity.

Matt Schlegel:

Yes.

Martin Stanley:

Great story and it’s great for the environment.

Matt Schlegel:

So I would like to, as you have come to your realization about the urgency of acting on climate through your feelings, what advice would you give to other leaders and people, aspiring leaders, who they themselves now starting to have feelings about the climate crisis?

Martin Stanley:

Well, I say the first thing, it will always be, I think a long journey. So I’ve been knocking on the doors and trying to break down the barriers for some years now, but I think you’ve got to, if you’re passionate about it, you have to really understand what it exactly is that you’re trying to achieve or explain. I think you need to be very knowledgeable on your own specific subject. Be well read in those matters and never give up. You knock on as many doors as you can and just keep trying. Unless people don’t do that we won’t make the changes.

Matt Schlegel:

Persistence.

Martin Stanley:

Persistence, exactly.

Matt Schlegel:

Persistence is key. And that’s true for any leader. I think any leader appreciates that persistence is key. And I so appreciate how you have taken what you know in your area of expertise and then you’re passionate about climate and then found a way to apply your expertise to helping us solve the climate crisis and to move away from burning fossil fuels. So thank you so much for all you’ve done, all the insights that you’ve brought, all the energy and persistence that you’ve brought. So thank you so much and I wish you all the best and I will be in touch about maybe bringing this to our city. And if there’s any last thoughts you’d like to leave us with, please.

Martin Stanley:

Yeah, no, look just like I said earlier, any further information, we’re here. We’re here to help. Simple as that. Thank you for your time. Really much appreciated.

Matt Schlegel:

Thanks for listening. Stan’s leadership is such a fantastic example of how you can become a climate leader in whatever occupation you’re in. Stan focused his concerns about the climate crisis towards making his own industry, tree maintenance and management, into a source of green energy, thereby minimizing the use of fossil fuels and their dangerous emissions. If you found this helpful, please subscribe to the channel and click on the bell to get notifications of future episodes. Thanks again.

 

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