How to Scale the New Sharing Economy and Create a Higher Quality of Life with Economic Futurist, Joel Hodroff EP: 10

Ever enjoy one of those seemingly serendipitous introductions that turns into a strong connection and a lot in common? That’s what happened when Laura met Joel Hodroff through a mutual friend.

Joel is a Money Innovator, Serial Entrepreneur, Visionary Thinker, and an excellent “step-down transformer” – meaning he can make the complex very simple and easy to understand when it comes to finance, money, and economics.

He shares some insight into how the expansion of mobile apps and social media has really changed how money, employment, and economics work… and unfortunately, we’re still in a win-lose situation.

Joel explains how the on-going win-lose competition paradigm in business today is borne of scarcity thinking, which is crazy as there is actually a lot of wealth and a lot of abundance. The key is how we view and understand it and how we choose to approach life, work, and business. In fact, there’s so much excess capacity in a lot of things – transportation, lodging, professional skills & expertise… but we need to continue working to create fair exchange systems to monetize it.

He goes on to outline a business-to-business dual currency system in which a person could earn “community service dollars” to exchange – along with some amount of $$ — for goods and services; a more sophisticated barter system, if you will, as the old-time exchange of chickens for someone to build a wall at your house is so impractical!

Joel is collaborating with some other experts and they have created an accounting protocol for how this exchange system could work and are currently working to build the infrastructure to allow it to scale. They believe this new shared economy will make a significant difference in how we think about, use, and exchange assets, services, professional expertise in a more productive way.

Laura connects the idea to a business simulation game she uses as a tool in her work, which magnifies our win-lose paradigms and introduces the concept of “Win to the Winth  Power” thinking and collaboration; essentially creating a shift in approach where two people, organizations, or businesses come together and create something that allows both parties to win, along with another larger community, as well.

There’s a lot to be learned about the truth of what happens with wealth when the economy takes a dip, as well as new ways of thinking and behaving in this new shared economy.

The two discuss several resources and books, which you can find here:

The Big Short (movie)
Your Money or Your Life (book)
Walden Two (book)
Stranger in a Strange Land (book)
The Lean Startup (book)

Joel Hodroff Bio

Inventor, business revolutionary of the heart, economic futurist

Joel Hodroff believes that emerging business models based on cooperation and sustainability have the power to solve our most pressing social, economic, and environmental challenges. He asserts that win-lose competition over money—which modern society inherited from an era of scarcity—is now impeding greater economic security and increased happiness for individuals, families, and communities in the US and around the world. Consider that today’s oftentimes stressful workplaces, schools, and community organizations can become organizing centers for personal growth and healing, social innovation, and sustainable community economic development. 

In 1997, Joel was issued a US patent for his novel dual currency pricing, accounting, and transaction settlement system. The system was designed to reward socially valuable activities such as community volunteerism, youth academic performance, unpaid domestic labor, and so forth. The systems stretches dollars (or other national currencies) utilizing a Business-Community Wealth Accounting Protocol to turn underutilized business capacity—such as empty restaurant tables, empty college desks, and off hours at the movies—into new economic resources for healthier families and communities. 

Joel has been a social entrepreneur and environmentalist for over 30 years, launching Solar Consultants, Inc., in 1983; DualCurrency Systems in 1993; and cofounding Responsible Minnesota Business in 1998. He was a Minnesota Finance and Commerce Innovator of the Year in 2005 and a Visa Thought Leader / Innovation Provocateur in 2007.

Joel has stayed the course with his economic vision for over 25 years through every imaginable entrepreneurial near miss, wrong turn, and outright failure! He is currently playing for (and praying for) what is termed “a 25-year overnight success story.” Joel’s personal mission is the pursuit of unlimited human potential through unconditional love in community. He believes that the profit motive can be harnessed for the good of humanity and the natural environment.

To learn more, please check out Joel’s dual currency white paper (written just before the 2008 mortgage industry meltdown) Sustainable Prosperity Now! Awakening a Green Revolution of the Heart http://www.dualcurrency.com/Awakening.pdf and/or reach out through his LinkedIn page at https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelhodroff/

Joel can also be reached at: joel@scryp.io

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“You are NOT the worst thing you’ve ever done!” with Lefford Fate Episode 9

Today, Laura dives deep into a conversation about navigating transitions, understanding mental health, and exploring other perspectives with Retired Command Chief Master Sergeant, USAF, Lefford Fate. Laura and Lefford first met when both were serving on the Presidential Advisory Council of the John Maxwell Team, and the two have shared numerous interesting and meaningful conversations over the years.

When Laura asks Lefford to tell the story of how he ended up in prison, Lefford jumps right in, but quickly steps back to offer a little perspective.

As a young man in the US Air Force, working in the mental health field already, he explained how he nearly lost himself when his mom passed away at the very young age of 49. He was able to get the help and support he needed to grieve and go through his loss but found himself in a similar place years later when his father passed. His Commanding Officer, a Psychiatrist, acknowledged all Lefford was going through and asked if he needed help, and Lefford was afraid to admit that he did; the stigma of any type of mental illness was strong then and persists today.

After he retired from the Air Force, Lefford recounts how he was working in a Geriatric Mental Health Facility in Sumter, SC, when he received a call from the Corrections System to come do some work in the prisons. He says he quickly realized he had no idea what was going on. Inmates were dying at an alarming rate and many of them were mentally ill.

He tells the story of a particular inmate who was in prison as a result of having been taken advantage of by others who recognized his mental deficiency (he was in his 30’s but with the intellectual capacity of a 9-year old, not really able to understand that what they were telling him to do was wrong, nor aware of the consequences of his actions). This young man’s condition was deplorable, and he’d not had his medication for some time. This experience was heart-wrenching, eye-opening, and shocking, and it set Lefford on a path toward understanding why things were the way they were and what could be done to make change. 

As they discuss the current state of mental health, resiliency, and suicide rates, Laura and Lefford make a few shifts in the course of their conversation, digging into potential causes – fear of being ostracized, ridiculed, excluded or labeled as “less-than,” resistance to being or feeling vulnerable, and the unknown of what may come next if you tell the truth about how you’re feeling or your mental state.

They consider the idea of shifting perspective and language toward building ‘mental wealth,’ similarly to how we now think about focus on one’s overall physical health with a view toward prevention and maintenance. Lefford shares some insight gleaned through Malcolm Gladwell’s research for his bestseller, Blink, which explains how we instantaneously and subconsciously make assessments about situations we find ourselves in and react to. This makes sense from a first-responder perspective, when you may not know what you’re really walking into. But there is training available to help our first responders have a clearer perspective and make better situational decisions.

Moving on to the idea of “no one is the worst thing they’ve ever done,” Lefford and Laura share stories and discuss the need for grace, compassion, and thinking into the potential consequences of one’s actions is an invaluable practice, and one we need to be helping our young people learn. Lefford introduces the concept of getting in front of things – more thinking on the front end before acting – rather than playing catch-up and trying to fix things after the fact.

Lefford shares his belief that every single one of us is in some form of transition at any given moment and we each need some grace, some compassion, and some mercy. He encourages Laura – and listeners – to be helpful and ask for help when you need it. One in five (1:5) people struggle with mental illness and 2-3 of them are under some major stress right now – regardless of age, race, culture, religion, income or wealth – and we have to shift our perspective on how we see, interpret, and handle these issues if we want to change what’s going on in the world.

As they close their conversation, Lefford shares a recent insight he learned from Motivational Speaker and Teacher, Bo Eason, who says “we are afraid of being great – of allowing ourselves to claim we want to be the best in the world at ____________ (fill in the blank with your heart’s desire).” Laura explains her belief about fear of vulnerability and how she is working to teach the concept of Confident Vulnerability and uses a tool she’s developed called Your Unique Lens.

About Lefford Fate

Professionally, Command Chief Master Sergeant (Ret) Fate has led, mentored, and served thousands of military members and their families. He spent nearly 31 years in the US Air Force. Lefford served as Command Chief for the 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, SC, as the lead advisor and mentor for 5,000 personnel in 19 squadrons and tenant units operating at 85 F-16 planes.

Prior to that post, he served as the Command Chief for the 505th Command and Control Wing in Hulbert Field, Florida. He is a past recipient of the Meritorious Service Medal with 4 devices, the Air Force Commendation Medal with 1 device, the Air Force Achievement Medal/ Meritorious Unit Award, the USAF Outstanding Unit Award with Valor and 6 devices, the Air Force Recognition Ribbon/Numerous Campaign Medals for service in Southwest Asia and Global War on Terrorism, the SNCO of the Year, and the Mental Health SNCO of the Year (Europe).

Since retiring from the military, he was the program director for a geriatric mental health program, Director for Health Services for the SC Department of Corrections and is currently the Director, Support Services City of Sumter. He is a best-selling Author who co-authored a book called Success Starts Today with Jack Canfield, and Pathways to a Positive Mental Attitude with Don Green. His TEDx Charleston (SC) talk on Correcting Corrections has over 500,000 views. With all those accolades, he says his greatest accomplishments are being a husband, father, and grandfather.  

www.leffordfate.com

https://www.facebook.com/lefford.fate

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Blending Vision, Service, Development, and Self-Care: One Leader’s Journey with Linda Todd Episode 8

Linda Todd with The Leprosy Mission Scotland

When Laura and Linda first met at an event several years ago in Florida, Laura was surprised to hear Linda was leading the Leprosy Mission Scotland. She, like many others, had been under the impression leprosy had been eradicated; upon discovering that was not the case, Laura became curious and engaged Linda in today’s conversation about her work and what’s happening with the disease.

Over the course of this
conversation, the women cover a number of topics including the vision for the
organization’s future work, what can be accomplished when a group of passionate
people come together focused on a common cause, why developing yourself and
your people is the key to success, and how self-care feeds everything!

Linda has been with the Leprosy
Mission Scotland for 21 years, starting as its Executive Director and growing
into the organization’s CEO. In her role, she travels the world to connect with
colleagues, raise funds, evaluate the organization’s operations, and meet with
and learn the stories of the people who have been diagnosed with this disease.

Like so many others, Linda
learned the hard way that self-care is required if you have any intention of
being productive, effective, and having any kind of staying power in whatever
role you play. The pervasive thinking that putting in long hours, always
putting the business first, is some kind of ‘badge of honor,’ is nonsense in
Linda’s experience.

“God designed us to take time out
for rest and relaxation, to enjoy the splendor and wonder of his creation,” she
explained. “We plan down time for machines and maintenance of equipment and
systems, but not for ourselves.”

It’s with this perspective that
she is leading her organization and has built that mindset into her culture.
Her team does not work when they are on holiday, and the understanding is that
if you leave a message or send an email to someone who is out of the office for
this purpose, you won’t get a response until they return to work.

“I use humor to get this message
across,” said Linda. “My ‘out of office’ message is in the voice of my laptop,
explaining in a Reply email that ‘Linda went on holiday and left me here in the
office…’” Her focus on connecting with and attending to the needs of the people
in her work and life are evident in her practices and communication.

Linda educates Laura on the
current state of Leprosy, how many people are diagnosed with it daily (the
number is staggering if you stop to think about it), the mindset issues
associated with contracting and treating the disease, and what the Leprosy
Mission is striving to achieve: Leprosy defeated and Lives Transformed.

Listen in as Linda shares her
insights about inspiring her team – “People are keen to be part of a winning
team and they want to make a powerful impact.” She speaks to the idea of and
focus on working herself and her colleagues out of a job when the disease is no
longer an active health issue. And how she’s invested in her own personal
growth and the intentional development of not only her team, but her colleagues
in the other Leprosy Mission organizations around the world.

In the end, Linda says she wants
her epitaph to read: “She made a real difference.” As you listen in on today’s
conversation, I’m sure you’ll agree, Linda Todd has already made a real
difference and continues to do so.

About Linda Todd

Linda is the
Country Leader and CEO of The Leprosy Mission Scotland. She joined TLMS as
Executive Director in March 1998. Linda has extensive leadership, fundraising,
coaching and management experience gained from over three decades of working in
the Voluntary Sector and continual professional development. She is a Diploma-qualified
member of the Institute of Fundraising, a Chartered member of CIPD, and a John
Maxwell authorized Coach and Speaker. Under Linda’s leadership, TLMS holds
Investors in People Platinum. She plays an active role within the Global
Fellowship, currently chairing the Member Review Working group; a member of the
TLM Trust India Board, and the reference group for the Leadership Development
Program. Linda also plays an active role within Scotland through various
umbrella-organizations – The Scottish International Development Alliance and
the Institute of Fundraising Scotland.

She lives on
the south side of Glasgow where she attends Auldhouse Community Church. Other
areas of service include the position of Treasurer for Glasgow Street Pastors
and a member of Thornliebank Community Council. Other than her faith, her three
great passions are her pug, Carletto (who thinks he’s another member of the staff
team), her bolt-hole in the East Neuk of Fife, and The Leprosy Mission
Scotland, though not necessarily always in that order!

The Leprosy Mission Scotland

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