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Have you ever felt that the cutthroat, win-at-all-costs mentality celebrated in business today leaves you feeling empty instead of fulfilled?
In chasing status and wealth above all else, are we sacrificing our humanity along the way? How can we redefine success to prioritize significance over promotion and real human connection over control?  
My guest today, James Rhee, proposes a radically more holistic vision of business and life in his new book Red Helicopter: Lead Change with Kindness. James argues that when leaders stay grounded in kindness and intrinsic motivation, they unlock the potential for companies to become true forces for good. 
His story reveals how embracing empathy over ego and leading with compassion enabled him to turn around the fashion retailer Ashley Stewart. Now he's on a mission to inspire more leaders to follow his lead. 
Together, James and I explore questions like: What will it take to integrate work and life instead of balancing them? How can we regain a sense of agency and demand accountability from those in power? And what will it take to prepare young people to bring their whole selves as they navigate the future of work?

We’re in conversation with:
SPARKED GUEST: James Rhee | Website | Book
James Rhee is a high school teacher turned private equity investor and CEO. James’ leadership story first grabbed global attention during his unlikely seven-year tenure as Chairman and first-time CEO at fashion retailer Ashley Stewart. After his radical approach fueled a transcendent comeback story for the company, James concretized his leadership philosophy—kindness plus a little math—in the form of red helicopter, his media-education platform. A graduate of Harvard Law School, he is now a Senior Lecturer at Duke Law School and MIT Sloan School of Management and the Johnson Chair of Entrepreneurship at Howard University—the first joint appointment of its kind in history. His TED Talk and Dare to Lead interview with Brené Brown have captured the imagination of millions. He is the author of Red Helicopter (HarperOne; April 9, 2024).
 YOUR HOST: Jonathan Fields
Jonathan is a dad, husband, award-winning author, multi-time founder, executive producer and host of the Good Life Project podcast, and co-host of SPARKED, too! He’s also the creator of an unusual tool that’s helped more than 650,000 people discover what kind of work makes them come alive - the Sparketype® Assessment, and author of the bestselling book, SPARKED.
How to submit your question for the SPARKED Braintrust: Wisdom-seeker submissions
More on Sparketypes at: Discover Your Sparketype | The Book | The Website
Find a Certified Sparketype Advisor: CSA Directory
Presented by LinkedIn.

This week on the SPARKED podcast, we invite a listener to share what’s going on in their work & life, then pose a specific question to Jonathan Fields and a rotating lineup of wise and kind mentors - the SPARKED Braintrust. 
In today’s episode we’re in conversation with:
SPARKED BRAINTRUST ADVISOR: Jenny Blake | Website
Jenny is the bestselling author of Life After College, her groundbreaking books PIVOT, and Free Time, and also an incredible career and business strategist.
LISTENER: Megan - Sparketype: Maven/Maker
QUESTION: How do you know when the best time to make a jump is, especially when you’re clear on exactly what you’re jumping into and, in fact, have already started building it on the side? 
YOUR HOST: Jonathan Fields
Jonathan is a dad, husband, award-winning author, multi-time founder, executive producer and host of the Good Life Project podcast, and co-host of SPARKED, too! He’s also the creator of an unusual tool that’s helped more than 850,000 people discover what kind of work makes them come alive - the Sparketype® Assessment, and author of the bestselling book, SPARKED.
How to submit your question for the SPARKED Braintrust: Wisdom-seeker submissions
More on Sparketypes at: Discover Your Sparketype | The Book | The Website
Find a Certified Sparketype Advisor: CSA Directory
Read more on the Sparked Newsletter on LinkedIn.
Presented by LinkedIn.

* Discover Your Sparketype here *
What if you've been searching for purpose, passion, joy and energy in all the wrong places? Or, if you’re limiting yourself to “having” to find only in the thing you get paid to do.
In today's SPARKED Hot Take, we challenge the notion that meaning at work only comes from your job. Sure, when you can find it in your job, that’s amazing. And we’ve created lots of tools to help you do that. But, we’ve also uncovered a bunch of other ways you come alive that have nothing to do with a paycheck. 
Joining me from our fabulous team here at Spark Endeavors is Shelly Adele Bliss. Together, we open your eyes to the sparks of fulfillment hiding in plain sight in what we call the 4 domains of work. Beyond the confines of your paid work lives a world of possibility where you can come alive. Once you know what to look for.
YOUR HOST: Jonathan Fields
Jonathan is a dad, husband, award-winning author, multi-time founder, executive producer and host of the Good Life Project podcast, and co-host of SPARKED, too! He’s also the creator of an unusual tool that’s helped more than 850,000 people discover what kind of work makes them come alive - the Sparketype® Assessment, and author of the bestselling book, SPARKED.
How to submit your question for the SPARKED Braintrust: Wisdom-seeker submissions
More on Sparketypes at: Discover Your Sparketype | The Book | The Website
Find a Certified Sparketype Advisor: CSA Directory
Read more on the Sparked Newsletter on LinkedIn.
Presented by LinkedIn.

You may not think of your work as your religion, but for many, it’s trying to become exactly that! Without us even realizing it. Question is – is that a good thing? A bad thing? Or just a thing?
Today’s guest, sociologist, Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley, and Co-Director of the Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion, Carolyn Chen, has a lot to say about this silent, yet deeply impactful, phenomenon. She spent years studying workplace culture, with a focus on the near-religious cultures of Silicon Valley. As home to startups, major tech companies, and some of the world’s most innovative and, arguably, faithful entrepreneurs and professionals, she noticed the lines between doing meaningful work and religion have not only been blurred, but work has, in many ways, squeezed out and even become employees’ religion. Problem is – the goal is not personal and societal betterment, but rather in service of one central purpose: working harder and smarter, and generating innovation and profit.
In our conversation, we explore big questions like why are so many people leaving traditional religion? How do religion and spirituality meet our needs in the first place, and what are the ways big tech or corporations are filling those gaps? What does it look like for us to choose what we want to worship and find meaning and belonging in healthy, nontraditional spaces? And, is this conversion of work into faith, actually a societally destructive phenomenon, even while organizations benefit from it? 
We’re in conversation with:
SPARKED GUEST: Carolyn Chen | Website | Instagram
Carolyn is the author of Getting Saved in America: Taiwanese Immigration and Religious Experience and co-editor of Sustaining Faith Traditions: Religion, Race and Ethnicity among the Latino and Asian American Second Generation. Her latest book, Work Pray Code: When Work Becomes Religion in Silicon Valley, is an account and exploration of her time spent interviewing the best and the brightest in the tech world to unfold how tech giants are reshaping spirituality to serve their religion of peak productivity. 
 YOUR HOST: Jonathan Fields
Jonathan is a dad, husband, award-winning author, multi-time founder, executive producer and host of the Good Life Project podcast, and co-host of SPARKED, too! He’s also the creator of an unusual tool that’s helped more than 650,000 people discover what kind of work makes them come alive - the Sparketype® Assessment, and author of the bestselling book, SPARKED.
How to submit your question for the SPARKED Braintrust: Wisdom-seeker submissions
More on Sparketypes at: Discover Your Sparketype | The Book | The Website
Find a Certified Sparketype Advisor: CSA Directory
Presented by LinkedIn.

What if much of what you’ve been told about how to come alive and get ahead in work was, well, wrong? That’s what today’s guest, Bonnie Hammer argues. And she’d know. As the Vice Chair of NBCUniversal, with decades at the highest levels of business, she’s the author of the new book 15 Lies: How Women are Taught to Fail and the Truth That Sets Them Free. 
In our conversation, Bonnie stresses the difference between common platitudes and what actually moves the needle. Together we dig into the importance of having truth tellers who give "tough love" and challenge you rather than just affirm you and discuss, why she believes "faking it til you make it" is terrible advice, and so much more.
We’re in conversation with:
SPARKED GUEST: Bonnie Hammer | Book
Bonnie Hammer is Vice Chair of NBCUniversal, where she’s spent decades transforming every facet of the television business. Under her leadership, the company’s cable group and studios achieved record-setting profits, garnered 167 Emmy nominations, and launched hit series including Suits, Psych, The Sinner, Battlestar Galactica, Mr. Robot, and hundreds more. She’s occupied virtually every industry position from production assistant to studio head—often being tapped for cutting edge roles.
Bonnie is also the author of the new book 15 Lies: How Women are Taught to Fail and the Truth That Sets Them Free.  
YOUR HOST: Jonathan Fields
Jonathan is a dad, husband, award-winning author, multi-time founder, executive producer and host of the Good Life Project podcast, and co-host of SPARKED, too! He’s also the creator of an unusual tool that’s helped more than 650,000 people discover what kind of work makes them come alive - the Sparketype® Assessment, and author of the bestselling book, SPARKED.
How to submit your question for the SPARKED Braintrust: Wisdom-seeker submissions
More on Sparketypes at: Discover Your Sparketype | The Book | The Website
Find a Certified Sparketype Advisor: CSA Directory
Presented by LinkedIn.

PS. We’re about to launch a program - Career Clarity Lab™ - that’s been five-years in the making.
It’ll be entirely online and priced for accessibility. It will answer so many of the questions you’ve had about finding and doing work that truly makes you come alive. And, it will guide you through a step-by-step process to make it happen.
We’re looking to launch this program soon, but if you’d like to learn more now and be on our early-notice list (and qualify for a pretty big discount during our pre-launch window)... 
Learn more here.

* Discover Your Sparketype here *
We all want to feel more alive in work, and also in life. But, how? Where do we even begin.
I'm sure you've noticed there are certain activities that light you up at work. When you're doing them, you lose track of time, enter a state of flow, and feel deeply energized, like you’re fueled by purpose, meaning and joy.. But there are also tasks that drain you, no matter how motivated you are. 
Turns out, we all have a set of impulses that are unique to us, and they inform what kind of work fills us up, and what empties us out. We call these your Sparketypes, and we’ve been leading research on the Sparketypes since 2018, building on input from nearly 900,000 people, generating a database of more than 45-million data-points. We’ve learned a thing or two about what it takes to come alive at work, and figured it was time to start sharing a lot more of that with you here on the SPARKED podcast.
Joining me from our fabulous team here at Spark Endeavors is Shelly Adele Bliss and together, we take a deep dive into our Sparketype framework and today, we’re starting out with a simple question. What ARE the Sparketypes, and why should you discover yours?
ABOUT YOUR HOST: Jonathan Fields
Jonathan is a dad, husband, award-winning author, multi-time founder, executive producer and host of the Good Life Project podcast, and co-host of SPARKED, too! He’s also the creator of an unusual tool that’s helped more than 650,000 people discover what kind of work makes them come alive - the Sparketype® Assessment, and author of the bestselling book, SPARKED.
How to submit your question for the SPARKED Braintrust: Wisdom-seeker submissions
More on Sparketypes at: Discover Your Sparketype | The Book | The Website
Find a Certified Sparketype Advisor: CSA Directory
Read more on the Sparked Newsletter on LinkedIn.
Presented by LinkedIn.