Frame of Reference - Profiles in Leadership

Rauel LaBreche
  • 5.0 (2)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

"Frame of Reference - Profiles in Leadership" and "Frame of Reference - Coming together" are conversational style shows with local, national, and global experts about issues that affect all of us in some way. I’m, at heart, a “theatre person”. I was drawn to theatre in Junior High School and studied it long enough to get a Master of Fine Arts in Stage Direction. It’s the one thing that I’m REALLY passionate about it because as Shakespeare noted, “all the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players”. Think about the universality of that line for just a moment. Think about the types of “theatre” that play out around us every day in today’s world. The dramatic, the comedic, the absurd, the existential, the gorilla theatre (it’s a thing, look it up) that is pumped into our Smart Phones, TV’s, Radios, and PC’s every minute of every day.Think about the tremendous forces that “play” upon us - trying to first discover, then channel, feed, nurture, and finally harvest our will power and biases in order to move forward the agendas of leaders we will likely never meet. Think of all these forces (behind the scenes of course) and how they use the basic tools of theatre to work their “magic” on the course of humanity. Emotionally charged content matched to carefully measured and controlled presentations. With that in mind (and to hopefully counter the more insidious agendas), I bring you the Frame of Reference "Family" of podcasts, where the voices of our local and global leadership can share their passion for why and how they are leaders in their community and in many cases, the world. Real players with real roles in a world of real problems. No special effects, no hidden agenda, just the facts and anecdotes that make a leader. And at the risk of sounding trite, I sincerely thank my wife Ann and my two children Elisabeth and Josiah for continually teaching me what leadership SHOULD look like.

  1. The Quantum Power Of Belief

    APR 17

    The Quantum Power Of Belief

    Send us Fan Mail As a sales professional, your numbers can look like a skill gap when the real problem is the story running in your head. I’m joined by Geoffrey Reid, whose career arc is almost unfair: public policy analyst, negotiation and conflict resolution educator, then a leap into sales with zero experience, followed by standout results and leadership at scale. That background sets up a candid talk about what actually drives performance when two people follow the same process and still get different outcomes.  We dig into Geoffrey’s TEDx ideas on the quantum power of belief, not as a magical shortcut, but as a framework for understanding how attention, emotion, and expectation shape behavior. We talk about the placebo effect, the cost of worry and scarcity thinking, and the practical difference between belief that inspires action and belief that becomes fantasy.  Geoffrey breaks it down into principles you can practice: focus on possibilities, build presence, and take inspired action so your goals stop living only in the future.  From there, we go straight at a business-world contradiction: companies run on revenue, yet many business schools barely teach selling.  Geoffrey explains why that gap persists and what he tries to fix in his national bestselling book, The Revenue Catalyst. We also explore his newer work on identity architecture and the “fifth pillar,” where sustainable change comes from who you become, not what you’re told to do. We even touch cultural polarization and how to reclaim your energy by focusing on what you can control and build.  If you lead a team, carry a quota, or feel stuck in a self-defeating loop, press play and take notes. Subscribe for more conversations like this, share the episode with someone who needs a mindset reset, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway. Thanks for listening.  Please check out our website at www.forsauk.com to hear great conversations on topics that need to be talked about.  In these times of intense polarization we all need  to find time to expand our Frame of Reference.

    46 min
  2. Tenacious

    APR 6

    Tenacious

    Send us Fan Mail A goofy Star Trek warm-up turns into something unexpectedly human when Scott Scoble opens up about the moments that shaped him. Scott runs Moo TV, a live concert video production company trusted on major tours, and he’s also the author of Tenacious. Behind the LED walls and camera rigs is a story about grief, pressure, and what it takes to keep showing up when you’re not okay. We talk about the line between pain that teaches and pain that becomes baggage. Scott shares how survivor’s guilt hid in plain sight after the violent loss of a mentor and business partner, and how EMDR therapy helped him name it and finally let the guilt go without erasing the love. We also dig into PTSD, what it feels like in real life, and why “take your own medicine” can be the most honest kind of leadership advice. The conversation goes further into meaning-making: near-death experiences, Eben Alexander’s Proof of Heaven, and Scott’s cautious but powerful experiences with psychedelic-assisted therapy, including a 5-MeO DMT story he describes as ego-death followed by overwhelming love. It’s not presented as a shortcut or a party trick, but as structured work with care, boundaries, and real reflection. Finally, we zoom back out to the craft and the business: what it takes to build massive 4K touring video shows, why the crowd matters more than the money, how COVID nearly crushed live events, and what helped Moo TV stay connected to its people. If you’ve been stuck, scared to try, or tired of living by someone else’s script, Scott’s “live like you’re writing a book” mindset will hit hard. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs fuel, and leave a review with the one chapter you’re ready to write next. Thanks for listening.  Please check out our website at www.forsauk.com to hear great conversations on topics that need to be talked about.  In these times of intense polarization we all need  to find time to expand our Frame of Reference.

    57 min

  3. MAR 17

    From Washington Insider To Free Speech Advocate: Lisa Ekman On Deprogramming Politics

    Send us Fan Mail What happens when a dedicated Democratic warrior realizes her certainty was built on sand? We sit down with Lisa Ekman—former DC lobbyist, Senate staffer, and now author of Deprogramming Democrats—to unpack how a crisis of trust pushed her to question authority, confront cognitive dissonance, and reclaim the courage to ask uncomfortable questions. It’s a personal story with national stakes, because when institutions lose credibility, citizens need a roadmap back to truth, not new idols. Lisa takes us inside the culture of expertise that shaped her worldview for decades and explains why the pandemic exposed deeper fractures: censorship dressed up as safety, scientism standing in for science, and incentives that reward the right outcome over an honest one. We pull apart how research can be captured by funding, why full trial transparency is essential, and how “appeal to authority” short-circuits the public’s ability to evaluate risk and evidence. The conversation doesn’t let any tribe off the hook; cult-like behavior thrives wherever questions are punished. So where do we go from here? Together we explore practical paths forward: citizens learning to read results and weigh tradeoffs; AI helping map complex debates and surface uncertainties; and communities rebuilding trust with face-to-face work that humanizes disagreement. We talk about education that teaches how to think, not what to think; the exhausted majority stuck between loud extremes; and simple local actions that prioritize people over purity tests. If you’re tired of outrage and hungry for clarity, this episode offers a grounded, human route back to dialogue and discernment. Subscribe, share this with someone who values honest conversation, and leave a review with the one belief you’ve recently reexamined—we’ll feature our favorites in a future episode. Thanks for listening.  Please check out our website at www.forsauk.com to hear great conversations on topics that need to be talked about.  In these times of intense polarization we all need  to find time to expand our Frame of Reference.

    1 hr
  4. How A “Special Ops” Mindset Transforms Enterprise Tech

    JAN 22

    How A “Special Ops” Mindset Transforms Enterprise Tech

    Send us Fan Mail What if your software teams operated like a special operations unit—small, focused, and relentless about the mission? That’s the lens Ben Johnson brings to the table as a serial technical co‑founder and CEO of Particle 41, where he’s helped launch 94 products and build elite, outcome‑driven teams across software, data, and cloud. We dive into the turning points that shaped his leadership: learning to lead people rather than tasks, aligning cross‑functional teams to a single business outcome, and using radical visibility to dissolve silos. Ben breaks down why maximum capacity beats minimum standards and how to set smart boundaries that prevent burnout while accelerating delivery. He shares a practical framework for managing resistance during automation and AI rollouts, using the seven primal questions to address fear and designing incentives around total output so experts become quality stewards, not casualties of change. You’ll also hear how open source habits inside the enterprise—transparent architecture, discoverable repos, fast code reviews—unlock autonomy and speed to trust. We talk about decision paralysis in middle management, why “own the outcome” beats “own the function,” and the Be–Do–Have identity shift that turns elite performance into a habit. Along the way, Ben opens up about faith, purpose, and the kind of legacy that lasts: families that thrive, teams that grow, and systems that keep compounding long after handoff. If you’re navigating AI, RPA, or just need a cleaner path from idea to impact, this conversation is a playbook. Subscribe for more candid, practical episodes, share this with a leader who needs it, and leave a review with your biggest bottleneck—we’ll tackle it on a future show. Thanks for listening.  Please check out our website at www.forsauk.com to hear great conversations on topics that need to be talked about.  In these times of intense polarization we all need  to find time to expand our Frame of Reference.

    50 min
  5. Trust, Community, And A $25,000 Promise

    12/19/2025

    Trust, Community, And A $25,000 Promise

    Send us Fan Mail A massive heart attack at 2 a.m., a choice to stay, and a vow to be useful—John Stewart Hill turned a brush with death into a movement that protects homeowners and celebrates great tradespeople. I sat down with John, founder and chief ambassador of The Good Contractors List, to unpack how a third-party guarantee and serious vetting can transform an anxious, two-way agreement into a safer, more respectful partnership. John walks us through the early days—selling coupons, carrying a yellow legal pad, and pitching a radical promise: we’ll separate the good from the bad, and if the job goes wrong, we’ll pay up to $25,000 to make it right. That pledge forced rigor: FBI-level background checks, pattern-spotting across business entities, and zero tolerance for rudeness or bait-and-switch tactics. We get real about why “buck in a truck” shops often lack resources to fix issues, how mega contractors can over-incentivize upsells, and why the competency-rich middle is where value, safety, and honesty meet. What makes this model stick is community. Contractors refer fellow pros they trust, hold each other accountable, and create local “safe contractor communities” that homeowners return to for roofing, plumbing, HVAC, and beyond. The result is collective authority: a network built on behavior, not hype, where the guarantee and mediation keep projects on track when delays or surprises appear. In a post-COVID, AI-noise world, verifiable action beats loud claims—and this platform’s small out-of-pocket history across billions in backed work speaks for itself. If you’re a homeowner who wants peace of mind or a contractor who runs on integrity, this conversation shows how to raise the bar and rebuild trust where it matters most: at home. Explore the network, refer a contractor, or join the community at thegoodcontractorslist.com. Enjoyed the story? Follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review to help more people find trustworthy help. Thanks for listening.  Please check out our website at www.forsauk.com to hear great conversations on topics that need to be talked about.  In these times of intense polarization we all need  to find time to expand our Frame of Reference.

    57 min
  6. Canadian Snipers, Hard Choices, Honest War Stories

    12/10/2025

    Canadian Snipers, Hard Choices, Honest War Stories

    Send us Fan Mail A rifle on a rooftop isn’t a movie moment—it’s a profound responsibility. We sit with retired Canadian Army sniper Barry Nisbet and author and former U.S. Army Ranger Mir Bahmanyar to unpack what snipers really do when deployed to places like Bosnia and Afghanistan and why their new book, Send It, pushes past the myths of their missions and duties. Barry brings the ground truth from five operational tours and a rare first for a Canadian corporal at U.S. Army Ranger School. Mir adds the historian’s eye and a Ranger’s respect for standards, sharing why he pulled real practitioners into the manuscript to keep the record straight. We walk through the job as it is lived: building a sniper from disciplined infantry roots, the strict rules of engagement that govern every trigger press, and the invisible victories of overwatch that keep patrols alive. Barry breaks down night insertions, fragile hides, the exposure that comes with calling in artillery or air, and the nerve it takes to exfiltrate when the sun rises and the enemy knows you’re there. The conversation lingers where most war stories don’t—accepting risk without bravado, carrying loss without turning it into spectacle, and holding fast to the internal standards that separate professionals from pose. Mir challenges the hype that flattens soldiers into slogans and war into entertainment. He argues for honest military history that preserves detail, context and consequence, and he credits Canadian sniper teams with a level of professionalism and restraint too often missing in popular narratives. Along the way we touch on leadership that actually protects people, the mental skills forged in stalking lanes and fieldcraft, and the quiet rituals—dogs, long walks, small places far from crowds—that help recalibrate after hard tours. If you care about modern military history, leadership under pressure, or how precision and patience save lives, this one will stick with you. Listen, then pick up Send It for the full story told by the people who were there. If the conversation resonates, follow the show, share it with someone who values honest storytelling, and leave a review so more listeners can find it. Thanks for listening.  Please check out our website at www.forsauk.com to hear great conversations on topics that need to be talked about.  In these times of intense polarization we all need  to find time to expand our Frame of Reference.

    1h 5m
  7. What If Hope Became A Habit In America

    11/21/2025

    What If Hope Became A Habit In America

    Send us Fan Mail Outrage is easy. Unity is a choice—and a craft. I sat down with Adam Mizel, co-founder of Us United, to map out how everyday people can shift our culture from division to respect without waiting on politicians or viral headlines. Adam shares the origin story sparked by Sheriff Chris Swanson’s powerful decision during the George Floyd protests to remove his riot gear and walk with the crowd in Flint. That moment reframed what leadership can look like: disarm with respect, listen to lived experience, and turn down the temperature before it spikes. We get practical about building unity as a brand and a habit. Adam breaks down why symbols matter—purple hats, a clear logo, visible rituals—because division already has its own marketing machine. He offers a field-tested playbook from a cross-country listening tour: trade arguments for personal stories, listen to understand, and step back when respect drops. We explore how sports, music, food, and even our dogs create instant common ground, and why a stadium of strangers can model the collaboration our politics often lacks. The episode also introduces National Unity Day, recognized on the second Saturday in December, designed to make action simple and contagious: wear purple, take the Unity Pledge, post a positive story, or call the friend or relative you cut off over politics. These small weekly acts add up, especially when shared. Hope isn’t naïve here; it’s a system. By making unity visible and easy to join, we give the quiet majority tools to re-engage and reset the tone in their homes, workplaces, and feeds. If you’re ready to stop doomscrolling and start doing, this conversation gives you a starting line and a community. Subscribe, share this with someone across your aisle, and leave a review telling us the one unity action you’ll take this week. Then grab something purple and tag us to keep the momentum going. Thanks for listening.  Please check out our website at www.forsauk.com to hear great conversations on topics that need to be talked about.  In these times of intense polarization we all need  to find time to expand our Frame of Reference.

    1h 1m
  8. No, Not The Wrestler: The Other Ian Freeman Who Saves Futures

    11/07/2025

    No, Not The Wrestler: The Other Ian Freeman Who Saves Futures

    Send us Fan Mail What if the most important part of your financial plan isn’t your portfolio, but your people? We sit down with Ian Freeman—longtime wealth advisor known for leading with compassion—to explore why protection should come first, how listening outperforms pitching, and what it really means to say, “You’re going to be okay.” Ian shares the moment a 9/11 loss reshaped his mission, the philosophy that guides his work, and the unexpected role that gratitude and humility play in building a plan that holds on the worst day. Across this conversation, we unpack the gap between information and knowledge—and why neither matters without connection. Ian explains his “protect first, then invest” sequence, covering life insurance, disability coverage, and long-term care before chasing returns, so families can invest for everything that goes right. We talk about technology’s double-edged sword, from deepfakes to financial noise, and walk through simple guardrails that protect attention, decisions, and households. And we go beyond numbers: the influence of Atlas Shrugged as a call to productivity and agency, the wisdom of The Natural, and the grit of grandparents who led with service. If you’ve ever wondered how to choose a financial advisor you can trust, Ian’s criteria are refreshingly human: find the person you’d want sitting with your family when you can’t. Look for outward arrows—empathy, clarity, and genuine care—backed by a plan that answers your definition of “being okay.” Along the way, Ian opens up about mental health, resilience, and his forthcoming book, Life Beneath The Suit: Madness, Mayhem, and the Meaning I Found in the Mess, a narrative look at the stories behind the work. Press play for a candid, practical, and heart-forward guide to money, meaning, and legacy. If this conversation helps you breathe easier about your future, share it with someone you love, subscribe for more, and leave a review with the one question you still want answered. Thanks for listening.  Please check out our website at www.forsauk.com to hear great conversations on topics that need to be talked about.  In these times of intense polarization we all need  to find time to expand our Frame of Reference.

    54 min
See All (180)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

"Frame of Reference - Profiles in Leadership" and "Frame of Reference - Coming together" are conversational style shows with local, national, and global experts about issues that affect all of us in some way. I’m, at heart, a “theatre person”. I was drawn to theatre in Junior High School and studied it long enough to get a Master of Fine Arts in Stage Direction. It’s the one thing that I’m REALLY passionate about it because as Shakespeare noted, “all the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players”. Think about the universality of that line for just a moment. Think about the types of “theatre” that play out around us every day in today’s world. The dramatic, the comedic, the absurd, the existential, the gorilla theatre (it’s a thing, look it up) that is pumped into our Smart Phones, TV’s, Radios, and PC’s every minute of every day.Think about the tremendous forces that “play” upon us - trying to first discover, then channel, feed, nurture, and finally harvest our will power and biases in order to move forward the agendas of leaders we will likely never meet. Think of all these forces (behind the scenes of course) and how they use the basic tools of theatre to work their “magic” on the course of humanity. Emotionally charged content matched to carefully measured and controlled presentations. With that in mind (and to hopefully counter the more insidious agendas), I bring you the Frame of Reference "Family" of podcasts, where the voices of our local and global leadership can share their passion for why and how they are leaders in their community and in many cases, the world. Real players with real roles in a world of real problems. No special effects, no hidden agenda, just the facts and anecdotes that make a leader. And at the risk of sounding trite, I sincerely thank my wife Ann and my two children Elisabeth and Josiah for continually teaching me what leadership SHOULD look like.

Information