When Everyone Wins with Judy Ryan: Shifting Power-Over & Under to Power Within & Between

Jan 26

Creating Win/Win While Growing a Business with Guest Tam Tran

Starting and growing a business is not always easy to do and especially today when the speed of change is accelerating, things are getting more complex and new technologies seem to throw a monkey wrench into the works. The greatest way to ensure your business grows well and in the healthiest possible direction is by making sure you put in place the best, most conscious and evolved workplace culture practices available. Your people are your greatest treasure after all and tending to them is key to your success. That leads me to today's guest. Questions we will likely cover include: 1. What does “When Everyone Wins” look like inside a growing business? 2. Where do you see power-over and power-under show up most often? 3. What is the biggest driver of stress and burnout in leadership teams? 4. How do you build psychological safety without lowering standards? 5. What are the first systemic changes you implement with a small or midsize business? 6. How do you help owners stop being the bottleneck? 7. What does “power-within” look like for a manager or team lead? 8. How do you create power-between when teams are in conflict? 10. How do you build accountability without blame? 11. What final words of wisdom would you give to our audience today, especially those who are growing their business.

56 min

Jan 12

Separating Faith from Hate with guests from Interfaith Partnership

There is much hate in the world and sadly a lot of it has been justified in a name of, and in the twisted use of, religion. When this happens people of faith often get confused, discouraged, shut down, or worse become adversarial with others. This is a travesty when they might otherwise co-create kind caring, trustworthy, win/win collaboration with one another. When faith becomes interfaith partnership, each person approaches the holiness of their life and that of others by focusing on the common values and practices found in all faith communities. These include love, service, compassion, appreciation, and a belief in the divinity of every person. The world needs more of this, especially now. This is the time to make powerful choices to practice the best in spirituality and to be in partnership, interfaith partnership where love predominates and unity is sacred. One of the objectives of When Everyone Wins has been to reach leaders of organizations (any size, personal or professional) hungry to learn about the value of adopting a healthy culture of win/win. Win/lose is still holding on with a death grip and unfortunately this is too often occurring around religious differences. Until people see and believe in faith that promotes real, visible love among faith communities, win/lose will remain a mainstream practice regarding religious institutions and systems. This episode is about a group called Interfaith Partnership of Greater St. Louis. They have created a coalition of over 35 faith, spiritual and ethical traditions, who’s members deeply desire to live their faith in shared religious community. Their fellowship and recognition of the gifts and blessings within each tradition inspire their members to do more in the community alone and together because they are joining hands, getting to know one another, and supporting, honoring and encouraging one another, all while finding common cause. So today my show is with a panel of a subset of just some members of Interfaith Partnership of Greater St. Louis and how their coalition has helped each member and each faith group develop a deeper commitment to love. They are a visible model of sharing power, creating win/win, and developing deep understanding, acceptance and appreciation of one another. This is not only a win/win for each person and group in the Interfaith Partnership community, it is a shining beacon and a model of win/win that can inspire a better way possible for all of society, all over the world. Possible questions and discussion points: 1. (Everyone) Let’s start by each of you sharing your name, (somewhat briefly) describing your faith tradition, and why are you passionate about interfaith work? 2. (Everyone) Next, I’d like each of you to tell our audience how Interfaith Partnership has brought about greater collaboration, teamwork, support, and trust. Let’s first hear from… - Mary Pedersen, The Interfaith Relations Specialist: Mary, please share the purpose/mission, core values, vision and any of the goals, procedures and roles in the organization. How did it get started? How has it evolved? What is the size and is it growing? Is this a nationwide movement? What do you see as the most positive impacts? - Others on the panel: Please share how Interfaith Partnership has personally impacted you, your faith, your faith community, in your professional and personal life? Can you give an example of when you personally experienced the importance and value of interfaith work within this organization? 3. People are suffering from many things: unworthiness, shame, self-doubt, self-criticism, self-centeredness, anxiety, stress, all resulting in internal and external struggles and separation. How does Interfaith Partnership help alleviate these? What problems in society might be solved if healthy interfaith work was part of the fabric of our society and what do you do personally in your own practice or practices you have learned from others? 4. How does IPSTL (or each of you who wish to answer) handle challenges and move toward healing and reconciliation when situations and events arise that might tempt members to grow at odds with one another? How does your mission and vision support resolution to challenge to things like 9/11, or more recently, October 7th, or Roe vs. Wade or sexual abuse, or other painful things happening in the US or globally that might otherwise trigger reactivity and division? 5. How do we let people know about Interfaith Partnership, why it is valuable, and why it is needed? 6. In my work at LifeWork Systems, we say “all people need to feel belonging and significance. Only then do they feel empowered, lovable, connected and contributing”. How does Interfaith Partnership of Greater St. Louis help people feel belonging and significance? 7. Are there any other activities or event you have engaged in as a result of the support you have received from Interfaith Partnership? 8. (Everyone) Based on the unity and blessings of being a member of Interfaith Partnership of Greater St. Louis, what’s one short phrase or sentence of advice or wisdom you would like to impart to our listeners that would help each utilize their faith and their lives to create WIN/WIN?

1h 1m

12/22/2025

Creating Win/Win Through Joyful Transformation

Imagine an organization with overwhelming challenges, the need to be upgraded in just about every possible way, and that must shift from struggling to thriving. Such an organization must be led by a transformational leader! This leader must have courage, skills and determination to overcome obstacles and inspire excellence. This leader must also bring passion and conviction to the job of improving a seriously out-of-date organization despite the many risks, fears, and resistance some of his staff may have to change; even when that change is designed to support the advancement of a much-needed, non-profit. My guest today is such a transformational leader. He not only committed to bring about excellence in his now-80-year-old non-profit organization, he has done so and continues to do so in measurable ways, all while bringing joy to the transformation process!

59 min

12/08/2025

Being Hyperadaptive is Essential for Win/Win with guest Melissa Reeve

Today, we are exploring a new phrase: the Hyperadaptive Organization. My guest, Melissa Reeve, coined this phrase and it is the central focus of her essential new book, Hyperadaptive: Rewiring the Organization to Become an AI-Native Enterprise. With 80% of AI initiatives failing to deliver on their promise, Melissa steps in to give leaders a practical framework. She defines a Hyperadaptive Organization as one that 'rewires its structures, processes, and capabilities to integrate AI and other technologies effectively, allowing them to sense, respond, and evolve at the speed of AI.' I like to also add that a hyperadaptive organization must allow support AI in sensing, responding to, and evolving at the speed of the consciously evolved people. Hyperadaptive organizations require hyperadaptive human beings. Yet people often fear change. This is why it is important to recognize that not only do projects fail but individuals and teams fail to experience the success and fulfillment possible. This is why understanding what it means to be hyperadaptive, especially at this time, is so crucial. As Meredith Grey says in Grey's Anatomy, "We either adapt to change or we get left behind.” Our conversation today is to help you, our listeners to adapt to needed change with confidence and joy. With this in mind, I'm excited to introduce my guest Melissa Reeve. Questions we may cover include: 1. Melissa, both of us are huge advocates for psychological safety. What does hyperadaptability have to do with AI and why is this especially critical when implementing AI? What happens to an AI experiment in a low-trust, "power-over, power-under" environment? 2. When Everyone Wins is all about shifting from "power-over and under" (command-and-control on the part of leaders, and resentful compliance-and-conformity or rebellion to their direct reports). “How does AI force leaders to finally give up "power-over"? 3. In my work, I see ways direct reports use "power-over" too. They often do so more subtly to protect themselves but they use this dynamic with their leaders and peers. How does AI force direct reports to finally give up “power-over?” 4. Melissa, I love your concept of the "AI Time Paradox"—organizations being "too busy to save time" with AI. This feels like one kind of classic symptom of a "power-under" culture, where the typical way of operating makes it almost impossible to learn and evolve. How can leaders create "power-within" for their teams by breaking this cycle? 5. In our work, “power-under” is also when front-line staff, non-titled employees give up their autonomy not always because of a leader’s behavior, but because of conditioning to conform and comply rather than critically think or act as a leader in moments when it would be helpful for them to engage in a power-within way. Is it crucial in your model for those without a title to step up so they are not acting like powerless victims or reactive rebels? How does AI when seen through Hyperadaptability break this cycle and move front-line staff into leader/follower agility? 6. Melissa, like LifeWork Systems, you and your company argue that organizations must move "From Linear Hierarchies to Dynamic Networks." This is what I mean with the shift in power until it is “shared power.” This is very much the same as the responsibility-based model we use to help leaders create "TEAL organizations.” Why do rigid, traditional hierarchies and AI fundamentally conflict with each other? 7. Your work positions AI as a "co-worker" or "partner." Our tagline includes "power-between" (requiring collaboration and trust). How do we build that "power-between" relationship, not just between humans, but between humans and their new AI "co-workers"? 8. Melissa, you shared with me a little about a practical tool you use called the FOCUS framework for evaluating AI use cases. Can you tell our listeners more about bout FOCUS and how a shared framework like this helps teams build "power-between" with each other so they make decisions collaboratively, rather than waiting for "power-over" approval? 9. Melissa, you talk about AI "democratizing skills" so decision-making authority can be distributed. This is a key part of my company’s "responsibility-based" CultureEX model. Where have you seen this "democratizing skills" work well, and where do leaders get scared and try to hoard control? 10. Your book outlines a 5-Stage AI Integration Journey. For a leader listening right now who wants to begin, what is the very first cultural step they need to take to move from Stage 1 (Foundation Setting) to Stage 2? 11. My show is called "When Everyone Wins." In your vision of a truly "Hyperadaptive," AI-Native organization, what does that "win-win-win" look like? What's the "win" for executives, the "win" for middle managers, and the "win" for the frontline employees? 12. As we wrap up the episode, what final words of wisdom would you like to leave with our audience?

58 min

11/24/2025

Transformational Leaders Creating a Win/Win Workplace

Transformational leaders are passionately convicted about inspiring and motivating their people through healthy culture practices so they achieve meaningful, positive change and exceed expectations. The excellence they create is palpable in the relationships, productivity and engagement of their staff. Such leaders hold a compelling vision for developing leadership in everyone in the workforce, including themselves. They consciously promote creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking to ensure innovative solutions and a strong sense of meaning and purpose. My guests today are such transformational leaders. For the past 10 years, they have been committed to investing time and money in creating a healthy workplace culture. And…they practice what they preach by modelling strong ethical principles themselves so they inspire others to live in the kind of integrity that builds mutual trust and respect. This not only occurs within the staff but also with customers they serve. These guests are two of my favorite leaders ever! They adopted the LifeWork Systems’ CultureEX transformation model; an unconventional, shared power culture transformation process. My guests know first-hand that helping people live from personal responsibility, internal motivation, and emotional and social intelligence is what strengthens their organization and it is not for the faint of heart. These two are both founding members of CMIT Solutions St. Louis, a managed IT Services and cybersecurity provider. These are transformational leaders committed to their people. They onboard them with the promise of helping each develop personally and professionally so everyone supports the wild success of one another. To do this, they have adopted and promote common concepts, terms, tools, support strategies, and organizational processes from our CultureEX model. I am so happy to introduce these two amazing leaders to you. I am so happy to introduce these two transformational leaders to you.

1 hr

11/10/2025

Encore: Creating Win/Win Where It Seems Least Likely with guest Sheriff Eric S. Higgins

The title of this episode is Creating Win/Win Where it Seems Least Likely! That’s because when win/win dynamics are created and power is expanded and then used to foster the good of many, this gives everyone hope about what’s possible where it might seem impossible! It also highlights what conditions and conversations are needed to get such a win/win result when it seems the least likely. This is why I am so excited to introduce my guest to you. He has had the courage and the heart to bring innovation where most people see only negative behavior, often feel hopeless, and can be harshly judgmental - when they consider prisons! In my work in applied Adlerian psychology, I know that where positive outcomes are most mind-blowing are in prisons. That’s why as soon as I set up my show in January, I immediately invited my next guest on this show! I am thrilled beyond belief to introduce you to him - Sheriff Eric. S. Higgins, best known by many for his innovative approaches to law enforcement and rehabilitation that have drawn national recognition, including being the visionary behind Netflix's Unlocked: A Jail Experiment series. This is where I became passionate about inviting Sheriff Higgins on my show. Questions I may be asking could include: 1. For most people, the prison system has always been a place to house criminals and to mete out punishment. Can you tell our listeners about this experiment and what it is in your own background that helped you shift from a power-over, punishing mindset to one in which you prioritized encouraging the men in that unit to create a caring community? 2. I recall you saying that if we treat people as humans rather than sub-human, they will likely act better. We call this taking people out of the monster box. What helped you to see the men in the unit as capable of using their personal power in a positive way? 3. I noticed that at first, the older inmates set themselves up in the role of “elders” and proceeded to try and use a conventional autocratic “management” approach with the younger inmates which did not go over well! How did you feel as you watched the conventional control models of those who decided to be the “elders” when they showed up at the start of the project? 4. Did you feel confident about the process and how directly connected did you stay in terms of watching the video feed and adjusting your approach? 5. What did you learn and what do you think they learned from this phase of the experiment? 6. What you put in place there led to the men growing in care for one another and more focused on their future. Do you believe the lessons that you, the other law enforcement personnel, and the inmates all learned in this experiment could help our society in general and if so, what lessons specifically? And, how might they be helpful to anyone in any setting, in our society? 7. In researching you for this episode, I noticed some people were angry with your vision for this experiment because they were so deeply committed to punishment as the priority, not rehabilitation. How much resistance did you get from people before, during and after this experiment? How did you overcome it? What are your thoughts about this? 8. When authority figures in a prison system adopt a firm and respectful approach like you did, and expect goodness from people, and demonstrate a belief in equality and dignity for all, we know that recidivism is greatly reduced. We have seen this when our own psychology model has been used in a similar way. You said recidivism in your prison was around 50%. What was it at the end of the 6 weeks and what has happened since then? 9. Did you ever truly have doubts once it started? 10. How often did you watch the video feed? 11. At the end of the show, the experiment was going to be started in other cell blocks. How is it going? 12. How have things evolved and what were the greatest lessons you learned? Watch: https://youtu.be/HTNVBxrFV3o

58 min

10/27/2025

Creating Win/Win Cultures: Unlocking Human Potential in Teams and Organizations with Guest Manuela Batul Giangrande

Unlocking potential requires we understand what causes potential to expand and what causes it to contract. Many people don’t focus on the condition of human potential nor the role they play in shaping it, even though the health and development of people and their environment are foundational to an organization’s competitive advantage and the ability to achieve its business objectives. In this episode, my guest and I will be discussing answers to some of the most important questions to consider. Our conversation will center around the health and vitality of people and culture and the role win/win practices play in positive outcomes, joy and fulfillment. My guest today is uniquely qualified to discuss this. Not only did she research and write her college thesis on this topic, over the decades since then, she has passionately advocated for the conditions and conversations that create incredible win/win outcomes! Most importantly, I can personally vouch for the fact that my guest walks the talk of creating life-giving conditions and conversations that bring out the best in people. She causes me to commit to be authentic, caring and in service. She has maintained passion about win/win organizational culture because she sees win/win relationships as precious and one of the most important factors needed for success and the actualization of good ideas and people. Some questions we may cover could include: How did you first become passionate about organizational culture and what about it inspired you most to research it, value it, and write about it?Your artistic background fuels your creativity, and enables you to approach business development and challenges of many kinds with fresh, imaginative solutions. Can you share how you see the intersection of win/win cultures and creativity within people?How can organizations move beyond hierarchical structures to create cultures of shared responsibility and trust?What practical steps can leaders take to foster psychological safety and meaningful connection across teams?How does adopting a win/win culture impact performance, innovation, and employee engagement in measurable ways?What are some examples of systemic change that enable people to operate from purpose, values, and authenticity?You believe in integrating interdisciplinary ideas to inspire positive change. Why is it important to have such an integrated approach designed to result in trusting, innovative collaboration and partnerships?How can we shift our civilization process so that rather than diminish people and demean the human spirit, each person is assisted in expanding into wholeness?What can we do to create a world in which it feels safe to be powerfully influential, inventive, vulnerable, and caring?What does an organization look like in which people thrive rather than simply survive?How do we avoid that which makes us feel and act like victims and rebels and adopt that which makes us feel empowered, lovable, connected, and contributing?As we close this episode, what words of wisdom would you like to leave with our audience?

55 min

10/13/2025

How To Create Winning Outcomes with Trauma-Informed Frameworks with Guest Dawn Emerick

In the book The Body Keeps the Score, author Bessel Van Der Kolk lays out plentiful evidence for widespread and often unrecognized instances of trauma in the lives of the vast majority of everyday people. In his research, he describes big T trauma, easily recognized by many people as experiences like war, sexual and other physical abuse, addiction, and extreme neglect to name just a few examples. He also describes developmental trauma, a type of psychological injury also incurred simply from conventional ways many adults raise and educate children that also result in toxic ways leaders manage people in their workplace. A trauma-informed approach is a strengths-based framework that recognizes trauma's widespread impacts, including in our workplaces, social, governmental, spiritual and other organizations and institutions, so that sensitivity to this knowledge informs policies, procedures, and practices that foster safety, trust, empowerment, and collaboration. Instead of focusing on "what's wrong with you?", a trauma-informed approach considers "what happened to you?" making it a priority to understand underlying issues in the lives of people. In doing so, leaders then consciously adopt conditions and conversations that avoid re-traumatization, creating win/win environments that foster healing, recovery and robust morale and engagement. When such healthy, psychologically safe, and emotionally and socially intelligent systems are in place, everyone in these organizations has the opportunity to expand into their greatest human potential and lead peaceful, purposeful, values-based lives. This also has a profound impact on the stability, innovation, creativity and resilience of organizations despite the challenges of growing complexity, speed of change, new technologies, diversity, globalization and more. Trauma-informed approaches applied real-time are the topic of our episode today and why I’m so excited to introduce you to my guest, Dawn Emerick. Let me tell you about her… Questions we may cover include: You often describe leadership as a “nervous-system experience” rather than just a behavioral skill. How does shifting from power-over to power-within begin with regulating our own nervous systems?How does our social location—our lived experience with privilege, marginalization, or trauma—shape the way we lead and interpret the behaviors of others at work?You focus on the importance of shifting people from compliance to collaboration. What does it look like when an organization truly moves from compliance and control to collaboration and co-regulation?Many organizations teach emotional intelligence as the leadership gold standard. What’s missing when we stop there and don’t include a trauma-informed lens?You often say, “Not everyone who is difficult is toxic—sometimes they’re just in survival mode.” How can leaders discern between trauma responses and true toxicity?You write that post-traumatic growth isn’t about “bouncing back” but “transforming forward.” What does that look like for leaders and organizations coming out of crisis or change fatigue?You use a framework called The HOPE framework and it focuses on positive experiences as buffers to toxic stress. How can leaders embed HOPE principles into daily workplace practices?HOPE emphasizes safety, relationships, and social connection as protective factors. How can leaders intentionally create those same protective factors for adults at work?In your LinkedIn article, you said the future of leadership depends on relational intelligence. How is that different from emotional intelligence?How can teams practice power-between—especially across hierarchy, identity, or lived experience—to build mutual trust and shared accountability?In The Hurt Leader, you say, “If the culture can’t hold truth, it will never hold transformation.” How can leaders stay in the room when feedback, emotion, or conflict get uncomfortable?You teach organizations to “celebrate errors.” How can embracing mistakes actually strengthen trust and psychological safety in teams?Your Trauma-Informed Change Management framework highlights how unhealed trauma creates resistance to change. What happens when organizations ignore this?How does a “pre-mortem” exercise—imagining failure before it happens—help leaders and teams build foresight and compassion instead of fear?If every leader listening today committed to one trauma-informed shift tomorrow—a single move from power-over to power-within—what would you want that to be?

59 min

When Everyone Wins with Judy Ryan: Shifting Power-Over & Under to Power Within & Between

Creating Win/Win While Growing a Business with Guest Tam Tran

Separating Faith from Hate with guests from Interfaith Partnership

Creating Win/Win Through Joyful Transformation

Being Hyperadaptive is Essential for Win/Win with guest Melissa Reeve

Transformational Leaders Creating a Win/Win Workplace

Encore: Creating Win/Win Where It Seems Least Likely with guest Sheriff Eric S. Higgins

Creating Win/Win Cultures: Unlocking Human Potential in Teams and Organizations with Guest Manuela Batul Giangrande

How To Create Winning Outcomes with Trauma-Informed Frameworks with Guest Dawn Emerick

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When Everyone Wins with Judy Ryan: Shifting Power-Over & Under to Power Within & Between

Episodes

Creating Win/Win While Growing a Business with Guest Tam Tran

Separating Faith from Hate with guests from Interfaith Partnership

Creating Win/Win Through Joyful Transformation

Being Hyperadaptive is Essential for Win/Win with guest Melissa Reeve

Transformational Leaders Creating a Win/Win Workplace

Encore: Creating Win/Win Where It Seems Least Likely with guest Sheriff Eric S. Higgins

Creating Win/Win Cultures: Unlocking Human Potential in Teams and Organizations with Guest Manuela Batul Giangrande

How To Create Winning Outcomes with Trauma-Informed Frameworks with Guest Dawn Emerick

About

Information