The ability to create strong relationships with others is crucial to living a happy, productive, and fulfilling life. But, the reality is that many of us find ourselves struggling to build solid personal and professional connections, or we are unable to handle the challenges that inevitably arise when we grow closer to other people. Fortunately, the process the building and sustaining relationships can be learned and applied in order to improve existing relationships and build new ones at any stage of life.
My first guests, Carole Robin, Ph.D. and David Bradford, Ph.D., have taught interpersonal skills to MBA candidates for a combined seventy-five years and have coached and consulted hundreds of executives for decades. They join us today to discuss how to break through superficial interactions, get real and vulnerable, and create deep and meaningful connections with people in every aspect of life.
Carole and David talk about the damage that technology is having on our ability to connect, why we are losing close connections in our lives and what we can do about it, how expressing your feelings is crucial to strengthening your relationships, how the pandemic has affected the way we interact with co-workers and build relationships, and what we can do to cultivate successful relationships with friends, family, and colleagues.
Yes folks, love is in the air, even for those that are 55 and older! In fact, according to a recent survey of seniors about dating and relationships, the passion amongst those in their golden years is at an all-time high. More than one-third of seniors have dated and tried different methods for meeting new people within the last five years. With a little help from technology and a lot of love left to give, today’s seniors are actively playing the love game.
My third guest, Morgen Henderson, is an analyst at Choice Mutual and Independent Final Expense Co. She joins us today to share insight about an eye-opening new survey of 2,000 seniors (ages 55+) and their experiences with relationships and dating. She shares what dating is like for seniors today, what the majority values most in a relationship, relationship misfortune among people over 55+, where seniors typically meet new people, and what the best apps are for dating and finding love.
Carole Robin, Ph.D. was the Dorothy J. King Lecturer in Leadership and Director of the Arbuckle Leadership Fellows Program at Stanford Graduate School of Business before co-founding Leaders in Tech, which brings the principles and process of “Touchy Feely” to executives in Silicon Valley.
She taught at the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) for 17 years, where she served as the Faculty Director of the Interpersonal Dynamics for High Performance Executives Program.
Carole was honored to receive the MBA Distinguished Teaching Award for her work in numerous courses, including Interpersonal Dynamics (the most popular elective course at the GSB for over 45 years) and the Silver Apple award for her work supporting alumni.
Prior to joining the GSB, Carole was a partner in an organization-development consulting firm. She also worked as a high tech sales and marketing senior manager. Carole has been in the business of helping leaders grow for over 35 years.
In addition to her teaching, Carole has coached and consulted to individuals and groups of high-profile executives for the last fifteen years. Her clients work with her to develop their interpersonal skills, update limiting mental models, and learn to modify their style.
Carole has become internationally known for her expertise in interpersonal relations and, particularly, experiential small group learning. This type of training gives participants the capacity to become more effective leaders, build higher performing organizations, and have richer, more fulfilling personal and professional relationships.
David Bradford, Ph.D. taught at Stanford for over 50 years and is the Eugene O’Kelly II Senior Lecturer Emeritus in Leadership at Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he helped develop Interpersonal Dynamics (“Touchy Feely”) as well as much of the School’s leadership curriculum.
He received his PhD in social psychology from the University of Michigan and taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison before coming to Stanford in 1969.
His research interests have led to six books, numerous articles, three training programs, and a MOOC on leadership, team performance, and the influence process.
David also has consulted and conducted executive programs to a variety of organizations in the for-profit and not-for-profit sector, including Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Cisco Systems, Levi Strauss & Co., Roche Pharmaceutical, Raychem, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
In addition, Dr. Bradford has been involved with educational innovation at the college level. He was the founder of The Organizational Behavior Teaching Society and the first editor of their journal.
David received the Exemplar of Excellence in Education award from The University of Phoenix. He is on the editorial board of The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, The Journal of Management Education, and The Academy of Management Learning and Education.
In Dr. Carole Robin and Dr. David Bradford's book, CONNECT: Building Exceptional Relationships with Family, Friends and Colleagues, they show readers how to take their relationships from shallow to exceptional by cultivating authenticity, vulnerability, and honesty, while being willing to ask for and offer help, share a commitment to growth, and deal productively with conflict.
Morgen Henderson is a writer who grew up in Utah. She lived in the Dominican Republic for a year and a half, where she was involved in humanitarian service. Some of her work has appeared in State of Digital, The Next Scoop, and TechPatio.
Morgen is an analyst at Choice Mutual, an independent agency that specializes in final expense life insurance. Their business model revolves around exemplary performance in educating, counseling, and advising anyone who is searching for burial life insurance and helping everyone get the absolute best price and coverage on their final expense insurance.
Choice Mutual represents over 15 different highly rated insurance companies, which gives them the opportunity to shop the market on your behalf to ensure you get the best plan at the best price.