@nabster2020
Natalie spiro
@nabster2020 · 1:25

Appreciative Interview: Who is Natalie Spiro

So right now, I have the chance to speak with Deborah Pardys, who's the chief story office at Swell, as she conducts an interview with me. I'm in the hot seat, but in the best of ways, I hope this conversation helps you learn more about me so that ultimately I can learn more about you. Hey, Deborah, thank you so much for doing this with me

Grateful to be in conversation with @DBPardes of Swell. I think sharing this conversation is way more powerful a tool than any bio I could have writte

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@DBPardes
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 0:53

Citizen Spiro! #TEDspeaker

Natalie Spiro. It is an honor and forgive the little frog in my throat. I hope it goes away in the middle of this interview. I want to thank you for being on Swell and thank you for using this as a tool for letting us get to know you better. I want to just start off by jumping into the middle of this conversation right now, and we can sort of chunk backwards as appropriate. But you have become a citizen of this country, and you voted this year
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@nabster2020
Natalie spiro
@nabster2020 · 2:11
I have to say thank you to Marlene Stanger, who was my lawyer, who is just a gem and an angel on this planet and a gift to me because she led me through the entire journey. And I have to say it was the proudest day. I even remember studying those 100 questions and writing flashcards. And I was so excited. In any case, what do I feel on Election Day? I feel so glad to be a citizen finally
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@DBPardes
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 2:11

Balancing our roots with our present day culture

You cofounded an organization here that started in South Africa called Drum Cafe, and you've reached over 300,000 people in your work, up to 3000 people at a time in a room, sometimes 5000 the work you did with Drum Cafe, using drumming as a medium to galvanize people's connections to each other, to feel each other's heartbeat together, as one that comes from a place that we hear in your voice right now, your passion for your African roots and how that created your being and your ability to drop into some of the most important parts of feeling alive, which is to know where you come from, to know your culture and to recognize the culture around you, which is so important in leadership and development
@nabster2020
Natalie spiro
@nabster2020 · 2:21

@

And through all of my work, being able to bust those silos and get people to harmonize together as one so that they are stronger together and better together because of their differences. It's about including all of those differences and being more inclusive in the workplace to have all the voices in the room that are heard, not just one or two
@DBPardes
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:34

What is your intake process ?

Every week, every month, new people come in with their stories, and people come in with their broken behaviors from past cultures. And these organizations try to keep a semblance of continuity. And here you are coming in, saying, how do we do that? So given the challenge of a constantly changing landscape where every organization has changes at so many fundamental levels, sometimes they fire a bunch of people. Sometimes they hire a bunch of people
@nabster2020
Natalie spiro
@nabster2020 · 1:15
So the intake process is really around examining what is going on in the organization. What's out of whack. What are they seeing that isn't working? Different intakes are obviously very different. They're customized based on the different needs of the organization. Some organizations are really just looking to bring their teams together and improve their team dynamics. Other organizations are looking to, especially now in the virtual world
@nabster2020
Natalie spiro
@nabster2020 · 0:58
As I was saying, I think it just cut off. But I was talking about an intake for a culture change initiative, and that kind of intake is way, way deeper. There obviously a need for a full needs assessment and always looks at a variety of different factors. So it would look at how are people being rewarded? What are the systems in place to support the culture? What is the structure of the organization? And does that support the culture?
@DBPardes
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:34

In partnership with clients ?

You pivoted your company and your culture and you help other people do the same. What are you seeing in terms of resistance to this change? You mentioned people's access to technology and all that stuff, but I'm talking at a higher level. Are people just hoping this is over and then we'll get back to normal? Or are people adopting a real new normal where they're saying, yes, Natalie, help us live in a remote culture. And where are you seeing the resistance to that?
@nabster2020
Natalie spiro
@nabster2020 · 2:05
But until then, there's going to definitely be the virtual presence, and I'm not seeing people that against it. In fact, I'm seeing people much more supportive of it, which is Super Super amazing. Okay, thank you
@DBPardes
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:24

https://s.swell.life/SSFIuh7lsD6xPRc

But before that final question, I want to talk with you a little bit about your belief in the physical kinesthetic experience and what that really means to how cognition happens. Like what's the connection between our body and our mind, and how have you infused your programming with that understanding
@nabster2020
Natalie spiro
@nabster2020 · 2:13
There are kind of two ways to answer this question because I'm going to answer that question and it's a great question. So thank you for asking it one in the actual live space. Being an expert in multimodal and multichannel learning and training delivery is super important because most of the training is simply visual and auditory out there. Participants sit inactive for hours, whereas I use a more brainbased approach where I access all the learning channels really capitalizing on God's theory of multiple intelligences
@DBPardes
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:11

Aids ride and it’s impact on your life

Wow. I had to listen to that twice to get that. It sounds like we are in an era where there's enough scientific studies about the connection between all of our neural pathways and our physical systems and our cognition and our even the connection when you're physically next to somebody, what that creates. And I just love that you're in that middle in the center of that conversation. It's so exciting to bring that all to the workspace
@nabster2020
Natalie spiro
@nabster2020 · 2:27
Great question. I yeah, I did the AIDS ride, as you said, from San Francisco to Los Angeles, 550 miles. And I remember waking up on a morning in February, the first of of February. It was 2016 and I had four months to train and I got on my bike and started literally with probably a half an hour ride. And as kind of the days went on, it was a commitment to consistency because being consistent is what's required to step into your best self
@DBPardes
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 0:45

🙏🙏🙏🙏

Natalie, it's been so great to drop into this conversation with you without even having a list of questions, because that's the most authentic way I know to be present in the conversation, especially of this nature, is to listen in and to hear what excites you and to lean into that
@nabster2020
Natalie spiro
@nabster2020 · 0:57
Deb, I so appreciate being invited to do this on Swell. I found this medium to be fantastic in the sense that you can really kind of listen you're in the listening. Most times when we having conversations or video conversations, we're not in the listening of others. We're kind of wanting to say something or thinking about what we're going to say when they finish what they are going to say
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