In this podcast episode, Dr. Jonathan H. Westover talks with Rachel Rider about her book, Who You Are is How You Lead.

Rachel Rider (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachellrider) founded MettaWorks in 2015 after a distinguished career in HR, receiving executive coaching certification from Columbia University, and extensive training in meditation, Somatic Experiencing, and Polarity Therapy. Starting as HR Business Partner responsible for developing and coaching leaders and teams at Bloomberg, she went on to specialize in leadership coaching at AppNexus (since acquired by AT&T) and Digital Ocean, the third-largest hosting company in the world. She studied under renowned teacher and Zen Mountain Monastery founder John Daido Loori Roshi for 13 years before continuing under his successor, Shugen Arnold Roshi. Rider completed a three-year intensive certification in Somatic Experiencing in 2018, and a 2020 training in Polarity Therapy with the aim of bringing leaders tools to unlock effective, long-lasting change in concert with the body. Since 2020, she’s been working intensively with anti-racism coach Makeda Pennycooke. Rider lives in New York with her husband and two children.

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In this podcast episode, Dr. Jonathan H. Westover talks with Sophie Thompson about using virtual reality for upskilling and professional development.

Sophie Thompson (www.linkedin.com/in/sophiethompsonvr) is the Co-founder and CEO of VirtualSpeech, an award-winning education platform that combines e-learning with practice exercises online and in virtual reality. Sophie started VirtualSpeech in 2015 as a way to overcome her fear of public speaking using VR. Since then, VirtualSpeech has developed a catalogue of 30+ courses focused on communication and interpersonal skills, from public speaking to active listening, leadership, sexual harassment prevention, and more. VirtualSpeech has helped hundreds of thousands of people across 130 countries to improve their skills and confidence using VR, and Sophie has appeared on BBC World News, Forbes, and The Wall Street Journal talking about VR for learning.

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In this podcast episode, Dr. Jonathan H. Westover talks with Julie Noonan about using reverse mentoring to bridge the generational divide in the workforce.

Julie Noonan (www.linkedin.com/in/jnoonanconsulting) is an executive coach and change strategist working with organizations and their leaders to successfully ride the waves of change. Her specific focus is on the last of the Boomer generation and how they are faring in the final years of their formal careers. She is passionate about inter-generational collaboration and reverse mentorship. She is also a fierce advocate of including age in DEI programs to fight ageism in recruiting and downsizing.

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