Welcome to "The Story in Your Head" podcast with Ron Macklin and Michelle Mosolgo.

In this episode of “The Story in Your Head,” Ron, Michelle, and guest Dr. Kevin Gazzara discuss how to use the concepts behind positive intelligence to change the story in your head. Kevin shares personal stories around how he used to handle conversations with people before and after applying the principles in his own life.

“The Story in Your Head” podcast is about sharing stories through host interactions and interviews with guests so listeners will create space to learn about themselves, build authentic connections, produce opportunities to gain knowledge and get out of their own story to make space for others – no matter someone’s background and experiences.

Ep. 50: Positive Intelligence with Kevin Dr. Kevin Gazzara

Ron opens by asking guest Kevin Dr. Kevin Gazzara to introduce himself.

• Kevin discusses his background and schooling including obtaining his PhD in Organizational Leadership.
• He mentions his long career in the corporate world, and then says he retired in 2007 to begin his own company with a couple of colleagues.
• They left to develop leadership programs, while also developing leadership programs for four different universities.

Michelle asks for more details about what Kevin means when discussing ‘positive intelligence’. 

• Kevin says that most people are probably familiar with emotional intelligence (EQ), and that those with high EQ plays a greater significance in leadership than a high IQ.
• He then references Dr. Shirzad Chamine’s book on positive intelligence, which compiled the statistics behind multiple theories and put together an operating system.
• He notes that the system can be used to recognizing the stories in your head, controlling them, and then coming with a solution.
• Kevin mentions the differences between the sage brain and the saboteur brain.
• Kevin says that he runs programs to teach people, and that it is for anyone looking to take the next step up, or for people struggling to grow as a leader.

Michelle discusses the positive and negative stories in her head, and asks Kevin how he suggests to go about changing those stories?

• Kevin mentions the multitude of saboteur brains that anyone might have, and how the assessment can help you discern which ones you deal with the most.
• He then discusses the different sage brain practices one can utilize to counteract the saboteurs through thoughtfulness and meditation.
• After prompting from Ron, Kevin recounts a personal story of recognizing his saboteur and how he fought that.

Michelle asks how because of everything he learned, Kevin has engaged differently with his daughter, and others.

• He notes that in their lessons they also teach communications skills, and how to make sure every conversation is taken as an opportunity rather than as a threat.
• He then discusses a few other things they teach others in their Servant Leadership class, among other classes.

Ron asks what his method is for keeping that story top of mind when you enter into some of those conversations.

• Kevin says that is something positive intelligence addresses, especially for those in higher more stressful positions.
• He discusses the app that was made to help people practice PQ reps after getting a notification a couple of notifications.
• He adds that it actually tracks where you are currently versus where you should be.

Michelle asks how others can find out more about positive intelligence and where to get started.

• He recommends the book Positive Intelligence
• Kevin also mentions their website to also learn more about positive intelligence
• He also says to check out Shirzad’s website to take the saboteur assessment and your p level assessment.

To learn more about the Imaginal Community: https://imaginalcommunity.mn.co/

To learn more about creating a better corporate culture in the workplace, head over to www.macklinconnection.com