Brandon Miller is an expert in Strengths-Based Organizational Development, who has helped businesses such as Bank of America and Tesla implement leadership and company culture programs.

He is also a father of 7, who has co-authored two books about Strengths-Based Parenting.

Brandon believes there are skills we learn as fathers that can help make us better managers and leaders in the workplace.

In this interview, Brandon shares his story and explains some of the key lessons he has learned along the way.

What you will learn

• The story behind Brandon’s business, 34 Strong
• How organisations can apply strengths-based principles
• The three categories of time
  • Grind time
  • Greatness
  • Genius
• Brandon’s fatherhood journey, with 7 kids and 4 grandchildren.
• How to manage work-life balance at different stages in your career
• Three ways managers (and parents) can be perceived by staff (and kids)
  • Advocate
  • Adversary
  • Ambivalent
• Leadership skills we learn as dads, that can also be applied in the workplace
• Why he and his wife decided to write a book about parenting
• What is Strengths-Based Parenting
• What are some of the strengths we can look for in our kids
• The difference between core and growth strengths
• Unique strengths Brandon identified in his children
• About Brandon’s organisation: ‘incredible parents’

More information
Show notes and links to the resources mentioned in this interview are available at https://thedadtrain.com/56

Will McMahon is an Australian comedian and radio personality. He co-hosts the KISS Network’s national drive time show ‘Woody and Will’ with his best-mate Woody Whitelaw.

On-air it’s mostly shits and giggles, as Will’s job is to entertain and make people laugh. But in his personal life, he continues to live with regular bouts of depression.

Depression is a mental illness that affects 1 in 7 people. And typically men are not very good at talking about it.

This is something Will is trying to change.

Will understands how hard it is for men to let their friends and family know they are struggling, but he also believes it’s the most important thing you can do to help yourself.

In this interview, Will shares his personal story of living with depression and explains why it’s so important to talk about it.

What you’ll learn

• The Catch-22 of depression – where the best thing you can do is to speak to someone, but it’s also the hardest thing to do
• Why he created the ‘share my mood’ app
• Some lessons from Roman Kemp’s documentary ‘Our silent Emergency’
• Two ways for society to tackle depression
  • Intervention
  • Prevention
• Tips to help guys talk to their mates about depression
  • Shoulder to shoulder activities
  • ‘The 2-okay rule’
• Things Will does to help maintain his mental health
  • Exercise
  • Meditation
  • Diet and lifestyle
• How the symptoms of depression show up in Will
• The power of vulnerability – why telling your friends about your depression is the best thing you can do to help yourself.
• Resources men can use if they need to get help

More information
Links to resources mentioned in this interview, as well as further information about the guest, can be found at https://thedadtrain.com/55

Need help?
If this topic triggers anything and you need to speak to someone, please call LifeLine on 13 11 14 (in Australia) or an equivalent helpline in your local country.

Craig Kessler is COO of one of the world’s fastest-growing sports and entertainment companies. He’s also a father of three young boys.

After realising he had a lot to learn about parenting, Craig reached out to his network and asked them to write him a letter on “how to be a good dad”.

After receiving responses from a wide range of dads, including athletes, TV personalities, businessmen and civic leaders, Craig compiled the advice into a book, which became known as ‘The Dad Advice Project’

In this interview, Craig discusses some of the common themes he discovered and shares a few stories that had the biggest impact on his life as a dad.

What you’ll learn

• About Craig’s career as COO of TopGolf
• His fatherhood story and what he has learned along the way
• What inspired him to launch ‘The Dad Advice Project’
• Some of the well-known names who contributed stories
• The three common pieces of parenting advice he learned from interviewing over 40 dads for the book
• Two parenting ideas that really stood out for Craig
• How other dads can get involved with The Dad Advice Project

More Information
Show notes and links to references mentioned in this interview are available at https://thedadtrain.com/54