Diana Rau Board Of Mentors Veterati active CEO Podcast

active CEO Podcast #56 Diana Rau Board Of Mentors

Diana Rau – Founder Veterati

On this episode of the active CEO Podcast, Craig Johns speaks with Diana Rau about Board Of Mentors, the remarkable backstory of Veterati, her better every day framework and striving for high performance. We also talk about lessons learnt at Georgetown University, her grand entry into the American Chamber of Commerce and how her time as VP of Growth and Innovation at Double Dutch was a game-changer for her husband Daniel Rau.

Diana Rau – Board of Mentors

Diana Rau is a young, creative and powerful leader who was named in the Forbes 30 under 30 Social Impact Entrepreneur and Top 25 Military Influencers in 2018. She is a game changer for Defence veterans, an innovation leader who is dedicated to solving social challenges and a connector who loves building tribes.

Living in New York, her education has included a BA International Political Economy and International Business Diplomacy at Georgetown University. Diana began her career as a journalist for the American Chamber of Commerce before taking on roles as CEO of BUNDSHOP, Director of Creative Social Strategy for BluBlocker China, and was a founding partner of League X, an independent storytelling and narrative design agency.

In 2015, she cofounded Veterati, which is the #1 mentoring platform for the military, and is now the CEO. Our guest was the VP of Growth and Innovation at Double Dutch, which powers business and social movements through its award-winning live events platform, before it was acquired in June 2019.

Diana talks about:

  • Being a high-energy child who loved reading books and being involved with music.
  • Studying politics at Georgetown University
  • How Professor Mark Bush challenged her in international business diplomacy.
  • The power of YES.
  • Why every 10 minutes of her life at school was planned.
  • The reasons why Georgetown alumni’s James Wiseman and Carl Wegner are still her mentors.
  • Why are Veterans not getting their dream job when they come back from service?
  • One in Three Americans has never had a conversation with a Veteran.
  • Veterans dynamically evolving so fast so need different mentors as they transition and grow.
  • On average the Veterans have 3.7 mentors.
  • Why the Board Of Mentors matters and removing barriers in the mentoring process.
  • What environment makes you thrive and makes you really joyful.
  • Bravery is really valuable in founders to be able to hold to their value system.
  • One thing better every day.
  • Better Every Day Framework.
  • Best memories are transformational activities.
  • Love the movements of extreme complex and difficulty in the start-up world.
  • Most interesting conversations are when you are co-creating with someone.

Active CEO Performance Tip

Childs Play – Sit back and enjoy the feeling of just playing rather than just being so focused and diligent on specific tasks. Try things, play things, do things a little bit out of the norm. Test it and be a little bit creative. Be like a child, play, have fun and allow your creative juices to flow.

Tweets

“80% of jobs come through personal networks according to the Department of Labour.” Talking about Veterans re-engaging with the workforce, on the active CEO Podcast.

“An on-Demand digital mentoring platform for veterans and military spouses to be able to secure their dream jobs.” Diana Rau talks about Veterati, on the active CEO Podcast.

Resources Mentioned in this show:

Veterati www.veterati.com
Diana Rau LinkedIn
Diana Rau Twitter
Forbes Profile Diana Rau
NRG2Perform www.nrg2perform.com
Craig Johns craig@nrg2perform.com
Craig Johns LinkedIn

active CEO Podcast Major General Cheryl Pearce (United Nations) Leading From The Front Lines

active CEO Podcast #50 Major General Cheryl Pearce Leading From The Front Lines

Major General Cheryl Pearce – Forces Commander United Nations Peacekeeping Force

On this episode of the active CEO Podcast, Craig Johns speaks with Major General Cheryl Pearce about leading from the front lines, being an authentic leader, serving your country, managing workplace wellness, empowering a sense of purpose, and creating high performance teams. We also delve into her leadership roles at the Australian Defence Force and with the United Nations; creating a safe and inclusive environment to work in; completing the New York Marathon; and getting out of her comfort zone.

Major General Cheryl Pearce

Cheryl Pearce is an authentic leader, dedicated servant for global peace, change agent in cultural and gender diversity, and game-changer in the world of Defence. She is a next generational leader who is New York Marathon finisher, proud mum of two daughters, and Member of Order of Australia for Exceptional Leadership.

Her education includes a Bachelor of Arts in Asian Studies from the University of New England, a Master’s in Policing, Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism from the Macquarie University in Sydney, and a Master’s of Arts in Defence Studies from the Deakin University in Melbourne.

Over the past 35 years she has risen through the ranks of the Australian Defence Force, starting off as an Officer Cadet when there were only a few females. Cheryl’s career has included: Australian Army’s Provost-Marshal and a military observer with the United Nations Mission of Support in East Timor in 2002; Commandant of the Defence Police Training Centre and Commanding Officer of the 1st Military Police Battalion; Director of Special Operations Support; Australian Army Headquarters Chief of Staff; and the Commander Commandant Australian Defence Force Academy.

In 2016, Cheryl was the Commander of the Australian Joint Task Force Group in Afghanistan providing training, advice and assistance to the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces as part of the Resolute Support Mission of The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Her most recent role sees her as only the second ever female appointed by the United Nations to lead a peacekeeping mission, as the Forces Commander – United Nations Peacekeeping Force based in Cyprus.

Cheryl talks about:

  • The shock of capture when joining the Australian Army.
  • Working day-by-day and focusing on chunk size bites at a time.
  • The internal motivation of serving your country and be much more than your individual self.
  • Managing competing priorities as a leader and having a young family.
  • Having an army behind the scenes.
  • Gaining the confidence to be that authentic self and have an intuitive leadership style.
  • Being sensitive to perfectionism and judgement.
  • Leading from the front lines
  • Why exercise is my stress release and my safe space.
  • The importance of listening to what other people have to say and not transmit our own ideas.
  • The Cultural shift in inclusion and behaviour within the Australian Defence Force.
  • Her role as the Forces Commander – United Nations Peacekeeping Force based in Cyprus.
  • Speaking in front of the UN Security Council.
  • How health has taken on a broader aspect from mind and body.
  • Completing the New York Marathon after her partner, Paul, went through lifesaving cancer surgery.

Active CEO Wellness Tip

Recover With Purpose – To ensure that you deliver high performance every single day, you need to recover with purpose and have productive downtime. It could be doing exercise, creative pursuits, quality time with family, meditation, listening to music or watching a movie.

Tweets

“Internal narrative that keeps churning, it is ok to be imperfect. To be perfect, the authenticity is not there. It’s ok not to be perfect.” Major General Cheryl Pearce speaks about the challenges of perfectionism, on the active CEO Podcast.

“Doing what I do, my heart rate races when I de-escalate and have difficult conversations with my opposing forces when I try to get messages a across or deal with stressful moments. I find that is sufficient adrenaline to test me all the time.” Doing something for the first time with Major General Cheryl Pearce, on the active CEO Podcast.

“I know it when I can be in the moment, I am performing really well at work, I am visionary, I can really focus on where we are going and know what my big rocks are and where they are going, while dealing with the small and actionary issues and listening.” In the moment with Major General Cheryl Pearce, on the active CEO Podcast.

Resources Mentioned in this show:

Cheryl Pearce LinkedIn
Cheryl Pearce Twitter
ADFA www.defence.gov.au/adfa
Australian Army www.defence.gov.au
UNFICYP website
NRG2Perform www.nrg2perform.com
Craig Johns craig@nrg2perform.com
Craig Johns LinkedIn