November 25, 2025 • 50 mins
Machines can calculate and crunch mega loads of information in lightning speed, but they can’t yet navigate heartbreak, disappointment, or the grit it takes to stand back up when life throws a its punches. Resilience is a deeply human force—a mix of emotion, intuition, and lived wisdom. With AI growing more present in our lives, nurturing this inner strength may become our most important differentiator. Dr. McMorris shares his own experience navigating adversity and how to build resilience.
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Working on Purpose is broadcast live Tuesdays at 6PM ET and Music on W4CY Radio (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com). Working on Purpose is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).
Working on Purpose Podcast is also available on Talk 4 Media (www.talk4media.com), Talk 4 Podcasting (www.talk4podcasting.com), iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, Audible, and over 100 other podcast outlets.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Speaker 2 (00:05):
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
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Speaker 3 (00:28):
What's working on Purpose? Anyway? Each week we ponder the
answer to this question. People ache for meaning and purpose
at work, to contribute their talents passionately and know their
lives really matter. They crave being part of an organization
that inspires them and helps them grow into realizing their
highest potential. Business can be such a force for good
in the world, elevating humanity. In our program, we provide
(00:51):
guidance and inspiration to help usher in this world we
all want Working on Purpose. Now, here's your host, doctor
Elise Cortes.
Speaker 4 (01:04):
Welcome back to the Working on Purpose program, which has
been brought to you with passionate and price since February
of twenty fifteen. Thanks for tuning in this week. Great
to have you. I'm your host, doctor Elise Cortes. If
we've not met before and you don't know me, I'm
a workforce advisor, organizational psychologist, management consultant, local therapist, speaker,
and author. My team and I at Gusto Now help
companies to unliven and fortify their operations by building a dynamic,
(01:25):
high performance culture, inspirational leadership, and nurturing managers activated by
meaning and purpose. Many organizations are not aware of how
critical it is to invest in developing their leaders and
managers not just for their own effectiveness, but also to
avoid burnout and keep them fulfilled. And did you know
that inspired employees outperform their satisfied peers by a factor
(01:45):
of two point twenty five to one. In other words,
inspiration is good for the bottom line. You can learn
more about us and we can kind of how we
can work together at Gusto dashnow dot com or my
personal site at Lascortes dot com. If you're just getting
into the program today, my guest is dot org. Lamel
mc morris a nationally recognized entrepreneur, activist, and change maker
dedicated to advancing equity and revitalizing underserved communities. He's also
(02:09):
the founder of Phase two Consulting. Growing up on the
South Side of Chicago, he went on to find phenomenal
success as a DC policymaker, a consultant in the financial
and professional sports arenas, and a civil and human rights advocate.
He is the author of the Power to Persist Eight
simple habits to build lifelong resilience, which we'll be talking
about today. Will be going into what is resilience and
(02:30):
why is it important to cultivate habits to support it.
He joined us today from Chicago, though his home base
is Washington, d C. Doctor Lamel, welcome to working on Purpose.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Thank you for having me. How are you doing well.
I'm better.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
I'm hanging out with you.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Sounds like a plan.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
Let's celebrate this beautiful thing you brought into the world.
I appreciate how you birth this. It was a beautiful read,
doctor mc morris. I really learned a lot and I
learned a lot about you as well, which was incredibly inspired.
Speaking of inspiration, so let's start with that. I might
call you maybe a walking billboard for a person who
(03:10):
has lived and illustrated resilience in life. And I got
that both by reading your book, but also by the
forward that you have from Reverend al Sharpton, who also
writes about some of your your life instances. Let's just
start with a couple of dustings of why I think
you're uniquely qualified to write a book like this.
Speaker 5 (03:30):
You know, I've had seasons of life, and by the way,
thank you very much again for having me this evening.
I've had seasons of life that tested me, probably more
than I expected. Losing a business and a business partner
very suddenly overnight, right right over overnight, Navigating the uncertainty
(03:54):
of you know, what it means to be an entrepreneur,
confronting personal loss right just in life like all of
us do, and learning to start again at various stages.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Of my life.
Speaker 5 (04:11):
In the forward, you know, Reverend Sharpton, you mentioned him,
he talks about, you know, some of those moments because
he's known me for quite for quite some time. He's
seen the highs and the lows, career pivots, he's seen
my felt partnerships, he's seen me rebuild and yet you know,
(04:31):
continue to still show up. So those experiences didn't just
teach me at least resilience. They required me to actually
practice it right, long before I ever actually wrote about it.
And so you know, if you say I am a
walking billboard, it's not because I did it perfectly.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
It's perhaps because I just kept.
Speaker 4 (04:56):
Going m I also have to tell you how much
I was endeared by your story of getting through college.
And you know, when the tuition came around, you were
in the office, you know, dialing for dollars, asking for
people to help you, and I just really I thought,
how many people do that? How many people persist? How
many people would just said, okay, I call uncle, I'll go.
Speaker 5 (05:19):
It was tempting, I mean, let me not. I don't
want to, you know, over romantic romanticize it. You know,
there were times where it was exhausting to run around
every semester and try to add classes and beg professors
to let you in, and to sit in the vice
president of you know, financial affairs office every semester, you know,
(05:42):
and doing that process over and over.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
But it was also the people.
Speaker 5 (05:47):
There were there were people actually who were close to
me who said, hey, you know, why don't you just
go home for a semester?
Speaker 2 (05:54):
And then come back.
Speaker 5 (05:55):
I did not want to do that because my fear
was not finishing uh, and my biggest fear was disappointing
my mother and my family.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
Strong motivations. Well, let's let's get into now from your
vantage point, Lamelle, what what is resuliance? How would you
define it?
Speaker 5 (06:16):
Resilience is the ability to adapt, recover and move forward
when when life or if you're a leader, when when
leadership becomes unpredictable. It's not just bouncing back, Uh, it's
actually bouncing forward and using adversity as this fuel to
(06:41):
continue to grow. It is, you know, the closing of
one chapter, if you will, I found, you know, opens
up and leads to another door, another chapter being opened.
And you have to have that mindset right that the
door isn't just closed, but there's going to be an
opportunity for a new door to open.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
And it's it's it's a.
Speaker 5 (07:05):
Skill that can be learned through intentional habits, not necessarily
only a personality trait.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
M h.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
I'm going to quote that use adversity as a fuel
to grow. That's that's one for the for the books, Lammeel.
Thank you so so this show has you know, as
I said, been on air for a good more than
ten years, and I really is a place for people
to come and individually grow and cultivate themselves, but also
a place where leaders are coming to cultivate themselves and
(07:36):
their organizations. So I like how in your book you
you you take on both individual resilience as well as
organizational y'all talk about community as another places, but let's
just distinguish or situate individual resilience. How that's come to
be and why that's important.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Yeah, you know, so life will always serve us know uncertainty.
Speaker 5 (08:01):
Uh, life has a way of distributing you know, loss
and transition and pressure, but also opportunity. Resilience helps us
individually stay steady, think clearly, manage stress, and keep going
(08:23):
when things get hard, but also keeps us moving in
the good times. And it's easy to you know, coast
when when things are going good, it's it's emotional emotional
UH and mental strength and that well being that allows
us to lead through both struggle and UH through success.
(08:46):
So you know, in business today, you know they business
runs on chains. You have you know, economic shifts, you
have technological shifts, we have AI, we have uncertainty and
a global crist and workforce burnout. Resilient leaders and teams
adapt faster, they innovate more, and they recover more quickly
(09:12):
from disruption, so they can you can be bent without breaking,
if you will. And a resilient workforce actually and culture,
you know, foster's engagement. It fosters retention, and it fosters performance.
But you have to have resilient individuals and leaders to
(09:36):
help manage that change and foster that level and that
culture of performance.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
So something I read in your book that I just
has really been sticking with me Lamel that I really like,
and I just think it says so much and says
a lot about you too. And you say in your
book that if you started life on third base, it
can be hard sometimes to tap into your resilience. Obviously
I read your story, I read your book. I know
that you didn't start on third base, and so it's
(10:04):
your book is all the more important for anybody that
who has started on second or third base or whatever
it is to be able to develop these these things
that life has maybe more naturally taught and given you
lessons for. So I wanted to celebrate that idea of this.
You know, where people are starting from working from and
like that that you so beautifully situate in your book.
Speaker 5 (10:25):
Yeah, it comes from a saying at least that some
people you know woke up on third base and thought
they hit.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
A triple.
Speaker 5 (10:35):
Right, you know sometimes you know. And by the way,
let me let me be very clear, there's nothing wrong
with being born on third base. There's nothing wrong with
having familiar and even cultural and society advantages because of
how well your your parents did in life and they've created.
(10:55):
But even in that environment, right, even in an environment
where a success abounds, and there's still a need to
be resilient and not become comfortable and learn how to
survive and thrive, you know, beyond your familial and cultural
But if you're me and you're born on the South
(11:17):
Side of Chicago in an underserved area without the family
you know wealth and generational wealth, then you know I
am made and molded out of adversity. It is adversity
and challenge that has propelled me to grow and strengthen
(11:39):
me to become more resilient and know how to survive
through the ups and through the downs.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
And so neither.
Speaker 5 (11:49):
Resilience is built in either circumstance, It just so happens
that mine and many people like me. You know, I'm
now talking to you literally in my child at home.
My mom's upstairs. I'm in the basement of my child
at home. This is actually this, Yeah, this is actually
where we film our podcast by the same name of
the books, The Power to Persist, Because my my feeling
(12:12):
is if I'm going to ask at least to come
on and talk or frankly, to come here and talk
about her resilient journey, I want to be able to
do it in a place where mine authentically started. And
so this place you know of, once perceived as challenge,
once perceived as a place that it was underserved, it
(12:34):
actually now this is a full circle moment because I
get to bring leaders and influencers and folks who've been
successful and who've had to make it through resilient to
a place where mine actually started.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
And so.
Speaker 5 (12:49):
What was meant perhaps and what sometimes is meant perhaps
at least to break us, actually ends up being the
thing and make us. And if I'm a billboard for anything,
perhaps I'd like to be a bill board for that.
Speaker 4 (13:08):
One of my values is empowerment lamel So that really
speaks to me that people listening would say, Okay, these
things that I think have been breaking me could actually
really really strengthen me and turn me onto something even more.
I also want to celebrate this beautiful intentionality that the
way in which you host your show from the family
home that you grew up in. And then, just briefly
(13:29):
for people who don't know this, and one of the
things I want to talk about later is the notion
of reaching into other circles to help expand your thinking
and also cultivate your resilience. For those of us who
don't know what it really means to grow up in
the South Side of Chicago, what does that mean?
Speaker 5 (13:44):
Well, that means in my environment, I had the constant
daily threat of gang violence and you know, perhaps even
gang initiation. I you know, I had to walk past
folks who are not just addicted, but dealing drugs. I
(14:07):
had to deal with alcoholism, and you know, just a
sense of violent and a violent environment, if you will,
plenty of which is one of the reasons why I
started the effort to rebuild and invest in my neighborhood.
Plenty of vacant lots, abandoned buildings, that is, you know,
(14:27):
that was my environment. But you know, I was never
shaped by that. I was I was never defined, if
you will, by that. You know, at least when I
was a kid. Upstairs, we had books like this, and
I had, you know, these army men and calb boy men.
(14:49):
You know, I'm probably aging myself. They weren't like the
cool G I. Joe type man. They were the plastic
men that had guns, and they were kind of stiff,
and they were you know, they were just you could
stand them up.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
But I never pretended like they were fighting, and they were.
They were Native.
Speaker 5 (15:04):
Americans and there were cowboys, and their army always chose
one to be the president of the United States. And
I would put I would put them the men on
the books in my house, and I would row the
books around like a motorcade, and I pretended like the
furniture where the buildings in Washington, DC, and one was
the president and the rest were secret servicemen. And I
(15:26):
was pretending like I was protecting and I was going
around Washington, DC. As Now, this is my in this
environment where allegedly I grew up with all of this
stress and strife and strain, But my world was in
my mind was somewhere else. So by doing that, I
was actually unknowingly creating this resilient environment, because I was
(15:49):
putting myself in a place where a success thrived, where
I thought power thrive, where I thought leadership thrive, where
I thought all things positive and good thrive and were
impact thrive. And yet you walk out my door. It
was a whole another reality. But in this place, And
how ironic, right, how about resilience and destiny that I
(16:11):
would end up years later in the very place and
that I was creating mentally, and in this environment that
I was creating, I would end up with an office
across the street from the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue
at fourteen fifty five.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Full circle moment.
Speaker 5 (16:28):
So I hope it's a lesson both to your listeners
who are you know in our age range, but especially
to those that are younger, that we actually can create
and model and vision and dictate the destiny of our lives,
not the environment that surrounds us.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
Oh Lamel, I am so happy to know you. I
want to sell sate you to my friend. Yeah, this
is just beautiful, And so I'm to glowed to ask
you that question because what you were discs to me
as you went into your own world and then you
created your own future by how you envisioned it and
pulled yourself into it.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Yeah, you hit it right on the head.
Speaker 5 (17:09):
I literally and literally my mom and my family would
have to like step around because they didn't they knew
that I was in a totally diff No one wanted
to disrupt you know, where my head was and whatever
environment I was creating.
Speaker 4 (17:23):
Well, delightful, that is right there, something for our listeners
and viewers just to think about and let it kind
of wash over their hearts and their souls as we
go on our first break here, I'm your host, Doctor
Release Cortez. We're on the air with doctor Lamel mc morris,
a nationally recognized entrepreneur, activist, and change maker dedicated to
advancing equity and revitalizing underserved communities. He is a policymaker
(17:48):
and a consultant in the financial and professional sports arenas,
and a civil human rights advocate. We've been talking about
what is resilience, why, ist is it important? And how
does it service? After the kor to take a tour
of at least some of his eight habits that he's
offering us to help us build that resilience.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
We'll be right back.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
Doctor Elise Cortes is a management consultant specializing in meaning
and purpose. An inspirational speaker and author. She helps companies
visioneer for greater purpose among stakeholders and develop purpose inspired
leadership and meaning infused cultures that elevate fulfillment, performance, and
commitment within the workforce. To learn more or to invite
Alase to speak to your organization, please visit her at
(18:44):
Elisecortes dot com. Let's talk about how to get your
employees working on purpose. This is working on Purpose with
doctor Elise Cortes. To reach our program today or to
open a conversation with Elise, send an email to a
lease A LISEE at eliscortes dot com. Now back to
(19:08):
working on purpose.
Speaker 4 (19:14):
Thanks foresting with us, and welcome back to working on Purpose.
I'm your host, doctor Elise Cortes, as I am dedicated
to helping create a world where organizations thrive because they're
people thrive and are led by inspirational leaders that help
them find and contribute their greatness. And we do business
at Betters the World. I keep researching and writing my
own books, so one of my latest came out is
called the Great Revitalization, How activating meaning and purpose can
(19:34):
radically enliven your business, and I wrote it to help
leaders understand today's diverse and discerning workforce and then provide
twenty two best practices to equip you to provide what
they want through your leadership and your culture. You can
find my books on my personal site at least Coortes
dot com or on Amazon if you are just now
joining us. My guest is doctor Lamel McMorris, author of
(19:55):
the Power to Persist. Eight simple habits to build lifelong resilience.
So I'd love for us to talk about as many
of these eight as we can, Little Melan and as
the conversation takes us, and I thought, what we could
do is to describe a little bit about some of
these habits and why they're important, situate them, and then
offers just a few ways to build it. There were
(20:16):
some that really spoke to me that I want to
call out as well. But the first one that I
want to talk about, of course, is attitude. And you
do distinguish between optimists and pessimists, and of course the
optimists have a glass half full perspective and optimists are
more they focus more on the negative, and you say
that you simply cannot maintain a negative outlook in poor
(20:37):
attitude and expect to be resilient in the face of
life's challenges.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
Yeah, I think it's.
Speaker 5 (20:44):
Interesting, right, and even probably in the process a lease
of writing the book and putting the eight habits together,
If I'm honest, I don't even know that I necessarily
initially knew the importance of the order, but I think
it's so important that I start out with the first
(21:07):
habit of our attitude, because our attitude and our mindset
really does dictate the other seven that I talk about.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
I mean, you really can't.
Speaker 5 (21:18):
It's hard to be determined, and it's hard to focus,
and it's hard to embrace vulnerability. And it's even harder
for the last habit of faith to embrace that if
your attitude, if you have a negative attitude, So, you know,
starting out each day, especially with the ability and the
(21:39):
opportunity to foster a positive attitude, it's starting out with
this notion of gratitude. There's something about, you know, especially
at least when you're facing headwinds. There's something about kicking
off your day with being grateful for the good things
that are going on for giving gratitude or the positive
(22:00):
and letting that, letting let everything you know, move forward
from that. Right, so when headwinds come, you can still
go back to how you started out that day with
this attitude of gratitude. And so very practically I suggest
in the book, as you may note, that people start
their day out with a gratitude journal. Just just shot
(22:22):
down just a few of the things at the start
of your day of about what you are grateful. So
I had, you know, a dinner with a friend of
mine and he is at least a global business leader,
and this is early on.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
I was talking to him about the book.
Speaker 5 (22:43):
And he acknowledged to me that even as this global
business leader thriving international business, he kicks off his day
with a gratitude walk love it. And I said to myself, well, listen,
if this guy can kick off his day, you know,
with all of this, you know, large ESTs around him
(23:06):
that he controls and has to and lives through and in,
then certainly all of us should take this opportunity because
there's something powerful, right If global business leaders can kick
off their day with this attitude of gratitude and actually
being grateful for the things, then there must be something
to it for us as as leaders of people, as
(23:29):
leaders of our families trying to live in community. There
has to be something powerful right with kicking off your
day being grateful with an attitude of gratitude that sparks
this remarkable positive mindset that allows you to carry on
through your day and face the ups and the downs,
(23:51):
to look at them just the same, but to deal with.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
All the headwinds that come away. And I found watch this.
Speaker 5 (23:58):
I found that if you still your day off with
this attitude of gratitude and you go in to your
day with this positive attitude, it's actually contagious. It's like
a domino effect. It's like a fire if you will,
that has the opportunity to move on to others, and
(24:21):
you have the opportunities to then dictate your surroundings and
the individuals and have impact and influence over all the
circumstances around you as well.
Speaker 4 (24:31):
Well. I can't let this go with that kind of
a queue. Lamel your twenty two days of gratitude. You
met some pretty fantastic people in those twenty two days.
Can you just maybe say a bit about where that
idea that practice came from and maybe just share one
or two the people that you got to help along
the way.
Speaker 5 (24:49):
Yeah, so it's important. You're right to set context. So
folks understand, you know how in the world I came
up with this, you know why? Twenty two days? So
my birthday is June twenty second and a couple of years.
You know, I always try to do something meaningful. I
believe that at least we should party with a purpose.
I always try to do something right, right, I think,
(25:11):
So I think we should do something meaningful. So at
least I try to do something meaningful around my birthday. So,
so you know, this time, I decided, you know, what
I wanted to do for the June, for the twenty
second to twenty two.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
I wanted to do twenty two days of gratitude.
Speaker 5 (25:30):
I literally just wanted to go down, go around in
the midst of my travel around the country, around my
business travel, and just find ways to do small acts
of gratitude for people that I did not know. And
I don't care if I was in Phoenix or Atlanta.
I just found, you know, through my network, and I
would just call and say hey. And so I'll give
(25:52):
a couple of examples. So I was able to meet
in Atlanta a dad who had recently lost his wife
to a to an illness.
Speaker 4 (26:06):
And now.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
This gentleman who was just accustomed to, you know, being the.
Speaker 5 (26:11):
Breadwinner and being dad, now he had to raise his
young kids alone and also try to figure out how
to maintain his work schedule. I was able to take
some time out and meet him and just do a
kind gesture for him. And I was very moved by
(26:33):
one his appreciation and two his determination to create this
environment for his family and to propel and to move
forward with a remarkable attitude. Tired, he looked tired, He
looked he looked worn out, but he was determined. There
(26:56):
was another example of a young lady whose mom was
tragically killed in a car accident. And she was the
eldest of her siblings, and she had very young siblings.
So now, uh, not only is she the big sister,
but now she is forced into this role of taking
(27:21):
care of her younger siblings, being in school herself, ensuring
that they go through school, and also that they're housed
and fed. And you know, it's the spirit of these individuals.
No one I met was down. No one I met,
(27:42):
you know, gave a sob story. They were determined to
go forward and to do what they needed to do.
And I was deeply moved by that. And and I
was especially moved, you know when I make that point
by there was an elderly woman I who needed groceries, yes,
(28:03):
and and you know, so I I call her and
I say, ma'am, you know what do you need? And
she started telling me, you know, all the groceries that
she needed. Then she said, well, wait a minute. You
know my friend, my neighbor down the street. You know,
she's home bound too and handicapped, and she needs groceries too.
You know, can I share some of my groceries? And
(28:23):
so that's the contagious part. So by her telling me
at least about you know, being selfless and not just
thinking about herself, but thinking about her friend, even in
the midst of her burden situation, that made me double
down more and want to do more.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
So I bought groceries for her and for her friend
down the street.
Speaker 5 (28:43):
And so you know, this notion of gratitude and our attitudes,
that's the contagious part, because not only did she think
about someone else, but it made me want to do more.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
And that's the opportunity we have when we embrace this habit.
Speaker 4 (29:01):
You're stepping into my jam lamel. So I my whole
world is I traffic and energy really because right by
activating meaning and purpose, that is what we're doing, is
we're activating energy. And so now what we're doing is
we're elevating the capacity for people to be able to
give from this higher space, to persist, to go longer,
(29:22):
to do more. And so this is how it all
starts to overlap and why I wanted to have you
on the show.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (29:29):
Yeah, and I this is just gorgeous, and yeah, we
want we want to positively infect people with this stuff,
don't we absolutely?
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Absolutely?
Speaker 4 (29:37):
All right, well let's do it. Okay, So that was
just the first habit was attitude. Now another one is
work ethic, and boy do you have that in space.
I loved hearing about how you built your your practice,
your consulting practice and you know, dragging yourself home at
ten eleven o'clock at night and getting up at six
or whatever earlier out the door do it all over again.
So let's talk about work ethic.
Speaker 5 (30:00):
So you know, at least I operate from the standpoint
that there are people that are you know, better looking
than me. They're probably people that are smarter than me
and taller than me. But I submit that very few
people are going to outwork me, and and that that
that work ethic doesn't necessarily make me better or them less,
(30:21):
but it does have the opportunity and the ability to
separate us from others in a way that allows us
to achieve our goals, to achieve our dreams, and yes,
to even supersede through the highs and the lows.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
When headwinds come our way.
Speaker 5 (30:41):
It's that work ethic that you know, that being up
when other people are sleep, that that that thing that
makes you get up you know early and stay later.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
That there's no substitute, you know for it.
Speaker 5 (30:57):
I've had some phenomenal models and examples of you know
what it means to work hard, which actually you know
is important, right you know, show me your friends and
I'll show you your future, Show me the people that
you spend time around, and it tells me a lot
about you. And I've had a wonderful opportunity to know
(31:18):
and see that hard work literally does pay off, and
there is no substitute or hard work in a world
and a time when you know, so many things are
accessible to us via our phones and by the.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
Push of a button.
Speaker 5 (31:37):
Talking into devices if you will to turn on a radio,
or turn the television, or even turn the lights on.
There is a temptation, right there is a temptation to
not work as hard, to not push as hard. But
I submit, and I try to share this with as
many young people, especially as possible, that you know the
(32:00):
work ethic coupled with you know, innovation and being smart,
but sometimes your work ethic can supplement for the other
things that you may You may not have the highest IQ,
you may not be the smartest in your class, but
you don't sure have the ability to outwork everyone and
(32:22):
to push and to work harder. And that that I
believe is a fundamental habit to building resilience and being
persistent in life one hundred percent.
Speaker 4 (32:35):
And so, listeners and viewers, since I've read the book
and you haven't yet, probably what Lamela has done is
He's given us these eight habits, and then in each
for each habit, he offers us seven ways to build
that habit. So for the work ethic habit, I want
to talk about two of them, just really quickly.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
Sure.
Speaker 4 (32:52):
One one of the ways that you offer for us
to build our work ethic is to put ourselves into
situations where we have to adapt. And one of my
coaches is Sean Anderson, who I met on the air
several years ago and then coerced him into being my
coach persistent space off. But he does this thing lamel
where he literally goes in he's a vegan. To let
(33:13):
me situate this, he will go into he travels to
different countries, and he walks from one end of the
country to the other. But here's what happens. So when
he gets there, he doesn't plan for where he's going
to stay or where he's going to get food. Now,
if you're a vegan, that's hard to do.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
And I am a vegan, and it is very hard
to do it.
Speaker 4 (33:31):
Okay, Okay, so you know you can relate, okay, and
so I have so much respect for that boy. If
that doesn't build a work ethic, you know, that's one
of the things. The other thing that you talk about,
which I think is also really interesting, is to use
our non dominant hand to build our work ethic. Because
we have to work harder. It doesn't come as easy
so just a couple of the things that you offer
to us to build our work ethic. Anything else you
(33:52):
want to.
Speaker 5 (33:53):
Add, no, no, And the fundamental message in everything you
just say, and what I'm trying to put forward from
the example of your friend and your coaches a vegan
to you know, using your hand as not as dominant
as the blessing is in the stretch when we stretch
(34:14):
ourselves outside of our comfort zone. I'll give a real,
real time example today I received a text message from
a young man who was in the audience at a college,
Miles College in Birmingham that I.
Speaker 2 (34:27):
Spoke at about the book a couple of weeks ago.
Speaker 5 (34:32):
And I remembered him because he actually raised his hand
and he got up at last, and he asked, you know,
but what if I'm a little timid, what if I'm
you know, I don't, I don't. I don't make friends
as easy. And I was pressing him to step outside
of his comfort zone. And so this young man did
(34:52):
what I know was very difficult for him to do.
He sent me a text message to date and he asked,
he said, I'm doing what you said, I'm reaching out
and I'm asking for assistance and I'm asking for your
advice on something. And you know what my promise to
him and any young person is. And what happens is
(35:14):
when you step out and you reach out, people will
reach back. And that's what I did, and I gave
him the assistance he needed and I was so proud
of him. But the blessing, the response, the a, the
assistance reaching the goal can only come sometimes at least
(35:36):
when we put ourselves in uncomfortable situations and when we
stretch ourselves beyond that which is comfortable for us to
do and to.
Speaker 4 (35:46):
Be amen and on that, let's take our next break here.
I'm your host, doctor Release Cortes. What are there with
Doctor Lameel mc morris. He's a nationally recognized entrepreneur, activist,
and change maker dedicated to advancing equity and revitalizing unders
short communities. We've been diving into some of the habits
that are in his book. After the break, we're going
to keep going and we're going to pick up on vulnerability,
(36:07):
which is a perfect takeoff from the story you just
now shared.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
Will be right absolutely.
Speaker 3 (36:27):
Doctor Elise Cortes is a management consultant specializing in meaning
and purpose, an inspirational speaker and author. She helps companies
visioneer for greater purpose among stakeholders and develop purpose inspired
leadership and meaning infused cultures that elevate fulfillment, performance, and
commitment within the workforce. To learn more or to invite
Elise to speak to your organization, please visit her at
(36:49):
elisecortes dot com. Let's talk about how to get your
employees working on purpose? Is working on Purpose with doctor
Elise Cortes. To reach our program today or to open
a conversation with Elise, send an email to Elise alisee
(37:09):
at elisecortes dot com. Now back to Working on Purpose.
Speaker 4 (37:19):
Thanks for staying with us, and welcome back to Working
on Purpose. I'm your host, doctor Release Cortes. As you
know by now, this program is dedicated to empowering and
inspiring you along your journey to realize more of your potential.
If you want to learn more about how we can
work together and learn about the Gustineo Academy for leaders
and individuals on various journeys like make your way to
gustodeshnow dot com and then navigate to the training tab
and you'll find the academy there. If you are just
(37:41):
now joining us. My guest is doctor Lamel mc morris.
He's the author of the Power to Persist, Eight simple
habits to build lifelong resilience. So I appreciate that you
created a space with this young man where he somehow
summoned the courage to ask you for help. And of
course one of your habits is vulnerable. About the habit
of vulnerability.
Speaker 2 (38:04):
At least, if I'm honest, it is the habit.
Speaker 5 (38:08):
You know, all of the habits, frankly, and the book
I want your listeners to understand represent a journey. These
are not things that we have perfected will perfect overnight.
And for me, the most challenging of all of the
habits that I put forth is this notion of being vulnerable. Right,
(38:31):
because so much of society and what it means to
be a leader says that we're supposed to have all
the answers and we're never to show weakness. We're always
supposed to show strength, and you know, that's what it
means to be the leader. But I found that, you know,
admitting sometimes that I don't have all the answers, and
(38:53):
emitting sometimes that I do need help, and admitting it's
not constraining, actually liberating. It's freeing, right, It actually frees
me to you know, be open to folks helping, and
actually it frees the listener, the folks that I'm working with,
(39:14):
my team and other folks to say, hey, you know
what I can help. And you know, I didn't really
understand this project totally and I wasn't really you know,
certain about this task, and it actually pulls people together.
And so I submit that this whole notion of what
it means to be to be vulnerable is not confining.
(39:38):
It's freeing, it's liberating, and it is a critical, absolutely
critical habit for us to continue to work on that
helps us build resilience, That helps us, you know, by
demonstrating levels of empathy and vulnerability, it actually pulls people.
(39:59):
It makes us better leaders, It makes us better family members,
it makes us better friends, It makes us you know,
better participants in communities that we are trying to serve
and impact when we can identify with people who are suffering.
So it's one thing to be in my community right
now where I am, and to want to make this
(40:20):
impact and to want to push things onto people, But
when I can actually identify with my neighbor, that's struggling
and actually needs help as we approach this Thanksgiving holiday,
when I don't look down on them, and I actually
can understand the path and the journey of the homeless
guy that I just saw in my alley back here.
Speaker 2 (40:41):
You know, digging for food.
Speaker 5 (40:43):
It takes on a whole different notion of service and
ability to make a positive impact, no doubt.
Speaker 4 (40:51):
No doubt, I can tell you. For me, I appreciate
what you said about this being maybe one of the
harder habits for you. It's hard for me too, and
I'll tell you where to learn it. That's when I
got divorced ten years ago. That's when I learned I
had to ask for help, and I certainly had to
accept help. And as I began to accept help, I
began to notice with different eyes how others were suffering.
(41:14):
And it gave me much greater compassion.
Speaker 2 (41:17):
But what about that process made you open up your eyes?
What was it?
Speaker 4 (41:24):
It was that sense of exposing myself being It was,
you know, opening myself up, you know, in fact, I mean,
I'll just share a funny story with you, really literally
exposing myself living alone. You know, I'm getting dressed, and
if there's a zipper that can't be zipped by a
single person. One needs help. Well, if you live by yourself,
you got to find some way to get some help.
So my measure, my strategy, Lamel was I would I
(41:47):
live in a nice neighbor with nice big trees and
nineteen fifties or houses and such. So I would just
stand out the front door and I would wait for
somebody to come by, walk on their dock, and as
they came by and say, hey, hey, how you doing
a neighbor, It's great to meet you. Hey can help
a sister out. Wow, you know, And that's and I'm
sure the neighbors are like, have you met the new neighbor?
Speaker 1 (42:08):
Right? Right?
Speaker 4 (42:10):
But literally exposing myself. So I would say, it's like
that level, right, you know, where you literally are showing
a tender part of yourself and in so doing to
your earlier point having people so beautifully respond to that.
Speaker 2 (42:25):
That's right.
Speaker 4 (42:26):
Then there was that that you know, nice cycle that
renewed it and encouraged it and strengthened it.
Speaker 5 (42:34):
Yeah, but I would I would imagine, right, let's take
your story as as a perfect example. By going outside
and making yourself quote unquote vulnerable and acknowledging that you
needed help. I wonder how many new friendships you spark.
I wonder how many fascinating conversations you spy. I wonder
how many ladies walking their dog said, you know what,
(42:54):
the same thing happens to me. I'm just not bold
enough to open up the door and yell out, hey,
help me zip. Right, And so you ended up empowering
people and giving people courage and strength by showing that
level of vulnerability in yourself.
Speaker 4 (43:09):
Yeah. I believe that absolutely, and of course of what
the work that I do with organizations, I know that
to be true as well. And in fact, one of
the other things that I wanted to celebrate with what
you're offering for ways for us to build our vulnerability
is to be willing to make unpopular decisions. Right, you
go and get hold to your values and make that decision,
(43:31):
Explain it, clarify why it's important to you, why you're
doing it, but make the unpopular decision. Be vulnerable to
care for others. Those are always to build this beautiful habit.
Speaker 2 (43:42):
Yeah, yeah, we have.
Speaker 5 (43:44):
I'm authoring an op ed now that actually talks about
what it means to do just that, to stick to
your values and make unpopular decisions in an environment where
it's difficult. Right, But when you stick to your values,
then you can empower and you can make the positive
impact and the change that you seek to make in
this society. And this particular op ed is going to
(44:08):
be written, you know, primarily to leaders in corporate America
to encourage them to stick to their values in the
midst of a climate that may actually be suggesting that
they do otherwise.
Speaker 4 (44:22):
I want to read it, I want to celebrate it.
Speaker 2 (44:24):
So on the way, thank you.
Speaker 4 (44:25):
Okay, when it's ready, I'm happy to share it on
social media as well. So whenever it's ready, okay. Now,
I would be absolutely remiss if I let you get
off the show, Lameelle without was talking about the habit
of faith. I want to queue up where I'd love
for us to at least start with this. And so
you say, you know, what is faith? You say what
one of my favorite verses in the Bible defines faith
(44:48):
as the substance of things hoped for, any evidence of
things not seen. Then you go on to say, I
believe that the connection between faith and resilience takes place
when you realize that you are the substance of things
hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Yes, wow,
that is incredible.
Speaker 2 (45:07):
Yes, at first glance, you know.
Speaker 5 (45:13):
That this notion of faith, to talk about it in
this business leadership context, you know, makes people perhaps nervous
and overly concerned that you know, I'm getting ready to
go down this religious path. But in fact, you know,
at least I define an entrepreneur as someone that goes
(45:37):
on top of this building, jumps off and figures out
what's going to happen on the way down.
Speaker 4 (45:42):
That's exactly right.
Speaker 2 (45:42):
That's what we do.
Speaker 5 (45:44):
And that, my friends, is an example of faith, the
ability to believe that you're going to make this business successful.
You cannot see it, you cannot feel it, you cannot
touch it, but you know that I'm working every day,
I'm sacrificing for my family, and I know that this business,
this project, this opportunity is going to work out, although
(46:09):
I cannot fully see it. That is the faith that
I'm talking about, the substance of things hope for. I'm
hoping that this is going to work out, and the
evidence of things that I can't even see it, but
I know it's.
Speaker 2 (46:21):
Going to happen. And I submit that on this road
to resilience and this notion of being persistent, when you
and I look in the mirror and determine that this
isn't just some concept that's out there, When you and
I determine that we are we are the substance of
things hope for, that we are the living, walking embodiment
(46:42):
of faith.
Speaker 5 (46:43):
That my friend propels us to walk through any obstacle,
any hurdle, any challenge that life brings us. When we
know that we are the substance of things hope for
and the evidence of things not seen, you.
Speaker 4 (46:56):
See why I just couldn't let you off the show
without us.
Speaker 2 (46:58):
I see why.
Speaker 5 (46:59):
And it is the last habit that I raised for
a reason, and it's sandwiched that between attitude and faith,
the other ones exist.
Speaker 2 (47:08):
And I think that's important.
Speaker 4 (47:10):
And just one of the ways that you offer for
us to build our habit of faith is to listen
to our intuition, to really honor that voice from within
that is guiding us and telling us where to put
that next foot.
Speaker 5 (47:23):
Yeah, we all have it, and we all and you know,
our gut tells us, you know where we need to
go and where we don't need to do more often
than not.
Speaker 2 (47:31):
But it's just our willingness and ability to listen to.
Speaker 4 (47:35):
It and to trust it right and not ignore it,
not stuff it down, not ignore it, Lamel, I am
so honored and delighted to know now you can't You
can run for me, but you can't get away from
me because I'm pretty fast, so you're stuck with me.
Speaker 2 (47:48):
In other words, I'm not trying to run. Okay, good.
Speaker 5 (47:50):
So this show is.
Speaker 4 (47:52):
Listening to my people around the world, and they are
here to it, develop themselves, to grow into their higher versions,
become better leaders. Yes, what would you like to leave with.
Speaker 3 (48:01):
That?
Speaker 5 (48:02):
This notion of resilience is not optional anymore. It is
a mindset and a set of habits that we must embrace.
We are going through remarkably challenging and turbulent times, and
I submit that people do everything they can to wrap
(48:23):
their arms around whatever path they need to take to
become more resilient.
Speaker 4 (48:30):
That is a fantastic and powerful way to finish. Lamel,
thank you again for coming on the show, for writing,
Thank you for having me. You're very welcome and being
the gift that you are to the world. This is
amazing to know you and share you with my listeners
and viewers. Listeners and viewers, you are going to want
to learn more about doctor Lamel mc morris and also
to learn about the work that he's doing at Phase
(48:50):
two Consulting and check out his book, The Power to Persist.
So I would suggest you start by going to his
personal site, which is Lamel McMorris dot com. Let me
spell that for you l A M E L L
and then mc m O r R I S dot
com lamelmcmorris dot com. Last week, if you missed the
Life Show, you can always catch it via recorded podcast.
(49:12):
We were on the air with Cecily mac talking about
her book Undimmed, The Eight Awarenesses for Freedom from Unwanted Habits.
She helped us to understand not only how much time
are unhealthy habits rob us in life, but also how
much larger we can live without them. Next week, we'll
be on the air with Dana Williams talking about her
book The Internal Revolution. Lead authentically and build your personal
(49:33):
brand from within. See you then, and together, let's lean
in and learn how to create destination workplaces where people
thrive while doing business in a way that betters the world.
Let's work on Purpose.
Speaker 3 (49:46):
We hope you've enjoyed this week's program. Be sure to
tune into Working on Purpose, featuring your host, doctor Elise Cortes,
each week on W four c Y. Together, we'll create
a world where business operates conscientiously. Leadership inspires and passion performance,
and employees are fulfilled in work that provides the meaning
and purpose they crave. See you there, Let's Work on Purpose.
The topics and opinions express in the following show are
solely those of the hosts and their guests and not
those of W FOURCY Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
It's employees are affiliates.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
We make no recommendations or endorsements for radio show programs, services,
or products mentioned on air or on our web. No
liability explicit or implies shall be extended to W FOURCY
Radio or its employees are affiliates. Any questions or comments
should be directed to those show hosts. Thank you for
choosing W FOURCY Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
What's working on Purpose? Anyway? Each week we ponder the
answer to this question. People ache for meaning and purpose
at work, to contribute their talents passionately and know their
lives really matter. They crave being part of an organization
that inspires them and helps them grow into realizing their
highest potential. Business can be such a force for good
in the world, elevating humanity. In our program, we provide
(00:51):
guidance and inspiration to help usher in this world we
all want Working on Purpose. Now, here's your host, doctor
Elise Cortes.
Speaker 4 (01:04):
Welcome back to the Working on Purpose program, which has
been brought to you with passionate and price since February
of twenty fifteen. Thanks for tuning in this week. Great
to have you. I'm your host, doctor Elise Cortes. If
we've not met before and you don't know me, I'm
a workforce advisor, organizational psychologist, management consultant, local therapist, speaker,
and author. My team and I at Gusto Now help
companies to unliven and fortify their operations by building a dynamic,
(01:25):
high performance culture, inspirational leadership, and nurturing managers activated by
meaning and purpose. Many organizations are not aware of how
critical it is to invest in developing their leaders and
managers not just for their own effectiveness, but also to
avoid burnout and keep them fulfilled. And did you know
that inspired employees outperform their satisfied peers by a factor
(01:45):
of two point twenty five to one. In other words,
inspiration is good for the bottom line. You can learn
more about us and we can kind of how we
can work together at Gusto dashnow dot com or my
personal site at Lascortes dot com. If you're just getting
into the program today, my guest is dot org. Lamel
mc morris a nationally recognized entrepreneur, activist, and change maker
dedicated to advancing equity and revitalizing underserved communities. He's also
(02:09):
the founder of Phase two Consulting. Growing up on the
South Side of Chicago, he went on to find phenomenal
success as a DC policymaker, a consultant in the financial
and professional sports arenas, and a civil and human rights advocate.
He is the author of the Power to Persist Eight
simple habits to build lifelong resilience, which we'll be talking
about today. Will be going into what is resilience and
(02:30):
why is it important to cultivate habits to support it.
He joined us today from Chicago, though his home base
is Washington, d C. Doctor Lamel, welcome to working on Purpose.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Thank you for having me. How are you doing well.
I'm better.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
I'm hanging out with you.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Sounds like a plan.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
Let's celebrate this beautiful thing you brought into the world.
I appreciate how you birth this. It was a beautiful read,
doctor mc morris. I really learned a lot and I
learned a lot about you as well, which was incredibly inspired.
Speaking of inspiration, so let's start with that. I might
call you maybe a walking billboard for a person who
(03:10):
has lived and illustrated resilience in life. And I got
that both by reading your book, but also by the
forward that you have from Reverend al Sharpton, who also
writes about some of your your life instances. Let's just
start with a couple of dustings of why I think
you're uniquely qualified to write a book like this.
Speaker 5 (03:30):
You know, I've had seasons of life, and by the way,
thank you very much again for having me this evening.
I've had seasons of life that tested me, probably more
than I expected. Losing a business and a business partner
very suddenly overnight, right right over overnight, Navigating the uncertainty
(03:54):
of you know, what it means to be an entrepreneur,
confronting personal loss right just in life like all of
us do, and learning to start again at various stages.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Of my life.
Speaker 5 (04:11):
In the forward, you know, Reverend Sharpton, you mentioned him,
he talks about, you know, some of those moments because
he's known me for quite for quite some time. He's
seen the highs and the lows, career pivots, he's seen
my felt partnerships, he's seen me rebuild and yet you know,
(04:31):
continue to still show up. So those experiences didn't just
teach me at least resilience. They required me to actually
practice it right, long before I ever actually wrote about it.
And so you know, if you say I am a
walking billboard, it's not because I did it perfectly.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
It's perhaps because I just kept.
Speaker 4 (04:56):
Going m I also have to tell you how much
I was endeared by your story of getting through college.
And you know, when the tuition came around, you were
in the office, you know, dialing for dollars, asking for
people to help you, and I just really I thought,
how many people do that? How many people persist? How
many people would just said, okay, I call uncle, I'll go.
Speaker 5 (05:19):
It was tempting, I mean, let me not. I don't
want to, you know, over romantic romanticize it. You know,
there were times where it was exhausting to run around
every semester and try to add classes and beg professors
to let you in, and to sit in the vice
president of you know, financial affairs office every semester, you know,
(05:42):
and doing that process over and over.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
But it was also the people.
Speaker 5 (05:47):
There were there were people actually who were close to
me who said, hey, you know, why don't you just
go home for a semester?
Speaker 2 (05:54):
And then come back.
Speaker 5 (05:55):
I did not want to do that because my fear
was not finishing uh, and my biggest fear was disappointing
my mother and my family.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
Strong motivations. Well, let's let's get into now from your
vantage point, Lamelle, what what is resuliance? How would you
define it?
Speaker 5 (06:16):
Resilience is the ability to adapt, recover and move forward
when when life or if you're a leader, when when
leadership becomes unpredictable. It's not just bouncing back, Uh, it's
actually bouncing forward and using adversity as this fuel to
(06:41):
continue to grow. It is, you know, the closing of
one chapter, if you will, I found, you know, opens
up and leads to another door, another chapter being opened.
And you have to have that mindset right that the
door isn't just closed, but there's going to be an
opportunity for a new door to open.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
And it's it's it's a.
Speaker 5 (07:05):
Skill that can be learned through intentional habits, not necessarily
only a personality trait.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
M h.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
I'm going to quote that use adversity as a fuel
to grow. That's that's one for the for the books, Lammeel.
Thank you so so this show has you know, as
I said, been on air for a good more than
ten years, and I really is a place for people
to come and individually grow and cultivate themselves, but also
a place where leaders are coming to cultivate themselves and
(07:36):
their organizations. So I like how in your book you
you you take on both individual resilience as well as
organizational y'all talk about community as another places, but let's
just distinguish or situate individual resilience. How that's come to
be and why that's important.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Yeah, you know, so life will always serve us know uncertainty.
Speaker 5 (08:01):
Uh, life has a way of distributing you know, loss
and transition and pressure, but also opportunity. Resilience helps us
individually stay steady, think clearly, manage stress, and keep going
(08:23):
when things get hard, but also keeps us moving in
the good times. And it's easy to you know, coast
when when things are going good, it's it's emotional emotional
UH and mental strength and that well being that allows
us to lead through both struggle and UH through success.
(08:46):
So you know, in business today, you know they business
runs on chains. You have you know, economic shifts, you
have technological shifts, we have AI, we have uncertainty and
a global crist and workforce burnout. Resilient leaders and teams
adapt faster, they innovate more, and they recover more quickly
(09:12):
from disruption, so they can you can be bent without breaking,
if you will. And a resilient workforce actually and culture,
you know, foster's engagement. It fosters retention, and it fosters performance.
But you have to have resilient individuals and leaders to
(09:36):
help manage that change and foster that level and that
culture of performance.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
So something I read in your book that I just
has really been sticking with me Lamel that I really like,
and I just think it says so much and says
a lot about you too. And you say in your
book that if you started life on third base, it
can be hard sometimes to tap into your resilience. Obviously
I read your story, I read your book. I know
that you didn't start on third base, and so it's
(10:04):
your book is all the more important for anybody that
who has started on second or third base or whatever
it is to be able to develop these these things
that life has maybe more naturally taught and given you
lessons for. So I wanted to celebrate that idea of this.
You know, where people are starting from working from and
like that that you so beautifully situate in your book.
Speaker 5 (10:25):
Yeah, it comes from a saying at least that some
people you know woke up on third base and thought
they hit.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
A triple.
Speaker 5 (10:35):
Right, you know sometimes you know. And by the way,
let me let me be very clear, there's nothing wrong
with being born on third base. There's nothing wrong with
having familiar and even cultural and society advantages because of
how well your your parents did in life and they've created.
(10:55):
But even in that environment, right, even in an environment
where a success abounds, and there's still a need to
be resilient and not become comfortable and learn how to
survive and thrive, you know, beyond your familial and cultural
But if you're me and you're born on the South
(11:17):
Side of Chicago in an underserved area without the family
you know wealth and generational wealth, then you know I
am made and molded out of adversity. It is adversity
and challenge that has propelled me to grow and strengthen
(11:39):
me to become more resilient and know how to survive
through the ups and through the downs.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
And so neither.
Speaker 5 (11:49):
Resilience is built in either circumstance, It just so happens
that mine and many people like me. You know, I'm
now talking to you literally in my child at home.
My mom's upstairs. I'm in the basement of my child
at home. This is actually this, Yeah, this is actually
where we film our podcast by the same name of
the books, The Power to Persist, Because my my feeling
(12:12):
is if I'm going to ask at least to come
on and talk or frankly, to come here and talk
about her resilient journey, I want to be able to
do it in a place where mine authentically started. And
so this place you know of, once perceived as challenge,
once perceived as a place that it was underserved, it
(12:34):
actually now this is a full circle moment because I
get to bring leaders and influencers and folks who've been
successful and who've had to make it through resilient to
a place where mine actually started.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
And so.
Speaker 5 (12:49):
What was meant perhaps and what sometimes is meant perhaps
at least to break us, actually ends up being the
thing and make us. And if I'm a billboard for anything,
perhaps I'd like to be a bill board for that.
Speaker 4 (13:08):
One of my values is empowerment lamel So that really
speaks to me that people listening would say, Okay, these
things that I think have been breaking me could actually
really really strengthen me and turn me onto something even more.
I also want to celebrate this beautiful intentionality that the
way in which you host your show from the family
home that you grew up in. And then, just briefly
(13:29):
for people who don't know this, and one of the
things I want to talk about later is the notion
of reaching into other circles to help expand your thinking
and also cultivate your resilience. For those of us who
don't know what it really means to grow up in
the South Side of Chicago, what does that mean?
Speaker 5 (13:44):
Well, that means in my environment, I had the constant
daily threat of gang violence and you know, perhaps even
gang initiation. I you know, I had to walk past
folks who are not just addicted, but dealing drugs. I
(14:07):
had to deal with alcoholism, and you know, just a
sense of violent and a violent environment, if you will,
plenty of which is one of the reasons why I
started the effort to rebuild and invest in my neighborhood.
Plenty of vacant lots, abandoned buildings, that is, you know,
(14:27):
that was my environment. But you know, I was never
shaped by that. I was I was never defined, if
you will, by that. You know, at least when I
was a kid. Upstairs, we had books like this, and
I had, you know, these army men and calb boy men.
(14:49):
You know, I'm probably aging myself. They weren't like the
cool G I. Joe type man. They were the plastic
men that had guns, and they were kind of stiff,
and they were you know, they were just you could
stand them up.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
But I never pretended like they were fighting, and they were.
They were Native.
Speaker 5 (15:04):
Americans and there were cowboys, and their army always chose
one to be the president of the United States. And
I would put I would put them the men on
the books in my house, and I would row the
books around like a motorcade, and I pretended like the
furniture where the buildings in Washington, DC, and one was
the president and the rest were secret servicemen. And I
(15:26):
was pretending like I was protecting and I was going
around Washington, DC. As Now, this is my in this
environment where allegedly I grew up with all of this
stress and strife and strain, But my world was in
my mind was somewhere else. So by doing that, I
was actually unknowingly creating this resilient environment, because I was
(15:49):
putting myself in a place where a success thrived, where
I thought power thrive, where I thought leadership thrive, where
I thought all things positive and good thrive and were
impact thrive. And yet you walk out my door. It
was a whole another reality. But in this place, And
how ironic, right, how about resilience and destiny that I
(16:11):
would end up years later in the very place and
that I was creating mentally, and in this environment that
I was creating, I would end up with an office
across the street from the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue
at fourteen fifty five.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Full circle moment.
Speaker 5 (16:28):
So I hope it's a lesson both to your listeners
who are you know in our age range, but especially
to those that are younger, that we actually can create
and model and vision and dictate the destiny of our lives,
not the environment that surrounds us.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
Oh Lamel, I am so happy to know you. I
want to sell sate you to my friend. Yeah, this
is just beautiful, And so I'm to glowed to ask
you that question because what you were discs to me
as you went into your own world and then you
created your own future by how you envisioned it and
pulled yourself into it.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Yeah, you hit it right on the head.
Speaker 5 (17:09):
I literally and literally my mom and my family would
have to like step around because they didn't they knew
that I was in a totally diff No one wanted
to disrupt you know, where my head was and whatever
environment I was creating.
Speaker 4 (17:23):
Well, delightful, that is right there, something for our listeners
and viewers just to think about and let it kind
of wash over their hearts and their souls as we
go on our first break here, I'm your host, Doctor
Release Cortez. We're on the air with doctor Lamel mc morris,
a nationally recognized entrepreneur, activist, and change maker dedicated to
advancing equity and revitalizing underserved communities. He is a policymaker
(17:48):
and a consultant in the financial and professional sports arenas,
and a civil human rights advocate. We've been talking about
what is resilience, why, ist is it important? And how
does it service? After the kor to take a tour
of at least some of his eight habits that he's
offering us to help us build that resilience.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
We'll be right back.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
Doctor Elise Cortes is a management consultant specializing in meaning
and purpose. An inspirational speaker and author. She helps companies
visioneer for greater purpose among stakeholders and develop purpose inspired
leadership and meaning infused cultures that elevate fulfillment, performance, and
commitment within the workforce. To learn more or to invite
Alase to speak to your organization, please visit her at
(18:44):
Elisecortes dot com. Let's talk about how to get your
employees working on purpose. This is working on Purpose with
doctor Elise Cortes. To reach our program today or to
open a conversation with Elise, send an email to a
lease A LISEE at eliscortes dot com. Now back to
(19:08):
working on purpose.
Speaker 4 (19:14):
Thanks foresting with us, and welcome back to working on Purpose.
I'm your host, doctor Elise Cortes, as I am dedicated
to helping create a world where organizations thrive because they're
people thrive and are led by inspirational leaders that help
them find and contribute their greatness. And we do business
at Betters the World. I keep researching and writing my
own books, so one of my latest came out is
called the Great Revitalization, How activating meaning and purpose can
(19:34):
radically enliven your business, and I wrote it to help
leaders understand today's diverse and discerning workforce and then provide
twenty two best practices to equip you to provide what
they want through your leadership and your culture. You can
find my books on my personal site at least Coortes
dot com or on Amazon if you are just now
joining us. My guest is doctor Lamel McMorris, author of
(19:55):
the Power to Persist. Eight simple habits to build lifelong resilience.
So I'd love for us to talk about as many
of these eight as we can, Little Melan and as
the conversation takes us, and I thought, what we could
do is to describe a little bit about some of
these habits and why they're important, situate them, and then
offers just a few ways to build it. There were
(20:16):
some that really spoke to me that I want to
call out as well. But the first one that I
want to talk about, of course, is attitude. And you
do distinguish between optimists and pessimists, and of course the
optimists have a glass half full perspective and optimists are
more they focus more on the negative, and you say
that you simply cannot maintain a negative outlook in poor
(20:37):
attitude and expect to be resilient in the face of
life's challenges.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
Yeah, I think it's.
Speaker 5 (20:44):
Interesting, right, and even probably in the process a lease
of writing the book and putting the eight habits together,
If I'm honest, I don't even know that I necessarily
initially knew the importance of the order, but I think
it's so important that I start out with the first
(21:07):
habit of our attitude, because our attitude and our mindset
really does dictate the other seven that I talk about.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
I mean, you really can't.
Speaker 5 (21:18):
It's hard to be determined, and it's hard to focus,
and it's hard to embrace vulnerability. And it's even harder
for the last habit of faith to embrace that if
your attitude, if you have a negative attitude, So, you know,
starting out each day, especially with the ability and the
(21:39):
opportunity to foster a positive attitude, it's starting out with
this notion of gratitude. There's something about, you know, especially
at least when you're facing headwinds. There's something about kicking
off your day with being grateful for the good things
that are going on for giving gratitude or the positive
(22:00):
and letting that, letting let everything you know, move forward
from that. Right, so when headwinds come, you can still
go back to how you started out that day with
this attitude of gratitude. And so very practically I suggest
in the book, as you may note, that people start
their day out with a gratitude journal. Just just shot
(22:22):
down just a few of the things at the start
of your day of about what you are grateful. So
I had, you know, a dinner with a friend of
mine and he is at least a global business leader,
and this is early on.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
I was talking to him about the book.
Speaker 5 (22:43):
And he acknowledged to me that even as this global
business leader thriving international business, he kicks off his day
with a gratitude walk love it. And I said to myself, well, listen,
if this guy can kick off his day, you know,
with all of this, you know, large ESTs around him
(23:06):
that he controls and has to and lives through and in,
then certainly all of us should take this opportunity because
there's something powerful, right If global business leaders can kick
off their day with this attitude of gratitude and actually
being grateful for the things, then there must be something
to it for us as as leaders of people, as
(23:29):
leaders of our families trying to live in community. There
has to be something powerful right with kicking off your
day being grateful with an attitude of gratitude that sparks
this remarkable positive mindset that allows you to carry on
through your day and face the ups and the downs,
(23:51):
to look at them just the same, but to deal with.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
All the headwinds that come away. And I found watch this.
Speaker 5 (23:58):
I found that if you still your day off with
this attitude of gratitude and you go in to your
day with this positive attitude, it's actually contagious. It's like
a domino effect. It's like a fire if you will,
that has the opportunity to move on to others, and
(24:21):
you have the opportunities to then dictate your surroundings and
the individuals and have impact and influence over all the
circumstances around you as well.
Speaker 4 (24:31):
Well. I can't let this go with that kind of
a queue. Lamel your twenty two days of gratitude. You
met some pretty fantastic people in those twenty two days.
Can you just maybe say a bit about where that
idea that practice came from and maybe just share one
or two the people that you got to help along
the way.
Speaker 5 (24:49):
Yeah, so it's important. You're right to set context. So
folks understand, you know how in the world I came
up with this, you know why? Twenty two days? So
my birthday is June twenty second and a couple of years.
You know, I always try to do something meaningful. I
believe that at least we should party with a purpose.
I always try to do something right, right, I think,
(25:11):
So I think we should do something meaningful. So at
least I try to do something meaningful around my birthday. So,
so you know, this time, I decided, you know, what
I wanted to do for the June, for the twenty
second to twenty two.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
I wanted to do twenty two days of gratitude.
Speaker 5 (25:30):
I literally just wanted to go down, go around in
the midst of my travel around the country, around my
business travel, and just find ways to do small acts
of gratitude for people that I did not know. And
I don't care if I was in Phoenix or Atlanta.
I just found, you know, through my network, and I
would just call and say hey. And so I'll give
(25:52):
a couple of examples. So I was able to meet
in Atlanta a dad who had recently lost his wife
to a to an illness.
Speaker 4 (26:06):
And now.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
This gentleman who was just accustomed to, you know, being the.
Speaker 5 (26:11):
Breadwinner and being dad, now he had to raise his
young kids alone and also try to figure out how
to maintain his work schedule. I was able to take
some time out and meet him and just do a
kind gesture for him. And I was very moved by
(26:33):
one his appreciation and two his determination to create this
environment for his family and to propel and to move
forward with a remarkable attitude. Tired, he looked tired, He
looked he looked worn out, but he was determined. There
(26:56):
was another example of a young lady whose mom was
tragically killed in a car accident. And she was the
eldest of her siblings, and she had very young siblings.
So now, uh, not only is she the big sister,
but now she is forced into this role of taking
(27:21):
care of her younger siblings, being in school herself, ensuring
that they go through school, and also that they're housed
and fed. And you know, it's the spirit of these individuals.
No one I met was down. No one I met,
(27:42):
you know, gave a sob story. They were determined to
go forward and to do what they needed to do.
And I was deeply moved by that. And and I
was especially moved, you know when I make that point
by there was an elderly woman I who needed groceries, yes,
(28:03):
and and you know, so I I call her and
I say, ma'am, you know what do you need? And
she started telling me, you know, all the groceries that
she needed. Then she said, well, wait a minute. You
know my friend, my neighbor down the street. You know,
she's home bound too and handicapped, and she needs groceries too.
You know, can I share some of my groceries? And
(28:23):
so that's the contagious part. So by her telling me
at least about you know, being selfless and not just
thinking about herself, but thinking about her friend, even in
the midst of her burden situation, that made me double
down more and want to do more.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
So I bought groceries for her and for her friend
down the street.
Speaker 5 (28:43):
And so you know, this notion of gratitude and our attitudes,
that's the contagious part, because not only did she think
about someone else, but it made me want to do more.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
And that's the opportunity we have when we embrace this habit.
Speaker 4 (29:01):
You're stepping into my jam lamel. So I my whole
world is I traffic and energy really because right by
activating meaning and purpose, that is what we're doing, is
we're activating energy. And so now what we're doing is
we're elevating the capacity for people to be able to
give from this higher space, to persist, to go longer,
(29:22):
to do more. And so this is how it all
starts to overlap and why I wanted to have you
on the show.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (29:29):
Yeah, and I this is just gorgeous, and yeah, we
want we want to positively infect people with this stuff,
don't we absolutely?
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Absolutely?
Speaker 4 (29:37):
All right, well let's do it. Okay, So that was
just the first habit was attitude. Now another one is
work ethic, and boy do you have that in space.
I loved hearing about how you built your your practice,
your consulting practice and you know, dragging yourself home at
ten eleven o'clock at night and getting up at six
or whatever earlier out the door do it all over again.
So let's talk about work ethic.
Speaker 5 (30:00):
So you know, at least I operate from the standpoint
that there are people that are you know, better looking
than me. They're probably people that are smarter than me
and taller than me. But I submit that very few
people are going to outwork me, and and that that
that work ethic doesn't necessarily make me better or them less,
(30:21):
but it does have the opportunity and the ability to
separate us from others in a way that allows us
to achieve our goals, to achieve our dreams, and yes,
to even supersede through the highs and the lows.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
When headwinds come our way.
Speaker 5 (30:41):
It's that work ethic that you know, that being up
when other people are sleep, that that that thing that
makes you get up you know early and stay later.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
That there's no substitute, you know for it.
Speaker 5 (30:57):
I've had some phenomenal models and examples of you know
what it means to work hard, which actually you know
is important, right you know, show me your friends and
I'll show you your future, Show me the people that
you spend time around, and it tells me a lot
about you. And I've had a wonderful opportunity to know
(31:18):
and see that hard work literally does pay off, and
there is no substitute or hard work in a world
and a time when you know, so many things are
accessible to us via our phones and by the.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
Push of a button.
Speaker 5 (31:37):
Talking into devices if you will to turn on a radio,
or turn the television, or even turn the lights on.
There is a temptation, right there is a temptation to
not work as hard, to not push as hard. But
I submit, and I try to share this with as
many young people, especially as possible, that you know the
(32:00):
work ethic coupled with you know, innovation and being smart,
but sometimes your work ethic can supplement for the other
things that you may You may not have the highest IQ,
you may not be the smartest in your class, but
you don't sure have the ability to outwork everyone and
(32:22):
to push and to work harder. And that that I
believe is a fundamental habit to building resilience and being
persistent in life one hundred percent.
Speaker 4 (32:35):
And so, listeners and viewers, since I've read the book
and you haven't yet, probably what Lamela has done is
He's given us these eight habits, and then in each
for each habit, he offers us seven ways to build
that habit. So for the work ethic habit, I want
to talk about two of them, just really quickly.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
Sure.
Speaker 4 (32:52):
One one of the ways that you offer for us
to build our work ethic is to put ourselves into
situations where we have to adapt. And one of my
coaches is Sean Anderson, who I met on the air
several years ago and then coerced him into being my
coach persistent space off. But he does this thing lamel
where he literally goes in he's a vegan. To let
(33:13):
me situate this, he will go into he travels to
different countries, and he walks from one end of the
country to the other. But here's what happens. So when
he gets there, he doesn't plan for where he's going
to stay or where he's going to get food. Now,
if you're a vegan, that's hard to do.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
And I am a vegan, and it is very hard
to do it.
Speaker 4 (33:31):
Okay, Okay, so you know you can relate, okay, and
so I have so much respect for that boy. If
that doesn't build a work ethic, you know, that's one
of the things. The other thing that you talk about,
which I think is also really interesting, is to use
our non dominant hand to build our work ethic. Because
we have to work harder. It doesn't come as easy
so just a couple of the things that you offer
to us to build our work ethic. Anything else you
(33:52):
want to.
Speaker 5 (33:53):
Add, no, no, And the fundamental message in everything you
just say, and what I'm trying to put forward from
the example of your friend and your coaches a vegan
to you know, using your hand as not as dominant
as the blessing is in the stretch when we stretch
(34:14):
ourselves outside of our comfort zone. I'll give a real,
real time example today I received a text message from
a young man who was in the audience at a college,
Miles College in Birmingham that I.
Speaker 2 (34:27):
Spoke at about the book a couple of weeks ago.
Speaker 5 (34:32):
And I remembered him because he actually raised his hand
and he got up at last, and he asked, you know,
but what if I'm a little timid, what if I'm
you know, I don't, I don't. I don't make friends
as easy. And I was pressing him to step outside
of his comfort zone. And so this young man did
(34:52):
what I know was very difficult for him to do.
He sent me a text message to date and he asked,
he said, I'm doing what you said, I'm reaching out
and I'm asking for assistance and I'm asking for your
advice on something. And you know what my promise to
him and any young person is. And what happens is
(35:14):
when you step out and you reach out, people will
reach back. And that's what I did, and I gave
him the assistance he needed and I was so proud
of him. But the blessing, the response, the a, the
assistance reaching the goal can only come sometimes at least
(35:36):
when we put ourselves in uncomfortable situations and when we
stretch ourselves beyond that which is comfortable for us to
do and to.
Speaker 4 (35:46):
Be amen and on that, let's take our next break here.
I'm your host, doctor Release Cortes. What are there with
Doctor Lameel mc morris. He's a nationally recognized entrepreneur, activist,
and change maker dedicated to advancing equity and revitalizing unders
short communities. We've been diving into some of the habits
that are in his book. After the break, we're going
to keep going and we're going to pick up on vulnerability,
(36:07):
which is a perfect takeoff from the story you just
now shared.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
Will be right absolutely.
Speaker 3 (36:27):
Doctor Elise Cortes is a management consultant specializing in meaning
and purpose, an inspirational speaker and author. She helps companies
visioneer for greater purpose among stakeholders and develop purpose inspired
leadership and meaning infused cultures that elevate fulfillment, performance, and
commitment within the workforce. To learn more or to invite
Elise to speak to your organization, please visit her at
(36:49):
elisecortes dot com. Let's talk about how to get your
employees working on purpose? Is working on Purpose with doctor
Elise Cortes. To reach our program today or to open
a conversation with Elise, send an email to Elise alisee
(37:09):
at elisecortes dot com. Now back to Working on Purpose.
Speaker 4 (37:19):
Thanks for staying with us, and welcome back to Working
on Purpose. I'm your host, doctor Release Cortes. As you
know by now, this program is dedicated to empowering and
inspiring you along your journey to realize more of your potential.
If you want to learn more about how we can
work together and learn about the Gustineo Academy for leaders
and individuals on various journeys like make your way to
gustodeshnow dot com and then navigate to the training tab
and you'll find the academy there. If you are just
(37:41):
now joining us. My guest is doctor Lamel mc morris.
He's the author of the Power to Persist, Eight simple
habits to build lifelong resilience. So I appreciate that you
created a space with this young man where he somehow
summoned the courage to ask you for help. And of
course one of your habits is vulnerable. About the habit
of vulnerability.
Speaker 2 (38:04):
At least, if I'm honest, it is the habit.
Speaker 5 (38:08):
You know, all of the habits, frankly, and the book
I want your listeners to understand represent a journey. These
are not things that we have perfected will perfect overnight.
And for me, the most challenging of all of the
habits that I put forth is this notion of being vulnerable. Right,
(38:31):
because so much of society and what it means to
be a leader says that we're supposed to have all
the answers and we're never to show weakness. We're always
supposed to show strength, and you know, that's what it
means to be the leader. But I found that, you know,
admitting sometimes that I don't have all the answers, and
(38:53):
emitting sometimes that I do need help, and admitting it's
not constraining, actually liberating. It's freeing, right, It actually frees
me to you know, be open to folks helping, and
actually it frees the listener, the folks that I'm working with,
(39:14):
my team and other folks to say, hey, you know
what I can help. And you know, I didn't really
understand this project totally and I wasn't really you know,
certain about this task, and it actually pulls people together.
And so I submit that this whole notion of what
it means to be to be vulnerable is not confining.
(39:38):
It's freeing, it's liberating, and it is a critical, absolutely
critical habit for us to continue to work on that
helps us build resilience, That helps us, you know, by
demonstrating levels of empathy and vulnerability, it actually pulls people.
(39:59):
It makes us better leaders, It makes us better family members,
it makes us better friends, It makes us you know,
better participants in communities that we are trying to serve
and impact when we can identify with people who are suffering.
So it's one thing to be in my community right
now where I am, and to want to make this
(40:20):
impact and to want to push things onto people, But
when I can actually identify with my neighbor, that's struggling
and actually needs help as we approach this Thanksgiving holiday,
when I don't look down on them, and I actually
can understand the path and the journey of the homeless
guy that I just saw in my alley back here.
Speaker 2 (40:41):
You know, digging for food.
Speaker 5 (40:43):
It takes on a whole different notion of service and
ability to make a positive impact, no doubt.
Speaker 4 (40:51):
No doubt, I can tell you. For me, I appreciate
what you said about this being maybe one of the
harder habits for you. It's hard for me too, and
I'll tell you where to learn it. That's when I
got divorced ten years ago. That's when I learned I
had to ask for help, and I certainly had to
accept help. And as I began to accept help, I
began to notice with different eyes how others were suffering.
(41:14):
And it gave me much greater compassion.
Speaker 2 (41:17):
But what about that process made you open up your eyes?
What was it?
Speaker 4 (41:24):
It was that sense of exposing myself being It was,
you know, opening myself up, you know, in fact, I mean,
I'll just share a funny story with you, really literally
exposing myself living alone. You know, I'm getting dressed, and
if there's a zipper that can't be zipped by a
single person. One needs help. Well, if you live by yourself,
you got to find some way to get some help.
So my measure, my strategy, Lamel was I would I
(41:47):
live in a nice neighbor with nice big trees and
nineteen fifties or houses and such. So I would just
stand out the front door and I would wait for
somebody to come by, walk on their dock, and as
they came by and say, hey, hey, how you doing
a neighbor, It's great to meet you. Hey can help
a sister out. Wow, you know, And that's and I'm
sure the neighbors are like, have you met the new neighbor?
Speaker 1 (42:08):
Right? Right?
Speaker 4 (42:10):
But literally exposing myself. So I would say, it's like
that level, right, you know, where you literally are showing
a tender part of yourself and in so doing to
your earlier point having people so beautifully respond to that.
Speaker 2 (42:25):
That's right.
Speaker 4 (42:26):
Then there was that that you know, nice cycle that
renewed it and encouraged it and strengthened it.
Speaker 5 (42:34):
Yeah, but I would I would imagine, right, let's take
your story as as a perfect example. By going outside
and making yourself quote unquote vulnerable and acknowledging that you
needed help. I wonder how many new friendships you spark.
I wonder how many fascinating conversations you spy. I wonder
how many ladies walking their dog said, you know what,
(42:54):
the same thing happens to me. I'm just not bold
enough to open up the door and yell out, hey,
help me zip. Right, And so you ended up empowering
people and giving people courage and strength by showing that
level of vulnerability in yourself.
Speaker 4 (43:09):
Yeah. I believe that absolutely, and of course of what
the work that I do with organizations, I know that
to be true as well. And in fact, one of
the other things that I wanted to celebrate with what
you're offering for ways for us to build our vulnerability
is to be willing to make unpopular decisions. Right, you
go and get hold to your values and make that decision,
(43:31):
Explain it, clarify why it's important to you, why you're
doing it, but make the unpopular decision. Be vulnerable to
care for others. Those are always to build this beautiful habit.
Speaker 2 (43:42):
Yeah, yeah, we have.
Speaker 5 (43:44):
I'm authoring an op ed now that actually talks about
what it means to do just that, to stick to
your values and make unpopular decisions in an environment where
it's difficult. Right, But when you stick to your values,
then you can empower and you can make the positive
impact and the change that you seek to make in
this society. And this particular op ed is going to
(44:08):
be written, you know, primarily to leaders in corporate America
to encourage them to stick to their values in the
midst of a climate that may actually be suggesting that
they do otherwise.
Speaker 4 (44:22):
I want to read it, I want to celebrate it.
Speaker 2 (44:24):
So on the way, thank you.
Speaker 4 (44:25):
Okay, when it's ready, I'm happy to share it on
social media as well. So whenever it's ready, okay. Now,
I would be absolutely remiss if I let you get
off the show, Lameelle without was talking about the habit
of faith. I want to queue up where I'd love
for us to at least start with this. And so
you say, you know, what is faith? You say what
one of my favorite verses in the Bible defines faith
(44:48):
as the substance of things hoped for, any evidence of
things not seen. Then you go on to say, I
believe that the connection between faith and resilience takes place
when you realize that you are the substance of things
hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Yes, wow,
that is incredible.
Speaker 2 (45:07):
Yes, at first glance, you know.
Speaker 5 (45:13):
That this notion of faith, to talk about it in
this business leadership context, you know, makes people perhaps nervous
and overly concerned that you know, I'm getting ready to
go down this religious path. But in fact, you know,
at least I define an entrepreneur as someone that goes
(45:37):
on top of this building, jumps off and figures out
what's going to happen on the way down.
Speaker 4 (45:42):
That's exactly right.
Speaker 2 (45:42):
That's what we do.
Speaker 5 (45:44):
And that, my friends, is an example of faith, the
ability to believe that you're going to make this business successful.
You cannot see it, you cannot feel it, you cannot
touch it, but you know that I'm working every day,
I'm sacrificing for my family, and I know that this business,
this project, this opportunity is going to work out, although
(46:09):
I cannot fully see it. That is the faith that
I'm talking about, the substance of things hope for. I'm
hoping that this is going to work out, and the
evidence of things that I can't even see it, but
I know it's.
Speaker 2 (46:21):
Going to happen. And I submit that on this road
to resilience and this notion of being persistent, when you
and I look in the mirror and determine that this
isn't just some concept that's out there, When you and
I determine that we are we are the substance of
things hope for, that we are the living, walking embodiment
(46:42):
of faith.
Speaker 5 (46:43):
That my friend propels us to walk through any obstacle,
any hurdle, any challenge that life brings us. When we
know that we are the substance of things hope for
and the evidence of things not seen, you.
Speaker 4 (46:56):
See why I just couldn't let you off the show
without us.
Speaker 2 (46:58):
I see why.
Speaker 5 (46:59):
And it is the last habit that I raised for
a reason, and it's sandwiched that between attitude and faith,
the other ones exist.
Speaker 2 (47:08):
And I think that's important.
Speaker 4 (47:10):
And just one of the ways that you offer for
us to build our habit of faith is to listen
to our intuition, to really honor that voice from within
that is guiding us and telling us where to put
that next foot.
Speaker 5 (47:23):
Yeah, we all have it, and we all and you know,
our gut tells us, you know where we need to
go and where we don't need to do more often
than not.
Speaker 2 (47:31):
But it's just our willingness and ability to listen to.
Speaker 4 (47:35):
It and to trust it right and not ignore it,
not stuff it down, not ignore it, Lamel, I am
so honored and delighted to know now you can't You
can run for me, but you can't get away from
me because I'm pretty fast, so you're stuck with me.
Speaker 2 (47:48):
In other words, I'm not trying to run. Okay, good.
Speaker 5 (47:50):
So this show is.
Speaker 4 (47:52):
Listening to my people around the world, and they are
here to it, develop themselves, to grow into their higher versions,
become better leaders. Yes, what would you like to leave with.
Speaker 3 (48:01):
That?
Speaker 5 (48:02):
This notion of resilience is not optional anymore. It is
a mindset and a set of habits that we must embrace.
We are going through remarkably challenging and turbulent times, and
I submit that people do everything they can to wrap
(48:23):
their arms around whatever path they need to take to
become more resilient.
Speaker 4 (48:30):
That is a fantastic and powerful way to finish. Lamel,
thank you again for coming on the show, for writing,
Thank you for having me. You're very welcome and being
the gift that you are to the world. This is
amazing to know you and share you with my listeners
and viewers. Listeners and viewers, you are going to want
to learn more about doctor Lamel mc morris and also
to learn about the work that he's doing at Phase
(48:50):
two Consulting and check out his book, The Power to Persist.
So I would suggest you start by going to his
personal site, which is Lamel McMorris dot com. Let me
spell that for you l A M E L L
and then mc m O r R I S dot
com lamelmcmorris dot com. Last week, if you missed the
Life Show, you can always catch it via recorded podcast.
(49:12):
We were on the air with Cecily mac talking about
her book Undimmed, The Eight Awarenesses for Freedom from Unwanted Habits.
She helped us to understand not only how much time
are unhealthy habits rob us in life, but also how
much larger we can live without them. Next week, we'll
be on the air with Dana Williams talking about her
book The Internal Revolution. Lead authentically and build your personal
(49:33):
brand from within. See you then, and together, let's lean
in and learn how to create destination workplaces where people
thrive while doing business in a way that betters the world.
Let's work on Purpose.
Speaker 3 (49:46):
We hope you've enjoyed this week's program. Be sure to
tune into Working on Purpose, featuring your host, doctor Elise Cortes,
each week on W four c Y. Together, we'll create
a world where business operates conscientiously. Leadership inspires and passion performance,
and employees are fulfilled in work that provides the meaning
and purpose they crave. See you there, Let's Work on Purpose.
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