Luis Velasquez Ph.D. is the author of Ordinary Resilience, an executive leadership coach, and former research scientist. He describes his journey after a brain tumor forced him to leave academia and reinvent himself, using endurance sports goals during recovery. Luis explains how resilience means defining who you are, accepting your circumstances, and adapting to change, not toughness. He emphasizes intentional reframing, focusing on what you can control, and building relationships to foster social resilience and weather challenges. Luis shares insights and mental models for leaders managing teams as we navigate change at work and beyond.
TAKEAWAYS
[02:27] Instead of becoming a farmer, Luis loves science and does a Ph.D. in molecular biology.
[02:59] Luis returns to Guatemala after a scholarship to college in the US, as he had committed to.
[03:38] Luis takes the hardest class—plant pathology—wanting to improve resistance to disease.
[04:49] Becoming a professor of fungal genetics, Luis wants to protect plants.
[05:40] Suddenly, Luis gets a brain tumor and his full life stops.
[06:50] Luis describes growing up amidst poverty and political violence in Guatemala.
[07:24] Surviving the tumor, Luis's ‘recovery’ goal is to run a marathon which takes him a year.
[07:57] Luis has to reinvent himself and recognizes ‘what I do is not who I am’.
[09:18] Luis gives his tumor a funny name and begins his second journey.
[10:00] Exploring the various ways Luis can use the same tools; he chooses Human Resources.
[12:21] With reflection and research, Luis realizes everyone has resilience within that they can access.
[14:07] Overwhelming amounts of information now at work put us in a phase of beginners.
[15:02] In flatter organizations, how can we learn what we need to know?
[15:53] We must be intentional about connections, not optimizing meetings only for efficiency.
[17:32] How trusting relationships change interpersonal dynamics.
[18:45] The power of social resilience, including allowing us to mimic solutions.
[20:07] The most important question is ‘what is the problem you are trying to solve?’
[21:48] Resilience is not changing, but adapting, who we are.
[22:44] Luis’s niche is helping people who are difficult at work, often misunderstood.
[23:31] When intention is not aligned with action, and how to motivate alignment.
[24:43] What small adjustment can be made to fulfill your intention and be perceived differently?
[26:34] How entrepreneurs perceive failure if they attach their identity to their product.
[27:55] The mental model tha
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