Summary
Welcome to another episode of the Startup Junkies Podcast!
In this episode, Dr. Mark Goulston discusses navigating entrepreneurs’ minds with Caleb Talley, Jeff Amerine, and Davis McEntire. Dr. Goulston is a Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 coaches member, a founding member of Newsweek Expert Forum, a former FBI and police hostage negotiation trainer, an acclaimed author and renowned psychiatrist.
Thanks for tuning in!
Shownotes
(0:52) Introducing Dr. Mark Goulston
(1:28) Psychiatry and Worldview
(8:38) Psychology and Product Creation
(11:10) Creating Workplace Culture
(19:07) Designed Thinking
(22:55) Journey of Dr. Goulston Working with Entrepreneurs
(33:50) Handling Conflict as Key to Relationships and Team Building
(39:28) Youth Mental Health & Failure to Launch
(43:12) Advice to Younger Self
(44:51) Wrap up
Links
Davis McEntine
Quotes
“A visionary thinker looks at the unknown as an adventure to be lived.” – (5:59) Dr. Mark Goulston
“What you have to realize is that people aren’t just listening to you, they’re listening for something. It’s a different dynamic.” – (11:26) Dr. Mark Goulston
If everybody in the company wakes up and says, ‘I can’t wait to go to work’, you have a good culture.” – (16:52) Dr. Mark Goulston
“[Entrepreneurs] What we all have in common here is we’re all unemployable.” – (23:23) Dr. Mark Goulston
Navigating the Entrepreneur’s Mind with Psychiatrist Mark Goulston
Dr. Mark Goulston joined the startup junkie’s this week to take a deeper dive into the psyche of entrepreneurship. This journey began as he was being trained as a psychiatrist early on in his career. Traveling across the nation from Wahsinton to LA with the American Association of Suicidology, he was becoming a psychiatrist but was trained under a psychologist. After beginning his practice, he had the realization that he was often able to get through to suicidal patients. The key? He learned how to see the world through another’s eyes, be present, and experience it with them.
Little did he know this would set the trajectory for his later careers of being a member of Marsh Goldsmith’s 100 coaches, a founding member of Newsweek Expert Forum, a former FBI and police hostage negotiation trainer, an acclaimed author, and a world renowned psychiatrist. He even was an advisor for the prosecution at the OJ Simpson Trial, giving the advice to replay the haunting 911 call at the end of the trial due to his concept of seeing through the jury’s eyes.
This new way of thinking even led Dr. Goulston to give presentations on how great minds and entrepreneurs such as Steve Jobs or Elon Musk see the world.
“The reason Steve jobs and Elon Musk see [life] as an adventure to be lived, is that they’ve had a lifelong experience of just stepping into the unknown and thoughts spontaneously come together and they coalesce into a product.” (5:16) – Dr. Mark Goulston
Wow.. Hmm.. Yes.
Dr. Goulston firmly believes in pushing the boundaries of the norm not only in psychiatry but also in product creation. His rule of thumb is that you have to create an atmosphere with your customers, clients, investors and talents that makes them say “Wow! Hmm… Yes!”
“Wow is, ‘This is unbelievable, astonishing, amazing.’ Hmm is, ‘This is too good to ignore, I don’t know what I’m going to do with it, but this is something I’ve got to use.’ And then yes is, ‘I see how we can use that. Sold.’ ” (8:56) Dr. Mark Goulston
Dr. Goulston believes in the practicality of immersing your team in these experiences by sharing or creating scenarios that would lead to this type of connection to a product or service.
Creating a Good Culture in the Workplace
Dr. Goulston went live with Marshall Goldsmith on Linkedin to introduce to the world how to improve workplace culture. The main takeaway that he shared with us is to survey, potentially anonymously, your company and ask what positive or constant behaviors and what negative behaviors are happening in the workplace. Then, you can know what to replicate or eliminate. Seems simple enough, right? But how often do people actually ask those questions, take in the feedback and have monthly check-ins to see if the implementations were working? Not often. It is where empathy and idea implementation meet.
Designed Thinking, Conflict Resolution and Mental Health of American Youth
This episode was filled with nuggets of psychological takeaways that will turn the average joe into a successful leader. One we loved in particular, was on the concept of designed thinking. Dr. Gouslton took us through qualities for a successful leader such as, being unflappable yet present, taking charge yet not being controlling, having factual and emotional intelligence yet having a sense of humor.
Dr. Goulston is also passionate about how an individual handles conflict as a symbol of how well they will be in the workplace or as a spouse. We each brought out our notebooks for this one! By asking three simple questions:
1.How do you handle conflict?
2. What was your role in said conflict?
3. How will you handle future conflict?
The pattern he follows is that clear communication, asking questions and empathizing are all the ingredients you need to change the course of a life. With the rising statistics of poor mental health in youth, taking simple steps of honest conversations, check-ins and vulnerability, Dr. Goulston has seen many a broken family walk the road to reclaiming mental health.
Does anything in your company trigger a “Wow! “Hmm…” or “Yes!”? Then you are on the right track by Dr. Mark Goulston’s standards. Want to learn more on how to implement this in your startup? You can learn more at markgoulston.com or Contact us today!
Breaking the norm, diving into the unknown and giving 100% to everything he does are just a few things we learned about Dr. Mark Goulston on episode 254 of The Startup Junkie Podcast. Don’t forget to tune in each week to hear from another entrepreneur who is shaking things up and making an impact!
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