Hellenic philosophers and contemporary scholars alike agree that a life of purpose is a life well-lived. They have paved the way for the burgeoning field of positive psychology, which now supports the same sage advice: Want to live longer? Live a life of meaning and purpose!

In Plus Wonder terms, find those Deep Connections that nurture your something bigger. The takeaway is simple: find the relationships that support our something bigger, and let them become your driving force for life.

Investigate the following to better understand the research behind something bigger:

• Simon Sinek wrote about purpose in Start with Why. The Japanese call this sense of purpose ikigai, which roughly translates to “a reason for being.” Watch his TED talk, How Great Leaders Inspire Action.

• Researchers from the University College of London, Princeton University, and Stony Brook University found that people who have a sense of purpose and meaning tend to live longer.

• A recent study published in the Journal of Positive Psychology reported strong relationships as a key feature for enhancing meaning in life.

• Read an overview of the neuroscience study on the importance of Purpose in Life (PIL) by Adam Kaplin, M.D., Ph.D. and Laura Anzaldi.

• Investigate the links between purpose and health with National Public Radio’s, “What’s Your Purpose? Finding A Sense Of Meaning In Life Is Linked To Health” by Mara Gordin.

The research is clear on how being all-in helps you live a long, healthy, fulfilling life. We know from the Plus Wonder partners that spending time developing stronger partnerships is worth every minute of our effort. We’ve learned that being all-in can help ignite your businesses and life and provide you with the freedom to be your best, to take risks in safe spaces, and to learn about yourself through the eyes of others.

Investigate the following to better understand the research behind being all-in with your Deep Connections:

• Dan Buettner, author of Blue Zones, spent years studying the longest living communities in the world to find out their secrets to longevity. He found nine habits that helped them to live longer, healthier, and happier. Four out of the nine link back to relationships and purpose— such as “loved ones first” and “the right tribe”— and building a social circle that encourages healthy behaviors.

• Harvard’s Grant Study has followed 268 people over 80 years of their lives. George Vaillant, the director of the study for three decades, says, “When the study began, nobody cared about empathy or attachment, but the key to healthy aging is relationships, relationships, relationships.”

• Dr. Brené Brown from the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work has spent years studying vulnerability, courage, worthiness, and shame. Her TED talk, “The Power of Vulnerability,” helps to explain how embracing vulnerability can assist us in being more all-in.

• In this book Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain, Zaretta Hammond draws on cutting edge neuroscience research to offer an innovative approach for designing and implementing brain compatible culturally responsive instruction. The book includes information on how one’s culture programs the brain to process data and affects learning relationships. (p. 26)

• In 2019, the American Psychology Association published a meta-analysis of more than two decades of research revealing how “positive relationships boost self-esteem,” and vice versa. This longitudinal study shows us how the quality of our relationships and the type of feedback we receive from our Deep Connections directly links to who we become and what we believe we are capable of achieving in this world.

The six key virtues came out as very clear patterns in our exploration of great partnerships and teams. But obviously, these themes are certainly not new and without academic support, both to contemporary scholars and to our anthropologist friends, like Wade and Carroll. The breakout sessions included in the third degree cover each of the six virtues in a deep dive format, but for now use the following links to review the research on the essential nature of an ecosystem in all relationships.

• In a fledgling business, the relationship ecosystem’s quality can make or break the venture—and unfortunately, more often than not, it breaks. According to Noam Wasserman, author of The Founder’s Dilemmas and Life is a Startup, nearly two-thirds of startups fail because the founding team or partnership simply doesn’t build the close trusting relationship they need to succeed.

• Sarah Clement, the John Templeton Foundation’s director of character virtue development says, “Many educators first enter their profession out of a strong sense of purpose and a desire to serve their students, but until recently almost no formal school leadership development programs were centered on developing and enhancing such virtues.” The John Templeton Foundation currently hosts a number studies around the importance of virtues in their character virtue development program.

• Many times, mismatched values lie at the heart of the problem. Patrick Wanis, a therapist and relationship expert, has spent years working with executives at large organizations. He agrees that the single greatest cause of troubled relationships is “clashing values” that lead to unfulfilled expectations. “It always comes down to values,” he says.

• The Presencing Institute believes “meeting the challenges of this century requires updating our economic logic and operating system. They have constructed the Ego to Eco – The Iceberg Model, which applies a Theory U lens to the transformation of the economy and its key social systems.

• Rebecca Zuker founder of Next Step Partners has been guiding teams leadership for 20 years, helping them step into new challenges, create alignment and accelerate results. Learn more about their work and their belief in building strong ecosystems for successful business relationships.

• Learn more about the relationship expert John Gottman’s four horsemen, and the role they play in predicting the health of a relationship ecosystem. Criticism, defensiveness, contempt, and stonewalling must be eliminated and replaced with health communication patterns in order to restore and build a strong nourishing ecosystem.

Grounding our relationships in trust is fundamental to our wellbeing and to our businesses. Our Plus Wonder partners all described that “first phone call type of trust” and explained how it has added to the fabric of their lives and the relationships they form. Our peers, friends, and local communities are now our sources of truth in the sea of fake news that exploded with social media and the politicizing of mainstream media. In fact, the pyramid of trust has flipped upside-down: in the early 2000s we put our trust in authorities, whereas today we reserve our trust for “people like me.” Our Deep Connections have become our most crucial centers for truth and trust.

Investigate the following to better understand the research behind enduring trust:

• The 2020 Edelman Trust Barometer found two consistent elements to how trust is won and lost: effectiveness and ethical conduct. What has changed is the expectations people place on ethical conduct, with “purpose, vision, honesty, and fairness becoming central dimensions.” This interconnectedness of trust and something bigger, along with a wider set of values, drives ethical conduct and is central to any relationship or wider collaboration.

• Gottman redefines trust as an action, not that you or I do, but what our partner does. The reality is that trust is built slowly over time. Dr. Gottman has said that the basis of trust is really the idea of attunement. Read more about the ATTUNE acronym (Awareness, Turning toward, Tolerance, Understanding, Non-defensive responding, Empathy).

• Trust researcher, Rachel Botsman, recently wrote a beautiful book, Who Can You Trust?, articulating the close relationship between trust and risk. “Trust and risk are two sides of the same coin,” she writes. “If you want people to take risks, if you want people to be okay with not knowing the outcome, you need high-trust environments and high-trust teams.” Her talks on trust and collaboration in the digital realm can also be found on the TED website.

• Check out this great breakdown of “The Neuroscience of Trust” from the Harvard Business Review, which explains eight ways to build a culture of trust in your organization.

• Harvard University political scientist and author Robert Putnam, wrote the classic book on social capital, Bowling Alone, which documents the dramatic decline of trust and community in the United States over the last 50 years, after the devastating events of Hurricane Katrina. Further explore his life’s work on social capital and civic community at Infed.org.

• Penn State’s Center for Economic Community Development shared the “The Role and Importance of Building Trust” in 2008. This is a simple overview that supports our work in the above enduring trust activities.

We hope you found our partners’ wisdom and tips to be a bright light of hope in a world where enduring respect and trust are being undermined from every direction. As self-obsession, bullying, a “winning at all costs” mindset, and a lack of empathy have allowed disrespect to become the norm, we must remember that the potential for change lies in great partnerships. Deep Connections, such as the ones you have and the ones mentioned here remind us of the power and beauty of unshakable mutual respect. This type of respect ripples out to all the other connections in those people’s lives.

Investigate the following to continuing exploring the research behind unshakable respect:

• Kristie Rogers of Marquette University and a researcher of respect in the workplace shares her findings on the difference between earned respect and owed respect in her article, “Do Your Employees Feel Respected?” Discover the ripple effect of respect and how it is directly tied to personal transformation amongst all partners in the workplace.

• In a recent survey by Georgetown University’s Christine Porath of nearly 20,000 employees worldwide, respondents ranked respect as the most important leadership behavior. Check out her TEDx talk.

• In the book Crucial Conversations, authors Patterson and Grenny explain, “Respect is like air. As long as it’s present, nobody thinks about it. But if you take it away, it’s all that people can think about.” In Joseph Grenny’s talk on “Mastering the Art of Crucial Conversations“, he further explains the need for a mutual purpose and mutual respect to create safe honest spaces for growth. If you are limited on time start watching from 24:44 for the key takeaways.

• Jim Taylor, Ph.D, shares his concerns about feeling the “onslaught of disrespect” in his article in Psychology Today titled, “Parenting: Respect Starts at Home.”

• “The Price of Incivility” supports this assertion, finding that 80% of employees treated uncivilly spend significant work time ruminating on the bad behavior, and 48% deliberately reduce their effort. In addition, disrespectful treatment often spreads among coworkers and is taken out on customers.

Belief in each other and in something bigger propels even the most difficult, audacious ideas into reality. United belief, built on the bedrock of trust and respect, is like having your own personal fan club cheering you on and lifting you up. Believing in your Deep Connections and believing that you will help each other deal with whatever life hands you is a great way to enhance your lives. Throughout this virtue, we have worked to make our Deep Connections into places of comfort and platforms for personal and shared growth.

Investigate the following to better understand the supporting research on united belief connections:

• Bestselling author, CEO coach, and former Apple and Google exec Kim Scott founded the transformative philosophy of Radical Candor™: Caring Personally while Challenging Directly. At its core, Radical Candor is guidance and feedback that’s both kind and clear, specific and sincere.” Learn how to reshape your relationships through Radical Candor by reading her book, Radical Candor: How to be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity or watch her explain Radical Candor in six minutes.

• The New York Times bestselling author Daniel Coyle’s new book The Culture Code shows there is hope for greater cohesion and cooperation. This book will put united belief in the context of culture and prove that “no matter the size of the group or the goal, this book can teach you the principles of cultural chemistry that transform individuals into teams that can accomplish amazing things together.” Watch his book trailer for The Culture Code.

• “Van den Steen (2004) shows that shared beliefs reduce agency problems, thereby increasing delegation, reducing monitoring and influence activities, and facilitating coordination.” Read the full text from MIT, “On the Origin of Shared Beliefs and Corporate Culture“.

• Jennifer Michael Hecht, poet, philosopher and historian teaches us how “we believe each other into being,” emphasizing that “sometimes when you can’t see what’s important about you, other people can.” Listen to her poignant interview on Becoming Wise or enjoy her wisdom on our need for one another in a longer interview on the On Being with Krista Tippet. Please Note: both interviews touch on suicide.

• Superteacher Rita Pierson shares in her TED talk that “Every kid needs a champion”. Check out this powerful speech to learn more about the power of united belief in schools.

• In Philosophy of Shared Beliefs, R. Tuomela from the University of Helsinki shares that “Mutual belief is one central kind of collective attitude, examples of others being collective intentions, wants, hopes and fears. Understandably, collective attitudes are central explanatory notions in the social sciences, as one of the tasks of these sciences is to study collective phenomena, including various forms of collective thinking and acting.”

Humility has taken a beating in our individual-focused societies. It is often seen as a weakness, as something that should be avoided if you want to get to the top of the corporate ladder. Meanwhile new research is proving otherwise and asserting strong arguments for a major paradigm shift in corporate culture, leadership styles, and virtue development. The study of humility is a burgeoning field of research with strong evidence to help move us in the direction of valuing this life-giving virtue.

Investigate the following to better understand the research behind shared humility:

• A study on the “Psychological Significance of Humility” was published in the Journal of Positive Psychology suggesting that humility is a “powerfully pro-social virtue with psychological, moral, and social benefits.” Such research posits that humility should be  considered a “foundational” virtue in the growth and development of other positive virtues and characteristics.

• Dr. Brad Owens, an assistant professor of business ethics at Brigham Young University specializes in the role humility plays in our lives, specifically in leadership. Read his article on “The Reign of Humility Within” and listen to his interview on the podcast Moral Impact where he discusses the “impact of humility on leader effectiveness, relational energy, and team functioning.”

• Boston University’s Danielsen Institute specializes in research around humility in their desire to understand this virtue within the human experience. Their humility studies cover religious leaders and racial perspectives to romantic relationships and even graduate studies. For further reading, check out The Brink’s article highlighting Boston University’s work on the Benefits of Humility.

• Humility Science is your hub for those interested in learning more about the science of this virtue. Take their diagnostic survey to see how humble you are and learn more on humility from their Humility Researcher’s Toolkit based on the book, Cultural Humility (2017).

• The Templeton Foundation offers excellent resources and ongoing research on what is newly termed “Intellectual Humility.” Check out their video on “The Joy of Being Wrong” and their episode on “How to Humbly Disagree” on the podcast Philosophy Talk.

• Find more on humility and the power of meditation in Matthieu Ricard’s book Altruism: The Power of Compassion to Change Yourself and the World. In Ricard’s own words, “Humility is a quality that is invariably found in the wise person who has acquired many qualities, for, they say, it’s when the tree is loaded with fruit that the branches bend to the round, whereas the proud person is like the tree whose bare branches point up to the sky.”

Our need for greater generosity in all aspects of life has been met with a plethora of research over the last few decades and increasingly so in recent years. The studies we referenced reinforce what some of
us already feel to be true; when you give, you get, and when you get, you give more. It also shows that we need to nurture this behavior by creating the conditions that naturally support it. Enjoy reading the uplifting research on the gift of nurturing generosity.

• This comprehensive white paper produced by the Greater Good Research Center at UC Berkeley for the John Templeton Foundation offers collective research demonstrating that, “We are a generous species… While studies suggest that humans have a propensity for self-interest, research has also revealed that currents of generosity run deep within us.” Check out their illuminating infographic on the benefits of nurturing generosity.

• The article, “In Service of Gratitude” published in Harvard Health Publishing, cited a study of couples that found “that individuals who took time to express gratitude for their partner not only felt more positive toward the other person but also felt more comfortable expressing concerns about their relationship.”

• Wharton professor, organizational psychologist, and bestselling author Adam Grant explores the world of takers, matchers and givers, demonstrating that those whose contributions to others without expecting anything in return (the givers) have the greatest impact on all, including themselves. Check out his book Give and Take, watch his TED talk, and take his give and take quiz to see if your reciprocity style.

• In an enlightening article, “How does generosity benefit health? Brain study sheds light,” published by Medical News Today highlights a new study that suggests “that different types of generosity have different effects on the brain, and that one form, in particular, may reduce stress and anxiety. Humans thrive off social connections and benefit when they act in the service of others’ well-being,” write the authors.

• Researchers Yohsuke Ohtsubo and Chiaki Yamaguchi from the Kobe University reported that “people are more generous to a partner that pays attention to them.”

• Dr. Robert A. Emmons of the University of California, Davis and Dr. Michael E. McCullough of the University of Miami are two psychologists that found a gratitude practice can help people feel more optimistic about their lives, exercise more, and make fewer visits to the doctor. Check out Dr. Emmon’s lecture on the “Four Lessons I’ve Learned About Gratitude” and Dr. Michael E McCullough’s dialogue with Arthur Zajonc titled “Mind and Morality” on the podcast On Being with Krista Tippet.

• An intriguing 2019 study, “It Pays to. be Generous by The Ascent (a division of the Motley Fool), compared people who reported being more generous with those who reported being less generous. They found that “high-generosity people were 23% more likely to be satisfied with their lives overall—but they were also happier with their relationships, their jobs, their possessions, and more.”

• The Atlantic featured John Gottman’s groundbreaking research in their article, “Masters of Love,” where they reported, “science says lasting relationships come down to—kindness and generosity.” They highlight his “Love Lab” research on what he termed the masters and disasters in relationships. As Gottman explained, “There’s a habit of mind that the masters have, which is this: they are scanning the social environment for things they can appreciate and say thank you for. They are building this culture of respect and appreciation very purposefully. Disasters are scanning the social environment for partners’ mistakes.”

The study of empathy continues to evolve. As a highly-researched concept across multiple disciplines from psychology to anthropology, compassionate empathy is recognized as a form of empathy that builds fortitude and resilience through loving action. Having compassionate empathy and knowing that you have each other’s back is often all it takes to emerge stronger from inevitable periods of difficulty and imbalance.

Investigate the following to better understand the research behind having compassionate empathy with your Deep Connections:

• Psychologist Daniel Goleman and author of both Emotional Intelligence and Social Intelligence calls it empathetic concern, while renowned psychologist Dr. Paul Eckman refers to it as compassionate empathy. Regardless of what we call it, Goleman talks about how it is the third type of empathy that drives action in his article featured on The Greater Good Society, “How to Help: When Can Empathy Move Us into Action?“

• Jamil Zaki’s new book War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World is a beacon of hope. As a professor of psychology at Stanford University and director of the Stanford Social Neuroscience Lab, his decades of research posit that empathy is a skill we can hone and sharpen over time. Check out his Kindness Challenges and start building your empathy muscles.

• Justin Bario, author of EQ Applied: The Real-World Guide to Emotional Intelligence, further explains the breakdown of empathy in his article, “There Are Actually 3 Types of Empathy. Here’s How They Differ-and How You Can Develop Them All.” He reviews the work of Goleman and Eckman of categorizing empathy into three types: cognitive, emotional, and compassionate. Listen to Daniel Goleman share more insights on this topic in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, on Three Kinds of Empathy.

• For a simple and fun explanation of empathy, watch this short clip from actor Mark Ruffalo on Sesame Street.

• Self- and other-empathy leads to replenishment and renewal of a vital human capacity as discussed in “The Science of Happiness” by Helen Reiss. If we are to move in the direction of a more empathic society and a more compassionate world, it is clear that working to enhance our native capacities to empathize is critical to strengthening individual, community, national, and international bonds.

• “Without empathy, we would be like ants or fish or lizards, aware of each other as bodies in space, but with no sense at all of the inner lives of each other.” Wisebrain and the WellSpring Institute on Empathy connect to the neuroscience and evolution of human empathy, while breaking down the concepts of horizontal and vertical empathy.

• Considering different kinds and different personalities/disorders is important in understanding the capacity to empathize. See “Cognitive Empathy vs. Emotional Empathy in Human Behavior and Evolution” (abstract) for more.

• Empathetic people sought out for trust, and positive people sought out for fun in “Empathy and wellbeing correlate with centrality in different social networks.” Explore personal traits in relation to who you attract, and where and when is empathy part of your magnetic appeal for others.

• Although [students] typically agree that empathy is important, they often disagree about why it is important, about what effects it has, about where it comes from, and even about what it is. “Empathy and its role in learning…” is an important resource for educators as well as students.

Magnetic moments offer you the space and time to build your ecosystem of virtues, such as trust and respect. They give you the chance to pause and nurture compassionate empathy for each other and build on your belief in one another and your larger purpose. And they allow you to laugh, to shout, to cry, to be simply human together. These moments also give you the chance to practice gratitude for the world around us, to appreciate how interconnected we are.

Explore what the experts have to say about the special moments that are fundamental to building Deep Connections.

• Learn more about Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, considered one of the cofounders of positive psychology. He has done extensive research on the topic of flow, and flow states, what people commonly refer to as being “in the zone.” Check out his research to understand how you can get your relationships into a flow state.

• Many people use rituals to enhance their own well-being. Our goal in this degree was to utilize magnetic  moments to help your partnership ecosystems thrive. Check out “The Restorative Power of Rituals” by the Harvard Business Review.

• Mindfulness expert Susan Piver writes that, “The joy of connection, whether to a person, animal, flower, idea, or sensation is the most profound of all the joys.” Joy can’t be manufactured, but it can be welcomed into your relationship through the magnetic moments you shape, and, in turn, create memories that warm our hearts continually.

• Consider relationships and flow states. In an article titled “Couples Reach the Flow State Too,” published in Psychology Today, they write, “What’s required to move into that state of flow is to learn how to manage the intense feelings that plague relationships, fear, anxiety, doubt, anger, rage, resentment, boredom, lethargy, depression, cynicism about things improving.”

• We discussed how developing a community plays a crucial role in enhancing your relational flow states. Investigate “8 ways to unlock the power of community” from the World Economic Forum.

• In his Blue Zone research, Dan Buettner found that one of the communities that had the most centenarians in the world was the Okinawans in Japan. One of the secrets to their long, healthy lives was what they called “moais,” groups of five friends who committed to come together and support one another for the rest of their lives. That’s a beautiful example of how a lifelong community ritual can help encourage and catalyze long lasting, healthy partnerships. You can engage with Dan’s work by watching his TED talk, “How to Live to be 100+” and reading his article, “The Island Where People Forget to Die.”

Each partnership showed that they had to learn to rise above the drama, to leave behind their egos, in large part because their shared vision was way larger than any petty conflict that might emerge between them. Celebrating friction isn’t easy but it is possible and requires a commitment to learning from one another by coming from a place of love and trust. By turning conflict into learning moments and not letting disagreement and failures define the relationship.

Check out what the experts are saying in regards to how we must celebrate friction to ensure the health of our relationships.

• Harvard Business Review featured an article on “How to Mend a Work Relationship,” based on a review of over 300 research studies that focused on workplace relationships, relationship transgressions, and relationship repair. The article offers best practices that mirror our findings on how to become more resilient in the face of inevitable conflict. The authors stress, three moves – creating a positive tone, shared narratives, and relational agility.

• Leadership expert and best selling author Robin Sharma, says “conflict is nothing more than an opportunity for greater growth and a deeper connection.” Sharma discusses the importance of celebrating friction in his three short and insightful articles: “Celebrate Conflict,” “The Four Riders of Conflict,” and “Pick Fights Fast.”

• Research scientists impart necessary wisdom around resolving conflict in research groups, drawing from their own experiences and challenges. They offer four strategies, including a reminder that no one is perfect. There is usually something that we can do better, and resolving conflict is a skill we should all try and cultivate. Check out their article “Conflict in your research group? Here are four strategies for finding a resolution in Science Magazine.

• Edutopia’s “What Brain Science Teaches us About Conflict Resolution ” provides us with an educator’s insight into the challenging emotions that accompany disagreements among our youth. This article looks at the links between neuroscience and mindfulness as it relates to resolving conflict and how we can help our youngest students get a head start on celebrating friction.

• Sheila Heen specializes in difficult conversations. Heen is professor of negotiation at Harvard Law School and a bestselling author of two books, Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most and Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well (Even When It’s Off-Base, Unfair, Poorly Delivered and Frankly, You’re Not in the Mood). Check out her online course on Difficult Conversations and learn to “understand the layers of tough conversations in order to connect with authenticity and empathy.

• Bestselling author and professor of management science and engineering and professor of organizational behavior, Dr. Bob Sutton is an expert in organizational friction. His latest book, The Asshole Survival Guide: How to Deal With People Who Treat You Like Dirt and his newest project with Huggy Rao, The Friction Project, speaks to “the causes and cures for destructive organizational friction–and when it is wise to make things harder to do.”

• Rebecca Zucker from Next Step Partners reviews the SHARED™ feedback model in her leadership blog, “Getting Under Your Skin: How To Respond?” She describes how self-awareness is a leader’s superpower especially when managing conflict and how we are not rational beings but first and foremost emotional beings. Emotional sensitivities are often at the root of relationship challenges and self-awareness is what can shift the dynamic for all involved, further demonstrating that peace within yourself is an important step in celebrating friction. Continue reading her blog on How Not to Be Defensive” to see how managing defensive can support giving and receiving feedback within all your relationships. A key to celebrating friction and fostering deeper connections.

• A 2017 study by Thomas Curran, a social psychologist from the University of Bath, and Andrew Hill, a professor of sports psychology at York St. John University, found that “self-oriented perfectionism, socially prescribed perfectionism, and other-oriented perfectionism have increased over the last 27 years. Young people are now facing more competitive environments, more unrealistic expectations, and more anxious and controlling parents than generations before.” These findings prove the dire need to promote and instill healthy conflict practices amongst our youth.

• Enjoy The Big Book of Conflict Resolution from Washington State University and try out the numerous activities that help bring people together, encourages listening and creates a culture of respect whether in the classroom, home, or office.

• When you learn to celebrate friction you flow above drama and open yourself up to more joy. And Ingrid Fetel Lee is on a mission to bring more joy into the places we live and work, learn and heal. She is the founder of Aesthetics of Joy and the author of Joyful, “the definitive guide to finding and creating more joy in the world around you.” Her TED talk, “Where Joy Hides and How to Find it” “reveals the hidden influence of our surroundings on our emotions and wellbeing.”

We know that a group is far more likely to achieve the extraordinary when fueled by the power of Deep Connections. The Plus Wonder partners have taught us that building collective connections of people and keeping up the momentum is not only possible, but essential. Tapping into our collective connections helps us maximize human potential to make a greater impact on the world.

Investigate the following to better understand the research behind the power of connection:

• David Price, author of The Power of Us: How We Connect, Act, and Innovate Together, shares his wisdom on what it looks like to harness the power of collaboration and diverse thinking. His work looks to challenge the status quo and encourage meaningful change through meaningful work, while maximizing human potential. Listen to David share his insight on “…how we can foster our own cultures of co-creators to transform our lives and rebuild a better world for the future..” in this interview with GettingSmart.

• Robert Greenleaf is credited with founding the powerful movement called “servant-leadership.” His Center for Servant Leadership reminds us that true leadership must start with the intention to serve others. Dr. Deborah Vogele Welch of Reflective Leadership Associates, writes, “servant-leaders embody leadership characteristics, capacities, attitudes, and values such as trust, deep listening, foresight, caring, accountability, and balance. By leading in a way that truly serves others, such leaders develop human possibilities — in themselves and in others.” Learn more about this movement and take Greenleaf’s Best Test, a new kind of leadership assessment.

• “In any company, you can have a brilliant bunch of individuals — but what prompts them to share ideas and concerns, contribute to one another’s thinking, and warn the group early about potential risks is their connection to one another,” writes Margaret Heffernan in Ideas.TED.com. Heffernan, an author and professor of practice at the University of Bath champions social capital as the power that generates thriving cultures. Her newest book Uncharted: How to map the future together, “challenges us to resist the false promises of technology and efficiency and instead to mine our own creativity and humanity for the capacity to create the futures we want and can believe in.” Watch her TED talk on how to Forget the Pecking Order at Work.

• Dan Buettner, author of Blue Zones, spent years studying the longest living communities in the world to find out their secrets to longevity. He found nine habits that helped them to live longer, healthier, and happier. Four out of the nine link back to relationships and purpose—such as “loved ones first” and “the right tribe”—and building a social circle that encourages healthy behaviors.

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• Former VP of sustainability at McDonald’s, Bob Langert works with companies and their strongest critics to find solutions that are good for both business and society In his TED talk he shares stories about working with unlikely connections such as his partnership with the Environmental Defense Fund and Temple Grandin. He shows why your adversaries can sometimes be your best allies. As a former editor and writer for GreenBiz, he shared his belief in passion, perseverance and patience as the essential ingredients to working with your critics and growing trust across what may initially seem like conflicting sectors.

• Tristan Harris, founder of the Center for Humane Technology and formerly a design ethicist for Google, has been called “the closest thing Silicon Valley has to a conscience” by The Atlantic. Also the founder of the Time Well Spent movement, he warns us of the deleterious effects of social networks and raises the alarm on what technology is doing to our wellbeing and relationships. He is on a mission to create platforms that create conditions for change where we can honor true connection and use social networks for the good of the collective. In a virtual world, it’s imperative that we determine how to create and sustain deep connections across time and space.

• One organization worth noting that has grown in size and respect, and is creating collective connections for the good of education is HundrED.org.

• Nancy Reichman and Penelope Canan, authors of the book Ozone Connections: Expert Networks in Global Environmental Governance, “argues that we need to understand how the implementation of complex global environmental agreements depends on the construction and exploitation of social connections among experts who act collectively to define solutions to environmental problems. Enjoy this important read to learn more about how social relationships were the key to closing the ozone!