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PYP 131: Anthony Dissen, RD, on Empowering vs Preaching

Anthony-DissenDietitian Anthony Dissen has the plant-based science down cold, like many of us. What sets him apart is his research in and experience with group programs to change behaviors in an engaging, positive, and sustainable fashion.

We met through an email correspondence over Proteinaholic, and quickly discovered several common elements in our histories and interests. When he told me his story about running plant-based wellness programs for employees of a hospital, and showed me the results of the pilot run, I knew he'd be a great guest.

If you ever put together behavior change programs, or even want to help family and friends adopt healthier habits, you'll get a ton out of our conversation. Anthony shares incredibly valuable nuggets related to mindset, strategy, and organization that will make any change effort more fun, more sustainable, and more effective.

In our conversation, we cover:

  • the myth of expertise: who we listen to and who we don’t
  • communication lessons from the paleo movement
  • missing elements in plant-based change programs
  • Anthony’s mantra of empowerment
  • the importance of sharing stories in classes
  • why evidence-based scare tactics don’t motivate behavior change
  • who was most successful in the Whole Foods Market wellness club
  • the power of community
  • marketing plant-based nutrition not just as a solution to health problems
  • the Get Plant Powered program in action for hospital employees
  • carbophobic pushback from the diabetes wing of the hospital
  • why they never used the words “vegan” or “vegetarian”
  • key elements of the cooking classes: quick, simple, easy
  • how they chose the things to measure to evaluate program effectiveness
  • the biometric results
  • the surprising “spouse factor”
  • the importance of fostering self-efficacy
  • future plans to turn the pilot group into ambassadors for future programs
  • looking at financial implications of successful programs
  • and much more…

Enjoy, add your voice to the conversation via the comment box below, and please share – that's how we spread our message and spread our roots.

Links

Anthony's website

My latest article: Is your doctor's medical degree better than your Google search?

Dr Howie Jacobson

This podcast is a labor of love and a way to give back to the world that has given me so much. That's why there aren't any sponsors (except me :).

My day job is helping leaders and their teams master their mindsets to remove all obstacles to heart-centered high performance.

Here are three gigs that I do:

1. Executive and Senior Leadership Mentoring and Facilitation

I work with high performing executive teams in organizations — and executive teams that need to become high  performing. My focus is mindset mastery, because it’s our mindsets that either support high performance or get in the way.

At this level, everyone’s got the skills and experience to excel and contribute at the highest level. What holds people back is mindset stuff: specifically the triggers that get them out of creative engagement and into fight-or-flight defensiveness.

My practice is all about teaching people to respond differently to those triggers by updating old maps — essentially removing the glitches that the triggers grab onto.

2. Executive Coaching: Quick Wins for High Performance

I work with individual executives and leaders, one on one. The program is called Quick Wins for High Performance, and what we do is, we work strategically on one or two areas that are holding you back and keeping you from performing at your best.

We reverse engineer the presenting problems — too much work and not enough time, underperforming employees and teams, maddening organizational inefficiencies, etc — and identify and rewire the suboptimal mindsets that are behind those problems.

The work is all about updating your mental maps so your actions and responses are always appropriate, proportionate, and strategic.

3. High Stakes Conversations for Fast Growing Small Business Teams

I help small business teams have high stakes conversations with skill, humor, and grace. When people feel safe, they can do their best, most creative, most collaborative work.

So that's what I do. If you'd like any of those results, drop me a line and tell me about yourself.

You CAN Change Other People!

Well, that's what Peter Bregman and I claim in our provocative book of that title.

What we really mean is, you can bring out the best in the people around you. If you think you're powerless to help people change, it's because you've been going about it the wrong way.

Discover our straightforward, replicable process here: You Can Change Other People.

 

Music

The Plant Yourself Podcast theme music, “Dance of Peace (Sabali Don),” is generously provided by Will Ridenour, a kora player from North Carolina who has trained with top Senegalese musicians.

It can be found on his first CD, titled Will Ridenour.

You can learn about Will, listen to more tracks, and buy music on his website, WillRidenour.com.

Gratitudes

Thanks to Plant Yourself podcast patrons – Kim Harrison – Lynn McLellan – Brittany Porter – Dominic Marro – Barbara Whitney – Tammy Black – Amy Good – Amanda Hatherly – Mary Jane Wheeler – Ellen Kennelly – Melissa Cobb – Rachel Behrens – Tina Scharf – Tina Ahern – Jen Vilkinofsky – David Byczek – Michele X – Elspeth Feldman – Leah Stolar – Allan Kristensen – Colleen Peck – Michele Landry – Jozina – Sara Durkacs – Kelly Cameron – Janet Selby – Claire Adams – Tom Fronczak – Jeannette Benham – Gila Lacerte – David Donohue – Blair Seibert – Doron Avizov – Gio and Carolyn Argentati – Jodi Friesner – Mischa Rosen – Michael Worobiec – AvIvA Lael – Alicia Lemus – Val Linnemann – Nick Harper – Bandana Chawla – Molly Levine – The Inscrutable Harry R – Susan Laverty the Panda Vegan – Craig Covic – Adam Scharf – Karen Bury – Heather Morgan – Nigel Davies – Marian Blum – Teresa Kopel – Julian Watkins – Brid O'Connell – Shannon Herschman – Linda Ayotte – Holm Hedegaard – Isa Tousignant – Connie Haneline – Erin Greer – Alicia Davis – Heather O'Connor – Carollynne Jensen – Sheri Orlekoski of Plant Powered for Health – Karen Smith – Scott Mirani – Karen and Joe Crabtree – Kirby Burton – Theresa Carrell – Kevin Macaulay – Elizabeth Rothschild – Ann Jesse – Sheryl Dwyer – Jenny Hazelton – Peter W Evans – Dennis Bird – Darby Kelly – Lori Fanney – Linnea Lundquist – Emily Iaconelli – Levi Wallach – Rosamonde McAtee – Dan Pokorney – Stephen Leinin – Patty DeMartino – Mike and Donna Kartz – Deanne Bishop – Bilberry Elf – Marjorie Lewis – Tricia Adams – Nancy Sheldon – Lindsey Bashore – Gunn Marit Hagen – Tracey Gulledge – Lara Hedin – Meg from Mamasezz – Stacey Stokes – Ben Savage – Michael K – David Hughes -Coni Rodgers – Claire England – Sally Robertson – Parham Ganchi – Amy Dailey – Brian Tourville – Mark Jeffrey Johnson – Josie Dempsey – Caryn Schmitt – Pamela Hayden – Emily Perryman – Allison Corbett – Richard Stone – Lauren Vaught of Edible Musings – Erin Hastey – Sean Owens – Sagar Naik – Erika Piedra – Danielle Roberts – Michael Leuchten – Sarah Johnson – Katharine Floyd – Meryl Fury – for your generous support of the podcast.

Disclosure

This post may contain amazon affiliate links. I may receive compensation from your actions on such links. It don't cost you a dime, tho.

2 comments on “PYP 131: Anthony Dissen, RD, on Empowering vs Preaching

  1. David says:

    Great/Great Podcast as always, Howard.

    Some wonderful great points and reminders.

    Accountability and community/the keys to so many things!!!!

    Communication skills; knowledge is only a part of the equation.

    As I like to say: Motivation requires continual reinforcement; and Consistent activity yields consistent results; and, “We are each an experiment of one.”

    As we all know so well, WIIFM is the channel we are all tuned in to; and encouraging/fomenting wellness/we must remember that always.

    One of my favorite sayings is/The Platinum Rule: Do unto others as they wish to be done unto.

    It takes much more effort to take all of that in to account/but the results are the essence and are much more effective.

    Thanks again for all of your efforts Howard/and best wishes on your new TV venture; that is awesome!!! And best of luck with your counseling practice too.

    David

  2. Thank You says:

    Thank You for another wonderful episode.

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