How a Catastrophic Fire Sparked a Leadership Awakening (Spencer Sherman)

As a preview of our upcoming special compilation called Small Moments, Big Transformations, we’re replaying Spencer Sherman’s remarkable story of losing everything in a fire, discovering Buddhist practices, and building a 70-person B-Corp that puts values, mindfulness, and client well-being first.

This is To Lead Is Human — listen to learn how you can uplevel your leadership and shape cultures of accountability, respect, and candor.

Spencer Sherman is a Certified Financial Planner,® co-founder of the B-Corp financial advisory firm Abacus, author, spiritual teacher, and an advocate of developing a mindful money mentality.

“Sometimes in our industry and as a financial advisor, there's an over-focus on the future. [But] a big part of Buddhist philosophy is living well in the present moment.” – Spencer Sherman

Guest Bio:

Spencer Sherman has been sharing the powerful tools of mindfulness with financial advisors for 20 years. He leads Mindful Advisor Retreats where attendees learn how to have more engaging and creative client conversations. Spencer’s philosophy is that when advisors cultivate equanimity, focus, compassion, and self-awareness, they can have significantly more impact.

He is the co-founder and former CEO of Abacus, a founding B Corp with Buddhist values. Abacus helps people expand what's possible with their money and experience a sense of “enough” here and now, not just in the future.

Spencer is the author of The Cure For Money Madness (Random House, 2009), a guide to overcoming our inherited money beliefs, which undermine our ability to earn, share, invest, save, and enjoy money. He also teaches a course called “The Dharma of Money,” helping people transform their relationship with money regardless of their economic circumstance.

He holds an MBA from the Wharton School and is a Certified Financial Planner.®

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This podcast is for informational purposes only. The opinions expressed are not the opinions of Abacus Wealth Partners (the firm that Spencer founded). Should you wish to connect with a financial advisor, we welcome you to schedule a free introductory 15-minute phone call. Once your financial needs are understood, we will be happy to help you find the best fit.
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Host Bio:

For more than 30 years, Sharon Richmond has partnered with C-level executives from mid-size and small, fast-growing companies who want to up-level their leadership and build companies they are proud of. Clients accelerate their leadership by embracing mindset and behavior changes, building self-awareness and self-management skills, and focusing on the three things all leaders must ensure: focus, energy and delivery.

Sharon’s purpose as an executive coach is to help leaders 10X their impact by leveraging the power afforded by their roles to build organizations that are forces for good, both economically and socially. She also advises CEOs on shaping organization culture and leading change.

Sharon has taught leadership at Stanford GSB, where she now helps leaders increase influence, manage conflict, and prepare to build high-performing teams.

To see a list of Sharon’s clients, please visit LeadingLarge.com.

Resources or websites mentioned in this episode:

Mirasee
Sharon’s website
Spencer’s website
Abacus
Google’s Project Aristotle
Dr. John Kabat-Zinn’s Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)

Credits:

Host: Sharon Richmond
Producer: Cynthia Lamb
Executive Producer: Danny Iny
Assembled by: Andrew Chapman
Audio Post Supervisors: Evan Miles and Christopher Martin
Audio Post Production: Post Office Sound
Music Soundscape: Chad Michael Snavely
Making our hosts sound great: Home Brew Audio

Music credits:

Track Title: Escaping Light
Artist: Aaron Sprinkle
Writer: Aaron Sprinkle
Publisher: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION

Track Title: Bright Future
Artist: Be Still The Earth
Writer: Marshall Usinger
Publisher: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION

Special effects credits:

24990513_birds-chirping_by_promission used with permission of the author and under license by AudioJungle/Envato Market.

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Episode transcript: How a Catastrophic Fire Sparked a Leadership Awakening (Spencer Sherman) coming soon.

Creators and Guests

Host

Sharon Richmond

Editor

Andrew Chapman

Producer

Cynthia Lamb

Guest

Spencer Sherman

What is To Lead Is Human?

In this podcast, executive coach Sharon Richmond interviews successful leaders who have applied their professional and personal growth to produce tangible business outcomes. They discuss challenges, lessons learned, and what has helped them guide their organizations to success. Sharon helps listeners supercharge their own leadership with coaching tips on how to apply the lessons learned from our guests.