Jeff Lemberg: Why do the stories we tell matter?

Jeff Lemberg shares how we can parent boys to be better, and what social distancing has done to our previously effective (or ineffective) strategies. Join Laura Gassner Otting as she hosts this episode of LGOtv with special guest, Jeff Lemberg – Father, Educator, Storyteller.

Timestamps:
2:09​ – Have you taken the Oreo Challenge?
4:50​ – “There needs to be more humanity in storytelling.”
8:40​ – “What type of country do we live in? And who are our neighbors?”
10:49​ – The depth of my joy, my relief, my anger, all of it came out in that moment.
12:13​ – Decency is back.
15:46​ – What is Boys for the Better?
21:00​ – “It felt like I was going to make other people around me have to struggle a little bit in the pursuit of my professional happiness.”
24:00​ – When did you come to this understanding of yourself?
26:50​ – “I don’t know that having a student respect the teacher, respect their classmates, and respect the space and the environment is ‘learning like a girl.’”
29:38​ – By the time he was five, I was like, “Yep, I definitely know.”
30:40​ – Treat your kid like a human.
33:46​ – “Have them think more critically about the media they consume.”
39:40​ – So Wonder Woman can’t be a strong successful woman with a career and have a love life?
41:16​ – Superhero women and superhero men express despair differently.
42:38​ – Veteran’s Legal Services
47:31​ – “I really respect what lawyers do and how they use storytelling…”
52:57​ – What does organizational change at mission driven organizations take?

Jeff Lemberg has spent his career telling people stories about other people. A longtime journalist and college professor — Jeff holds a Ph.D. in public communication and journalism from the University of Maryland — he embarked on his third professional act in 2019 when he left his tenured professorship to launch an education nonprofit dedicated to the teaching of “healthy masculinity.” Boys for the Better uses media literacy education to help male-identifying teens/preteens in Eastern Massachusetts learn about healthy relationships, emotional wellness, and education/career goal-setting. In late 2020, Jeff joined the staff of Veterans Legal Services, located in Boston, as its first-ever director of communications and development (again, telling people stories about other people). He is the father of two fantastic daughters, he happily drinks too much coffee, and he consumed a truly obscene number of Oreos in 2020.

Washington Post Best Selling Author and Motivational Keynote Speaker, Laura Gassner Otting, inspires people to push past the doubt and indecision that keep great ideas in limbo because her presentations make listeners think bigger and accept greater challenges that reach beyond their limited scope of belief.

She delivers strategic thinking, well-honed wisdom, and perspective generated by decades of navigating change across the start-up, nonprofit, political, as well as philanthropic landscapes. Laura dares listeners to find their voice, and generate the confidence needed to tackle larger-than-life challenges. She leads them to seek new ways of leading, managing, and mentoring others.

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