How does a kid who grew up on a farm in the midwest, who struggled with mental illness on a level that led him to contemplate taking his own life, end up a rising star in industry, author, and the head of mindfulness and compassion at mega tech company LinkedIn.
More than that, how does he end up deeply present at peace, mindful and alive with possibility and joy?
That is the trajectory of today's guest, Scott Shute.
For more than two decades now, Scott has been on this quest to weave together the modern workplace and ancient wisdom traditions, blending a lifelong personal spiritual practice and passion with practical leadership and operations.
It's been this expression of something akin to a download that he got early in life to change work from the inside out.
When he first got, he didn't even know what that meant, and somehow it has revealed its meaning and its intention and its energy.
Over a period of years, his approach has been mainstreaming mindfulness and what he calls operationalizing compassion, which has not always been an easy sell in big business.
Scott is also the author of the full body, yes, and one of the powerful voices and teachers behind the inner MBA, a nine month online immersion for entrepreneurs, executives, and employees who believe that business is a force for good in the world and want to achieve success while making a difference.
So excited to share this conversation with you.
I'm Jonathan Fields, and this is good life project.
I'm excited to have this conversation.
You know, as we sit here and have this conversation, we're in this really but interesting window in time and culture and society, and you have this position as a head of mindfulness and compassion at LinkedIn, which I want to deconstruct a little bit.
But it's fascinating to me on so many levels, not the least of which is that if we go way back in time and we sort of, like, think about you as a kid, a young kid growing up essentially in farmland in Kansas, it sounds like you are wired profoundly differently in that season of your life.
I think so.
I think so.
I came across spiritual teachings.
I would say that I had a spiritual awakening when I was 13, and I started a contemplative practice, which is, let's just say, a little bit different than my peers at 13, surrounded by farmland.
And yeah, I was just wired differently.
I thought about the world differently.
I felt like a fish out of water.