The Middle Way Podcast — “Yelling, Telling, and Selling”: Is There Another Way to Inspire Climate Action?

The psychologist Carl Rogers famously wrote, "The curious paradox is that when I accept myself, just as I am, then I can change.” The same is often true on a collective level. The more we use shame, blame, and "othering" as tactics to inspire behavior change, the more resistant and defensive people tend to be. This has hardly been more on display than in the highly charged area of climate change.

Our guest on this episode, Dr. Renée Lertzman, explains why the status quo approach of "yelling, telling, and selling" on climate action has underperformed its aims based on insights from clinical psychology and behavioral neuroscience.

Dr. Renée Lertzman is a researcher, educator and engagement strategist who translates relational psychological insights to change our approach to our planetary crisis. She works with founders, innovators, companies and organizations across public and private sectors, looking to strengthen climate and sustainability initiatives, develop more effective campaigns, and harness the creativity and innovation needed to address our most complex and intractable problems with speed, creativity and imagination. A popular international keynote speaker, trainer and facilitator, she works with organizations, leaders and teams across sectors and regions, including clients such as Google, VMWare, IKEA, California Academy of Sciences, WWF, and the City of London.