Innovative Thought Leader: Cedric Bryant, PhD | WeMentor Mondays with Nancy PODCAST Innovative Thought Leader: Cedric Bryant, PhD

Episode 273: Innovative Thought Leader: Cedric Bryant, PhD

If you have been in the physical fitness and health arena, you probably know Guest Mentor Cedric Bryant, Ph.D. The President and Chief Science Officer for the American Council on Exercise (ACE) based in Seattle. Maybe you are one of the 90,000 certified through ACE as an exercise professional and health coach. Cedric has received distinguished alumni honors from Penn State University for his leadership.

Today we talk about his journey as an educator, coach, innovative thought leader and where he learned his appreciation for hard labor. Cedric is the first to tell you that others conclude you are an innovator and thought leader. I bring in management guru Peter Drucker’s Five Principles of Innovation and get Cedric’s insights into each of them. You will learn why Cedric says, “We are in a physical activity pandemic.” DOWNLOAD

Resiliency has its place in innovation. How you think about yourself, which is a significant factor in recovering from setbacks, would influence how you think about problem-solving. In Cedric’s family, you just dealt with problems and setbacks or learned how to work around them and move on. A lot of what he learned about innovative thinking is reflected in his upbringing, role modeled by his two parents, like getting comfortable with things not always turning out as planned and not being afraid to try things. Being a quick learner by failing fast, learning what you can about what went wrong, and then move forward are things that work well when Cedric is implementing new programming.

Cedric and his two older siblings acquired a remarkable love of education, fun, and putting an honest effort into everything you do from their now-deceased parents. His mother was a nurse’s aide throughout her life. His father changed trades working in the fields, sharecropping in rural Georgia to becoming a longshoreman unloading ships when they moved their family to New Jersey. His mother earned her GED later in life, while his father had a grammar school education. They provided the relational requirements needed in a resilient family: love, security, and connection.

Before joining ACE, Cedric joined the faculty at Arizona State. Teaching and researching to explore using exercise to improve the functional capability of those afflicted with peripheral vascular disease, which impairs the quality of life, led him to work as a Senior Vice President at StairMaster (an exercise equipment company). You will hear about how he modified one of the steppers and the results of that change.

The stable family foundation, education, research, and mentors sprinkled throughout his career prepared Cedric to be someone on the move to lead, coach, and drive innovation in exercise- science and behavior-change programming while overseeing program development at ACE. An organization that helps people sustain healthier lifestyles. Please tune in to hear our engaging, motivating, and thoughtful conversation.

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Episode Resources

Rutgers Preparatory School, NJ

Rutgers Preparatory School, NJ

Sharecropping

Sharecropping

StairMaster

StairMaster

Conscious Attentive Leadership Mentoring

After listening, do the following three C.A.L.M. Activities:

1. Take this risk or do this adventurous task: When Cedric mentioned he felt well provided for while growing up in his home, I thought about security, both emotional and financial. He felt secure and protected by his parents in the most vulnerable space, his home, and was well provided for, meaning his needs were met regularly for food, clothing, shelter, love, and belonging.

I thought beyond the home to our businesses. What does security mean in business? Let’s look at security through one lens today, the financial lens. Financial security means being financially and fiscally responsible in providing for and the fulfillment of financial agreements. You know you have financial security in your business when all of your financial agreements are fulfilled, and those you employ or contract with can count on you to keep paying them. This steadiness builds trust and stability.

This week explore the answers to these two questions: 1) What am I doing to create financial security in my business? 2) What am I willing to do to create security around cashflow?

2. Apply Self-Compassion: Stable and steady cashflow in business is challenging to achieve. Acknowledge the effort you are putting in to think about the two questions above. Take a moment to identify the feeling(s) that are present. Breathe gently until the emotion(s) is gone. Jot down the next best step. Then move on to appreciation.

3. Welcome Appreciation: “I appreciate the engaging, motivating, and thoughtful conversation Cedric brought to this episode. I appreciate the curiosity he sparked around security, innovation, and resiliency. I appreciate Cedric, his upbringing, and his lifework connecting physiology and exercise with his coaching and innovative leadership to help people lead healthier lives through movement.”

Your Turn. Start with I appreciate…

“Emotional sickness is avoiding reality at any cost. Emotional health is facing reality at any cost.” – M. SCOTT PECK.

Equip yourself with facts, feelings, and a mentor as you reinvent (or evolve) yourself as you redesign your business. When WeMentor… your life gets better!!! Mentoring WORKS.

Podcast Guest Mentor

Cedric X. Bryant, Ph.D., FACSM, is the President and Chief Science Officer of the American Council on Exercise (ACE). ACE Fitness is a leading nonprofit exercise professional and health coach certification organization. Their goal is to elevate professionals’ careers by setting the highest industry standards. The organization helps people around the globe make their mission movement.

Dr. Bryant develops strategies that deliver exercise-science and behavior-change education in engaging and compelling ways. Over 90,000 people have become exercise professionals and health coaches equipped to evolve their respective fields.

He is on the move, driving innovation in behavior-change programming while overseeing program development that ACE-Certified Professionals® can utilize to help people adopt and sustain healthier lifestyles. Dr. Bryant’s responsibilities include:

Leading ACE’s exploration of how science-based programs and interventions appropriately integrate into healthcare and public health.
Ensuring the scientific accuracy of ACE-commissioned studies, publications, and all other materials that ACE creates.
Representing ACE as a national and international presenter, writer and subject-matter expert, and highly sought-after media spokesperson.
Sharing his expertise by being an active member in the following organizations:
- National Academy of Medicine’s Obesity Solutions Roundtable,
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Active People, Healthy Nation Partner Committee,
- Prescription for Activity Task Force’s Leadership Council and Executive Committee,
- Exercise Is Medicine’s Credentialing Committee, and
- World Health Organization’s Global Action Plan on Physical Activity.

Dr. Bryant’s academic achievements include earning a doctorate in physiology and a master’s degree in exercise science from Pennsylvania State University. He received the Penn State Alumni Recognition, Alumni Fellow, Board of Trustees Distinguished Alumni Awards. The Distinguished Alumni Award is the school’s highest alumni honor given to select alumni who are considered leaders in their professional fields.

Cedric and his wife, Ginger, are avid golfers and proud parents of four physically active young men.