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Ep#66: You Shouldn't Have to Kill to Get Ahead | Christopher Rivers

Season #3

In this episode of the Healthy Leader Expert Forum, Traci Fisher is joined by Chris Rivers, West Point graduate, former Army engineer officer, data scientist, public servant, and author of You Shouldn’t Have to Kill to Get Ahead: Reimagining Wealth, Power and Belonging in America, to explore a question that goes beyond politics: How do we rebuild trust, communicate better, and reconnect as human beings?

After serving in the military, working in diplomacy, and knocking on more than 9,000 doors while running for public office, Chris discovered that the conversations happening face-to-face were often very different from the conversations happening through media and public debate. In this conversation, Chris and Traci explore what it takes to listen with curiosity, move beyond labels, and create healthier conversations in leadership, relationships, and everyday life.

In Today’s Session, You’ll Discover:

  • The 1% Better Approach to Healing: Why meaningful change does not come from a single solution, but from practicing better communication and connection every day.

  • What 9,000 Doors Taught Chris About People: How face-to-face conversations revealed the difference between assumptions about people and the reality of what they actually care about.

  • Trust as a Two-Way Street: Why trust is built through listening, competence, and showing people that their perspectives matter.

  • The Mental Arm Cross: How we unconsciously shut ourselves off from new information, label others too quickly, and what we can do to reopen ourselves to better conversations.

  • Moving From Debate to Connection: Why difficult conversations should not always be about winning, but about understanding, learning, and finding common ground.

  • Creating Space for Curiosity: How asking better questions can help leaders, families, and communities communicate more effectively.

  • Leading Without Having Every Answer: What Chris learned from Afghanistan about the importance of honesty, humility, and continuing to seek understanding.

📘 Chris Rivers’ Book: You Shouldn’t Have to Kill to Get Ahead: Reimagining Wealth, Power and Belonging in America is available now.

🔗 Connect with Chris Rivers:

  • Website: chrisrivers.com

🎧 Listen to the full episode, and consider this: Are your conversations creating more connection, or are they reinforcing the distance between people?

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