Leading Conversations

Cheryl Esposito welcomes Michael Toms CEO and co-founder of New Dimensions Radio and the New Dimensions World Broadcasting Network. For more than a quarter century, Michael has been engaging in dialogue with the world's leading-edge thinkers, social architects, creative artists, scientists and spiritual teachers. Called the Socrates of radio, he is acknowledged by guests and listeners alike as one of the premier interviewers in media today. His legendary dialogues have helped to bring innovative ideas into the mainstream culture. Michael is an accomplished writer, seminar leader, communications, marketing, fundraising consultant and master dialogue coach. One of his most successful books, An Open Life: Joseph Campbell in Conversation with Michael Toms is nationally acclaimed. We turn the table and ask Michael the questions, exploring his journey in making a difference through media, past, present and future. Join the conversation!

Cheryl Esposito welcomes Peter Senge, PhD., a Senior Lecturer at MIT, & founding chair of the Society for Organizational Learning (SOL). He is author of many books including The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization; Presence: Human Purpose & the Field of the Future; and Necessary Revolution: How Individuals & Organizations are Working Together to Create a Sustainable World. As a systems thinker, Peter sees the world as a plethora of possibility for collaboration and co-creation. He sees deep connection to self and to nature as key to successful and sustainable organizations that make a difference to our future. How do we do this in a world that values short-term results and immediate gratification? A world where we are told to leave our emotions outside of work and focus on killing the competition? Join Cheryl Esposito & Dr. Peter Senge as they explore leadership and the field of the future!

Cheryl Esposito welcomes Alan Briskin, an award-winning author, a pioneer in the field of organizational learning, and cofounder of the Collective Wisdom Initiative. His books include The Stirring of Soul in the Workplace, Daily Miracles and Bringing Your Soul to Work: An Everyday Practice. His new book is The Power of Collective Wisdom: And the Trap of Collective Folly is based on nine years of research by him and three coauthors working in concert over time. His work with groups and collectives extends back to the early 1970s, when he was part of an international community in Israel founded on the principles of the communal kibbutz. His interest in alternative educational settings continued for over ten years when he was the principal consultant to the George Lucas Educational Foundation.

Cheryl Esposito welcomes Peter Block award winning author, thought leader, and consultant to corporate, government, and community organizations in the realm of empowerment, stewardship, chosen accountability, & the reconciliation of community. Peter’s many books include The Answer to How Is Yes: Acting on What Matters, the 2002 Independent Book Publisher Business Breakthrough Book of the Year; and his most recent, Community: The Structure of Belonging. Peter suggests that our major challenge in moving toward a relevant future is to focus on what we can create, rather than what problems we can solve. Instead, he observes, Nothing new gets created by better problem solving or by focusing on low-hanging fruit. No matter how sophisticated we are as a learning organization, if our conversations are limited to measurable outcomes, we are simply getting better at a system, not creating a new future.” Want to know how to do this? Just say yes and join Cheryl & Peter in the conversation!

Cheryl Esposito welcomes Gary Hirshberg, Chairman, President, & CE-Yo of Stonyfield Farm, the world’s leading organic yogurt producer & author of Stirring It Up: How to Make Money and Save the World. Since 1983, Gary has overseen Stonyfield’s phenomenal growth, from its infancy as a seven-cow organic farming school to its current $366 million in annual sales. Consistently producing great-tasting products, using innovative marketing techniques that blend the company’s social, environmental, & financial missions, Stonyfield’s annual growth rate has been over 23% for more than 18 years. Gary is more than passionate about this “new” economic model, and shows us how profitable it is with his own company. “If we can make radical changes in how we think about our relationship to nature & economic growth, we will see restored, vibrant ecosystems & healthy, prosperous farmers, cows, consumers, employees, investors & future children.” Join Cheryl Esposito & Gary Hirshberg as they stir things up

Cheryl Esposito welcomes Stephen M. R. Covey & Greg Link, co-authors of Smart Trust: Creating Prosperity, Energy, & Joy in a Low-Trust World. The first job of a leader is to inspire trust, and the second is to extend it. So say Covey & Link. In Smart Trust, they tell us that a powerful, global renaissance of trust has begun. Sparked by recent world events, business ethics, and transparency enabled by the internet, this call for a renaissance of high trust leadership is reverberating around the globe. Smart Trust is judgment. It’s a competency and a process that enables us to operate with high trust in a low-trust world. It minimizes risk & maximizes possibilities. It optimizes two key factors: (1) a propensity to trust and (2) analysis. Simply put, Smart Trust is how to trust in a low-trust world. Join Cheryl Esposito & Stephen M.R. Covey & Greg Link to learn what you can do now to build Smart Trust!

Cheryl Esposito welcomes Ed Wallace, founder & Chief Relationship Officer of The Relational Capital Group, & author of Business Relationships That Last: Five Steps To Transform Contacts into High Performing Relationships. Today’s business leaders face incredible challenges with the movement toward more collaborative management structures & the urgency of work due to the pace of technology. Business relationships have suffered, often reduced to short-term transactions between Blackberries, not people! One survey showed 88% of executives agree outstanding relationships are the key to business success. Does your business plan include strategies to advance these relationships? Join us as Ed shares his approach for “building relational” capital - the distinctive value created by people in a business relationship.

Cheryl Esposito welcomes John Montgomery, a Silicon Valley corporate attorney, entrepreneur, executive coach & author. John works with high potential entrepreneurs to turn their concepts into companies. His book, Great from the Start: How Conscious Corporations Attract Success combines the best of Silicon Valley business practices & corporate law with principles from other disciplines, including neuroscience & psychology. This prepares entrepreneurs for success in the emerging paradigm where corporations exist to optimize good and profit. What inspired the creation of this approach? John & his partners at Montgomery & Hansen wished to take Integrity, Respect, Quality, Teamwork, & Community Service, and make these values the cornerstone of every decision, relationship, & interaction. Not what you expected of a successful law firm? Join Cheryl Esposito & John Montgomery to learn how one law firm found its heart & consciousness, and inspired its employees and clients in the process.

Cheryl Esposito welcomes Darcy Winslow, Founder of Designs for a Sustainable World Collective. She is a pioneer and practitioner of sustainability frameworks and principles, advising people and projects around the globe. Darcy Winslow says we need leaders now who can help companies and communities envision a different future. How can current leaders understand more deeply their responsibility to the sustainability of our species? Understand that choices we make not only have impact today, the impact can be multi-generational – positively or negatively? It is up to us…to make change, to create new business practices, to shape leaders of the future to be able to meet the challenges of a new day. Join Cheryl & Darcy as they explore Reinventing Business As Usual.

Cheryl Esposito welcomes Jane Horan, founder of the Horan Group and an expert in organization development & building inclusive and engaged work environments. Jane’s recent book, I Wish I’d Known That Earlier In My Career: The Power of Positive Workplace Politics is a must read for anyone working in or with organizations. Do you believe that you can avoid the politics of your workplace? Jane says “no way.” Politics are a given, and they can be positive as well as negative. She says that the key is to understand the essentials of organizational dynamics, power networks, and the decision-making processes and dilemmas involved in business. Are you savvy enough to see politics as a positive role in your career success? Join Cheryl Esposito and Jane Horan to learn the power of positive workplace politics.