By Suzie Lewis
The podcast currently has 129 episodes available.
"playfulness and adults is very under researched and under utilised in organisations to help people to thrive..."
Elrika and I have a great conversation about the power of play and playfulness in creating workplaces where people and performance can thrive. Light-hearted practices enhance empathy and shared experiences, and despite challenges in remote work, maintaining playfulness is possible in virtual meetings.
Playfulness is often undervalued in adult contexts, yet it’s crucial for brain function, creativity, and performance. We explore the cultural sensitivities around play in the workplace as well as the neuroscientific processes as work. Technology and digital can also be used to leverage play in the workplace and leaders who dare to incorporate playfulness can create more collaborative, creative, and resilient workplaces, and enhance human connection.
Techniques like Lego Serious Play are more than just child’s play; they are strategic tools for inclusion, creativity and balance, even at the highest levels of management.
Elrika shares her research, insights and experience from working with organisations and leaders around the globe on 'how to play' seriously and to enhance the bottom line business results.
The main insights you'll get from this episode are :
- Playfulness in adults is important for thriving although sadly scarce. Research into playfulness and its effect on the brain shows that play is rooted in our brain chemistry, so it is part of all of us but not nurtured in all of us.
- An agile world requires us to consider the whole human and embrace our roots of being playful. One definition of play is the playful onion: play is on the outer layers we can see, playfulness is on the inner layers we can’t see, and the playful centre is where we find compassion, warmth and imagination.
- The LEGO Serious Play approach allows us to learn from each other’s models and gives us time to reflect on the results, which enables introverts and extroverts to play along by creating a safe space and catering for all personality types – it is overarchingly collective but facilitates individual input.
- It builds skills, increases challenge, enables flow and does not assume that leaders have the answers – rather that everyone has the answers. Neurologically, thinking and talking use only the frontal lobe of the brain.
- The hand-brain connection relaxes people enough to listen and be creative and using more of the brain increases divergent thinking. LEGO stimulates multiple processes simultaneously, releasing serotonin (excitement about the process), dopamine (completing the task) and adrenaline (the urgency of the task).
- In a safe environment, it is possible to build something and break it again, enabling us to fail together and building team cohesiveness. Playfulness in the workplace can also address stress and burnout challenges, providing a feeling of safety to experience emotions: ‘If I can laugh with you, I can cry with you’.
- Playfulness creates safety, but safety is required to play – this reciprocity needs respect, clear boundaries, and space for exploration and engagement; it allows us to bring our personalities to work, and be less afraid of who we are, and of imposter syndrome.
- When using play for leaders in organisations with a clear hierarchy, it is important to understand different levels of play and playfulness; sometimes apparently serious people are playful (NOT silly – this is a clear and significant difference).
- The Proyer approach of OLIW – other-directed, light-hearted, intellectual, whimsical – is good for agile leadership and is helpful when it comes to adapting play and playfulness to build leadership and integrate play into busy work life.
- A box of LEGO is not playful per se – it is metaphorical and a comfortable tool for neurodiversity, for example. It is not about the toy, but about the story; the toy is just the vehicle, and a simple approach creates time for things to arise.
- There are national cultural differences vis-à-vis playfulness that can be very culture-specific and delicate, involving power dynamics and offensiveness, for example. There must be simple conversations to define fun, work, and fun at work. Other ways in are mindfulness meditation/relaxation/imagination.
- The language and tools of play are very significant dependent on the culture – they must be appropriate but different from the norm. It is helpful to remember that the opposite of play is depression, not work – without play we shrink and spiral downwards.
- Hybrid working gives no outlet to let off steam – the workplace needs something inclusive that can lift spirits, e.g. Jenga, holding meetings outside, jokes on post-it notes, to find levity and air in the space.
- Although playfulness is innate, people often lack confidence and worry about permission to play - openness to play depends on the leader and the setting. Making the leader the play assistant can reduce resistance.
- There is generally more resistance at the top of an organisation; C-suite with C-suite will play together, but with different levels it is much more difficult - a level playing field is required to foster experiential inclusion.
- The transformative power of playfulness is that it brings people together and builds community. Sharing play is a touchpoint and creates empathy across the ecosystem. In fully remote scenarios, toys can be used on screen (e.g. building LEGO together) as well as technology (AI), for digital to enable human.
- Giving people something tangible for connection and creating a sense of belonging is important in the digital age. This might involve:
· sending team members something in the post
· a timed five-minute magic circle – leaving all worries outside it – to elevate our play levels and be a little uncomfortable and playful outside our comfort zone
· being invited to write ridiculous answers to a question, pushing our brains to think outside the box for a limited time.
Find out more about Elrika and her work here :
https://www.linkedin.com/in/elrika/?originalSubdomain=uk
"Clear beats clever, yet we’re still incentivising clever in organisations… “
A brilliant conversation with Eric about creating the conditions for both performance and people to thrive. We delve into the different parts of this journey to build a culture that enables performance. The acronym LoL—listen, observe, learn— highlights the importance of engaging with employees and clients to understand their challenges beyond financial metrics.
We also discuss the importance of personal interactions, that are vital for building trust, particularly in the digital age. A human-centric strategy and cultural resilience are crucial for navigating crises, and being intentional with our actions to build relationships, communicate effectively and take people with us on this journey is important to building a new way of thinking, acting and being.
We all suffer from complexity bias, and the importance of clarity over complexity has never been more pressing, as we look to lead with empathy, streamline messages and enhance focus.
Eric generously shares his stories, experience and operational tips from his career and from working with leaders across the five generations.
The main insights you'll get from this episode are :
- Starting from a fascination with leadership from an early age, through business school, and working for a company that enabled personal growth resulted in a message of impact to pass on in the form of a book.
- Based on the notion that ‘simple’ plans are not necessarily simplistic to implement, the book offers anecdotes and practical tips for hands-on operationalisation for leaders as the mechanic for the car, and whose people are the vehicle for the journey.
- LOL – listen, observe and learn – as a foundation for strategy to obtain different opinions to give a new view of how best to act, thanks to a diversity of perspective - no one is ever smarter than the room even if they are the smartest person in the room.
- Observing behaviours and action is the simplest definition of culture. Visiting with and talking to people builds trust – a roadmap is not a new idea, but without the human element it is just directions, and leadership must navigate both the path and the people.
- The ‘velvet hammer’ approach refers to the relationship between people and performance – leaders must truly listen, observe and learn, make people feel special, but also give them accountability, balancing head and heart.
- Clear beats clever, despite this not being the paradigm in most organisations. Clarity can be achieved through simplicity to overcome complexity bias - complex does not mean better, and improvement does not mean adding to.
- It is much better to master the basics than trying to be too clever; leaders are overwhelmed with information and excuses are introduced – far better is to avoid the noise and be a ‘distraction catcher’.
- The abc of communication: know when to amplify a message, buffer it, and convey it. To embed this in a culture successfully and sustainably requires feedback, time management, the definition of priorities, and difficult conversations.
- Cultural resilience is about equipping people to have conversations in the workplace and about having an intentional approach to everything e.g. stay interviews. It acts as a shock absorber when bad news strikes, by building a solution mindset.
- A ‘check under the hood’ process allows for the tangible measurement of culture by asking questions, obtaining data, and creating a baseline (for scoring) to provide qualitative and quantitative criteria.
- Six-point inspection - satisfaction, engagement, retention, profit/market share, values, and D&I – can be used to take the pulse of a company and provide a score, and they can be looked at individually or in the round.
- A score is logical and a reflection of execution rather than strategy while culture helps to execute a strategy by making it more tangible (with data) and less ‘fluffy’ (more operational).
- The emotional state of the business is an important indicator of success or failure, but the leadership gap requires behaviours training, generational perspective training, and emotional intelligence training.
- Repeated conversations may hit home on one occasion among thousands, but disbelief can be overcome gradually and lead to celebrating something special that has been created to move forward with.
- There are five factors of employee engagement to improve workplace culture:
· create a strong relationship with the management team
· communicate goals and expectations clearly
· provide the right material, equipment and information for the desired outcome
· encourage personal and professional growth
· and reward top performers.
Find out more about Eric and his work here :
https://www.instagram.com/clearpathventures_/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-stone-clear-path/
"we need to think of conversations as living systems...this mechanistic story is so all pervasive that we don't even recognise it... "
A brilliant conversation with Michelle on creating sustainable conditions for people & living systems to thrive. Michelle offers a refreshing and transformative perspective of thrivability. This concept redefines how communities and businesses operate by viewing them as dynamic, interconnected living systems. We discuss moving beyond the mechanistic approaches and the leadership paradigms that support this, and us embracing a more holistic vision rooted in collaboration, diversity, and shared purpose.
This of course asks for different leadership skills and the intention to create practice grounds where individuals and teams can hone these skills. We delve into the wealth of wisdom in indigenous cultures, and within our selves as we walk through the spiral of conversations as living systems. At each stage we can look at new habits, thinking and feeling. Never have organisations been more in need of cultivating and nourishing the human elements of systems and practition-ing sustainable change to a more inclusive and collaborative way of working.
How can we all channel our personal agency to create cultures where we collaborate and care and not compete and compare ?
How do we create regenerative and intentional practice to build Thrivability and competitive advantage ? A platform for world change..
Listen here to find out more as Michelle generously shares her research, experience and models form working with individuals and organisations all over the globe.
The main insights you'll get from this episode are :
- Brand strategy, international marketing and organisational development are all characterised by a lack of relationships with customers, a lack of purpose, and a fiercely competitive internal culture.
- Research into sustainability involved looking into the notion that everything operates as a machine, separate from each other and nature, and exploring biology to see if the facts of being alive apply to communities and organisations.
- Went on to develop frameworks that have now been in use for over 25 years based on living systems, survival of the fittest, an adaptive capacity for change, a holistic view of systems, and the wisdom of natural living systems.
- The four patterns of thrivability – diversity, nourishment, learning, emergence – have significance for us as individuals and collectively; organisations are seen as separate from us and static, but we must see everything as part of a living, dynamic world.
- Thrivability is an informed intention and practice to enable life to thrive - living and participating enable the setting of an intention whilst being informed enables life to thrive, drawing on indigenous wisdom, intuition, poetry, spirituality, biology, etc.
- Organisations as living systems must invite diversity in relationship and flow, enabling the emergence of a new whole beyond the level of the parts – this shared purpose then acts like a magnet to bring parts together.
- Mechanical systems have no capacity for innovation, healing, regeneration, reaction to change, or spark of life - we are the gardeners who cultivate life, without necessarily knowing what we are growing.
- Collective intelligence is about the integration of diverse parts, moving from ‘compete and compare’ to ‘collaborate and compare’, which is a profound and revolutionary shift in terms of social context.
- The starting point is being aware of the wholeness of the present moment, then relationality, then belonging in relationships, then individuation, etc.; society should integrate all these aspects (cf. Eastern/indigenous traditions).
- We can design for integration by tending to relationships, which produces better results, tapping into the wisdom of the whole to find a deeper level of intention, and holding multiple perspectives for a different collective result.
- Conversations in living systems require constructive, generative, healing exchanges to allow for inspiration and the energy of life to permit thrivability – we must overcome fear and division to navigate diversity and complexity to create a wiser, more peaceful society.
- Participatory processes nourish all gifts during a process, listen to the voice of the whole, and foster engagement to produce a positive end result – a shared vision and purpose remove competition and ultimately offer scope for greater impact on the world.
- Thrivability is based on a ‘spiral’ of core ongoing, iterative practices, with the core defined as being alive, then aspects such as:
· stewardship (reverence and responsibility)
· new ways of doing, being and seeing (e.g. Art of Hosting leadership movement)
· tuning into the intelligence of the system
· discovering new ways of serving
· safe, native action as the next natural step in the system
- The tenets of sociocracy, i.e. look for what is good enough for now and safe enough to try, are a good approach to action, as are new ways of sensing, learning and evolving.
- It is tricky to prove how it will work and measure if it has worked. Peter Block’s book, The Answer to How is Yes, posits that ‘how’ is a defence against action, the barrier we create - there are no guarantees, but we can make it good enough.
- There is value in monitoring it for it to have a (re)generative effect in itself: Who should notice? Who makes sense of the data? Who receives and responds to the data? It creates more capacity (for life) in the system.
- Operationalising the model means practicing regeneration as a foundation for thrivability:
1. Practice and support for new stories and a new language
2. Methods with practical frameworks and tools around convening
3. Clear attention to demonstrating value
4. Community of others for shared learning for nourishment
- This is intended for all changemakers/leaders at any level in the role of steward - ‘developmental evaluation’ allows us to rethink measurement and resource each other so that we are informed, clear on the intention and commit to a life practice of thrivability.
Find out more about Michelle and her work here :
https://www.thrivableworld.com/
"The more cognitive diversity we have in the workplace, the better we will be as organisations if we can manage it effectively"
Jodie and I discuss the shifts that need to happen to create safer and more inlcusive workplaces. Leaders play a pivotal role in nurturing a culture of empathy, understanding, and genuine care. Over and above all, leaders need to know their people and reflect on their behaviours and what they are enabling and hindering in the workplace. Understanding the challenges and opportunities faced by neurodivergent individuals in the workplace, as well as coming from a place of curiosity and care is necessary to cultivate environments where everyone feels safe and valued. Inclusivity isn’t just a moral imperative—it’s a catalyst for creativity, performance and innovation. When organisations embrace diverse ways of thinking, and interact with the reality of the 5 generations who work in there, they can unlock new levels of performance and problem-solving capabilities. It is important to clearly define cultural narratives and what behaviours are required, to own our mistakes and fix them to restore relationships, and to call out bad behaviour.
If you are looking for simple and actionable things that you can do to encourage and create the conditions for a safer and more inclusive workplace, listen to this episode as Jodie generously shares her perspectives, stories and thoughts on this important topic.
The main insights you'll get from this episode are :
-A culture of safety and inclusion are essential for performance: from a
neurodiversity perspective, improvements made for neurodivergent people
benefit everyone, e.g. clearer communication and more flexibility.
- Diversity too improves organisational performance, but people are often
overwhelmed by the subject so that no real action is taken. Unfortunately,
direction, guidance and outcomes tend to supersede interpersonal
connections.
- Conscious conversations are required to delve into what people need, and
then resource the skills required to react and respond to needs: ‘fix, deliver,
advise’ should give way to space to listen, be heard and be comfortable with
discomfort.
- The post-covid backlash against the dialogue around mental health leaves us
asking how we equip people to talk about it - this is based on empathy as well
as cultures of care, which mean different things to different people.
- Leaders must know their people in order to support them and help them
thrive; they must reflect, have an adaptable mindset for inclusivity and role
model a different approach, connecting with people 1:1 and building a
relationship.
- Team away days provide the opportunity to talk about something other than
work, build trust on an individual level and thereby create more psychological
safety at a team level.
- Flexible working (post-covid) reinforces the narrative that women can have/do
it all – yet nothing can increase the amount of time available and only a strong
support network can facilitate this.
- The only option to flexible working is often not working at all, and people will
seek out flexibility because getting the right balance at home has an impact
on professional relationships too (ripple/cascade effect).
- Five generations in the workplace now is very beneficial in terms of cognitive
diversity, cross-mentoring, etc. - progress depends on a growth mindset and a
willingness to see others’ point of view.
- Humble leaders with strong people skills who are up to date with the latest
thinking, work on their own unconscious bias and build a strong foundation of
understanding the well-being of their people can be transformational.
- Trying to get people to ‘fit in’ is better replaced by a recruitment strategy that
is aligned around the desired culture; conflict means that people are thinking
differently and providing opportunities to learn and grow.
- It is important to clearly define cultural narratives and what behaviours are
required, to own our mistakes and fix them to restore relationships, and to call
out bad behaviour.
Find out more about Jodie here :
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodie-jarvis/?originalSubdomain=uk
"The path that leads to success is the path where you dare to take on those challenges and question yourself"
A fabulous conversation with karl about crafting our own path in the age of technology. How can we use what technology brings to leaders as individuals and to the workplace ?
Many of us fall into autopilot mode, driven by societal pressures, especially in large organizations, and we discuss work being defined by life experiences rather than the other way around.
Amidst rapid AI advancements, human resistance to change is natural—our survival instincts kick in - but instead of merely managing technological changes, we should embrace them. There is a lack of AI expertise among many leaders and we need to help foster a culture of learning and risk-taking, moving away from traditional education to collaborative learning. This shift promotes inclusive conversations and empathy, crucial elements in a world increasingly influenced by AI. AI should enhance decision-making, not replace human judgment.
Karl shares his stories, experience and insights from setting up his innovation factory and working with leaders and youth all across the globe.
The main insights you'll get from this episode are :
- Innovation requires an atypical mindset and not accepting the norm – there are always alternatives, which can be more challenging but also more rewarding; taking a ‘detour’ prevents autopilot and keeps the brain active.
- We have evolved over millennia to follow the norm in order to save energy, avoid risk and survive; it takes a long time to change mental models, particularly compared to the exponential speed of tech and, more recently, (generative) AI.
- Boundaries and limitations have been removed to make way for AI, but this involves bypassing safety features. What does that mean for humans? We like to feel in control, although we don’t always fully understand the technology.
- There are inherent problems and risks, and the challenge of AI in business is how it will be managed from a legal standpoint; companies should try out new technology on mock data first, then use AI to make the solution more efficient.
- We must let AI strategies emerge using synthetic data to then make decisions about which AI-enabled tools will be most beneficial - leaders often do not understand enough about AI and should work closely with those who do.
- Leaders must be comfortable with not knowing and feel free to ask ‘stupid’ questions on a development journey – the teacher/student approach doesn’t work with AI as everyone must play around with it together to find answers.
- The hierarchy of leadership will be partly managed by AI (algorithms), i.e. an AI decision support engine, that will redefine boundaries; AI will treat us as humans if we treat it as human.
- The ‘innovation factory’ initiative is about learning from other entrepreneurs and inventors, and pushing boundaries - cultures can prevent progress and all ideas should be welcome to ‘fail forward’ and add knowledge.
- Aimed mostly at universities, it goes from no idea, to defining, questioning and pressure-testing an idea in order to reshape and repurpose it, and to develop microproducts along the way (in contrast to an accelerator).
- Today’s regenerative approach can involve ‘AI for good’, giving us options for us to then make the decisions, e.g. how can AI prevent war? We can instruct an AI solution to help us do good.
- We still have agency over the technology but will be an AI-enabled society by 2030: AI will help us become more human and less robotic (e.g. robots working in windowless warehouses).
- When we move too fast, we crash; the current rate of change is very fast and we must be able to mitigate the crash, e.g. reducing our dependency on big tech providers by using multiple power sources, platforms and providers.
- Constantly collecting data to train models means that we lose sight of threats, such as a virus manipulating us and the data; we must try to guard against these by trusting our (human) intuition and impulses.
- We can all become ‘micromentors’ to either support someone else or ask for support from someone else - guided conversations are productive and helpful; an education system based on rights and wrongs does not reflect or serve the society in which we live.
Find out more about Karl and his work here :
https://www.karllillrud.com/
https://www.instagram.com/keynotekarl/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/karllillrud/?locale=sv_SE
"AI job automation is gaining more and more ground, but emotional intelligence currently remains irreplaceable by AI."
Vladimer and I discuss insights and strategy around digital transformation, marketing and the importance of personal brand in the digital age. The digital revolution has fundamentally altered how companies operate and engage with their audiences. and our discussion sheds light on the pivotal role of digital marketing and innovation in this transformation. With a strong emphasis on personal branding and direct consumer engagement, we discuss how the power has shifted from traditional media to individuals who master social media.
We also dive deep into the importance of active learning, curiosity, and collaboration as well as analytical thinking. AI knowledge, leadership, resilience, and empathy are key factors that will drive success & keep us competitive in the digital age.
As digital transformation continues to reshape the business landscape, Vladimer offers valuable advice for individuals and companies aiming to thrive. His emphasis on personal branding, consumer engagement, and adaptability provides a clear path to success in navigating the complexities of the digital world.
The main insights you will get from this episode are :
- International experience in the tech industry mentoring companies and entrepreneurs to help them remain relevant in the digital world - power has shifted dramatically with social media from big corporations to human beings.
- Social media gives consumers a voice and a reaction for the first time in the history of marketing and communication and stops brands interrupting while open-minded entrepreneurs communicate openly with clients (e.g. Elon Musk).
- Personal branding is everything in the streaming economy and is at the heart of competitive advantage - large organisations must rise to this challenge by becoming consumer-centric, not boardroom-centric.
- In the new world order, David surpasses Goliath with speed, agility, lifelong learning, open-mindedness and open communication – the market decides what is good these days (cf. Spotify, Airbnb, etc. who solve consumers’ problems).
- Traditional, tried-and-tested (marketing) strategies no longer work; companies must build a great customer experience, reinvent themselves, be experimental/ inventive, think long-term and listen to their consumers (‘listening businesses’).
- Authenticity and openness are paramount, and content drives business. AI will lower operational costs and replace large chunks of the global workforce by 2030 - the only sustainable option in the digital age is to build a personal brand.
- Personal brands are built through storytelling, gratitude, consistency, passion, openness, curiosity, communication and transparency – they must educate consumers, become the best publishers of information, and build not sell.
- AI will generate followers/influencers and disrupt jobs – this requires organisations to undergo a huge mindset shift towards permanent reinvention and being proactive as opposed to reactive.
- WEF skills for the future include self-efficacy, working with others, analytical thinking, creative thinking, leadership, social influence, resilience, flexibility, agility, empathy and active listening.
- Great content can be created and then spread across different platforms to billions of social media users with very few resources and at no cost (iPhone, YouTube, etc.).
- We can become unicorns through blogging and gaining momentum through consistent hard work - forward-thinkers push us on and provide the right surroundings to succeed.
- AI is the bloodline of the contemporary business landscape and offers great tools, e.g. Midjourney for web design and graphic media; Mixo for building websites without coding; Descript for video generation; Grammarly for text.
- AI will automate tasks, analyse data, improve CX, reduce costs and boost productivity; businesses will increase their use of AI and signal a new era of digitalisation.
- An emotional connection to the world cannot be replaced by AI, which gives us an advantage – we must focus on patience, flexibility, attention to detail, and leadership.
- AI can improve business efficiency and will create (AI) influencers – to stay relevant, brands should showcase their authenticity and personality and use AI (hyper)personalisation to drive growth and optimise their workforce.
- To succeed we must start small, build gradually, be patient, and provide value to create content; active daily learning moves us forward as we live through the biggest culture shift of all time – there are 30+ social media channels, so choose wisely and select a few to use well!
Find out more about Vladimer and his work here :
https://www.vladimerbotsvadze.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vladimerbotsvadze/recent-activity/all/
https://www.instagram.com/vladimerbotsvadze/
@VladoBotsvadze (X/Twitter)
"Everybody, essentially, deep down on a personal level, wants the same thing.”
A brilliant and humbling conversation with John Marks where we delve into the power of social entrepreneurship as a transformative force that blends positive change with financial sustainability. We look at the 11 principles John has taken from his work in international conflict resolution and what it means to fully empower yourself and others and embrace adaptive leadership.
We discuss the need to decrease the defensive, reactive tendencies we have, regulate our emotions, and add intentionality in order to be more effective adaptive leaders - eventually it must come naturally. We discuss various initiatives, such as improving U.S.-Iran relations through “wrestling diplomacy,” and reflect on John’s own transition from opposition-focused activism to collaboration-centered leadership, promoting a “win-win” approach. It is important to be defined not by what you are against but what you are working for – this paradigm shift can be transformative for people as leaders and as individuals.
We look at the challenges of collaborative problem-solving at different scales, the consistent principles of mediation, and the importance of active listening and mediation in leadership and other insights to improve business culture.
John generously shares insights and stories from his wealth of knowledge and wisdom from working with international actors and conflicts across the globe. If you are passionate about creating positive change in the world but unsure how to balance your ideals with financial sustainability listen here to the rest of this episode which unpacks the rich insights from his transformative book, “From Vision to Action: Remaking the World Through Social Entrepreneurship.”
The main insights you'll get from this episode are :
- Vision is to create a more peaceful world and deal with conflict peacefully; applied visionaries use the ideas of mediation to resolve problems and set up processes to deal with problems.
- Social entrepreneurship is a means to try and make the world a better place for someone with the skills to launch an initiative and make it happen, beyond themselves, without financial gain as the primary goal.
- Having purpose can find resources for and with us, e.g. the SFCG mantra is to understand differences and act on commonalities, i.e. find ways for people to agree, starting with what is possible, and building trust during the process to resolve the conflict.
- An inclusive approach is based on everyone essentially wanting the same thing and commonalities can be used to bring people together, e.g. sport – building teams, both sides being ready and willing.
- Example of ‘wrestling diplomacy’ [when the US wrestling team visited Iran] gained press coverage and provided leverage for further signalling at a political level – different motivations for different parties but all benefited.
- It is important to be defined not by what you are against but what you are working for – this paradigm shift can be transformative for people as leaders and as individuals.
- ‘Yesable propositions’ offer win-wins that make you more attractive to others; it doesn’t mean getting everything you want, rather the maximum you can get, and the same for the other side.
- Essential mediation skills are paired with the skills to put together the process, and generally require two different people with two different skillsets; difference should be used as a positive lever.
- The goal is collaborative problem-solving across all manner of boundaries - the more people are involved in a conflict, the harder it is to resolve, and it is tricky to achieve the scale of reaching multitudes of people.
- Soap operas for social change aim to represent the diversity of society; they are based on common ground and as such can change attitudes through repetition, familiarity and relatability.
- Napoleon’s ‘on s’engage et puis on voit’ approach involves trusting the process and letting things unfold – many of the best ideas come from what has already happened: adaptive management is a good approach for social entrepreneurs.
- 80% of work is about showing up, and operational work is important for leaders to keep them grounded. Persistence is required to deeply engage in a project; capitalise on people’s energy; gain credibility; and scale a trust base.
- Often easier to implement in social enterprise than in business (profit is not the ultimate end) – conflict resolution in business is implicit rather than explicit, e.g. the ‘track 2 process’ charts the unofficial, parallel things that go on.
- Patience is required for long-term projects; also helpful is the aikido strategy of not reacting adversarially, but rather diverting the opponent’s energy for the benefit of both parties.
- We need to decrease the defensive, reactive tendencies we have, regulate our emotions, and add intentionality in order to be more effective adaptive leaders - eventually it must come naturally.
- ‘Yesable propositions’ must understand the audience, accept them for what they are and work with them to try to find a workaround; when you can’t change the situation that exists, acceptance is the only option (cf. Zen).
- Most transformative accomplishment is to prove what is possible: start something, engage with it, stay with the vision, and do something that makes your heart sing.
Find out more about John and his work here :
https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-marks-36a3569/
"Its the story not the tech that is the bridge between whether an idea gets funded and gets to market ."
A fun conversation with Susan about the power of stories for the human brain. We delve into the eclectic journey that she travelled to link storytelling and innovation. The human need for connection is ever present, particularly in a digitally connected world. Human connection is about having empathy and understanding others’ situations – essential for innovation & effective collaboration, which requires behaviour change.
The role of stories in creating followers and convincing people is as old as time, and people don’t change much; the prophets moved the word around the world, making them the greatest viral marketers of all time. There is so much power in stories, especially the ones we tell ourselves, which are instrumental in helping or hindering both innovation and collaboration..
We discuss all this and lots more as Susan shares her insights, stories and experiences from working with people & leaders all around the globe .
The main insights you'll get from this episode are :
- The common trait for innovation is an insatiable curiosity – innovators are constantly asking questions, talking and telling stories with a desire to tell other people.
- The human need for connection is about having empathy and understanding others’ situations – essential for innovation, which requires behaviour change.
- The advent of the Internet made it clear that the story was the bridge between new tech/ideas and how to get people to change their behaviour around interacting with the technologies.
- A ‘tech translator’ needs to use plain language to tell a relatable story that matters to the readers, and CIOs need to take the same approach; they must become storytellers themselves to get the funding/recognition they deserve.
- The role of stories in creating followers and convincing people is as old as time, and people don’t change much; the prophets moved the word around the world, making them the greatest viral marketers of all time.
- How did they succeed in selling an idea that wasn’t visible to our human minds, and persuading us to continue sharing their stories long after their death?
1. They relied on a shared history and looked for common ground (orthodoxy vs. progressivism); evidenced by similar calendars/rituals across religions.
2. Their basis was in core values; behaviour change requires new, worthwhile values to replace old ones that are no longer sufficient.
3. Their message was memorable; an innovative message requires momentum for other people to adopt it - stories create both memory and momentum.
4. They got other people to tell it; identify early adopters who will absorb the message and amplify it, pre-programming others to share it.
5. The made good use of language; rallying cries ground people to the mission of change.
- There will always be doubt, even among early adopters, and impactful communication varies among national cultures – we must be clear about the cultural values in the tribe we are currently in.
- Empathy mapping asks what matters to the listener: What does my listener need to hear to say yes? What is the pain of saying yes? How do I tell a story that mitigates risk? What is the gain for my listener? [think, feel, do, say]
- Corporate athletes must become amazing listeners before they can become good storytellers by asking their teams for the context before the content; practicing telling the story; and adapting it to other cultures.
- According to McKinsey, storytelling is one of the top 40 skillsets every executive must have in order to be able to explain and ask for money - pitching is now part of the innovator’s job description as a result of the startup culture.
- Intrapreneurship programs are aimed at avoiding messy M&As and scientists must become intrapreneurs who budget for the breakthrough.
- Communication science is not valued enough; many technologies are generated by the spoken word, as opposed to the written word, and it is a good thing to create shortcuts and make life easier, but without losing authenticity.
- The bigger quest is to ensure that no innovation is lost due to not having a story to help the listener understand it better or because their value was not understood - changemakers need help and tools to tell their story.
- Behaviour change also involves understanding how stories can bring about huge change (e.g. at the ballot box), but it starts with the story we tell ourselves, which is often the hardest one to stomach.
- Communities in a digital world should approach behavioural change/innovation with empathetic listening and appreciative enquiry: What is working now? Where is the good? This is the starting point.
- Shared history is often painful, but there is strength in that - we connect over trauma rather than triumph, and building communities is a way to innovate (even though it can feel unfamiliar).
- The story of innovation is that developments are now faster and more intuitive; the lean methodology and short innovation sprints make us more supple and flexible and able to look at the learnings from failure.
- Can we listen even more to our past, present and future, and to those around us? Stories are 22 times more memorable than facts: What do I want people to remember? What do I need them to do? What emotion do they need to feel to take action? What do I need them to say and do?
Find out more about Susan and her work here :
https://innovationstorytellers.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanjlindner/
"At the heart of it is finding and speaking with your own voice..."
Nausheen shares her journey from corporate to public speaking coach, and highlights the interplay between confidence and fear, advocating for positive self-talk and learning from failure, illustrated by her personal story and experiences. Finding and speaking with your own true voice is very unusual - particularly in women – and many people are self-silencing or silenced by others. Helping them involves addressing mindset, message, and delivery (in that order).
We delve into the importance of effective communication tools and different approaches, and the importance of finding one’s voice, establishing a personal brand, active listening, overcoming self-doubt, and intentional message sharing to attract audiences and achieve success. It is never too early to start telling your story – being more public and vocal is a good way to build a business, build your confidence and attract people. Breaking away from the conventional path can be a transformative experience – not always easy, but it grants a great sense of autonomy by creating a new identity, building creative resilience and showing ourselves and others that reinvention is possible.
Nausheen generously shares her stories, experience and insights from working with senior leaders across the globe.
The main insights you'll get from this episode are :
- A varied career path and eclectic entrepreneurial adventure led to the realisation that anyone should be able to give their best performance in front of a camera; coaching executives is very fulfilling and aligns with her own passions.
- Finding and speaking with your own true voice is very unusual - particularly in women – and many people are self-silencing or silenced by others. Helping them involves addressing mindset, message, and delivery (in that order).
- It is possible to fake confidence but not advisable, as the performative aspect allows the projection of confidence without feeling it; in the absence of confidence, we must create a virtuous cycle by proving to ourselves we can do it.
- This requires the right tools and debriefing after speaking commitments to learn lessons for the future and filter knowledge of the subject into understandable messages that will be remembered, not minimising good content with poor delivery.
- The approach depends on the individual: introverts who are shy, hate the spotlight, and perform sub optimally require lots of mindset work; confident, ambitious people who develop very specific patterns of speaking and presenting and perform sub optimally require lots of work on message and delivery.
- Fear and confidence can coexist, but fear must not get in the way of performance - we take action to overcome the fear: people feel scared, do the scary thing and this action creates the virtuous cycle to feed the next scary thing.
- Confident people talk to themselves and impact their future action positively by taking accountability for doing well (sense of control); insecure people blame themselves and do not let wins positively affect their confidence (removes agency).
- Scary things are the worthwhile things; we must reframe what fear brings in a creative way and do away with negative self-talk, recognising that failure is part of progress.
- Building a practice to reframe failure means learning from experience and taking action to prevent failure, e.g. recognising red flags in behaviour and being a better listener to receive information with judgement.
- It is never too early to start telling your story – being more public and vocal is a good way to build a business and attract people.
- Breaking away from the conventional path is a transformative experience – very difficult, but it grants a great sense of autonomy by creating a new identity, proving resilience and showing that reinvention is possible.
- Know what you stand for and intentionally look for opportunities to broadcast your message: do new things to find your voice and spread a worthwhile message impactfully – a conviction of success will see doors opening through which you can then walk.
Find out more about Nausheen and her work here :
https://www.speaking.coach/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nausheenichen/?locale=fr_FR
"I really value peer learning, thats where it all happens.. that's how culture spreads in your organisation"
A fun and insightful conversation with Michelle about the future of learning and the importance of creating impactful and interactive learning experiences.
Lifelong learning is essential in today's complex world and we need to understand what this means for us as leaders, and how we can equip organisations to create a sustainable learning culture. We delve into the dynamic shift towards digital and social learning environments in the workplace, and what that means for the concept of power and for practitioning - for the way we think, act and interact on a daily basis.
The challenge for leaders trying to pioneer a culture of learning is the ability to be vulnerable and demonstrate their own learning. Learning is currently not a KPI so is not ‘popular’ as such - in fact, it is one of the first budgets to be cut when organisations need to tighten their belt, yet it is part of what will maintain competitive advantage.. We need to understand how to embrace the new learning paradigm, tools and approaches and how to create the conditions for a culture of learning to become the norm. Only then can we expect innovation, business results and well being to happen at scale..
Michelle generously shares her stories, experience and research from working with academics and leaders around the globe.
The main insights you'll get from this episode are :
- A strategic practitioner and leader who values peer learning and is satisfying demand for how to do learning differently and apply it practically.
- Learning has evolved hugely, not least digitally thanks to Covid - digital learning has moved from e-learning to a much more interactive form to demonstrate that it works, and we can do things differently and better.
- The communication tool of Zoom became a learning tool as it transcended geographical boundaries, and we all had to immerse ourselves in a new environment - Covid provided a skills uplift / new skillset.
- Digital body language is important to read a room online - this is difficult for face-to-face practitioners, such as teachers, but has revolutionised coaching, for example.
- Teachers need training (‘lift and shift’, e.g. with generative AI) and the current exam system does not teach for future skills – the education system needs to look at the future of work.
- There is resistance to genAI as people worry about their jobs but its accessibility can be amplified by digital - face-to-face plus closed captions, personalisation, additional support and linguistic tools all make learning more inclusive.
- The challenge for leaders trying to pioneer a culture of learning is the ability to be vulnerable and demonstrate their own learning; learning is currently not a KPI so is not ‘popular’.
- Reverse mentoring, whereby a less experienced person mentors a more experienced person in any given setting, is useful as a means to show vulnerability and demonstrate how productive it can be.
- Openly talking about learning as a two-way process involving self-awareness and humility should be the norm, and everyone should have a learning KPI, e.g. 10% - this learning can also be from mistakes that are then spoken about.
- Good leaders are humble, curious and require both people skills and technical skills – flatter structures promote not only technical brilliance, but also take into account the softer people skills.
- Those on the edges are always looking for new ways of doing things, questioning and sense-making but transferring old-school thinking into a flat organisation does not work as personal agency and collective objectives are less clear.
- Schools are teaching skills for flat organisations, i.e. discernment, critical thinking, an understanding of cause and effect, but hierarchical organisations do not need them and young people are being ‘squashed’ by the system.
- Thanks to digital, younger people think more in systems terms, which is very useful for DE&I, for example - people must understand that they are both the problem and the solution.
- Making things personal helps them understand how they are relevant, where they are in the system and where their organisation sits in the bigger system/ society/ world.
- The triple bottom line with a people first approach eases friction and profit follows as culture, learning and organisations don’t exist without people - like sustainability, learning needs to be a buzzword to enable people to transform.
- The focus must be on people and making life real, unlike traditional management theory, which separates personal and work life, leading to a huge impact on mental health, the planet, etc.
- Digital does not equal environmentally friendly – we must question everything, change our habits and have the discipline to think and act differently, both individually and collectively, to change the system one habit at a time.
- Transformation and the opportunity to create new habits needs the permission, environment, culture, space and ultimately leadership to do so [cf. Learning Habits by Sarah Nicholl; Designing Accessible Learning Content by Susi Miller; Nancy Kline’s ‘thinking environment’].
- Vision for the future of learning: * eco-learning and working; * learning that embraces sustainability and openness; * collaboration with high-quality conversations and different models for leadership learning.
- Context is everything and must be understood, and you must also be fluent in the language of your business - dig for evidence, answer questions and find the model that works.
Find out more about Michelle and her work here :
https://www.kairosmodernlearning.co.uk/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelleparryslater/
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