Let's talk Transformation : The business leaders podcast

"the biggest challenge of all is the mindset shift...we need to be doing this 'with' people not 'for' people. "

A fun conversation with Jim and David about how to create and lead healthy ecosystems .

What does this mean ? How do you create a system where people and business can flourish ? How can we make sure that we retain our competitive advantage, or should it be collaborative advantage ?

Healthy ecosystems must combine strategy and leadership in an emergent approach to prioritise and maximise resources in order to flourish – we can only solve critical issues in the world and make progress by collaborating.

Is collaborative advantage a better lever for what keeps systems healthy and competitive in today's world and how do we navigate this landscape in terms of strategy and leadership ? We discuss how the measurement of value could be seen through a different lens and what it takes for companies to develop interdependent leadership to allow for a more fluid model of business operations and partner relationships where people and business can flourish.

Jim and David generously share their insights, research and experience on this critical topic for businesses and leaders across the globe.

The main insights you'll get from this episode are :

-       Healthy ecosystems must combine strategy and leadership in an ‘anti-business school approach’ to prioritise and maximise resources in order to flourish – we can only solve critical issues in the world and make progress by collaborating.

-       To create and lead a strategy for sound ecosystems requires a mindset shift from competitive advantage to collaborative advantage – we must find the right partners who contribute in the right way so that we can create something sustainable together.

-       We must think more expansively - organisations must recognise that we are better off if we interact; we have to ask questions and talk to people if we are to be viable, resilient and sustainable.

-       Reimagining the entire value chain means asking: what does success look like for everybody? What does everyone contribute? How is it managed and led? Interdependence is major: not a hub-and-spoke model but concentric circles with a shift to interdependent leadership.

-       TVG (total value generated) asks who the key stakeholders are and how they define value, and measures experience and output objectively; it is about relationships and the value they generate; it identifies ecosystem partners and focuses on their health.

-       Research reveals three crucial factors for successful relationships: reciprocity (best interests at heart on both sides), trust (built slowly over time), and frequency (how often do we interact and is it often enough) - we must change the narrative to measure critical factors for the system as a whole.

-       Flourishing is about holistic human wellbeing (physical, mental, social, spiritual, etc.) and is influenced globally by organisational strategy and public health, which should consider all dimensions to create inclusive systems for healthy ecosystems.

-       Competitive advantage in a healthy ecosystem is measured by looking at every player in the value chain with a unique value proposition that is enhanced by the other players, e.g. sustainability, triple bottom line, both profitable and prosperous.

-       Continued viability: involves the competitive intensity of the local supply chain and the collaborative intensity of capacity; depends on healthy collaborators (in the supply chain); and builds a collaborative infrastructure that leads to increased stability and cost efficiency.

-       In the ‘viability to survivability framework’, collaboration is key to providing different revenue sources and strong relationships as opportunities for growth and innovation – there must be sufficient net resources in the bucket to cover the next outflow.

-       Stability means having adequate dedicated resources; resilience means having multiple ways to achieve inflow/outflow, an expansive business model and flexibility in relationships to bring in the human systems across ecosystems.

-       Scaling relationship maturity means intentionally creating interdependent skillsets; conducting a gradual process to transform relationships by spanning boundaries and leading across them; building respect and trust, creating commonality, disrupting and transforming.

-       Jim and David’s article - Leading Towards A Healthy Ecosystem – looks at how strategies must be implementable and people must be ready; a winning leadership strategy must foster a conscious collaborative culture to guide people through the change process.

-       Know where you’re starting from, what you’re trying to do and what the change will require of people; look for pockets within the organisation that are advanced/behind as it is not a homogeneous process; have small focus groups for diagnostics and enquiry; and bring creativity on the fringe into the core.

Link to article in DLQ : https://developingleadersquarterly.com/leading-towards-a-healthy-ecosystem/

Find out more about Jim and David here :

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-ritchie-dunham-32837/

Institute for Strategic Clarity https://isclarity.org/, The Human Flourishing Program https://hfh.fas.harvard.edu/ and https://centerforworkhealth.sph.harvard.edu/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dinwoodiedavid/?originalSubdomain=es

Barcelona Business School https://www.eada.edu/en/faculty-and-research/departments/strategy-leadership-and-people/david-dinwoodie,

Centre for Creative Leadership https://www.ccl.org/cco.org

"you always have choice - choose to be an agent of change in your life, to build your own castle, to devise your own methods, and to think intentionally about your legacy..."

Rick and I have a fun conversation that takes us through English castles, into manufacturing and lean methodologies and circling back through our inner game as leaders in a Business as UnUsual world.

What do we need to navigate this complex world and motivate our people ? What tools and approaches work for you as a leader ? how do you ensure that you remain an agent of change in creating your future ?

Rick shares his insight and experience as well as the main concepts in his new book on leadership, culture and business in the post COVID world.

The main insights you'll get from this episode are :

-       UnUsual is to be understood as the ‘new normal’ post-pandemic and stems from the author’s belief that everyone has the potential to be an architect of change, a catalyst in an ever-changing world.

-       Eclectic leadership blends various theories, styles and approaches with multiple perspectives from different industries; eclectic leaders are not bound by one model and can adapt to different strategies, demonstrate flexibility, and leverage the strengths of different types of leadership by choosing the most effective tool from a large toolbox.

-       The book uses a castle as a metaphor as it is a structure that everyone can imagine, but differently. The British take of ‘an Englishman’s home is his castle’ stands for home, safety, refuge, strong foundations, nobility, worthiness, honour, respect, legacy, community and impact.

-       The book talks about 8 structures within the castle: the stronghold/inner keep, which has 4 towers that support each other: the tower of purpose (values, legacy, life goals, north star); the tower of life force (how you manage your HERBS – health, energy, rest, balance and stress); the tower of mind (how you show up, habits, behaviours, kaizen); and the tower of self (self-confidence, self-efficacy, self-worth, self-motivation).

-       The dungeon of the castle represents coaching, which often inflicts pain to bring about growth and is about stretching and going beyond our comfort zone, being on the rack – and this requires trust.

-       The bailey is expandable and consists of 3 buildings: the great hall (community, culture, leadership); the stables (looking forward, searching for satisfaction, transforming); and the treasury (finances, income, net worth).

-       The inner keep formula is ‘the know and the go’. The know relates to self-confidence (knowing and trusting in yourself), self-efficacy (believing in your own ability to succeed) and self-worth (believing you are worthy of success and bring value to the world). The go relates to self-motivation, as motivation is the reason humans do things.

-       Kaizen in the tower of the mind is about lifelong learning and a growth mindset. Nothing is perfect so we must embrace never-ending improvement of ourselves and all we do - be curious, ask why and reflect to reconsider, thereby embracing an infinite mindset.

-       Life is about thinking well, feeling well and doing well. Life force is not in endless supply, and it requires a holistic approach to keep the different elements in balance to prevent stress. A good place to start is with tower of life force to find habits to strengthen and improve it.

-       The notion of pivoting in uncertain times requires ‘alternative’ VUCA leadership: overcoming volatility by inspiring Vision; overcoming uncertainty by creating Understanding; overcoming complexity by driving Clarity; and overcoming ambiguity by using Agility. Using different, positive words gives cause to pause and think and provides a good framework for leaders.

-       We are not just participants in the world, but architects shaping its course – we must embrace and define change and transformation starts with you.

Find out more about Rick and his work here : www.rickyvanovich.com

" bringing new digital tech in that genuinely solves a real problem people have is often the easiest part of the change management in digital transformation "

Fun conversation with Adam exploring the challenges and opportunities of scaling digital and scaling transformation in different industries. We delve into the legacy systems, the people legacy systems and the power of creating the model that works for you.

How can we anticipate corporate antibodies to innovation and change ? How can we use the disruptive people already in the organisation with a huge appetite for change and a thorough understanding of the existing system ? What levers do we have and how can we use what digital enables more intentionally ? Innovation can bring people together and overcome fierce tribal rivalries in silos, and digital technology can provide powerful solutions to real problems and minimise disruption through its creative use.

Adam shares his insights and experience from working in technology and transformation in organisations of different sizes across Europe and the US.

The main insights you'll get from this episode are :

-       AI scale-up to transform the rail industry using next-generation digital technologies to retrofit the rail ecosystem and solve difficult technical and change management problems (e.g. maintenance, operation, dealing with failure).

-       As a global necessity, the legacy rail network system and legacy people systems must be reinvented by getting close to the people on the ground (e.g. the engineer responsible for track maintenance) in order to get close to the transformational opportunities.

-       Innovation can bring people together and overcome fierce tribal rivalries in silos - digital technology can provide powerful solutions to real problems and minimise disruption through its creative use.

-       There is often excitement around creative spaces as they are free of accountability and allow free thinking – good solutions create a good culture, but different organisations need different approaches.

-       Transformation requires a team effort in which structures are less rigid, the right mentality is cultivated, and small matters are overcome (e.g. rivalries) in the face of the bigger picture through optimism, accountability and team building.

-       It is important to attract and retain talent and the personal agency and accountability of a small company offers a different working environment as a mission-driven, transformational organisation – personal joy and fulfilment sustains people.

-       KONUS labs are a disruptive, innovation structure that ‘positively contaminate’ but need to be integrated in the company; however rejoining the ‘mother ship’ is often messy and involves the antibodies of two different cultures.

-       Experiments alienate the larger organisation and the innovation team cannot scale the impact of what they do – ‘valley of death’ problem, leading to hostility to the work; transformation and performance must be simultaneous.

-       Digital upskilling for hard skills means learning from the best in order to have an impact on the world and building to scale from the outset - upskilling means fusing different ways of working.

-       Soft skills require more upskilling in the digital era given that the way we work is so different and demands collaboration, agility, learning, unlearning and relearning together with an understanding of the business and the processes (ultimately bringing about culture change).

-       A ‘first time right’ philosophy is often pursued in safety-critical industries but risk and failure are required to produce high-quality products, as is creative resilience.

-       The rail industry of the future requires:

·      a vast ecosystem of data collection technologies to fully outfit the infrastructure for plug-in and data upload to the cloud (stage 1 = innovation, fun technology)

·      a different approach, e.g. predictive failure rather than failure repair, to organising, maintaining, planning and operating a huge network; data will facilitate (global) optimisation (stage 2 = difficult to build technologies that can be scaled before they are fully understood)

·      a solution to the mobility/sustainability challenge - the technology exists and the people must follow suit (stage 3 = painful integration, so it is imperative to get stage 2 right!)

Find out more here :

www.konux.com

https://www.linkedin.com/company/konux/

"Crisis can be the catalyst but not the reason for sustained change ... "

Tim and I explore the nature of change, the link with innovation and the effect of COVID on the workplace. We particularly explore the people side of change and delve into what happens when we look at the re-humanisation of the workplace. What skills are needed ? What place will technology have ? and how will we constantly adjust to continuous change.

Ai brings its own disruption to change management and the speed of change, at 3 different levels of disruption: to jobs, organisations, and industry.

Change success is accessible with and through people, and the future of change management will see more emphasis on the human side of change (most important asset) and intentionally integrating change management and an understanding of the human dimension of change into the strategy and culture of an organisation.

Tim shares his research, insights and experience from working with change and innovation for several decades.

The main insights you'll get from this episode are :

-       The post-COVID era is about the people side of change, with an infusion of humanity into organisations and a re-recognition of the value of each person: the human side is the biggest identified gap between successful and unsuccessful change projects.

-       The aftermath of COVID is impacting organisations, where change is happening, bringing new capabilities, new expectations and new skillsets, which have to be incorporated.

-       According to statistician George E P Box, ‘all models are wrong, but some are useful’ - change management models are continually evolving based on research and there must be curiosity about what moving parts fit together.

-       Leadership is about creating the conditions for change to succeed on both the release level and the initiative level: ADKAR describes the technical side and change management looks at the people side in the pursuit of sustainable change.

-       The future of change management will see more emphasis on the human side of change (most important asset) and integrating change management into the strategy and culture of an organisation.

-       Prosci’s ‘we over me’ is a mindset shift and impact value to manage the human reaction to change - learning is change and change is learning, an extension of the growth mindset, creating learning paths and orientating towards skills/capabilities beyond job descriptions.   

-       Crisis can be the catalyst but not the reason for sustained change - regression occurs as a natural human tendency and there must be true intention to keep innovations in place.

-       Intentionality is required from the top otherwise implementation becomes problematic in practice as sponsors are going through change themselves; a symbiotic relationship is required:

 Sponsor

Have : Influence, authority, resources, long-term view

Don’t have : Time, pulse of people (operational eyes and ears), expertise re human systems

Catalyst

Have : Focus on people, expertise and experience in human systems, tools/methodologies for people

Don’t have : Resources, authority, organisational influence

-       Business as usual and innovation are two (operating) systems involving the same individuals helping an organisation be what they want to be; they should be in alignment with each other to converge with a shared (future) purpose. 

-       The future brings three relationships: between AI and change; AI and change management; and AI and practitioner; and three layers of disruption: to jobs, organisations, and industry.

-       Prosci has an AI tiger team to capitalise on the advantages (better starting points, quicker sense making, bigger sample sizes); generative AI provides ‘moments that matter’ which can be incorporated into work.

-       The re-humanisation of the workplace means that soft skills like collaboration and conversation become more crucial - change is hard and continuous but change success is accessible with and through people.

-       Imperative to start by asking: Why? Why now? What if we don’t? Why this instead of that? in order to create that first spark for people to learn a new skill, embrace a new mindset, or engage in a new technology.

Find out more about Tim and his work here :

www.prosci.com – webinars, tutorials, blogs,

Prosci YouTube channel: @ProsciChangeManagement

https://www.linkedin.com/in/timcreasey/

Sponsor / catalyst symbiotic 2x2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8j9nGv-UAg

Role of Sponsor: https://www.prosci.com/resources/articles/primary-sponsors-role-and-importance  

Future of Work: New capabilities, new expectations, new conditions:https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/organizational-landscape-future-workplaces-conditions-tim-creasey/  

• Aligning change management to pace and cadence of ADKAR:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6tUp6kM-ug
• AI, change, and change management: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/point-view-ai-change-management-tim-creasey/
• Plain language question approach to change management:https://www.prosci.com/blog/using-plain-language-questions-to-enable-more-effective-change  

"Fear : False Evidence Appearing Real... "

How does this dictate the way we talk to ourselves ? What else determines how we show up ? How can we regain confidence in who we are and who we were meant to be ?

Clarissa walks us through her regime for self esteem and how we can manage our habits and mental models to transform the way we feel about ourselves. Is what we think real ? How do we step away from our thoughts and reframe them differently ?

Self-esteem doesn’t discriminate; it is everything you are, everything you think and every relationship you have (including with yourself) and must be worked on continuously. Clarissa's book offers an action plan and tells stories to encourage readers to look in the mirror for a life-changing experience and be their own best advocate.

How can we build a model of sustainable change ? How can we use the 4 pillars of self esteem to constantly re-iterate on what we have learnt ? How can we set ourselves up for success in the future ?

Clarissa shares her stories, insights and approach for building a 'self esteem' muscle for our own good and for the greater good.

The main insights you'll get from this episode are :

-       Self-esteem doesn’t discriminate; it is everything you are, everything you think and every relationship you have (including with yourself) and must be worked on continuously.

-       Personal development is about having the tools in the shed to use when you need them – when the storm strikes, it does not uproot your tree even though you may lose a branch.

-       Self-help (not shelf-help!) is big business because there is a huge need (to feel seen, heard, valued and worthy).

-       The regime is one for action: to get on right path for your life and be the best version of yourself, maybe by taking the HIGH (honesty, integrity, gratitude and honour) road.

-       The book offers an action plan and tells stories to encourage readers to look in the mirror for a life-changing experience and be their own best advocate.

-       It espouses the power of affirmations: being responsible for creating our own purpose, vision mission and goals; for presenting well; for showing up; for acknowledging and improving our imperfections; for working to overcome our fears.

-       Helping people move from ‘encowerment’ to empowerment, to move on, face everything and rise – having a regime keeps you moving forward.

-       4 pillars of self-esteem: look good (outside), feel good (inside – diet exercise, nutrition), be good (relationships, leadership, finances), greater good (volunteering, community).

-       Need 5 new gratitude items every day to drive motivation and inspiration.

-       Recommended actions:

·      catch the negative self-talk

·      drive out the daily demons

·      support and reparent yourself

·      go through the pain

-       You are lucky to be you so love yourself!

Find out more about Clarissa and her work here :

https://www.clarissaburt.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/clarissaburt/

" people are people : they make mistakes, they're social animals - why and when do they cooperate, what do they think is fair and unfair... ?

Frederic and I delve into the world of organisational design and behavioural economics, looking at what type of structures and relationships we need to build more agile, more interconnected and more effective organisations.

Organisational fairness requires voice and choice and we look at how this human need for fairness plays out in more fluid organisational structures. How can we use behavioural economics to help organisations become flatter in structure and understand why & when people cooperate; how they react to fairness & unfairness ? How leaders build trust and how they can incentivise their people in a different structure ?

We also explore the different leadership skills in conjunction with inter-relational fairness and the dynamics of hierarchy: ‘hierarchy-less’ does not exist, but it is more about decision-making structures, procedures, incentives and mindset.

Frederic shares his experience, research, insights and his upcoming programme for executives on building more agile, flexible and interconnected organisations.

The main insights you'll get from this episode are :

-       Using behavioural economics to help organisations become flatter and understand why/when people cooperate; how they react to fairness/unfairness; how they can build trust/trustworthiness; and how they can incentivise their people.

-       The human dimension of digital transformation is not an exact science but feeds into the need for connection - executive education must be about navigating this complex landscape.

-       Executives need to know how to avoid biases and fallacies; understand team dynamics and unfair treatment in the workplace; be aware of quiet quitting and how to create more purpose, trust and the right culture.

-       Flat, Fluid and Flexible looks at inter-relational fairness and the dynamics of hierarchy: ‘hierarchy-less’ does not exist, but it is more about decision-making structures, procedures, incentives and mindset.

-       Dominant hierarchy (boss/subordinates with varying degrees of coercion) is out of place nowadays (e.g. in family life and politics) – we now want participation and democracy; flatness is about non-domination and rendering organisations leaderful not leaderless.

-       Leaders are roles, not people, that are sometimes needed and sometimes not - a mutual, voluntary and temporary authority, giving rise to shared and emergent leadership.

-       Holacracy requires buying into the system of rules wholesale, which in turn requires structure in the system - leaders must understand this structure.

-       Nature offers many examples of how structures adapt to evolve – organisations must dispel the myth that hierarchy is needed for progress and the management of complex procedures.

-       In nature, evolution is leaderless and a collective endeavour; removing a rigid dominance hierarchy permits variation and consent of the masses, which in turn gives rise to the spirit of emergent leadership (e.g. the queen bee in a colony).

-       A good example is the Pando clonal (i.e. self-similar) tree colony – the largest living organism on Earth – which shares roots and is polycentric in structure: highly durable, scalable, cooperative, adaptable and evolutionarily successful.

-       Trust plays a major role in the power dynamics of a flat hierarchy: game theory and the possession of information vs. the ideal of a free society of equals - the moral hazard component increases if there is greater temptation to betray.

-       Flat organisations have less staff turnover and therefore better relationships between colleagues, also thanks to the absence of promotion tournament structures that artificially create rivalry.

-       Skills needed to build flat hierarchies: critical systems thinking; sense-making; awareness of the system and its components; generating motivation for shared purpose (team of peers); upskilling everyone to be allrounders.

-       Employee development is a strength – democratising (access to) skills pays dividends in the form of a highly competent workforce.

-       Leadership skills (conflict management, communication and facilitation) must go hand-in-hand with skills particular to the environment and the sector.

-       Organisational fairness requires voice and choice - liberty is not bestowed from above but is a bottom-up process.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fredericgschneider/

Website: https://fredericgschneider.com/

"we are very very small but we are profoundly capable of very big things..."

Chris and I delve into the power of purpose and being part of something bigger than us, starting with Stephen Hawkins quote that figures on the Very Big Things website. We discuss what drives motivation and the secret sauce to successful innovation and scaling operations in today's competitive digital environment.

We look at how can we find and retain talent in such competitive markets, how can we create a team that works and how we can successfully scale both operations and impact.

How can we make sure that people don't lose sight of their north star and that we are positively impacting society ?

Chris shares his stories, insights and experience of founding and scaling Very Big Things and working with diverse leaders around the globe.

The main insights you'll get from this episode are :

-       Technical innovation and excellence company whose name serves as both inspiration and motivation (from Stephen Hawkins: “We are very very small, but we are profoundly capable of very big things”).

-       There is no limit to growing despite being small and it is a choice to have a profound impact or not, regardless of the size of the company; they have lofty ambitions to be the best at what they do.

-       A VC background elucidates that execution strategies are often the roadblock as building good teams that work well together takes too long (from an investment viewpoint) - Very Big Things provides the tech and fills a gap in the agency market.

-       The aim is to help people bring their vision to life quickly, collaboratively and integratively; the company communicates its purpose to prospective clients/hires to show that product-led transformation and growth is tangible.

-       When scaling, it is important to maintain both a consistent cycle of checking in (re. direction and realignment/recentring), as well as a balance between focus on the mission and the need for profitability.

-       The human experience is very important when building and elevating digital brands; clients are drawn organically to Very Big Things because they want to be special and stand out – the retention of people and clients ultimately saves money and builds deeper relationships.

-       Social impact is important: quality work leads to positive word of mouth and a narrow focus leads to a happy team, happy clients and exceptional work - the route to success must provide value and connect with the human being, offering direct short-term impact as well as large-term gain.

-       The impact of generative AI on the tech world lies in the true power of APIs, beyond chat prompts, whereby internal tech systems talk with the AI instead of employees - having a custom system boosts efficiency drastically.

-       Challenges associated with AI: teams must know how AI will affect them and what the company strategy is so as to remove (largely unfounded) panic. AI is good for inspiration but less good for branding so should be used selectively for certain functions only (e.g. HR).

-       Impact of AI on the talent market: companies will be able to do more with their existing team (by removing the tasks no one wants to do) rather than having to hire new people - a 20% efficiency gain means 20% less cost for clients.

-       Burnout can be due not to work, but to a lack of control and a lack of focus [Chris recommends focussing on no more than 3 big things at once] - if people see impact, they are happy, and it moves companies forward.  

-       Top tips for success: regular time off for self-connection to increase productivity and clarity; listen to people without talking and respond to what they’re saying; do not procrastinate or have regrets – this will not move dreams, hopes and ambitions forward.

Find out more about Chris here : www.verybigthings.com

Instagram: @verybigthings

"Be yourself, everyone else is already taken" 

A great discussion with Hortense, summed up in this quote from Oscar Wilde. Hortense walks us through the journey of alignment and what connecting with your true self can bring to your leadership. Who are you as a leader ? Are you aligned ? How do you manage failure ? 

We discuss not only the gifts of alignment, such as failure and intuition, but also the typical symptoms of misalignment and how to navigate this complex inner journey. The power of alignment in our individual selves and the power of collective alignment must be nurtured to navigate uncertainty, with leadership coming from the inside out - this ‘alignment of alignments’ then cascades down to show direction and give clear messages.

Hortense shares her insight, personal stories, experience and thought leadership on connecting with our true selves and the power of alignment for leadership from working with leaders all over the globe. 

The main insights you'll get from this episode are :

-       A good analogy for the feeling of alignment comes from show jumping – the feeling just before the jump, free to fly, not asking questions, having certainty in the moment; the opposite is misalignment - overreacting, blaming others and being aggressive.

-       We tend to ‘normalise’ negative feelings rather than understand the symptoms of misalignment – we must be aware and careful of how we feel, and ultimately be the same person wherever we are and whatever we do.

-       Wearing different hats at different times only ever represents part of our person, which is not authentic to ourselves or others; we likewise cannot separate ourselves from what happens to us and we should not have to hide from anything.

-       Alignment is a process: the gift of failure provides an opportunity to learn from taking risks to adapt and innovate, and to evolve without being afraid – a good showjumper suffers 100 falls first and it is the same for leadership.

-       We must reframe things positively: our brains are wired to see negativity, but we need positive energy to refuel and focus on what we can change, saving our energy for impactful actions to realign with positivity.

-       Self-limiting beliefs must likewise be reframed: mind traps are a mental obstacle between you and who you want to be. Are you the main protagonist of your movie? Is it your voice? We must give ourselves permission to face the truth, change our mindset and listen to our intuition.

-       ‘The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant’ (Einstein) -education nowadays is disproportionately about rationality but we need both: we must stop and free/empty our minds from other noise/voices, be present and feel emotions. 

-       Communication through stories and metaphors taps into the unconscious mind, helps us find answers and understand a picture, invites interest and is a light-hearted and amusing escape from the rational mind.

-       David Hawkins’ Power vs. Force ranks emotions based on the impact they have on our life – power does not need force: one has heart and one doesn’t, which produces different results. This can also be applied to trust and communication in leadership (forcing something makes it happen but without harmony).

-       Both the power of alignment in our individual selves and the power of collective alignment must be nurtured to navigate uncertainty, with leadership coming from the inside out - this ‘alignment of alignments’ then cascades down to show direction and give clear messages.

-       With our world in transition, we are mid-ocean, and everyone must feel included on the ship: the captain need not give orders, just steer the course, give everyone a voice, listen more and talk less.

-       Alignment is a gift that must be protected in choppy waters: this means having a daily rendezvous with yourself to clarify your purpose and exercise the muscle by reflecting - no blame, just alignment discipline.

-       Remember to be yourself – everyone else is already taken! (Oscar Wilde)

"silence is the mother of all creativity"

Mandar and I have a brilliant conversation where he shares his life philosophy, and his learnings from using breathwork and peace to approach violence differently. Almost a decade ago, Mandar was part of the Shell gamechanger innovation incubator programme and realized that many leaders did not understand that innovation is not just a technical process . Indeed you may need domain knowledge but in addition, innovators also need to develop their mental and social skills to successfully bring their idea to the marketplace. Mere structures, processes, scrum boards and budgets are all necessary but not sufficient to really change the way people think, act and interact. 

People emotionally armour themselves and wear masks, but violence and trauma exist everywhere, and we can never know what people are going through; leaders must invest their time in this and in their people;

Mandar shares his vision, experience, stories and his insights from his programme 'Be the change' to highlight how simply some of these techniques can be adopted, yet how powerful they are also in changing conversations and actions across the globe.

The main insights you'll get from this episode are :

-       Innovation is not just about technology, it also has social, psychological and emotional elements – new ideas are often rejected because the person with influence doesn’t like the person suggesting it, rather than not liking the idea itself.

-       Large companies see the impact of social and environmental degradation on their people and are spurred on to expand innovation/tech programmes to address the interface between society and business, encompassing social and philanthropic innovation.

-       Innovation culture requires a huge ecosystem to bring an idea to the marketplace – everyone can innovate and should feel empowered to bring ideas to the company, regardless of their role (= breaking down silos).

-       This requires personal empowerment and encouraging people in all aspects to create a social impact innovation incubator – if they bring their passions to work, these can be leveraged more broadly to create new value, thereby releasing untapped potential and power.

-       A key moment of truth for large companies is to find a business case for CSR (e.g. what is the significance of sustainable development goals for the business model?) and a financial return to tally with metrics.

-       Vision of Cities for Peace: when we are in the grip of negative emotion, the inability to cope with it gives rise to violence - towards ourselves and others – and leads to anxiety and depression; peace is our very nature, but we must manage things that take us away from it.

-       Most violence is ‘curable’ if it is treated as a public health issue, and we should provide access to mental wellness solutions as early as possible in education systems, as having this knowledge is where peace begins.

-       Ideas are imperfect but we need to allow space for imperfection - leaders must not wait for people to ask for time off but offer/anticipate a wellness ‘time out’ to give people a taste of inner wellbeing/peace.

-       People emotionally armour themselves and wear masks, but violence and trauma exist everywhere, and we can never know what people are going through; leaders must invest their time in this and in their people.

-       They must role model natural ways of wellbeing, show vulnerability and invite people to manage their own wellness, or integrate wellness as part of a learning programme on innovation and leadership training.

-       Safety is huge in the corporate world - if physical aspects demand such attention, why not also mental aspects? The cost of mental illness is likewise huge and warrants investment; the loss of inner wellness manifests also in problems with relationships, yet we must thrive for people around us to thrive.

-       Legacy is an important personal journey and has a social footprint, which may be small but is unique. To be effective, we must be grounded in our own culture and values and create memorable experiences for others - a personal touch distinguishes average leaders from great leaders.

-       Being present is so important for observing change over time, and the part of us that is not changing is observing change – the unchanging aspect of our own existence is our inherent consciousness/presence/energy/witness, and we must nurture it, creating self-awareness.

-       It is important for leaders to be present; to become compassionate; to take quiet time for recalibration; to take an intentional approach; and to be open and intuitive - meditation and consciousness allow more effective healing and create more prosperity, as peace and prosperity go hand in hand.

In episode 5 of the Let’s Talk podcast, host Sally Yates speaks to Sarah Eng - FundApps Regulatory Expert, equal rights advocate and ex-compliance officer.

Learn how diversity can influence investment decisions, why it’s important for decision makers to feel staff pain points, and which area of investment management Sarah thinks is a ‘squishy space’.

And of course, find out what she’d banish to Room 101.