Strategy Sphere

Threading together his ideas on running a first-in-class legal department during a time of disruption, Pierre Gentin, Global General Counsel at McKinsey & Company, enlightens us through his great storytelling. Gentin covers the three elements he believes are vital to operating a well-run legal department: organizing the right structure, empowering talent to grow, and having great clarity of the function and its objectives. He also shares how he has been influenced by philosophy and music, and discusses growing up in South Africa. Gentin explains how small, precious moments in life may provide us with lessons that impact us in the largest way. Download the episode to learn more about Gentin’s insights and experiences — and to hear him play guitar! 

David Lubars is Chief Creative Officer of BBDO Worldwide and Chairman of BBDO North America, an advertising agency often called the most creative on the planet. As new forms of communication and technology continue to emerge — from TikTok to augmented reality — the opportunities to create imaginative and impactful advertising are endless. Download the episode to learn what role creativity plays in marketing and driving revenue. Lubars also discuss how BBDO helps its clients “keep on keeping on.” The agency continually produces new and standout advertising that is creative and memorable for a range of clients, including Dunkin, BMW, and Mars. For Lubars, helping companies stand out through their marketing and “mixing the cement” is the best part of his job.

Hosts: Lavinia Calvert & Deborah Farone Co-Producer: Katelin Zweifel-Korzuchin & Brit Nowacki  Audio Engineer: Nikki Rasmussen Editor: Jessica Penfield

Professor Scott Westfahl, the Director of Harvard Law School’s Executive Education Program, is a nationally-recognized expert in the area of leadership. He discusses how teaching has changed during the COVID-19 pandemic and how Harvard is gathering its talent to foster new and agile ways of engaging students in the classroom. Listen to the episode to hear Westfahl share a mini course in design thinking and explain how to reformulate problems and locate new solutions. Westfahl also covers the value of networks, pointing to recent studies that show how the impact of widescale networks can help locate resources, widen contacts, and solve problems on the highest level. He explains how to design an in-house training program, and details the game-changing steps that can make the difference in hiring and retaining talent.

Hosts: Lavinia Calvert & Deborah Farone Co-Producer: Katelin Zweifel-Korzuchin & Brit Nowacki  Audio Engineer: Nikki Rasmussen Editor: Jessica Penfield

As Chief Joy Officer of Joyful Planet, Patrice Tanaka helps both individuals and organizations define and leverage their purposes. Learn how purpose-driven organizations are outperforming their competition, and hear how Tanaka’s decision to take a ballroom dance class changed her life. She also recounts how she took hold of her own PR firm from the ranks of an ad agency and how the firm was later named one of the most creative PR shops in the country. Tanaka has helped unleash greater fulfillment and joy for clients throughout the world, and believes her purpose in life is to help others find their own purpose and joy.

Hosts: Lavinia Calvert & Deborah Farone Co-Producer: Katelin Zweifel-Korzuchin & Brit Nowacki  Audio Engineer: Nikki Rasmussen Editor: Jessica Penfield

Ralph Baxter, Intapp Board Member and the former Chairman and CEO of the law firm Orrick, joins us to discuss the characteristics that are vital to becoming a true and innovative leader in the professional services arena. Learn how the COVID-19 pandemic has given firms an opportunity to accelerate necessary change and serve clients in better and more efficient ways. During the episode, Baxter also addresses the importance of diversity, a topic close to his heart. He recounts his discussions with Harvard’s David Wilkins regarding how work assignments are made within a law firm and how those decisions serve as an important inflection point for diversity and inclusion. 

Hosts: Lavinia Calvert & Deborah Farone Co-Producer: Katelin Zweifel-Korzuchin & Brit Nowacki  Audio Engineer: Nikki Rasmussen Editor: Jessica Penfield

Lisa Leong — a corporate lawyer, broadcaster, business developer, and consultant — shares her advice on how to truly connect with people. Learn more about the importance of using empathy to drive successful conversations, and discover how to get to the heart of an issue through a process Leong calls “empathy interviewing.” Leong reveals firsthand how empathy and connection are so vital to satisfying business goals and achieving success. She takes Lavinia Calvert and Deborah Farone through a fun exercise to illustrate this idea, and shares how she first learned to use empathy as a radio host and later as a student at the Australian Television and Radio School. 

Hosts: Lavinia Calvert & Deborah Farone Co-Producer: Katelin Zweifel-Korzuchin & Brit Nowacki  Audio Engineer: Nikki Rasmussen Editor: Jessica Penfield

As a partner at Pentagram and a world-renowned, award-winning graphic designer and design critic, Michael Beirut describes corporate identity as a bespoke suit that expresses the true character of the “wearer” or company. In this episode, Beirut explains how he works within professional services firms to build excitement around design ideas. Beirut goes on to describe how he and other designers build trust when they are hired, and how he often collects creative ideas and suggestions from those within the professional services firms he works with. He also describes his own creative process and the books and artists that have inspired him along the way.

Hosts: Lavinia Calvert & Deborah Farone Co-Producer: Katelin Zweifel-Korzuchin & Brit Nowacki  Audio Engineer: Nikki Rasmussen Editor: Jessica Penfield

Vanderbilt Law’s Cat Moon is known for teaching her students about making the law more accessible and making legal delivery more seamless. With a background in communications, law, and now academia, Moon reveals how our legal ecosystem and other professional services have not kept pace with the rest of the world. Tune in to hear Moon’s ideas for new solutions, and learn how human-centered design can be applied to the practice of law as well as everyday business problems. Moon also discusses professionals using social media, explaining how Twitter has been a helpful tool in her own collaboration efforts. She shares her experience of teaching classes during the COVID-19 pandemic, and states that, despite having to broadcasting in a mask behind plexiglass, Moon has been able to create a close connection with her students by constantly experimenting in the classroom. 

Natalie Loeb, founder and CEO of Loeb Leadership Development, explains how combining various methods of remote and virtual learning can help make incredible inroads when training managers and leaders. Listen to this week’s episode of the Strategy Sphere podcast to hear Loeb share advice with hosts Lavinia Calvert and Deborah Farone on managing remote teams, creating diverse and inclusive workforces, and using business tools to help diagnose and solve management issues.

Loeb also points out that the most important element when creating change is to have authentic, involved commitment from leaders. She describes the essential elements for  professional services firms that want to create a culture that helps build leaders and continuously reinforces a diverse workforce.

Tom McMakin and Jacob Parks of Profitable Ideas Exchange (PIE) discuss their book, Never Say Sell, in which they explore how to grow work within existing clients. They reveal how they run their company by incorporating gamification, and explain how firms can add value in an era of disruption. McMakin and Parks also explain how to scale trust and credibility, point out the differences in sales techniques, reveal how selling a “credence good” is a unique undertaking, and talk about how firms are moving away from the standard concept of using a sales funnel system to a practice of planting relationships that are nurtured over time.