Happy New Year!

By popular demand, we have begun to stream The Great Conversation through various podcast mediums like Apple, Podbean, Spotify, and coming soon, Google. We encourage you to subscribe to our podcast channel, The Great Conversation, to hear the latest episodes.

The good news: If you were a member, you are already part of the community and will receive updates through our monthly newsletter. If you are not, you can join our community here.

So pull up a seat to our round table for 15-30 minutes and listen in on conversations with leaders from around the world. In this 2021 version of The Great Conversation you will:

• Hear from leaders across global markets and disciplines

• Contribute to the convergence of personal, professional, and organizational engagement that will transform who you are, what you do, and how you create a path to value

• Have a seat at the table by having the opportunity to influence who and what we talk about

• Have the opportunity to leverage these conversations to onboard new employees, launch strategy meetings, and create the context for innovation of products or services

• Have the opportunity to experience the conversation tracks of leadership, organizational strength, business resilience, digital transformation (data is the new oil) and technology

• Have the opportunity to learn how others are creating risk, resilience, and security strategies that empower their organizations to take the right risks at the right time

• Leverage your ability to digitally transform your operations and your culture by mining the data on risk and the business

• Understand how current technology can optimize your business and how it could disrupt or transform your business in the future

And, most of all, it is entertaining!

Members see themselves at the table with leaders across market verticals and disciplines discussing their front of mind issues, risks, and opportunities.

We will release new podcasts and republish highlighted 2020 conversations every month. We will keep you informed through this newsletter and our blog. So grab a cup of coffee in the morning or listen on your way to work. And use this to take yourself and your company to the next level.

The January Playlist

Conversations in Leadership

We kick off the year with a series of leaders from different markets and domains who are focused on transforming their organizations with a cultural alignment of purpose, values, and the hard work of creating a discipline of active listening and kindness. Given our 2020 experience, can you ask for a better kick-off?

Purpose Driven Innovation

None other than Peter Drucker called it "the most effective organization in the U.S." Not the most effective nonprofit, but "the most effective organization." Quite a compliment from the world's most preeminent management thinker, especially when you consider that he is comparing The Salvation Army to world-class corporations like General Electric, IBM and Johnson &Johnson.. Meet the Busseys; incredible agents of innovation and change within the mission and purpose of the Salvation Army, a 150+ year, $100M+ global organization. We get to experience the “why” and the “how” behind this innovation DNA in our conversation.

Creating Cultural Equity

Garry Ridge is the purpose-driven and intentional leader (Chairman and CEO) of a company that is a model for employee, customer, and investor value: WD-40. According to Garry, the “oil-in-a-can" company exists to create positive, lasting memories in everything they do. Garry sits down with us to share his passion about his tribal culture of learning and teaching that sustains and extends the organizational value to its people, its customers, and its investors.

Leadership​ that Fosters a Culture of Innovation and Change​

Mark Lagestee, Chief People Officer of Yum! Brands, a leading global franchisor and brand developer, sat down with us so we could learn the secret sauce behind a company recognized for its global citizenship and its unique culture built on innovation, inclusion, and growth. ​We learn what it means to “believe in all people,” a timely message for organizations intent on developing a leadership culture.

Bringing AI to Risk

Cecil Jentges’ mission is to help us easily navigate the world of risk so that we can plan and act to protect our people and our assets. He envisions a platform that can find a “needle in a haystack of needles” that will make the difference in how you strategically meet the global risk in front of you.

The Dream Makers: Your Hidden Asset Inside Your Company

When we think about getting something done, we think of managing a project or a program. Many of us turn to a project leader or manager. But the term and the title in many cases diminishes the importance of the outcome we seek to achieve. When we had a conversation with John Stenbeck, an author, consultant, and subject matter expert on project management, it opened our eyes to the possibilities of reframing this important role. It also laid out the mental framework for realizing our dreams and our goals.

The Shared Beliefs that Determine Your Organization’s Success

Dagmar Boettger is a strategic advisor to leaders and their teams on how to create an agile, engaged, culture that will be able to adapt to any situation, including the digitalization of the world. We have a great conversation around a leader’s ability to understand their current position in the market and cast a vision for how their people can help shape a shared and collective future.

Stop Marketing! Your Customer needs Trust not Taglines

Why should you be focused on creating a customer obsessed organization? How would you do it? And what would be the fruits of your efforts? We sit down with Blaine Millet, the author of a recent book  called “Stop Marketing”, to understand how to create a remarkable company based on a much different conversation with our customers, our culture, and our ecosystem of influencers.

Engage with us

Here are some ideas:

• You can suggest who we talk to next

• You can submit a paper, a book, an article or a blog

• Follow our Great Conversation Company LinkedIn page

• Tell your colleagues and your friends about the conversations and their value to you. Feed your relationships