StraightTalk.Live: Recent Episodes
StraightTalk.Live
StraightTalk.Live is a not-for-profit weekly discussion series starring global thought leaders, experts, scholars, and mavericks from all industries. We delve into the critical topics facing our post-pandemic world—challenging today’s conventional thinking, unearthing new questions, and catalyzing creative solutions.
Purchase their book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/MARKET-HANDBOOK-B2B-SaaS-LEADERS/dp/B0CJ45462M Dive deep into the world of entrepreneurship with industry veterans Chris Tottman and Richard Blundell in our latest podcast episode! 🎙️ Join the conversation as they share invaluable insights and expert advice on building and scaling SaaS startups. From their wealth of experience, learn the essential 'how, when, and why' of startup success. Gain actionable strategies, success stories, and insider tips to supercharge your entrepreneurial journey. Tune in now for a power-packed episode that will fuel your aspirations and guide you to SaaS triumph!
Dinesh's Website: https://www.dineshdhamija.com/ Unlock the insights of a captivating conversation with Dinesh Dhamija on StraightTalkWithAf. 🎙️ Delve into the mind of the visionary entrepreneur as he shares invaluable experiences and expert perspectives. Don't miss this exclusive interview that provides deep insights into his various industries. Tune in now for a dose of inspiration and knowledge from the brilliant mind of Dinesh Dhamija! #DineshDhamija #EntrepreneurialInsights #BusinessVisionary #PodcastInterview #LeadershipTalks #StartupWisdom #InnovationMindset #BusinessSuccess #GlobalEntrepreneur #IndustryInsights #FounderStories #DigitalTransformation #TechInnovation #FutureOfBusiness #InspiringLeadership
Check our more of Atul: 🔍 https://www.atulkulkarni.com/ 🔍https://quest.org.in/home A Dive deep into the world of Atul Kulkarni as we sit down with the renowned Indian Film Actor for an exclusive and insightful conversation. Subscribe for more engaging conversations with industry leaders and experts! #AtulKulkarni #IndustryInsights #PodcastInterview #ExpertPerspective #BehindTheScenes #InspirationalTalk #LeadershipWisdom #CareerAdvice #EntertainmentIndustry #Masterclass #PodcastHighlight #SuccessStories #InsiderInterview #StraightTalk #Discussion
Dive into the realm of groundbreaking leadership with our special guest, Laura Liswood. In this episode, we unravel the inspiring journey of one of the most influential voices in the world of leadership and equality. From boardrooms to global stages, Liswood has been a trailblazer, shattering glass ceilings and paving the way for inclusive leadership. Join us as we explore profound insights into women's leadership, gender equality, and the future of inclusive workplaces. Liswood shares her wisdom, experiences, and strategies for navigating the challenges of leadership while championing diversity. Discover actionable takeaways on empowering change, fostering inclusive cultures, and driving innovation through diverse perspectives. Whether you're an aspiring leader, an advocate for equality, or simply curious about the future of leadership, this episode offers invaluable insights that will reshape your understanding of what it means to lead in the 21st century. Tune in now to gain a fresh perspective on leadership and be inspired to make a difference in your own sphere of influence. Don’t miss this empowering conversation with a true pioneer in the world of leadership. #Leadership #WomenInLeadership #GenderEquality #InclusiveLeadership #Empowerment #DiversityAndInclusion #Trailblazers #FutureOfWork #ProfessionalDevelopment #InspiringLeadership #EqualityForAll #EmpoweringChange #GlobalLeaders #LeadershipInsights #PioneeringWomen
Join us for a captivating episode as we delve into the realm of overcoming fear and embracing change with renowned speaker, author, and entrepreneur, John Hagel. With over 40 years of experience in Silicon Valley and a multifaceted career that spans management consulting, entrepreneurship, and leadership, John is a seasoned expert in helping individuals and organizations navigate the challenges of a rapidly evolving world. In this episode, we explore John's remarkable journey and his drive to empower global change. Having recently retired as a partner from Deloitte, John's upcoming book, "The Journey Beyond Fear," set to be published by McGraw Hill in May, delves into the psychology of change and equips listeners with strategies to conquer their fears. Not stopping there, he's also creating innovative programs to guide people through various levels of transformation. #OvercomingFear #EmbracingChange #TransformationStrategies #ConqueringChallenges #PsychologyOfChange #SiliconValleyExpertise #LeadershipInsights #NavigateUncertainty #FutureAnticipation #EmpoweringChange #JourneyBeyondFear #InnovationInAdversity #BusinessTransformation #ThoughtLeadership #ImpactfulChange
Join us in this thought-provoking episode as we sit down with the multi-talented Karith Foster – renowned American comedian, speaker, actress, author, and entrepreneur. Unveil the transformative insights she shares on embracing common threads rather than differences, and how this approach can reshape our perspectives on unity and diversity. Learn about Karith's journey from the world of entertainment to becoming a trailblazer for positive change. Delve into her founding of the Foster Russell Family Foundation, a remarkable non-profit committed to inspiring free speech, fostering social change, and empowering individuals through education and mentorship. Gain unique insights from Karith's experiences as she discusses her vision for a more connected and understanding society. Explore the potential of finding shared humanity in an increasingly diverse world. Tune in to this engaging conversation and unlock a new understanding of unity that transcends boundaries. Don't miss out on this captivating episode that bridges gaps and encourages us all to celebrate the power of similarities. #KarithFoster #UnityThroughSimilarities #DiversityAndEmpowerment #CommonThreadsPodcast #PositiveChange #InspiringEducation #BridgingDivides #SharedHumanity #EmpoweringMentorship #SocialImpact #FreeSpeechMovement #InclusiveSociety #EmpathyMatters #ChampioningChange #TransformativeInsights
Anuradha Pal's website:https://www.anuradhapal.com/ Dive into a captivating conversation on the enchanting interplay between music and diversity in this illuminating podcast episode. Join us as we sit down with the esteemed Anuradha Pal, a trailblazing musician and visionary, to unravel the profound impact of diversity on the world of harmonies and rhythms. In this episode, Anuradha Pal, renowned for her mastery of the tabla and dynamic musical compositions, shares her insights on how diverse cultural influences have shaped and enriched the musical landscape. Discover how melodies and rhythms have been inspired by a mosaic of traditions, fostering a harmonious blend that transcends borders and genres. Explore the transformative journey of multicultural music through Anuradha Pal's unique perspective, as she delves into the fusion of styles, the celebration of differences, and the universal language that unites us all - music. Whether you're a seasoned musician, a music enthusiast, or simply curious about the captivating role of diversity in creative expressions, this episode promises to open your ears and heart to a symphony of thought-provoking ideas. Tune in to gain a deeper understanding of the vibrant relationship between diversity and music, as Anuradha Pal takes us on a melodic voyage that bridges cultures and showcases the extraordinary power of artistic inclusivity. About the Guest: Anuradha Pal stands as a true luminary in the world of music, celebrated for her exceptional artistry as a tabla virtuoso and composer. With a career spanning decades, she has mesmerized audiences across the globe with her rhythmic prowess and innovative compositions. Anuradha Pal's musical journey is a testament to the unifying force of diversity, as she seamlessly weaves together influences from various traditions to create a symphony that resonates with listeners of all backgrounds. Her insights and experiences provide a captivating glimpse into the boundless potential of music to bridge divides and inspire harmony. Join us in this episode as we uncover the remarkable story of Anuradha Pal and her invaluable contributions to the tapestry of global music. #MusicAndDiversity #AnuradhaPal #TablaVirtuoso #CulturalHarmony #HarmonizingTraditions #GlobalRhythms #InclusiveMusic #MelodicFusion #UnityThroughMusic #MusicalHeritage #CreativeExpressions #CrossCulturalSounds #HarmoniousMelodies #RhythmExploration #ArtisticInclusivity
Check out Ken's website here: https://kennethhubbell.com Check out Ken's Blog here: https://there-is-ai-in-team.blogspot.com Buy Ken's book here: https://a.co/d/iVoLw6B Discover the groundbreaking insights of Ken Hubbell, renowned author of 'There is AI in Team: The Future of Human, Augmented Human, and Non-Human Collaboration,' in this thought-provoking YouTube video. Join us as we explore the cutting-edge world of artificial intelligence (AI) and its transformative impact on team dynamics. Unravel the exciting possibilities of human-AI collaboration and how it shapes the future of work and innovation. From augmented humans to non-human entities, Ken Hubbell unveils the potential of these interactions and how they will shape our world. Don't miss this exclusive interview with a visionary thought leader, delving into the frontiers of AI-powered teamwork and the evolving landscape of human potential! #KenHubbell #ThereIsAIinTeam #AICollaboration #AugmentedHumans #NonHumanCollaboration #FutureOfWork #ArtificialIntelligence #TeamDynamics #HumanAIInteraction #AIpoweredTeamwork #HumanPotential #InnovationInTeams #AIthoughtleadership #DigitalTransformation #TeamPerformanceOptimization
Welcome to an inspiring and insightful podcast interview with the renowned leadership expert, John Amaechi. In this captivating episode, John shares invaluable wisdom on how leaders can transform their promises into reality and imparts essential lessons for effective leadership. Discover the keys to unlocking your leadership potential as John delves into the significance of keeping promises with unwavering integrity. Gain profound insights into bridging the gap between intention and action, ensuring that commitments are not merely words but actionable steps towards success. Join us as we explore the art of leadership in action, and learn from John's real-world experiences as a former NBA player and now an accomplished psychologist, consultant, and author. Whether you're an aspiring leader or an established one seeking to enhance your leadership prowess, this podcast is a must-listen. Tune in now and embark on a transformative journey with John Amaechi, where promises are fulfilled, and leadership lessons take center stage. Elevate your leadership skills, empower your team, and leave a lasting impact on your organization. Get ready to lead with purpose and achieve remarkable results! #LeadershipPotential #LeadershipInsights #FulfillingPromises #LeadershipLessons #JohnAmaechi #NBALegend #IntegrityInLeadership #EffectiveLeadership #LeadershipInAction #LeadershipDevelopment #LeadershipSkills #AspiringLeaders #LeadershipEmpowerment #InspiringLeadership #LeadershipSuccess
Discover the future of education with Kristen Shroff, the visionary CEO of Prisma, as she discusses the groundbreaking concept of a Connected Learning Network. Prepare to be inspired as she reveals how Prisma's innovative approach is revolutionizing K-12 education, providing a virtual platform where diverse cohorts of students learn together with the guidance of dedicated learning coaches. Dive into this captivating interview to understand how Prisma is creating a global community where children can form friendships, collaborate, and share ideas, combining the intimacy of a 'one-room schoolhouse' with the vast opportunities of the world's largest kid-focused learning network. Don't miss this transformative conversation that will reshape your understanding of education in the 21st century. #PrismaEducationRevolution #ConnectedLearningNetwork #FutureofEducation #K12Education #VirtualLearning #GlobalLearningCommunity #21stCenturySkills #InnovativeEducation #KidFocusedLearning #EdTech #OnlineEducation #CollaborativeLearning #PersonalizedLearning #EducationTransformation #DigitalLearning
n this interview, Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, a world-renowned expert on talent, leadership, and human intelligence, discusses the future of AI and how it will impact humanity. He argues that AI is not a threat to humanity, but rather an opportunity for us to become more human. He shares his insights on how we can stay human in an AI world, and how we can use AI to make the world a better place. This interview is a must-watch for anyone who wants to understand the future of AI and how it will impact humanity. #howtobehumaninanAIworld #AI #artificialintelligence #humanity #futureofwork #DrTomasChamorroPremuzic #embraceyouremotions #becreative #besocial #bemindful #beethical #theAIrevolution #whatdoesAImeanforhumanity #howtothriveintheageofAI #theimportanceofbeinghuman #5waystostayhumaninanAIworld
Join us as we delve into a fascinating conversation with Aarti Kelshikar, Author of 'How Women Work - Fitting and Standing Out.' In this episode, we explore the intricate dynamics of leadership, culture, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in Asia and the West. Gain valuable insights into the contrasting approaches, challenges, and opportunities that arise in various countries across these regions. Discover how understanding these differences can enhance your own leadership skills and navigate the global landscape effectively. Tune in now to gain a deeper understanding of leadership across cultures with Aarti Kelshikar! #LeadershipInsights #CulturalDifferences #DEI #DiversityAndInclusion #CrossCulturalLeadership #AsiaVsWest #LeadershipAcrossCultures #GlobalLeadership #AartiKelshikar #HowWomenWork #AuthorInterview #CulturalDynamics #LeadershipChallenges #LeadershipOpportunities #InclusiveLeadership #LeadershipStrategies
Join us for an enlightening episode of STRAIGHTTALK® as we host the brilliant Shashi Tharoor, delving into his personal journey in Indian politics and his vision for the future. Discover what drives and sustains Shashi as he shares his purpose and what makes him tick. We also explore the intriguing differences between India and the West in terms of practicing diversity, equity, and inclusion, with a special focus on Shashi's latest book on Dr. Ambedkar. Furthermore, we discuss the historic event of Rishi Sunak, a person of Indian origin, becoming the Prime Minister of the UK, and the profound impact it has had on Indians worldwide and the diaspora in the UK. In a thought-provoking segment, Shashi dons three thinking hats as a pessimist, a realist, and an optimist, offering unique perspectives on various subjects. You don't want to miss his insightful responses. Stay tuned for our upcoming longer show with Shashi in August! We extend our gratitude to Af Malhotra for hosting this fantastic episode and express our heartfelt thanks to John Koshy for his support and Saif Mahmood for making this remarkable interview happen. Get ready to gain valuable insights into Indian politics, diversity, and the future in this captivating conversation.
Welcome to our highly anticipated YouTube episode, where we delve deep into the realm of optimal health and explore the incredible power of nutrition in combating inflammation. Get ready to be amazed as we welcome Dr. Shilpa Ravella, a renowned expert in the field, to share her invaluable insights. In this captivating episode, Dr. Ravella unravels the secrets behind unlocking your body's full potential for optimal health through the transformative effects of nutrition. Brace yourself for a mind-blowing exploration of how the foods we consume can either fuel or fight inflammation within our bodies. As a distinguished gastroenterologist and nutritionist, Dr. Ravella draws upon her extensive expertise to demystify the complex relationship between diet and inflammation. Prepare to be enlightened as she breaks down the science behind the inflammatory process, leaving you with a deeper understanding of how specific dietary choices impact your well-being. Throughout this engaging episode, Dr. Ravella generously shares evidence-based strategies and cutting-edge research that empower you to take charge of your health journey. From practical tips to personalized recommendations, she equips you with the knowledge needed to make informed decisions about your nutrition, leading to a significant reduction in inflammation and a path towards vibrant well-being. Whether you're seeking relief from a specific health condition exacerbated by inflammation or simply striving to optimize your overall wellness, this YouTube episode is an absolute must-watch. Join us as we embark on an extraordinary journey towards unlocking optimal health, guided by the wisdom and expertise of the incredible Dr. Shilpa Ravella. Get ready to be inspired, enlightened, and armed with practical tools to harness the power of nutrition in combating inflammation. Don't miss out on this incredible opportunity to revolutionize your health. Hit that play button now and join us on this transformative adventure!
Chi Onwurah, a prominent British Labour Party politician, has been representing Newcastle upon Tyne Central since 2010. Discover how she broke barriers in 2010 as the first black female MP elected in the North East of England, and her unwavering dedication to social justice and equal representation. With a strong technology background, Onwurah's impactful leadership and positions within the Labour Party have championed diversity and inclusion in politics. Learn more about her influential role as a shadow minister for Industrial Strategy, Science and Innovation and her current position as shadow minister for Science, Research & Digital. Join us as we delve into Onwurah's remarkable journey and her efforts to shape a more inclusive and forward-thinking political landscape.
Prepare to embark on a captivating exploration of one of the most influential and controversial figures in modern technology, Elon Musk. In this exclusive interview, our expert guest, who has conducted extensive research on Musk's life and career, unveils the remarkable story behind the man, ensuring this video is a must-watch for all enthusiasts. Journey with us as we delve deep into Elon Musk's captivating background, from his early entrepreneurial ventures to his current role as CEO of groundbreaking companies like Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, and The Boring Company. Gain unprecedented insights into his childhood, education, and the pivotal moments that propelled him towards becoming the visionary leader we know today. While unravelling Musk's extraordinary accomplishments, we fearlessly tackle the challenges he has faced along his path, from the audacious risks he undertook with his ventures to the criticisms that have shaped his journey. Through our illuminating discussion, unlock the motivations and strategies that have driven his immense success, and gain valuable insights into his leadership style and unwavering commitment to innovation. This interview is an invaluable resource for those eager to comprehend the history of Elon Musk and the profound impact he has had on the world of technology. So, grab a seat, relax, and join us on this enlightening journey as we unmask the trailblazer himself.
Join us as we delve into the inspiring journey of Rajesh Subramaniam, the Managing Director and CEO of ResultsCX, as he shares his profound insights into deep tech CX for global organizations. Discover how Rajesh successfully transformed Firstsource Solutions, a traditional BPO, into a world-class BPM organization amidst the rapid changes in customer expectations and engagement models driven by technology. With a people-centric approach, Rajesh prioritizes people development and fosters a culture of high-performance that values meritocracy, excellence, and cross-functional collaboration. Gain valuable knowledge from his expertise in organization development, strategy & planning, shareholder value creation, people management, and digital transformation. If you're an entrepreneur looking to elevate your ventures to new heights, this must-watch video is a treasure trove of invaluable insights.
Discover the transformative work of Rebecca Wildbear as she empowers individuals to deepen their connection with themselves and the Earth. Through her guidance, you'll learn to perceive and relate to conscious beings such as animals, plants, mountains, and rivers, fostering a profound sense of interconnectedness. Rebecca encourages awakening to the wisdom of your body, listening to the mysteries within your dreams, and discovering your soul's purpose. With a holistic approach that recognizes the interdependence of personal wellness and the planet, she combines the journey of our souls with active listening to the Earth's needs. Join Rebecca as she inspires people to engage with the sacred through their bodies and tap into the mystery within. Rebecca's creation, Wild Yoga, aims to align individuals with Earth and soul, enhancing their capacity to listen to their bodies, dreams, and nature. With over a decade of experience, she has guided Wild Yoga programs since 2007 and served as a yoga teacher trainer at Nosara Yoga Institute, holding the esteemed title of a 1000-hour Nosara Yoga Educator. Drawing from extensive training in yoga, movement, embodied meditation, Hakomi Comprehensive, and Somatic Archeology, Rebecca brings a wealth of expertise to her transformative work. Embark on a soulful journey with Rebecca and embrace your role as a healthy and vital member of the Earth community.
Dr. Beth A. Livingston is the Ralph L. Sheets Associate Professor of Industrial Relations at the University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business, an internal advisor with the Healthier Workforce Center of the Midwest, a NIOSH Center of Excellence, and the faculty director of the Dore-Tippie Women's Leadership program. After receiving her Ph.D. from the University of Florida, and her MBA from the University of Kentucky, she began her career at Cornell University in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations before moving to the Midwest. She is passionate about studying human resources, gender & diversity, and the management of work and family in the service of employee well-being. Her research has been highlighted in the New York Times, NPR, and the Harvard Business Review, and she has been published in multiple top academic journals. Dr. Livingston has also done executive education, speaking engagements, and consulting for companies and non-profits such as Accenture, John Deere, Yves Saint Laurent Beauty, Allsteel, and Hollaback! and is the co-author of "Shared Sisterhood," from Harvard Business Review Press Whether as a keynote or interactive workshop leader, Tina’s focus is on creating more diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplaces. Using her Shared Sisterhood framework and proven approaches for unearthing blind spots within individuals and organizations. Tina serves as a catalyst for new thinking—and needed change. As part of Opie Consulting Group, her speaking and consulting work has shifted thinking and action within organizations including American Express, Hulu, the NFL, and more.
In this special 100th episode of our podcast, we turn the tables and have a previous guest (Vandana Saxena Poria) take on the role of interviewer as they sit down with our host, Af. Throughout the episode, they reflect on the journey of the podcast so far, discussing highlights, challenges, and everything in between. Af shares insights on the topics covered, memorable moments from previous episodes and guests, and what the future holds for the podcast. With a blend of nostalgia and excitement, this milestone episode is a celebration of all that the podcast has accomplished and a glimpse into what's to come.
Rohit Talwar, the CEO of Fast Future, is an award-winning keynote speaker, globally renowned futurist, and author with expertise in helping clients understand and shape the future. His focus is on creating a human-centered future by prioritizing people's needs. Rohit is the co-author of the book Designing Your Future, lead editor and contributor for The Future of Business, Beyond Genuine Stupidity—Ensuring AI Serves Humanity, The Future Reinvented—Reimagining Life, Society, and Business, and A Very Human Future—Enriching Humanity in a Digitized World. He is also the editor of Technology vs. Humanity and co-editor and contributor for two forthcoming books: Unleashing Human Potential—The Future of AI in Business and 50:50—Scenarios for the Next 50 Years. In a recent podcast appearance, Rohit shared his insights on ChatGPT, the AI language model that uses GPT-3.5 architecture, and its potential impact on the future.
With over thirty years of leading global corporations, transforming hundreds of organisations and thousands of people, Sanjeev’s experientially honed methods have brought growth and exceptional results and performance to individuals and businesses, from blue chips to SMEs. The powerful combination of an insight into people’s emotional make up, as well as business management helps him to achieve transformational shifts in mindsets, performance, personal and business success. Having turned around companies from different sectors to growth and, he puts people at the centre of success, capitalising on their talents and achieving the best of self, giving them both, the business tool kit as well as the feeling and passion for it. His vision – The world is tiring of the loss of integrity, the future will belong to people obsessed by bringing real value and they also be much wealthier – it’s not just academic, it’s real!. His mastery of strategy, Leadership, customer relationships, communication and finance, bring a ‘holistic’ and complete development of people towards valuepreneurship. Examples of results: EBIDTA shift of 27% in 18 months for RR DonnelyEurope; Measured behaviour shifts of senior management at Cognizant of over 35%; Over 550% ROI on training at QBE Insurance…
Gururaj Deshpande ("Desh" Deshpande) is an Indian American venture capitalist and entrepreneur, who is best known for co-founding the Chelmsford, MA-based internet equipment manufacturer Sycamore Networks, the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation at MIT and the Deshpande Foundation.
Presently, Deshpande is the Chairman of A123Systems, Sycamore Networks, Tejas Networks, HiveFire, Sandstone Capital, Sparta Group, and sits on the Board of Airvana. Deshpande is a Life Member of the MIT Corporation, the Board of Trustees of MIT, and sits on the board of the MIT School of Engineering Dean's Advisory Council (DAC).
In July 2010, Deshpande was appointed by President Barack Obama to the Co-Chairmanship of the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, a group established to support the US President's innovation strategy.
Jennifer Brown (she/her) is a globally recognized DEI thought leader, highly sought after speaker, award-winning entrepreneur, and best-selling author. Jennifer envisions inclusive organizations where all of us can thrive. As someone who has experienced both the advantages of privilege and the sting of stigma, Jennifer is boldly redefining what it means to truly belong—in the workplace, in our families, and in our communities.
She openly shares her powerful and unforgettable true story with audiences to help us challenge our assumptions—about ourselves, about leaders, and others—and take meaningful action today for a more inclusive tomorrow. Jennifer has shared her thought leadership at corporations including Google, The Hartford, Hearst, IBM, Indeed, Intel, KFC Global (Yum! Brands), Liberty Mutual, LinkedIn, McDermott Will & Emery LLP, Medtronic, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Prudential, PSEG, Sony, Toyota, and more.
She has also spoken at leading research institutions such as the Mayo Clinic, as well as multiple business schools, including William and Mary, Kellogg, Columbia Business School, the Owen GSB at Vanderbilt, and University of Wisconsin. She currently sits on the Influencer Advisory Board for cultural intelligence consultancy Sparks & Honey, as well as L’Oreal’s Global Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Board.
With a background in medicine, psychology, group-work and coaching, Dr Chris Johnstone is a specialist trainer for resilience and wellbeing. He has worked in this field for over thirty years, and through his online courses, he now reaches people from more than 55 countries. After working for many years as a doctor and addictions specialist in the UK health service, he now focuses on coaching, mentoring, writing and training, particularly through online courses at The College of Wellbeing His books include, Active Hope, co-authored with Joanna Macy (published in 2012 and now available in ten or more languages), and his new book, Seven Ways to Build Resilience (due out in April 2019).
After a first degree specialising in psychology, Chris graduated in medicine with distinction in 1986. Employed for several years as a junior hospital doctor, he suffered a severe burnout reaction to the stress and sleep deprivation of often working over a hundred hours in a week. He became a leading figure in the campaign to improve junior doctors’ working conditions, and made international headlines when, in 1989, he challenged the legal basis of his contract. Although his case was initially seen as a ‘no-hoper’ in law, after six years and ten court hearings, he eventually won. Before this, many junior doctors believed that little could be done to change the system they worked under.
The experience that you could defy pessimism and bring about a successful outcome, even if this initially seemed unlikely, stimulated an enduring interest in the psychology of breakthroughs and personal power. This prompted Chris to train in a range of approaches to facilitating change, including coaching, humanistic psychology, motivational interviewing, positive psychology, group facilitation, family therapy and systemic interventions with organisations. His interest in the psychology of change also led him to the addictions treatment field, an area where he worked for over seventeen years.
His first book Find Your Power (currently out of print) brings together the tools, insights and strategies he found most useful when there is something we want to change. Another theme important to Chris is the holistic approach, which he first became interested in as a medical student over 30 years ago. He was at the founding conference of the British Holistic Medical Association in 1983, and through this helped set up a holistic education programme for health care students in London.
More recently, Chris has taught holistic thinking at several UK universities, contributing to mainstream medical education and clinical psychology training. One of the key words of the holistic approach is context. Medical problems are seen in the context of the whole person, where mind and body are viewed as a single interconnected system. As individual health is importantly influenced by the social and environmental context we live in, a holistic approach to medicine also attends to what’s happening in the bigger picture of our world.
This is particularly important at the moment, as we face potentially devastating threats to human health related to planetary issues like climate change, resource depletion and rising toxin levels. What most concerned Chris was the way that big issues like these were either ignored by mainstream media or viewed as beyond our power to change. He saw a clear parallel to the denial and hopelessness often experienced by those with severe addiction problems. For example, someone dependent on alcohol may minimise problems caused by their drinking because they fear they might not be able to cope without it.
In a similar fashion, countries and companies dependent on oil have sought to block action on climate change or even deny that there is such a problem. As an addictions specialist, Chris saw that his experience of helping people face and tackle disturbing realities could also be applied to global issues. Much influenced by his close working with US author and activist Joanna Macy over more than three decades, in Active Hope, the book they wrote together, they explore how to strengthen our capacity to respond to concerns about our world. Facing global issues is sometimes thought of as a depressing activity, yet Chris’s approach is centrally about embracing more joy in life. As he puts it, “joy doesn’t come from banishing sadness, but from listening to the signals painful feelings offer and then finding our power to respond in a way that improves things”.
Alessio Fasano is an Italian-born medical doctor, pediatric gastroenterologist and researcher. He currently holds many roles, including professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and professor of nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, both in Boston. He serves as director of the Center for Celiac Research and Treatment at MassGeneral Hospital for Children (MGHfC) and co-director of the Harvard Medical School Celiac Research Program.
In addition, he is director of the Mucosal Immunology and Biology Research Center at MGHfC, where he oversees a research program with approximately 50 scientists and staff researching a variety of acute and chronic inflammatory diseases, including cystic fibrosis, celiac disease, enteric infections and necrotizing enterocolitis. A common theme of these programs is the study of the emerging role of the gut microbiome in health and disease. Fasano is also the scientific director of the European Biomedical Research Institute of Salerno (EBRIS) in Italy. Along with these leadership positions, he is a practicing outpatient clinician in pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition and the division chief.
WARNING This episode contains some content of a sexual nature. Sharif is an author; communications consultant; a curator focused on diversity, inclusion, music and arts, and a singer – songwriter. With over 25 years of experience in the fields of media, publishing, research and public relations, he uses talks, writing, event curation and music, to advocate change and garner support for the LGBTQ+ community. The various hats he wears and the roles he plays, led him to create the Rainbow Lit Fest – Queer & Inclusive, of which he is the Festival Director. He is also the curator of Embrace: Music Justice Arts and the frontman of the band – Friends of Linger. His book, Straight to Normal – My Life As A Gay Man, released early 2019, is amongst the few queer memoirs out of India and the first since the reading down of Section 377. The book has featured in best-selling lists and been recognised by not just sections of the media but by leaders from the fields of academics, politics, human rights, literature and films. more…
Anuj is currently the founder of Greenvan(www.greenvan.eu) is like an amazon of home services providing reliable and affordable tradesmen to consumers like Plumbers,Movers,Electricians and Locksmiths etc. Greenvan is on a mission to provide a strong value proposition to customers, upgrade the life of tradesmen, save the environment, add thousands of jobs in the economy and create very healthy returns for its investors. Anuj, a first generation entrepreneur, started his first company faXappeal while he was in college and exited that when he was 20. Anuj then worked with AT & T in New York. Anuj returned to India from his year long sabbatical & founded Final Quadrant at the age of 22, which got awarded for the best customer experience technology in the world by Microsoft and sold that in 2004. Anuj then Co-founded Prepay point in New York, a retail business with 13000 outlets and over $400 million in revenue and very successfully exited in 2008. Anuj appeared on the cover page of the Information Week Magazine -USA for the business success. CNBC covered Anuj in their Young Turks programme as one of the very few 1st generation entrepreneurs. As the Managing Trustee of Sukarma Trust, the trust has enabled education, medical treatment, water provisioning, eye camps, yoga camps for a large number of people across India. Anuj co-produced the movie “Soul of Sand”. The movie got co-funded by the Hubert Bals fund & voted by Forbes as the 10 top movies of 2011. Anuj serves on the Board of Directors of Subhkam Ventures. a house hold name in public market Investments in India and is a co- investor in the deals. Anuj holds 2 leading edge patents which he hopes to use in one of his future investments. Anuj keeps getting invited on the panel of judges of business schools and for an opinion on varied topics. Anuj was invited by the European Commission & a few Business Schools to give a speech on Entrepreneurship. An avid squash player, Anuj was the Indian national champion in 1994. He was also awarded as the Captain & Sportsman of the year at Stephen’s College 1997. Anuj received a recommendation from the Chairperson of Rhodes scholarship from India in 1997. Anuj is based between London & NewYork and is interested in new AI & Algorithm driven technologies which address a large macro and produce super normal returns for the stakeholders.
Named one of the “world’s ten most influential intellectuals” by MIT, Douglas Rushkoff is an author and documentarian who studies human autonomy in a digital age. His twenty books include the just-published Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires, as well as the recent Team Human, based on his podcast, and the bestsellers Present Shock, Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus, Program or Be Programmed, Life Inc, and Media Virus. He also made the PBS Frontline documentaries Generation Like, The Persuaders, and Merchants of Cool. His book Coercion won the Marshall McLuhan Award, and the Media Ecology Association honored him with the first Neil Postman Award for Career Achievement in Public Intellectual Activity. Rushkoff’s work explores how different technological environments change our relationship to narrative, money, power, and one another. He coined such concepts as “viral media,” “screenagers,” and “social currency,” and has been a leading voice for applying digital media toward social and economic justice. He serves as a research fellow of the Institute for the Future, and founder of the Laboratory for Digital Humanism at CUNY/Queens, where he is a Professor of Media Theory and Digital Economics. He is a columnist for Medium, and his novels and comics, Ecstasy Club, A.D.D, and Aleister & Adolf, are all being developed for the screen.
Naz Beheshti began her career as the executive assistant to Steve Jobs at Apple. Jobs, her mentor, is the inspiration behind her new book, Pause. Breathe. Choose.: Become the CEO of Your Well-Being. He had an early and profound influence on her belief that the ultimate wealth is well-being. In 2012, Naz founded Prananaz, a corporate wellness company that provides custom, high-touch, high-tech programs improving leadership effectiveness, employee well-being, employee engagement, company culture, and business results. Some of her clients include Google, Facebook, Nike, JPMorgan Chase, Gilead Sciences, Skadden, Fico, Coinbase, UCSF Health, and Columbia University. Prananaz delivers programs, workshops, coaching, consulting, keynotes, and training to teams and organizations of all sizes. Naz’s diverse experience includes a decade in the high-stress environments of tech startups, Fortune 500s, and pharmaceutical companies (Apple, Yahoo!, AstraZeneca). She also co-founded Rise 2 Shine, a non-profit organization committed to helping alleviate the suffering of young children in Haiti. Naz’s work has been widely featured in the media, including CNBC, BBC, Yahoo, Inc., Fast Company, O: The Oprah Magazine, and many more. She is also a regular Forbes contributor with over 150 published articles on mindful leadership and corporate wellness and writes for Entrepreneur and Thrive Global. She holds a BA in Psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is a certified Holistic Health Coach, certified Transformational Coach, certified Advanced NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) Practitioner, certified yoga instructor, and lifelong practitioner, and trained TM (transcendental meditation) practitioner. Naz divides her time between New York City and Miami Beach. She and her husband enjoy spending time with eclectic friends and taking fitness classes. Her global company is based in New York City, Miami Beach, and San Francisco.
The Economics of Sustainable Food: Smart Policies for Health and the Planet! Author of The Economics of Sustainable Food: Smart Policies for Health and the Planet. Nicoletta Batini is the Lead Evaluator of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Independent Evaluation Office. Prior to the IMF, she was Advisor of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, Professor of Economics at the University of Surrey, and Director of the International Economics and Policy Office of the Treasury in Italy. She holds a Ph.D. in international finance (S.S.S.U.P. S. Anna) and a Ph.D. in monetary economics (University of Oxford). Today her research focuses on the economics of energy and land and sea use transitions for climate mitigation. Her new book “The Economics of Sustainable Food: Smart Policies for People and the Planet” was just published by Island Press and the International Monetary Fund.
Leadership Strategy Senior Contributor for Forbes.com and bestselling author of the award-winning “Crisis Ahead: 101 Ways to Prepare for and Bounce Back from Disasters, Scandals, and Other Emergencies" (Nicholas Brealey). "Profit by Publicity" PR guide (iUniverse) and was the basis for a paperback book, e-book, audiobook, and workshops. • Chief Executive Officer. CEO of two non-profit membership organizations. Led and managed the Greater Los Angeles REALTORS® Association, one of the largest regional REALTOR® organizations in the U.S. (more than 9,000 members); previously served as CEO of the Marin Association of REALTORS® in Northern California. • Advocacy. Conducted more than 24 advocacy campaigns for the Maryland Departments of Agriculture and Economic Development, Plastics Industry Association, Airbus, two REALTOR® associations, and others. • Certifications. Earned the Certified Association Executive (CAE) credential from the American Society of Association Executives. The highest professional credential in the association industry, the CAE has been earned by less than 5% of association professionals; it earned the REALTOR® Certified Association Executive (RCE) designation from the National Association of REALTORS®. Edward helps CEOs, entrepreneurs, business owners, board members, and their staff prevent, manage and recover from crisis situations.
Dr. Aravind Chinchure is a renowned academician, a corporate strategist and an innovation leader. He is an expert in the formulation of corporate and governmental policies that influence innovation and research. He holds a PhD in Physics, and has an experience spanning 25 years in R&D, innovation, intellectual property, startup venture investment, policy, social development and teaching.
Dr. Chinchure has worked with many global innovation thought leaders and Nobel laureates on projects of national and regional significance. He credits these associations for shaping his perceptions and expertise around results-driven innovations. He was part of Indian and global research organizations, and large multinational and Indian companies in diverse technology areas, driving innovation in technology as well as leading intellectual property-driven assets creation at workplaces.
He is credited with designing and implementing India’s first two-year residential and experiential MBA course on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, at Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM), Pune. Currently, Dr. Chinchure is the Chair Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Symbiosis International University, Pune, India.
In this episode Mary-Frances Winters, one of the most interesting and insightful voices in race relations, joins Af for a no-holds-barred conversation on D&I in the workplace.
Author of Black Fatigue: How Racism Erodes the Mind, Body, and Spirit, Mary-Frances believes her purpose on earth is to break down barriers and build bridges across differences. She is known to be a provocateur and not afraid to have difficult conversations.
Among her many awards and distinctions, she was named a diversity pioneer by Profiles in Diversity Journal, received the Winds of Change award from the Forum on Workplace Inclusion, and was featured twice in Forbes as one of the DC Metro area’s most powerful women, as well as one of 10 trailblazers in diversity and inclusion. She has served as a torch bearer for the Olympics and has previously been recognized as an Athena Award winner from the Chamber of Commerce for her contributions to women and the community.
In this forward-looking discussion, Af interviews Tony Hughes, the co-author of Tech-Powered Sales: Achieve Superhuman Skills to discuss the ways in which AI is completely changing the game in sales.
Tony is an international keynote speaker, best-selling author, professional selling educator, award-winning blogger and the most read LinkedIn Author globally on the topic of B2B sales leadership.
He is co-founder of Sales IQ Global and also ranked by Top Sales Magazine as the most influential person for professional selling in Asia-Pacific.
With 35 years of sales and business leadership experience, Tony is an experienced CEO and company director having served as Director of Sales for public corporations and as the Asia-pacific Managing Director for a number of tier-one global technology companies.
He teaches 'modernized selling' within the MBA program at the University of Technology, Sydney and has taught for other universities.
Tony serves on a number of advisory boards and his clients include Salesforce, SAP, Docusign, and Adobe, among others.
Sebastian Mallaby is the Paul A. Volcker senior fellow for international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). An experienced journalist and public speaker, Mallaby contributes to a variety of publications, including Foreign Affairs, the Atlantic, the Washington Post, and the Financial Times, where he spent two years as a contributing editor. He is the author of five books, most recently The Power Law: Venture Capital and the Making of the New Future.
His other books include The Man Who Knew (2016), More Money Than God (2010), and The World's Banker (2004).
Join Af as he learns about the incredible advances in DNA manipulation with Kevin Davies, the author of Editing Humanity: The CRISPR Revolution and the New Era of Genome Editing.
Kevin has 30+ years in science publishing as an editor of leading academic journals (with Nature Genetics, Nature and Cell Press); in trade publishing (Bio-IT World), and as a publisher (C&EN). In 2018, he spearheaded the launch of The CRISPR Journal, published by Mary Ann Liebert Inc. His books include "The $1,000 Genome" (Free Press, 2010), "Cracking the Genome" (Free Press, 2001), and "Breakthrough: The Race for the Breast Cancer Gene."
Kevin is the founding editor of Nature Genetics, the first offshoot from Nature. He holds an undergraduate degree in Biochemistry from Oxford University and a PhD in molecular genetics from the University of London.
With work-from-home and COVID defining a whole new way of relating to work, this is a thought-provoking episode with the author of The Gig Mindset Advantage: Why a Bold New Breed of Employee is Your Organization’s Secret Weapon in Volatile Times
Jane McConnell is an analyst-practitioner with over 20 years of hands-on advising organizations on their internal digital strategies and 12 years of research. She conducted annual surveys on The Organization in the Digital Age with 300-400 companies around the world, and published annual reports from 2007 through 2017. She created the term "gig mindset" and after 2 years of research (300 organizations globally) and wrote The Gig Mindset Advantage and started the podcast boldnewbreed.com.
Join Af as he interviews Ed Hajim about his memoir, a powerful story touched with family trauma, deprivation, and adversity balanced by a life of hard work and philanthropy!
On the Road Less Traveled is the inspirational story of Edmund A. Hajim, an American financier and philanthropist who rises from dire childhood circumstances to achieve professional success and personal fulfillment. At age three, Hajim is kidnapped by his father, driven from St. Louis to Los Angeles, and told that his mother is dead. His father soon abandons him in order to seek employment—mostly in vain—leaving his son behind in a string of foster homes and orphanages.
This establishes a pattern of neglect and desertion that continues for Hajim’s entire childhood, forever leaving its mark. From one home to another, the lonely boy learns the value of self-reliance and perseverance despite his financial deprivation and the trauma of being an orphan. As time passes, Hajim displays a powerful instinct for survival and a burning drive to excel.
A highly motivated student and athlete, he earns an NROTC college scholarship to the University of Rochester; serves in the United States Navy; works as an application research engineer; then attends Harvard Business School, where he finds that the financial industry is his true calling. So begins his rapid ascent in the corporate world, which includes senior executive positions at E. F. Hutton, Lehman Brothers, and fourteen years as CEO of Furman Selz, growing the company more than tenfold. He also creates a happy and abundant family life, though he never forgets what it means to struggle. At age sixty, he is reminded of his painful past when a family secret emerges that brings the story full circle.
Mick Ryan is a retired major general who served in the ADF for more than 35 years and was commander of the Australia Defence College. He is the author of War Transformed: The Future of 21st Century Great Power Competition and Conflict.
A distinguished graduate of Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, as well as the USMC Command and Staff College and USMC School of Advanced Warfare, he is a passionate advocate of professional education and lifelong learning. He has commanded at platoon, squadron, regiment, task force, and brigade level. Ryan has also led strategic planning organizations in the Australian Army and led several reform programs in the past decade. In January 2018, he assumed command of the Australian Defence College in Canberra, Australia.
Wolfgang is leading BCG’s procurement business line in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as in the Middle East. He is also part of BCG’s European operations leadership team. Over the years, he has been focused on transformations and the support of procurement through digital tools, working across industries but with a heavy weight in the automotive sector.
He specializes in large-scale operational transformations, direct and indirect category management, digital procurement solutions, procure-to-pay, performance management in procurement, capability building and operating models of procurement departments. Wolfgang has recently co-authored 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲 - How to use radical adaptability to win in a world of unprecedented change -, providing a blueprint for leaders to find phenomenal value and competitive advantage in a surprising place—their #procurement function.
Having grown up in rural India without access to reliable power, clean drinking water, and other basic needs, Reshma Ramachandran's purpose to empower people to believe they have the power to choose and to enable people to go beyond their self-limiting beliefs has shaped her journey as a business leader over the last two decades.
Ramachandran is a board-certified family physician and second-year fellow within the Yale National Clinician Scholars Program. Her research focuses on the realignment of incentives for healthcare stakeholders including pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, and universities towards prioritizing equitable patient access to safe, effective health technologies.
Prior to this role, Reshma worked as research faculty as part of the Innovation + Design Enabling Access (IDEA) Initiative at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she focused on policies to address the global challenge of antimicrobial resistance and unaffordable access to prescription drugs.
Dr. Ramachandran trained in both medicine at the Alpert Medical School at Brown University and in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She completed her family medicine residency at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center. Previously, she served as the first PharmFree Fellow with the American Medical Student Association focused on removing the undue influence of pharmaceutical companies on prescribing behavior and medical education. She is part of the National Steering Committee for the Doctors for America Drug Affordability Action Team. She also is a board member of Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM) North America and the American Medical Student Association Foundation.
Stacey Tank is currently the Chief Transformation & Corporate Affairs Officer at Heineken (AMS: HEIA) based in Amsterdam. As a direct report to the CEO and member of the executive committee, Tank shepherds the company's new growth strategy, "EverGreen." In addition, Tank is responsible for the company's stepped up sustainability and ESG vision, Brew a Better World 2030, including its new Sustainability & Responsibility Supervisory Board committee.
Tank formerly led the multi-billion dollar Home Depot Installation Services and Home Depot Measurement Services businesses for The Home Depot (NYSE: HD), the world’s largest home improvement retailer with $132.1 billion in annual sales and over 500,000 employees. During her tenure, Tank led the exit of four unprofitable lines of business and quickly returned the remaining businesses to double-digit growth while instilling a strong values-based culture and robust innovation pipeline.
Dedicated to the intersection of business and positive impact on society, Tank has repeatedly authored large-scale movements across enterprises like General Electric, Heineken and Home Depot including recently launching a quarter of a billion dollar commitment to veteran housing and a $50 million shop class program that is infusing 20,000 skilled tradespeople into the U.S. economy. Tank is the founder of Our Happy Place (OurHappy.org), a 501(c)3 non-profit serving children, educators and families navigating childhood mental wellness.
She is also a board trustee for the HEINEKEN Africa Foundation. She previously sat on the boards of the Woodruff Arts Center (nominating and governance chair), Serenbe Playhouse, Ad Council, Home Depot Foundation (former president), Homer Fund, Bright Pink (executive board), Academy for Systems Change (finance committee), Arthur Page Society (digital committee), Westchester Business Council, Beer Institute, Institute for Public Relations and Subrosa (sold in late 2017). She is the former vice chairwoman of the National Association of Beverage Importers and the former chairwoman of the Heineken Good Government Fund.
Tank is a 2020 World Economic Forum Young Global Leader (YGL), a 2019 Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute and a 2014 Academy for Systems Change Fellow. She graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in business and communications from Syracuse University where she was recognized as a University Scholar, the university’s highest academic honor. Tank currently resides in the Netherlands with her husband, two sons and rescue Chihuahua, the Dolly-mama.
Saving endangered species! Dr. Morne de la Rey talks to Af about his work helping save the Northern White Rhino and other animal species from extinction.
Morné de la Rey is a South African veterinary surgeon and embryo transfer specialist. In 2003, he was one of a team of scientists and veterinarians from his company Embryo Plus and the Danish Agriculture Institute to clone a cow, the first animal to be cloned in Africa. In 2016, he was one of a team to use in vitro fertilization successfully for the first time in the Cape buffalo.
In 2010 he produced Sable Antelope calves by means of Fixed Time Artificial Insemination with frozen thawed semen. He became the first person in the world to produce Sable Antelope calves by means of embryo transfers in 2011. Following his success he produced the first cross type between Zambian Sable Antelope embryo calves born out of southern Sable Antelope.
He had great success with the Cape Buffalo as well, in 2013 produced the first pregnancies in the Cape Buffalo by means of embryo transfers in the world. In 2016 he became successful with IVF in Cape Buffalo and produced the first calf in the world.
We're thrilled to welcome to the show PwC consultant Matt Mani to discuss his book, Beyond Digital. Leaders in the digital have a challenge in transforming their organizations to keep up with the rapid pace of change. Matt and his co-author Paul Leinwand spent four years studying organizations that have successfully navigated their #digitaltransformation and the book is a summary of seven key leadership imperatives they discovered in their research.
Af challenges Matt to discuss why his book is NOT 'just another book on #digital and through the discussion we learn the seven leadership imperatives and why they're important in showing leaders how to achieve a successful transformation.
Some of the points we hit on in this discussion:
• Why #worklifebalance is the wrong approach
• “Digital transformation” has very little to do with digital and more to do with value transformation
• The role of cultural differences and #diversity
• The critical importance of the #digitalecosystem and becoming outcome-focused
Mahadeva Matt Mani is an advisor to executives on business model transformation and operating performance improvement for Strategy&, PwC’s strategy consulting business. As the global leader of PwC and Strategy &'s transformation platform, he works with companies and leaders across industries to achieve fundamental improvements in business performance and organization cost & effectiveness. With over 25 years of industry and consulting experience, Matt works across industries, including in the consumer goods, retail, technology, healthcare, life sciences, industrial manufacturing and aerospace and defense sectors.
He is the co-author of the book "Beyond Digital: How Great Leaders Transform Their Organizations and Shape the Future," published by Harvard Business Review Press. He has also co-authore multiple articles on value creation and business transformation in Harvard Business Review and strategy+business, including “Digitizing Isn’t the Same as Digital Transformation,” “6 Leadership Paradoxes for the Post-Pandemic Era,” and “The Redefined No of the CFO,” “How to Engender a Performance Culture.”
“At school” doesn’t equal “learning.”
It’s no secret that just because a student is sitting in a classroom, there is no guarantee that student is actually learning something. This could be for a number of reasons, but any of those reasons point to some of the fundamental failings in our educational systems:
• The educational methods from the industrial age no longer work (one-to-many, rote memorization)
• Memorization of facts can be measured, but if a student can’t apply the knowledge, it is quickly forgotten
• Teachers are more and more being called upon to wear many hats besides that of teacher -- they are spread too thin -- and many are joining the “Great Resignation”
• In today’s fast-paced world, the knowledge found in school books is often outdated by the time our students are learning it
The team at soffos.ai have been working since 2017 to build artificial intelligence capabilities that help solve some of the most fundamental problems in our learning systems today. Their AI/ML solutions take into account rapidly changing knowledge and applies logic, context, semantics, etc, to create a fully interactive learning partner that can adapt to each individual’s specific learning needs. It helps track and measure whether students are able to apply what they’re learning; it can even read a student’s facial micro-expressions to determine whether learning is happening and changes course accordingly, providing exactly what the learner needs at that moment.
It is an incredible tool that empowers students and helps teachers create bespoke learning opportunities for students -- without adding more and more planning hours onto their plates.
We are thrilled to welcome the team from Soffos.ai to the show to talk about the incredible work they’re doing in the education space.
Aliki Constantinou EdD, Education Consultant, has been in the field of education for over 20 years as a teacher, leader and teacher trainer, complemented by a Doctorate in Educational Leadership focused on the impact of training in online cooperative learning techniques on self-efficacy.
Ken Hubbell, Interim Chief Product Officer, is an award-winning producer of advanced training solutions. As a SVP for Learning and Development, he presently leads Instructional Design Strategy & Innovation for a Fortune 50 financial services company, where he applies 20 years of assembling, developing and enabling diverse teams to create customer and stakeholder value.
Nikolas Kairinos, Founder & CEO, is an award-winning innovator with four decades of experience in AI. By the time he was 23, Nikolas was investing in companies, taking them public and selling them on. 34 years of entrepreneurship and 29 years of corporate finance & investment banking enables Nikolas to understand the problems caused by the relative lack of new ideas in AI and EdTech over the last 30 years.
The rules of leadership have completely changed over the last few years, and leaders have to adapt to the new expectations of the workforce. This episode we were thrilled to welcome two management and leadership scholars, Dr. Curtis Odom and Prof. Charn McAllister, for an incredible and thought-provoking discussion on the future of work.
Some of the points we covered:
• The importance of purpose for companies to attract great people
• The new "purpose of self"
• How company culture is changing post-COVID • How we can hold leaders accountable
• How academia is a huge part of the leadership and culture problem
Curtis Odom and Charn McAllister are the co-authors of MIT Sloan article "Why Pivoting People is a Strategic Priority."
Dr. Curtis L Odom, Executive Professor at Northeastern University. Curtis believes that learning should be experiential and participant-centered. After a 20-year career as an entrepreneur, consultant, and coach, Odom has published ‘Why Pivoting People is a Strategic Priority.’ Aspiring, motivating, and inspiring business owners to visualize their targets and execute the strategies and tactics to reach business and personal success.
As a sought-after leader in transformations, Curtis accelerates organizational change. Charn P McAllister, Management Professor at Northern Arizona University and author of Political Skills at Work. Charn is a researcher and writer, he has had many academic and popular outlets publish his work. Including his recent paper ‘Why Pivoting People is a Strategic Priority.’ The cap-wearing, marathon running, ex-military commander makes his expertise in interpersonal mistreatment, political skill, and stress accessible to all while teaching leadership and ethics.
Order of the British Empire, TEDx Speaker and Chartered Accountant, Vandana Saxena Poria is a disruptive visionary, master storyteller and curator who awakens and ignites organizations and people by instantly altering mindsets and perspective thoughts through diversity, inclusion and building people’s eco-systems.
She joined us to talk about her new book, Let Me Hijack Your Mind, which she co-authored with Alyque Padamsee. We had an incredible and thought-provoking discussion and came away with some fantastic learnings: - counterfactual thinking and how it can solve some of society’s biggest problems - the unique way that Alyque Padamsee viewed the world and how he changed India - Social Network Dynamics -- how do ideas spread? - the future of India as a diverse nation - the skill that Indian women will use to completely change the face of politics in India.
Vandana is Chief Alarmist at The Human Alarm Clock & Co, Visiting Faculty at Flame University, ICAEW Advisor, and Board Trustee at Common Purpose.
An interview about the Metaverse -- conducted IN the Metaverse!
Jeremy leads PwC's Metaverse Technologies team, helping clients implement virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and other virtual world technologies. He is also the author of Reality Check: How Immersive Technologies Can Transform Your Business, a book that anyone can pick up to better understand how VR and AR are being used in businesses all over the world.
He has featured in The Financial Times, The Economist, the BBC, and other media outlets. He has worked with organizations like the World Economic Forum and currently sits on the advisory board of Immerse UK, a government backed cross-sector industry body that supports the growth of immersive technologies.
He also happens to be a Chartered Accountant (but prefers not to advertise that too loudly!).
We are absolutely delighted to kick off the second episode in Season Three, with the incredible and accomplished executive Neahle Jones - an inclusion advocate and communication strategy expert with 20 years of digital transformation expertise - having been involved at companies like L’Oréal USA.
During the show, Neahle will be sharing her extensive knowledge in understanding culture and how the entire domain of diversity needs attention. Sharing personal stories about what happens when we break through the glass ceiling of diversity, focusing on the issues of discrimination, prejudice, and preconceived biases that are not only about race.
Neahle asks the difficult questions . . .
- Are organizations doing enough?
- How inclusive are companies for employees with diverse backgrounds and identities?
- Is there progress, or just token gestures?
Join us on the show, where Neahle explores the impact of a workforce that does not feel socially accepted. Amid ‘The Great Resignation,’ are people deciding to leave if they don’t feel welcomed into an inclusive organization?
We are proud and honored to welcome the genius scientist, author, and multiple Presidents award winner - Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar - on our first StraightTalk show of 2022. Throughout Dr. Mashelkar's career, he has written 25 books, 284 research papers and was awarded honorary doctorates by 44 universities. He has also actively served the Government of India by chairing 12 highly empowered 'Mashelkar Committees.' He has been a member of the Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister.
Dr. Mashelkar's contributions to the nation and science have been honoured by many awards. The most significant being the Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology and three Presidents Awards - the Padma Vibhushan, the Padma Bhushan, and the Padma Shri. He is the third Indian engineer to be inducted as a Fellow of the Royal Society, UK, and the first Indian to be elected as a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, US.
Through a sustained and visionary campaign for balanced intellectual property rights over three decades, Dr. Mashelkar spearheaded the successful challenge to the US patent on the use of turmeric for wound healing and the patent on Basmati rice. These landmark cases have set up new paradigms in protecting India's traditional knowledge base and leading to India's first Traditional Knowledge Digital Library.
In turn, at an international level, this has led to the initiation of the change of the International Patent Classification System to give traditional knowledge its rightful place.
During the show, we discuss with Dr. Mashelkar the two issues that he is deeply passionate about.
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Access equality despite income equality
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The power of aspirations that become possibilities
Dr. Mashelkar is not only a great human being who is humble and sensitive; he is an inspiration for all …
In 2007, Barclays Bank hired Mike Amato to lead a staff of 30,000 employees. When he packed his briefcase and left for the weekend, the BBC informed him that 30 undercover reporters had been embedded in their bank over the past 1½ years gathering audio/visual evidence about how they operate . . . and it would be aired on the BBC's Whistle-blower program that weekend.
When asked what it's like to have the BBC tear your team to shreds on national television, Mike responded, "Honestly, it started as the worst thing that's ever happened in my life. Then, it turned into the greatest gift I've ever received." Mike will be sharing how he confronted reality and was able to shift the organization's focus from short-term financial output to becoming a purpose-led organization.
Mike's obsessiveness with creating a culture of empowerment for his team, along with what he has learned from the power of an aligned culture, is behind his soon-to-be-released new book. "To create organizational energy is to set clear expectations and establish a culture where employees feel empowered to do their best work. When you create an environment like this, profits will flow naturally from there."
Mike has had an incredible journey from working on the floor to becoming a banking executive. He's been through phenomenal growth and transformation, inspiring leaders in his wake. In our discussion, we’ll explore:
✔️ How is focusing solely on profit and loss hurting the bottom line?
✔️ From Mike's experience on the Board of Tandem Bank – what are the most exciting developments in fintech, and what are some possible pitfalls we should be looking out for?
✔️ How leaders can create organizational energy by contributing rather than controlling
Join us as we discuss these questions and more!
It is with great pleasure that we welcome Dr. Asel Sartbaeva, University Research Fellow at the University of Bath to the show this week! Dr. Sartbaeva developed a silica coating that prevents vaccines from degrading at room temperature, potentially simplifying the distribution and reducing the cost of vaccination for millions of people, especially in hard-to-reach communities.
During the show, we discuss Dr. Sartbaeva's journey to the forefront of international science as a world-leading interdisciplinary chemist. Born in Kyrgyzstan before the collapse of the Soviet Union, Sartbaeva said science became her escape when there was so much instability around. Sartbaeva has gone on to become a celebrated associate professor in chemistry at the University of Bath.
She has won awards for her work, including a prize at the Royal Society of Chemistry's Emerging Technologies Competition in 2020. She was also named Woman of the Year 2021 by FDM Everywoman in Technology.
Dr. Sartbaeva's drive to tackle gender inequality in STEM came from her experiences studying and growing her career within the patriarchal Kyrgyzstan culture. Appointed UNICEF Ambassador for the 'Girls in Science' program in Kyrgyzstan, Dr. Sarbaeva is a force of nature, an outstanding role model, a tireless advocate for gender equality, and a game-changing scientist whose work will save lives around the world.
Together, we’ll dive into these important questions:
✔️ Post-pandemic - why eliminating the vaccination cold chain is an absolute priority.
✔️ Is competition amongst the scientific community driving or damaging innovation?
✔️ With women making up only 28% of the STEM workforce, what advances are being made to close the STEM gap?
Join us as we discuss these and more!
George Calhoun is the Director of the Hanlon Financial Systems Center and the Founder & Director of the Quantitative Finance Program at the Stevens Institute of Technology. He has spent 25 years in the high-tech segment of the wireless communications industry. He is the author of several books on wireless technology, and his latest book "Price & Value" is a guide to equity market valuation metrics. During the show, we will discuss George’s most recent delegation as co-principal at The Center for Research toward Advancing Financial Technologies, or CRAFT. This ten-year program underscores the US’s strategic investment in managing risks and unintended consequences of the emerging – and yet unknown – challenges facing the high-tech financial services industry, with a particular emphasis on China.
With George, we will explore:
✔️ What is the impact of FinTech, and how is this transforming the world?
✔️ How has entrepreneurial culture quickly and innovatively led China to be creative industry disruptors?
✔️ Referring to the strange and curious disappearance of Alibaba founder and CEO Jack Ma, what is the message that the Chinese government is sending here?
Join us as we discuss these questions and more!
Nolan Bushnell is often referred to as the father of the video game industry. He is best known as the founder of Atari Corporation and Chuck E. Cheese Pizza Time Theatre. Nolan is passionate about enhancing and improving the educational process by integrating the latest in brain science. He truly enjoys motivating and inspiring others with his views on entrepreneurship, creativity, innovation, and education.
Nolan will be sharing how he has teamed with prominent educators, game designers, venture capitalists, and start-up veterans to lead the next wave of educational gaming as a core technology provider focused on remote learning and gamification-centered learning experiences.
✔️ How does Nolan see the evolution of education, and how does the school of the future look?
✔️ With AI widening the scope of the gig economy, are we ensuring that students today are competent in their respective careers?
✔️ What are Nolan’s predictions for the post-pandemic future of work and have things forever changed?
Join us as we discuss these questions and more.
Over the past 14 years, Max, with his brother, Ben, has built an empire founded on passion and strong partnerships to create jobs in the city where they grew up. Through organic growth, they employed over 750 staff before COVID 19 turned the world upside down. In May 2020, over 52% of U.S. small businesses in the leisure and hospitality industry reported temporarily closing, and over 35% reported a decrease in the number of paid employees. Max discusses how, following the devastating impact the COVID pandemic has had on hospitality, they have reframed their approach for serving their community.
It was a real team effort to navigate the waters and to prioritise what really matters in life. Through supporting employees to stay involved and engaged, they forged ahead as a team to not only thrive in the post-pandemic world but astonishingly to open another restaurant mid-pandemic. The Goldbergs create a culture of pride that translates well with staff “People may not remember what you said or did, but they always remember how they feel.”
During the show, we will discuss Max’s mission to create a better world and how he has formed partnerships to help others achieve their dreams.
✔️ How to exercise the power of resilience and creativity to re-energise your hospitality business?
✔️ What are the core traits, skills, values needed in a post-pandemic world to thrive as an entrepreneur in the hospitality industry ?
✔️ Why is it so important to help others no matter where you are in life Join us as we discuss these questions and more!
Our highly acclaimed guest is bestselling author, speaker, organizational theorist, and advisor for start-up companies in the Wildcat Venture Partners portfolios, and established high-tech enterprises, including Salesforce, Microsoft, Autodesk, F5Networks, Gainsight, Google, and Splunk.
Selling more than a million copies, Crossing the Chasm is arguably one of Geoffrey's most renowned books for addressing the challenges met by start-up companies. Also written, amid an inspiring collection of related bestsellers, Zone to Win gained notable prominence for addressing the challenges large enterprises face when embracing disruptive innovations.
So, it is with great anticipation to be discussing Geoffrey's latest release - The Infinite Staircase, that metaphysically asks, "where do I fit in the grand scheme of things?" and ethically, "how should I behave?
In addition to his books, Geoffrey will explore what it means to be a straight talker and the risks of false narratives, half-truths, and lies; why are these tolerated in government but not in business? Although the public sector has a great deal of impact right now, through research and mentorship programs, Geoffrey envisions that the next generation of private sector leaders will step up to make a change. During the show and through the lens of his books, Geoffrey talks about: ✔️ Why is now the most important time to re-calibrate yourself, your mindset, actions, and a sense of purpose. ✔️ How to put a stop to false narratives and a blatant acceptance of lying in society today. ✔️ What is the infinite staircase, and how can you apply it to your business and personal life?
Join us as we discuss these questions and more!
Our special guest is co-founder and former CEO of Green Thumb Industries - one of the largest legal cannabis operators in the US. Peter shares his journey of stepping back from his responsibilities as CEO to concentrate on his true passion for philanthropy and social justice for communities that have been impacted by the war on drugs. Peter discusses how he owes it to the people who have lost, where he has won within the cannabis industry, and how he has dedicated the rest of his life to using his wealth for the social good. The cannabis industry is now a multi-million-dollar industry. Cannabis-derived products have gained ground in the market through legalisation in many locations worldwide, and study shows that more than 4000 products are introduced each month. With the increase in this product's popularity, dynamic growth is set to peak this year. Peter explains that he has a profound sense of guilt around his good luck and good fortune. Other people have lost where he has won within the cannabis industry, with many going to jail. Black and Hispanic communities have suffered disproportionately from draconian enforcement of anti-marijuana laws. Living by his mantra "pay it backward," which is the reverse of the well-known proverb "pay it forward," Peter uses his good fortune to help level this playing field. During the show with Peter, we will discuss his journey that is unwavering in authenticity, how he endeavors to tackle social inequality, and more: ✔️ How to think differently about building wealth and giving back to those who need it most. ✔️ Why the concept of winning while others lose is flawed and needs urgent repair - revealing Peter’s personal story and life experiences as evidence. ✔️ What civic responsibilities do the leaders of tomorrow have to own and fulfil to in-turn empower and inspire millions to thrive
We are proud and honored to welcome the genius scientist, author, and multiple Presidents award winner - Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar - on our first StraightTalk.Live show of the year.
Throughout Dr. Mashelkar's career, he has written 25 books, 284 research papers and was awarded honorary doctorates by 44 universities. He has also actively served the Government of India by chairing 12 highly empowered 'Mashelkar Committees.' He has been a member of the Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister. Dr. Mashelkar's contributions to the nation and science have been honored by many awards. The most significant being the Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology and three Presidents Awards - the Padma Vibhushan, the Padma Bhushan, and the Padma Shri. He is the third Indian engineer to be inducted as a Fellow of the Royal Society, UK, and the first Indian to be elected as a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, US.
Through a sustained and visionary campaign for balanced intellectual property rights over three decades, Dr. Mashelkar spearheaded the successful challenge to the US patent on the use of turmeric for wound healing and the patent on Basmati rice. These landmark cases have set up new paradigms in protecting India's traditional knowledge base and leading to India's first Traditional Knowledge Digital Library. In turn, at an international level, this has led to the initiation of the change of the International Patent Classification System to give traditional knowledge its rightful place.
So much of western society’s values are centered around consumption and wealth as a measure of success. But global warming, resource shortages, and COVID-19 have been forcing corporate leaders and governments to take a hard look at the inherent pitfalls of unregulated wealth-building.
One economic concept that may hold the answers to our problems is “sustainable capitalism” Though the ideas behind this concept were first conceived of around 20 years ago, it has only recently begun to gain any traction.
Our special guest this week is noted historian, commentator, and former financial executive Zachary Karabell. His recently published book, Inside Money, details the fascinating history of Brown Brothers Harriman, the oldest and one of the largest private investment banks in the US. A beacon of sustainable capitalism, the company has set itself up as a stark contrast to many of its competitors. It conducts business in a way that has allowed it to successfully weather numerous catastrophic financial storms since the 18th century, all while maintaining a trustworthy reputation.
With Zachary, we’ll discuss sustainable capitalism, ESG, and more:
✔️Was the global pandemic the wakeup call we all needed? Or will it be “business as usual” as we gradually reopen?
✔️What is sustainable capitalism, in practice? Isn’t sustainability fundamentally in opposition to capitalism?
✔️How can individuals best contribute? Corporations? Governments?
✔️What incentives do companies have to change when their investors have so much control?
Join us as we discuss these questions and more!
The Promise and Reality of Blockchains, Tokens and Cryptocurrencies:
There are now hundreds of cryptocurrencies trading on the market, and new ones are appearing every week. The valuations continue to be volatile, and countries like China, India, et al are pushing tighter regulations and even outright bans. Criticism around bitcoin (and other crypto) energy mining costs is escalating. Yet tokens (like NonFungible Tokens — NFTs) are seeing dramatic growth as virtual artifacts. And public blockchains sponsored by governments are gaining traction as an alternative to fiat currencies.
Discussion questions include:
✔️What is the future of private and public blockchain?
✔️What are/will be the applications? What about private crypto-currencies? NFTs?
✔️Will legacy financial services institutions adopt crypto? How? When?
✔️Will blockchains replace or augment fiat currencies? Other transactions?
✔️Will crypto-currencies (esp bitcoin mining) solve their potential "energy utilization" crisis?
✔️What are some of the other current impediments to crypto and blockchains, and how will they likely be addressed and by whom?
✔️Will crypto and blockchains be adopted by traditional enterprises for transaction processing?
✔️What will be the role of central banks and regulators in crypto?
✔️What is/will be the impact of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) on crypto and virtual currencies?
✔️Are NFTs a passing fad or will there be some new forms that drive a frenzy and speculation?
Join us as we welcome special guest Dale Kutnick, who is SVP and distinguished analyst at Gartner and founded the Laura and Dale Kutnick Foundation. Dale will share his passionate insights on the future of crypto and its impact on today’s and tomorrow’s marketplace.
Augmented and Virtual Reality are a wonderful set of tools that open up a lot of possibilities in how we experience and share information. Yet as we have less interaction with the physical world, we can become more anti-social, depressed and disconnected from physical interactions and environments where rich exchanges occur and build emotional intelligence and adaptability. It’s easy to imagine a near-future where, we don’t buy things in physical stores, we don’t go to the doctor, and it becomes even more difficult to make a living in the physical world, which is becoming economically unproductive with travel costs and having to compete with the likes of Amazon, eCommerce, etc. How do we find the balance of living in the physical world and use the virtual world as a tool to enhance our experience, not disconnect us from it? How do we take care of our mental health and connection with our ecosystem instead of insulate from it? Join us this Thursday at StraightTalk.Live as we invite special guest William Davidow, Author & Investor at Mohr Davidow Ventures to discuss his unique perspective on how we’ve already been implementing the gifts of virtual reality for over 2 Million years of our evolution and what we need to be mindful of if we are to survive and thrive in the next phase.
It’s estimated that 65% of kids in school today will end up working a job that doesn’t currently exist. So how do we develop talent for the next generation and those that are underserved in today’s job market — in the most efficient and thorough way possible? The secret ingredient is in creating communities that upskill and train our workforce with relevant skill sets to meet the needs of the day. So how does one do this in a post-pandemic era? What is the secret to building virtual communities? Join us as we invite special guest Russ Shaw, Managing Director of London Tech Advocates and Global Tech Advocates, to discuss lessons learned from building and galvanizing a global community that is volunteer-powered and digitally equipping the workforce of tomorrow.
At 21-years-old, Harpreet A De Singh was the first female pilot for Air India. She also became the first female instructor of Air India’s pilots. And last year, she became India’s first ever female CEO of an airline.
To say that she knows how to blaze a new trail is a major understatement. Her wisdom, experience, and incredible story will no doubt inspire you to overcome your own challenges, no matter the environment or circumstances.
Join us as we invite special guest Harpreet A De Singh, CEO of Alliance Air, to discuss:
✔️The essential qualities for maverick leadership and making a tangible impact
✔️How to rise above company politics and bring people together
✔️Putting your ego to the side to focus on the bigger picture
✔️Creating a culture of honesty and transparency versus just saying what people want to hear
✔️And how to move up and not give up when times are difficult
The recent ransomware attacks on the Colonial pipeline and the JBS meatpacking giant make it clear that cyberattacks are on the rise and that even our food is at risk.
Non-tech companies are not prepared to prevent these attacks, and it's only a matter of time before your data and privacy are breached. So what's being done about it?
You may not ever have heard of Section 230, a US law (enacted back in 1996) that protects online companies who publish 3rd-party content (think Facebook, Snapchat, or all other social media) from liability related to the content their users publish. It also has implications in relation to your data privacy.
In short, Section 230 is no longer good enough in our current circumstances, and it urgently needs reform. Additionally, the tools we use every day to communicate with one another are often putting us at personal risk. In this week's show, we'll dig into this important topic and tackle these questions:
✔️What exactly is Section 230 and why should we care?
✔️What are the risks if we do nothing?
✔️What actions do we each need to take on an individual level in order to better protect ourselves?
✔️What solutions are being developed for today and into the future?
Join us this week with repeat guest Anurag Lal, the CEO of NetsFere, a secure messaging solution for B2B communications. Together, we'll explore this critically important topic and learn about the different ways people and companies are tackling the issue.
Of all the global weaknesses that COVID exposed, the supply chain has been perhaps the most debilitating.
Breakdowns in the supply chain for various industries such as agriculture, medicine and medical equipment, and raw materials left companies around the world floundering to keep up.
It also highlighted the need for how we can use AI to better forecast distribution problems in real-time; helping us to make better decisions.
AI is beginning to have the capability to assist in negotiating virtually through reading face-to-face interactions and body language, once thought to only be effective in-person.
✔️What if AI can be trained for a win-win scenario for all stakeholders?
✔️What if we can create a sustainable outcome where suppliers make as much profit while shareholders still maximize earnings?
✔️How can technology enable better distribution of goods and services?
Join us on StraightTalk.Live with special guest Joseph Martinez, Managing Director and Chief Procurement Officer of BNY Mellon, as we explore the latest in how AI and tech is changing the supply chain landscape and the future of business.
To anyone paying attention, it is clear that we need to shift how we relate to our planet if we are going to thrive, let alone survive.
The indigenous person’s perspective is an under-represented voice at the table and is a critical part of the solution. For hundreds of years, “civilized” humanity has related to the Earth with an extraction mentality — taking whatever we can get. This is the paradigm that currently exists in most governments, businesses and organizations.
In contrast, indigenous peoples have long since been calling for a more holistic, sustainable approach. Together with Grandmother La’ne Saan Moonwalker, we’ll discuss the current climate and environment challenges, with ideas from a First Nations perspective:
✔️What is the difference between sustainability and reciprocity?
✔️What are the dangers of ‘legacy’?
✔️How dire is our current global situation?
✔️What is the way through?
Join us for this very special show with our esteemed guest Grandmother Láné Sáan Moonwalker, who has been an oracle, healer, spiritual teacher and environmental guardian for more than 50 years. She is on the World Council of Spiritual Elders through the ANIWA Community under the auspices of the BOA Foundation since 2019. In addition, she has taught classes through the Center for Sacred Studies. This promises to be one of our most enlightening discussions yet, so don’t miss it!
Today’s educational systems leave us ill-prepared for the challenges we face post-graduation. The status quo isn’t going to cut it anymore.
We simply can’t keep up with the amount of information coming at us each day. And our archaic educational systems need a major overhaul, where rote memorization isn’t effective or timely.
In fact, 65% of kids at school today will end up working in a job that doesn’t even exist yet. So how do we best prepare the next generations, who clearly need a way of learning that is more effective and adaptive?
We need a new paradigm around education, and this is exactly what the guests on our panel are at the forefront of, in terms of integrating AI and other technologies to forge more effective ways to learn and grow.
Join us this Thursday as we invite guest speakers Nikolas Kairinos, CEO and founder of Soffos.ai, Ken Hubbell, Senior Manager, Instructional Design Strategy & Innovation at Wells Fargo, and Aliki Constantinou, Professional Educational Consultant at Soffos.ai, as we debate and discuss the latest technologies and integrations that are disrupting the educational space.
Meet the Panelists:
Nikolas Kairinos is an award-winning innovator with four decades of experience in AI. Also a serial entrepreneur who bridges the divide between scientists & others, leading to the creation of novel, practical and impactful AI solutions. For over 30 years, he has participated as an entrepreneur, investor and advisor in building numerous software start-ups around the world. He and his team function as a tech accelerator for start-ups with artificial intelligence at their core. Nikolas is recognized for his vast publication history, public speaking reputation and deep involvement in the field of AI.
Aliki Constaninou has been in the field of education for over 20 years as a teacher, leader and teacher trainer, complemented by a Doctorate in Educational Leadership focused on the impact of training in online cooperative learning techniques on self-efficacy. She is consistently fascinated by what enhances learner engagement and how the dynamics of such engagement incessantly metamorphoses with the changing times and technologies we are exposed to. Learning more about how to engage learners in order to enhance their learning experience are her major priorities as an educator.
Ken Hubbell is a strategic and innovative learning leader and an award winning producer of training solutions. Ken presently leads Instructional Design Strategy & Innovation as a SVP for Learning and Development at Wells Fargo Bank, and he has over 20 years of experience assembling, developing and enabling diverse teams, creating customer and stakeholder value. His software development background is in the areas of NLP, AI, game design, and VR. Ken has designed and developed programs for a variety of organizations including the FAA, NASA, the United Nations, Caterpillar, Ingersoll Rand/Trane and General Motors.
What does tech have to do with income inequality? Well, for starters, we can better address society’s looming environmental and social issues if our basic needs are getting met. Technology can be our greatest friend, helping us solve problems that run the gamut — from pandemics, carbon and global warming, education, social injustice, and more!
But as the income gap continues to grow, we have created an economic climate that flirts with collapse.
✔️So how can digital transformation level the playing field?
✔️Is inclusive capitalism a real thing, or just another seductive spin like ‘trickle down economics?’
✔️What are the latest technologies and platforms that show us a better model of how greater income can be earned and enjoyed by a greater number of people?
✔️And even better, what other problems can we start to tackle with tech innovation?
Join us as we welcome special guest, Dale Kutnick, who is SVP and distinguished analyst at Gartner and founded the Laura and Dale Kutnick Foundation, as he shares his passionate insights on how tech can address a wide range of problems, and what steps we need to take to get the ball rolling.
Back by popular demand! We’re thrilled to welcome back our esteemed panel of global youth climate leaders for a second round of discussions on Net-Zero.
In order to meet the 1.5°C global warming target in the Paris Agreement, global carbon emissions should reach net zero by the year 2050. A lofty and admirable goal. But what good are goals if we aren’t making measurable progress toward them? Not much. In part two of our discussion, we’ll be asking these questions:
✔️What are the incremental steps we need to be taking now to achieve net-zero by 2050?
✔️How can we hold ourselves and others accountable?
✔️What areas are the most important for us to focus our efforts?
✔️How can we offset the challenges presented by climate change deniers?
Meet the panelists:
Beth Eden is an independent sustainability impact and engagement consultant, implementing SDGs in institutions and networks globally. She is also a volunteer Sustainability Communications Officer for SDSN Youth (Sustainable Development Solutions Network), a global movement to build a network of institutions to promote practical solutions for sustainable development and implement the United Nations SDGs and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Beth was recently named one of Corporate Knights 30 Under 30 Sustainability Leaders.
Flaviu Cipcigan, PhD, is a researcher and strategist at IBM Research. His research uses artificial intelligence to accelerate the discovery of new materials for carbon capture. Flaviu also co-authored a method to accelerate the discovery of antibiotics published in Nature Biomedical Engineering. He led a joint project between IBM Research and a multinational pharmaceutical company to improve collaboration in drug discovery. He holds a PhD in physics from the University of Edinburgh. Flaviu co-founded and serves as co-curator of Global Shapers Manchester, and he was recently included in the Forbes 30 under 30 list.
Luna Abadia is the Founder and Executive Director of the Effective Climate Action Project, a youth-led environmental organization with a mission to promote effective and systemic solutions to climate change.
She is pursuing the International Baccalaureate Diploma and is in her 11th year of the Spanish Immersion Program. Luna spent a year abroad in Japan as a Rotary Youth Exchange Ambassador, where she represented the US and won the JAFIE National Japanese Speech Contest for high school students in Japan at both the regional and prefectural levels with her speech on climate change.
Lore Van Onsem is a climate activist and author of If Nature Had a Voice, about a girl struggling to find a place for climate change in her life. She learns about the reasoning behind human's complicated relationship with nature, the chance humans have to survive climate change, and more. Lore has been invited to join Darcy Winslow (Founder of Academy for Systems Change, former Nike GM) on the 2041 ClimateForce Expedition to Antarctica in November 2021.
Vivek Badiani is the Co-founder eCO-SENSE, an ultra low-cost smart farming kit. Sensors in the soil measure metrics such as temperature, humidity, moisture and carbon dioxide emissions as well as nutrients. The sensors are sustainably powered using a biophotovoltaic cell that generates electricity from photosynthetic materials such as vascular plants and can be placed directly in the field, making batteries redundant. The data is transmitted wirelessly and stored in a connected cloud platform. Vivek is currently studying to achieve a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Cambridge.
How can you use your platform for good — whether you have a legacy business or are a startup?
It’s one thing to talk about corporate social responsibility, and it’s another thing to actually do it.
Heineken has been hard at work leading the pack in rebooting its entire growth strategy though a sustainability lens.
Learn how a large corporation can use their influence for good with such programs as:
- Carbon neutrality in the entire value chain
- Fair wages
- Sustainable ingredients and farming practices
- A balanced “all stakeholders”business model and much more
Join us with special guest Stacey Tank, Chief Transformation and Corporate Affairs Officer for The Heineken Company, as we discuss their sustainability efforts, as well as her fascinating journey to help Heineken make a real impact — and what you can learn from her story.
China is on the path towards becoming the next superpower. How they lead will have a drastic impact in every sector, including the environment. What will the new silk road look like? In this episode, we will explore:
- What is different about the US policy towards China than the past Soviet Union/Cold War era?
- What is the pulse check of the Chinese youth in how they see the world today?
- How can we shift mentalities from aggressors and enemies to collaborators and stewards of this planet?
Please welcome back John Perkins, Author of Confessions of an Economic Hit-Man and several other NYT best-selling books, as we explore his upcoming book on the Rise of China and what we can learn first-hand from his research and experience in the field.
For the one-year anniversary of StraightTalk.Live and in celebration of Earth Day 2021, we are proud to welcome a distinguished group of young global climate leaders for a panel discussion on the environment and climate change. Together, we will discuss "net-zero" from the varying perspectives of our panelists, who represent climate activism, eco-startups, and eco-tech initiatives. Questions we'll dive into include:
✔️Is it too late for net-zero?
✔️How can we actually meet the net-zero goal set by the UN and world leaders?
✔️What are the viable innovations and solutions to help us get there?
✔️What can we do at a societal, government, and individual level to make a difference?
✔️What are we missing if we only focus on carbon emissions and net-zero?
About the panelists:
Beth Eden is an independent sustainability impact and engagement consultant and the Cofounder of the Impact Alliance.
Luna Abadia is the Founder and Executive Director of the Effective Climate Action Project.
Flaviu Cipcigan, PhD, is a researcher and strategist at IBM Research, using artificial intelligence to accelerate the discovery of new materials for carbon capture.
Lore Van Onsem is a climate activist and the author of If Nature Had a Voice.
Vivek Badiani, PhD is the Co-founder eCO-SENSE. He is working toward a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Cambridge.
How we work is changing at unparalleled levels.
Literally overnight, the majority of the world has been working from home, juggling family and work life, relying on technology for communicating and getting work done, and thinking beyond your geographic scope to hire key talent.
✔️What does the future of work hold for us as we find our way out of this pandemic?
✔️How does the shift from traditional models of shareholder perspectives to inclusion of all stakeholders change the landscape?
✔️What does corporate responsibility need to look like in the coming decade?
✔️And what do you need to know as a leader to prepare your team and company for the radical changes that are happening?
Join us as we invite special guest Nicole Sahin, CEO and Founder of Globalization Partners, as we discuss the future of talent and other global trends that will equip you for what’s coming next.
It only takes a brief glance into the news these days to understand that we as a global society have completely lost our way.
We are suffering from social and economic inequality, racial divides, and climate crisis.
One of the biggest factors that plays into all of these challenges is corporate greed. Corporations are just starting to wake up and realize that consumers will no longer support these unsustainable and unfair practices.
Big companies have responded by creating corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects, diversity and inclusion (D&I) policies, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives. But is any of it trustworthy or authentic?
Society is demanding a new social contract, one that accomplishes more than just lip service.
Join us as we welcome back third-time repeat guest Charles Eisenstein, one of the great philosophers and integrative thinkers of our age. Hailed as a trailblazer by Huffington Post, Charles is the author of Sacred Economics, which traces the history of money from ancient gift economies to modern capitalism, revealing how the money system has contributed to alienation, competition, and scarcity, destroyed community, and necessitated endless growth.
Together, we’ll explore these questions:
- What is the new social contract?
- How can we do better for the environment?
- How can a diversity of world views within a company change the DNA of the organization and its raison d’être?
- How can we be sure big companies are moving beyond token gestures into real change?
- Can corporations be part of an ecological transformation?
As US leadership has been waning over the last several years, we are experiencing a fundamental break of global structures, which in turn has laid the groundwork for new advances in geopolitics, trade, and technology.
These radical changes are having significant implications for individuals and societies.
✔️So what is happening to human beings as a result of these radical changes today?
✔️What factors are brand new that we haven’t considered before?
✔️What conversations do we need to lead in order tol prepare us for the times ahead?
Join us with our special guest Mark Stahlman, CEO of Exogenous, Inc. Mark brings to the discussion an extensive background in finance and digital (he was the one who brought AOL public in 1992). We will explore the digital disruptions that are guaranteed to affect us all as our global landscape is being shaken up.
We were thrill to have a chance to pick the brain of the OG fearless innovator! Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari, former boss of Steve Jobs—he TURNED DOWN Jobs' offer of 33% of Apple for $50K!
A serial entrepreneur and innovator who is recognized as one of the founding fathers of the video game industry and was named one of Newsweek’s “50 Men Who Changed America,” Bushnell has founded over 20 businesses including Atari, Chuck E. Cheese, and several others.
He has built an incredible life out of innovation and entrepreneurism, and he has learned a lot of lessons about risk and reward. We can't wait to sit at his feet and learn.
✔️Successfully equipping the next generation to make the world a better place—what do we need to be doing NOW to lay that foundation?
✔️What are the best practices that allow you and your team to get into the zone to see what others aren’t seeing?
✔️How do you trust your intuition AND do the necessary research to see around the corners of your industry?
Join us to find out what it takes to stay on your entrepreneurial edge, balancing risk and reward, and how to anticipate where the marketplace is going.
You can be the smartest person in the room and still not know how to inspire your audience toward action.
You can be an impressive visionary and still not know how to share in a powerful way that influences your team, company, or investors.
Storytelling is the secret ingredient that allows leaders and thinkers to transmit data that matters. It’s the heart of influencing relationships — whether that involves your team, business, community or nation.
This week, we’ll be digging into the art of storytelling:
✔️Learn how to weave together data points, facts, and knowledge with the magic that creates an inspiring story.
✔️Use stories to transform the way people think about important topics.
✔️Learn the essential components of a great story so you can foster engagement and inspire change.
Join us with special guest Jay Golden, Author and CEO of Retellable. He has worked with companies such as Google, Youtube, Facebook, and LinkedIn, as well as startups and organizations around the world. Together, we’ll take a hard look at the stories we tell, the ones we avoid, and what stories we can use to inform the future.
Have you accepted the new normal yet?
When COVID hit, nearly all of us were taken completely by surprise, and this state of shock has been underlying all our actions (and inactions) since — for more than a year now. Some are still trying to “wait it out” and wonder when things will “get back to normal.”
If you are finding it difficult to move past the shock and adjust to new ways of working, leading, and collaborating, THIS is the show for you to watch!
We’re going to be diving in and finding answers to these important questions:
✔️What are the keys to remaining relevant in times of rapid change?
✔️How can we change our focus from a “waiting” mindset toward a “catalyst” mindset?
✔️How do we upgrade our own operating systems, so that the way we perceive and relate to the world helps us adapt?
✔️PLUS: Learn four critical questions that all leaders should be asking themselves to not only adapt to the current times, but to excel.
Join us with our special guest Rishad Tobaccowala, author and Chief Growth Officer of Publicis Groupe. We’ll explore his latest book, Restoring The Soul Of Business: Staying Human in the Age of Data, and we’ll unpack his key findings to give you practical tips on how to lead in uncertain times.
Collaboration is a key ingredient in any successful team or organization. But what does true collaboration look like, in practice?
We are in an era where hero worship of strong leaders is at its peak, but we are seeing the downfalls of this leadership structure. Instead, shared leadership, as well as honoring and working through our differences, is emerging as a proven effective structural model for companies that value adaptability and innovation.
Yet our diverging values and ideas often get in the way of our ability to collaborate.
In this week’s discussion, we’ll uncover three main roadblocks to true collaboration, and we’ll learn how we can bridge these gaps.
We are thrilled to be joined again by Darcy Winslow, former Global Nike GM/VP and President of the Academy for Systems Change and Magnolia Moonshot 2030: A new narrative for women’s leadership, creating the conditions to activate our collective power to address the greatest challenges we face today.
Leaders are faced with difficult choices every day, but when you factor in crisis circumstances like we are dealing with now, even the most basic decisions can feel hard. This week we are looking at ways to become more confident and effective in your decision-making during chaos and crisis. We’ll dig into these questions:
✔️What type of leaders are best suited to understanding and navigating through a crisis situation?
✔️What are the necessary decision-making tools we can all learn to improve our own leadership skills?
✔️What types of teams do best when facing adversity?
✔️How can teams work effectively to make hard choices under difficult circumstances?
✔️How can we more easily discern our best options, given today’s constant onslaught of new information?
Join us with our special guest Gautam Mukunda, author, research fellow and host of the podcast “Nasdaq’s World Reimagined.” We’ll explore his latest research on the key attributes that are elevating leaders and teams and helping them succeed in these challenging times.
Augmented and virtual reality technologies have applications that reach far beyond the gaming world.
Yet most of us still don’t understand everything that can be accomplished using AR/VR. We’re seeing its application across multiple sectors, including forensic visualization, healthcare, leadership development, remote assistance, and many more.
This week we’ll discover:
✔️Some of the most interesting and innovative ways that leading edge organizations are using AR/VR technologies
✔️Where the technology is heading in the near and far future
✔️Potential pitfalls that we need to be discussing
✔️PLUS: How can these technologies help us be even more connected, more empathic, and more able to break down barriers that divide us?
Join us with special guest Jeremy Dalton, Head of XR at PwC UK, as we explore how organizations are changing the ways we work through adoption of AR/VR technologies, and what this means for our future.
What is a “Strategic Surprise?”
Catastrophic world events can send even the most successful businesses into a death spiral. If you haven’t anticipated or prepared for the “unforeseeable” (i.e. COVID 9/11, market crash, etc.), you could end up watching your life’s work go down in flames. We’ve seen with COVID over the past few months that this is happening on a massive, worldwide scale.
✔️So what can we learn from the ‘Cassandras’ of the world? These are people who notice patterns, who can anticipate outcomes and help us better prepare for and deal with chaos when it arises.
✔️Can we learn how to anticipate surprises?
✔️And can we learn to see present patterns more clearly, to help us make better decisions right now?
Join us with special guest Milo Jones, the co-author of Constructing Cassandra: Reframing Intelligence Failure at the CIA, 1947-2001. He is a cyber security expert, strategist and analyst, and he will lead our discussion and give us keys to becoming more adaptable during strategic surprises.
Father Time is undefeated. We can’t escape our mortality. Yet with modern science and technology, we have more insights than ever before about how we can improve our health, wellbeing, and vitality in ways that bring quality years to our quantity of years.
In this episode, we’ll sit down with special guest Romy Jardine, CEO of BioTech Life Sciences, whose research is all about finding ways to slow down the aging process. He’ll share with us the latest research on managing stress, improving health and well-being, and achieving higher performance — regardless of biological age.
Since 1970, when Milton Friedman declared that the only responsibility of a business is to maximise short-term profits, regardless of social and environmental costs, there has been an accelerated trend toward a “death economy.” That is to say, we are witnessing disturbing symptoms — climate change, COVID-19, income inequality, and lack of diversity in the workplace, among others.
- So what does a life economy look like?
- Is it possible to create an economy that gives decent rates of return, cleans up pollution, supports new technologies to regenerate the environment — all while benefiting corporations?
- PLUS: 5 key questions that will alter our perceptions of our reality and transform how we relate to our environment.
Join us with our special guest John Perkins, the NYT best-selling author of Confessions of an Economic HItman, and Chief Economist advising the World Bank, United Nations, IMF, U.S. Treasury Department, Fortune 500 corporations, and countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Together, we will explore these questions and discover new possibilities for economic success.
Where does following the “blueprint for success” leave you?
Most of us have a clearly defined picture of what it means to be successful. But somewhere along the way, among our achievements and accolades, we all experience moments of questioning, wondering whether something is still missing from our lives.
How often do you feel drained by your work and your relationships vs. feeling nourished and inspired?
The truth is that “success” means nothing if it isn’t aligned with your deeper purpose on this Earth. So what can you about it? Our special guest, Ayelet Baron, the author of F*ck the Bucket List, will show you how you can figure out if you’re on an unfulfilling success train to nowhere. She’ll give you practical steps to take to figure out your purpose and your path to get there.
Formerly the Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer for Cisco Canada, Baron is one of Forbes Top 50 Global Female Futurists. We'll hear the incredible story of how a literal crash landing woke her up, helping her discover her life’s true purpose and giving her the courage to leave behind her jet-setting, corporate lifestyle. We’ll explore what her life lessons can mean for you directly and practically.
Join us as we sit down with physicist, author, and consciousness expert Tom Campbell who has worked as an applied physicist for over 40 years — including a decade with Army technical intelligence, two decades with National Missile Defense and several years as a consultant to NASA, as we discuss:
- Out-of-body experiences and what it has to teach us about our current physical reality
- Why fear, ego, beliefs are the greatest limiters to evolving our consciousness
- How to balance rational and intuitive modes of perception for greater problem solving
- And how you can make better choices that align with your highest-level growth and potentiality
For purpose-driven leaders today who want to make a difference, working in the corporate world can be like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. The foundations of conventional operating structures that have defined corporate hierarchy for many years are beginning to crack open, and there is newfound space for leaders whose ideas and methods challenge conventional thinking.
But it takes a special kind of courage and mental resilience to survive under these conditions. It ain’t easy being the outlier, the maverick, the one who goes against the tide. However, this is EXACTLY what is needed right now.
There are so many ways in which companies are being dragged, kicking and screaming, into a new way of being. Consumers have increasingly high expectations, and 2020 has proven that innovation and change can happen at lightspeed. So what are we gonna do about it?
In this episode, we’ll be hosting Lisa Wardlaw, the Chief Strategic Financial Officer of Farmers Insurance. She will share her unique perspective on what it’s like to be an outlier in the corporate world.
We’ll discuss what it takes not only to survive, but to thrive and truly make a difference in the way corporations approach innovation, diversity & inclusion, CSR, and other initiatives.
More than ever, the business world is rethinking the purpose of a corporation. We're moving away from the singular focus on shareholder value, and toward a focus on what’s good for people, the planet, and business.
Companies know they can’t hang on to employees for 20 years any more. So instead of investing in old-fashioned “perks” that once lured people in, smart, forward-thinking businesses are investing directly in developing their people, and helping them make a difference in the world.
On the whole, millennials and Gen Z don’t want to be a part of a company that isn’t aligned with their values, and their sense of meaning and purpose. These newest generations of workers want to make an impact, they care about the environment, and they are creative problem solvers. They aren’t interested in keeping the status quo.
In this episode:
✔️Redefining what it means for companies to be “successful”
✔️New ways for leaders to approach the topics that really matter to today’s workforce
✔️People development as a self-sustainable portion of your business
Join us with special guest Jonathan Raymond, author and CEO of Refound. We’ll dig into how an organization can make people development the core aspect of the business, improving everything — including profitability.
Like it or not, the world is a completely different place than it was 10 months ago.
Going forward, leaders must develop their ability to think differently. Embrace a maverick mindset, or wither on the vine. It is clear that traditional leadership methods are no longer enough.
This week, we explore two key aspects of a maverick leader’s uncanny abilities: intuition and influence.
The first, intuition, has long been touted by the world’s most effective leaders as a trusted guide. Scientific studies have shown that relying on intuition is most effective and helpful in VUCA times like we’re currently experiencing.
While intuition can help guide you, your ability to wield influence for good during these times is similarly critical. An effective leader understands how to share their message in a way that inspires others to act boldly.
In this episode, we’ll show you ways to practice and develop these two skills:
✔️Ways to distinguish intuitive nudges from doubt, fear, and other noise
✔️A guide to determining when it’s most appropriate to rely on intuition over rational mind
✔️The REAP method — four steps to getting great results from all your important conversations (from pitches to staff meetings)
✔️How to apply the REAP method in a variety of scenarios
PLUS: StraightTalk.Live was borne of the conviction that society and its leaders were not ready for COVID and its resulting challenges. We have made it our mission to interview the world’s most creative thinkers, bold leaders, and knowledgeable experts so that we can all learn together how to adopt a maverick mindset. We must change the way we do things so we won’t be caught out again. This is the future of leadership.
Is there hope for the journalism of tomorrow?
Journalism and media in general have never seen a greater amount of distrust from the public. Perceptions of misinformation, fake news, and partisan bias have taken the place of what used to be one of the most solid, trusted institutions in America.
The war on facts is real, and it’s challenging to find objective sources of information to inform our views and decisions.
So what is the state of journalism today?
In a democracy, are there situations when censorship makes sense?
How can we distinguish between messages that advance corporate agendas and real, objective, factual news that truly serves the people?
Join us with our special guest Ryan Chilcote, who has worked as a news correspondent for PBS, CBS, Bloomberg TV and CNN, as we look closely at the state of journalism and the media, learning how to distinguish fact from fiction and dig deeper to protect ourselves from misinformation.
Learning how to manage conflict is one of the greatest skills we can learn as people. And yet most of us either avoid it or simply don’t have the tools to effectively deal with it. Some of us even attract conflict into our lives!
We are thrilled to welcome back Lisa Dion, Founder of Synergetic Play Therapy, to share with us practical, science-based tools for dealing with conflict. She will help us understand what’s going on inside our brains as we are going through difficult conversations, and we’ll delve into :
- Why learning how to navigate conflict is an essential skill in all relationships
- How to de-escalate a tense situation
- How using these tools can create intimacy and closeness in relationships
- Why conflict management is one of the essential qualities for any leader
If you are a human being and have relationships, you will not want to miss out on this one!
Embracing chaos is now a requirement for today’s leaders. Yet in order to get comfortable with uncertainty and the unknown, we have to relax our grip on what we perceive as truth.
And that's not easy.
In fact, most of our conflicts arise when both sides double down on their unique perspectives of truth and the world.
So how do we learn how to navigate the unknown and discover new possibilities?
This is a critical skill for leaders right now, but it’s helpful for ALL of us to be able to keep our sanity when the world seems so crazy and everything is uncertain! How can we react when…
- ...we don’t know how an election will go or what might happen when a candidate wins?
- ...there may be a 3rd or even a 4th wave of the pandemic?
- ...we are bombarded by the media's intentionally influential narrative?
- ...leaders pretend to know all the answers, concerning themselves with ‘looking good’ and making bad situations worse?
- ...even in science, certain ideas are blocked or not allowed in the conversation?
Join us with best-selling author, philosopher, and speaker Charles Eisenstein as we explore how and why it benefits us to make friends with uncertainty. He’ll give us practical examples of how this can help us become more effective leaders and more resilient human beings.
Can we stop the runaway train of consumer data breaches?
A recent survey has shown that when it comes to data privacy, people are most concerned about identity theft. But financial fraud, personal data sharing, selling, or misuse, and government surveillance are also high on the list of concerns.
People are right to be worried. In the US healthcare sector just last year, there were a whopping 41.4 million patient records breached. On top of that, in the financial sector, there were 164.6 million data breaches.
In light of these alarming statistics, we are keen to discuss ways to address the big data problem. Some of the questions we’ll dive into:
- What are companies doing to keep our personal information and data safe? Why is it such a difficult task?
- What types of technologies are supporting these security efforts, and is it just a matter of time until these are also breached?
- What can we, as individuals, do to protect our private info?
- How can companies be held responsible if they misuse our data?
- Should we really be worried about surveillance by our digital assistants like Alexa?
Our two special guests this week will speak from different perspectives on the topic. Anurag Lal is the President & CEO of Infinite Convergence Solutions, an enterprise that builds highly secure communications platforms to meet the privacy needs of companies and the individuals they serve.
And Standard Life’s Head of Performance, Service, & Strategy, Mateo Urquijo, will return to continue the discussion on how the big tech titans have a chokehold on all our consumer data — and how we can protect ourselves.
For the last several years, there has been a growing perception that capitalist systems have completely failed to create prosperity for the common man. Ever-growing income inequality and increased uncertainty have eroded the public trust in business, and this creates a systemic risk to our economic system.
So, is it possible for companies to be highly profitable and work toward creating prosperity not just for the few, but for all?
A handful of global organizations are leading the charge by marrying digital technology with initiatives focused on equality, inclusiveness, and sustainability, both from within and as part of community outreach. Their goal is to play an active role in generating a broad and sustainable prosperity by creating additional value that doesn’t sacrifice financial performance.
Our special guest this week is Robert Jamieson, the Group Chief Digital Officer of Legal & General, one of the world’s largest insurance companies currently investing in prosperity initiatives and building digital solutions to support them.
Some of the questions we’ll dig into with Robert:
- What, exactly, is inclusive capitalism, and why should we care?
- How is it possible for companies to invest large amounts of their profits in community initiatives without sacrificing their financial gains?
- How is digital technology driving the processes involved in creating inclusive capitalism?
- How are companies implementing these ideas?
- Is it making any real difference?
Join us as we answer these questions and more in our discussion of the intersection between digital technology and prosperity vs. profits.
Young people today are more involved in activism than ever before, and rightly so. Broken, unbalanced systems across social, political, and economic spectrums are no longer seen as “just the way it is.”
We all recognize the need for change, and many of Gen Y and Z are poised to lead the charge on all fronts.
But for young people who may lack confidence or feel disenfranchised, there isn’t any one clear-cut path to effecting real, lasting change. Do they need the wisdom of the elders (so to speak) to help them avoid repeating past mistakes, or do the old folks just need to step aside?
And for the older generations who aren’t keen to bequeath unequal systems to their children and grandchildren, there may be a lack of willingness to pass the torch to those they see as lacking focus and stamina.
In this week’s episode we’re excited to bridge the gap between old and young by inviting one of the world’s most exceptional young leaders to speak with us about systemic reform.
Abdullahi Alim leads the World Economic Forum’s network of emerging young leaders, and he works with thousands of young changemakers at the frontlines of tackling systemic injustices and reimagining a truly equitable post-COVID world order.
Whether you’re young, old, or somewhere in between, join us for what promises to be an insightful conversation on how we can empower today’s youth to create meaningful, lasting change.
Fear is the entrepreneur’s achilles heel. It is one of the most crippling emotions humans experience. It stops us from learning about ourselves and stretching beyond the dreaded comfort zone.
What if it’s not fear that’s the problem, but how you relate to it?
The more you try to ignore it, or pretend it doesn’t exist for you, or force your way through it, the bigger and more insidious it can become. The result is paralysis, stagnation, procrastination, and inaction.
The reality is, fear can be a powerful guide. It can make clear to us what we are seeking and what we are avoiding.
When you change the way you relate to your fear, approaching it with curiosity — then you can begin to use it as a tool.
Once you develop this new appreciation for your fear, you can easily move past it. Just on the other side of your fear is courageous action that will propel you toward your purpose.
Join us with our very special guest Dr. John Demartini, human behavior expert and author, for an enlightening discussion on how you can shift your mindset at any moment and create powerful and inspired change in your organization and beyond.
Who remembers the great toilet paper shortage of 2020? How about the glut of fresh produce heading to the bins in the wake of pandemic-related restaurant closures?
For many years now, supply chain managers have been incorporating digital tools for increased automation and optimization. But the pandemic has painfully exposed the weaknesses involved in these adaptations. There has been a massive failure to cope with the rapid changes in demand caused by the lockdowns.
Many decided to jump on the robotics bandwagon to overcome shortfalls, but a rush of new digital solutions and capabilities has muddied the waters significantly, creating even more problems. Even with the most perfect workflow and processes, often the customer’s experience isn’t good.
Robotics have been helpful in many areas of the supply chain during this continued period of uncertainty, but human labor is far from being replaced altogether. The supply chain problem is a complex one that requires more than simply replacing floor workers with robots. Plugging robots into a system that isn’t prepared to change its processes or overall principles will be a recipe for disaster.
So what does the “new” normal look like?
In order to win over skeptics and obstinate back-office naysayers, robotics will have to prove itself as the consistent, reliable, and efficient savior in the race toward increased automation.
This week, we’ll explore the topic of robots and robotics in supply chains:
- What is the difference between “robots” and “robotics?” Why does it matter?
- Robots are unreliable and only put hard-working people out of work – right?
- Everything can just get back to normal once the pandemic is over — why should companies spend a ton of money on implementing unproven digital methods?
- How can customer experience be the focus if robots are running the show?
Join us with our special guests Guy Courtin, Director of Global Alliances for 6 River Systems, and Remy Glaisner, a global thought leader in the area of Digitally-Enabled Robotics. Together, we’ll answer these questions and more as we dive into the discussing how robots can run the supply chains!
“Hope Made Visible” According to Brian Collins, design is “hope made visible.” It is not necessarily what we make, it’s what we make possible for others. We make their life more manageable, richer, and more meaningful. And this happens through understanding the language of your audience.
Yet the added challenge of our current times is that we are operating under the language of warfare. Whether we are ‘quarantining’ and ‘sheltering in place,’ ‘fighting the virus’ or ‘targeting our customers,’ we’ve lost the sense of optimism and hope that elevates others to create.
- What can design teach us about compassion and understanding “the other”
- Why is design thinking not enough, and in some cases, dilutes creativity and innovation?
- What are the new language and metaphors needed to lead us to do better as authors and stewards of this life?
Join us with Collins CEO, Brian Collins, one of the most brilliant minds and irreverent personalities — in a no-holds barred conversation around design and the future we are building.
Do you feel “lost” right now? In very real ways, we are all experiencing profound loss because of the pandemic and concurrent social upheaval. Sustained social isolation, uncertainty, and fear have had widespread psychological and physical effects that we have not yet begun to understand fully — much less have a solution for.
The challenges we have each faced through this experience, both individually and collectively, will most certainly change us all.
On our upcoming live show, we’ll be discussing these changes and how we can move ahead and learn from all of this. Some of the questions we’ll dig into:
- What long-term collective changes are we likely to see as a result of the pandemic?
- If you are struck down and can’t function in some way, what are the factors that will determine your path forward?
- What practical steps can you take to remake your life after a critical loss?
- What role does empathy play in that process?
- How can we strengthen our relationships and forge new ones when we’re all suffering collectively?
- How can technology help those who are dealing with loss and isolation? How can it hurt?
- Are there ethical risks we should consider?
Join us as we discuss these questions and more!
Our special guest will be Jodi Halpern, MD, PhD, author of the upcoming book Remaking The Self in the Wake of Illness. The book focuses on how people facing traumatic health losses in the prime of life experience shifts in their core values and identity.
Together with Dr. Halpern, we’ll explore how life and loss in the present-day pandemic can be equated to mid-life serious illness, and we’ll learn ways we can adapt and gain a sense of purpose to help us move through volatility and uncertainty.
“Innovate or die” has never been more true than in the last eight months. The global health crisis and social upheaval have come together as parallel catalysts for widespread digital and social transformation, forcing companies around the world to adapt and innovate in order to survive. Challenges this great also provide great opportunity for growth and change. But companies must be mindful in navigating these challenges. Reactivity cannot be the impetus for change. Rather forethought, sensitivity, and responsiveness should drive meaningful advancement.
Employees at all levels of an organization must put their own self-interest to the forefront, as more jobs are in danger in the event of a second wave of COVID-19. Are you prepared to survive this challenge?
Additionally, in the last few months, there has been a noticeable shift in the way large corporations are interacting with their communities. Corporate giving has increased, but seemingly as a result of a genuine empathy and concern, rather than simply filling a line item on the annual report. Is that just about keeping up appearance, or will we see this trend continue?
Next-gen enterprises have to fully embrace ethics, diversity, and social causes, as Gen Y and Z workers (and customers) care about these issues and want to feel fully enfranchised and engaged. These stakeholders insist that corporations must serve society.
The concept of “stakeholder capitalism” isn’t new, but many companies have been reluctant to go down this road. We’ve seen over the past decade that companies can thrive and succeed by placing the needs of employees, customers, the environment, suppliers, taxpayers, and communities OVER the ever-present and ever-hungry pocketbook of the shareholder. The not-so-surprising outcome is that these businesses create profits in the process.
So why are many global corporations shy to adopt this way of thinking? It goes without saying that in order for companies to evolve, first and foremost leaders must evolve and adapt.
- So what does leadership 2.0 look like?
- How are digital and social transformation pathways intertwined as companies move through current global challenges?
- What is the role of large organizations in social transformation?
- How should that role be changing in the next 5-10 years?
- Where does diversity among leaders come into play?
- Is unconscious bias something we need to watch out for?
Join us as we dig into these questions and more with David Germain, the CIO of RSA Group. Coming from a humble background and working his way up through the ranks, David has a unique perspective on ways that leaders can succeed by shifting their thinking away from profit and toward prosperity. We will hear his personal story (including twice overcoming being made redundant) and how he uses his position to affect meaningful change.
Everything as we knew it has now changed forever. The pandemic has forced the world’s largest corporations to embrace digital as the new paradigm of business. Yet, many corporations cannot seem to free themselves from the burden of bureaucracy, elitism, group-think, and rigid leadership.
We uncover the truth behind why even some of the largest global corporations struggle to adapt and learn. Annual budgeting cycles are an Achilles’ heel, especially when coupled with salary and bonus incentives, and these could be the biggest enablers — or disablers.
In short, the rules of the game need to change for every corporation. The pandemic has taught us many valuable lessons already. Future business models will thrive only if they are sustainable, ecosystem-driven, and inclusive. They must make their employees, customers, and the environment central pillars — not just the shareholders.
So where do we even begin in rethinking ownership, when these organizations are so entrenched in the old ways of doing things?
Where would one even start to make a change that actually supports innovation and risk-taking, balancing profit with sustainable impact and contribution?
Join us live with Hugh Hessing, former UK COO of Aviva, as we get underneath what’s really happening in global corporations today and what needs to change to align with innovation and growth that doesn’t only benefit the C-suite. Hugh will share emotionally charged experiences and stories from his personal and business life that will help us to truly understand the future risks and opportunities awaiting large corporations.
Mindset and perspective have never been more important. With all of the constant volatility, unknowns, and stress around us, resilience is critical.
Our ability to bounce back from today’s challenges is where innovation and thrival come from.
So what can we learn from the most battle-tested warriors of our era? Only everything.
Join us as we dive deep with Mark Divine, CEO of Unbeatable Mind and SEALFIT and former Commander of the Navy SEALS. Together we’ll explore the best tools and practices for all of us who are facing adversity with our backs against the wall. You won’t want to miss this one.
The concentration of wealth of the “Big 5” tech titans is unheard of in human history. Without question, their work contributes to advancing our society in terms of technology, innovation, and communications. But to anyone paying attention, there’s also a dark side.
Should we be concerned?
- When our personal data is exchanged for free email, storage space and other digital perks
- When some social media posts are censored and others not
- When these ultra large and wealthy companies and founders don’t PAY TAX!
- Do we fully understand what we are giving up for convenience?
Who’s leading the conversation on morality and ethics around the infinite power and influence of the tech titans? Has the train left the station completely?
Join us with Mateo Urquijo, Head of Performance, Service, & Strategy at Standard Life. This promises to be a no-holds-barred conversation looking at the underbelly of the beast and what needs to change for the tech titans to leave a positive legacy to our ecosystem.
Diversity and inclusion are incredibly hot topics right now. Yet too often all we’re getting are buzzwords, lip service, and virtue signaling to make companies look good.
Real Inclusion is about decision-making — who can make decisions that actually matter — not just diversity statistics to fill a quota.
Which organizations are instrumental in leading programs and directives?
What can we learn from them in shaping future boards and leadership teams?
What’s the role and responsibility of today’s media in restoring equity across underrepresented communities?
Join us with our special guests, KC Goundiam, CEO at Red Dot Digital, and Seema Bennet, Global Sales & Business Development Director at Everywoman Ltd. These innovative thinkers feel very strongly about the role of gender and inclusion and share moving stories about how they have overcome hurdles in their personal and professional lives.
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to rethink who we are and what we stand for as leaders. And it’s begging us to face some very big and difficult questions, such as:
- When it comes to the environment, what are we doing here and how do we balance profit and gains alongside ethics and we partner with?
- How do you be digital AND empathetic with customers? How do you take people on an accelerator learning curve when there are various levels of digital readiness?
- How do you lead by doing and not by talking, and have the courageous conversations that move the dial?
Join us with TSB Bank’s innovative COO Suresh Viswanathan as we explore the most pressing questions on how to accelerate our human, digital and social transformations in today’s era.
Leaders are facing more uncertainty than ever. When you can’t travel, having to manage new and difficult situations, and watching the bottom line puts a lot of pressure on effective decision making.
There is a riding tension between localization and globalization - so how do we need to re-think our strategies and supply chains?
Do politics and technology make our current sense of geography irrelevant?
What are the talents, skills, and pitfalls that present-day leaders need to develop and become aware of to overcome today’s biggest challenges?
Join Arun Kumar, Chairman & CEO of KPMG India as we explore the future of people and technology and navigating the delicate balance of regional and global approaches to business success.
Our post-pandemic world has accelerated some hard truths of where our educational system is not prepared for adversity. We explore the future of the classroom with two leading educational mavericks who will walk us through:
- Where are we now?
- Where are we going?
- How are we going to get there?
We will also dive deeply into how technology is helping and hindering the growth of future generations.
Join Adobe’s Tanya Avrith and NYC DOE’s JoJo Farrell for a passionate discussion on the future of education.
Building relationships has always been the cornerstone of good business. This paradigm is perhaps more important than ever in a post-pandemic era, and there are critical questions we need to be considering:
✔️What do you need to be focusing on as your team goes remote?
✔️What are the key elements of building better employee and customer relations in times of stress and chaos?
✔️What does building relationship capital really mean?
✔️When trust is destroyed, how do you recover?
Come join our conversation with a true master of relationship building, David Meltzer, the Co-Founder of Sports 1 Marketing and former CEO of the renowned Leigh Steinberg Sports & Entertainment agency, which was the inspiration for the movie Jerry Maguire.
Looking into the Future of Next-Gen Enterprises One aspect of an organization that is critical but often overlooked is the psychological safety of the culture. Recent events in the US and worldwide have made it abundantly clear that this conversation is needed.
✔️What does a thriving enterprise look like in a post-pandemic world?
✔️Why is emotional intelligence mandatory for tomorrow’s leaders?
✔️How is tech impacting the landscapes we are in, and how can it foster our shared humanity vs. lead to further disconnection?
✔️What will ensure that gender and equality will be taken seriously in future enterprise?
Join a riveting discussion with maverick thinkers and innovative leaders Hema Bakhshi and Kate Bohn as we explore the future of work for next-gen enterprises.
The recent pandemic and civil unrest are exposing the self-reflections and conversations that we have not been having for painfully too long.
✔️What are the questions that we need to be discussing so that we avoid “Groundhog Day?” as we re-enter the public domain?
✔️Why is the world becoming so polarizing and what do we do about it?
✔️How is the Power of Story key in reclaiming our life from the cult of quantity, the tyranny of the clock, and the myth of separation?
Prepare to have your mind altered as we bring on author and philosopher Charles Eisenstein to discuss the current state of the world, the collective mindset, and this precious moment to shift how we are relating to ourselves and the planet. This episode is NOT to be missed.
Disruption comes faster than people realize. But you can identify early warning signs of change and be the disruptor—not the disrupted!
✔️Instead of being paralyzed by uncertainty, how can you leverage it effectively?
✔️What is the big Harry Potter problem, and why do most businesses get innovation and product development wrong?
✔️How do you shift the collective mindset of a traditional company to be more innovative?
Join us with our very special guest Maarten Ectors, CIO of Legal and General, for a radical perspective on how you can think and act like an innovator and effect change.
The ability to shift your mindset is one of the greatest tools that you can control.
It is the secret ingredient for how our best entrepreneurs and innovators see opportunity, while others only see problems.
Yet when stressors are high, most of us struggle with keeping a productive mindset throughout the day.
This is not about the power of positive thinking. This is about aligning your leadership mindset with your highest values and purpose.
Join us with our very special guest Dr. John Demartini, human behavior expert and author, for an enlightening discussion on how you can shift your mindset at any moment and create powerful and inspired change in your organization and beyond.
Our current breakdown of leadership, infrastructure, networks, and cooperation have been tested and exposed during this pandemic.
And what’s glaringly obvious is our fundamental disconnect from ourselves, each other and the planet.
So how does systems thinking change everything?
What are the warning signs that we are needing head and adapt to for our survival, let alone thrival?
How do we balance our global and local needs in the coming times?
How do we stay cognizant of who benefits and who gets exploited through developing technologies and governance?
Join Darcy Winslow, President of the Academy of Systems Change and former Nike Executive and the StraightTalk.Live crew for a deep dive into the game-changing approach of systems thinking to tackle our greatest challenges ahead.
When our back is against the wall, our true character shows up.
And never have our collective backs been against the wall then right now. With the impending unemployment crisis, one of the upsides is reexamining our career, goals, and what’s most important in life.
When you know it’s time to change things up, how do you take the courageous leap to break things and innovate?
How do you embrace digital and stretch beyond your comfort zone?
What are the intuitive action steps you need to be taking now to stay on the leading edge?
Join us for a rich conversation with Former MD & UK CIO Société Générale’s Anthony Woolley to hear his own courageous story of transformation and what it takes to continuously evolve and grow.
Innovate or die. While that sounds harsh, there’s a reality to that, which many are experiencing now more so than ever.
But how does transformation actually work?
What’s the science behind accessing our creativity, intuitive capabilities and innovative action, vs. freezing up, giving up, or staying complacent?
Join Lisa Dion and the StraightTalk.Live crew for a deep dive into the mechanics of transformation and how you can tap into your own creativity and genius intentionally.
Innovators and mavericks out there won’t want to miss this one.
Super excited about chatting with Nikolas Kairinos of Fountech.ai about the different ways we can be incorporating AI to help us survive and thrive post-pandemic!
We are seeing as a result of COVID-19 all the painfully obvious shortfalls in our lack of infrastructure and broken supply chains. There are many questions we should be asking ourselves in regards to the role of AI in a post-pandemic world:
✔️Can artificial intelligence help us recover more quickly and with greater resilience? ✔️Will it take our jobs and take over? ✔️Will we be far more responsive to the next global crisis with the assistance of AI technologies? ✔️How can we best ensure we are creating Star Trek and not Skynet?
Join us for a riveting discussion in which we'll peer into the edge of the future.
Is the traditional MBA now out dated in a post-pandemic world?
How will MBA school continue to deliver value in a digital world?
How much is a virtual MBA worth re next job salary increase?
Does an MBA still give the learner ‘optionality’?
We’ll discuss this and more with Jim Berry, Director of the MBA Program at University College London's School of Management.
What does the future of higher education look like? What are the questions we need to be asking in a post-COVID-19 context?
Many of us are deeply concerned about the job market in the coming months and beyond. And for good reason!
What can we do to prepare for the inevitable uncertainty and unexpected challenges we'll be facing?
Join Af and Rick as they host their next no-holds barred discussion, with special guest Ken Brotherston, Managing Director of TALiNT Partners.
This is the first in a new series of live-broadcast discussions hosted by Rick Snyder, CEO of Invisible Edge and author of Decisive Intuition, and Af Malhotra, CoFounder of GrowthEnabler.
These are high-impact discussions where we'll talk openly and authentically about current issues we're all facing — and what it will take for CEOs, leaders and teams to survive and thrive in the new world that awaits us all.
We'll share ideas, tools, and inspiring lessons of business and life that will help us all become better leaders and better people.