Create New Futures | How Leaders Produce Breakthroughs and Transform the World through Conversation

123 John Church - Possibilities Thinking in Executive Leadership

John Church is a visionary leader who has had an extraordinary career at General Mills, one of the most admired companies in the world. John is an incredibly insightful Executive because he brings this rare capacity to integrate the four zones of executive leadership: the strategy, the operation, the people, and the numbers. He’s able to go deep and integrate those dimensions to play the holistic game of leadership. Today, Aviv and John explore leading through crisis, vulnerability, accountability, and the shifting paradigm of the global workplace.  01:05 – Aviv introduces today’s guest, John Church who speaks to the joys of retirement and his uncanny ability to remain calm in stressful situations  04:57 – John shares how General Mills successfully navigated the world-changing event of the pandemic  16:50 – Best practices and protocols that enabled John and his team to succeed  19:40 – Managing the human side of leadership during a crisis 23:36 – A shifting paradigm  30:47 – The concept of ‘Possibilities Thinking’  37:12 – John’s career origin story  48:13 – Vulnerability in leadership  54:33 – The key principles that guide John’s mentoring practices  56:58 – Three final inquiries from Aviv 1:00:54 – Final words of wisdom from John FULL SHOW NOTES: https://www.avivconsulting.com/cnf123

122 Mark Carpenter - The Art of Storytelling: How to Effectively Leverage Stories

Mark Carpenter is a speaker, consultant, serial storyteller and the author of Master Storytelling: How to Turn Your Experiences into Stories that Teach, Lead, and Inspire. Mark’s passion is in helping others achieve more of their potential through perspective and guidance. Today, Aviv and Mark engage in a rich discussion on the power of storytelling and break down the three key elements of any great story. Mark provides advice and best practices for honing your storytelling skills and expounds on the stories we, as a society, must develop to highlight the human condition.  00:57 – Aviv introduces today’s guest, Mark Carpenter who shares what he enjoys most about storytelling and the power of connecting through stories  06:05 – Where Mark’s passion for storytelling arose  07:23 – What we don’t understand about stories and the three biggest mistakes people make when telling stories  12:23 – Aviv and Mark engage in an exercise to provide the three major components of a story  17:35 – What an effective story and storyteller looks like  24:39 – Why adults and children listen to stories similarly  27:28 – Why Conflict is key  30:08 – Three steps of crafting and delivering a great story  35:48 – Aviv and Mark speak to the critical stories about the human condition that we must be developing  39:16 – Final words of wisdom from Mark FULL SHOW NOTES: https://www.avivconsulting.com/cnf122

121 Russell Hudson - From Resignation to Regeneration

Russell Hudson is a strategist, economist and consultant who is passionate about learning and teaching others with the goal of simplifying the complex. Today, Aviv and Russell reflect on a series of provocative articles Russell recently published on LinkedIn. The articles touch on a variety of topics ranging from work-life balance and identity to The Great Resignation. Russell explores the journey from chasing to embracing by rethinking success and significance and the importance of reclaiming your power.   00:52 – Aviv introduces today’s guest, Russell Hudson who shares what brings him energy and joy these days and reflects on what he calls ‘the noise in the silence and the silence in the noise’  07:18 – Key insights from Russell’s research into work-life identity and the current state of The Great Resignation  15:04 – The Great Exhaustion, explained  20:01 – Reclaiming your power to choose and ‘Elizabeth’s story’  27:20 – Russell reflects on his own journey through The Great Exhaustion  35:09 – Russell expounds on the phrase, ‘Here I stand, I can do no other’  38:12 – Transitioning from chasing to embracing  44:21 – Rethinking success and significance  54:48 – Final words of wisdom from Russell and what he hopes to be writing about in the future FULL SHOW NOTES: https://www.avivconsulting.com/cnf121

120 Ralf Specht - Making Soulless Companies a Thing of the Past

Ralf Specht is a visionary business leader and creator of the Soul System, a framework that aligns value-creating employee action with broader corporate strategy through shared understanding and shared purpose. He is the author of Building Corporate Soul: Powering Culture & Success with the Soul System and Beyond the Startup: Sparking Operational Innovations for Global Growth. Today, Aviv and Ralf expound on the key question that has been at the forefront of Ralf’s mind for years: How do we build and sustain a human-centric performance culture? Ralf speaks to his driving vision to make soulless companies a thing of the past. Aviv and Ralf explore the value in organizations cultivating a shared purpose and fostering a great corporate culture. If you can walk the talk and make that tangible, incredible results can be unlocked.    00:51 – Aviv introduces today’s guest, Ralf Specht who shares his vision   07:37 – Core agreements that shaped the trajectory of Ralf’s company 09:59 – Formative lessons Ralf learned as CEO  12:13 – Building and cultivating a shared purpose  18:43 – The Soul System, explained  25:14 – Fostering a sense of belonging through open conversations and connecting purpose, mission, and vision to the work you do every day  31:54 – How Ralf transitioned from a corporate to a consulting frame of mind  33:48 – Daring to be human again  38:12 – Advice Ralf would give to his younger self and two learnings Ralf values above all others  39:10 – Final words of wisdom from Ralf FULL SHOW NOTES: https://www.avivconsulting.com/cnf120

119 Tim Coats - Towards a Life Well Lived

Tim Coats is a former Executive at General Mills. After he retired, Tim started publishing a blog entitled, ‘Towards a Life Well Lived,’ where he reflects on the art of increasing joy, meaning and belonging in daily living. Today, Aviv and Tim explore his thoughts and reflections on work, purpose and life’s journey. Tim reflects on what it means to live a life well lived and touches on The Four Principles: Balance, Awareness, Practice and Wisdom. Tim provides his thoughts on authenticity, balancing spirituality and the power of ‘We.’ Finally, Aviv and Tim share their beliefs on the journey of self-discovery. 01:02 – Aviv introduces today’s guest, Tim Coats who shares his background and what brings him energy and joy these days 03:02 – A closet philosopher and mystic flying under the cover of a corporate executive 06:08 – Bringing philosophical tendencies to corporate America 09:14 – The power of ‘We’ 11:08 – The inquiry that Tim initially set out to answer when he launched his blog 13:54 – Defining ‘A Life Well Lived’ and the two broad categories of people 16:27 – The journey of finding meaning 20:23 – Three of Tim’s contemplative practices 24:42 – The Four Principles: Balance, Awareness, Practice and Wisdom 30:26 – Tim speaks to the idea of belonging and the Five Energies of Life 37:04 – Being accepted for your own authentic self 41:09 – Be the best, look both ways, help others succeed 52:05 – The peace that proceeds challenge 56:16 – The critical phase in every development journey 1:07:03 – The God Test FULL SHOW NOTES: https://www.avivconsulting.com/cnf119