We regularly host live conversations on topics we think are timely and topical for our clients and extended community. You can find recordings of all of our past conversations below and register for our upcoming gatherings. We would love to have you join us!
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Upcoming Gatherings
Stay tuned for announcements about our next gathering!
Past Gatherings
From Chaos to Clarity: Designing for Strategic Success in an Uncertain World, with Scott Spann
An increasingly complex world means a growing list of “impossible” challenges that don’t respond to traditional solutions. Scott Spann, founder of Innate Strategies and a key Conversant partner, says we are not only capable of solving these impossible problems, we can actually design our organizations and systems of behavior to achieve and sustain our most important strategic goals.
Scott Spann joined Robin Anselmi and Kell Delaney for a conversation about the methods they’ve seen help organizations find clarity in chaos, revealing new possibilities for action that cause a meaningful and enduring impact.
You can watch a recording of the full conversation here.
January 28, 2021: Make Common Sense Common Again, with Martin Lindstrom
Martin Lindstrom, author and globally recognized expert in the domains of brand, consumer behavior and culture transformation, joined Mickey Connolly for a candid conversation about something companies everywhere sorely need: common sense.
Martin wrote his new book, The Ministry of Common Sense, for companies around the world who have "become so entangled in their own internal issues, and further beset by reams of invisible red tape, that they’ve lost sight of their core purpose." Martin and Mickey share why empathy and human connection are the key to creating workplaces with less stress, frustration and inefficiency, and more plain old common sense.
You can watch a recording of the full conversation here.
High-Stakes Reflection: What has 2020 revealed about leadership?
2020 brought three related challenges that have changed the world we live and work in: the COVID health crisis, economic upheaval and social reckoning. How have these three challenges tested leaders, and what can we learn that makes us stronger in the years to come?
For our final gathering of the year, Mickey Connolly, Robin Anselmi and Jim Motroni shared what their work with leaders around the world in 2020 has revealed about what great leadership looks like now, and how 2020's lessons can serve as fuel for 2021 and beyond.
You can watch the full recording here.
October 29, 2020: Creating Cultures of Dignity & Belonging, with Diego Navarro
Diego Navarro joined Anne Murray Allen and Katie Mingo for a conversation about the power of dignity and belonging to build communities of engaged and empowered people, as Diego has seen firsthand in the academic sphere. The lessons he's learned from helping students succeed offer some valuable insight into what it takes for organizations to build cultures of connection, performance and well-being.
Diego founded the Academy for College Excellence (ACE), in 2002 and is Professor Emeritus at Cabrillo College in Santa Cruz County, CA. He helps colleges improve their teaching and learning through delivering professional development workshops, and supporting the redesign of courses to incorporate affective/non-cognitive approaches and embed 21st-century skills development.
You can watch the full recording here.
October 8, 2020: Living Authentically: It's not for the faint of heart, with Michele Hunt
Michele Hunt joined Robin Anselmi and Emma Rose Connolly for a timely and touching conversation about the importance of living authentically, and how that challenge relates to our well-being as individuals, the cultures and priorities of our businesses, and the racial justice and equality our world is demanding.
Michele brings her diverse personal and professional background to the conversation, including her experience as a Black woman who paved her way in corporate America in the '80s, led the creation of public-private partnerships globally through an appointment in the Clinton administration, and now serves her own mission to help leaders around the world unleash the collective minds, hearts, and imagination of their people to create inclusive cultures and enable individuals, organizations, and the planet to flourish.
You can watch the full recording here.
July 30, 2020: Connection, Community & Strategic Fitness with Michael Beer (author of Fit to Compete)
In this 30-minute live conversation, Mickey Connolly was joined by Michael Beer, the Harvard professor whose 11 books have paved the way for organizational leaders to develop high commitment, high-performance organizations that do well by doing good.
Throughout the conversation, Michael shares how he came to care for the creation of workplaces that are “worthy of the human spirit,” why becoming human-focused is good for strategic success, and how to fight organizational silence and inspire open and honest communities that speak truth to power.
You can watch a full recording of the conversation here.
May 14, 2020: Designing for Surprising Results, with Jim Reinhart, CEO of Ygrene
How can we design the ways we work together to produce Surprising Results? When done well there is widespread, energizing delight. Doing this repetitively leads to exponentially improving performance.
Jim Reinhart, CEO of Ygrene, joined Robin Anselmi and Mickey Connolly to discuss the value of designing cycles of surprising achievement into our roadmaps for solving big problems and reaching big goals.
May 7, 2020: Timing - What is it time for now? with Sehba Ali (CEO of KIPP Texas Public Schools)
Robin Anselmi and Bill Boyar were joined by Sehba Ali, CEO of KIPP Texas Public Schools, for a conversation on the impact a leader can produce by always living in the question, "what is it time for now?"
Faced with a host of challenges created by COVID-19, Sehba shares how KIPP Texas has only strengthened its commitment to the education and well-being of the students they serve, as well as to the staff and their families. By remaining present to what is needed and what is possible, they are able to focus on where there is meaningful work to be done, even in a climate of uncertainty.
You can watch a recording of the full conversation here.
April 30, 2020: Wonder - Keeping our best day in front of us
Conversant colleagues Gretchen Gagel, Max Affleck and Kell Delaney hosted a live conversation on the power of Wonder to cause creativity and innovation.
We live in a world that’s complex, fast-moving and disruptive. If we sit in a world singularly concerned with continuous improvement, we’re going to live in a world where business is actually decaying. Instead, we must be thinking beyond improvement into something completely different.
Wonder is the source of movement, of innovation, of new commercial frontiers. Great leaders must have a sense of wonder in order to bring vitality into their organizations.
You can watch a recording of the full conversation here.
April 23, 2020: Authenticity - True leadership, with Liz Cole (CHRO, Marsh)
Conversant colleagues Robin Anselmi and Mickey Connolly were joined by Liz Cole, CHRO of Marsh, for a conversation about how to bring Authenticity to leadership. In these challenging times, leading with Authenticity means first recognizing the truth of the circumstances we face and the sincere feelings we have about our experience, then choosing how we move forward while standing in that shared reality.
The panelists shared their thoughts on how to move from reactivity and stress to a point of authentic connection from which we are better able to act in impactful, collaborative ways.
You can watch a recording of the full conversation here.
April 16, 2020: Let Purpose be the boss, with Michael Reuter (The Nature Conservancy)
Conversant colleagues Jim Motroni and Anne Murray Allen were joined by Michael Reuter, Director of the Midwest Division of The Nature Conservancy, to discuss the power of Purpose to guide us through any challenge.
When we all align around what matters and what we’re here for, it gives us a place to stand regardless of our changing circumstances. In these challenging times, we all need our terra firma – a solid place to stand as we make decisions and move forward in ways we will be proud of on the other side.
You can watch a recording of the full conversation here.
April 9, 2020: Empathy - it's not soft, it's crucial
Empathy is not “soft.” It is courageous, skillful, and wise to quickly comprehend the world of another and all influence depends on it. As a leader, it really is your job to care and create that connection with people, unlocking their contribution and paving the way for great work to be done in a vital and engaged community.
Throughout the conversation, Conversant colleagues Carolyn French, Anne Murray Allen and Mickey Connolly shared their thoughts on the power of Empathy, from our basic biological drives to the profound opportunities it creates in our personal and professional relationships. They share personal examples of Empathy in action as well as practical applications and practices we can take on to employ and increase Empathy in our communities.
You can watch a recording of the full conversation here.
April 2, 2020: Presence in the midst of chaos
This week we hosted a virtual community gathering to discuss presence as a foundational act of leadership and share practices for practicing purposeful presence in our everyday lives.
What we are present to influences our choices, our actions, and those around us. When we connect with our personal experience in a given moment, we have an opportunity to choose how we react and make decisions, and can more easily connect with what matters to others. By noticing and naming emotions like fear and anxiety, taking time to accept that this is where we are, we are more available to authentically realign to our individual and collective purpose. As leaders navigate the challenges created by COVID-19, practicing purposeful presence is more important than ever.
Throughout the conversation, Conversant colleagues Roger Henderson, Richard McDonald, and Robin Anselmi shared some practical ways to quickly become present to the quality of our thoughts, our emotions, and our physical experience. With this self-awareness, acknowledging and accepting where we are in these three dimensions, we are then able to ask ourselves, “Is this where I would like to lead from?”
You can watch a recording of the full conversation here.
March 26, 2020: Aligning & Engaging in a Virtual Setting
As many of us navigate cancelled in-person meetings big and small in response to COVID-19, we decided focus this week’s virtual gathering on how we can continue to create aligned and engaging conversations in a virtual setting.
Throughout the conversation, Conversant colleagues Robin Anselmi, Gretchen Gagel, Kell Delaney and Katie Mingo focus on principles to keep in mind when considering shifting these meetings to a virtual environment, along with some practical tips and examples for maximizing engagement.
You can watch a recording of the full conversation here.
March 19, 2020: Leadership communication that creates community and confidence in times of uncertainty
This week, Mickey Connolly, Robin Anselmi, Evelyn Jonkman and Jim Motroni hosted a virtual gathering to share what we’ve learned and learn from all of you. We explored the question, what is critical about leadership and leadership communication right now? How can leaders create community and confidence in these uncertain times?
You can watch a recording of the full conversation here.