Fearless Creative Leadership

'The Preacher, The Teacher, The Weird Kid and The Absurdist'.  This is my conversation with the four people at the heart of over the last 14 years. The two initial founders: John Boiler and Glenn Cole. And the two people they added soon after to help build the business. Evin Shutt and Matt Jarvis. Rarely - too rarely - do I see partnerships that - both in their intention and in their casting, have been formed on lasting foundations. Ego, insecurity and yes, fear get in the way. Common sense and win-wins leave the building. Replaced by missed opportunities, broken promises and in some cases life long resentment. But when you get it right, it sounds like this conversation.

'The Pace Setter'.  This week, my conversation with Chris Weil - the CEO of Momentum. Chris has always struck me as clear, confident and charismatic. He welcomes people into his world and puts them at ease. And he relishes change.  I wanted to talk to Chris about where his confidence and openness comes from.

A five minute edited highlight of our full conversation.

'The Instinctive Leader'. This is my conversation with Robin Domeniconi - CEO/Founder of Threaded Tales and one of the founders of Real Simple magazine.  I was struck by Robin’s history. By the diversity of things she has done. Of the size and significance of the organizations she has led.  And during our conversation - as she talked about what she has overcome and how she has overcome it - I was reminded again of how even the best of the best are human. And that it is their ability to use that to their advantage that separates them from other leaders.

'The Gymnast'. My conversation with Kat Gordon - founder of the 3% Percent Conference and CEO of the 3% Movement. Kat started 3% in 2008, to highlight the fact that only 3 percent of creative directors at major ad agencies were women Kat is a change agent, moving into previously unoccupied spaces, doing things that hadn’t been done before. A revolutionary in a time of revolution. I wanted to understand where that willingness to take on the status quo in such a public and sustained way comes from. 

A five minute edited highlight of our full conversation.

'The Open Leader'. This week, my conversation with Cheryl Abel-Hodges, the Group President of Calvin Klein North America and The Underwear Group. Cheryl welcomes debate and exploration and new ways of looking at things. She welcomes it whether the conversation is about her business or about her leadership. So, this episode is called, "The Open Leader." I was struck by Cheryl’s clarity, her openness and her generosity. And by the environment she creates for real give and take.   I’m curious what you think.

A five minute edited highlight of our full length conversation.

'The Young Leaders'.  Adolescent Content is the idea of the filmmaker Ramaa Mosley, and is based on the simple insight that content intended for youth would be more impactful if it was conceived and created by youth.  Their creators, directors and photographers are as young as 11. They have developed marketing concepts and content for iconic brands, shot feature films and given TED talks.   Ramaa and  I were joined by one of her directors, sixteen year-old Aniya Wolfe. Aniya is a member of Gen Z, which, as she reminds us, is the largest generation in history.  The oldest member of Gen Z is 21. As Aniya shows in our conversation, this generation is coming of age much much earlier than that.

A five minuted edited highlight of our full-length conversation.