12 Geniuses Podcast

Musician and writer Dessa has made a career of bucking genres and defying expectations—her résumé as a musician includes performances at Lollapalooza and Glastonbury, co-compositions for 100-voice choir, performances with the Minnesota Orchestra, and top-200 entries on the Billboard charts. She contributed to the #1 album The Hamilton Mixtape and the RBG documentary. As a writer, she’s been published by The New York Times and National Geographic Traveler, broadcast by Minnesota Public Radio, and published a memoir-in-essays (My Own Devices, 2018) in addition to two literary collections. She’s also the host of Deeply Human, a podcast created by the BBC and American Public Media. In this interview, Dessa talks about how she leads in her roles as a musician, podcast host, and writer. She says there is a fluidity in her leadership. She knows when to lead and when to get out of the way so the experts in the room can do their jobs. One of the keys to her success in getting the best performance out of others is understanding where people want to go in their careers and how she can help them get there. Dessa also talks about her collaboration with the Minnesota Orchestra and how she needed to understand the orchestra’s culture and language in order to maximize the talents of all the musicians involved in the joint performance.

Bret Griess is Executive Partner at the private equity firm Siris Capital. Prior to joining Siris, Bret spent 25 years with CSG Systems International where he rose through the ranks to become President and Chief Executive Officer. He oversaw the development of CSG’s first comprehensive cybersecurity program, introduced the industry’s first public, cloud-based business support solution, and led the company through its largest acquisition and contracts, valued at more than $2 billion. Bret is currently a member of the Board of Directors at Nebraska Methodist Health System, Midland University, and Equiniti.In this interview, Bret talks about his rise from an entry-level position to the C-Suite of a publicly traded company, the importance of mentorship to his development, his approach to investing in learning and development for himself and the people he led, how he worked with his Board of Directors while he was CEO, and what roles he plays as a member of a Board of Directors. Bret also shares advice for young people who aspire to lead a company, how private equity companies think about the importance of leadership when making investments, and what he would like his legacy to be.

In this interview, U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Ronald Piret discusses his background and why he chose a career in the Navy, the importance of mentorship to his career development, the mission of the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, the advantages of leading a blend of civilian and uniformed personnel, and the vast amounts of information captured and processed on a daily basis by the Command. He also talks about building trust, recruiting highly technical people, dealing with failure, the importance of diversity, how recognition is a key driver of engagement, how great leaders resist the urge to use their rank to get things done, and advice he has for young people who want a role in leadership.

Zach Mercurio, Ph.D. is an author, researcher, speaker, and consultant specializing in purposeful leadership, meaningful work, and positive organizational psychology. He wrote “The Invisible Leader: Transform Your Life, Work, and Organization with the Power of Authentic Purpose.” Zach earned his Ph.D. in Organizational Learning, Performance, and Change from Colorado State University where he serves as an Honorary Fellow in the Department of Psychology’s Center for Meaning and Purpose and as an Instructor in the Organizational Learning, Performance, and Change program.In this interview, Zach discusses the benefits of knowing and living your purpose. He also talks about the importance of aligning your purpose with the purpose of your organization, and how great leaders create a sense of “mattering.”

In this episode, Daniel Sisson joins the show. With an international business background, Daniel has spent his career in the San Francisco tech industry in a wide variety of roles for startup companies. He is a self-taught developer obsessed with virtual reality. the Metaverse. and the potential those technologies will present to the world. In this interview, Daniel shares some of the newsletter sources he finds valuable for his research, he talks about political polarization in the United States and Europe, and he discusses the technologies he finds fascinating including virtual reality, the Metaverse, cryptocurrency and blockchain, artificial intelligence and robotics, and even space colonization. The interview concludes with what fills Daniel with optimism - the rise of the creator class and the attitudes of young people who are putting an emphasis on the “life” part of work/life balance.

In this episode, CAPT Ken Wallace joins the show. Based in Hawaii, CAPT Wallace is a third-generation career Naval Officer. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, he started his career as a naval flight officer. In 2001, he transferred into the Navy Meteorology and Oceanography community. He is currently on the Pacific Fleet staff as the Force Oceanographer after completing his Major Command tour as Commanding Officer of the Naval Oceanographic Office. In this interview, CAPT Wallace discusses why he leans on history to make sense of the future. He discusses how he vets the sources he finds valuable and the importance of a close network of peers to his development as a Naval Officer. Additionally, CAPT Wallace discusses the advantages and disadvantages of remote work, tips for quickly building trust while moving into a new leadership position, the importance of innovation and development to support autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), and what fills him with a sense of optimism.

In this episode, Ross Dawson joins the show. Based in Australia, Ross is globally recognized as a leading futurist, keynote speaker, strategy advisor, best-selling author, and entrepreneur. He is Founding Chairman of the Advanced Human Technologies Group of companies and Founder of Bondi Innovation. His books include Living Networks, which The New York Times credits with predicting the social networking revolution, the Amazon.com bestseller Developing Knowledge-Based Client Relationships, Implementing Enterprise 2.0, and Getting Results From Crowds. His latest book - Thriving on Overload: The 5 Powers for Success in a World of Exponential Information - will be available September 6, 2022.In this interview, Ross discusses the sources he values and trusts as he does his research. He talks about a few trends he is following closely, including polarization in many aspects of our lives, smart glasses, and machine/brain interfaces. Ross closes out the interview by sharing what is filling him with a sense of optimism.

In this episode, Glen Hiemstra joins the show. Glen started his career as a college professor at Whitworth University, the University of Washington, and Antioch University, Seattle. For the last 40 years he has been working as a professional futurist. He is also an author, keynote speaker, and consultant to business, professional and government organizations. The founder of Futurist.com, he serves as Futurist Emeritus on the Futurist.com Think Tank. The site is regularly visited by people from over 120 nations. Glen has also served as a Technical Advisor to future-oriented television programs and he still advises and appears in documentaries. He is the author of Turning the Future into Revenue and co-author of Strategic Leadership, and of Millennial City. In this interview, Glen discusses the sources he values and trusts as he does his research. He shares the social trends he is following closely including the eventual decline in global population and the global rise of authoritarian governments. He also talks about two technology trends - space exploration, including his meeting with Elon Musk during the early years of Space X, and energy technologies that transition humans away from fossil fuels - that he is tracking.

In this episode, Ufuk Tarhan joins the show. Ufuk is a futurist, economist, and a best-selling author in Istanbul. She is the only Turkish woman to appear on Forbes Magazine's "50 Most Influential Female Futurists" and "World's Top 100 Female Futurists" lists. She writes articles for business and future-oriented journals and online platforms, and she is an active and effective social media content creator.In this interview, Ufuk discusses the wide variety of sources she regularly uses in her research. She shares the trends she is following closely including aging and how a global population that continues to get older will change the way we live. She ends the conversation with a fascinating look at the technology advances that will likely occur through the 2020s all the way to the year 2060.

In this episode, Michael Kanaan joins the show. He is the author of the book T-Minus AI. Recently, Michael completed his role as the Director of Operations for the Department of Air Force/MIT Artificial Intelligence Accelerator and is now the Chief of Staff of the US Air Force Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School. In this interview, Michael discusses his approach to doing research, including many of the sources he scours on a regular basis. He shares some of the trends that he is following. Those trends include device addiction, the digital divide and how that increases inequality in urban and rural communities, Artificial Intelligence, and the promise of a quantum world. He also talks about how he is inspired by people younger than him. He is filled with optimism by their empathy, ability to coordinate, and desire to be involved in public service.