The Storied Future

Our guest today is Julie Brown, the extraordinary leader architecting and executing on a massive transformation strategy for a nearly $7 billion HVAC, Fire, and Security division of Johnson Controls.Julie helps lead a team of folks who are keeping critical systems running smoothly at schools and hospitals across the country. Behind the scenes, though, they’re navigating the uncomfortable upheaval of a digital transformation journey. Julie cares a lot about her work. But she cares even more about her customers and her team, and she is relentlessly committed to leading with empathy. In this episode, Chris and Julie cover:The joy Julie got from going on HVAC calls with her dad as a kidThe lessons she learned during her time at Alcoa in the days in the midst of the sub-prime housing market crash, and how this helped her avoid the typical blind spots of planning for the futureThe horrific loss that changed Julie forever and redefined her as a leaderTransforming care for patients and education for studentsWhy empathy is critical in helping employees create a better futureAnd much more!TSFpod.comthestoriedfuture.com

In the third episode of the Storied Future Podcast, Chris talks to Bracken Darrell, the CEO of Logitech, about how a design narrative can help any company reinvent itself.In 2013, Logitech was a computer peripheral maker facing a bleak outlook due to due to a plateau in worldwide PC sales.So Bracken hired Nokia design guru Alastair Curtis, moved R&D budget out of mice and keyboards and into sectors with growth potential, and reorganized the company around a set of design principles inspired by Dieter Rams. In the process, they turned transformed Logitech from an engineering-led company into a design-led company and kickstarted an era of growth.In this conversation, Chris and Bracken cover:How Bracken’s relationship with Dieter Rams made him a true believer in design thinkingBracken’s 2007 speech about the coming design revolution and how he brought that narrative to lifeWhy he believed a faltering company was the ideal candidate to prove the power of designThe childhood loss that drove Bracken’s relentless pursuit of a better futureWhy he fired and rehired himself—and why he makes his leadership team do the sameLogitech’s commitment to a sustainable, carbon-negative, more inclusive futureAnd much more!TSFpod.comthestoriedfuture.com

Welcome to the inaugural episode of the Storied Future Podcast! We’re glad you’re here. In this show, host Chris Hare talks to C-Suite leaders, experts, and innovators who are transforming themselves and their companies through the power of strategic narratives.Our very first guest is the incredible Mary Shea, currently VP, Global Innovation Evangelist at Outreach and a former principal analyst at Forrester. Chris talks to Mary about her unlikely path to becoming a relentless visionary. Along the way, they touch on:Her path from world-class musician to car salesperson to futuristWhy data is crucial to the successful adoption of a narrativeRecent tectonic shifts in the sales dynamic, and how technology can help sellers navigate themThe spoken and unspoken narratives that create inequitable workplaces, and how the data points to a better wayRISE, Outreach’s pilot program for empowering women in sales and leadershipWhy it hurts to be a futurist, and navigating the lag time between vision and executionAnd much more!TSFpod.comthestoriedfuture.com

In the second episode of the Storied Future Podcast, Chris talks to Jamie Cleghorn and Rishi Dave of Bain  & Company about how to create alignment across the B2B organization, from the buyer to the boardroom.Jamie is a Senior Partner focused mainly on growth strategy, go-to-market effectiveness, and organizational alignment. Rishi is an Expert Partner in the firm's commercial excellence practice with deep expertise in B2B marketing and digital marketing.This conversation covers a ton of ground, and centers around a few core principles—perhaps the biggest of which is the importance of talking to people and getting buy-in across the enterprise.You’re going to get a lot out of this episode, especially if you’re trying to build a strategic narrative that’s integrous from the top of the organization down to the frontlines.In this conversation, Chris, Jamie, and Rishi talk about:How they use the B2B elements of value— a framework designed to help B2B brands measure and deliver what customers want—to drive growthWhat it takes to create strategic narratives that authentically align everyone from the boardroom to the frontlineHow Bain’s Sales Play System helps close the gaps between marketing and salesWhy CMOs can't afford to not invest in brand and demandHow a blank piece of paper can be a powerful tool for realigning your thinkingAnd much more!TSFpod.comthestoriedfuture.com

If you want to change the future, you need to align everyone—from the buyer to the boardroom—around a shared vision of that future.On the Storied Future Podcast, host Chris Hare talks to C-Suite leaders, experts, and innovators who are transforming themselves and their companies through the power of strategic narratives. We’ll show you how to change minds, change culture, and change what happens next.Subscribe today, and learn more at TSFpod.com.