In Episode 4 of Looking Outside we’re joined by down-to-earth insights & marketing rockstar, Michelle Gansle, Vice President of Global Strategic Insights at McDonald's. Today we’re looking outside The Human.

Together Jo and Michelle discuss what it means to truly be human-led inside and outside of work, both by humanizing the people we work with and ourselves.

The Insights industry is in a continual state of transition, no more felt than during the pandemic. Michelle shares her observation of human nature from the past two years, within and outside of the office. In exploring human-centric leadership, Jo and Michelle discuss the skill of finding and cultivating your superhuman power, getting out of your comfort zone by cultivating curiosity, and how vulnerability and facing into emotions at work should be a natural part of leadership.

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To look beyond the familiar, Michelle recommends you check out Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen by Dan Heath.

She says to seek diverse views from people, podcasts and conferences. Or (my favorite) set yourself a challenge every month that will take you actively into new and sometimes uncomfortable places.

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Michelle is the Vice President, Global Strategic Insights, and leads the McDonald’s Global Insights organization. Michelle and her team connect human truth with business strategy to drive growth.

Michelle recently drove the insights transformation at Mars Wrigley. Here she pushed the boundaries of Martech and Digital Adoption to create a more future focused organization with the development of a dedicated Foresight Team. Michelle has 28 years of experience in Marketing, Market Research & Business Development, for several global Fortune 500 Companies including Dell Computers, Clorox, Nestle and Mars.

Michelle has high integrity and a people-focused leadership style. Her passion for supporting diverse teams in realizing their potential shines through as does her love of the McDonald’s business and brand.

Prior to living in Chicago, Michelle had the opportunity to live and work in Europe for four years. In her free time, Michelle loves music, travelling the world, and checking out new restaurants. She hopes to get to 100+ countries in her lifetime and cannot wait to travel again, stopping off at our restaurants to enjoy a Sausage & Egg McMuffin along the way!

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Welcome to Looking Outside, a new podcast dedicated to exploring fresh perspectives of familiar business topics. With each episode we’ll hear from some of the most influential and original thinkers.

The show is hosted by Joanna Lepore. Jo has been marketing and innovating inside of the consumer goods space for over a decade. Previously a marketer in Australia she recently moved to the United States to head up strategic foresight for Mars Wrigley North America. Jo follows her curiosity, seeking out fresh perspectives by looking outside her market, industry and field of knowledge. Starting 2022 she’s taking some of her friends alongside some of the most inspiring industry leaders to explore more of this in the Looking Outside podcast.

Find out more about Jo & Looking Outside at www.looking-outside.com.

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