Lisa Bodell is the CEO of Future Think, award wining author and one of the world's Top 50 Keynote speakers on issues such as creating simplicity and killing complexity. This episode was filmed in New York City during the 'Future of Everything' Festival.

Lisa always thought of herself as a helper and was naturally creative from an early age. She grew up in Michigan, studied business and wanted to go into marketing and advertising. However, she wanted to find a path where her ideas would be heard and mattered. At this point, the entrepreneur emerged and Lisa decided to do her own thing, start her own business and create a platform for ideas and collaboration.

Lisa's books became a global calling card for her thought leadership and ability to help others learn and master new skills and capabilities. Time is a non renewable resource that we never get back and this became the catalyst for Lisa's focus on simplification. In a society fixated with more, Lisa is intent we also see the value in less. This requires focus and an ability to get rid of things. What will you stop doing is a wonderfully powerful question for all leaders although fear is something that holds all of us back.

Stopping and saying 'no' is a critical ingredient for innovation. Simplicity is not about being more productive, its the front end of innovation and gives people the space to do what matters. It's also not about getting rid of everything, it's about getting rid of unnecessary complexity, the invisible waste, the work without the benefits. This is all about getting to the work that matters and not being more productive. As a leader, are you defining what meaningful work is?

Grooves and ruts look and feel the same. Grooves are productive, ruts are a waste of time.

Lisa speaks all over the world and I asked her in this episode what she wanted to talk about that she doesn't usually talk about in order to make this episode truly memorable. She decided to connect simplicity to wellbeing so we can feel that we are doing what we were born to do.

Lisa explains that much of our daily workload is based around meetings and emails, therefore within our control to change, yet most will not. As Lisa says during her keynotes, many of us 'survive another meeting that should have been an email.'

Technology has amplified the issue of complexity and the ease to create meeting after meeting. If you could kill off any 2 rules at work, what would they be? Many of the answers she hears are not even rules, they are just historical methods of working.

Lisa's top tips include (1) for leaders to mandate the right for people to get rid of things that they feel are unnecessary, and (2) model the behaviour.

All businesses fear becoming irrelevant, especially during great technological change. To be relevant we must change, we must innovate and people need time to think. People want to leave a legacy, not shareholder value. Simplicity is not a productivity exercise it's a about helping people to get to the work that they were hired to do in the first place and be their best self.

Simplicity is also a foundation for a high performing culture. In an age of Generative AI, time is something to harness and allow people to think more. As Lisa explains. 'thinking is a daring act'. Perhaps now, we have more time to be human which is actually the basis of our leadership capability.

www.futurethink.com

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Giuseppe Stigliano is the global CEO of Spring Studios in New York which was the venue for the Wall Street Journal 'Future of Everything' Festival. We filmed this episode on the rooftop of the studio overlooking The Hudson river and surrounding area.

Giuseppe is Italian and moved to Milan to study marketing working in multiple businesses with early experiences of leadership.

He now travels between London and New York in his role as CEO for Spring Studios. He has an entrepreneurial spirit so the NYC location is a multiple use site including an event space, studio business, private members club and more making it a unique agency with a core business focused on luxury, fashion and lifestyle.

Giuseppe is an entrepreneur by background, an author with Philip Kotler (the grandfather of marketing) adjunct professor and keynote speaker who also holds a Phd in marketing and economics. Giuseppe believes that the more you curiously explore opportunities and relationships the more life has to offer.

He is currently redefining retail in a landscape of significant digital transformation and specialises in helping people navigate the 4P's of marketing (product , price, place & promotion) with a mindset shifting from making people want things to making things people want.

Is the High Street dead? Giuseppe says no, if you can make it absolutely compelling for people to leave their sofas and online lives. Some of the biggest shifts for a retail business is the role of 'Figital', a three dimensional world of the physical, digital and the virtual. The plethora of data allows business to target the right message to the right person at the right time. Gen AI is changing the landscape again as it can create new ways of using what we already have available to us. However, Giuseppe also reminds us that AI will give us back time and can never compete with the truly human centred capabilities such as curiosity, empathy and creativity, simply more time for us to be human.

Marketing is key for every business. This is also changing. Supply exceeds demand so the competition is high. Marketing has historically been focused on making people want things but now the sheer amount of data available allows people to consider what do we need to create for the people based on the insights we have. Gen AI can now help the smallest of businesses to master the data analytics.

Giuseppe is always learning as a leader. He is a believer that the next generation of employees require servant leaders but also recognises that no one size fits all. Leadership has to flex to the context of the businesses growth and maturity. Giuseppe understands the importance of allowing smart people who are more expert that the CEO to be allowed and fully empowered to operate as they see fit. A leader must know when to get out of the way.

www.linkedin.com/in/giuseppestigliano/

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Viv Anderson MBE is our special guest for Episode 200 filmed in front of a live audience at Capco in central London in support of the amazing charity Leadership Through Sport & Business, which Viv is a patron. Viv has played for a number of teams including Manchester United, Arsenal and Nottingham Forest. He was the very first player signed by Sir Alex Ferguson and played for Brian Clough winning the Football League, European Cup, League Cup, FA Cup and made British sporting history by becoming the first black player to play a full international for England.

This is an amazing insight into Viv, his family, the Windrush generation and how he went on to become a trailblazer for diversity in the beautiful game. His big break came via a scout from Sheffield United which in turn led to a scout from Manchester United asking him to trial as a young schoolboy. Manchester United rejected Viv which he explains was devastating however that prompted him to try for his home team, Nottingham Forest which in turn led to his debut at 17 yers old.

The Nottingham Forest years meant that Viv played for the iconic Brian Clough. Viv shares some incredible stories about life under Clough as a young black player in the 70's and 80's and how Clough helped him to build the personal resilience to cope and still play whilst dealing with overt racism. We discuss the state of diversity in football and football leadership in the modern game and concede that there is still much to do.

When Viv found out that he had been selected for England, Brian Clough was again a supporting influence in his life whilst also keeping him grounded and humble.

Viv also remembers being signed and playing for Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United. Alex Ferguson was a passionate but hard task master. Alex Ferguson's early years were not easy but he knew how to man manage each and every player which led to him becoming the serial winner that we know today. Both Brian Clough and Alex Ferguson had clear non-negotiables with their superstar players.

Viv outlines how senior players had a positive impact on his career including Brian Robson

We also have a few surprises for Viv, with messages from Stuart Pearce and Marlon Harewood.

For more information on Leadership Through Sport & Business (LTSB) www.ltsb.charity

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