economic inequality — Podcast

The Future of Food with Justin Sutherland

In this episode, Don MacPherson is joined by celebrity chef and restaurant owner Justin Sutherland. When Justin isn’t in front of a camera, he can be found in one of his several Minnesota restaurants making culinary works of art. He’s also heavily involved with the community, opening up a free food shelter to distribute food to those in need during the pandemic. Don and Justin discuss the future of food, including the concept of “food deserts” and how this contributes to food insecurity for disadvantaged Americans, how the food industry can help fight climate change and the impact of COVID-19 on the restaurant industry.

The Future of Cities with Penny Abeywardena

Host Don MacPherson is joined by New York City Commissioner for International Affairs, Penny Abeywardena. They explore the future of cities including the impact of COVID-19, combating inequality, and addressing climate change. They also discuss the idea of broadband as a utility and the great steps taken to educate schoolchildren from home.

Making Sense of the Future: An Interview with Cecily Sommers

Over the last decade, technology has transformed life as we know it and innovation continues to accelerate. To help us understand how to get comfortable with the uncomfortable, we spoke with widely acclaimed futurist Cecily Sommers.

In this interview, podcast host Don MacPherson and Cecily look ahead at the forces shaping our future and identify some trends that will disrupt the way we live and work over the next decade. We touch on the impact of climate change, migration, changing birth rates, and more. We also discuss how we can be best prepared to embrace the changes to come and lean into new technology that makes us uncomfortable.

Cecily Sommers is a futurist and innovation expert. She speaks, write and consults on emerging trends, markets, and technologies shaping business and society.

How a Futurist Sees the World - An Interview with Rebecca Ryan

How can you plan for your organization's future? For over two decades Rebecca Ryan has been consulting with individuals, teams, and organizations to create future plans that accommodate for our ever changing society. In this interview Rebecca shares her insights on:

Part I – Social Change in America

Who is winning economically and who is losing, the cost of being middle class, the Great Recession, the three previous “Winters” in America (The American Revolution, The Civil War and Reconstruction, and the Great Depression), social changes in America, the aging of baby boomers, the expansion of human rights, prison reform, economic development, benefit corporations (B-Corps), influential demographic changes, community planning, affordable housing, transit changes, and planning for the unexpected.

Part II – How to Predict the Future

Foresight / futuring, STEEP methodology (Society, Technology, Environment, Economy Politics), Four Forces (Resources, Technology, Demographics, Politics), crowdsourcing, advice for staying relevant in the future, future trends, how to be future ready, city planning, youth as agents of change for our future, diversifying your information sources, and the importance of delivering on America’s promise.

Organizations, people, and resources mentioned: “Re-Generation: A Manifesto for America’s Next Leaders,” “The Next Big Things” by Rebecca Ryan, Patagonia, Tom’s Shoes, Danone, WARBY PARKER, Futurist Camp, STEEP Methodology, Four Forces (Cecily Sommers), “Think Like a A Futurist: Know What Changes, What Doesn’t, and What’s Next,” www.rebeccaryan.com

“Change happens from the margins…it works its way into the mainstream. So if you want to be future ready, you need to pay attention to things that people are just now starting to talk about.”

Rebecca Ryan on the importance of empathy building and diversifying your information sources for futuring.

Developing Financial and Emotional Competence with Doug Lennick

Doug Lennick is a legendary leader in the financial services industry who has mentored hundreds of people over his career and coached thousands of people to be more effective leaders and make better financial decisions. In this interview, Doug shares his insights on:

Personal Financial Decision Making: Good debt vs. bad debt, the concentration of private debt, Millennial debt, benchmarks for responsible borrowing, financial education, delaying gratification, financial “slavery,” debt stress and how it impacts performance at work, financial intelligence, preparing for financial uncertainty, behavioral change, Stanford Marshmallow Experiment, impulse control

Effective Leadership: senior leadership trust, compassion, integrity, self-awareness, personal and organizational values, transparency, Baby Boomer retirement, advice for first-time managers, leaders vs. managers, the importance of self-management, alignment of thoughts, actions, emotions to values and goals, moral intelligence vs. moral competence, employee engagement and high performance, advice for first-time CEOs, leadership in a world of artificial intelligence and other major technology transformation, the diminishing importance of cognitive ability in leadership, neuroscience, the adult brain, changing adult behaviors, The Four Rs (Recognize, Reflect, Reframe, Respond), happiness

Organizations, people, and resources mentioned: Arun Abey, How Much Is Enough? Making Financial Decisions That Create Wealth and Well-Being, Ray Dalio, Ken Chenault, American Express, Walter Mischel, 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer, Stephen Covey, Stephen M. R. Covey, The SPEED of Trust, Moral Intelligence, Think2Perform, Spock, The Simple Genius (You)

“Our culture is this…I want anybody to be able to talk to anybody, about any thing, at any time.”

Doug Lennick, CEO of Think2Perform, commenting on one of the ways he built trust, transparency, and empowerment while leading a 17,000 person organization at American Express

12 Geniuses Podcast

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