Lead With That

In this episode of Lead With That Ren and Allison explore the leadership lessons that we can glean from the current Writers' Strike. On May 1st, TV and Movie writers went on strike for the first time in 15 years after months long negotiations with film studios failed to create a new contract. The strike is complex issue involving power dynamics, negotiations between union representatives and produ...

Are you a Swiftie? If you are, this episode of Lead With That is for you. In this conversation Allison and Ren talk about the leadership lessons we can learn from Taylor Swift. A dominant force in the music industry for over a decade with numerous awards and accolades to her name, Taylor’s not only achieved incredible success as an artist, but has also taken a strong leadership role in the industr...

In this episode Ren and Allison discuss Corrine Diacre’s leadership style, in the wake of her firing earlier this month. The head coach of the French Women’s National Soccer Team, Diacre was fired just four months before the Women’s World Cup this summer. The reason? “Malfunctions [that] seem[ed], in this context, irreversible,” according to the four-person panel commissioned by the French Footbal...

In this episode Ren and Allison are diving into the exciting world of artificial intelligence, and its impact on leadership and human development. They'll explore the groundbreaking work being done by OpenAI, including its famous language model, ChatGPT, and the new AI powered language model, Bard. This conversation covers the potential that these models hold for transforming the way we think abou...

Happy New Year! In this episode Allison and Ren discuss some leadership highlights and low points of 2022 and what they are most looking forward to when it comes to leadership in 2023. They explore examples of how leaders they admire have given back and made purpose core to their leadership style. They also discuss how wealth and power has contributed to some toxic examples of leadership in 2022....

Sometimes it's hard to find something good about leaders and leadership to talk about. And while we know recently in America there's loads to talk about from a leadership perspective, we decided to take a slightly different approach in this episode. In this season of thanks, we wanted to be very intentional about having a discussion about the importance of gratitude. As one of our amazing colleagu...

Hey, can you hear that? Probably not, because that's the sound of quiet quitting. You've likely heard of the phenomenon of quiet quitting or what some are really just calling someone doing their job description. As quiet quitting gained in popularity it highlighted what some managers have been doing for years, quiet firing. Quiet firing is when an employer does the bare legal minimum to get rid of...

"Earth is now our only stakeholder." That was written by Yvon Chouinard on September 14th as Patagonia's billionaire founder gave away his company to Mother Earth. Instead of selling Patagonia and taking the company public, Chouinard has given the 3 billion outdoor brand to a family trust and a not-for-profit called the Holdfast Collective. The goal with the creation of these entities is to put an...

On August 9th, one of the best athletes to ever grace the world of sports talked about Evolution. An Evolution away from the game of tennis and onto so many more things. Tennis superstar Serena Williams has began her farewell tour with tennis.  Serena became a professional tennis player in 1995, at the age of 14. Three years later, she won her first grand slam title at 17, at the US Open. Since th...

In this episode Allison and Ren zoom out a bit. Instead of focusing on leadership at work they talk more broadly about what leaders can and should be doing during these difficult times to navigate the hard conversations and make space for the tough questions. Join them as they explore how empathy and perspective taking are more essential than ever as leaders around the world are challenged with to...

The future of work, the future of automobiles, and the future of free speech: At the nexus point of all of these is Elon Musk. Musk has never shied away from the public but recently, through his attempted purchase of Twitter and his recent comments about remote work, he’s once again caught our attention here at CCL. At the center of his comments stem 2 core issues of concern for leaders in this mo...

The recent news cycle has been difficult to take in. Tragic, sad, intense. The impulse for leaders and their team members may be to compartmentalize and pivot the conversation, but so much of what’s happening deserves recognition and discussion.  What can leaders do to create an environment at work where employees can feel safe with their emotions, and don't have to pretend things are just okay? H...

In the wake of the slap heard around the world Allison and Ren explore what leadership lessons we can glean from awards season this year. Specifically discussing how conflict in the workplace can be an opportunity to strengthen our professionalism and emotional intelligence skills. They also share how leaders can better manager conflict on their teams, and create spaces where meaningful conversati...

On February 10th the U.S. Senate passed legislation that would end forced arbitration for workers who are victims of sexual assault and harassment. This isn't just one of the most significant changes to employment law in years, which is notoriously difficult to amend. But this is a high watermark of equitable, balanced treatment, of people in the workplace - especially women. Under the legislation...

Pepe Le Pew, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, even Minnie Mouse-- all impacted by cancel culture. Dave Chappelle, Joe Rogan, Gina Carano, J.K. Rowling – whether an animation character or just simply an animated character, no one’s safe. But is it cancel or consequence? And really, how does it impact you, working with and on teams and leading people through change?    In this episode Allison and Ren explo...

In this episode of  Lead With That , Ren and Allison explore what we can learn from the barrier-breaking legacies of Betty White and Sidney Poitier. On December 31st, 2021 actor, comedian, animal rights activist and author Betty White died just weeks before she would have celebrated her 100th birthday on Jan. 17, 2022. Just a week later, the first black man to win an Oscar, an actor that paved the...

Join CCL's Ren Washington and Allison Barr as they explore what we can learn from Facebook's rebrand to Meta. Specifically we talk about the leadership lessons that arise when a company not only changes its name, but also its mission. We apply what we know about change to what we see happening with Facebook's transformation and how we can learn from Mark Zuckerberg, Meta, and any shift in brand an...

Join CCL's Ren Washington and Allison Barr as they explore what we can learn from Colin Powell's legacy and leadership philosophy as he moved from the highest reaches of military leadership to the highest echelons of civilian leadership.  In October US General and Statesmen, Colin Powell died due to complications associated with COVID-19. Among his many accolades, he was chairman of the Joint Chie...

Join CCL's Ren Washington and Allison Barr as they explore what we can learn about recognizing unconscious bias in the workplace from the way news stories are covered on both social media and mainstream media. By now, you likely know the name of Gabby Petito. Both mainstream media and amateurs on social media have committed hour upon hour to try and find Gabby and raise awareness of her case. The...

Join CCL's Ren Washington and Allison Barr as they explore a nationwide labor shortage and the rise of hybrid workplaces, uncovering what we can learn about the future of work from both phenomena.   In late July, hundreds of union workers belonging to Local 218 in Topeka, Kansas won a big victory over Frito-Lay and so-called suicide shifts. Their 20-day strike shined a spotlight on a broader upswi...

Join CCL's Ren Washington and Allison Barr as they explore what we can learn from tennis star Naomi Osaka about the role leaders play in supporting and managing mental health. In June 23-year-old Naomi Osaka, the No. 2 ranked tennis player in women’s tennis, withdrew from Wimbledon. This happened in the wake of Osaka withdrawing, in the second round from the French Open in a storm of controversy c...

Join CCL's Ren Washington and Allison Barr as they explore what we can learn from the leadership characteristics of New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who currently holds the number 1 spot on Fortune’s list of World's Greatest Leaders.  This isn’t the first time Prime Minister Ardern has made Fortune’s Greatest Leaders list, but this is the first time in 2021 that she’s been ranked numbe...

Join CCL's Ren Washington and Allison Barr as they explore what we can learn about accountability and resilience from the Suez Canal. Something like 90% of the world’s goods are transported by sea. About 60% of that includes basically all imported fruits, gadgets, and appliances. As March came to a close, the Ever Given, a container ship almost as long as the Empire State building is tall, ran agr...

Join CCL's Ren Washington and Allison Barr as they investigate what we can learn about how people and organizations react to change by taking a look at the solar energy industry.  Solar is officially the cheapest energy in history. According to the International Energy Agency, solar is 20-50% cheaper than traditional energy sources.  As solar becomes a profitable way to save our planet it might se...

Join CCL's Ren Washington and Allison Barr as they investigate what we can learn about disruption and transformation from the recent short squeeze orchestrated through the internet. In December, GameStop was trading at a little under $13. At the end of January it was trading at $379 and some change. And at the time of this recording, it is trading at $193. This feels like a lot of disruption.  Wha...