Minds Worth Meeting

Speaking up – and empowering your employees to speak up – is a vital prerequisite for a company culture that supports innovation. In this episode of Minds Worth Meeting, Justin Louis and Meg Virag sit down with Oxford University Saïd Business School associate fellow, Megan Reitz. We discuss the importance of how leaders “show up” to work, why we all need safe environments to speak up and permission to pause, and how AI is starting to change dialogue in organizations.
In this episode:

• Before employees can be empowered to speak up, Megan explains why leaders need to work on their own habits first.
  
• She shares fascinating insights about employee activism and how workers and leaders alike can constructively participate.
  
• Megan dives into her new research on “spaciousness” at work and how it can supercharge productivity, creativity and wellbeing.

Where to find Megan Reitz

• Megan’s website
  
• Megan Reitz at the University of Oxford Saïd Business School
  
• Megan’s book, “Speak Out, Listen Up: How to Have Conversations That Matter”
  
• Megan’s book, “Speak Up: Say What Needs to be Said and Hear What Needs to be Heard”

Click or tap here to learn more about how Megan Reitz teaches leaders how to cultivate environments of psychological safety where employees genuinely feel empowered to voice their perspectives with the confidence they will be heard.

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Exponential technology, modern communication and failing well – those were the themes we touched on in the second season of Minds Worth Meeting. Today, we’re taking a look back at the fascinating conversations we had with our expert guests to bring you the best of the season.

In this episode:

• We revisit our conversation with technology analyst, investor and author of “The Exponential Age”, Azeem Azhar. We chatted about the exponential speed of technology advancement, how to use generative AI like ChatGPT to maximize efficiency at work and the future of energy prosperity.
• We listen back to the best bits of our talk with public relations expert and Rutgers University professor, Mark Beal, an authority on Gen-Z, and the modern methods of multi-channel communication.
• We share the best clips from our chat with Columbia University Creative Machines Lab Director, Hod Lipson, in which we touched on the (near) future of driverless cars, how AI can manipulate with love and if AI self-awareness is in the cards.
• When Dean of the Ohio State University’s College of Engineering, Ayanna Howard, joined us she explained how AI has been around for a long time and touches just about everything, but regulation and unbiased development is of the utmost importance.
• The AI conversation this season turned to ethics when we welcomed AI ethicist and author of “Ethical Machines” Reid Blackman. He pointed out the difference between bad actors and accidental actors and emphasized the importance of organizations defining their worst-case scenarios when it comes to AI ethics.
• We wrapped the season up with iconic Harvard Business School professor and author of the upcoming book, “Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well,” Amy Edmondson. She explains what failing well is and the three types of failures – two of which you want to avoid.

Click or tap here for more on Minds Worth Meeting, Stern Speakers & Advisors and Stern PR & Executive Visibility.

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Dr. Nirit Pisano, licensed clinical psychologist and the Chief Psychology Officer of Cognovi Labs, an award winning psychology-infused AI platform, joins host Kenny Conrade on Minds Worth Meeting to discuss several hot-button issues in AI, the workplace, and human emotions and psychology.
In this episode, Nirit discusses the work she is doing at Cognovi and the company's social mission to increase emotional intelligence in our day-to-day interactions at work, the way goods and services are marketed, and more. She also dives into the importance of emotions in the workplace and tactics managers can use to create psychological safety at work, in addition to the impact that this focus on emotions may have on our future.
You can learn more about Cognovi and Nirit's work by visiting www.cognovilabs.com.

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From an employee standpoint, constant upheaval and the specter of having to sit down with the boss multiple times a year to be graded via performance review is a recipe for organizational disaster. In this episode of Minds Worth Meeting, former Cisco and Deloitte HR executive and author, Ashley Goodall joins Justin Louis to discuss his latest book, "The Problem with Change" and offers practical solutions to help your business understand what people need at work in order to contribute their best.
In this episode:

• We talk about Ashley's book and how constant change stymies the process of actually achieving organizational goals.
• Ashley delves into why leaders need to get serious about understanding how their teams operate, especially what makes the best teams so good.
• He picks apart the performance review process and explains why regularly assigning a grade or number to an employee's achievements has the opposite of the intended effect of boosting performance and morale.
• Ashley describes how HR has lost its way in today's business ecosystem, explaining why leaders need to become more focused on the human aspect of "human resources."

Where to find Ashley Goodall:

• Ashley's website
• Ashley Goodall on LinkedIn
• Ashley's book, “The Problem with Change: And the Essential Nature of Human Performance”

Click or tap here to learn more about how Ashley Goodall provides leaders with strategies for rethinking the change process and performance evaluations that will build stronger teams, not disengaged employees.

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Randi Caplan, Farient Advisors' leader of marketing and business development and a long-time client of Stern PR, joins the show to discuss her role at Farient, the evolution of professional services marketing landscape over her 20 years in the field, what forging a successful partnership with a PR agency looks like, and more.
Randi has been a member of Farient's leadership team since 2010 where she works closely with Farient’s senior leadership to build visibility and attract new clients through high-touch integrated marketing programs, lead generation, and innovative research initiatives. Her background has also brought her to legacy companies, where she served in similar roles at Deloitte and Ernst & Young Consulting.

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