Strategy Sphere

As Chief Joy Officer of Joyful Planet, Patrice Tanaka helps both individuals and organizations define and leverage their purposes. Learn how purpose-driven organizations are outperforming their competition, and hear how Tanaka’s decision to take a ballroom dance class changed her life. She also recounts how she took hold of her own PR firm from the ranks of an ad agency and how the firm was later named one of the most creative PR shops in the country. Tanaka has helped unleash greater fulfillment and joy for clients throughout the world, and believes her purpose in life is to help others find their own purpose and joy.

Hosts: Lavinia Calvert & Deborah Farone Co-Producer: Katelin Zweifel-Korzuchin & Brit Nowacki Audio Engineer: Nikki Rasmussen Editor: Jessica Penfield

Ralph Baxter, Intapp Board Member and the former Chairman and CEO of the law firm Orrick, joins us to discuss the characteristics that are vital to becoming a true and innovative leader in the professional services arena. Learn how the COVID-19 pandemic has given firms an opportunity to accelerate necessary change and serve clients in better and more efficient ways. During the episode, Baxter also addresses the importance of diversity, a topic close to his heart. He recounts his discussions with Harvard’s David Wilkins regarding how work assignments are made within a law firm and how those decisions serve as an important inflection point for diversity and inclusion.

Hosts: Lavinia Calvert & Deborah Farone Co-Producer: Katelin Zweifel-Korzuchin & Brit Nowacki Audio Engineer: Nikki Rasmussen Editor: Jessica Penfield

Lisa Leong — a corporate lawyer, broadcaster, business developer, and consultant — shares her advice on how to truly connect with people. Learn more about the importance of using empathy to drive successful conversations, and discover how to get to the heart of an issue through a process Leong calls “empathy interviewing.” Leong reveals firsthand how empathy and connection are so vital to satisfying business goals and achieving success. She takes Lavinia Calvert and Deborah Farone through a fun exercise to illustrate this idea, and shares how she first learned to use empathy as a radio host and later as a student at the Australian Television and Radio School.

Hosts: Lavinia Calvert & Deborah Farone Co-Producer: Katelin Zweifel-Korzuchin & Brit Nowacki Audio Engineer: Nikki Rasmussen Editor: Jessica Penfield

As a partner at Pentagram and a world-renowned, award-winning graphic designer and design critic, Michael Beirut describes corporate identity as a bespoke suit that expresses the true character of the “wearer” or company. In this episode, Beirut explains how he works within professional services firms to build excitement around design ideas. Beirut goes on to describe how he and other designers build trust when they are hired, and how he often collects creative ideas and suggestions from those within the professional services firms he works with. He also describes his own creative process and the books and artists that have inspired him along the way.

Hosts: Lavinia Calvert & Deborah Farone Co-Producer: Katelin Zweifel-Korzuchin & Brit Nowacki Audio Engineer: Nikki Rasmussen Editor: Jessica Penfield

Vanderbilt Law’s Cat Moon is known for teaching her students about making the law more accessible and making legal delivery more seamless. With a background in communications, law, and now academia, Moon reveals how our legal ecosystem and other professional services have not kept pace with the rest of the world. Tune in to hear Moon’s ideas for new solutions, and learn how human-centered design can be applied to the practice of law as well as everyday business problems. Moon also discusses professionals using social media, explaining how Twitter has been a helpful tool in her own collaboration efforts. She shares her experience of teaching classes during the COVID-19 pandemic, and states that, despite having to broadcasting in a mask behind plexiglass, Moon has been able to create a close connection with her students by constantly experimenting in the classroom.