During a recent workshop with an executive team, Aviv brought to focus the premise that the currency of leadership is conversation. This is an unlocking idea that Aviv addresses regularly with his clients. What made this occasion different, however, was the new context that emerged. That idea was that a transformational leader must be a conversation artist. Why is framing the conversation the highest leverage for a leader? Aviv analyzes this inquiry and provides four reasons as well as seven characteristics that make up a true conversation artist.

Mark Horoszowski is the co-founder and CEO of MovingWorlds, an award-winning social enterprise that helps businesses scale their social impact programs by engaging employees in all sorts of profound opportunities. Mark is an RSA Fellow and is a lecturer on corporate social responsibility at The University of Washington Center for Leadership and Social Responsibility. Today, Aviv and Mark engage in a meaningful conversation on social responsibility, helping others and building a sustainable and equitable future. Mark shares some of the insights he has gleaned about human nature throughout the course of his journey at MovingWorlds. Finally, Mark provides three pieces of sage advice for young people looking to make a difference in the world today.

In this episode, Colin and Aviv engage in a rich discussion of finding your purpose, stretching for growth, and having fun along the way. Colin breaks down the Three ‘C’s from his book and explains the Hero’s Journey. Aviv and Colin also touch on the concept of building deep layers of self-insight and the personal journey that can follow. Finally, Colin speaks to the importance of discovering the playground that surrounds your purpose and allows you to have fun in your life.

In this episode, Tom and Aviv engage in a rich discussion on Tom’s entrepreneurial journey, artificial intelligence and lessons in leadership. Tom speaks to the incredible work he’s doing at Resonance AI and the mentors who have been critical along the way. They talk about the complex functionalities that AI is attempting and close to solving. Tom lists some of the critical insights he has gleaned as a leader, provides advice for his younger self and details the insights he values above all else.

Strategic planning is an oxymoronic term. While vision and strategy are back from the future inquiry, planning is the endeavor to move from today to the future. Though we need both approaches, they are not the same activity and they each require a different mindset. In many companies, strategic effort is not strategic at all. Rather, it is a financial-led, bottom-up planning exercise. In this episode, Aviv analyzes eight inquiries to evaluate your strategic innovation opportunities. Such inquiries explore a range of factors, including differentiated value, sustainability, exciting the imagination of your workforce and aligning with values and brand experience. Finally, Aviv provides actionable advice on how listeners can reflect on their strategic growth opportunities holistically to create the future of their business and unlock the future to which they aspire.

Adam Wray is the founder and CEO of AstrumU, a Seattle-based data science startup that translates educational experiences into economic opportunity. Adam held a variety of senior leadership and founding roles at data analytics, cybersecurity, cloud, and machine learning-focused companies. He was one of the founders and the CEO of Tier 3, a public sector cloud services provider acquired by CenturyLink, one of the largest U.S. enterprise telecommunications companies.
In this episode, Adam and Aviv dive deep, explore the power of building an exceptional culture and, specifically, insights that emerged out of Adam’s experience as CEO. Adam describes his entrepreneurial journey and what inspired him to focus on education. He then reflects on the most impactful lessons he’s learned throughout his career. Finally, Adam outlines what he values above all other ideas and insights and provides sage advice to the audience on leadership and starting a business.

Jon Herlocker is the Founder and CEO of Tignis, a company that provides a physics-driven software solution for managing industrial assets, processes, and operations. Jon is a technology entrepreneur, an experienced executive with a long leadership history in big data analytics and artificial intelligence. Before building his company, he was CTO of VMware’s Cloud Management, and CTO of EMC’s Cloud Services division. Jon is a former tenured professor of Computer Science at Oregon State University.

In this episode, Jon and Aviv engage in a deep conversation about entrepreneurship, the power of setting big, hairy, audacious goals and the future of machine learning and artificial intelligence. Jon speaks to his unique ability to enable others to achieve extraordinary breakthroughs and how this trait has been a critical tool for him as a leader and CEO. Finally, Jon shares the importance of being a lifelong learner and the one insight he values above all else.

What are the insights that propel the Create New Futures methodology? This was the framing question Aviv recently asked a Silicon Valley leadership team. Today, Aviv shares and reflects on two great insights that shaped his approach to creating new futures. Aviv dives deep into organizational potential energy and expounds on the concept of currency of leadership. Finally, Aviv provides the actionable advice he shared with the leadership team he worked with. He stresses that in order to unlock the greatest creativity and inspiration, it is critical to engage people in creating and shaping their own future. And to apply the currency of leadership, you must initiate a series of inquiry-based conversations designed to mobilize actions that produce results.