Ghost Lights from Thompson Harrison Solid Gold Clients

In this short podcast, Reima Shakeir reflects on the current state of belonging and inclusion in business and academia. Reima sees a shared sense of belonging as the hallmark of advanced societies and communities - and the key to employee retention and happiness. As she says, "People want to be heard and to be seen - and that’s it." She reflects on systems that are still nonetheless designed for exclusion and on those that exclude due to institutional carelessness or lack of awareness on the part of the leadership.

In this conversation, we explore what’s working, why and where there is pushback. What are some of the simple things that organisations are doing that make a difference? Reima reflects on the fear of getting things wrong, especially when it comes to language and the need to gather hard data to support changes in the system.

Finally, she sees real-world person-to-person connection as the new frontier for great organisations – and brands - where the creation of a sense of belonging makes perfect commercial sense as well.

Reima Shakeir is a lecturer at Wharton School of Business and Stern School of Business. Dr. Shakeir teaches Organizational Communication and Business and Society courses at NYU’s Stern School of Business. She also teaches research methodologies as part of the CLO (Chief Learning Officer) executive doctorate program at the University of Pennsylvania. Reima is also a Lecturer at Wharton and a partner at DEI Ready.
Research Interests include:
Impact Entrepreneurship and Inclusive Economy, Authentic Leadership, Diversity in the Business World, Equity in Higher Education, Impact Investing, Women and Identity Performance in the Public Space, Minority Women’s Lived Experiences in the Corporate World, Gender Studies, and Organizational Sociology.

The problem with charismatic leaders.

What is charisma, how does it benefit leaders, and how can it be toxic?

Why do people follow charismatic leaders, even when it might not be good for them?

Why should leaders develop an inspirational leadership style rather than relying on charisma?

Jon Stokes is interested in how charismatic leadership can be toxic and the effect that it has on followers. He explores how leaders can inspire growth rather than dependence. He is an a an Associate Fellow at Oxford University's Said Business School and a founder of Stokes Jolly, a leadership consulting and advisory firm. He teaches and writes extensively about leadership, and coaches CEOs and their leadership teams.

Email Jon for a copy of his recent paper on charismatic leadership

mailto:js@stokesjolly.com

In my conversation with philosopher Robert Rowland Smith, we explore the dimensions of power. If power is the ability to make things happen in accordance with our will, why do some people crave more power than others? What are the real drivers of power? What do the philosophers say about power? Is power part of the human condition? Is power always bad? When can power be a force for good? This conversation takes us from current power struggles through to an unexpected conclusion all the while acknowledging that power is a movable and dynamic force.

How Humans can Surprise Themselves

Guest: Bryce Goodman, Chief Strategist for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning at the Department of Defense’s Innovation Unit.

Bryce works at the intersection of developing technologies and emerging societal needs. In this wide-ranging conversation he considers the governance challenges for business leaders as they strive to limit unintended consequences and operate responsible AI systems. He celebrates the work of interdisciplinary teams who bring a range of perspectives and skills to framing the problems to be solved: too often these questions are kicked down the line to programmers and engineers. Bryce is interested not only in the ethics of emerging tech but also in its ethical use – here he tells us how machine learning is being used to prevent illegal fishing, to monitor the health of coral reefs – and most delightful of all – to track the ‘voice’ patterns of whales to understand their grammar and dialect and finally, perhaps, to be able to talk back to them.

Dealing with Healthcare Challenges in Nigeria.

Ramatu Abdulkadir (Public Health Supply Chain Expert) is someone who well understands the challenges of getting in-date medicines to the right people at the right time in a pandemic.

She has spent a lifetime grappling at the hard edge of an under-invested in healthcare system in Nigeria.

She compares healthcare to the seamlessness, rigour and innovation of the manufacturing industry - this comparison came home to her as she visited a totally automated forklift factory and returned to ‘still the same old thing’ in a healthcare system that has hardly altered its methods during her whole career. It’s a magical conversation – quite literally so, as she describes how she was able to ‘turn waste into money’.

She is an optimist and a staunch believer in investing in the education of a new generation of supply chain experts to lead change into the future: 17 of her mentees graduated as supply chain experts at the end of 2021.

‘We’re just getting started!’, she says.

Ramatu is a seasoned Public Servant and a recognized expert in Public Health Supply Chain Management systems. As the Executive Secretary/CEO of the Health Supplies Management Agency (KADHSMA), Ramatu led the transformation of Kaduna State Health Supply Chain systems serving over 10 Million People of the State. In addition, Ramatu coordinated and supervised the upgrading of the first government-owned and operated Pharma-grade warehouse valued at around NGN 250 Million.

This conversation between Tracey Camilleri and Enaam Ahmed Ali looks at the world through a gendered lens. Who better to do that than Enaam, 2022’s UN Women’s Representative for Climate Change and Technology? Enaam has spent 2021 talking to women around the world about the way in which climate change is impacting their lives, especially in poorer, developing countries. She talks powerfully about freedom for women – whether it’s the freedom to wear the headscarf, to stay at home and bring up children or to take on a leadership role outside the family - in her view it’s the act of choosing that is the crux of feminism, not what is chosen. In the conversation they range over questions like – what prevents more women now from thriving in tech businesses? What sort of leadership does the world need now? And why have all the corporate dollars sunk into D & I only got us so far? As a pragmatist and an entrepreneur – Enaam looks for action not words. In this podcast, she celebrates the small steps being taken by women around the world to build better foundations for the future.

Enaam Ahmed Ali is a development economist, intrapreneur, innovation manager, activist, and UN Women Representative 2022 for The Netherlands. Everything she does revolves around making people, organizations, and the planet better.