Podcast

SPOS #953 – Erin Clark On Activating The Soul, Heart, And Mind Of Leadership

Welcome to episode #953 of Six Pixels of Separation – The ThinkersOne Podcast.

Here it is: Six Pixels of Separation – The ThinkersOne Podcast – Episode #953.

Erin Clark is a managing director with Deloitte Consulting’s Human Capital practice, where she specializes in helping clients improve performance, drive change, and create sustainable advantages through people. With a deep commitment to unlocking human potential within organizations, Erin has dedicated her career to transforming workplaces into environments where individuals and teams can thrive. In her new book, Leading Through – Activating The Soul, Heart, And Mind Of Leadership (co-authored with her father, former Harvard Business School dean Kim Clark, and her brother Jonathan Clark), Erin explores the dynamic shift needed in leadership for today’s rapidly changing world. The book delves into the struggle between traditional leadership paradigms – rooted in control, hierarchy, and bureaucracy – and a new model that emphasizes empowerment, trust, and collaboration. During our conversation, Erin discusses how the pandemic and technological advancements like generative AI have accelerated the need for this leadership transformation. She emphasizes that while we’re living in a digital, transparent, and complex era, many organizations are still clinging to outdated methods that stifle innovation and suppress human potential. Erin introduces the concept of “leading through,” which focuses on activating the soul, heart, and mind of leadership to create a culture where people are motivated to solve tough problems and make meaningful contributions. We explore the importance of leaders embracing a more human-centric approach, one that not only cares for people but also consciously seeks to do good and make things better. Erin highlights that leadership is both deeply personal and systemic – it requires individual growth as well as organizational support to foster an environment where employees can excel. She also touches on the challenges of short-termism and the pressure to meet market expectations, which often hinder long-term development and human sustainability. Erin’s insights shed light on the necessity of preserving humanity in the face of rapid technological change. She advocates for leveraging technology as a tool for value creation while ensuring that it doesn’t overshadow the human element that is crucial for innovation and organizational success. Enjoy the conversation…

Running time: 57:08.
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Here is my conversation with Erin Clark.
Leading Through – Activating The Soul, Heart, And Mind Of Leadership.
The Leading Through Institute.
Deloitte Consulting’s Human Capital practice.
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This week’s music: David Usher ‘St. Lawrence River’.

Chapters:

(00:00) – Collaborating with Family: Writing a Book on Leadership.
(03:06) – Challenges and Potential in Leadership.
(12:03) – The Impact of the Pandemic on Work.
(18:26) – The Role of Leadership in Supporting Human Potential.
(22:05) – Systemic Factors that Hinder or Enable Human Potential.
(26:11) – Work as a Means vs Work as Community and Fulfillment.
(29:42) – The Mass Revolt Against Traditional Management Approaches.
(33:09) – Shifting from Coercive Control to Leading Through.
(36:36) – Balancing Freedom of Action and Agency.
(39:06) – The Challenges of Personalized Management.
(47:36) – Creating Value through Leading Through.
(53:47) – Preserving Humanity in the Face of Technological Advancements.

Download the Podcast here: Six Pixels of Separation – The ThinkersOne Podcast – Episode #953.

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Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.