What if you could lead organizational change the same way revolutions overthrow regimes?

Today on Leveraging Thought Leadership, Peter Winick sits down with Greg Satell—co-founder of ChangeOS, bestselling author of "Cascades: How to Create a Movement That Drives Transformational Change", and one of the world’s top experts on transformational change. Greg doesn’t just talk about change—he’s lived through it, from leading media organizations during the Orange Revolution in Ukraine to building practical frameworks used by today’s largest corporations.

Greg shares why traditional change management often fails and how organizations can instead harness the power of movements. Drawing from real-world revolutions and network science, he explains why resistance is predictable, why change requires collective action, and how to create sustainable, culture-driven transformation that sticks.

He also breaks down the tools and models behind his work—like the Resistance Inventory and Cultural Trigger Mapping—and why building evangelists inside your organization is critical to long-term success. If your team is struggling with change fatigue, inertia, or lack of alignment, Greg’s insights offer a radically different way forward.

This episode is packed with sharp, actionable frameworks for CEOs, CHROs, transformation leaders, and fellow thought leaders alike. If you're looking to drive change that actually lasts—this conversation is a must-listen.

Three Key Takeaways:
• Change is a people problem, not just a strategy problem.
Successful transformation requires shifting beliefs and behaviors—not just processes or structures.

• Resistance is predictable—and manageable.
Most change initiatives fail because they don’t identify or plan for resistance. A resistance inventory helps leaders anticipate and navigate pushback.

• Lasting change spreads like a movement.
True transformation requires internal evangelists who influence their networks, making the change sustainable beyond any one leader or initiative.

If Greg’s episode sparked your interest in how movements drive lasting change, you’ll want to explore our conversation with Urvashi Bhatnagar on Implementing Niche Solutions at Scale. Both episodes dive into the challenge of turning big ideas into sustainable results—whether it’s building cultural momentum for transformation or scaling specialized solutions across complex organizations. Urvashi’s insights on aligning niche innovations with organizational structures complement Greg’s frameworks for overcoming resistance and creating internal evangelists. Together, these episodes offer a powerful blueprint for leaders who need to drive change that sticks and scales.

What if you could design the future — instead of reacting to it?

In today's episode of Leveraging Thought Leadership, Peter Winick sits down with futurist and design strategist Lisa Kay Solomon to explore how leaders can use design thinking to actively shape what’s next.

Lisa is a Designer-in-Residence at Stanford’s d.school, an educator, a bestselling author, and a respected voice on the Thinkers50 Radar list. She helps leaders and organizations make better long-term decisions in a short-term world. Her superpower? Turning vague uncertainty into actionable insight — by teaching leaders how to think like futurists.

Lisa shares how she guides boards, conference planners, and executive teams through complex challenges. She doesn’t just create better experiences — she builds capabilities that last. Whether it’s designing strategic conversations or preparing teams to operate in ambiguity, Lisa brings a toolkit of creative, repeatable practices to move from stuck to strategic.

If you’ve ever found yourself saying, “Yeah, but that would never happen here,” Lisa has a chapter — and a strategy — just for you.

This conversation is packed with high-impact takeaways for those who want to lead with intention and design a future worth inhabiting.

Three Key Takeaways:

• Designing the Future Is a Teachable Skill
Lisa argues that futures thinking isn’t a mysterious talent—it’s a learnable capability. Most leaders have been trained to focus on short-term goals. Lisa teaches them how to widen their lens, shift perspective, and think long-term using strategic design practices.

• Great Ideas Need More Than Strategy—They Need Capability
Organizations often bring Lisa in to spark innovation—whether at board meetings or large conferences. But the real value she delivers goes beyond a single event. She helps teams build the capabilities to sustain innovation, adapt to change, and continue asking the right questions long after she’s gone.

• Overcoming the “Yeah, Buts” That Block Progress
Lisa names the top three “yeah, buts” that sabotage future thinking: short-term pressure, lack of resources, and not knowing how. Her approach disarms these mental blockers by reframing possibility as practical—and showing leaders how to move from reactive to proactive in shaping what’s next.

If you found Lisa Kay Solomon’s insights on designing the future and building long-term leadership capabilities compelling, you won’t want to miss our episode with Joseph Press: Thought Leadership for Future Thinking. Both Lisa and Joseph explore how leaders can move beyond short-term fixes to shape more intentional, future-ready organizations. While Lisa focuses on strategic conversations and capability building through design, Joseph dives into how thought leadership and digital transformation intersect to foster future thinking. Together, these episodes offer a powerful one-two punch for anyone looking to lead with clarity, creativity, and courage in uncertain times. Listen to both and equip yourself with the mindset and tools to not just predict the future—but actively shape it.

In this special compilation episode of Leveraging Thought Leadership, host Bill Sherman brings together four voices at the forefront of AI and innovation: Jen Cohen, Stephanie Grayson, Amelia Ross, and Spencer Ante. Each offers a powerful, firsthand take on how AI is changing the way we lead, communicate, and make decisions.

Jen Cohen explores how AI can amplify—rather than replace—human potential. She’s seen how automation can unlock joy and confidence, from safe driving to elder care. For Cohen, AI is about purpose, empathy, and enabling people to thrive through their “ikigai.”

Stephanie Grayson shares how AI is becoming an essential research partner in the world of B2B thought leadership. But she also flags real risks—from bias to hallucinations—and warns that without humans in the loop, AI can damage brand trust faster than it can build it.

Amelia Ross breaks down how natural language processing (NLP) can make sense of real-time chaos, like the war in Ukraine. She reveals how AI-driven insights helped governments and companies cut through disinformation and find clarity in crisis—demonstrating the societal power of smart content strategy.

And Spencer Ante takes us to the edge of the AI frontier, where generative tools like ChatGPT are reshaping not just how we work, but how we think. A former investigative journalist, he calls on business leaders to collaborate with AI—not fear it—and to focus on managing truth, training systems, and preserving human creativity and empathy.

From content to ethics, strategy to scalability, this episode is a must-listen for anyone leading in a world shaped by machines—and guided by human insight.

Four Key Takeaways

AI should be used to amplify human capability, not replace it. Whether in automated driving or elder care, AI can remove risk and enhance joy—while preserving purpose and human involvement.

Thought leadership must remain human-led and carefully validated. AI is a powerful research assistant, but without human oversight, it risks spreading misinformation and damaging trust.

AI-driven NLP can turn unstructured real-time data into actionable insight, helping organizations cut through disinformation and respond quickly to fast-changing global events.

AI won’t replace human creativity—it will augment intelligence. Leaders must learn to collaborate with AI tools, supervise them, and guide them with empathy and strategy.