“Every one of us has a ripple effect in the world around us. How do I want to harness that, and what do I want my ripple effect to do while I have this time on earth?”
I’m in London this week participating in London Climate Action Week events and hosting yesterday’s Lead Human podcasts with Tricia Scott and todays with Liza Tullidge. This episode of Lead Human with Jack Myers and Tim Spengler, is being taped at the London Acast studio with Tim at the New York studio. In a world increasingly defined by disruption, uncertainty, technological acceleration, and social fragmentation, many leaders are searching for new frameworks to guide their organizations and their lives. Few voices are approaching that challenge with as much clarity, humanity, and systems-level thinking as Liza Tullidge.
Founder of NETĀ, CEO and Founder of MAVEN + Co, Host of the Humaning Podcast, and a leader with IMAGINE, Liza has built her career helping organizations future-proof themselves by harnessing the power of sustainability, resilience, and human-centered leadership. Yet what emerges in this Lead Human conversation is something far broader than sustainability strategy.
Liza challenges the assumption that business success can be separated from human flourishing. View the full video at www.lead-human.com, Lead Human - YouTube, and listen at your preferred podcast platform.
Throughout the Lead Human conversation with Jack Myers and Tim Spengler, she explores why traditional approaches to leadership, governance, and organizational design are increasingly insufficient for the realities leaders face today. Her perspective combines the analytical rigor of a systems engineer with the empathy of a human development advocate, creating a compelling framework for leaders seeking meaningful change without abandoning business performance.
One of the most fascinating ideas explored in the discussion is her concept of “ecosystemic change.” Rather than viewing organizations as static systems to optimize, Liza argues that businesses are living ecosystems -- constantly evolving, adapting, and influenced by countless human variables. The implications are profound for boards, executives, entrepreneurs, and anyone attempting to navigate complexity.
The conversation moves seamlessly between boardroom strategy and deeply personal reflection. Liza explains why trust, curiosity, and mindset often determine whether organizations can successfully adapt. She discusses why many leaders struggle to create meaningful change, how curiosity can become a competitive advantage, and why resilience begins with understanding what success truly means for ourselves.
Listeners will also hear her insights leadership traits that rarely make it into management textbooks. Rather than focusing on authority or certainty, Liza highlights openness, self-awareness, curiosity, and the ability to separate ego from decision-making as defining characteristics of leaders capable of shaping the future.
Perhaps most compelling is her belief that transformative leadership begins with translation. Whether working with boards, executives, investors, or change-makers, Liza emphasizes the importance of speaking the language of the people you seek to influence. The most effective leaders do not simply communicate their vision -- they connect it to the priorities, motivations, and realities of those around them.
The result is a conversation that feels simultaneously practical and philosophical, grounded in boardroom realities while never losing sight of the human beings inside the system.
For leaders wrestling with questions about resilience, sustainability, AI, organizational change, culture, governance, and purpose, this episode offers a rare opportunity to explore these issues through a lens that is both deeply strategic and unmistakably human.
Five Quotes That Will Make You Want to Hear the Full Conversation
- “A machine doesn’t make its own decisions. It’s nudged and given inputs and parameters by the humans who occupy it.”
- “If we can help people feel more empowered in their own space and understand the impact they want to have, it becomes much easier to unlock a new business as usual.”
- “Too often in business we’ve lost the ability to get curious. And if we’re struggling to have difficult conversations, we’re probably not going to change the system.”
- “The best leaders have tenacity and hunger, but they pair it with curiosity about what the future could look like.”
- “Every one of us has a ripple effect in the world around us. How do I want to harness that, and what do I want my ripple effect to do while I have this time on earth?”
Liza leaves Lead Human with a challenge -- not only for leaders, but for all of us. What kind of living legacy are we creating? How are we using our influence? And what ripple effect are we leaving behind?
To hear her answers -- and perhaps discover your own -- listen to the full episode of Lead Human with Jack Myers and Tim Spengler. View the full video at www.lead-human.com, Lead Human - YouTube, and listen at your preferred podcast platform.
