In our June LeaderLens, Ashley Welch interviewed Elana Yonah, Co-Founder of Rise, who shared her perspective on Virtual Collaboration: Best Practices for Global Teams.

On March 28, Ashley interviewed Ken Pucker on the topic of "Leadership, Investors, and the Triple Bottom Line." What does it mean to lead in an organization committed to doing well financially, socially, and environmentally? What are the trade-offs and complexities? And what type of company leadership makes an investment advisor sit up and take notice?
 

How is your learning and development strategy supporting your organization's growth strategy? Could you use some fresh insights from a talent development leader who is currently tackling that very issue?

Wednesday, February 29th, Ashley Welch was in conversation with Carolyn Fischer, Vice President of Global Talent Development at TJX & Companies (parent company of T.J. Maxx), getting her perspective on How to Facilitate Organizational Growth through Talent Development.

Ashley Welch of Interaction Associates conducted a timely conversation with her colleague from the Interaction Institute for Social Change, Melinda Weekes (pictured below left). They discussed Strategies for Designing Social Change, exploring ways leaders in any sector can succeed when leading change.

In October's LeaderLens online conversation, Ashley spoke with Karlin Sloan: author, speaker, and CEO.

September's LeaderLens online conversation featured Brooke Deterline, Director of Corporate Programs for the Heroic Imagination Project.  Brooke has spent most of her career working with executives to create “best practices” to positively affect corporate culture and reputation. She has lately moved into the arena of corporate social responsibility, a field that combines her strategic focus with her passion for sustainability, leadership, empowerment and social and environmental justice.

I spoke with Carol Sanford, author of the recent book, The Responsible Business, about her experience working with Fortune 500 companies all over the world. Carol's own passion has led her to help businesses integrate responsibility into all aspects of a business as an engine for innovation, profitability and purpose. Carol explored a framework for a holistic approach to business, and reflected on what guides her and other leaders in an integrated approach to leadership.  

"Can you develop and lead a global expedition for our high potential leaders to study water scarcity and develop leadership capacity?" the head of corporate social responsibility of a large hotel asked me this week. And then she added, "We want to invite hotel guests, too."

Becoming and Belonging: the Underpinnings of Sustainable Change

In June, Ashley Welch spoke with Danny Martin: thought leader, environmentalist, facilitator, and inspirational speaker. Ashley and Danny discussed how to deepen and widen understanding within a group or organization so that change can take place.

Two conversations this week with leaders from large companies reminded me again about the value of context in meeting business challenges, and how social entrepreneurs address challenges with context front and center.