Posts tagged preparation
E26 Making Sense of the Future

Cecily Sommers is a futurist and business consultant. In this episode of 12 Geniuses, host Don MacPherson interviews Cecily as she explains her Four Forces of Change model. She shares which of those forces - energy, access to water, aging - will dominate the next decade and beyond.

Cecily goes in depth to describe how three technologies - artificial intelligence, bioengineering, and quantum mechanics - will reshape humanity. Finally, Cecily shares advice for how we can manage the incredible changes the future is sure to bring us.

Season Three of the podcast is dedicated to exploring the future and how life is sure to change over the next decade. This episode provides tools and guidance for how to better understand that future.

Cecily Sommers speaks, writes and consults on emerging trends, markets, and technologies shaping business and society. Cecily works with a wide range of Fortune 500 companies and organizations that are looking to stay ahead of the curve and become future-ready.

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E25 Building the Leaders of Tomorrow

A positive role model can change a child’s life. This is a lesson Shakeel Nelson learned firsthand. With his father incarcerated for much of his youth, Shakeel grew up in a single parent household in a community with limited resources and opportunities. The lure of gangs and other dangers were present, but with guidance and a love of sports, Shakeel resisted and found his path in life.

Today, Shakeel is sharing what he has learned from his mentors and athletics with young people in his community. In early 2019, he and two other people founded the Inner City Ducks. Their mission is to provide a place where young boys (and soon young girls) can learn life lessons through the power of athletics so they are better able to reach their full human potential. Starting with 13 boys on a spring football team in May of 2019, the Ducks have grown to more than 50 children from ages 5 through 14.

Shakeel and the Inner City Ducks provide mentoring, a safe space to play and learn, discipline, and exposure to new experiences for the young people in his community. The players have participated in tournaments in Kansas City, Indianapolis, Chicago, Wisconsin, and South Dakota. Eating in restaurants, staying in hotels, and seeing new places expands their sense of what is possible in their lives and teaches them life skills they will apply in adulthood.

In this interview, Shakeel shares his personal experience growing up without a father and candidly shares the challenges he faced. Shakeel explains his inspiration for creating the Inner City Ducks and how he sees the organization and its players growing in the years to come. Shakeel also tells us about the creative ways he is introducing his kids to new experiences and teaching them life skills while developing athletes hungry for success.

At the young age of 25, Shakeel volunteers four days a week to support the youth of his community as a coach, role model, and mentor through the Inner City Ducks. Shakeel’s vision for the organization is to serve 150+ boys and girls and to provide a community center where the kids can go after school to play, study, work out, and receive mentoring.

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E24 The Making of the “Miracle on Ice”

For two weeks in February of 1980, twenty young athletes determined to do the impossible, gave the United States a respite from the Cold War, the economic malaise of the 1970s, and the hostage crisis in Iran. In arguably the greatest upset in sports history, the 1980 United States Olympic Hockey Team defeated the Soviet Union and then went on to clinch the gold medal against Finland. The sports world was shocked and the “Miracle on Ice” was complete.

In this interview, Lou Nanne, a key influencer of the team, takes us back nearly 40 years and tells the story of the 1980 “Miracle” team, his involvement in securing Herb Brooks as the head coach of the Olympic team, and how the team was best prepared to face the international competition through innovative practice routines and training methods. Lou describes the nervousness and atmosphere during the game against the Soviet Union and the reactions afterwards. He also reminds us of how isolated players and fans were in Lake Placid during the Olympic Games. Social media didn’t exist, games were not televised live, and there was very little indication of what the rest of the world knew or felt about this historical run.

Lou Nanne has been a leading figure in the hockey community for decades. Lou was captain of the 1968 United States Olympic Hockey team. Later he played, coached, and served as general manager for the Minnesota North Stars. Lou is a member of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame and the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame. He has also been awarded the Lester Patrick trophy for his impact on the sport of hockey.

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