Earlier this year, I traveled to Rockport, Texas to chase redfish with legendary fly fishing guide Alvin Dedeaux and his crew at All Water Guides. The first day was tough fishing. Really tough. Why?

Besides the fact that I’m not great at fly fishing, there was next to no sun, a whole lot of clouds, and a whole lot of shadows. And if you’ve fished there before, you know that you need a lot of light just to spot the fish, let alone cast to them and catch them.

But one of the things you notice when you’re out there with Alvin is that he seems happy, regardless of the conditions. And that seems to apply to his life beyond fishing as well.

Alvin has lived a storied life. From discovering his passion for fly fishing as a kid to becoming frontman for a rock band with a record deal (Nirvana actually opened for them), and from meeting the love of his life and building a life together to establishing himself as one of the top fly fishing guides in Texas.

But last summer, the shadows hit all of a sudden when he lost his wife Lenée to cancer. The cancer came out of nowhere and she was gone within about a month of getting the news from the doctors.

Shortly after, I booked a call with Alvin to talk about a fly fishing trip and on the call learned that he had lost her. He was right in the middle of it and was trying to figure out the path through it, something I can't even imagine trying to navigate. Then in December and February I had the privilege of spending time with him down on the Gulf.

A few months back, I had the privilege of interviewing Alvin. Sure we talked about his journey but this really became a conversation about Lenée’s legacy and the transformational impact she had on him, their kids, their company, and their community.

What struck me about Alvin is the joy that he has in the face of all he’s been through over the past year, in spite of the shadows he’s been walking through.

Please give this one a listen and you’ll quickly see what I mean.

There’s a lot of laughter, some extraordinary stories, a powerful exploration of Alvin's narrative, and yes, there are some tears.

Thanks for telling your story, Alvin. You have taught me and inspired me. And I know your story will continue to help a lot of other people find joy in the journey, wherever they are.

In this special episode, learn about Sienna Jackson’s extraordinary journey from child prodigy to becoming Director of Film and Television Music at The Weinstein Company by the age of 20, to working to build safer and more just workplaces for people everywhere.

Across every stage of her storied career, Sienna has demonstrated an audacious faith in the future and, in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., she is on a journey to transform "dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows."

While at the Weinstein Company, Sienna worked on multiple Academy Award and Golden Globe-nominated original soundtracks. She also had a front-row seat to one of the most notorious downfalls in Hollywood history when Harvey Weinstein's evil was exposed and his career and company came tumbling down.

The lessons Sienna took from that experience propelled her toward a mission-driven career, using her power, skill, and passion to build a better future for people in workplaces everywhere.

Today, Sienna is a Los Angeles-based founder, social impact consultant, and producer. She is the CEO and Co-Founder of Nortera, a tech startup that is working to uncover hidden risk and expose bias and discrimination in the workplace. Sienna is also the CEO of Zoran Creative Strategies, where she continues to drive meaningful change at the intersection of technology, culture, and social impact.

There are few narratives bigger than space exploration, and few journeys that require a more dogged commitment to an unseen future—one that can only be reached through sustained innovation, flawless operations, and a whole lot of belief in that future.

Today's guest, Steve Rader, has worked at NASA’s Johnson Space Center for 34 years, in mission control, developing software for the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station, building command and control systems for the X-38, and working on the Constellation Program. He is currently working to crowdsource innovation at NASA and across the federal government by tapping into a crowd of hundreds of millions of people around the globe.

In today’s episode, Steve and Chris discuss:

• How Steve's upbringing inspired a love of space and an appreciation of the importance of diversity
• Why some organizations fail at unlocking internal innovation, and what they can do differently
• The story of the very first video conference in space
• How the right narrative can become a center of future gravity that overcomes the pull of the status quo and shifts the future to give everyone the opportunity to win, together

And much more!

Our guest on the first episode of 2024 is Jennifer Riel, an IDEO Partner and Chief Strategy Officer. Before IDEO, Jennifer spent 13 years at the Rotman School of Management, where she taught undergrads, MBAs, and executives how to think creatively about their toughest challenges. During this period, she partnered with organizations to help them build their strategic thinking capabilities and transform their teams. Jennifer also teamed up with Roger Martin to write the book Creating Great Choices: A Leader's Guide to Integrative Thinking.

In this fascinating and wide-ranging episode, Jennifer and Chris discuss:

• The five essential questions at the heart of any strategy
• The beauty of being wrong, the costs of not embracing this narrative, and how being wrong can help you build a better strategy
• The false promises of the consensus narrative and why you should leave it behind and embrace tension
• And how to effectively communicate your strategy from the boardroom to the buyer, and beyond

And much more!

Today’s guest, Jonathan Adler, is an internationally recognized scholar in the study of personal narrative and its relationship with well-being. Jonathan is a professor of psychology at Olin College of Engineering, a senior lecturer at Harvard Medical School, and a theater director and playwright. His work brings together the rigor of science with the wonder and mystery of art, to show how writing a narrative and then living into that narrative can shift the future for the better.

Jonathan and Chris discuss:

• What the science tells us about how storytelling and narratives work
• Why humans tell stories, and the role these stories can play in transforming leaders and organizations
• Why redemptive narratives, such as the American narrative about beating cancer, can be transformative—but why these same narratives can also do harm
• How leaders can use storytelling to navigate narrative conflicts and create alignment around a shared vision of the future

And much more!

Our guest today is Dr. Herminia Ibarra, the Charles Handy Professor of Organisational Behaviour at London Business School and an authority on leadership and career development. Earlier this year, Herminia and her colleagues Claudius A. Hildebrand and Sabine Vinck published an article in Harvard Business Review called “The Leadership Odyssey,” which explored the correlation between CEO skills and firm performance by examining 235 candidates across 75 CEO successions. Herminia and her colleagues then created a narrative pathway that aspiring CEOs can follow to transform their leadership and increase their effectiveness.

In this episode, Chris and Herminia explore:

• The narrative pathway CEOs can use to elevate their leadership and move from a hands-on, directive approach to empowering and enabling their teams
• Insights and stories from her global bestseller Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader, as well as her book Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career.
• The surprising truth that will challenge your understanding and beliefs about authenticity and purpose, and how to build a new narrative grounded in your identity that can unlock new levels of growth.

And much more!

Today's guest, Brian Janous, is the former VP of Energy at Microsoft. In fact, he was their first ever energy hire back in 2011. Until his departure earlier this year, Brian oversaw energy strategy and sourcing for all of Microsoft’s cloud and AI infrastructure, including procuring renewable energy for the company to meet its carbon objectives.

Since the earliest days of his career, Brian has sought to answer the question, “How do we build markets around the complex machine of the electric grid to drive behaviors that shift the future?” As you’ll hear, Microsoft gave him the opportunity to do just that.

When Brian joined the company in 2011, Microsoft’s market cap was north of $218 billion. Today its market cap has skyrocketed to over $2.7 trillion, thanks in no small part to the company's ability to acquire energy, refine it into data, and use that data to fuel the creation of value in the cloud.

Brian is a natural-born storyteller, and you’re in for a treat.

In this episode, Brian and Chris talk about:

• The power of storytelling in building the world’s largest machine
• Why the future of energy innovation must be informed by the past and grounded in the present
• The breakthrough that converted Microsoft’s CEO at the time, Steve Ballmer, into a true believer in Brian’s and his team’s vision for the future of energy
• The importance of having an enduring narrative that drives your strategy forward

And much more!

Today's guest is Jim Citrin, a legend in the world of CEO search and succession. Jim is the leader of Spencer Stuart's CEO practice. Over the course of his career, he's interviewed over 14,000 candidates and worked with clients on more than 800 searches and succession assignments. Jim's gift is seeing the future—a future that candidates and companies don't always see—and then bringing them together to write that future.

Chris and Jim discuss:

• How Jim helped Hubert Joly and Mark Thompson land their respective CEO roles at Best Buy and the New York Times
• Why delivering great results alone is no longer enough for CEOs
• How to rewrite the narrative about the perfect CEO who has all the answers
• What the succession process looks like, and what boards are looking for in candidates
• How you can use storytelling and your vision of the future to earn trust with the board in the interview process

And much more!