What if the missing piece in your biggest initiative isn’t budget or talent—but the story that carries it forward? We sat down with a true DC operator, a chief growth officer building sustainable tech, a global education leader, and a design author to map how courage, narrative, and community turn complex ideas into real outcomes.
From the Hill to the boardroom, we break down how to move beyond “policy will happen to us” and into proactive influence: build bipartisan relationships early, frame your idea for the political moment, and give lawmakers a story they can retell to constituents with confidence. On the innovation side, we explore why technology only scales impact when it’s wired to social and environmental value—treating AI and sensors as connective tissue across farmers, consumers, and communities.
You’ll also hear a powerful design framework—Play, Design, Tell (PDT)—that replaces fear with curiosity, upgrades “minimum viable” to “maximum valuable,” and turns scattered data into meaning that moves people.
We dive into the engine of future leadership: hands-on, multicultural learning. With students from over 100 countries, real-world projects teach perspective, agility, and collaboration—skills that translate directly to coalition-building and systems change. Threaded through every segment is a simple mandate: courage is the fuel, story is the vehicle, and design is the road that keeps you moving toward impact.
If you’re ready to turn ideas into policy traction, transform data into narrative, and build innovation that actually serves people and planet, this one’s for you. Subscribe, share with a friend who leads teams or policy, and leave a quick review telling us the one idea you’ll put into practice this week.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_04 (00:11):
The Idea Gen Global Leadership Summit.
We have our next Power Panel.
Let me introduce Wendy Atlin.
Wendy, Chief Growth Officer forExcel One.
Lyle Sandler, author ofUniversal Principles of
Storytelling for Designers.
I hear a theme here.
Joe Ianello, partner, CapitalCouncil, sir.
(00:36):
And let's see.
We had Julia Gefner, CMO ofSummer Discovery.
George, can we take that seat?
I think we have one extra seathere.
Thank you.
And so, ladies and gentlemen,this is what you call a power
(01:00):
panel.
When you when you when you lookor you check Chat GPT and say,
give me an image of a powerpanel.
Here you have it.
Here you have it.
I'd like to begin with JoeIanella.
Joe is someone who knows how tonavigate Washington, D.C.
like no other.
He is a partner at CapitolCouncil, as I mentioned.
(01:24):
He knows the appropriationsprocess.
That makes him a very populargentleman around appropriations
time for organizations lookingfor, trying to obtain funding
from the federal government.
And knows how to navigate theintricacies of that process
again, like no other.
So drawing on your experience,Joe, in both policy making and
(01:47):
coalition building, Joe, how canglobal leaders leverage
bipartisan relationships toadvance the large-scale
initiatives that impact bothcommunities and business?
SPEAKER_02 (02:03):
Well, thanks, George.
I appreciate it, and thanks toeveryone who's here.
What an incredible day of panelsand speaking today.
And uh that I was asking Georgeabout this before the panel
started about the idea gen.
Where's the we're generatingideas?
All of us in here in this room,sort of bouncing off each other.
Some of the great things thatwe're working on.
The essence of what I do atCapitol Council in Washington,
(02:26):
D.C.
is taking some of those ideas ofwhich there are no shortage when
you're in Washington, D.C., andputting them in context for the
moment that we're in, thepolitical moment, and you know,
trying to rise above the fray ofwhatever that might be.
So you have this area of noisethat's below us here, and then
(02:47):
what we're going to do is thinkabout in a bipartisan way how to
capture what you're doing anddeliver that to an audience of
policymakers, of lawmakers inWashington, DC, and let them
think about how this couldinfluence what they're going to
be doing, the policies thatthey're making.
So something I say to allclients as we get into our, so
(03:08):
Capital Council is multi-clientgovernment affairs firm,
something I say to all of ourclients or prospective clients
is you don't want to be thinkingjust in terms of defense.
You can fall into that trapwhere you say, oh, policy is
going to happen to me, and thenI better react to it.
And that could be a danger zoneto be in.
You want to be thinkingproactively about relationship
building, about putting youridea into context.
(03:31):
So that's really what we do.
Um and there are many, manyopportunities to continue to do
that in Washington.
So I'm happy to be here, George.
SPEAKER_04 (03:38):
Thanks.
So well said, Joe.
Always.
Wendy Atlan, Chief GrowthOfficer for Excel One, we heard
from your CEO today.
Extremely inspiring, I think,for everyone to hear and see
what Excel One is doing.
And so you focus on sustainablesolutions.
Wendy, how can businessintegrate innovation and
(03:59):
intelligence to drive bothmeaningful, societal, and
environmental impact?
SPEAKER_01 (04:06):
Thank you.
So, first of all, an honor to behere, and uh delighted to be
here with Sanjay as well,representing XL1.
I think foremost, um somethingthat has to be germane to the
infrastructure, to the process,to the DNA of the company in
order to foster that continuedareas of innovation and
(04:27):
intelligence.
What really has been profoundtoday is more the co the sense
of community, the sense of usingtechnology as that connected
tissue.
Companies can't just predicatetechnology on uh on any AI.
It has to be based on socialvalue and business imperatives.
(04:49):
Sanjay was very on point statingthat it's all about the
advancement of species.
It's about the advancement ofnot just looking at the sense of
self, but everyone else that isinvested in that overall
ecosystem.
Whether or not it's the um andfarmer, whether or not it's the
(05:09):
consumer, it all has to be partof that entire life life cycle
and a chain of value.
So in order to realize outcomes,I really do feel that it has to
be endemic in process and peopleand in technology, the overall
outcomes for making adifference, especially in the
(05:30):
current state.
Um, we're still standing lookingat it from a political angle.
We have to look at it fromsocial and sustainable and
building resiliency in theentire mechanism.
Once we have that as a standard,I don't think there's any
limitations on what we canachieve.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_04 (05:48):
How inspiring is that?
And we saw the video.
It's thank you.
Yeah, it leaves you you knowjust stunned at what is
possible.
SPEAKER_01 (05:58):
Absolutely.
And you know, that's just thestart.
That's just a baseline of whatactually can be, you know, uh
what the potential is.
Right now we haven't set anythresholds, so quite excited
about this journey.
And everyone that hasparticipated today is part of
that evolution and that journey.
So we feel very grateful and anhonor to be here, George.
So thank you.
SPEAKER_04 (06:18):
Well, like I like to say, changing the world is not
easy.
If it were, we wouldn't be hereright now.
So we're, you know, it's it's aprocess.
Leadership is is an imperfectart, isn't it?
We heard about all the differentangles of what is leadership.
It's courage, as Peter Cuniowould say.
I agree with Peter.
I think it takes courage to getup in the morning and to keep
(06:41):
going, especially when you'refacing sometimes headwinds that
are like you're in a uh avehicle testing chamber with a
wind tunnel.
SPEAKER_01 (06:50):
Yes.
SPEAKER_04 (06:51):
But yet you get up and you show courage, and and I
think that that is really whatwhat we're talking about here.
Lyle Sandler.
We talked a lot aboutstorytelling today.
Uh people get excited withstorytelling.
You know, life is a story, andlike I say, after all, life is a
series of moments.
How would you like to spendthose moments?
(07:12):
Royal hair spending this, it's ait's a privilege for us to be
spending these moments with youall.
And Lyle, you're the author ofuniversal principles of
storytelling for designers.
Right.
That's incredible, right?
That's to me inspiring.
And so, storytelling, Lyle, is apowerful tool in both business
(07:35):
and design, as we know.
We I suspect that's true.
Yes.
And understanding that that'strue, and with overlay an
overlay of the context ofleadership, how can leaders then
use storytelling to inspiretheir teams and drive change
across their organizations?
SPEAKER_03 (07:55):
Well, thanks, George.
Appreciate it, and great to behere.
Um a day full of stories.
That's what it's been, it's aday full of stories.
Um storytelling is the humansuperpower.
That's our superpower.
No other species tells stories.
They communicate, but they don'ttell stories, which is really
(08:17):
important.
Um I'll I'll answer this using abit of a metaphor.
And I was told never to answer aquestion with a metaphor, but
I'll do it.
I'll break that rule.
Um, think about a pendulum.
What is a pendulum?
It's a weighted bob attached toa string that swings back and
forth.
On one side, you havestorytelling, something we do
(08:38):
every day.
Actually, we even we tellstories to ourselves almost on a
consistent basis.
Those things we keep in our minduntil some incentives us to
share it with others.
On the other side of the swingof this pendulum is innovation.
Innovation will never happenwithout story.
So that's the momentum.
That's what I encourage leadersto do, which is consistently
(09:02):
tell stories, and that momentumwill consistently move.
That's the momentum leadersshould be looking for.
Now, there are things that blockour ability to do this.
There are three things actuallythat I've observed over my
career.
Number one, it's work withoutplay.
If you can't, as a leader,introduce the lack of fear
(09:25):
associated with play, withdaydreaming, with just being
creative, you're gonna have anissue.
The second one is executionwithout design.
We are so enamored with thingslike MVP, minimal viable
product.
Why do we ever use the wordminimal and viable?
It should be maximum valuableproduct, right?
(09:47):
So that's the second thing thatgets in the way.
And then the third thing is datawithout storytelling.
So when you really think aboutit, data is nothing more than
pulling a single note out of abeautiful piece of music.
If I played it right now, noneof us would appreciate it.
But if you join it with anotherpiece of data, it becomes a
story.
(10:08):
And you know, I could give youan example.
One of my mentors, JohnWilliams, the composer.
Two of the greatest notes everput together.
And those notes are the thingyou hear when you're at the
beach and decide whether youshould go in the water or not,
because there might be a sharkor not.
But if you hear it, it's animmediate, that's a story.
(10:28):
So what I encourage the leadersthat I work with, and I call it
PDT, which is play design tell,it's a methodology.
And I say, allow these threethings to be part of your
universe, your culture.
You will innovate and you willreap the rewards of it.
SPEAKER_04 (10:44):
You know, it's it's incredible.
You know, composer, mentor, comeon, wrote the book.
I mean, these are all thingsthat are incredibly inspiring.
I'd like to sort of hear behindthe curtain, like you know the
Wizard of Oz analogy, you know,you thought, you know, what was
behind there, and then there wasa guy, you know, pulling all the
little strings and everything.
(11:05):
You all are sitting in differentsectors here, and you've seen by
what's behind the curtain.
And as it relates to leadership,Washington, summer learning,
technology, you name it, you allhave this, you know what's
behind the curtain.
(11:26):
We're all looking out at itlike, okay, there's technology,
and here's this curtain, and youdon't know what's behind it.
Or Washington, D.C., my gosh.
You might want to close thecurtain sometimes, but you open
it again.
Whatever it is, and that's ajoke because I'm there too.
But the idea is that you all areexperts.
And so, Julia, you're you'redealing with such a profound
(11:47):
program, you know, at SummerDiscovery, helping students
learn summer learning,leadership.
We have a program together, theID Gen Future Global Leaders
Academy.
You know, this is profound work.
So, what are you what is thesecret to leadership that you
see?
SPEAKER_00 (12:05):
So, I think the secret to leadership is actually
the community that we build ispart of our summer programs.
So we really bring togetherstudents from around the world.
We have 110 countriesrepresented, and across our
entire portfolio, we are 40%outside of the United States,
(12:26):
which means that our studentshave the opportunity to learn
from students of all differentbackgrounds and cultures.
We partner with schools fromaround the world, we partner
with guidance counselors, wepartner with government
organizations as well as otherscholarship organizations to
(12:46):
make sure that students can cometogether to have that hands-on
learning.
And it really is about hands-onlearning, being in the
classroom, doing something,forming a point of view, and
learning about something thatyou're passionate about that
allows you to propel into futuresuccess and be a future global
leader.
SPEAKER_04 (13:05):
That's awesome.
And because chivalry is notdead, I will ask Wendy.
Wendy, what do you see behindthat tech curtain?
You showed us the drones, so Iknow you're flying above
everything.
SPEAKER_01 (13:15):
We do.
SPEAKER_04 (13:16):
But what else?
What is really happening?
What is leadership really about,Wendy?
SPEAKER_01 (13:20):
Leadership is about that ability to actualize and
enable that vision, thatoutcome.
So the drones aren't just aboutthe technology.
It's not about how high we cango.
We do have the specific sensorsthat determine, you know, the
appropriate degree of moisturein the clouds, the soil's
ability to absorb that rain, butit's bigger than that.
(13:43):
It's looking at it from a magnaperspective of value towards an
overall ecosystem outcome.
So it's vision.
SPEAKER_04 (13:52):
Vision.
SPEAKER_01 (13:53):
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_03 (13:54):
Lyle.
Um, courage and lack of fear andthe willingness to step out just
a little bit.
You don't have to jump off, youjust have to step out.
SPEAKER_04 (14:04):
Can you can you go to your like neighbor's backyard
and maybe jump off a stool firstor something?
I do it every day.
Love it.
And Joe Ianello, Washington.
Tell us, what do you know?
SPEAKER_02 (14:15):
I I I would be stuck to try to match anything that uh
Peter said with respect to howyou be a leader, right?
But pulling back the curtain,I'm gonna jump off of what Lyles
had to say.
I mean, telling, you know, sortof selling your idea to a
policymaker, to a lawmaker isthe s essentially storytelling,
right?
Because they have a world thatthey need to tell the same their
(14:36):
version of the same story.
They have a constituency, avoter base, or whatnot.
Um, so when you're thinkingabout your own values, you know,
how do you message that?
How do you explain to them wherethere's alignment and how they
can then make progress based onwhat you've told them?
SPEAKER_04 (14:51):
That's an incredible piece of perspective because
even in Washington, I mean, youknow, you get all these groups
that come to Washington and theywant to tell their story.
A story, how do you rise abovethe din?
You have to have a powerfulstory.
It's this number of peopleserved, or this is the impact
we're having, or whatever it maybe.
You have to have everything is astory, is what we're finding
(15:11):
out.
Oh, and by the way, you need thecourage to tell that story.
Absolutely.
Because what if you never toldthe story?
There's no greater navigator ofWashington than Joey and Ella.
I appreciate that.
SPEAKER_02 (15:22):
And we know that.
You bag yourself to it.
SPEAKER_04 (15:24):
Yeah, well, uh you know, I just so I want to close
with uh what's your final callto action, Wendy?
SPEAKER_01 (15:31):
I think in current state, leadership really you
know dictates a sense of strongsense of commitment, community,
and again, visionary outcomes.
SPEAKER_04 (15:40):
And how can folks find out more about Excel 1?
SPEAKER_01 (15:43):
A few ways.
Um, one, we do have our website,which is www.xl1.com.
We're also featured on LinkedIn,and we are also going to be
featured on October 15th.
SPEAKER_04 (15:55):
There you go.
By yours truly.
The aging global, yes, indeed.
SPEAKER_03 (15:58):
Wild.
Tell stories.
Don't don't be frightened.
Don't perform, tell stories.
And um you will innovate, youwill inspire, you'll get that
momentum, you'll have that, youknow, think about the pendulum.
If you think about that everyday, you'll win.
And um, if you like, read mybook, a hundred ways in which
(16:19):
you could tell stories that willdifferentiate.
SPEAKER_04 (16:21):
And where can we find that book?
SPEAKER_03 (16:23):
Amazon.
SPEAKER_04 (16:24):
By Lyle Sandler.
SPEAKER_03 (16:25):
By Lyle Sandler.
SPEAKER_04 (16:26):
Love it.
SPEAKER_03 (16:27):
And the next one, which is about rhythm.
SPEAKER_04 (16:30):
And Julie, we're gonna go to you again.
We want to make sure we maintainthe chivalry here.
SPEAKER_00 (16:36):
All good.
Um, I'd say, you know, the wordsof wisdom I can provide is be
authentic and be agile.
There's many different ways thatyou can accomplish the same
goal, and it takes a lot oftesting and learning and
successes and failures to findyour path.
So do something you love.
SPEAKER_02 (16:54):
And Joey Anello, I just have to say Capital Council
really enjoys a new relationshipwith Idea Gen.
We're 20 years into business,um, you know, helping clients
sort of make their progress inD.C.
And capital, like the CapitalBuilding Council, like a
legalcouncil.com, is where youfind us.
Uh, but we'll find us in DCdowntown and on the hill.
SPEAKER_04 (17:14):
Power panel.
Thank you so very much.
SPEAKER_02 (17:16):
George.
The Idea Gen Global Leadership Summit.
We have our next Power Panel.
Let me introduce Wendy Atlin.
Wendy, Chief Growth Officer forExcel One.
Lyle Sandler, author ofUniversal Principles of
Storytelling for Designers.
I hear a theme here.
Joe Ianello, partner, CapitalCouncil, sir.
(00:36):
And let's see.
We had Julia Gefner, CMO ofSummer Discovery.
George, can we take that seat?
I think we have one extra seathere.
Thank you.
And so, ladies and gentlemen,this is what you call a power
(01:00):
panel.
When you when you when you lookor you check Chat GPT and say,
give me an image of a powerpanel.
Here you have it.
Here you have it.
I'd like to begin with JoeIanella.
Joe is someone who knows how tonavigate Washington, D.C.
like no other.
He is a partner at CapitolCouncil, as I mentioned.
(01:24):
He knows the appropriationsprocess.
That makes him a very populargentleman around appropriations
time for organizations lookingfor, trying to obtain funding
from the federal government.
And knows how to navigate theintricacies of that process
again, like no other.
So drawing on your experience,Joe, in both policy making and
(01:47):
coalition building, Joe, how canglobal leaders leverage
bipartisan relationships toadvance the large-scale
initiatives that impact bothcommunities and business?
SPEAKER_02 (02:03):
Well, thanks, George.
I appreciate it, and thanks toeveryone who's here.
What an incredible day of panelsand speaking today.
And uh that I was asking Georgeabout this before the panel
started about the idea gen.
Where's the we're generatingideas?
All of us in here in this room,sort of bouncing off each other.
Some of the great things thatwe're working on.
The essence of what I do atCapitol Council in Washington,
(02:26):
D.C.
is taking some of those ideas ofwhich there are no shortage when
you're in Washington, D.C., andputting them in context for the
moment that we're in, thepolitical moment, and you know,
trying to rise above the fray ofwhatever that might be.
So you have this area of noisethat's below us here, and then
(02:47):
what we're going to do is thinkabout in a bipartisan way how to
capture what you're doing anddeliver that to an audience of
policymakers, of lawmakers inWashington, DC, and let them
think about how this couldinfluence what they're going to
be doing, the policies thatthey're making.
So something I say to allclients as we get into our, so
(03:08):
Capital Council is multi-clientgovernment affairs firm,
something I say to all of ourclients or prospective clients
is you don't want to be thinkingjust in terms of defense.
You can fall into that trapwhere you say, oh, policy is
going to happen to me, and thenI better react to it.
And that could be a danger zoneto be in.
You want to be thinkingproactively about relationship
building, about putting youridea into context.
(03:31):
So that's really what we do.
Um and there are many, manyopportunities to continue to do
that in Washington.
So I'm happy to be here, George.
SPEAKER_04 (03:38):
Thanks.
So well said, Joe.
Always.
Wendy Atlan, Chief GrowthOfficer for Excel One, we heard
from your CEO today.
Extremely inspiring, I think,for everyone to hear and see
what Excel One is doing.
And so you focus on sustainablesolutions.
Wendy, how can businessintegrate innovation and
(03:59):
intelligence to drive bothmeaningful, societal, and
environmental impact?
SPEAKER_01 (04:06):
Thank you.
So, first of all, an honor to behere, and uh delighted to be
here with Sanjay as well,representing XL1.
I think foremost, um somethingthat has to be germane to the
infrastructure, to the process,to the DNA of the company in
order to foster that continuedareas of innovation and
(04:27):
intelligence.
What really has been profoundtoday is more the co the sense
of community, the sense of usingtechnology as that connected
tissue.
Companies can't just predicatetechnology on uh on any AI.
It has to be based on socialvalue and business imperatives.
(04:49):
Sanjay was very on point statingthat it's all about the
advancement of species.
It's about the advancement ofnot just looking at the sense of
self, but everyone else that isinvested in that overall
ecosystem.
Whether or not it's the um andfarmer, whether or not it's the
(05:09):
consumer, it all has to be partof that entire life life cycle
and a chain of value.
So in order to realize outcomes,I really do feel that it has to
be endemic in process and peopleand in technology, the overall
outcomes for making adifference, especially in the
(05:30):
current state.
Um, we're still standing lookingat it from a political angle.
We have to look at it fromsocial and sustainable and
building resiliency in theentire mechanism.
Once we have that as a standard,I don't think there's any
limitations on what we canachieve.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_04 (05:48):
How inspiring is that?
And we saw the video.
It's thank you.
Yeah, it leaves you you knowjust stunned at what is
possible.
SPEAKER_01 (05:58):
Absolutely.
And you know, that's just thestart.
That's just a baseline of whatactually can be, you know, uh
what the potential is.
Right now we haven't set anythresholds, so quite excited
about this journey.
And everyone that hasparticipated today is part of
that evolution and that journey.
So we feel very grateful and anhonor to be here, George.
So thank you.
SPEAKER_04 (06:18):
Well, like I like to say, changing the world is not
easy.
If it were, we wouldn't be hereright now.
So we're, you know, it's it's aprocess.
Leadership is is an imperfectart, isn't it?
We heard about all the differentangles of what is leadership.
It's courage, as Peter Cuniowould say.
I agree with Peter.
I think it takes courage to getup in the morning and to keep
(06:41):
going, especially when you'refacing sometimes headwinds that
are like you're in a uh avehicle testing chamber with a
wind tunnel.
SPEAKER_01 (06:50):
Yes.
SPEAKER_04 (06:51):
But yet you get up and you show courage, and and I
think that that is really whatwhat we're talking about here.
Lyle Sandler.
We talked a lot aboutstorytelling today.
Uh people get excited withstorytelling.
You know, life is a story, andlike I say, after all, life is a
series of moments.
How would you like to spendthose moments?
(07:12):
Royal hair spending this, it's ait's a privilege for us to be
spending these moments with youall.
And Lyle, you're the author ofuniversal principles of
storytelling for designers.
Right.
That's incredible, right?
That's to me inspiring.
And so, storytelling, Lyle, is apowerful tool in both business
(07:35):
and design, as we know.
We I suspect that's true.
Yes.
And understanding that that'strue, and with overlay an
overlay of the context ofleadership, how can leaders then
use storytelling to inspiretheir teams and drive change
across their organizations?
SPEAKER_03 (07:55):
Well, thanks, George.
Appreciate it, and great to behere.
Um a day full of stories.
That's what it's been, it's aday full of stories.
Um storytelling is the humansuperpower.
That's our superpower.
No other species tells stories.
They communicate, but they don'ttell stories, which is really
(08:17):
important.
Um I'll I'll answer this using abit of a metaphor.
And I was told never to answer aquestion with a metaphor, but
I'll do it.
I'll break that rule.
Um, think about a pendulum.
What is a pendulum?
It's a weighted bob attached toa string that swings back and
forth.
On one side, you havestorytelling, something we do
(08:38):
every day.
Actually, we even we tellstories to ourselves almost on a
consistent basis.
Those things we keep in our minduntil some incentives us to
share it with others.
On the other side of the swingof this pendulum is innovation.
Innovation will never happenwithout story.
So that's the momentum.
That's what I encourage leadersto do, which is consistently
(09:02):
tell stories, and that momentumwill consistently move.
That's the momentum leadersshould be looking for.
Now, there are things that blockour ability to do this.
There are three things actuallythat I've observed over my
career.
Number one, it's work withoutplay.
If you can't, as a leader,introduce the lack of fear
(09:25):
associated with play, withdaydreaming, with just being
creative, you're gonna have anissue.
The second one is executionwithout design.
We are so enamored with thingslike MVP, minimal viable
product.
Why do we ever use the wordminimal and viable?
It should be maximum valuableproduct, right?
(09:47):
So that's the second thing thatgets in the way.
And then the third thing is datawithout storytelling.
So when you really think aboutit, data is nothing more than
pulling a single note out of abeautiful piece of music.
If I played it right now, noneof us would appreciate it.
But if you join it with anotherpiece of data, it becomes a
story.
(10:08):
And you know, I could give youan example.
One of my mentors, JohnWilliams, the composer.
Two of the greatest notes everput together.
And those notes are the thingyou hear when you're at the
beach and decide whether youshould go in the water or not,
because there might be a sharkor not.
But if you hear it, it's animmediate, that's a story.
(10:28):
So what I encourage the leadersthat I work with, and I call it
PDT, which is play design tell,it's a methodology.
And I say, allow these threethings to be part of your
universe, your culture.
You will innovate and you willreap the rewards of it.
SPEAKER_04 (10:44):
You know, it's it's incredible.
You know, composer, mentor, comeon, wrote the book.
I mean, these are all thingsthat are incredibly inspiring.
I'd like to sort of hear behindthe curtain, like you know the
Wizard of Oz analogy, you know,you thought, you know, what was
behind there, and then there wasa guy, you know, pulling all the
little strings and everything.
(11:05):
You all are sitting in differentsectors here, and you've seen by
what's behind the curtain.
And as it relates to leadership,Washington, summer learning,
technology, you name it, you allhave this, you know what's
behind the curtain.
(11:26):
We're all looking out at itlike, okay, there's technology,
and here's this curtain, and youdon't know what's behind it.
Or Washington, D.C., my gosh.
You might want to close thecurtain sometimes, but you open
it again.
Whatever it is, and that's ajoke because I'm there too.
But the idea is that you all areexperts.
And so, Julia, you're you'redealing with such a profound
(11:47):
program, you know, at SummerDiscovery, helping students
learn summer learning,leadership.
We have a program together, theID Gen Future Global Leaders
Academy.
You know, this is profound work.
So, what are you what is thesecret to leadership that you
see?
SPEAKER_00 (12:05):
So, I think the secret to leadership is actually
the community that we build ispart of our summer programs.
So we really bring togetherstudents from around the world.
We have 110 countriesrepresented, and across our
entire portfolio, we are 40%outside of the United States,
(12:26):
which means that our studentshave the opportunity to learn
from students of all differentbackgrounds and cultures.
We partner with schools fromaround the world, we partner
with guidance counselors, wepartner with government
organizations as well as otherscholarship organizations to
(12:46):
make sure that students can cometogether to have that hands-on
learning.
And it really is about hands-onlearning, being in the
classroom, doing something,forming a point of view, and
learning about something thatyou're passionate about that
allows you to propel into futuresuccess and be a future global
leader.
SPEAKER_04 (13:05):
That's awesome.
And because chivalry is notdead, I will ask Wendy.
Wendy, what do you see behindthat tech curtain?
You showed us the drones, so Iknow you're flying above
everything.
SPEAKER_01 (13:15):
We do.
SPEAKER_04 (13:16):
But what else?
What is really happening?
What is leadership really about,Wendy?
SPEAKER_01 (13:20):
Leadership is about that ability to actualize and
enable that vision, thatoutcome.
So the drones aren't just aboutthe technology.
It's not about how high we cango.
We do have the specific sensorsthat determine, you know, the
appropriate degree of moisturein the clouds, the soil's
ability to absorb that rain, butit's bigger than that.
(13:43):
It's looking at it from a magnaperspective of value towards an
overall ecosystem outcome.
So it's vision.
SPEAKER_04 (13:52):
Vision.
SPEAKER_01 (13:53):
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_03 (13:54):
Lyle.
Um, courage and lack of fear andthe willingness to step out just
a little bit.
You don't have to jump off, youjust have to step out.
SPEAKER_04 (14:04):
Can you can you go to your like neighbor's backyard
and maybe jump off a stool firstor something?
I do it every day.
Love it.
And Joe Ianello, Washington.
Tell us, what do you know?
SPEAKER_02 (14:15):
I I I would be stuck to try to match anything that uh
Peter said with respect to howyou be a leader, right?
But pulling back the curtain,I'm gonna jump off of what Lyles
had to say.
I mean, telling, you know, sortof selling your idea to a
policymaker, to a lawmaker isthe s essentially storytelling,
right?
Because they have a world thatthey need to tell the same their
(14:36):
version of the same story.
They have a constituency, avoter base, or whatnot.
Um, so when you're thinkingabout your own values, you know,
how do you message that?
How do you explain to them wherethere's alignment and how they
can then make progress based onwhat you've told them?
SPEAKER_04 (14:51):
That's an incredible piece of perspective because
even in Washington, I mean, youknow, you get all these groups
that come to Washington and theywant to tell their story.
A story, how do you rise abovethe din?
You have to have a powerfulstory.
It's this number of peopleserved, or this is the impact
we're having, or whatever it maybe.
You have to have everything is astory, is what we're finding
(15:11):
out.
Oh, and by the way, you need thecourage to tell that story.
Absolutely.
Because what if you never toldthe story?
There's no greater navigator ofWashington than Joey and Ella.
I appreciate that.
SPEAKER_02 (15:22):
And we know that.
You bag yourself to it.
SPEAKER_04 (15:24):
Yeah, well, uh you know, I just so I want to close
with uh what's your final callto action, Wendy?
SPEAKER_01 (15:31):
I think in current state, leadership really you
know dictates a sense of strongsense of commitment, community,
and again, visionary outcomes.
SPEAKER_04 (15:40):
And how can folks find out more about Excel 1?
SPEAKER_01 (15:43):
A few ways.
Um, one, we do have our website,which is www.xl1.com.
We're also featured on LinkedIn,and we are also going to be
featured on October 15th.
SPEAKER_04 (15:55):
There you go.
By yours truly.
The aging global, yes, indeed.
SPEAKER_03 (15:58):
Wild.
Tell stories.
Don't don't be frightened.
Don't perform, tell stories.
And um you will innovate, youwill inspire, you'll get that
momentum, you'll have that, youknow, think about the pendulum.
If you think about that everyday, you'll win.
And um, if you like, read mybook, a hundred ways in which
(16:19):
you could tell stories that willdifferentiate.
SPEAKER_04 (16:21):
And where can we find that book?
SPEAKER_03 (16:23):
Amazon.
SPEAKER_04 (16:24):
By Lyle Sandler.
SPEAKER_03 (16:25):
By Lyle Sandler.
SPEAKER_04 (16:26):
Love it.
SPEAKER_03 (16:27):
And the next one, which is about rhythm.
SPEAKER_04 (16:30):
And Julie, we're gonna go to you again.
We want to make sure we maintainthe chivalry here.
SPEAKER_00 (16:36):
All good.
Um, I'd say, you know, the wordsof wisdom I can provide is be
authentic and be agile.
There's many different ways thatyou can accomplish the same
goal, and it takes a lot oftesting and learning and
successes and failures to findyour path.
So do something you love.
SPEAKER_02 (16:54):
And Joey Anello, I just have to say Capital Council
really enjoys a new relationshipwith Idea Gen.
We're 20 years into business,um, you know, helping clients
sort of make their progress inD.C.
And capital, like the CapitalBuilding Council, like a
legalcouncil.com, is where youfind us.
Uh, but we'll find us in DCdowntown and on the hill.
SPEAKER_04 (17:14):
Power panel.
Thank you so very much.
SPEAKER_02 (17:16):
George.
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