Dare to Be Naive with Joshua Berry

“There are things there that without that evil, without that pain, without that bad, I would not have a chance to further understand some of the mysteries that are out there for me to continue to grow and experience whatever it is I'm meant to experience next,” shares Joshua Berry, Managing Director and co-founder of Econic, an innovation, transformation, and strategy consulting company. Today, he discusses the concept of authenticity in leadership and the importance of prioritizing employees' needs and growth opportunities.

Joshua shares his passion for unlearning, identifying limiting beliefs, and shifting business practices. He explains that businesses need to adapt to changes and shifts in the market and within their own organization to stay relevant. He also emphasizes the need for leaders to view things as a spectrum rather than falling into the extremes of being too cynical or too naive. While you cannot always control how someone else acts or reacts toward you as a leader, you do have agency over your own actions and reactions toward others.

These stories of companies that have prioritized principles and values over short-term profit highlight the increasing demand for corporate social responsibility and sustainability in both consumers and corporations. As a leader, it is important to be willing to take risks that may seem naive at first in order to make positive changes within the company.

• “I was less excited about the technology and all those futuristic things that we were seeing in innovation and I was more interested in the people." (4:23-4:30 | Joshua)
• “As a leader, every single time, I can control my actions. I can't control how you're going to perceive my actions and how you're going to act. But I can control my actions." (22:57-23:06 | Joshua)
• “There are things there that without that evil, without that pain, without that bad, I would not have a chance to further understand some of the mysteries that are out there for me to continue to grow and experience whatever it is I'm meant to experience next.” (29:20-29:32 | Joshua)
• “Seth Godin gave me a blurb for the book, and he said, ‘The world is not suffering from a cynicism shortage. In fact, more of a generous naïveté described in Joshua's book is exactly what we need right now’.” (30:42-30:55 | Joshua)