Shifting Power Across Generations

December 4, 2014

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As a part of Egon Zehnder’s “Connecting Leaders” series, Purpose CEO Jeremy Heimans sat down with acclaimed novelist Taiye Selasi to discuss how the millennial generation is driving major social, political, and economic shifts. The two were brought together with a mission to facilitate a multidisciplinary conversation between leaders who may not otherwise cross paths. The dialogue between Selasi and Heimans was published alongside that of eight other pairs of leaders in the 50th anniversary publication of the”Connecting Leaders” series.

In London’s Chinatown, Selasi and Heimans were introduced and quickly found that their work was extremely interconnected through the process of storytelling. Selasi is a natural storyteller, describing experiences and the issues of the world through the medium of the novel.  On storytelling, Heimans added, “I think my medium is organizing people and helping them discover their own sense of power and agency…one of the ways that Purpose does this is by creating campaigns. We develop a brand, an umbrella, that people and organizations can rally behind.”

In addition to storytelling, the two found many commonalities in their thinking about the millennial generation’s rise to power and the corresponding shifts in business and politics.  Selasi said,  “This cosmopolitan world in which we are living is driven in large part by money, trade, and profit.  To inject purpose and meaning into that model will take a certain act of will.”  Heimans highlighted the possibility of combating these problems with community and participation because “whether they are in Nigeria or New York, young people are finding new ways of creating community with others who share the same stories.”

To hear more of the dialogue, watch the full video here:

Links from the article: 
http://www.egonzehnder.com/heimans_selasi


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