My podcast Let Go & Lead returns for a new season soon, and I recently had the pleasure of interviewing APCO Founder and Chairman Margery Kraus—also a close friend of mine—for its first episode. During our conversation, I was struck by the parallel nature of our paths to leadership—and specifically, by how we’d both utilized an outside lens to differentiate within our industries.
Margery, a former civics teacher and founder of an education non-profit, didn’t have a direct communications or consulting background when she started APCO. Never constrained by conventional approaches, since she didn’t know them at the time, Margery approached client problem-solving with a beginner’s mindset: a willingness to learn the client’s unique situation with genuine curiosity, which resulted in approaching challenges with fresh eyes that led to even more creative solutions.
My journey carries similar themes. I started my career working in multiple functions, spanning from finance to HR to even oil-spill response. The viewpoint I bring to change, transformation and culture has always been unconventional, and Gagen MacDonald’s focus on finding the solutions in the white space between organizational siloes stems from those early-career experiences.
As leaders today grapple with so much change and uncertainty—AI disruption, geopolitical hurdles, supply chain reinvention, the list goes on—I believe it’s never been more important to cultivate this beginner’s mindset within yourself, and to seek to look at things from a multitude of perspectives.
One great source of variety and insight for me is nature. In nature, nothing pretends to be what it’s not, and lessons about resilience and energy—not to mention crucial insights—come when we immerse ourselves in it. Over the past couple years I’ve had the chance to host groups of Gagen and APCO employees, as well as executives and their teams, at my farm, MaryBud Farm, and I’ve seen it myself. The sessions there vary greatly in scope and size, but across them, I witness countless transformative moments—ones in which a lightbulb turns on and a leader arrives at a new idea for how to chart the path forward.
I think the beginner’s mindset I’ve been talking about plays a crucial role in these breakthroughs. Like the re-plotting of soil, fresh ideas arise when assumptions are reset. And you don’t need to come from outside an industry to see things in a different way. Whether at MaryBud or elsewhere, I believe all executives could benefit immensely from stepping into nature, letting go of their assumptions and opening themselves up to a truly new lens. I know it’s never easy to find the time, but it’s not just you who benefits from the clarity that can follow. It’s everyone looking toward you to lead.
