In this heartfelt and insightful conversation, Kate Isaacs, a passionate advocate for connecting individuals with their deeper purpose and fostering positive change, shared her journey and wisdom with me. Kate, drawing from her background in social psychology and leadership development, emphasized the importance of aligning personal and organizational purpose with values to create meaningful impact. She highlighted the power of storytelling in driving change, citing examples of how compelling narratives can inspire action and mobilize communities. Throughout this conversation, we talked about the significance of embracing polarities and cultivating a culture of empathy and understanding, especially in navigating complex societal issues. Kate encouraged us as leaders to foster environments where diverse perspectives are valued and collaboration is prioritized, emphasizing the transformative potential of collective dialogue and shared purpose. In closing, Kate left us with a poignant reflection: "Where do I feel alive?" Encouraging us to seek out spaces and endeavors that ignite our sense of purpose and joy, she underscored the profound connection between personal fulfillment and meaningful impact. With her profound insights and compassionate approach, Kate illuminated a path forward for leaders seeking to navigate complexity, drive change, and spread love within their organizations and beyond. "Go where you feel most alive" MEET OUR GUEST Kate Isaacs Teacher, scholar, speaker, strategy advisor. Storyteller, gardener, ecologist, mom. Teaching @MIT Sloan. Creating systems for people & places to thrive. Kate Isaacs is a scholar, teacher, and strategy advisor who designs organizations and stakeholder partnerships for people and places to thrive. She draws on design thinking, system dynamics, and developmental psychology to help leaders create conditions for collective intelligence, agile performance, and transformative change. Kate is a Senior Lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management. A recent interview with Isaacs and her colleagues about their work on Nimble Leadership was selected for publication in HBR at 100: The Most Influential and Innovative Articles from Harvard Business Review’s First Century. Kate is cofounder of a new MIT Sloan Executive Education program in 2024, Businesses for Inclusive Local Thriving Lab (BILT-Lab) for business-led teams to accelerate their impact on local talent development, workforce participation, and community prosperity. She also teaches short courses on topics of Leading with Purpose, Optimizing Team Performance, and Adaptive Distributed Innovation, all with a focus on inclusive innovation and human thriving. Kate consults with organizations in all sectors on strategy and culture change, and she specializes in designing peer-based learning experiences and facilitating multi-stakeholder collaborations. She is a certified Shadow Work coach and is trained in Internal Family Systems therapy. She emphasizes the positive potential in people and organizations—noticing and expanding what is already working—and releasing obstacles that block our natural orientation towards joy, creativity, growth, and health. She is a dynamic and engaging speaker who delivers inspiring keynote addresses to large corporate audiences. She is a frequent author on topics of leadership, innovation, systems change, multi-stakeholder collaboration, and corporate sustainability for publications including the Harvard Business Review, the Sloan Management Review, strategy+business, Chief Executive, The Hill, and The Conversation. Kate holds a PhD in organization studies from the MIT Sloan School of Management, an MS degree in technology and policy from the MIT Engineering Systems Division, an MS degree in conscious evolution from the Graduate Institute, and a BS in biology from the Oakland University Honors College.