Navigate Your Future with Simon Mainwaring & Jim Kwik

Welcome back, Kwik Brain. Your question for today is, this is a game changer. How do you change the future for the better? And this is a powerful question. I think we're all looking to make some transformation, you know, not only in ourselves, but also for our world. And so I wanna introduce you to our guest, Simon Mannerling. And he's a very good friend of mine. He's a New York Times bestselling author and the founder of We First. And he's the author of this brand new baby, Lead with We. The book is amazing. Business Revolution That Will Save Our Future. Welcome to the show, Simon.

Thank you, Jim. Hi to everyone.

Yeah, so Simon is— he's like on my kitchen cabinet. He's been an advisor of mine for goodness— I mean, you spoke at our event years and years ago at one of our Brainpower conferences. Um, you've been— we've been friends for about a decade or so. You've probably forgotten more, you know, about this, about what we're about to talk about, than most, most people ever will ever learn. But you and I were having this conversation and I wanted to record it celebrating your new book. And also, how do you navigate? How do you survive? How do you thrive under these difficult circumstances? How do you do it with optimism and fulfillment and confidence and success? Because I know you're a master of these things, and especially in the area of what we talk about purpose and mindset. So where do we begin this conversation? I mean, optimism is an interesting word to have, you know, today.

Well, it's a great question because I think every day all of us struggle. We look at the headlines and there's good reason to feel, you know, even more disheartened or to feel apathetic or to feel like, wow, these issues we're facing are too big for any of us to deal with. The solution is to be intentional in your response. And to your point about optimism, optimism is so important because it's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Mm-hmm.

If you show up and do something differently and others do the same, you will see more evidence to that effect and it'll take on a life of its own. It'll build its own momentum. So it's good to be optimistic just by nature, but I think in challenging times, it's even more important to be intentional about it. And then specifically, you know, and, you know, focused on the message of my new book, it's really about shifting our focus away from sort of the individual and saying, my gosh, there's nothing that I can do on my own to get my arms around all of these things that I see. And rather shifted to leading with we, which is recognizing that we got in this mess together through all of our individual actions over time. And the only way out of it is by working together in new ways. And not only will we unlock really powerful solutions that aren't possible otherwise, but just by working together in new ways, we're going to find fulfillment and connection and find joy in solving for these issues that simply wasn't possible. And so I think you need to be intentional. Optimism is a self-fulfilling prophecy. And then you need to shift your focus to lead with we and let's get it done together.

Leadership is a topic that I know a lot of our listeners are studying, you know, or they're in positions. And you're talking about this is for every level, you know, no matter your profession or your age or stage, right?

It's true. I mean, We've got one of 3 scenarios. One is we keep doing what we're doing as individuals and things keep getting worse. Or half of us do the right thing and half of us don't, and that doesn't work out either because one undoes the other. Or we all show up differently. So me, as a father, I've got to show up intentionally and make a difference in terms of, you know, a citizen, a father, a brother, a consumer, a boss, and so on, as a conscious consumer.

Mm-hmm.

So every single one of us has all these opportunities in our lives that I think we sometimes walk past or take for granted, where we can have a vote for a very different future by what we buy, where we work, where we invest our money. And so all stakeholders in society now need to lead together. And so I lay out this roadmap for how you do that on an individual level, in your capacity as a leader, inside your company culture, inside the community in which you operate, and then at a societal level. And what's so powerful about all of this, Jim, is when you do that, you start to unlock these synergies, the compounding effect to actually make things better at greater scale, at greater speed, instead of that connectivity between all our individual actions working against us. And so I see this as an incredibly exciting moment where our lives, our way of being in the world, especially after COVID, We're showing up differently. We're prioritizing what's important. We're thinking about our future and our responsibility to the people we love differently. So what does that mean? It means we've got to lead with we. And what does that look like? It means that every aspect of your life can be a trigger for positive change.

Okay. And so, I mean, the pandemic has showed us that we are obviously very— we are connected. for sure, right? That, um, one of these things that we, we talk about is that we could, um, you know, we talk about in our community, if you change your brain, we could change the world. That, um, that how do you become limitless in a limited world? Well, the answer is simple, is we do it together.

Right, right. I think, you know, it seems obvious, you know, that we're all part of one human family. And that we're all sharing the same planet. But when you actually take that on board from a mindset point of view, how you think, how you show up every day, how you run your companies, how you work with others completely changes the type of ideas you have for marketing, the type of culture you build inside your company, the way you look at your community. Everything changes because that connective tissue becomes prioritized. And the reason it's so important, Jim, is right now what's happening is the whole is breaking down. Like, the environmental system that we depend on is breaking down. The social systems on which we depend are breaking down. And this whole idea of shifting from me first to we first is, hey, we've got to commit to the integrity of the whole so the parts can thrive. And then when you think about that, you go, well, if we're actually going to do that, we've got to do it together. And that's why community, that's why collaboration, that's why co-creation becomes so important. And suddenly you will look at competitors differently. You will look at how you work with people differently, and your life will become— you'll fill your own life with fulfillment, not by the kind of the affirmation you're trying to get from somebody else, but by what you give to others and how you, how you show up in the world. It's an inside-out job. It's not an outside-in job.

So what would be— in your book, there are a number of examples and anecdotes and stories. I mean, you've worked with so many Fortune 500 companies, for-purpose organizations also as well, nonprofits, these different institutions. Maybe we could highlight one of those stories that come to mind.

Let's look at some examples of what it means to lead with we just out there that people can relate to. You know, there's a, an apparel company called Prana, and people may know them, they may not, but they recognized that the way they were packaging up their materials was wasteful in terms of the use of plastic and space and shipping. So they re-engineered it and they thought, well, we should share this with other apparel companies, and they launched something called the the responsible packaging movement that now has over 100 companies all working together in the apparel industry and beyond to level up the whole industry. That's one example. Another example would be IKEA, both in Europe and now in the US, is actually allowing you to take back the products you no longer want and they'll buy them back for you because they want to be more responsible in terms of how they're showing up and the impact of their materials in the world. They're also selling renewable energy in Europe. So you go as a customer to IKEA and they can sell you solar power. Why? Because they want to make their customers' households climate positive. Or if you look at a big company like IBM, IBM has something called Call for Code, which is an open-source competition amongst developers all around the world to solve for the climate crisis. to use technology to help us be safer during COVID So what it is, is like we've almost imposed these self-limits on ourselves. We think about our own immediate stakeholders, our suppliers, the people in our lives, our customers. And what it is, is it's blowing that up and saying, we're all in this together. Who can we work with in a broader sense and how can we impact more people? And when you do that, you get that fulfillment yourself and you feel more optimistic every day.

Now, when you were doing your research for this book, was there anything that was surprising that you came across when you were doing that discovery, you know, this process of writing the stories, some of the data? Because it's a lot of what you see on the news, it tends to, you know, if it bleeds, it leads, and it tends to be a little bit dark and scary and threatening, and that could certainly affect you know, those who are listening right now, their mindset, you know, and, and again, being optimistic and, you know, and moving to be able to navigate through, uh, through turbulent times? How do people maintain that level of certainty and confidence?

You know, certainty and confidence comes from having some sort of strategy or way of being in the world that you think is going to make a difference. You know, that's how you validate it to yourself. What's interesting is the old mindset and the new mindset, which might loosely be called, you know, the older generations, the younger generations. What's interesting about leadership that's been around for a long time is they've always been gun-shy of leaning into, you know, social cultural issues because they feel they may polarize their audience. But what the research showed was that consumers will actually change their loyalty to a different company if that company shows up with a meaningful point of view on an issue that affects their lives. And in fact, they will boycott a company that stays silent. So one of the surprising facts to your question was, if you think you're being smarter by just staying quiet or hiding in the background or trying to play both sides of the fence, you in fact get penalized for it. And I think the other surprising fact is that, you know, It came out from the Lancet Planetary Health Report not so long ago. 56% of young people think humanity is doomed unless we do something about it. 56% of young people globally, which creates this huge expectation on business and leaders and companies to give them a reason to believe in the future, to show up meaningfully, to make sure that they know that whatever they're buying is responsible in the way it was made and how it was shipped and all that sort of thing, but also that it's a product that won't damage the planet. And that by supporting that brand with their dollars, by working for that company, by being an investor in that company and buying some of the shares, they're actually enabling a more positive future. So I think it's surprising that you can't play both sides of the fence or stay out of the, the fray, and at the same time there's a huge expectation on business now to be more than just people marketing products, but to give them a— to become a platform through which people believe that their participation can help build a better future for everyone. And so I see this not as the end of something or the end of times. I see this as this miraculous, truly miraculous rebirth of business, appropriately painful like any birth would be, But it's a rebirth where we're falling back in love with the natural world. We're reconnecting with each other and out in the human family despite the polarization of social media.

You know, this is an interesting way— I love what you're talking about because this certainly affects the way we live and we work, and that, that's ever-changing. You know, how do you be able to show up to be able to succeed and also feel fulfilled you know, in a way it goes from your head to your, your heart, right, to your hands, and, you know, the actions that we bring to it.

I, I think what you just shared there is really important. If you are looking for personal fulfillment in your life or in a company as an employee or as a founder CEO, you've really got to define what that foundational purpose is, which is why you exist. That will not only move your mind, but it'll move your heart and motivate your hands to do something. The biggest cure for apathy or fear or hopelessness is action. And the sooner and more deeply you lean into being part of the solution rather than part of the problem, the more you'll see other like-minded efforts going on, the more you'll be inspired to go even deeper, and suddenly you become part of that solution and you'll feel so much better about how things are.

When we're talking about purpose, you know, um, Our community who have read our book, you know, Limitless, there was— we did a whole chapter on purpose, you know, where the idea was that, um, follow your heart and, you know, and also bring your brain. What was your purpose in, in writing this book?

My purpose in writing that book, Lead with We, was this. You know, I wrote a book 10 years ago called We First, which is about the shift from a me-first focus to a we-first focus. But in that 10 years, things got a lot worse and business didn't change far enough or fast enough.

Mm-hmm.

And so I realized we need a wholesale reimagining and re-engineering of business to restore and protect the systems that make our lives possible. Why? Because companies can't survive in societies that fail. They just simply can't. And we all want to believe in our future and the future that we're going to leave to kids, and folks that we love. So the whole premise of the book was, what is that fundamental mindset shift? How do we need to think about things in a completely wholesale different way that will allow us to behave in different ways? Because here's the thing, we can't increment or iterate or innovate our way to the future based on business as usual. We're not going to get there far enough fast enough. So suddenly we need to remind ourselves that we're in this together, that there is nothing we can't achieve when we do it together. And so what the book does is it lays out this step-by-step blueprint based on all of our work with brands like TOMS and Timberland and Sony Pictures and so many others that shows you how, large or small company, how you can apply it to your leadership, to your culture, to your community, to societal issues at large, and how you can pull it all the way through to compound those synergies and compound the impact that you're having. And when I finished the book, I came away on the strength of all the examples of how people are showing up in different ways around the world, incredibly encouraged, incredibly optimistic. Because, you know, think about this. If you think it's idealistic, if you think it's foolhardy, if you think it's naive to think that we're gonna show up very differently moving forward, Just look at what happened in March last year in a moment of crisis when COVID hit. Businesses, communities around the world put down their tools, re-engineered their supply chains to make PPE, ventilators, and so on. Companies sent their employees home. People were looking after their communities. Restaurants were making meals for medical practitioners and first responders. In moments of crisis, we show up differently. And often we suspend our competition, our individualism, and we really lean into how connected and dependent we are on each other. And I think as we look to the future, COVID-19 is like a pilot program. We are in fact going to be doing this more and more of necessity because it's in our own interest in terms of our own well-being, our communities, the people we care about, the businesses that we want to keep going. And so I think we're going to lead with we simply because that's the only way that we're going to meet these contracting timelines at a sufficient scale, at a sufficient speed. And the other thing that's really interesting, Jim, is the market forces are already there. And what I mean by that is up till now, you used to think, well, you know, we've all been trying to change things for 10, 20, 50 years now and we haven't got there. But what's different right now is we have the requisite coalition of stakeholders at the table for the first time. We have suppliers, leaders, consumers, customers, employees, and also the investor class have woken up. The money is there. They want to put their money in young companies that are doing good. They want to support large companies that are retooling themselves to have a positive impact, do less bad and more good. And, you know, if you really want to offer a viable alternative to the engine of capitalism or business, you need all the parts of the engine in place. And so now we have all the stakeholders at the table. And for the first time ever in my 30 years of doing this, we have the stakes, literally an existential crisis for humanity. We have the stakeholders that I just mentioned, everyone's at the table. And we have this reanimate or this animation of a new story for business that we've seen in all the headlines around the world for the last 12 to 18 months because of these challenges. Those 3 have come together. It's already happening. The market forces are changing, and each of us listening to this should really embrace our own individual agency to make a difference by what the choices we make every day, and also supporting those companies that are, that are showing up this way. And we're going to start with— in 10 years' time, we're going to look back and go, what we have achieved in this last decade is simply miraculous.

I love that. Talk a little bit more about that vision, that aspiring vision, the possibility of, of what things could look like in the next, in the next 10 years, you know, if we, if everyone subscribed and, and to what's, what's in your work.

You know, the reason I'm so confident about it is I'm privileged in the sense that we do all this work with startups to big companies. We have a line of sight. We're in the, we're in the rooms all the time with the decision makers, and you get to see the patterns So it's not just my opinion, it's based on day in, day out doing this work. And when I wrote my first book, We First, 10 years ago, the first chapter was The Future of Profit is Purpose. And here we are 10 years ago— 10 years later, and everyone's falling over themselves talking about how purposeful they are.

Hmm.

If I was to suggest my line of sight, if I was to report back from the future on the strength of the work that we do, I would say that we are going to lead with we. and the future of leadership is collaborative. And what does that look like, to your question? What it means is that we are going to, for the first time in a century if not longer, with clear eyes, look around us and see these, these biological blueprints littered around us in the world that the natural world has provided for solutions, for medicine, for design, for innovation that we need, you know, on the strength of millions of years of evolution, if not billions. You know, it's— and we've just been walking past it and fabricating solutions that have done harm to our lives and the planet. And I think what's going to happen is that we are going to start to work with nature and serve nature and regenerate the natural world instead of stealing from it and degenerating it. And in turn, the natural world will respond and dazzle us with its inherent and innate regenerative capacity. And we will suddenly, as I mentioned, fall in love with the natural world all over again, because we'll realize that everything that we needed was already here, and we only needed to think about how we live our lives, how we do business, and the impact we have differently. And, you know, this is a— it's a— it's hard to get the, the ball up, you know, to get the plane off the ground. We're slowly getting there right now, and it's easy to kind of be cynical and say, will we get there or will we not? But it is already underway. The hardest point is to really change course, to get airborne and, and then take flight. And I think we're going to look— we'll look back in 10 years' time and we will say there is an incredible innovation opportunity. There is an amazing marketplace opportunity in solving for all of these issues. And I believe the most iconic brands of the future will be those with the greatest social impact, those that solve for these issues. And don't take my word for it, just think for a second. Elon Musk, 2007, 2008, the auto industry tried to put him out of business. Here he is now, the richest man in the world, on his way to being the first trillionaire, $300 million in net worth, not that it's about money. And every automaker in the world has made commitments to electric or alternative energy vehicles. Look at clean beauty, look at clean fashion, look at clean apparel or sustainable apparel. Everything around you is transforming. It's already happening.

I think about the— that African proverb: if you want to go faster, you go alone. If you want to go further, we go together.

Yeah.

This idea, even just replacing that I, you know, in illness with we, and you have wellness. It's kind of cliché, but there's a lot of truth to that. So the person who's listening right now, you know, whether you're an executive, you're an employee, you're an entrepreneur, an aspiring entrepreneur, highly recommend this book. Where do you— where can people stay in touch with you? Where can they get the book Lead with We?

Yeah, I thank you for asking that. And I just want to touch on one thing you said there. The reason this is so possible is that we're not trying to learn something new. We're just remember— we're just remembering what we forgot. That you and I, Jim, are connected at a heart level. It's hardwired chemically into our brains and our lives. And we're also deeply connected to the natural world. You know, we all went to nature to restore ourselves during COVID Mm-hmm. So this is just about returning to what is innate within us. That's why it's so possible. And, you know, if you want to find out more about the book and how you can apply it to your life, your business, both in terms of driving your growth while solving for all of these social and environmental challenges, you can go to leadwithwe.com. All the information's there, leadwithwe.com. It's also up on Amazon now. And, you know, if you're interested in sort of the type of work we do, It's wefirstbranding.com. But we put the 10 years of our work, myself and my team, into this book based on research, best practices, case studies, examples, and then put it all together in a way that you can follow. Why? Because it's go time. We need to do this now and we need to do it together. So I so appreciate you sharing, you know, the book and also giving me a chance to outline some of the thinking behind it because I deeply believe there's nothing we can't achieve when we do it together.

Lead with We is a real masterclass in business revolution, you know, with everything from the— it has the mindset, it has the motivation, it has the methods specifically. Highly recommend it. On social media, can people find you? LinkedIn? Facebook? Twitter?

@SimonMainwaring. So it's I say Mainwaring here because that's how it's spelled. It's a crazy name. You know when you move to another country and they're always like, "What's your name and how do you pronounce it?" At Simon Mainwaring, which is M A N W A R I N G. Australian. What can I say? We say things funny. And you know, I really appreciate everyone's interest and connection. But also, I don't know. Let's connect our hearts and our minds and our hands and just see what we can do.

Amazing. Amazing. Everyone, make sure you follow Simon on your favorite social media. If you just— if you like, share this episode. We will put the extended version, as we always do, on our YouTube channel. Also, make sure if you do post one takeaway, make sure you tag Simon so he gets to see it. Tag myself also as well. I have multiple copies that I pre-ordered also as well. So I'm going to actually send out a couple of copies just to our community who's out there listening, but make sure you— Everyone should get 2 copies of this book, you know, one for themselves and one also to be able to gift out to somebody else.

Jim, actually, I really appreciate you saying that because here's the thing. Every one of us knows someone in a position of power that can move a lever. It might be a CEO at a company. It might be someone, a friend, you know, who has a business. It might be a chief sustainability officer. It might be a marketing officer inside a company. Give it to them. And just by simply doing that, You can equip them with a roadmap and the best practices, and it's astonishing what happens. You shift their mindset, and it may not happen immediately, but suddenly they start to think differently and behave differently, and you can be that catalyst for change. And we need to get, you know, reach as many people as possible so it can take on that momentum.

Yeah, and it's just refreshing to know that doing the right things for the right reasons is not only the right thing to do, but it also is more profitable to do it also. As well.

It is more profitable. The business case is undeniable now. And I'll tell you what I see from my line of sight in our work. All of these issues— climate, biodiversity, plastic, all these things that we know about— they're all compounding in the future and hurtling back towards us in the present. And it's going to create this hockey stick of expectation that's just beginning now. Think about how the dialogue around business has changed in the last 3 or 4 years, and it's going Do more good, do more good, do less bad. It's already happening. It's gonna go like this as these issues come back towards us from the future. So if you grab this book, if you apply it, if you put it in the hands of somebody who can drive change, you will position them to be on the right side of history. The market forces will push them forward. And the kicker is you'll also improve the future for all of us, which is not a bad thing either.

It's, it's, it's an amazing perfect storm. Right now, you know, and the timing, it is right now, literally. And so if you do good by the people, by the— for the planet, then, um, then the profit will take care of itself. Simon, thank you so much for being on our show. And everyone go get your copy of Lead with We, and we'll see you in our next episode.

Thanks so much, Jim. Thanks, everyone.

Hi, Kwik Brain. It's your brain coach. I want to thank you so much for watching this video. 3 things to do. Number 1, make sure you share this because when you teach something, you get to learn it twice. Update your learning so you can update other people's learning as well. Number 2, make sure you subscribe to this channel so you don't miss a thing because if you miss a video, you miss a lot. And finally, make sure you hit that bell so you're notified and you find out when we put out the latest and the greatest. One extra thing, if you want really close attention, then text me. Here is That is my phone number, 310-299-9362. Did you remember that number? 310-299-9362. Shoot me a text and we'll stay in touch. Ask me your burning question. And I wish your days be full of lots of life, lots of love, lots of laughter, and always lots of learning. I'll see you in our next video.