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June 11, 2015

C-suite and senior executives from more than 20 Fortune 500 companies met for one invitation-only day on how U.S. leadership should prepare for the Cultural Demographic Shift. Magic Johnson and Mike Fernandez led the featured roundtable.

2
episodes
Marriott Hotel, Irvine, California
Watch first

How the first room opened

Opening remarks by Glenn Llopis. Executive Summit on the Cultural Demographic Shift, Marriott Hotel, Irvine, California, June 11, 2015.

What the room was asked

Preparing U.S. leadership for the Cultural Demographic Shift

In 2014, I wrote in Forbes that U.S. leadership was unprepared for the Cultural Demographic Shift. We were moving from the business defining the individual to the individual defining the business.

A year later, I brought C-suite and senior executives from more than 20 Fortune 500 companies into one room to face that question together. CVS Health hosted and sponsored the day.

What the room actually said

The agenda was about groups. The speakers kept describing individuals.

You can’t have a cookie-cutter mentality, you have to tailor your approach.
Magic Johnson
We understand that our retail pharmacies should not be one size fits all for the diverse communities we serve.
CVS Health
One path is intensely personal and pays off enormously in terms of patient care.

The other, he warned, is “highly regimented and disenfranchises the very people we are seeking to serve.”

Dr. Joseph Alvarnas, City of Hope
What happened next

My own thinking shifted too

In 2015, I framed the Cultural Demographic Shift through diversity and inclusion. Then I watched organizations turn that conversation into categories, labels and silos. They treated each person’s differences as a threat to standardization rather than an opportunity, and reached for control instead of giving people the freedom to share their own point of view.

Instead of harmony, standardization and personalization drifted to the extremes, and the extremes divided us. That is when my focus moved from the group to the individual, and the question every room after this one would face began to take shape: what does it take to treat people as individuals rather than averages?

It’s no longer about the institution defining the individual. It’s about the individual defining the institution in search of a shared mission.
Glenn Llopis · Born in this room, carried into The Innovation Mentality (2017)
From this room to the method

How the prologue became Leadership in the Age of Personalization

  1. 2014

    My Forbes column, Preparing U.S. Leadership for the Cultural Demographic Shift.

  2. June 2015

    This room. Executives from more than 20 Fortune 500 companies, hosted by CVS Health.

  3. 2017

    The Innovation Mentality, the book this room inspired, and the line that came from it: the individual defining the institution in search of a shared mission.

  4. 2018

    My Forbes series on inclusion as a growth strategy. Its second part carried a new title: Leadership in the Age of Personalization.

  5. 2019

    The book: Leadership in the Age of Personalization: Why Standardization Fails in the Age of Me.

  6. October 2019

    Season 1, the first of nine recorded seasons.

The proof in the room

Magic Johnson and Mike Fernandez

To me, Magic Johnson’s business was the first proven commercial example of what happens when you practice personalization in the workplace and the marketplace at the same time. His theaters hired from the communities they served and adapted what they sold to local tastes. He recognized demand that was already there because he took the time to know the people.

The rooms that followed

Nine recorded seasons, 2019 to 2025

Each one put the question this room first raised in front of leaders from healthcare, business and higher education.

Host sponsor
Designed and produced by
Content, preparation and moderationGlenn Llopis
From the recordings

What the room surfaced

The day was framed around markets and demographic groups, yet the speakers kept describing individuals. Magic Johnson said you can't have a cookie-cutter mentality; you have to tailor your approach. CVS Health said its pharmacies should not be one size fits all. Dr. Joseph Alvarnas of City of Hope described two paths for healthcare, one intensely personal and one highly regimented. Four years before the first season, the first room was already weighing the average against the person. My own thinking shifted after that day, from the group to the individual.

Conviction Wisdom

The room came to talk about groups. Every answer it found pointed to the individual.

Glenn Llopis
Featured

Reels from the Room

Short moments from this summit. Each one leads to the full session.

Be willing to be misunderstood

Arthur Valdez, EVP, Chief Supply Chain & Logistics Officer, Target

2021-individuality-unleashed

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2021-33-the-courage-to-be-authentic

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Adaptability, living with a vision impairment

Recorded when Ioanna Beckman was a statistics student at the University of Washington

2022-navigating-uncertainty

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2022-11-diversity-and-inclusion-in-the-future

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His resilient journey as a Latino leader

Arthur Valdez, EVP, Starbucks

2023-chasing-resilience

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2023-06-a-resilient-journey-as-a-latino-executive

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Consumers-turned-patients expect more

Nik Modi, Managing Director, RBC Capital Markets

2023-healthcare-operationalize-personalization

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“Leadership gets lonelier as we progress”

Teresa Feidt, former Chief Strategy and Business Development Officer

2024-healthcare-personalization-mindset

https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6a02e7c09f12768663708ad1/6ad64c7b93af608fd9021053_ci-hc-feidt.mp4

haop-2024-02-opening-interview-with-teresa-feidt

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A person, not “the cancer patient”

Ed Kim, Physician-in-Chief, City of Hope Orange County

2021-individuality-unleashed

HJ1V1ywdSzs

2021-26-the-power-of-personalized-medicine

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Openness and communication build inclusion

Recorded when Brielle Lubin was a junior at Harvard-Westlake School

2022-navigating-uncertainty

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2022-11-diversity-and-inclusion-in-the-future

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From transactional to consultative

Eduardo Criado, President, Aon Puerto Rico

2023-chasing-resilience

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2023-08-transforming-an-operating-unit

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Prevention and empowerment

Dr. Greg Brannon, Medical Director, Optimal Bio

2023-healthcare-operationalize-personalization

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53

“I needed a greater reach than my own unit”

Dr. Raelene Brooks, Dean, College of Nursing, University of Phoenix

2024-healthcare-personalization-mindset

https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6a02e7c09f12768663708ad1/6ad648bbead9c661b7da6226_ci-hc-brooks.mp4

haop-2024-08-empowering-nurses

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Humanizing the whole patient experience

Tom Jackiewicz, President & COO, UChicago Medicine

2021-individuality-unleashed

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2021-27-humanizing-healthcare

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Agreeing to disagree

Recorded when Scott Cole was a senior at the Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado Boulder

2022-navigating-uncertainty

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2022-11-diversity-and-inclusion-in-the-future

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Opening remarks: resilience for working adults

Chris Lynne, President, University of Phoenix

2023-chasing-resilience

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2023-02-resilience-in-turbulence

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“The frontline already knows how to fix it”

Nancy Blake, PhD, RN

2023-healthcare-operationalize-personalization

https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6a02e7c09f12768663708ad1/6ad648bad40e233d7ab14d7f_ci-hc-blake.mp4

haop-2023-06-fireside-chat-with-a-chief-nursing-officer

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“Learn, unlearn and relearn as a steady state”

Robert E. Johnson, PhD, President, Western New England University

2024-healthcare-personalization-mindset

https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6a02e7c09f12768663708ad1/6ad648bb407755e05dc68047_ci-hc-johnson.mp4

haop-2024-05-personalization-requires-new-leadership-skills

46

Know people's needs at home, not just at work

Joe Moscola, EVP, Northwell Health

2021-individuality-unleashed

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2021-13-the-workplace-beyond-work

20

A culture of retention

Mike Dandorph, President & CEO, Tufts Medicine

2022-navigating-uncertainty

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2022-07-the-secret-to-employee-retention

45

A 150-year-old company reimagining itself

John Parrish, VP Disruptive Growth, General Mills

2023-chasing-resilience

zv_KJUxDdA8

2023-12-embracing-disruptive-growth

53

“Not the percentile. The individual.”

Dr. Greg Brannon, Founder and Medical Director, Optimal Bio

2024-healthcare-personalization-mindset

https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6a02e7c09f12768663708ad1/6ad648bace256a60ab418ba4_ci-hc-brannon.mp4

haop-2024-11-patient-experience-safety-quality-and-equity

33

People do their best when they aren't worried how they're perceived

Mony Iyer, COO, Banfield

2021-individuality-unleashed

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2021-28-strengthening-culture-with-individuality

24

Why community outreach is critical

Angela Talton, SVP & Chief DEI Officer, City of Hope

2022-navigating-uncertainty

hBW05kmjrW4

2022-09-how-esg-and-dei-impact-long-term-sustainability

55

Resilience and “Break My Soul”

Bill Hulseman

2023-chasing-resilience

KOc6yEeB6sI

2023-04-resilience-vs-self-reliance

44

“We saved your life… you need to move on”

Kayla Redig, founder, the Vincible Movement

2021-individuality-unleashed

pn7cUdElmBE

2021-06-the-battle-to-be-seen-and-heard

58

The first 60 to 90 days

Tiffany King, VP Human Capital, UnitedHealthcare

2022-navigating-uncertainty

4Mw7r1_jq7g

2022-07-the-secret-to-employee-retention

48

The paradox of self-resilience in healthcare

Rebekah Marsh, Dr. Joe Alvarnas, Cindy Finch

2023-chasing-resilience

Fi0VDjNbZvU

2023-05-self-resilience-in-healthcare

58

“All are welcome” wasn't getting across

Recorded when Brielle Lubin was a 10th grader at Harvard-Westlake School

2021-individuality-unleashed

9TFmGefMHVM

2021-05-social-media-and-de-i-amongst-the-youth

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Socialization and students' mental health

Tony Ortiz, Founder, NRC Research Institute

2022-navigating-uncertainty

WLwKFBvPkXs

2022-10-why-are-more-young-people-struggling-with-mental-health-issues

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Team resilience, diversity of thought and AI

Julia Zarb, Shawntee Reed, Neil Khaund

2023-chasing-resilience

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2023-07-diversity-of-thought-in-leadership

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No going back to the old way

Robert Johnson, President, Western New England University

2021-individuality-unleashed

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2021-23-education-in-a-world-of-ambiguity

36

Preparing students to respond to change

Wendy York, Dean, Powers College of Business, Clemson

2022-navigating-uncertainty

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2022-03-navigating-uncertain-times

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Community infrastructure, from standard to personal

Shalini Vajjhala, in conversation with Glenn Llopis

2023-chasing-resilience

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2023-10-risk-resilient-communities

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Leadership in the Age of PersonalizationBrowse all nine seasons
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