Let’s Reboot the Future

What does good look like?: David Butcher

Before he made it to the boardroom, David Butcher managed the stage at a Jimi Hendrix concert. What he learned backstage on a Baltic island about motivation, leadership and getting the best out of people stayed with him through three CEO roles and a lifetime in business. In this episode, David makes the case that the most effective leaders are not the loudest ones. Kindness, compassion and the courage to ask simple, naive questions, he argues, are the tools that cut through complexity, unlock better thinking and drive better outcomes. The boardroom, it turns out, needs a little more of what worked backstage at the Love and Peace Festival. More about David Butcher:  A veteran of more than 50 years in the pensions and investment industry, David has been a CEO three times and served as a non-executive director on the pensions boards of BlackRock, Legal & General, Scottish Widows and The Peoples Pension. David has also chaired two companies in the wellbeing and mindfulness space and served as a board member for two research organisations in the pensions and asset management sector. A mind management practitioner for 50 years, David is now bringing the benefits of mind management to individuals and companies. Through Positively Aware Ltd, David provides coaching and mentoring services to individuals and companies to improve mental health and wellbeing, resilience and productivity. Subscribe for more stories and practical tools from Reboot the Future. www.rebootthefuture.org [https://www.rebootthefuture.org/]

Purpose, People, Trust: Edwin Booth CBE

What does it look like to build a business where people truly matter? Edwin Booth CBE, Executive Chairman at E.H.Booth & Co ltd, shares his journey from arriving as an 18 year old into his family's business, shaped immediately by the sheer kindness of the people around him, to becoming a leader who puts people at the heart of everything. Edwin reflects on how culture is built from the inside out. By listening to people’s experiences, especially those who have faced barriers such as imprisonment, he has helped create opportunities rooted in dignity, skill-building, and trust. This is a conversation about purpose in action. About leadership that listens. And about the belief that when people are supported and trusted, they can thrive. Or as Edwin puts it, “there is no such thing as someone who cannot do something, if they are encouraged, shown how, and trusted to do it well.” A warm, wise and quietly radical conversation about what business can be when it genuinely puts people first. More about Edwin: Edwin Booth CBE DL is Chairman of E H Booth & Co Ltd, the proprietors of Booths Food Stores [https://www.booths.co.uk/] in the North of England. Representing the fifth generation of his family to lead the business since 1847, Edwin has spent his career building an organisation rooted in excellent service, sustainability, and locally sourced food and drink. Beyond the business, Edwin has dedicated much of his life to community and public service. He chaired the Lancashire LEP for over seven years, chaired the Employment Advisory Board at HMP Lancaster Farms, and is a Trustee of the Eden Project. He was appointed CBE in 2019 for services to business and charity, and served as High Sheriff of Lancashire in 2021. Subscribe for more stories and practical tools from Reboot the Future. www.rebootthefuture.org [https://www.rebootthefuture.org/]

Gathering for Good: Gemma Lannon

Gemma Lannon has created a wonderful gathering space in London for people channelling their work towards sustainability and climate solutions - it's called Treo House. In this episode, Gemma shares how the sudden loss of her father at 15 reshaped her understanding of the world, teaching her to hold two things at once: the uncertainty of outcomes, and the courage to act anyway. She reflects on why "naive" might not be the negative label we think it is, how optimism and joy are not just nice-to-haves but essential fuel for this work, and why acting from instinct and conviction, even without all the answers, might be exactly what our collective challenges demand right now. More about Gemma:  Gemma Lannon is the founding director of Treo House, a collective for people working in sustainability in London. The organisation facilitates our ability to learn from and look after each other, through in-person events hosted at its home in Vauxhall. Gemma previously worked in the sustainability team at Unilever and on grassroot sustainability projects in Cornwall, Portugal and New Zealand.  Link to Treo House [https://www.treohouse.com/] Subscribe for more stories and practical tools from Reboot the Future. www.rebootthefuture.org [https://www.rebootthefuture.org/]

Start with Peace: Michael Macy

Michael Macy may describe himself as having a minor role, but a front row seat in establishing peace across some of the world's most complex conflict zones - but the lessons he carries from those experiences are anything but minor. At the heart of this conversation is a deceptively simple but profound insight: "Too often people think you have to resolve all the conflicts before you can have peace. No, peace, in my experience, peace creates the space to resolve the conflict." Michael brings this to life through his experience of the Good Friday Agreement in Belfast, offering a rare and intimate perspective on how peace, when enacted, can do what negotiation alone cannot. He also shares what he's doing about it today. Through Enacting Peace, an international effort he co-founded, Michael invites people everywhere to mark each equinox and solstice with a conscious act of peace, however small. The invitation is simple but radical: to recognise your own capacity to contribute, to celebrate it, and to act on it. Michael mentions his friend Joe, he is referring to Joe Miller. You can find out more about Joe here [https://www.theosophical.org/publications/quest-magazine/falling-awake-the-life-and-message-of-joe-miller]. A little more about Michael:  Michael Macy is currently working to encourage peace.  He is on the board of the Abrahamic Reunion, working for peace in Israel and Palestine and a founder of Enacting Peace [https://enactingpeace.org/], an international effort to invite people to act for peace. It has no dogma, no dues and no politics, just a request and a hope that you will do something for peace.  He initially worked as a therapist, became a trial lawyer and hosted a radio talk show. He then spent nearly 30 years as a U.S. diplomat developing mutual understanding between the U.S. the UK, Mali, Malta, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, India, Haiti and Tunisia among others. In order to build those bridges, he worked with dancers, writers, artists, academics, journalists, religious community leaders and comedians. Subscribe for more stories and practical tools from Reboot the Future. www.rebootthefuture.org [https://www.rebootthefuture.org/]

Never Discourage: Felicity Aston MBE

Felicity Aston MBE is a climate scientist, polar explorer, expedition leader and record-breaker. She was the first woman to ski across Antarctica alone. Most recently, she led the B.I.G. (Before It’s Gone) Arctic Research Expedition, gathering vital material for Arctic sea ice research. In this episode, Felicity shares the importance of using what you’re good at to address the issues facing our world. For her, that means using her expertise in leading expeditions to tackle inequality for women, including bringing together women from across the Commonwealth to ski to the South Pole. She also speaks to something deeper: the responsibility of those in senior positions to champion those coming through. Felicity reflects on how painful it can be to be dismissed as naive, and the difference it makes when experience and wisdom are used to lift others instead. Check out this link [http://www.felicityaston.com]to find out more about Felicity and her polar explorations.  Subscribe for more stories and practical tools from Reboot the Future. www.rebootthefuture.org [https://www.rebootthefuture.org/]