The Illumify Game Changer podcast takes you on the leader’s journey, as you accompany one person, Jonathan Hill, as he answers each of the 57 questions. This is your front row seat to his journey from, in his own words, “not a leader” to a leader with a big vision, ultimately willing and able to ignite his meaningful change. It’s for those committed to igniting meaningful change in their organizations, communities, and the world at large.

In this episode, we begin the leader’s journey by meeting Jonathan who, upon agreeing to play the Game Changer publicly through this podcast, cautioned me “I’m not a leader”. As you listen, you may hear him reveal otherwise -- whether he recognizes it yet, or not.

1.54: Discovery of language
3.00: Love for Europe begins
10.38: Urgent need to talk about Europe
15.00: The state of the world
23.00: What does the word “leader” evoke?
28.35: Expectations of the Illumify Game Changer
36.21: Do you see yourself as a leader?
43.00: “I do feel I have things to say and want to say them.”
58.00: Stories are not enough. We need to put our bodies on the line.
1:14:37: The word vision has gone missing.
1:19:50: Vision is vital to igniting change.
1:20:45: Distinction between visionary and storyteller
1:31:29: “The pursuit of truth matters”.
1:46:30: Communicating a vision of the future in current times
1:51:00: The importance of pursuing the truth
2:00:00: Vision versus agenda
2:06:24: “Human rights sit on the idea of the soul”.
2:07:00: “Every child is born with a sacred dignity that can never be taken away.”
2:13:35: Do you hear yourself when you speak?
2:17:20: Why do you see a social setting as a competition?
2:24:30: Friendship is almost the absence of competition.
2:32:37: A unique voice

Jonathan begins his leader’s journey by first denying that he is in fact a leader. But in this minisode from Episode 1, he soon reveals that there are causes dear to his heart, and that he “has things to say.”

Listen to the full episode here: https://www.illumifyinstitute.com/podcast-the-illumify-game-changer/season1-001

Igniting significant change takes real leadership. How do you lead if you don’t see that you are significant enough to make this change? In this minisode from Episode 2, Jonathan grapples with his own significance.

Listen to the full episode here: https://www.illumifyinstitute.com/podcast-the-illumify-game-changer/season1-002

Now the Game Changer begins. This is the first in the Illuminate phase of the questions, each of which surfaces insights to illuminate the change most meaningful to you. This first question is a loaded one, deliberately.

00.59: Reference Cards: Illumify Definition & Guidelines for Play
09.00: Listening with your heart instead of your head
15.00: Who are the lost?
16:32: The first Illuminate question
18.58: Feeling small and insignificant
25.52: Is significance visible or invisible?
34:21: Struggling to see own significance
35:16: Culture’s impact on significance
39:30: Modesty as control mechanism
41:46: Is it possible you’re a natural winner?
45:24: “Inequality is antithetical to everything I believe in.”
50:28: “We need a new political vision that restores and revives a true idea of equality.”
52:58: “At some point the world calls you and tells you what you need to do.”
55:54: Waiting versus knowing what is meaningful to you
1:01:09: The desire to serve the community runs deep
1:09:38: What scenario would make you significant?
1:17:35: Seeing the contradictions with your significance
1:18:22: The difficulty in seeing yourself as significant
1:19:31: “Significant change takes significant leadership.”
1:21:28: You can illumify on two levels.
1:25:59: “A vital aspect of the good life is trying to be better than we were yesterday.”
1:26:25: What happens after pursuit of excellence is achieved?
1:35:04: “The pursuit of excellence in itself is a virtue.”

This episode begins with Jonathan sharing his reflections on the last question where he grappled with the prospect of being significant. This next Illuminate question gets to the heart of him seeing what perhaps only he can see that needs to change. But first he has to wrestle with intolerance and how words can serve the truth.

01:01: Reflections on last card: Significance
09:40: Reading the Reference cards
17:30: The second Illuminate question
20:32: Intolerance as aggressive
23:34: Decisions as an act of intolerance
25:11: Commitment to excellence
32:48: “What triggers me is that we live in a post-truth world”.
34:50: Why isn’t truth in the constitution of democratic societies?
41:30: Is it possible to accomplish this without being significant?
42:55: “It’s the truth inside the words that matters.”
44:58: Words matter, despite what the body language experts say
47:07: You can articulate what you see through your mastery of language.
49:01: Giving people a choice to act or not to act
50:10: “I recognize the anger within me.”
52:00: “Vision is absolutely fundamental. Your starting point. It’s why you exist.”
55:18: The importance of a vision and how it’s articulated
1:03:00: A different awareness of relationship with vision?
1:04:00: “I have things to say, and I want to say them.”
1:06:14: The legitimacy of the European Union
1:08:00: The thread of his vision emerges
1:12:50: What does the word “visionary” mean to you?
1:19:40: “I do want to create a new way of seeing Europe.”
1:21:16: “Politics at its most fundamental level is about the choices we make.”
1:24:45: Recognize your unique capacity to ignite meaningful change.
1:27:00: Truth with a capital T, and how values influence it
1:37:40: Connection as sharing, unified with each other
1:50:14: Does a visionary need to be a mechanic?
1:57:57: Is it an advantage to have multiple voices in your head?
2:07:50: “I often see my own mind with its different voices as a Parliament.”
2:09:58: Consciousness, tea bags and the visionary
2:13:19: We all contain multitudes but do have unity through memory.
2:16:00: Are we able to unify all those voices into a common vision?
2:23:11: The power of conversation to slow things down
2:28:12: Final Answer to Illuminate Question 2

Jonathan has spent a lot of his professional life in the political realm. Perhaps as a result, he sees beyond what politics is now to what it could and should be. In this minisode from Episode 3, he shares his perspective on politics, and discovers that it’s part of what makes him and his leadership distinct.

Listen to the full episode here: https://www.illumifyinstitute.com/podcast-the-illumify-game-changer/season1-003

This episode focuses on the heart to help point Jonathan to what he cares about that needs to change. He speaks of dignity, wholeness and heartache, all while experiencing a wide range of feelings coming from his heart.

00:58 Illuminate Question 3
05:07 What makes my heart ache is the suffering of children.
08:18 Dignity not always the word in the Constitutions but the digging takes us to sacred dignity.
10:10 In every newborn child, there is a dignity that doesn’t need to be earned. It’s inherent in the spirit, the soul, of the child.
13:22 The word “wholeness” is important here. We can borrow religious language into our secular life.
25:27 Our journey is one of repair. We are walking down that road to character, becoming the better version of ourselves.
31:32 The two ideas of dignity and brokenness can co-exist. I think there is a sanctity in the human soul. It lies below wholeness and sin and is inviolable.
42:40 Even just seeing it, the child suffering produces enough heartache for a lifetime. We carry it around with us.
44:44 The heart also aches because your own idea of the world, what you believe in,is being violated at the same time.
47:34 The book “1984” signals the extinction of humanity, that it could happen.
49:09 We have to understand the power of ideas to mobilize people.
54:08 What’s inspiring about the European Union is that it’s a constant, a permanent, attempt to reconcile all these competing voices. That’s what makes it heroic. Trying to reconcile competing visions of the good life.
59:06 I’ve got things to say and want to say them. What am I waiting for?
1:11:43 Digging together, you feel this is the only thing that matters because of the power of conversation.
1:19:45 Consciousness is the page.
1:27:17 Father Europe vs. Mother Europe
1:37:38 Revival or stagnation?
1:46:02 Final answer