John Gavan, Executive Chair and former CEO of Evergreen® company KPFF Consulting Engineers, offers a roadmap for leadership development through his concept of Engineered Opportunities. John shares his 35-year journey from intern to CEO, illustrating how leaders must adapt as they progress in the organization and move from one role to the next.

John outlines a four-stage career arc—Performer, Leader, Builder, and Guide—emphasizing that growth in leadership requires engineering success for those who follow, rather than just concern with moving oneself forward. Focusing on the later stages of the leadership journey, John draws on Arthur Brooks' research explaining the necessary shift from one of youthful fluid intelligence to one of wisdom arising from crystallized intelligence later in the journey.

Listen to this talk and be inspired to intentionally engineer opportunities for the people you lead.

Nick Craig is the President of the Core Leadership Institute, and author of Leading From Purpose. Over the past decade and a half, he has helped thousands of leaders discover their Purpose, what Nick considers to be the unique gift they bring to the world.

In this Tugboat Institute® Talk, Nick uses the world of toys, and LEGO specifically, to explore how customers deeply connect with companies that have an authentic Purpose and what happens when you depart from that Purpose. He challenges Evergreen® leaders to remain true to their company's unique Purpose, through seasons of challenge and success.

Listen and be inspired to anchor yourself to your company's authentic Purpose, even when circumstances tempt you to stray.

Many people carry the belief that they simply aren't "math people," that ability is something you're born with, not something you build. In this Tugboat Institute® talk, Jo Boaler dismantles that myth and makes the case for a limitless approach to learning, one that applies as much to leaders and teams as it does to students.

Jo is a professor of mathematics education at Stanford University and co-founder of Stanford's YouCubed research center, which reaches educators, parents, and students in more than 160 countries. Drawing on her book Limitless Mind, she explains the neuroscience behind learning: every new challenge forms or strengthens brain pathways, and struggle is where the deepest understanding and creativity actually take root. Jo shares research on how mindset shapes performance and even long-term health, and describes how a mistakes-friendly culture, encouragement of skepticism and reasoning, and collaboration over individual brilliance can transform outcomes in the classroom. These same behaviors sit close to the core of Evergreen® leadership.

Listen and reconsider the limits you may be placing on yourself, your people, and what your organization is capable of learning.