In this episode of The Digital Executive, host Brian Thomas welcomes Jack Griffin, CEO of Light Up Ventures and bestselling author of Luminary. As a certified executive coach with experience supporting leaders at Google, Meta, Amazon, and Yahoo, Jack specializes in helping tech executives strengthen their leadership through compelling storytelling, systems thinking, and personal development.

Jack shares the defining moment that inspired Light Up Ventures: witnessing a senior leader lose an entire audience due to uninspired communication. That experience sparked his mission to “illuminate” leaders and address what he sees as a global crisis in communication—one that costs organizations over $1.2 trillion annually in lost productivity, turnover, and customer churn.

Throughout the conversation, Jack breaks down what separates top-tier leaders from the rest. He highlights the power of systems thinking, referencing Peter Senge’s The Fifth Discipline, and the importance of blending informative and inspirational communication. Using vivid metaphors—like mastering a wood-burning fire near his home in Lake Tahoe—Jack explains how great leaders recognize their role within a larger system and communicate in ways that spark clarity and connection.

He also discusses why storytelling is an essential executive skill, especially in today’s world where leaders are inundated with emails, texts, and constant digital noise. Story structure, narrative arcs, and memorable delivery help messages break through the clutter and truly resonate. Jack emphasizes that storytelling is both content (“the story”) and delivery (“the telling”), with nonverbal communication often carrying more weight than words.

Drawing on experiences in more than 40 countries—including a decade of youth leadership work in Haiti—Jack reflects on the global perspectives that shape his coaching today. Above all, he believes humility is the defining trait of leaders people genuinely want to follow. Whether in boardrooms or in communities with limited resources, he has seen firsthand how gratitude, humility, and servant leadership build trust and human connection.

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