Yoga Meets Leadership with Gagan Levy of Guru

Gagan Levy discusses his book 'Start Your Own Damn Cult,' exploring how ancient yoga principles can be applied to leadership, business, and building authentic movements. The conversation covers the eight codes derived from the eight limbs of yoga, practical applications for leaders, and the importance of play, integrity, and systemic thinking in creating regenerative impact. Gagan’s shares examples of movement building led by his agency, Guru, and talks about most surprising challenges he’s faced leading his agency for the past 17 years. We then wrap up by talking about how we all need more compassion for ourselves, each other, and the planet in order to build a better world.Key Topics:The inspiration behind 'Start Your Own Damn Cult'Personal journey of writing the book and overcoming challengesThe eight codes derived from the eight limbs of yogaApplying yoga principles to leadership and businessThe role of integrity and do no harm in building movementsThe importance of play and joy in serious workSystemic thinking in regenerative food and business movementsExamples of movements embodying the principlesThe challenges and opportunities of leading a creative agencyUsing AI and culture-centered design for marketingSound Bites:"Culture can't spell cult without culture."“You think about the physical movement side of yoga, but a lot of folks don't know that there's actually eight limbs of yoga.”“I couldn't stop writing for four days. It flowed through me. I literally felt like I was a vessel and it was pouring, spirit was just pouring through.”“I started to see people be more innovative when they were more playful.”“We're catalyzing cults from the inside out. We’re helping them come into alignment with all the stakeholders in a flow state, and then we can amplify that.”“AI is totally disrupting creative work, you know, writing, designing, ideation. It's disrupting the whole industry. It's a really juicy moment and it's causing us to polish the mirror and evolve.”“I'm a surfer and one of the most important things to me is how we take care of our oceans.”“A better world, to me, means one where we have more compassion for ourselves, for each other, and for the planet.” Lessons to Action:Reflect on your own leadership using the eight codesIncorporate play into your work processUse AI insights to understand cultural subgroupsPractice integrity and do no harm in your businessChapters:03:00 Introduction to Gagan Levy and His Work06:01 The Inspiration Behind 'Start Your Own Damn Cult'08:55 The Eight Codes: A Framework for Conscious Leadership11:51 The Yamas: Ethical Foundations for Business15:02 Cultivate Codex: Integrating Yoga Principles into Leadership18:07 The Flow of Writing: From Inspiration to Structure20:56 Case Study: Regenerative Organic Certification Movement38:19 Catalyzing Change Through Collaboration41:07 The Power of Play in Serious Work51:12 Navigating the AI Disruption01:03:15 Personal Insights and RecommendationsLinks:Gagan Levy on LinkedIn - https://linkedin.com/in/gagan-levyStart Your Own Damn Cult (Book) -https://www.weareguru.com/cultstarterGuru - https://www.weareguru.com/Guru on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/weareguru/…Ram Dass - Be Here Now - https://www.amazon.com/Be-Here-Now-Ram-Dass/dp/0517543052…Brands for a Better World Episode Archive - http://brandsforabetterworld.com/Brands for a Better World on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/brand-for-a-better-world/Modern Species - https://modernspecies.com/Modern Species on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/modern-species/Gage Mitchell on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/gagemitchell/…Print Magazine Design Podcasts - https://www.printmag.com/categories/printcast/…Heritage Radio Network - https://heritageradionetwork.org/Heritage Radio Network on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/heritage-radio-network/posts/Heritage Radio Network on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/HeritageRadioNetworkHeritage Radio Network on X - https://x.com/Heritage_RadioHeritage Radio Network on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/heritage_radio/Heritage Radio Network on Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@heritage_radio…The Food Institute - https://foodinstitute.com/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.