Nudges, Superpowers and Mantras that Shape Connection

Insights & activities from June’s Joyful Masterclass

The best conversations don’t always come from the loudest voices or the longest meetings. Sometimes, the smallest moments, when someone pauses to really listen, or when a group leans in to share, are the ones we carry with us the longest.

Great habits begin with intentional conversations. In partnership with CultureCon, this Connection Crew masterclass invited participants to practice four simple activities that deepen trust, energise teams and spark personal reflection.

Below, you’ll meet each panelist, discover what they brought to the room, and learn how to keep their practices alive in your own work and relationships.

Zach Blumenfeld – What If You Reach Out?

Zach Blumenfeld is the co-founder of CultureCon, an organisation that brings together professionals, creatives, and changemakers to design better workplace cultures. He’s also an entrepreneur who’s built and scaled businesses across industries, each one rooted in the belief that people do their best work when they feel seen and connected. 

Zach’s approach to leadership is built around intention, emotional intelligence, and those small moments that build real culture over time.

We’ve all had that moment, someone crosses your mind, but you don’t reach out. Zach’s activity gently challenged that hesitation. It asked: What if you just… did? What if that passing thought became a real nudge toward connection?

How to practice it:

1. Name a person you’ve thought about recently (old colleague, friend, mentor).
2. Send a short message, a simple “thinking of you, how are things?” is enough if you’re feeling shy or intimidated.
3. Notice the feeling that surfaces while you write or after they reply; jot it down for later reflection.

This is connection at its simplest: quiet, thoughtful, and rooted in the belief that someone else matters enough to be remembered.

Liz Otteson – Elastigirl Energy

Founder of co:lab, a facilitation and learning design studio that works with organisations experiencing disconnection, silos, or burnout, Liz Otteson’s work is grounded in creativity, reflection, and restorative dialogue. Known for her humour and warmth, Liz helps teams see themselves, and each other, more clearly, often through storytelling and intentional pause.

Her activity was both playful and profound. Inspired by the character Elastigirl from The Incredibles, she invited participants to consider the strengths that stretch them across roles, spaces, and responsibilities, and the people in their lives who help them expand or refine those strengths.

How to practice it:

1. Pair up with a teammate or friend.
2. Share one super power you bring to your work.
3. Name the “stretch-partner” who helps refine or expand that super power, and explain how.
4. Swap roles and mirror back something you heard that felt powerful.

This kind of mutual storytelling builds gratitude, humility, and connection, all within a few minutes.

Colin H. Mincy – From Their Lips to Our Leadership

Colin H. Mincy is the Co-CEO of the Centering Healthcare Institute and a celebrated voice in global HR and DEI leadership. He’s led strategy for human rights organisations, philanthropic foundations, and healthcare innovators. Colin’s leadership is marked by care, clarity, and a strong sense of lineage, understanding how our families, communities, and lived experiences shape how we show up for others.

This was a reflective exercise grounded in personal wisdom. Colin asked participants to recall the sayings, mantras, or phrases that have stuck with them, often passed down from grandparents, mentors, or teachers. These are the quiet rules we carry into boardrooms and Zoom calls without always noticing.

How to practice it:

1. Recall a mantra or piece of advice that guides your work.
2. Trace its origin, who said it, and in what context?
3. Connect the dots to your current behaviour: where does it show up?
4. Share and compare with a partner; discuss what surprised or resonated.

By naming these guiding phrases, we become more conscious of how we lead and more capable of choosing which legacies to carry forward.

Icebreaker Activity – High/Low Check-In

In rooms where people don’t know each other, or worse, think they do but haven’t connected deeply in a while, starting with honesty matters. The High/Low check-In is simple but powerful. It gives every voice a moment in the spotlight, equal time to be heard, and an invitation to drop the small talk and speak with truth.At the start of the masterclass, everyone gathered in small groups. 

How to practice it:

1. Share one “high” from the past week. Something that brought you joy, energy, or meaning.
2. Share one “low.” Something that challenged you, made you pause, or just felt off.
3. Listen silently. No advice, no jumping in, just presence.

As a tool for building trust and setting the tone, High/Low is disarmingly effective. Because once you know what’s lifted someone, and what’s weighed them down, you’re more likely to treat them with care.

A Closing Nudge

Sharing this space with people who join with the intention to learn and connect is always something magical. Our June Connection Crew masterclass offered the kind of activities that help people take initiative in professional settings and cultivate meaningful relationships.

We are grateful to Zach, Liz, and Colin for guiding this masterclass, and to everyone who showed up, shared a story, or sat in silence with someone else’s truth: those small conversations stay with us.

Here’s to carrying them forward.