How Great Leaders Unlock Team Potential During Crisis
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In this episode of Leading Through Crisis, host Céline Williams sits down with Ernesto Gómez, founder and CEO of Aspen Mindset1 and author of Regrowth: How Organizations Can Overcome Stalling by Unlocking Their People’s Potential.
Together, they explore how leaders can navigate today’s complex landscape—where crises are no longer occasional events but an ongoing reality.
Ernesto shares powerful insights on why organizations stall, how culture can either enable or block change, and why the real driver of performance lies within teams. He introduces the concept of “push vs. pull leadership” and explains how great leaders unlock potential not by applying pressure, but by creating the right conditions for people to thrive.
Through real-world examples and practical frameworks, the conversation explores how leaders can rethink their approach to decision-making, innovation, and team development in an era of accelerating change.
You’ll learn:
• Why crisis is becoming the new normal for leaders
• The three layers of organizations: products, capabilities, and culture
• How team dynamics drive organizational performance
• The difference between push leadership vs pull leadership
• Four cultural pillars that unlock team performance
• Why humility and psychological safety are critical leadership traits
• A practical framework for moving from stagnation to regrowth
If you're a leader navigating uncertainty, building high-performing teams, or trying to drive change in a rapidly evolving world, this conversation offers a fresh perspective on how leadership must evolve.
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Ernesto Gómez is a seasoned executive with over 30 years of experience, having built and led successful ventures across the food service industry in both the US and Mexico. Transitioning from a dynamic serial entrepreneur to a high-level corporate leader, he served as VP of Human Capital at Grupo Alfa, a major Mexican conglomerate with 83,000 employees, before becoming Chief Human Resources Officer at Sigma Alimentos, a global consumer packaged goods company with 43,000 employees. In these roles, he spearheaded global talent and cultural initiatives, playing a pivotal role in organizational transformation.
Ernesto is the author of Regrowth: How Organizations Can Overcome Stalling by Unlocking Their People’s Potential.
Ernesto is a lifelong learner. He studied social communications and has completed executive programs at leading institutions, including Stanford GSB, MIT Sloan School of Management, Wharton Business School, Kellogg School of Management, Chicago Booth, London Business School, and IMD Business School.
He is the founder and CEO of Aspen Mindset1, a consulting firm dedicated to helping organizations and individuals reach peak performance. In 2024, Ernesto was invited as a guest speaker in the "Lead through Ambiguity" course at MIT Sloan School of Management.
To learn more about Ernesto’s work, head to aspenmindset1.com. You can also connect with him on LinkedIn (Ernesto Gómez Arzapalo) or Instagram (@aspenmindset_1).