Bold Names Conversation Starter

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Compare different leadership approaches and identify practical takeaways for a team's current work.

Use it when: Use at the start of a planning session, kickoff, or gathering to prompt conversation about working styles and practical influences.

Skip it when: Skip when the group needs to address immediate project logistics or resolve urgent internal conflicts directly.

Group arrangement: Groups of 3 to 4 people. For 4 or 5 people total, work as a single group. For uneven numbers, add extra participants to existing tables so groups have 3 to 5 people and no group has fewer than 3.

Timing: Source specifies 5 to 15 minutes; structured here as a complete 15-minute plan for small-group discussions and brief reports.

Materials and tools

• One printed set of Leader Profile Cards per group
• One notepad or scratch sheet per group
• One pen per group
• Timer

Before participants arrive

1. Print the Leader Profile Cards with one figure per card and cut them out so each group has a complete four-card deck.
2. Set up tables to seat 3 to 5 participants each, or one table if 4 to 5 people attend in total.
3. Place one notepad and pen on each table.

Say this to open

Welcome. On your tables are cards featuring different figures from history and industry. Pick one person whose approach interests or challenges you. Talk through why their approach matters to your work today, or substitute a figure of your own choosing.

How to run it

1. Select a profile 3 minutes

   Speak the opening script. Direct groups of 3 to 5 people to look through their profile cards. Each group selects one figure to focus on. If someone suggests their own figure not in the deck, they give a 30-second summary of that person's style to their group. If a group cannot settle on one, they pick two to contrast.

2. Small group discussion 7 minutes

   Groups discuss two prompts: What stands out about how this person worked, and how does that approach relate to the problems we are solving today? For example, someone might note how Grace Hopper pushed against organizational inertia and ask where the team accepts outdated routines. Each person takes up to 60 seconds to share their perspective, leaving time for open exchange. One volunteer notes common threads on the notepad.

3. Room share 3 minutes

   Call the room back together. Invite up to three groups to share one practical insight from their discussion in under one minute each.

4. Debrief 2 minutes

   Ask the debrief questions to close the exercise. Select two spoken responses from volunteers, then transition to the next agenda item.

Debrief questions

• What common patterns in leadership or problem-solving emerged across the tables?
• Which perspective from today's discussion can you apply directly to our next task?

Finished output: Written notes on a table notepad capturing one or two takeaways connecting a leader's approach to the group's current work.

Remote

Distribute digital profile slides or cards in chat in advance. Place participants into breakout rooms of 3 to 4 (or keep 4 to 5 in the main room). Groups select a profile and record notes on a shared digital document. Return to the main room for spoken shares using the raised-hand function.

Hybrid

Seat in-person participants at tables of 3 to 5 and assign remote participants to dedicated digital breakout rooms of 3 to 5. Distribute digital copies of the Leader Profile Cards in chat and provide a shared online document for remote notes. In-person tables use paper. Use the main room microphone so in-person reports are audible to remote participants during room sharing.

Access and participation choices

• Provide large-print Leader Profile Cards with clear text summaries.
• Participants may pass on speaking during the small group discussion and serve as the table note-taker instead.
• Participants may substitute an unlisted figure of their own choice by briefly introducing them to their table.

If the session gets stuck

Groups spend the entire time debating which card to select instead of discussing the leadership style.

Intervene at the two-minute mark and assign the top card on the deck to any undecided group.

Participants focus entirely on biographical trivia rather than implications for their current work.

Remind the room to focus on what the figure's method means for current team projects, not their biography.

Terms used here

• Leader Profile Card: A reference card summarizing a notable figure, their core contribution, and a key focus of their approach.