Chip Conley: Wisdom in the Workplace from a Modern Elder

FranklinCovey On Leadership

FranklinCovey

Business, Management

4.9 • 851 Ratings

🗓️ 21 October 2025

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Chip Conley—hospitality disruptor, modern elder, and wisdom seeker—joins us for a wide-ranging conversation on creativity, culture, and wisdom in business. Chip shares stories from his early days transforming rundown hotels in San Francisco’s Tenderloin into vibrant communities, his role in shaping Airbnb’s growth, and why investing in culture doesn’t have to cost a dime. He reflects on the balance between founder energy and burnout, the lessons of storytelling and constraints, and the importance of wisdom in an AI-driven future. Everyone agrees that leadership matters. But in the rush of competing priorities—in the whirlwind of data, deadlines, and deliverables—it’s easy to lose sight of just how much it matters. Download our new guide, Where are all the Great Leaders, to learn more: https://resources.franklincovey.com/c/tlg-where-are-all-the-great-leaders?x=j4G37p&lb-mode=overlay FranklinCovey’s world-class learning solutions—delivered Live-Online, On Demand, or Live In-Person—are designed to build exceptional leadership skills and enrich your culture at every level of your organization. To learn more, email us at [email protected], visit franklincovey.com, or call us at: 1-888-868-1776

Transcript

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0:00.0	There's a real need for us to develop mutual mentorship across generations.
0:05.0	And the mentorship is not always from old to young.
0:08.0	It can go in both directions.
0:09.0	But in the era of AI where knowledge has become a commodity, maybe it's time for wisdom to make a comeback.
0:16.0	Hello and welcome to Franklin Covey on Leadership.
0:24.5	I'm your host, Will Hodling, Franklin Covey's head of product.
0:28.0	In these conversations, we speak with many of the world's greatest leaders about the mistakes,
0:32.5	methods, and mindsets that led them to become the people they are today.
0:36.7	We hope their hard-earned insights and
0:38.6	wisdom accelerate you on your leadership journey. Today's guest is Chip Conley, a hospitality
0:45.2	industry disruptor as the founder of Joie de V hotels and the former head of global
0:50.6	hospitality and strategy at Airbnb. More recently, Chip has founded the Modern Elder Academy, the world's first
0:58.4	Midlife Wisdom School.
1:00.8	Chip is also a prolific author.
1:02.4	He's the New York Times bestselling writer of seven books, including the most recently
1:06.3	published Learning to Love Midlife.
1:09.1	Chip is an incredible storyteller, an inspiring leader.
1:12.6	He's spoken on the main stage at TED three times, including the 2023 talk on the midlife Chrysalis.
1:19.6	In today's conversation, we'll touch on his motivation for starting Joad de B hospitality at age 26,
1:25.6	the journey moving over to Airbnb after he sold his boutique
1:30.2	hotel chain, what he learned working with founder Brian Chesky, the motivation behind beginning
1:36.2	the first modern elder academy, and much, much more. We hope you enjoy today's spirited discussion.
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