Category Archives: Leadership

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426: A New Way to Think with Roger Martin

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This episode marks the third week in a row I’ve welcomed a university professor (or former professor). First Harvard, then Yale, and today’s guest, formerly of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. I feel smarter just having been around them these last few weeks.

roger martin

That guest today is making a returning visit to us. His name is Roger L. Martin and his latest book (his 13th) is called A New Way to Think: Your Guide to Superior Management Effectiveness.

Over a stellar career, Roger has advised the CEOs of some of the world’s most successful companies.

From the beginning, he noted that almost every executive he talked to had a “model”—a framework or way of thinking that guided their strategy and activities. But these models tended to become automatic, so much so that when one didn’t work, the typical response was just to apply it again—with greater enthusiasm.

Reading like a series of one-on-one sessions with one of the world’s leading business thinkers, A New Way to Think is an essential guide for any current or aspiring business leader.

I hope you’ll click the play button below to learn more about Roger and his work. For a summary, just keep scrolling.

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425: A Radical New Way to Negotiate with Barry Nalebuff

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Last week we chatted with a Harvard professor. Next week, we’ll chat with a professor at a prestigious college in Canada. This week, we receive a visit from at professor at Yale University.

barry nalebuff

That professor’s name is Barry Nalebuff. One of his early experiences negotiating was when he and a former student sold their tea company to Coca-Cola. It was the first time the theory of splitting the pie—what he was teaching his students—was put to use in the real world.

Barry’s new book is called Split the Pie: A Radical New Way to Negotiate. The topic of negotiation has not been one to fascinate me, historically at least. However, I found Barry’s book a fun way to learn about negotiation.

Negotiation is often stressful, Barry says. It can bring out the worst in people. But wouldn’t it be better if there were a principled way to negotiate—even better, a way to treat people fairly and get treated fairly in return. Split the Pie does just that.

I hope you’ll click the play button below to learn more about Barry and his work. For a summary, just keep scrolling.

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424: Deep Purpose is the Heart and Soul of High-Performance Companies with Ranjay Gulati

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When you end an interview with a Harvard Business School professor and he tells you your questions made him think, it kinda makes your day (or maybe your week, your month, your year, or, perhaps your life)!

Though we may not see eye-to-eye on all the issues he presented, I consider the chance to chat with him extremely rewarding and fulfilling.

The professor I’m talking about is Ranjay Gulati. He’s written numerous books, his latest of which is called Deep Purpose: The Heart and Soul of High-Performance Companies.

He says few business topics have aroused more skepticism in recent years than the notion of corporate purpose, and for good reason. Too many companies deploy purpose, or a reason for being, as a promotional vehicle to make themselves feel virtuous and to look good to the outside world.

Some, he says, only have foggy ideas about wha tpurpose is and conflate it witih stratgy and otehr concepts like “mission,” “vision,” and “values.”

Ranjay takes readers inside some of the world’s most purposeful companies to understand the secrets to their successes.

I hope you’ll click the play button below to learn more about Ranjay and his work. For a summary, just keep scrolling.

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423: How to Grow Your People to Grow Your Company with Whitney Johnson

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When a guest who’s been on the podcast more than any other guest recommends another author to you, your ears perk up quite bit.

Whitney Johnson

That was the case for me when four-time guest Liz Wiseman suggested I meet author Whitney Johnson.

I am so thankful to Liz for that introduction because her new book came to me at just the right time. It’s called Smart Growth: How to Grow Your People to Grow Your Company, and it’s a Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller.

Growth is a goal, Whitney says.

Helping people develop their potential—enabling them to articulate can become the self they want to be, are capable of being, and that best serves them and others in the short and long-term—is what we as individuals and leaders strive toward. 

But how do we grow? It turns out it happens in a predictable way, which means we can understand where we are in our growth and chart a way forward.

As individuals grow, so do organizations and societies. Growth is learning put into action—action that betters the world as we better ourselves and our small niches, both personal and professional, within it. Growth occurs when learning is internalized—when we try something new and invest the effort to move it from being something we do to something we are.

I hope you’ll click the play button below to learn more about Whitney and her work. For a summary, just keep scrolling.

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420: A Radical New Approach to Greater Success and Fulfillment with Brian Moran and Michael Lennington

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One of my favorite productivity books ever is one called The 12 Week Year: How to Get More Done in 12 Weeks Than Others Do in 12 Months by Brian Moran and Michael Lennington.

brian moran and michael lennington

Though I didn’t get a chance to interview them about that book when it came out, I was delighted when a publicist reached out to me recently about interviewing about their brand new book!

It’s called Uncommon Accountability: A Radical New Approach to Greater Success and Fulfillment.

In it, Brian and Michael compellingly argue for a positive and affirming conception of accountability—one that stands for personal ownership of one’s goals, actions, and progress. 

They show you how to harness the power of accountability, with all of its built-in potential to enable growth and learning, improve well-being, reduce stress, and drive results.

Whether you are an individual looking to better your career, increase your income of improve your relationships, or a leader trying to inspire your team to accomplish what they are capable of, this book will show you how to powerfully shift your view of accountability and dramatically improve your results, and your life.

I hope you’ll click the play button below to learn more about them and their work. For a summary, just keep scrolling.

Join in on our chat below

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