504: The CEO's Dilemma: When to Speak Out on Political and Social Issues

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we interviewed the author of LET THEM LEAD: Unexpected Lessons in Leadership from America's Worst High School Hockey Team. This book is a true story filled with unforgettable characters, stories, and lessons that apply to organizations everywhere. It includes the leader’s mistakes and the reactions of the players, who have since achieved great success as leaders themselves. Let Them Lead is a fast-paced, feel-good book that leaders of all kinds can embrace to motivate their teams to work harder, work together, and take responsibility for their own success. John U. Bacon has written twelve books on sports, business, health, and history, and the last seven are all National Bestsellers. Bacon's radio essays earned him NPR's PRNDI Award for best commentary in 2014. He appears often on national TV, gives speeches across North and South America, and teaches at the University of Michigan, where he won the 2009 Golden Apple Award for "exceptional teaching." In 2006, he was inducted into the Ann Arbor Huron High School Hall of Fame for turning around the hockey team. Bacon is a decent hockey player, a mediocre Spanish speaker, and a poor piano player, but that has not prevented him from enjoying all three. Get John’s book here: LET THEM LEAD: Unexpected Lessons in Leadership from America's Worst High School Hockey Team. John U. Bacon. https://www.amazon.com/Let-Them-Lead-Unexpected-Leadership-ebook/dp/B08NWWG72Y?ref_=ast_author_dp Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

27 Feb 20231h 7min

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we interviewed the coauthor of Monster: A Tough Love Letter on Taming the Machines that Rule our Jobs, Lives, and Future, Ben Pring. Who is responsible for regulating and overseeing technology and online platforms? Is it the government? The ITs and developers? Or maybe…the users? In this episode, we deliberated the significance of technology in human lives and the negative consequences brought by irresponsible and abusive use of technology. Ben Pring is a widely acknowledged IT futurist and thought leader with a storied track record working with the biggest and fastest-growing IT vendors and with the most demanding and sophisticated IT buyers. Get Ben’s book here: Monster: A Tough Love Letter On Taming the Machines that Rule our Jobs, Lives, and Future. Ben Pring and Paul Roehrig. https://www.amazon.com/Monster-Letter-Taming-Machines-Future/dp/111978591X Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

22 Feb 20231h 7min

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we interviewed the author of Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life, Luke Burgis. Why do we want what we want? This topic is rarely presented in conversations, business meetings, or political agendas, but it has a comprehensive impact on our lives and shapes our societies. This episode explores the psychology behind human desires, role modeling, competition, and the awareness of intentional wanting. Luke Burgis has founded and led multiple companies. He’s currently entrepreneur-in-residence and director of programs at the Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship at the Catholic University of America, where he also teaches business and develops new education initiatives. He's also the founder and director of Fourth Wall Ventures, an incubator for people and companies that contribute to the formation of a healthy human ecology. He graduated from NYU Stern School of Business and later from a pontifical university in Rome, where he studied theology. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Claire. Get Luke’s book here: Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life, Luke Burgis. https://www.amazon.com/Wanting-Power-Mimetic-Desire-Everyday/dp/1250262488 Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

20 Feb 202353min

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we interviewed Jenn Lim, the CEO of Delivering Happiness, also known as DH. In this episode, Jenn speaks about her journey of discovering and understanding the meaning of happiness and purpose. What is the source of genuine happiness and how does it impact your work and career? Delivering Happiness, also known as DH is a company that Jenn Lim and Tony Hsieh, the late CEO of Zappos.com, cofounded to create happier company cultures for a more profitable and sustainable approach to business. DH started as a book and evolved into a business consultancy and global movement that has impacted and inspired over 400 companies around the world. Jenn’s mission is something both simple and profound: to teach businesses how to cultivate cultures that generate profit, sustain all people at every level of the organization with humanity, and share how we can make an impact by being true to our authentic selves. In 2017, Jenn was selected to be on the Global Happiness Council of Work and Wellbeing with the charter to scale the impact she's made in even more sustainable ways. In 2020, DH was on Inc. 5000’s list of fastest-growing companies. Get Jen’s book here: Beyond Happiness: How Authentic Leaders Prioritize Purpose and People for Growth and Impact. Jenn Lim. https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Happiness-Authentic-Leaders-Prioritize-ebook/dp/B08RYQ83MQ Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

15 Feb 20231h 3min

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we interviewed the author of Sales Management That Works: How to Sell in a World that Never Stops Changing by Frank Cespedes. How do you manage sales in a world that never stops changing? In this episode, Frank shares valuable insights to equip sales professionals and business leaders in managing sales within their organization and how to better improve and develop themselves while managing constant change. Frank Cespedes is a sales expert and Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School. He runs a business, has served on the boards of corporations and start-ups, and has consulted to companies around the world. He is the author of articles in Harvard Business Review, California Management Review, Organization Science, The Wall Street Journal, and other publications as well as 6 books, including Aligning Strategy and Sales, which was cited as "the best sales book of the year" (Strategy+Business), "a must read" (Gartner), and "perhaps the best sales book ever" (Forbes). Get Frank’s book here: Sales Management That Works: How to Sell in a World that Never Stops Changing. Frank Cespedes. https://www.amazon.com/Sales-Management-That-Works-Changing/dp/1633698769 Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

13 Feb 202350min

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we interview the coauthor of The Power of Trust, Sandra Sucher. In this book, Sandra Sucher and Shalene Gupta examine the economic impact of trust and the science behind it and conclusively prove that trust is built from the inside out. Trust emerges from a company being the “real deal”: creating products and services that work, having good intentions, treating people fairly, and taking responsibility for all the impacts an organization creates, whether intended or not. Sandra Sucher is a professor of management practice at Harvard Business School and studies trust and moral leadership. She’s authored 110 business cases, technical notes, video interviews, teaching notes, and three books. Sucher is on the Edelman Trust Institute advisory board and has collaborated with Deloitte on TrustIQ™, a proprietary tool that measures key elements of trust in major corporations and public sector organizations. Sucher was a business executive for 20 years before joining Harvard. As a senior executive at Fidelity Investments, she measured customer loyalty, redesigned back-office operations, and improved the quality of service. In retailing, she co-authored the proposal to expand Filene’s Basement from a single-unit business to a national chain. She has served on corporate and nonprofit boards and as the Better Business Bureau chair. Get Sandra’s book here: The Power of Trust: How Companies Build It, Lose It, Regain It. Sandra J. Sucher and Shalene Gupta. https://www.amazon.com/Power-Trust-Companies-Build-Regain/dp/1541756673 Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

8 Feb 20231h 18min

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we interviewed one of Wall Street’s legendary tech analysts, Mark Mahaney.  In this episode, Mark discusses ten lessons that are proven to help investors succeed in tech stock investing. He shares powerful advice and knowledge from analyzing the most explosive sector on Wall Street over the past quarter century.  Lesson 1: There Will Be Blood… When You Pick Bad StocksLesson 2: You Can Lose $...Even When You Pick The Best StocksLesson 3: Don’t Play QuartersLesson 4: Revenue Matters More Than AnythingLesson 5: It Doesn’t Mean a Thing, If It Ain't Got That Product SwingLesson 6: TAMs - The Bigger The BetterLesson 7: Follow the Value Prop, Not the MoneyLesson 8: Management Matters MostLesson 9: Look for Ballpark Reasonable ValuationLesson 10: Hunt for DHQs - Dislocated High-Quality Stocks Mark Mahaney has been covering internet stocks on Wall Street since 1998, with Morgan Stanley, American Technology Research, Citibank, RBC Capital Markets, and Evercore ISI. Institutional Investor magazine has ranked him as a top Internet analyst every year for the past 15 years, including five years as number one, and he has been ranked by the Financial Times and StarMine as the number-one earnings estimator and stock picker. In addition, TipRanks has placed Mahaney in the top one percent of all Wall Street analysts in terms of single-year stock picking performance.  Get Mark's book here: Nothing But Net: 10 Timeless Stock-Picking Lessons from One of Wall Street’s Top Tech Analysts. Mark Mahaney Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

6 Feb 202341min

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we interviewed one of the most recognized, connected, and dynamic executives in the sports and entertainment industry today, Scott O'Neil. In this episode with Scott, he shared most of the valuable lessons in his life that keep him grounded and thriving as a leader, coach, husband, and father. Scott has more than 25 years of experience leading NBA, NHL, and NFL teams and leagues, including the National Basketball Association, Philadelphia 76ers, New York Knicks, New Jersey Nets, Philadelphia Eagles, New York Rangers, and New Jersey Devils. His mission to build innovative, inspiring, socially impactful, and high-performing teams and business organizations have earned him a reputation as a “leader of leaders.” A Harvard Business School-educated CEO, O’Neil contends that fostering a corporate culture founded in respect, diversity, employee development and corporate social responsibility is what drives the success of the award-winning sports teams and businesses he oversees. These awards include Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Company,” Entrepreneur Magazine’s “Top 50 Cultures,” Sports Innovation Lab’s “Top 25 Most Innovative Professional Teams in the World” and many others. The “Most Innovative Executive in Sports” (SportTechie) and “Most Admired CEO” (Philadelphia Business Journal) have been named to lists that include the “100 People of Power and Influence” (#37, The Hockey News/Sports Illustrated), multiple “Power 100” lists (NJ Biz, Philadelphia Business Journal, Philadelphia Magazine) and more. A decade-long Member of the NBA and NHL Board of Governors, O’Neil’s insights on the sports industry’s ability to move the global market have made him a prominent, regular voice on Bloomberg, FOX Business, CNBC, CNN, and across global business media. Scott is a man of faith and a father of three. His conviction to lead a perpetually present life as he famously “runs to work” and “runs home,” guides his commitment to helping others realize their full potential. Be Where Your Feet Are: Seven Principles to Keep You Present, Grounded, and Thriving. Scott O'Neil Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

1 Feb 20231h 4min