Welcome to Episode 28, Season 9 of A CEO’s Virtual Mentor® In this compelling episode of Leadership Lyceum: A CEO's Virtual Mentor , we are joined by Dan Bane, the retired CEO of Trader Joe’s, to explore the remarkable journey of leading one of the most iconic brands in modern retail through a period of unprecedented growth. From 2001 to 2023, Trader Joe’s expanded from 150 to 547 stores, maintaining its unique culture, customer-centric approach, and reputation for excellence. This conversation ...
Jan 22, 2025•1 hr 21 min•Season 9Ep. 28
Welcome to Episode 27, Season 7 of A CEO’s Virtual Mentor ® Are you a new board member serving on a regulated company board, but from a non regulatory background? This episode is directed especially to newer board members and executives in utility companies regulated at the state and even federal levels. My guest in this episode is Dr. Mark Jamison. Dr. Jamison is Director and Gerald Gunter Professor, Public Utility Research Center at the Warrington College of Business at the University of Flori...
May 12, 2023•54 min•Season 7Ep. 27
Welcome to Episode 26, Season 7, of the Leadership Lyceum: A CEO's Virtual Mentor® . This episode coupled with the prior Episode 25 on Overcoming Homophily forms two episodes themed to span both Black History Month and Women’s History Month. I'm joined in this program by four of five women who on May 1st, 2019, published together a collective autobiographical book titled The Energy Within Us . It is their stories across the arc of their lives from childhood environments and experiences that shap...
Mar 12, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Season 7Ep. 26
Welcome to Episode 25, Season 6, of the Leadership Lyceum: A CEO's Virtual Mentor® . This is part one of two episodes aimed as a celebration of Black History Month. In August 2020, USA Today reported that 11% of the directors across the 50 largest companies in the S&P 100 are black. On the other hand, gender diversity on boards has shown better improvement over the last seven years. BoardEx just released data that revealed gender diversity on corporate boards in the US increased about 10% ov...
Feb 24, 2021•58 min
Inspiring award-winning performances from your talent: Crossover applications to business leadership from the theatrical development process with Charles Newell, Artistic Director of Court Theatre in Chicago A CEO’s Virtual Mentor Episode 24 Welcome to Episode 24, Season 5, of the Leadership Lyceum: A CEO's Virtual Mentor® . I'm joined in the program today by Charles Newell, the Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director of the renowned and critically acclaimed Court Theatre in Chicago. This interview ...
Dec 18, 2020•56 min•Season 5Ep. 24
“Service First, Safety Always” The Anatomy of a Private Equity Investment: from M&A roll-up, to IPO, and beyond with Advanced Disposal Services’ Chairman and CEO Richard Burke A CEO’s Virtual Mentor Episode 23 Welcome to episode 23 and the beginning of Season 4 of A CEO's Virtual Mentor . I'd like to express our special thanks to the clients of Lyceum Leadership Consulting that have enabled us to bring you this podcast, and to you, ladies and gentlemen, our devoted listenership, for your con...
Jun 21, 2019•55 min•Season 4Ep. 23
A Remarkable Corporate Turnaround: The “Take-Private” of Talen Energy with CEO Ralph Alexander and CFO Alex Hernandez A CEO’s Virtual Mentor® Episode 22 Welcome to Episode 22 and May 2019, which marks Lyceum’s three-year anniversary of publishing A CEO's Virtual Mentor® . Today I'm joined by Talen Energy’s CEO, Ralph Alexander, and CFO, Alex Hernandez. We'll be discussing the remarkable turnaround of Talen Energy that Ralph and Alex have been leading. Talen Energy in its privately-held form toda...
May 17, 2019•46 min•Season 3Ep. 22
The Earth Day Episode - A CEO’s Virtual Mentor Episode 21 Climate Change as the Foremost Challenge of Our Generation with Dr. Ralph Izzo, Chairman, President and CEO of PSEG Happy Earth Day Weekend. Monday, April 22nd is Earth Day. In celebration and recognition, we welcome you to our special Earth Day 2019 episode. I am joined by Dr. Ralph Izzo, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) in Newark, New Jersey. This Episode 21 covers a number of top...
Apr 19, 2019•37 min•Season 3Ep. 21
A CEO’s Virtual Mentor Episode 20 The ESG Canvas for Corporate Reporting with Pat Kampling, Chairman and CEO of Alliant Energy Welcome to Episode 20. I am joined by Pat Kampling, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Alliant Energy in Madison Wisconsin. This Episode 20 covers several areas of topical interest including a discussion on ‘sustainability’ and the quickly emerging and rapidly evolving area of ESG or “Environmental, Social, and Governance” criteria. Institutional investors are deman...
Mar 19, 2019•31 min•Season 3Ep. 20
A CEO’s Virtual Mentor Episode 19 Redefining Leadership in a Traditional Industry with Mary Powell, President and Chief Executive Officer of Green Mountain Power Corporation Welcome to Episode 19. I am joined by Mary Powell, President and Chief Executive Officer of Green Mountain Power in Vermont. This Episode 19 presents a unique CEO profile in Mary Powell. Many of the CEO’s that we have featured in the past have come from science, technology and engineering disciplines or law or finance backgr...
Feb 15, 2019•29 min•Season 3Ep. 19
A CEO’s Virtual Mentor Episode 17 "Leading a Regional Electricity Grid and the Transition to a Clean Energy Future" with Gordon van Welie, President and CEO of ISO New England Welcome to Episode 17. I joined Gordon Van Welie, President and Chief Executive Officer of ISO New England on a clear late summer's day at his office just outside of Springfield, Massachusetts. The general population would likely not be aware of the pivotal and critical role that an independent system operator plays in the...
Jan 15, 2019•35 min•Season 3Ep. 17
A CEO’s Virtual Mentor Episode 18 Leading an Industry Association with Sue Kelly, President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Public Power Association (APPA) Welcome to Episode 18. I am joined by Sue Kelly, President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Public Power Association (APPA) in her office in Washington, DC. Our past 17 episodes have presented CEOs across a wide spectrum of company settings including publicly-traded, privately-held, and not-for-profits. This episode pre...
Dec 17, 2018•34 min•Season 3Ep. 18
A CEO’s Virtual Mentor Episode 16 "Turnarounds, Veterans, and a Tribute to Senator John McCain" with Don Brandt, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pinnacle West Interview with Don Brandt, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pinnacle West (Ticker: PNW ) and the turnaround of the company’s principal subsidiary, regulated utility Arizona Public Service through regulatory processes; also hiring military veterans and reservists; and, a tribute to the late Senator John ...
Sep 10, 2018•29 min•Season 3Ep. 16
Welcome to Episode 15. This is The Leadership Lyceum’s special Earth Day 2018 episode of A CEO’s Virtual Mentor on Climate Change and Clean Energy. We are pleased to present an interview with Ralph Cavanagh, Co-Director of the Energy Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council from October 23, 2017. We honor Earth Day by bringing in a much deeper perspective than is typically seen by the environmentally-conscious consumer. We look deeply at the prospects for clean energy on a massive scale ...
Apr 24, 2018•35 min•Season 3Ep. 15
The Philanthropy Episode – A Holiday Double Feature A CEO’s Virtual Mentor® Episode 14 Holiday greetings from The Leadership Lyceum! Welcome to our 14th episode of the podcast. ‘Tis the season of giving and we give you our holiday gift in the form of this holiday special double episode on Philanthropy. We’ll cover the subject from a few different angles. First. from the perspective of the giver – with our first guest, University of Chicago benefactor Bernard DelGiorno. Bernie also advises his cl...
Dec 16, 2017•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 14
A CEO’s Virtual Mentor Episode 13 The Big Shareholder Activism Episode – The Escalation Path Implications and Advice for Corporate Governance and CEO Leadership Our guests in a panel format include: Chris Young, Managing Director and Head of the Contested Situations Group, Credit Suisse Paul Toback, Former President, CEO and Chairman of Bally Total Fitness Marjorie Bowen, Retired Managing Partner of Houlihan Lokey and highly experienced public and private company director with an extensive list ...
Oct 30, 2017•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 13
A CEO’s Virtual Mentor Episode 12 Shareholder Activism – The Vulnerability Framework; Board Governance & Effectiveness; and a Conversation with WEC Energy Group CEO Allen Leverett Guests include: Chris Young, Managing Director and Head of the Contested Situations Group, Credit Suisse Allen Leverett, President and CEO of WEC Energy Tanuja Dehne, Corporate governance expert and independent director of publicly-traded companies. If you haven’t joined us in a while, you may have missed the annou...
Sep 04, 2017•49 min•Ep. 12
A CEO’s Virtual Mentor Episode 11 Board Governance & Effectiveness, Shareholder Activism, and Utility Industry Consolidation and M&A Guests include: Corporate governance expert, Tanuja Dehne Paul Bonavia, Retired Chairman and CEO of UNS Energy Chris Young, Managing Director and head of the Contested Situations Group, Credit Suisse If you did not join us for our last episode, Episode 10 which was a special podcast on Innovation, you may have missed the announcement that we formed two comp...
Jul 01, 2017•1 hr
Special Podcast Episode 10 “The Electric Utility Industry’s Golden Age of Innovation: Now” Innovation Interviews with Eight CEOs After a bit of a hiatus, we are back. I can assure we have been busy on your behalf in the interim. We are delighted to announce that we formed two companies under Leadership Lyceum’s brand: Lyceum Leadership Consulting which provides executive and board of director’s search, board effectiveness review, and an array of services for successor development and board-readi...
Jun 08, 2017•59 min
“Perpetuating the California Dream: Progressive Policy Meets Progressive Leadership” Interview with Pedro Pizarro, CEO of Edison International in Los Angeles, California Welcome to Episode 9 of the Leadership Lyceum: A CEO’s Virtual Mentor . I had the pleasure of visiting Pedro Pizarro, CEO of Edison International in his Los Angeles office for this conversation as part of what will be a bit of a sub-series introducing some of the recently appointed CEO's in the utility industry. Edison Internati...
Mar 13, 2017•46 min
Welcome to Episode 8 of the Leadership Lyceum: A CEO’s Virtual Mentor “Leading Beyond Authority in Utilities: A Conversation with American Water Works CEO Susan Story” American Water Works (Ticker: AWK ) is the largest publicly-traded water utility in the country, serving one of the basic human needs of about 15 million customers across 47 states, and in Ontario, Canada. The company serves, and Susan leads, in a mission-critical infrastructure sector. I have had the pleasure of hearing Susan Sto...
Feb 12, 2017•36 min
Part 2 of 2: “Utility Mergers & Acquisitions: Reflections from The Room Where It Happened” Interview with McKinsey & Company Emeritus, Dr. Les Silverman, former Lead Independent Director of Pepco and Independent Director of Columbia Pipeline Group (CPG); Mr. Robert (Bob) Skaggs, former CEO of NiSource and then CEO of CPG; and Mr. Joseph (Joe) Rigby, former Chief Executive Officer of Pepco. Welcome to Episode 7 of the Leadership Lyceum: A CEO’s Virtual Mentor . This is Part 2 of a 2-part ...
Jan 09, 2017•39 min
Part 1 of 2: “Utility Mergers & Acquisitions: Reflections from The Room Where It Happened” Interview with McKinsey & Company Emeritus, Dr. Les Silverman, former Lead Independent Director of Pepco and Independent Director of Columbia Pipeline Group (CPG); Mr. Robert (Bob) Skaggs, former CEO of NiSource and then CEO of CPG; and Mr. Joseph (Joe) Rigby, former Chief Executive Officer of Pepco. Welcome to Episode 7 of the Leadership Lyceum: A CEO’s Virtual Mentor . This is Part 1 of a 2-part ...
Dec 05, 2016•39 min
This is Part 2 of a 2-part interview with Andy Mooney, CEO of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. ( http://shop.fender.com/en-US/about ). You will recall from Part 1 that I joined Andy in his new Hollywood offices, which were still in the finishing touches of the build out, on September 14th 2016. We had a sweeping conversation covering his leadership at Fender, his product orientation and brand focus and industry innovation that he is leading at Fender. Fender had their grand opening celebr...
Nov 13, 2016•23 min
Part 1 of 2: “Product and Brand Leadership” Interview with Andy Mooney, CEO of Fender Musical Instruments. Welcome to Episode 6 of the Leadership Lyceum: A CEO’s Virtual Mentor . This is Part 1 of a 2-part interview with Andy Mooney, CEO of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. ( http://shop.fender.com/en-US/about ). I joined Andy in his new Hollywood offices, which were still in the finishing touches of the build out, on September 14th 2016. We had a sweeping conversation his leadership at Fe...
Oct 29, 2016•33 min
Part 2 of 2: “Lifeline Sector Cybersecurity Leadership” Interview with Tom Fanning, Chairman and CEO of Southern Company Welcome to Episode 5 of the Leadership Lyceum: A CEO’s Virtual Mentor . This is Part 2 of a 2 part interview with Tom Fanning, Chairman and CEO of Atlanta-based Southern Company ( http://southerncompany.com ). If you are joining us by linking over from my recent feature article on Mr. Fanning in trade-publication Public Utilities Fortnightly ( https://www.fortnightly.com ) , w...
Oct 04, 2016•22 min
This is Part 1 of a 2 part interview with Tom Fanning, Chairman and CEO of Atlanta-based Southern Company ( http://southerncompany.com ). If you are joining us by linking over from my recent feature article on Mr. Fanning in trade-publication Public Utilities Fortnightly ( https://www.fortnightly.com ) , welcome to our podcast. Southern Company has $18 billion in annual revenues and is the second largest utility in the US, with 9 million gas and electric customers in 9 states. Tom Fanning has be...
Sep 26, 2016•22 min
Welcome to Episode 4 of the “Leadership Lyceum: A CEO’s Virtual Mentor” podcast. This is Part 2 of a 2 part interview with Bryan Shinn, CEO of US Silica. US Silica ( http://www.ussilica.com ) is a NYSE-listed $643 million revenue producer and distributor of commercial silica through two segments: 2/3 of revenues derived from Oil & Gas Proppants Segment - in essence as sand to prop and maintain fractured openings in oil and gas fracking applications. 1/3 of revenues derived from Industrial &a...
Aug 15, 2016•33 min
Part 1 of 2 Interview Leading an IPO with Bryan Shinn, CEO of US Silica Welcome to Episode 4 of the “Leadership Lyceum: A CEO’s Virtual Mentor” podcast. This is Part 1 of a 2 part interview with Bryan Shinn, CEO of US Silica. US Silica ( http://www.ussilica.com ) is a NYSE-listed $643 million revenue producer and distributor of commercial silica through two segments: 2/3 of revenues derived from Oil & Gas Proppants Segment - in essence as sand to prop and maintain fractured openings in oil a...
Jul 04, 2016•32 min
Part 2 of 2 Interview with Bob Flexon, CEO of Dynegy in Houston. Welcome to Episode 3 of the “Leadership Lyceum: A CEO’s Virtual Mentor” podcast. Part of a Sub-Series on “CEO from CFO” This is Part 2 of a 2 part interview with Bob Flexon, CEO of Dynegy. Dynegy is a $5.5 billion revenue independent power producer in the US operating 26,000 megawatts of power generating facilities in eight states. The capacity from 35 power stations provides capability to power 21 million homes. Bob will share his...
Jun 27, 2016•19 min