Radio Free Leader - podcast cover

Radio Free Leader

David Burkussoundcloud.com
Radio Free Leader is a podcast dedicated to helping you lead smarter by tearing down the walls between the ivory tower and the corner office. Each week, host David Burkus interviews outstanding thinkers and doers in leadership, innovation, and strategy like Daniel Pink, Marcus Buckingham, Tom Rath, Adam Grant, and more.
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Episodes

0738 | Why Should Anyone Work Here with Gareth Jones

Gareth Jones is a Fellow of the Centre for Management Development at London Business School. He is co-author (with Rib Goffee) of “Why Should Anyone Be Led By You?” and the new book “Why Should Anyone Work Here?” In this interview, we discuss how to create an authentic organization and unlock people to do their best work.

Nov 15, 201627 min

0737 | The Disciplined Pursuit Of Less with Greg McKeown

Greg McKeown writes, teaches, and speaks around the world on the importance of living and leading as an Essentialist. He has spoken at companies including Apple, Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Salesforce.com, Symantec, and Twitter and is among the most popular bloggers for the Harvard Business Review and LinkedIn Influencer’s group. In this interview, we talk about how to focus in on what’s essential and pursue less but better in our life and career.

Nov 03, 201651 min

0736 | Innovating The Future with Seth Stone

Dr. Seth Stone is an organizational consultant focused on helping leaders uncover latent potential and thrive in the global marketplace using the components of innovation. He’s also the host of the LeadThis podcast. In this interview, we discuss how the most innovative firms shape the future, and how you can too.

Oct 25, 201627 min

0735 | How To Focus In A Distracted World with Cal Newport

Cal Newport is a writer and an assistant professor of computer science at Georgetown University. He also runs the popular website Study Hacks: Decoding Patterns of Success. He is the author of "Deep Work" and "So Good They Can't Ignore You." In this interview, we discuss why deep work creates all the value and how to train yourself to work deeper.

Oct 18, 201632 min

0734 | How to Bring Innovation to Life with Thomas Wedel-Wedellsborg

Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg is a partner at The Innovation Architects, a management consulting firm in New York City. He is co-author of "Innovation as Usual." He is a frequent speaker at corporate events and has worked with managers in nearly all parts of the globe, including China, India, Russia, Singapore, Britain, France, the United States, and his native country, Denmark. He has founded two start-ups and serves as an adviser to BBC Worldwide Labs. In this interview, we discuss how to make cre...

Oct 11, 201632 min

0733 | Why Only Is Better Than Best with Srinivas Rao

Srinivas Rao uses the internet to make things, and leads a creativity and innovation revolution while he does. Rao is the author of “Unmistakeable” and the founder of the Unmistakeable Creative podcast, where he's interviewed over five hundred creative people. Former guests on the show include Seth Godin, Elle Luna, Tim Ferriss, Gretchen Rubin, Simon Sinek, Adam Grant, and Danielle LaPorte. In this episode, we discuss why being the only in a niche is better than being the best.

Oct 04, 201629 min

0732 | Designing A Better Future with Lisa Kay Solomon

Lisa Kay Solomon is co-author of "Design a Better Business." She is a well-known thought leader in design innovation with a focus on building the leadership skills required to ignite change and create lasting impact. Lisa is Principal Faculty and Managing Director of Transformational Practices at Singularity University, a global community of smart, passionate, action-oriented leaders who want use exponential technologies to change the world. In this interview, we discuss how leaders bear the res...

Sep 27, 201627 min

0731 | Why Leaders Need Visual Intelligence with Amy Herman

Amy E. Herman is the author of Visual Intelligence and the creator of The Art of Perception course, where she uses works of art to train police officers, medical professions, and everyone else how to be more effective on the job, more empathetic toward their loved ones, and more alert to the trove of possibilities and threats all around them. In this interview, we discuss why we miss so much of the world around us, and who we can see (and think) better.

Aug 30, 201624 min

0730 | The Power of Now with Max McKeown

Dr. Max McKeown is the author of 7 books, including the new book #Now, as well as The Strategy Book, winner of the Commuter Read at the Chartered Management Institute Book of the Year 2013 and Amazon's Best Business Books of 2012. He works as a strategic coach with Fortune 100 companies and is also a popular keynote speaker at conferences worldwide. In this interview, we define a "nowist" philosophy and show why nowists make great leaders.

Aug 15, 201630 min

0729 | Managing for Happiness with Jurgen Appelo

Jurgen Appelo is a pioneering management consultant who helps creative organizations survive and thrive in the twenty-first century. He is the author of Managing for Happiness, andd the CEO of the global business network Happy Melly. In this interview, we discuss how the changing nature of work requires a change in management…and why management is too important to be left up to managers alone. In This episode, You’ll Learn: Why traditional performance measurement fails Why management is everybod...

Jul 26, 201627 min

0728 | The Art of Strategic Gifting with John Ruhlin

John Ruhlin is the founder of The Ruhlin Group, a gift logistics company that helps clients like the Chicago Cubs, Wells Fargo, Caesar s Entertainment, Miami Dolphins, Morgan Stanley, and The John Maxwell Company execute year-round gifting strategies. He is also the author of the new book, "Giftology." In this interview, we discuss how to give better gifts and make better investments into the relationships that matter.

Jul 20, 201630 min

0727 | How to Get Momentum When You're Stuck with Jason and Jodi Womack

ason and Jodi Womack are the wife and husband team behind the Get Momentum Leadership Academy, a coaching program designed to help people realize their full potential. They are also the co-authors of the aptly-titled book "Get Momentum." In this interview, we discuss why we get stuck in various areas of our life, how to get started and how to build momentum towards what we want to achieve.

Jul 13, 201631 min

0726 | How Happiness Accelerates Success with Emma Seppälä

Emma Seppälä is Science Director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University and a leading expert on health psychology, well-being, and resilience. Her research has been featured in the New York Times, ABC News, Forbes, the Boston Globe, U.S. News & World Report, the Huffington Post, INC, and Fast Company. She is also the author of "The Happiness Track." In this interview, we discuss how the science of happiness can accelerate your success.

Jun 29, 201624 min

0725 | How Markets Shape Us with Tim Sullivan

Tim Sullivan is the co-author of The Inner Lives of Markets. He is editorial director of Harvard Business Review Press and has worked at Basic Books, Portfolio, and Princeton University Press, where he helped build one of the most successful academic economics lists in the world. In this interview, we discuss how we shape markets and how they shape us.

Jun 21, 201624 min

0724 | How The Work Place Affects Work with Leigh Stringer

Leigh Stringer is a workplace strategist who blends her master's in architecture with her MBA and a passion for research with practical application. She works for EYP, an architecture, engineering and building technology firm. She is also author of "The Healthy Workplace." In this interview, we discuss how the workplace affects the well-being of employees...and a company's bottom line.

Jun 14, 201631 min

0723 | Why Learning Beats Knowing with Liz Wiseman

Liz Wiseman teaches leadership to executives around the world. She is president of The Wiseman Group, a leadership research and development center headquartered in Silicon Valley, California. Her newest book is Rookie Smarts and, in this interview, we discuss why learning beats knowing in the new game of work.

Jun 08, 201637 min

0722 | How to Speak and Change the World with Nancy Duarte

Nancy Duarte is a communication expert and he of Duarte, Inc. Her firm has created more than a quarter of a million presentations for the world’s most influential businesses, institutions, causes, and authors. As a persuasion specialist Nancy developed a unique methodology, which applies storytelling and visual thinking principles to business communications that shift audience beliefs and behaviors. In this interview, we discuss how to ignite change through speeches, stories, ceremonies, and sym...

Jun 02, 201630 min

0721 | The Truth About The 10,000 Hour Rule with Anders Ericsson

Anders Ericsson is the world's foremost expert on expertise and the author of "Peak: Secrets From The New Science of Expertise." He is a Conradi Eminent Scholar and professor or psychology at Florida State University. His work has been written about in great books like Malcolm Gladwell's "Outliers" and bestsellers like "Moonwalking with Einstein" and "How Children Succeed". In this interview, we discuss the truth about the 10,000 hour rule that's based on his work AND how anyone can utilize deli...

May 25, 201629 min

0720 | What Millennials Want at Work with Bruce Pfau

Bruce N. Pfau is KPMG’s Vice Chair of Human Resources and Communications. He holds a PhD in Psychology from Loyola University of Chicago. He is also co-author of "The Human Capital Edge: 21 People Management Practices Your Company Must Implement (Or Avoid) To Maximize Shareholder Value." In this interview, we discuss the common misconceptions about millennials in the workplace and what it takes to engage employees regardless of their generation.

May 20, 201627 min

0719 | Fixing the Fatal Flaws of Thinking with Matthew E May

Matthew E. May is an award-winning author and noted thought leader on strategy and innovation. A popular speaker, facilitator, and coach, he works with individuals and organizations all over the world. His new book, "Winning the Brain Game," attacks the bad habits of thinking that set back our problem solving. In this interview, we how to have better decision-making, higher levels of creativity, clearer strategies, and overall success in business, work and life.

May 10, 201630 min

0718 | Leading in the Social Age with Mark Babbitt

Mark Babbitt is President of SwitchandShift.com, a site and consultancy dedicated to leadership in the Social Age. He is co-author of "A World Gone Social." In this interview, we talk about how the world, and the world of work, has changed and how leaders have to adapt to survive.

May 03, 201624 min

0717 | The Journey of Exceptional Leaders with Ron Carucci

Ron Carucci is a principal at Navalent, an organizational consulting and leadership consulting firm, and former Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior. He is co-author (with Eric Hansen) of "Rising to Power." In this interview, we break down Ron's 10 year study of the career paths of executives and discover the patterns in the journey of exceptional leaders.

Apr 26, 201630 min

0716 | The Market Value of Leaders with Dave Ulrich

Dave Ulrich is the Rensis Likert Collegiate Professor of Business Administration at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, and a partner at the RBL Group consulting firm. He is the author the new book "The Leadership Capital Index," which proposes a Moody's or Standard and Poor's type rating for leadership. In this interview, we talk about the difference leaders make and how they create measurable value for all stakeholders.

Apr 19, 201627 min

0715 | When to Compete and When to Cooperate with Maurice Schweitzer

Maurice Schweitzer is the Cecilia Yen Koo Professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He received his Ph.D. from the Wharton School. He is co-auhor, with Adam Galinksy, or the new book Friend & Foe. Combined, Galinsky and Schweitzer have published over 250 scientific articles and chapters in the fields of management, psychology, and economics. Their work has been cited in The Economist, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, The New Yorker, N...

Apr 12, 201628 min

0714 | How Superbosses Master The Flow Of Talent with Sydney Finkelstein

Sydney Finkelstein is the Steven Roth Professor of Management at the Tuck School of Business at Dart­mouth College and the di­rector of Tuck’s Center for Leadership. He is consistently voted one of the top thinkers in management by Thinkers50. In this episode, we discuss what he calls "SuperBossess" (also the title of his new book), and the role that exceptional managers play in personal and organizational success.

Apr 06, 201629 min

0713 | How Tiny Clues Yield Huge Insights with Martin Lindstrom

Martin Lindstrom is the bestselling author of "Buyology" and one of the world's foremost marketing consulting. His new book, "Small Data," argues that it's the tiny clues (not the big data conclusions) that yield breakthrough insights. In this interview, we discuss small data, how a boyhood Martin once got sued by LEGO, and why he spends most nights sleeping in other people's homes.

Mar 30, 201628 min

0712 | How to Build a High Performing Culture

Need Doshi and Lindsay McGregor are partners in life, work, and writing. The are the founders of the consulting firm Vega Factor and authors of "Primed to Perform." In this interview, we dive deep into culture, systems, and motivation. We define TOMO and outline how the science of motivation can help build high performing cultures.

Mar 22, 201633 min

0711 | The World of Work with Michael Bungay Stainer

Michael Bungay Stanier is the author of The Coaching Habit, whose new book touches on similar themes as my new release, Under New Management. So in this special joint venture episode, Michael and I discuss the future of work, the changes that are coming, and why managers need to get better at coaching their people in order to survive the shift.

Mar 16, 201648 min

0710 | Writing the Org Chart in Pencil with Liann Eden

Liann Eden is the co-founder of Eden McCallum, a consultant firm with no consultants. Using an innovative organizational design, Eden is able to bring the brightest consultants to client projects by forming bespoke teams. In this interview, we talk about how the model developed and why writing the org chart in pencil is the way of the future.

Mar 09, 201630 min

0709 | The Power of Transparency with Dane Atkinson

Dane Atkinson is the founder and CEO of SumAll, a company that made headlines for committing to salary transparency and sharing with employees what every other employee gets paid. In this interview, Dane and I discuss the downsides of secrecy and the surprising upside of pay transparency.

Mar 01, 201629 min
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