As we approach the new year, we wanted to share a short reflection on the time we’ve spent with you as listeners since we first launched the Learn to Lead Podcast only twenty-one months ago. Host Matt Confer encourages you to think a little about time passing using a short anecdote about great movies, time travel, and the moon landing (trust us!). We are incredibly grateful to get to share the airwaves with you and look forward to sharing new and exciting lessons from our guests in 2022.
Innovative Leadership Challenges (and Rewards)
Rita Gunther McGrath is a best-selling author, a sought-after speaker, and a longtime professor at Columbia Business School. She is widely recognized as a premier expert on leading innovation and growth during times of uncertainty. Rita has received the #1 achievement award for strategy from the prestigious Thinkers50 and has been consistently named one of the world’s Top 10 management thinkers in its bi-annual ranking. Rita is the author of the best-selling The End of Competitive Advantage. On this episode, we discussed her new book, Seeing Around Corners: How to Spot Inflection Points in Business Before They Happen, and its implications for learning leaders. Rita also shared her thoughts on the challenges and opportunities of innovation and what people often get wrong when thinking about it. Finally, Rita shared what makes her optimistic and what she’s most curious about heading into the new year.
Continue Reading about Innovative Leadership Challenges (and Rewards) →
Constantly Learning Through Change
Eric Pliner is the CEO of YSC Consulting, a global leadership strategy consultancy headquartered in London and focused on the styles, dynamics, and cultures that enable successful achievement of strategy. On this episode, we discussed Eric’s recommendations for effectively managing difficult conversations at work, the lessons Eric’s learned as a leader in the last year (hint: it involves constant learning!), and how he manages to keep two days each week completely empty of meetings.
Bright Ideas Only
Kim Kaupe is the founder of Bright Ideas Only where she has worked with Oprah, Paul McCartney, and Jimmy Buffett. Her first company, The Superfan Company, allowed her to work with everyone from Katie Perry to the Boston Red Sox. She was recognized as a Forbes 30 under 30, and by Inc Magazine, 35 under 35. She also received one of the highest offers on Season 5 of Shark Tank . On this episode, we discussed how she went from being an accidental entrepreneur to running a thriving marketing business, her best productivity tips, and how she prepares for a meeting. Finally, she shares how she’s dealt with imposter syndrome and how you can too.
Solve Problems, Don’t Overthink
Kara Goldin is the Founder and CEO of Hint, Inc., best known for its award-winning Hint® water, the leading unsweetened flavored water. She has been named one of InStyle’s Badass 50, Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business, Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs, Fortune’s Most Innovative Women in Food & Drink and EY Entrepreneur of the Year for Northern California. Kara has successfully navigated the world of large companies and startups in many industries including media, tech and consumer products. On this episode, we discussed her motivations for founding Hint and the lessons she’s learned along the way. She shares how she comes up with ideas for new products and the benefits of not going in with all the answers figured out. Finally, she shares some tips for hiring well and leading a fast-growth company.
How to Negotiate
For over two decades, Moshe Cohen has been helping people unlock their potential to negotiate more effectively, communicate more skillfully, lead more purposefully, and manage conflict more artfully. His book, Collywobbles: How to Negotiate When Negotiating Makes You Nervous , combines negotiation with emotional intelligence to help you overcome emotional barriers, apply your skills, and become a more effective negotiator. In 1995, Moshe founded The Negotiating Table and has been teaching at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business since 2000. On this episode, we discussed why negotiation freaks people out so much, how you can prepare for your negotiations better, and why it’s important that you do. Additionally, Matt talks about his favorite memory from when he was a student in Moshe’s class at Boston University.