This week, Stan and Chris speak to Bob Wood, the former Chairman and CEO of Chemtura Corporation. Bob has an impressive career navigating business risk: before Chemtura, Bob was an executive at Dow Chemical, spending over two decades there and climbing the ranks in the business. He has been a member of a variety of impressive boards, including the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee, MRC Global, Praxair Inc., and Univar Solutions, to name a few. Notably, Bob is a member of the board of directors at McChrystal Group, where Stan and Chris have worked closely with him for a number of years.

 

In this week's episode, Bob explains why market leaders need to be paranoid and why market laggards need to be creative. He walks us through how his own thinking of risk has evolved as he became responsible for others leading a team and how he thinks of risk as a member of boards of directors. Bob challenges leaders to understand the risk upfront through good questions, rather than understanding it from hindsight. He also outlines how he'd prompt younger leaders to think about the relationship between risk and opportunity.

 

Learn more about Stan's latest book, Risk: A User's Guide, here: https://www.mcchrystalgroup.com/library/risk-a-users-guide/