They called him 'Chainsaw Al.' In 1996, Al Dunlap took over a struggling Sunbeam and did what he did best: he cut. He let go 6,000 employees and closed 18 factories. The stock price? It nearly quadrupled in less than two years. To Wall Street, he was a superstar. But the 'turnaround' was a house of cards. 

To meet impossible targets, Dunlap used 'cookie-jar' accounting and 'channel stuffing'—basically booking future sales today to hide massive losses. 

By 1998, the board fired him, the SEC banned him for life, and Sunbeam was headed for bankruptcy. So, was he a genius who saved companies, or a corporate 'psychopath' who destroyed them for a quick buck?

In this episode, I bring back my friend Gordon Graham, the author of The Intrepid Brotherhood, who knows what it's like to work for a psychopathic leader. We explore this topic as we go through some of the key ideas in John Byrne's book, Chainsaw.

The Path to Exit
Founders—thinking of selling or raising capital? Here's what you should know...

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The SafeWork Advantage Podcast
Most workplaces react to violence—SafeWork Advantage shows employers how to prevent it.

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Kyle Hegarty is a gifted, story-centric writer, as evidenced by his first book, The Accidental Business Nomad. Kyle's newest book describes the sales recession B2B sales teams are facing and offers remedies to overcome sales ineffectiveness rooted in an outdated playbook.

The book is Sales Punks, and in this easy-to-follow narrative, Kyle explains the difference between the seller's journey and the buyer's journey and why that mindset shift is required. We also learn why most reps don't hit sales quotas, why that trend continues to drop, and why training is being scrapped throughout sales organizations.

You do not need to work in sales to enjoy this conversation or the book. At the end, Mark treats us to his seven favorite sales-centric books of all time. 

The Path to Exit
Founders—thinking of selling or raising capital? Here's what you should know...

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The SafeWork Advantage Podcast
Most workplaces react to violence—SafeWork Advantage shows employers how to prevent it.

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He helped to navigate a violent and catastrophic economic crisis in Argentina. He helped shape the playbook for a Dominican Republic bank bailout, which nearly brought the country to its knees, and he was at the helm of this international bank during the financial crisis, which made money during that time period.

Howard Green's book, Gimme A Crisis, is a roadmap for becoming a CEO, understanding the differences between liquidity and capital, learning the essentials of risk management, and the role of people skills at the CEO level.

Howard is making his second appearance on the show, and if you like Railroader, you will not be disappointed with his newest book.

The Path to Exit
Founders—thinking of selling or raising capital? Here's what you should know...

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The SafeWork Advantage Podcast
Most workplaces react to violence—SafeWork Advantage shows employers how to prevent it.

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Over the past thirty years, Kevin Boehm has opened forty restaurants, been awarded the highest honor in his profession, and served everyone from Mick Jagger to President Obama. 

Kevin's new book is a memoir entitled The Bottomless Cup. During this conversation, we hear how Kevin endured a chaotic relationship with his surrogate father and what it was like to learn of his biological father when he was a college student. Despite many obstacles and hardships, Kevin was a successful restaurant flipper until he hit a snag in Nashville.

We learn what success looks like in the restaurant industry. More importantly, Kevin shares his insights about success beyond the kitchen.

The Path to Exit
Founders—thinking of selling or raising capital? Here's what you should know...

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The SafeWork Advantage Podcast
Most workplaces react to violence—SafeWork Advantage shows employers how to prevent it.

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If you like the topics of organizational performance, personal and professional excellence, and thought-provoking mental models, then Superperformance by George Pesanky is worth reading.

In this conversation, we'll learn about The Golden Hour, Root Cause Success, the Thomas-Kilman Conflict Model, the Prison of Expectations, and the Kano Model.

The Path to Exit
Founders—thinking of selling or raising capital? Here's what you should know...

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The SafeWork Advantage Podcast
Most workplaces react to violence—SafeWork Advantage shows employers how to prevent it.

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I am a customer of Bull Market Gifts, and when I spend time on their website, I'm hooked and have a difficult time leaving.

Last year, I purchased some vintage annual reports, and I bought another before I interviewed the co-founder and owner of this niche retailer.

Their product offering also includes old stock certificates and a deep assortment of New York Stock Exchange memorabilia. 

During this conversation with Mike Oaklief, you will hear about Gordon Gekko, Enron's Code of Ethics, and a story about an American Exchange stock certificate that can be yours for more than $3,000.

The Path to Exit
Founders—thinking of selling or raising capital? Here's what you should know...

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The SafeWork Advantage Podcast
Most workplaces react to violence—SafeWork Advantage shows employers how to prevent it.

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When I began studying the root causes of business failure early in my career, I believed that faulty cognitive limitations and weaknesses were the primary drivers of poor decisions, ultimately leading to business failure. 

Taras Wayner is the producer and host of a new podcast called A Case Study in Corporate Fear, where he addresses one of the central emotions in the affective mindset: fear.

During this conversation, we learned how fear impacted the decision makers at Yahoo!, Atari, and Jaguar. We also address the areas of red teaming, resulting, and other biases that contribute to the fear-based mindset.

The Path to Exit
Founders—thinking of selling or raising capital? Here's what you should know...

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The SafeWork Advantage Podcast
Most workplaces react to violence—SafeWork Advantage shows employers how to prevent it.

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I'm calling Ken Iverson the Alan Mulally of CEOs in the 1980s and 1990s. "Plain Talk" by Ken Iverson is one of my favorite business books, despite its lack of self-congratulation and the absence of so-called transformational management concepts.

Instead, this is a book about how people were treated, the concept of decentralization, bonus structures, and using instincts to make business decisions.

Plain Talk will also undergo a revival period, as the Audible version was released this month. In this conversation, you'll find out why Mark and Bruce rate this a five-star book.

The Path to Exit
Founders—thinking of selling or raising capital? Here's what you should know...

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The SafeWork Advantage Podcast
Most workplaces react to violence—SafeWork Advantage shows employers how to prevent it.

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Can you name a work of fiction that centered around a stock picker? Alternatively, can you provide three fictional titles related to personal finance?

If both answers are no, this episode provides a brief synopsis of four works of fiction revolving around personal finance and investing.

One of the titles is new. Three have been written in the past twenty years, and one is a classic you might want on your bookshelf (the numbers do not add up because we've added a bonus title at the end).

The Path to Exit
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Many in the magazine industry will tell you on the mountaintops that print is not dead. Try telling that to the writers who used to produce those beautiful glossy annual reports that are now published in the form of PDF documents.

Robert Roth is making his first-ever appearance on a podcast to discuss how an annual report writer secures gigs, the time commitment required, and other fascinating insights into the behind-the-scenes process of conceptualizing and creating annual reports.

Robert is also the author of The Writer’s Guide to Annual Reports,published in 2009.

The Path to Exit
Founders—thinking of selling or raising capital? Here's what you should know...

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The SafeWork Advantage Podcast
Most workplaces react to violence—SafeWork Advantage shows employers how to prevent it.

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