LearnChair Radio Leadership Podcast

LearnChair Radio host Bob Dragone interviews longtime contributor Joe Santana on his new venture to use Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) as leadership development tools.  Recent research has shown that while major companies have poured large amounts of funds into leadership development the outcome has been poor in terms of actual leaders developed.  Joe’s solution is to use employee groups that already exist in companies to spot, assess and develop leaders for the company.  An efficient and cheaper way to produce good leaders.  ERGs first came about by employees banding together to promote common interests.  These could be efforts to increase diversity and inclusion or promote new methods of production.  The groups showed they could be productive in achieving specific goals, and now Joe and his colleagues believe they can allow companies to develop leaders from within.  Joe explains how this works and what a company can do set up a leadership development program based on ERGs.  This is something a company should consider when deciding to embark on a leadership development program.

Military leadership is a topic we have not explored in depth on LearnChair Radio.  To rectify this, LearnChair Radio host Bob Dragone interviews former Army Colonel Christopher Talcott.  Chris was a field artillery officer who joined the Army in peacetime but found himself in combat as times quickly changed.  Chris was deeply engaged in education as a teacher of military issues at West Point, UCLA and Baylor University.  Chris’s comments on the current state of ROTC education are perceptive.  When asked his views on military leadership, Chris responds that the first that comes to mind for him is being purposeful as a leader.  What he terms Be, Know and Do.  Chris adds to this two leadership definitions - the definition of leadership itself and of success. Chris recently began work with an organization called Boot Campaign.  The organization began in 2009 by five Texas women who were concerned with the state of veteran affairs.  Their goals are to ignite patriotism in America and promote life improvement programs for veterans.  The organization is small but very engaged in support to veterans.  Chris relates two stories of his military time that were lessons for him in leadership.  Both involved bringing technical improvements to ongoing military operations.  The main lesson he learned from the unit’s commander was that people are still more important than technology. The commander by his example taught Chris the values of clarity, focus, discipline and engagement.  Above all he learned how to “make it work.”  In response to Bob’s question about what are the characteristics of a good leader, Chris lists four.  The first is servant leadership - in essence knowing that as a leader it’s not about you.  Next is having a sense of humor.  The final two are competitive greatness, doing what needs to be done when it counts, and listening and time management, i.e. not letting the tail wag the dog.  Leadership is paramount for the military services, and this interview with Chris is a good insight as to how its done. 

Are you interested in Art and Antiques?  LearnChair Radio host Bob Dragone interviews John Hays, Deputy Chairman at Christie’s and a leading expert on American furniture and painting.  John describes how starting as an unpaid assistant at Christie’s seven years later he ran the company’s furniture and decorative arts division.  In the discussion with Bob, John explains how collectors can take risks in collecting unknown artists or concentrate on traditional areas such as American furniture.  He state that such furniture is currently undervalued and pieces of Queen Anne or Chippendale may rise in price in the future.  John notes that in choosing what pieces to collect, it’s all about the details.  Thousands of dollars may separate one piece from another of the same era depending on how elaborate the details involved.  John shares his thoughts on how an auctioneer, of which he is prominent at Christie’s, is like the conductor of an orchestra.  The auctioneer assembles the collection at hand into an event that often resembles theater in performance and giving the audience a fun event.  John tells two stories amongst his most memorable auctions.  One involves a portrait of George Washington that set a record for such paintings and the other of a wooden chest with original paint from three hundred years ago that fetched a million dollars.  When asked his opinion of the characteristics of a good leader, John stressed that a good leader is also a good follower.  Such a leader allows his or her people to learn and discover.  John added that leadership involves developing good working relations with colleagues and guiding younger employees.  This interview is an interesting peek into the art world that you will enjoy.

Jim Kouzes is the best selling author of the leadership classic, The Leadership Challenge.  Jim explains how an early inspiration by President Kennedy led him to a career in education and an expertise in leadership development. Now in its 6th edition, the book remains a well researched primer on how leaders lead and why people follow them.  Jim explains that his book remains an essential book on leadership because it is evidence based, Is backed by a wealth of data, is simple and easy to understand and laced with great stories.  Research is an essential element of Jim’s approach to leadership, which led he and his partner, Barry Posner, to develop the Five Practices of Essential Leadership.  Jim lays out these practices as modeling the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable other to act and encourage the heart - recognize others contributions.  The data Jim and Barry collected was done by a tool known as the Leadership Practices Inventory.  Used for over 30 years, the tool is an empirical means to collect the data used to support the Five Practices.  It is this intensive research that makes Jim’s methods the bedrock for leadership studies.  As part of this research Jim defined the Important leadership Traits based on the initial question of why people willingly follow certain leaders.  He found that four traits were essential to leadership development.  A leader must be honest and trustworthy, possess competence, be inspiring and possess a forward thinking attitude.  Jim notes that his books contain numerous stories of how leaders believed they performed their best.  Jim discovered that almost every story had to do with overcoming an obstacle; leaders performed their best when challenged.  Jim gives an inspiring example to demonstrate this.  If you are interested in leadership, this interview contains a wealth of information from one of the most essential and respected sources on leadership today.

Learnchair Radio host Bob Dragone interviews Christian Swain in this interesting and entertaining foray into the history of Rock and Roll.  Chris explains how his interest in both Rock and Roll and history led him to founding the RocknRoll Archaeology Project, a series of programs and podcasts that delves deeply into the history of Rock music.  a labor of love, Chris and his fellow archaeologists explore the roots of Rock following World War II and and discuss the branches that evolved over the years up to the present.  To the question of whether Rock is dead, Chris affirms this and gives the causes from the rise of Windows 95 and Napster to  the gradual demise of the guitar in favor of computer generated music.  Now new genres dominate and Chris and Bob discuss the reasons why.  Chris relates several stories about his own experiences as a rock musician and what it is like to play such historic venues as the Whisky A Go Go.  To the question of what characteristics define a good leader, Chris first mentions vision and how this shapes the relationship of leader to followers and the importance to a leader of surrounding him or herself with good people.  If you have an interest in Rock and Roll this is a podcast you should certainly listen to.

Over the course of two years, LearnChair Radio host Bob Dragone has heard some great leadership stories from his guests.  Some of them were funny tales about clients if they do leadership development for companies or some were about people who inspired them to be better leaders. This podcast is the first in a series that will compile some of these stories for both your enjoyment and perhaps to inspire you too as well.  Bob leads off with an explanation from TED talks expert Jeremy Donovan about how to structure a good story.  This is followed up by Phil Romano explaining how he made the Fuddruckers restaurant chain a success.  The third story is from leadership development expert Mike Mears who tells about a great leader he worked for, former Secretary of Commerce Malcolm Baldridge.  If you enjoy the stories please let me know by leaving a comment at www.learnchairradio.com.

Renowned leadership expert and best selling author Chris Cebollero is interviewed by LearnChair Radio’s host Bob Dragone.  Chris’s leadership expertise is based on many years in the emergency medical services field.  Chris describes how he developed his leadership principles through trial and error in assuming leadership positions in the demanding and dangerous EMS field.  He now applies these principles to help organizations and businesses develop good leadership to improve performance and achieve success.  Chris notes that one of the leading failures of companies is not investing in their people.  It takes time and effort to make employees productive team members, and real leaders do this.  Chris is the author of Ultimate Leadership, a book that debuted as Number 1 on the Amazon best seller list.  In it he lists the steps an individual must take to become an effective leader.    He is following this up with a new book to be published in July entitled, Ultimate Success, A Strategy For Achieving Leadership Excellence, which outlines the skills a leader must know to achieve success.  To the question of what characteristics a good leader should possess, Chris responded with one - self awareness.  He states that you have to know who your are before you can help others become who they want to be.  This is a recurring theme throughout this interview and comes from Chris’s many years of being a hands-on leader in a highly demanding field.  This is a fun podcast with a man who knows leadership from first hand experience.

LearnChair Radio Host Bob Dragone interviews the CEO of the Business Thinking Institute, Ram V. Iyer.  Ram was invited to the podcast because of his innovative approach as to why businesses fail.  As he notes, over 70 percent of businesses fail but not usually for the reasons owners believe.  Ram subjected this issue to one of his annual “hard thinking projects.” and after much time and effort came up with his conclusions.  Most owners think they fail because they lack something - funding, marketing or some other external reason.  Ram discovered that the main reasons for failure are internal.  In a recent article in businessthinking.com Ram lists 9 internal reasons for failure.  For instance, people think that because it is easy to start a business it is easy to obtain success.  Ram also notes that people have what he terms internal thermostats - the level at which they will be satisfied with the money they obtain.  Exceeding this level causes them to lose what they have made.  In such cases, Ram states that 80 percent of owners would have gotten better returns if they had invested their money rather than using it to start a business.  Ram believes that leaders fail for the same reasons businesses do.  The reasons are internal.  People start businesses, call themselves a CEO and believe they are leaders.  True leaders, Ram says, must work at being a leader every day.  True leaders are aware of both their strengths and weaknesses, and work at improving both.  Education is key, and true education is taking what you have been taught and adapting it to the needs of your daily life.  Ram lists three characteristics of good leadership.  Again, it is being aware of one’s strengths and weaknesses.  It is having an open mindset.  Third, always being teachable.  His final lesson is when you stop learning you start dying.  This is a novel approach to business success and well worth a listen.

LearnChair Radio host Bob Dragone interviews best selling author Jason Jennings on his work analyzing great businesses and great leaders. Jason discovered a number of years ago that his main goal is to find the world’s great leaders and great companies. As a result, he is a world renowned author of eight books on business and leadership based on his research of 220,000 companies.  Jason publishes a book at two year intervals.  He interviews 800-1000 executives each year as research for his books.  What is not fully explored in one book often becomes the main topic of his next one. Currently, his research centers on explorations of culture and inclusiveness.  He explains why these are important and what he has discovered so far.  For example, he notes that the more a company looks like its customers the better its financial performance.  Jason states that his biggest discovery is that great leaders do not recognize themselves as such.  Great leaders, rather, are good, solid stewards.  Do we currently have a crisis of leadership in America today?  Jason feels that we have many great leaders but they go unnoticed.  They do not bring attention to themselves and do not confuse leadership with notoriety.  His prime example is given in an insightful comparison of Uber versus Lyft.  Finally, Jason gives 6 characteristics of good leadership - a good moral compass, authenticity, good stewardship, purpose, a set of guiding principles and a balance of IQ and EQ.  Jason’s comments on leadership are based on sound research and vast experience. 

LearnChair Radio host Bob Dragone interviews chef and Texas barbecue master Jeffrey Hobbs on an exploration of leadership in the culinary field.  Jeffrey is owner and operator of the Slow Bone restaurant in Dallas which is famous far and wide for its succulent smoked meats and excellent service.  Jeffrey’s approach to the restaurant business goes beyond just serving good food, but centers on hospitality in all its aspects.  Jeffrey describes his beginnings in the food industry and how he got involved in the hotly contested Texas barbecue arena.  For those of you interested in what makes good brisket, sausage and ribs, Jeffrey’s approach to smoking these delicacies will add to your barbecue knowledge.  The conversation goes beyond this, however, and really centers on Jeffrey’s leadership principles and how a good owner serves both his patrons and his staff.  The interview reveals a man who is just as much concerned with doing his business right as he does for serving good food.  Please listen to the interview if you want to learn more about Texas barbecue but let Jeffrey add to your knowledge of what good leadership is all about.