Read to Lead Podcast

Easily one of my favorite authors of the last few years is the gentleman who is our guest today.

Todd Henry’s first book, The Accidental Creative: How to Be Brilliant at a Moment’s Notice, hit the scene in 2011, making a sizable splash in the process. His next book, Die Empty: Unleash Your Best Work Every Day was easily my favorite book of 2013 and prompted his first appearance on this show at Episode #017.

His newest book, Louder Than Words: Harness the Power of Your Authentic Voice, has skyrocketed to the top of my list of 2015. Pre-order it before August 11, and you’ll get a ton of free bonuses.

But if you do nothing else, listen to Todd’s answer to my first question in this interview. I ask that question beginning at 4:49. Todd says in part:

It doesn’t matter what you want or what you care about if other people don’t receive that. If they’re not able to connect with what it is you’re trying to do, then your efforts are going to be futile.

You can hear the conversation in its entirety by simple clicking the play button below.

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In today’s episode, Todd and I discuss:

The 3 things we must cultivate in order to develop our authentic voice

Why “just follow your gut” and “do what you love” are really myths

The meaning behind the 4 phases of growth we experience on the road finding our authentic voice

And a lot more!

This Episode is Sponsored By SoFi

Read to Lead is supported by SoFi, a leading marketplace lender.

You could save thousands when you refinance your federal and private students loans at lower rates with SoFi.

Take advantage of a special $200 welcome bonus for Read to Lead listeners who refinance their student loans.

Go to SoFi.com/readtolead and find your rate online. Accelerate your success with a smarter loan.

Todd Henry’s Latest Book

You can order your copy of Louder Than Words: Harness the Power of Your Authentic Voice right now!

This week’s guest is a man who, a week ago, I’d never even heard of (that’s one of the awesome benefits to hosting a podcast. I’m always meeting and getting to know new and exciting people).

His name is Chuck Bamford; Dr. Chuck Bamford to be exact. After 12 years in industry, he’s spent the last 20 years teaching strategy and entrepreneurship at the graduate,  undergraduate and executive levels. In fact, he has won numerous ‘Excellence in Teaching’ awards along the way.

The best part is, through his new book The Strategy Mindset, he’s here today to help you simplify the concept of strategy. If your company stinks at it, then you’ll be happy to know you’re not alone. Most companies do according to Chuck.

If developing and executing an effective strategy for your business has had you stumped, you’re in for a real treat. To join our conversation, just click the ‘play’ button below.

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In today’s episode, Chuck and I discuss:

The four keys executives can use to gain a strategic grasp on their environment

Defining your perfect customer and the issues to be aware of when the need to branch out inevitably arises.

The 5 simple tests your company’s resources or capabilities must pass to in order for them to be a true competitive advantage for you

And much more!

This Episode is Sponsored By SoFi

Read to Lead is supported by SoFi, a leading marketplace lender.

You could save thousands when you refinance your federal and private students loans at lower rates with SoFi.

Take advantage of a special $200 welcome bonus for Read to Lead listeners who refinance their student loans.

Go to SoFi.com/readtolead and find your rate online. Accelerate your success with a smarter loan.

Chuck Bamford’s Latest Book

You can order your copy of The Strategy Mindset right now!

Chuck in Action

Books Chuck Recommends

American Icon: Alan Mulally and the Fight to Save Ford Motor Company by Bryce G. Hoffman

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell

Chuck Bamford Resources

If you desire to live with purpose, speak more confidently, work with more passion, increase your resiliency, bravely pursue your biggest dreams and ambitions, or all of the above, you’ve got to get this book.

In Part I of Brave: 50 Everyday Acts of Courage to Thrive in Work, Love and Life (which by itself is worth the book’s price), Margie Warrell offers ten building blocks for living bravely. She then moves to offering practical advice for having more courageous conversations about things that matter in Part II. Part III speaks to leaning into risk and how to muster the bravery to do so more often. One of the best parts of the book are the memorable quotes (from both Margie and others) that are highlighted on nearly every page.

Part IV, called Dig Deep, speaks to the resiliency needed when life doesn’t go that way you hoped it would (which it never does, Margie argues). Finally, Margie dedicates Part V to sharing her best advice for pursuing your biggest dreams and ambitions.

Though 50 chapters long, with about 10 chapters dedicated to each section, none is much more than 4 or 5 pages in length. This makes it easy to jump to those areas you need the most help with. Best of all, never does it feel overwhelming. To hear our conversation now, simply click the play button below.

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In today’s episode, Margie and I discuss:

The importance of owning your individuality

How to say ‘no’ with more grace and less guilt

The keys for getting through those difficult conversations, including guidelines for giving feedback successfully

And much more!

This Episode is Sponsored By SoFi

Read to Lead is supported by SoFi, a leading marketplace lender.

You could save thousands when you refinance your federal and private students loans at lower rates with SoFi.

Take advantage of a special $200 welcome bonus for Read to Lead listeners who refinance their student loans.

Go to SoFi.com/readtolead and find your rate online. Accelerate your success with a smarter loan.

Margie Warrell’s Latest Book

You can order your copy of Brave: 50 Everyday Acts of Courage to Thrive in Work, Love and Life!

Be sure to join the Train the Brave Challenge and get 10 Days to a Braver You in your inbox free (a $99 value) when you purchase Margie’s new book

Clay Clark has to be, hands down, one of the funniest people I’ve ever interviewed.

His attitude and approach to life are about as positive as anyone I’ve ever had the pleasure to be around. It makes sense then that he would carve out a niche for himself, helping every-day people and business owners learn how to make the most out of life and business.

In his book Thrive: How to Take Control of Your Destiny and Move Beyond Surviving…Now, Clay sets out to help you achieve your goals and dreams by allowing you to learn from his past experiences, failures and successes.

If you are tired of just surviving, Clay says, then it’s time for you to THRIVE! Click the play button below to join our conversation. And for the list of resources Clay and I mention, simply scroll down.

Subscribe: iTunes | Stitcher | RSS

In today’s episode, Clark and I discuss:

The continued viability of the American Dream

Why most people are content with just getting by

Tips for building a scalable and duplicatable business

And much more!

This Episode is Sponsored By SoFi

Read to Lead is supported by SoFi, a leading marketplace lender.

You could save thousands when you refinance your federal and private students loans at lower rates with SoFi.

Take advantage of a special $200 welcome bonus for Read to Lead listeners who refinance their student loans.

Go to SoFi.com/readtolead and find your rate online. Accelerate your success with a smarter loan.

Clay Clark’s Latest Book

You can order your copy of Thrive: How to Take Control of Your Destiny and Move Beyond Surviving…Now!

Books Clay Recommends

Winning by Jack and Suzy Welch

Traction: A Startup Guide to Getting Customers by Gabriel Weinberg

Scale: Seven Prooven Principles to Grow Your Business and Get Your Life Back by Jeff Hoffman

Today’s guest has co-authored the book that I wish I’d had when I was in the position to hire new employees.

Chapter 3 alone is worth the price of the book and includes a plethora of information on how to conduct effective interviews. Alan even wonders aloud why this isn’t covered in detail at the college level.

The new book is a Wall Street Journal bestseller and is called Power Score: Your Formula for Leadership Success. It lays out chapter by chapter how the best teams deliver results again and again.

I love it and I think you will too. To listen to the episode, click the play button below.

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In today’s episode, Alan and I discuss:

Defining your priorities and how to distinguish them from goals

How to hire the right people and match them to the right priorities

The 4 steps to achieving a 90% hiring success rate

And much more!

This Episode is Sponsored By SoFi

Read to Lead is supported by SoFi, a leading marketplace lender.

You could save thousands when you refinance your federal and private students loans at lower rates with SoFi.

Take advantage of a special $200 welcome bonus for Read to Lead listeners who refinance their student loans.

Go to SoFi.com/readtolead and find your rate online. Accelerate your success with a smarter loan.”

Alan Foster’s Latest Book

You can order your copy of the Wall Street Journal bestseller Power Score: Your Formula for Leadership Success right now!

Books Alan Recommends

The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande

Triggers: Creating Behavior that Lasts, Becoming the Person You Want to Be by Marshall Goldsmith

Alan Foster Resources

The best place to find out more about Alan is on the Power Score website.

Here, Alan provides more information about his latest book.

You might consider hiring Alan to speak at your next event or consult your company.

Connect with Alan on

Former White House press secretary, Dana Perino, is one of my favorite human beings.

Known as “the voice of reason,” Dana has built a reputation as a woman who is able to find the bright side in nearly every situation.

In her new book, And the Good News Is: Lessons and Advice From the Bright Side, Dana shares about the impact her upbringing had on her approach to life as an adult, her time at the White House working alongside President Bush and, now, as co-host of one of cable TV’s most popular shows, The Five, airing weekdays on FoxNews.

There is a plethora of life and leadership lessons shared in the book AND in this episode. I have no doubt you’ll find it helpful.

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In today’s episode, Dana and I discuss:

Practices Leaders can leverage to foster an environment more conducive to sharing opinions and speaking up

The importance of Feeding Your Brain and the impact it can have on your career

Methods for improving civility in all areas of life

And much more!

Announcing – Blinkist 3 Now with Audio Summaries [Sponsor]

Tired of unfinished books on your shelf? Wanna read more books in less time? Like, say, as many as four of your favorite business books in an hour?

With Blinkist, glean the main ideas and key insights from some of your favorite business books in just 15 minutes. To start your free trial today, just click our special Blinkist link.

With Blinkist 3, they’ve added audio versions of many of their written summaries, with new ones being added each week. Plus, sync your highlights to Evernote and send unlimited summaries to your Kindle.

***********

Try Lynda.com FREE for 10 Days [Sponsor]

Kickstart your new year and challenge yourself to learn something new with a free 10-day trial to lynda.com!

lynda.com is used by millions of people around the world and has over 3,000 courses on topics like web development, photography, visual design and business, as well as software training like Excel, WordPress, and Photoshop.

All of their courses are taught by experts and new courses are added to the site every week.

Whether you want to set new financial goals, find work/life balance, invest in a new hobby, ask your boss for a raise, find a new job or improve upon your current job skills in 2015, lynda.com has something for everyone!

Dana Perino’s Latest Book

You can order your copy of

I am excited to be a part of a summer 2015 Leadership Lessons from the Movies series along with a number of other bloggers and podcasters I consider friends.

It’s called REEL Leadership. Pretty clever, right? Each of us in the group has agreed to view one of the summer’s big blockbuster films and extract some of our favorite leadership takeaways.

They were kind enough to invite me to view the film Jurassic World. Below, you’ll find some of my leadership takeaways after seeing it last Friday at my local theater.

Below, I’m linking here to the films included in the series thus far, and will update this post as more blog posts and podcast episodes are added throughout the summer.

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Some of the films to be included in the series are:

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Tomorrowland

Mad Max: Fury Road

San Andreas

Jurassic World (the page you’re on right now)

Inside Out

Terminator: Genisys

Minions

Ant-Man

Pan

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

Fantastic Four

I’ll update the list above with the appropriate links as each one releases. Bookmark this page to come back to it easily.

Below, I expound on Five Leadership Lessons from Jurassic Park. Feel free to share your feedback in the comments.

1. Your Customers Want to Be Wowed

You need to ask yourself if you’re creating experiences for them they can’t help but share with their friends? If you can’t definitely say yes in response to that question then you need to take a close, hard look at what you’re doing.

To successfully wow your customers, you have to be willing to continually iterate and improve. In other words, never rest on your laurels.

2. Sometimes You Just Have to Jump

This lesson is directly related to Leadership Lesson #1 above. While wowing your customers is certainly a good thing, sometimes perfectionism can sneak in especially when launching something new. When it does, that can lead often lead to procrastination.

If you’re working on a new project, be willing to ask yourself some tough questions. Yes, you want to wow your customers. But are your attempts at making it perfect really just an excuse not to launch? Make no mistake. It’s tough.

Occasionally, it’s necessary to ship something you may feel is not quite ready for prime time. LinkedIn founder Reed Hastings is noted for saying that if, six months after a launch you look back and aren’t a little embarrassed by it, you probably waited to long to put it out there.

3. Stay Calm

No matter how crazy things get – an irate customer publishes their dissatisfaction on social media, a key vendor goes belly up and you have to start at square one, a newly-created hybrid dinosaur is on the loose in your park – it’s important to keep your wits about you.

And,

I am delighted to welcome today’s guest. Mindy Hall, PhD, has over 25 years of successful results and experience working with leaders in Fortune 50 companies.

In her new book, Leading with Intention: Every Moment is a Choice, Mindy says that leadership begins with self-awareness. You have the power, she says, to choose the impact you want to have.

Every interaction is an opportunity. Every action has an impact. Every moment is a choice.

Whether you’re presenting to an entire organization or talking one-on-one with a colleague – every interaction is a chance to influence and inspire others to achieve extraordinary results.

Your ability to do that, Mindy says, depends on two factors: 1) How aware you are of your impact, and 2) The care and discipline with which you choose your actions, day-by-day, moment-by-moment.

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In today’s episode, Mindy and I discuss:

Why recognizing your impact as a leader begins with self-awareness

The 8 critical questions we need to consider to begin building this awareness

The importance of evaluating our preconceived notions

And much more!

Announcing – Blinkist 3 Now with Audio Summaries [Sponsor]

Tired of unfinished books on your shelf? Wanna read more books in less time? Like, say, as many as four of your favorite business books in an hour?

With Blinkist, glean the main ideas and key insights from some of your favorite business books in just 15 minutes. To start your free trial today, just click our special Blinkist link.

With Blinkist 3, they’ve added audio versions of many of their written summaries, with new ones being added each week. Plus, sync your highlights to Evernote and send unlimited summaries to your Kindle.

***********

Try Lynda.com FREE for 10 Days [Sponsor]

Kickstart your new year and challenge yourself to learn something new with a free 10-day trial to lynda.com!

lynda.com is used by millions of people around the world and has over 3,000 courses on topics like web development, photography, visual design and business, as well as software training like Excel, WordPress, and Photoshop.

All of their courses are taught by experts and new courses are added to the site every week.

Whether you want to set new financial goals, find work/life balance, invest in a new hobby, ask your boss for a raise, find a new job or improve upon your current job skills in 2015, lynda.com has something for everyone!

Mindy Hall’s Latest Book

You can order your copy of 

Today’s guest, Jia Jiang, has carved out quite a niche for himself.

In a relatively short period of time, he has become known simply as the “Rejection Guy.”

If you’ve ever had to deal with fear, rejection, failure or all three, then this episode is especially for you.

Jia’s brand new book is based on his rejection therapy research and is called Rejection Proof: How I Beat Fear and Became Invincible Through 100 Days of Rejection.

For 100 days straight, Jia sought to approach a single stranger and make a sometimes silly, sometimes outlandish request. Though incredibly difficult – even scary – in the beginning, Jia discovered that, like most things we tend to dread, each successive attempt resulted in slightly less and less fear.

He also discovered methods for helping defuse his fears and hesitations, increasing his level of confidence throughout. It’s a fascinating conversation and I can’t wait for you to hear it.

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In today’s episode, Jia and I dig into:

What it took to muster the courage to leave a great job and launch out on his own

How his initial failure led to an epiphany

Why rejection really says more about the other person than it does about you

And much more!

Announcing – Blinkist 3 Now with Audio Summaries [Sponsor]

Tired of unfinished books on your shelf? Wanna read more books in less time? Like, say, as many as four of your favorite business books in an hour?

With Blinkist, glean the main ideas and key insights from some of your favorite business books in just 15 minutes. To start your free trial today, just click our special Blinkist link.

With Blinkist 3, they’ve added audio versions of many of their written summaries, with new ones being added each week. Plus, sync your highlights to Evernote and send unlimited summaries to your Kindle.

***********

Try Lynda.com FREE for 10 Days [Sponsor]

Kickstart your new year and challenge yourself to learn something new with a free 10-day trial to lynda.com!

lynda.com is used by millions of people around the world and has over 3,000 courses on topics like web development, photography, visual design and business, as well as software training like Excel, WordPress, and Photoshop.

All of their courses are taught by experts and new courses are added to the site every week.

Whether you want to set new financial goals, find work/life balance, invest in a new hobby, ask your boss for a raise, find a new job or improve upon your current job skills in 2015,

Today’s guest, Ryan Levesque, is a guy who, a few years ago at age 30, nearly lost his life.

This event spurred Ryan to share his trade secret. After his near-death experience, Ryan realized more than anything that he wanted to share what he calls his Ask Formula with as many people as possible.

And, despite the fact he is a highly-paid and sought after consultant in the area of sales funnels – his secret’s specialization – he decided the best way to share it with a wider audience was to put it all in a book.

It’s the book we chat about in today’s episode and it’s called Ask: The Counterintuitive Online Formula to Discover Exactly What Your Customers Want to Buy…Create a Mass of Raving Fans… and Take Any Business to the Next Level.

Subscribe: iTunes | Stitcher | RSS

In today’s episode, Ryan and I dig into:

The single biggest mistake marketers tend to make

The two types of questions all marketers need to be asking

How to put the ‘sexy’ back in surveys

And much more!

Announcing – Blinkist 3 Now with Audio Summaries [Sponsor]

Tired of unfinished books on your shelf? Wanna read more books in less time? Like, say, as many as four of your favorite business books in an hour?

With Blinkist, glean the main ideas and key insights from some of your favorite business books in just 15 minutes. To start your free trial today, just click our special Blinkist link.

With Blinkist 3, they’ve added audio versions of many of their written summaries, with new ones being added each week. Plus, sync your highlights to Evernote and send unlimited summaries to your Kindle.

***********

Try Lynda.com FREE for 10 Days [Sponsor]

Kickstart your new year and challenge yourself to learn something new with a free 10-day trial to lynda.com!

lynda.com is used by millions of people around the world and has over 3,000 courses on topics like web development, photography, visual design and business, as well as software training like Excel, WordPress, and Photoshop.

All of their courses are taught by experts and new courses are added to the site every week.

Whether you want to set new financial goals, find work/life balance, invest in a new hobby, ask your boss for a raise, find a new job or improve upon your current job skills in 2015, lynda.com has something for everyone!

Ryan Levesque’s Latest Book

You can order your copy of