Thought Sparks

In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C-Suite strategist, business founder and best-selling author, welcomes Christian Marcolli, a performance psychologist who works with elite athletes and executives on how to achieve and sustain high performance, and the author of “Winning Match: Leadership for Game Changers”  

00:27 Introductions and Novartis’ Culture Leadership Advisory Board 

2:19: From Professional Soccer Player to Psychology PhD Candidate 

8:37: Working with Roger Federer 

10:05: Creating Frameworks that Nurture Talent 

12:55: The 4 Traits of a Potential Game Changer 

14:32: The Role of Generosity in Leadership 

17:03: Leadership Sparring: How Leaders Get Feedback as Organizations Flatten 

23:35: The Five Practices for Performance Improvement 

29:42: Examples from NVIDIA’s Jensen Huang and Airbnb’s Brian Cheskey 

33:36: Case Study in Performance Improvement 

36:59: How Leaders Foster the Development of Potential 

38:49: The Hidden Talents That Leaders Miss 

42:20: Examples from Elite Athletes: How Mindset Boosts Performance 

47:33: How to Find a Leadership Sparring Partner 

48:59: Why Peer-to-Peer Leadership Support is Indispensable 

52:03: Takeaways to Implement Right Away 

Thought Sparks are the brainchild of Rita McGrath. They are insightful actions, strategic ideas, actionable suggestions and innovative approaches that help organizations and leaders master the future with less fear and more confidence.  

New episodes of the Thought Sparks Podcast are released every Tuesday at 11am Eastern.  

Want to learn more about Rita’s ideas and hear more of her conversations with business leaders and innovators?  

Listen to more Thought Sparks Podcast episodes on Apple Podcasts  and Spotify. 

Watch Thought Sparks episodes on YouTube. 

Follow Rita on LinkedIn, Instagram, X and Blue Sky. 

Connect with Rita on TikTok. 

Sign up for her Thought Sparks Newsletter on Substack.  

Learn more about Rita, her books and ideas at RitaMcGrath.com 

In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C-Suite strategist, business founder and best-selling author, welcomes Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, professor of business psychology at University College London and an adjunct professor at Columbia University,  and the author of Don't Be Yourself: Why Authenticity Is Overrated (and What to Do Instead). 

00:00 Introductions 

01:06 Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders? 

02:54"Don't Be Yourself”: Why This Book, Now 

05:21 Authenticity Versus Leadership, and Being the Leader the Situation Calls For 

06:59 The Visibility of Authenticity  

09:18 Power and Self Censorship from Jeff Pfeffer 

11:04: The Four Mantras of Authenticity 

11:30: Mantra 1: “Honesty” 

14:18 Mantra 2: “Don’t Worry About What People Think” 

15:45 Skill Building and Self Awareness, from Matt Beane 

18:27 Mantra 3: “Always be True to Your Values” 

21:42 The Overton Window and How Norms Shift 

24:03: Herminia Ibarra’s Critique of the Authenticity Paradox 

26:44 Mantra 4: “Bring Your Whole Self to Work” 

27:57 Diversity and Belonging at Work 

30:22 How Employee Engagement Fits Into the Authenticity Picture 

32:27 How DEI Interventions Utilize Authenticity  

34:36 The Return to Office: Why Senior Leadership Might Prefer In-Person Work 

35:38: Chip Conley’s Learning to Love Midlife 

36:37: Tech Bros, Solopreneurs, and Authenticity to an Extreme 

38:27 Practical Alternatives: Your Right For Self Expression Versus Your Obligation to Others 

41:22 The Self Complexity Framework and Office Politics 

44:41 How to Interview: Honesty versus Employability 

48:32 Gen Z: Developing Grit and Learning from Feedback 

55:28 AI Paranoia and Adaptation 

58:42: Gen AI as “Intellectual Fast Food” 

Thought Sparks are the brainchild of Rita McGrath. They are insightful actions, strategic ideas, actionable suggestions and innovative approaches that help organizations and leaders master the future with less fear and more confidence.  

New episodes of the Thought Sparks Podcast are released every other Tuesday at 11am Eastern.  

Want to learn more about Rita’s ideas and hear more of her conversations with business leaders and innovators?  

• Listen to more Thought Sparks Podcast episodes on Apple Podcasts  and Spotify. 

• Watch Thought Sparks episodes on YouTube. 

• Follow Rita on LinkedIn, Instagram, X and Blue Sky. 

• Connect with Rita on TikTok. 

• Sign up for her Thought Sparks Newsletter on Substack.  

• Learn more about Rita, her books and ideas at RitaMcGrath.com 

In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C-Suite strategist, business founder and best-selling author, welcomes José Marcilla, President of Latin America and Canada (LACan) Region at Novartis, and author of “Unlimited Leadership”.  

00:46: Why this Book, and The Crisis of Good Leadership 

3:04: Jose’s Journey and Career Path 

5:16: Burnout, and the Need for Leaders to Focus on What They Can Control 

8:06: Humanism in Leadership: The “Hardware” and “Software” that Leaders Need 

10:38: Explaining Tough Decisions to Your People 

13:42: Novartis’ Transformation Strategy: The Intersection of Technological and Biomedical Revolutions 

16:00: Building an Inspired, Curious, and Unbossed Culture at Novartis 

18:01: Clarity and Simplicity in Corporate Strategy 

19:50: The Next Best You: Are You Changing as Fast As The World Is? 

22:59: Staying Grounded as a Senior Leader 

25:40: Setting the Tone Around Innovation and Failure 

28:16: How Leaders Can Repair Eroded Trust in 3 Ways 

32:37: Amy Edmondson’s 3 Types of Failures 

34:59: Leaders as Coaches: How Coaching Training Changed Jose’s Leadership 

37:40: The Delayering Question: Bureaucracy Eats Culture for Breakfast  

43:19: What Leaders Need to Unlearn 

45:15: Advice for Gen Z: Going from a “Tetris” Mindset to a “Roblox” Mindset 

50:27: The Importance of Mentorship 

Thought Sparks are the brainchild of Rita McGrath. They are insightful actions, strategic ideas, actionable suggestions and innovative approaches that help organizations and leaders master the future with less fear and more confidence.  

New episodes of the Thought Sparks Podcast are released every other Tuesday at 11am Eastern.  

Want to learn more about Rita’s ideas and hear more of her conversations with business leaders and innovators?  

• Listen to more Thought Sparks Podcast episodes on Apple Podcasts  and Spotify. 

• Watch Thought Sparks episodes on YouTube. 

• Follow Rita on LinkedIn, Instagram, X and Blue Sky. 

• Connect with Rita on TikTok. 

• Sign up for her Thought Sparks Newsletter on Substack.  

• Learn more about Rita, her books and ideas at RitaMcGrath.com 

In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C-Suite strategist, business founder and best-selling author, welcomes Steven Goldbach and Geoff Tuff, authors of Hone: How Purposeful Leaders Defy Drift. They explore how leaders can align their organizations amid the “drift” that can accompany large transformations and other contexts of uncertainty.  

8:52: Early Research: Beyond the “70-20-10" Innovation Portfolio 

13:32: Strategy, Budgeting, Governance, and Career Advancement: Forces in Opposition 

16:05: Detonate, Provoke, Hone: From Blowing Up the Playbook to Operationalizing a New One 

20:46: The Difference Between Honing and Sharpening, from Chef Flannery Colton 

25:41: Treat Change as the Normal Thing, Not the Weird Thing 

27:36: What are Management Systems?: The Critical Fifth Box of the Choice Cascade 

35:03: The Role of Visionary CEOs 

38:00: A Guide to Human Behavioral Change, and Patience 

42:40: Transformation and Innovation at Deloitte 

48:00: Case Studies in Collaboration from Sony and the Mayo Clinic 

51:49: Diseconomies of Scale, and the Risks of Being Too Big to Hone 

59:00: Single-Person-Unicorns, and How Units of Value Creation Change 

1:01:05: “We Don’t Have Eight Planets to Burn”: The Sustainability Question 

Thought Sparks are the brainchild of Rita McGrath. They are insightful actions, strategic ideas, actionable suggestions and innovative approaches that help organizations and leaders master the future with less fear and more confidence.  

New episodes of the Thought Sparks Podcast are released every other Tuesday at 11am Eastern.  

Want to learn more about Rita’s ideas and hear more of her conversations with business leaders and innovators?  

• Listen to more Thought Sparks Podcast episodes on Apple Podcasts  and Spotify. 

• Watch Thought Sparks episodes on YouTube. 

• Follow Rita on LinkedIn, Instagram, X and Blue Sky. 

• Connect with Rita on TikTok. 

• Sign up for her Thought Sparks Newsletter on Substack.  

• Learn more about Rita, her books and ideas at RitaMcGrath.com 

In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C-Suite strategist, business founder and best-selling author, welcomes Sylvia Acevedo,  a trailblazer with experience spanning NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to executive roles at Apple, Dell, and IBM, and serving as the CEO of the Girl Scouts.  

1:56: The Trailblazer’s Playbook: From a Dirt Road Town to NASA and the C-Suite 

4:33: Sylvia’s Origins: A Girl Scouts Model Rocket and Lessons in Failure 

8:31: Breaking Big Goals into Smaller Pieces 

11:25: “Don’t Leave a Cookie Sale Until You Hear No 3 Times”: Lessons in Tenacity from the Girl Scouts 

14:01: “Girls Like You Don’t Go to College”: Becoming One of the First Hispanics to Earn a Graduate Engineering Degree from Stanford 

18:06: Innovating Above and Beyond at IBM 

21:23: A Mental Checklist to Reach the C-Suite 

30:50: Building Back Better after Failure at Autodesk 

33:58: “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There”: The Link Between Personal and Professional Growth 

36:58: Family Tragedy, and Sylvia’s Transition from Technology to Education 

39:05: The Power of Influence in Changing Opinion 

42:09: Leading the Girl Scouts: Empowering Girls in Civics, Technology, and Entrepreneurship 

46:11: Historically Women’s Colleges and the Girl Scouts: The Role of Single-Gender Spaces 

48:49: Leadership in Chip Manufacturing 

53:07: The Story of Sylvia’s Name, and Bilingual Systems Thinking 

54:46: The Power of Taking Even Small Actions 

Thought Sparks are the brainchild of Rita McGrath. They are insightful actions, strategic ideas, actionable suggestions and innovative approaches that help organizations and leaders master the future with less fear and more confidence.  

New episodes of the Thought Sparks Podcast are released every other Tuesday at 11am Eastern.  

Want to learn more about Rita’s ideas and hear more of her conversations with business leaders and innovators?  

• Listen to more Thought Sparks Podcast episodes on Apple Podcasts  and Spotify. 

• Watch Thought Sparks episodes on YouTube. 

• Follow Rita on LinkedIn, Instagram, X and Blue Sky. 

• Connect with Rita on TikTok. 

• Sign up for her Thought Sparks Newsletter on Substack.  

• Learn more about Rita, her books and ideas at RitaMcGrath.com 

In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C-Suite strategist, business founder and best-selling author, sits down with Don Tapscott, CEO of the Tapscott Group, Chairman and co-Founder of the Blockchain Research Institute, and author of “You to the Power of Two”.  

00:00: Introductions and Don’s Expertise in Blockchains and Identic AI 

3:04: Predictions about the Web, Revisited 20 Years On 

5:20: Blockchain and The Transition from the Internet of Information to the Internet of Value 

7:27: A Personalized Future with Identic AI 

11:18: The 3 Phases of Digital Identities 

13:10: Digital Feudalism: How Digital Conglomerates Own Our Digital Identities 

18:14: “What’s the Ghost in the Machine?”: When AI Gets Embedded in Daily Life 

20:06: The Jobs Question: How AI Will Affect the Nature of Employment 

26:00: From Firms to Individual Contractors: When Units of Value Creation Become Smaller 

31:12: The Need for a New Social Contract in the Age of AI 

37:29: Rebuilding the AI Stack Around a Decentralized Physical Infrastructure 

42:155: Movement Building for Self-Sovereignty over a Digital Future 

In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C-Suite strategist, business founder and best-selling author, speaks with Peter Capelli of Wharton and HR Strategist Ranya Nehmeh. Their book, In Praise of the Office, is a research-based assessment of the benefits and drawback of both in-person and remote work. 

1:10: WFH, RTO, WFM: Acronym Soup Around Where We Should Work 

3:01: Working From Home in the Early Days in the COVID-19 Pandemic 

5:52: What Has Not Been Working Well, From Employer Perspectives 

7:29: Generational Differences: Why Junior and Senior People Have Different Experiences with Remote Work 

9:31: The Allen Curve: Poor Information Flows  and Shrinking Networks 

12:38: Cubicles, Long Tables, and Hot Desking: How the Physical Office Has Evolved 

15:37: Why CFOs Loved Remote Work 

19:50: Individual Contributors Can Thrive in Remote Work Settings 

22:57: Where New Hires Get Lost in Remote Work Settings 

24:10: The Intentionality of a Hybrid Setup 

26:14: Why Anchor Days Fall Short 

28:15: Collaboration and Learning: When KPIs Don’t Measure What Makes Work Happen 

32:03: Cohorts, Friendships, and The Social Elements of Work 

34:30: Identifying When Remote Work Has Become a Problem 

38:30: What Leadership Misses 

43:00: Blowback to the Book: How Capelli and Nehmeh Struck a Chord 

46:13: Understanding Where People Land on the RTO Debate 

49:40: Case Studies: Netflix and Toss 

57:07: Gen Z’s Return to the Office 

Thought Sparks are the brainchild of Rita McGrath. They are insightful actions, strategic ideas, actionable suggestions and innovative approaches that help organizations and leaders master the future with less fear and more confidence.  

New episodes of the Thought Sparks Podcast are released every other Tuesday at 11am Eastern.  

Want to learn more about Rita’s ideas and hear more of her conversations with business leaders and innovators?  

• Listen to more Thought Sparks Podcast episodes on Apple Podcasts  and Spotify. 

• Watch Thought Sparks episodes on YouTube 

• Follow Rita on LinkedIn, Instagram, X and Blue Sky. 

• Connect with Rita on TikTok 

• Sign up for her Thought Sparks Newsletter on Substack.  

• Learn more about Rita, her books and ideas at RitaMcGrath.com 

In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C-Suite strategist, business founder and best-selling author, speaks with Rob Siegel, Lecturer in Management at Stanford University , a venture investor, a former operator, and author of The Systems Leader: Mastering the Cross-Pressures That Make or Break Today’s Companies.

1:10: Teaching Systems Leadership with GE CEO Jeff Immelt 2:10: “Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz?”: Lessons in Strategy from Janis Joplin

4:57: Playing for the Long Term and the Short Term, How Leaders Deal with Cross Pressures

8:11: The Benefits of Bureaucracy: Insights from Rita’s Forthcoming Book

9:50: Globalization 1.0 and Globalization 2.0

13:09: A Plea For Serious Leadership, Not Cage Match Challenges

15:40: “Leadership is about Everybody but You”: Kathy Mazzarella’s Leadership at Graybar

18:25: Moving from Megalithic Companies to Constellations of Capability

20:03: Purpose, and the False Choice Between Being Ambitious and Being Kind

24:30: Investing in Your People: Lessons from the Rise and Fall of GE’s Crotonville

29:48: Traffic Lights vs. Traffic Circles: Designing Sensing Systems

33:39: Developing AI as a Thought Partner

37:58: How Leaders Can Accept that Change is Difficult

42:00: Capitalism's Current Transition: Climate and the Economy 47:02: Bright Spots in Education

Thought Sparks are the brainchild of Rita McGrath. They are insightful actions, strategic ideas, actionable suggestions and innovative approaches that help organizations and leaders master the future with less fear and more confidence. New episodes of the Thought Sparks Podcast are released every other Tuesday at 11am Eastern. Want to learn more about Rita’s ideas and hear more of her conversations with business leaders and innovators? Listen to more Thought Sparks Podcast episodes on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Watch Thought Sparks episodes on YouTube Follow Rita on LinkedIn, Instagram, X and Blue Sky. Connect with Rita on TikTok Sign up for her Thought Sparks Newsletter on Substack. Learn more about Rita, her books and ideas at RitaMcGrath.com

In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C-Suite strategist, business founder and best-selling author, speaks with Cheryl McKissack Daniel, the fifth-generation leader of McKissack & McKissack, the nation’s oldest Black-owned design and construction services firm. Her book, “The Black Family Who Built America”, traces her family’s narrative from enslavement to building iconic American buildings, such as the National Civil Rights Museum, and Barclays Arena. Cheryl shares her insights and strategies for success in a white male-dominated industry. 

00:06 Why This Book Now: Telling True Stories of the American Past 

3:34: Origins: From Enslavement to Becoming the First Black Licensed Architects in America 

6:47: Breaking Into the “Old Boys’ Club” 

15:28: The Barclays Center Arena: The McKissacks’ Role in Revitalizing Downtown Brooklyn 

19:37: The Value of Sharing the Whole Story: What Business Books and Memoirs Leave Out 

21:04: The Next Generation and Effective Succession Planning 

22:30: Advice for Young Black Women Considering Design and Construction 

Thought Sparks are the brainchild of Rita McGrath. They are insightful actions, strategic ideas, actionable suggestions and innovative approaches that help organizations and leaders master the future with less fear and more confidence.  

New episodes of the Thought Sparks Podcast are released every other Tuesday at 11am Eastern.  

Want to learn more about Rita’s ideas and hear more of her conversations with business leaders and innovators?  

• Listen to more Thought Sparks Podcast episodes on Apple Podcasts  and Spotify. 

• Watch Thought Sparks episodes on YouTube 

• Follow Rita on LinkedIn, Instagram, X and Blue Sky. 

• Connect with Rita on TikTok 

• Sign up for her Thought Sparks Newsletter on Substack.  

• Learn more about Rita, her books and ideas at RitaMcGrath.com 

In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C-Suite strategist, business founder and best-selling author, speaks with Neri Karra Sillaman, founder of Moda Métiers, expert in sustainable fashion, strategy, and entrepreneurship, and winner of the Thinkers50 2025 Radar Award. She’s also the author of Pioneers: 8 Principles of Business Longevity from Immigrant Entrepreneurs.

1:32: Introductions, and Why Study Immigrant Entrepreneurship

3:23: Neri’s Journey: From a Refugee Camp to Luxury Entrepreneurship

10:19: Starting a Family Leather Goods Business 

15:04: The 8 Principles of Business Longevity from Immigrant Entrepreneurs 

15:28: Being a Bridge Across Cultures

15:47: Vision: Believing in Your Crazy Idea, and Yourself

17:45: Homophilic Ties: Forging Connections Based on Your Identity

20:46: The Chobani Story, and the Power of Co-Building A Business

22:00: What Immigrant Entrepreneurs Understand About Instability and Unequal Access

25:08: “Frying In Your Own Oil”: Lessons in Self-Sufficiency  from Neri’s Grandfather

26:56: What American Entrepreneurship Curricula Leave Out

28:19: “What Have You Done With Your One Precious Life?”: Rethinking Business Longevity

32:09: Immigrant Entrepreneurship: Borne out of Necessity 

34:34: The Role of Luck: Recognizing It and Turning it into an Advantage

39:05: Chobani’s IPO, and What Hamdi Ulukaya Got Right

40:13: What We Lose When We Demonize Immigrants

44:35: Immigrants’ Role in Creating New Wealth

50:36: How We Misunderstand Failure: Lessons from Amy Edmondson

Thought Sparks are the brainchild of Rita McGrath. They are insightful actions, strategic ideas, actionable suggestions and innovative approaches that help organizations and leaders master the future with less fear and more confidence. 

New episodes of the Thought Sparks Podcast are released every other Tuesday at 11am Eastern. 

Want to learn more about Rita’s ideas and hear more of her conversations with business leaders and innovators? 

• Listen to more Thought Sparks Podcast episodes on Apple Podcasts  and Spotify.

• Watch Thought Sparks episodes on YouTube

• Follow Rita on LinkedIn, Instagram, X and Blue Sky.

• Connect with Rita on TikTok

• Sign up for her Thought Sparks Newsletter on Substack. 

• Learn more about Rita, her books and ideas at RitaMcGrath.com