Are You Conscious Of Your Choices?

Kara Swisher is the most effective and successful tech journalist of our lifetimes.

In a world of white men with giant bank accounts and even bigger egos, how did this 5 feet 2 inch, self-described, liberal lesbian mother of four, end up as the most influential and insightful reporter of the technology age?

As you’ll hear, Kara puts it down to curiosity, confidence, and understanding the choices available to her.

This week’s guest is Avery Baker. She’s the former President and Chief Brand Officer of Tommy Hilfiger.

Six months after she stepped down from her position at Tommy, we talk about her desire to empower others and why it's an essential skill to demonstrate as a leader. 

We also discuss the new leadership paradigm that we have developed together for creative and innovative businesses. We call it 'Partnership Leadership'. 

Who Lit The Fire In Your Life?

Dr. Jerry Gustafson is the Professor Emeritus of Economics at Beloit College and the Founder of the Center for Entrepreneurship in Liberal Education at Beloit, known as CELEB.

Jerry was also my faculty advisor when I was an undergrad, and the person who, without question, lit the fire in my life.

What Do You Think Needs Doing?

This week’s episode is a re-publication of my interview with Cecile Richards from March 2020. It was the last in-person interview I recorded before the world shut down two days later.

For those of you that don’t know her, Cecile Richards is one of the most extraordinary leaders of our time. Of any time, actually.

Public service and activism are part of her DNA. 

Are You Waiting For Someone Else To Give You Permission?

Greg Hahn is the Co-Founder & CCO of Mischief USA.

What if we didn’t wait for someone else’s permission to uncover our own potential?

What if we stopped fitting in and looked for ways to stand out?

What if we expressed ourselves, fully and openly? Who might follow us and where might we lead them?

In Memoriam

I met Alain Sylvain only once. We recorded a podcast at the very end of October in 2018.

The news of his tragic death last month has had a profound impact on many people I know.

I hope that this conversation will let those of you that knew him well, add to your memory of him.

And for those of us that didn’t, I hope it will help know him a little better.

What Do You Have A Responsibility To?

This week’s guest is Marty Baron. He’s the former editor of the Boston Globe, and the former executive editor of the Washington Post. The newsrooms under his leadership won 17 Pulitzer Prizes.

His new book, Collision of Power: Trump, Bezos, and the Washington Post, describes his 8 year leadership journey during one of the most tumultuous times in the paper’s history.

Along the way, he has learned a staggering amount about leadership.

Can You Hear Yourself Think?

DeEtta Jones is the founder of one of the world’s leading EDI training and strategy consultancies.

She’s seen leadership and leaders through many lenses. And she’s learned that the best of them are not necessarily the ones making the most noise.

Are You Taking Care Of Yourself?

Nancy Hill is the CEO of Marcus Thomas, and the former CEO of the 4As.

Nancy recently wrote an article for AdAge. In the piece, she describes discovering that she was suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

How do you build a lasting foundation for your leadership that allows you to unlock your own potential and the potential of others?

What Triggers You?

Kate Rouch is the Chief Marketing Officer at Coinbase.

October was Mental Health Month.

But the truth is, every month should be.

And when you’re the leader, every month is.

What Do You Know About Who You Want To Be?

Rick Brim is the Global Chief Creative Officer at adam&eveDDB.

Rick was on the podcast four and half years ago in early 2019. I called that episode, “The ‘I Don’t Know’ Leader”, to highlight Rick’s point that it’s okay for leaders not to know the answer every time.

But Rick has been changed by the last four years.

What Makes Great Happen?

Robert Brunner was the Director of Industrial Design for Apple, a partner at Pentagram and the chief designer of Beats by Dr. Dre, before becoming the Founder of Ammunition. He was named one of Fast Company’s “Most Creative People in Business,” and his work is included in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Design is the art and science of knowing what to start and when to stop.

In that respect, it’s very much like leadership.

How Do Your People Know You’re Here For Them?

This week’s guest is Yves Briantais. He’s the VP of Marketing Asia-Pacific for Colgate-Palmolive.

We recorded this interview at the end of a long week at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity.

There are a number of areas that I could have focused on for this introduction.

But the one I want to highlight is an issue that I hear about from so many leaders today.

Where they lead from.

How Much Of Your Real Self Are You Showing?

DJ Jackson is the Vice President of Brand at EA Sports. They’re a division of Electronic Arts and one of the world’s largest developers and publishers of sports video games.

Leading a business that exists in the digital world means straddling artificiality and reality. Information and emotion.

Which is a lot like leadership.

Who Is Helping You Be You?

Liz Taylor is the Global Chief Creative Officer at Ogilvy.

Everyone has a story. Liz’s story, as you’ll hear, has a traumatic beginning.

Our past shapes us. But it need not define us.

Only we do that.

We just have to ask for help.

How Does Your Leadership Make People Feel?

Ajaz Ahmed is the Founder and CEO of AKQA. AKQA employs 6,500 people around the world and receives about 80,000 job applications a year.

Ajaz’s definition is the first time that I’ve heard a description that made me understand what a truly inclusive company culture would feel like. And I think that matters.

Do Your Weaknesses Shape You Or Stop You?

James Townsend is the Global CEO of Stagwell Brand X Performance Network and the Global CEO at Assembly.

Knowing yourself, your strengths and your weaknesses, has never been more critical to your success and to your happiness.

It is rare, I find, for someone to have the kind of clarity about themselves that James describes.

What Do You Need To Know And When Do You Need To Know It?

Sir Martin Sorrell first appeared on the show in 2019, and in that conversation, I was struck by his pride in building companies that provide the livelihoods for hundreds of thousands of people.

Sir Martin is a polarizing figure. But he is, of course, much more human than his public persona has shown over the years.

What do you need to know and when do you need to know it?

Those questions sit at the heart of modern leadership.

What Would You Regret?

Jon Cook is the Global Chief Executive Officer of VMLY&R.

Jon died last October. As you’ll hear, the fact he is still here to have this conversation required a set of circumstances so improbable that they would have strained the credibility of your favorite episodic drama.

But the fact he is still here, gives him, and those that meet him, a living and breathing teacher of what will really matter to us, when we reach our end.

How Fast Are You Going?

Andréa Mallard is the Chief Marketing & Communications Officer of Pinterest.

I interviewed Andréa at Cannes, in the lobby of the Majestic Hotel. Her energy struck me, the moment she arrived. Her perspectives about her life and her leadership have stayed with me, long after we said goodbye.