Lead the Team (Top 2% of Podcasts)

What can a leader do to change a toxic work culture? When you’re in this position it can feel frustrating and even hopeless. If you can’t make progress, it can lead to higher employee turnover and even threaten your goals.  Some leaders either give up entirely on changing the culture or ram through initiatives without garnering support first... neither is a recipe for success. Enter my interv...

How often are you using your stories to help lead your team? A great leadership story narrative can inspire others to follow and commit. Rodney Williams, President and CEO of Belvedere Vodka , knows what it takes to tell a great leadership story, and he shares them in his interview on The CEO Sessions. You don't need fancy words -- all you need is a good understanding of the core concepts of...

Ever wondered how to stand out while working remotely? Working remotely can be a frustrating experience because you’re not getting “face time” with the leaders in your company. This can stunt your promotion potential. Enter Christina Lock, Founder and CEO of Catch Talent, a recruiting and staffing company. Christina Lock has a unique perspective on approaching this problem in a positive way. She’s...

Are you tired of being the person who always needs direction, or are you exhausted from giving your team direction? In this episode with Melanie Huet, EVP and Chief Commercial Officer at Serta Simmons Bedding (SSB), you’ll discover how to become a self-starter at work. Self-starters take action in their work day and their career to improve and grow. Most people are used to getting told what they n...

Ever struggle to delegate? If you're in the corporate world then you probably know that delegation is key. It often seems much easier to do it yourself in the moment, but that’s the path to burnout and not developing your employees. When you execute delegate well, it can save your time and let you begin to spend your effort and focus on higher value tasks. Enter Willis Cantey the CEO of Cantey Tec...

What’s the first step to make your team more diverse, and why is diversity so important to business in the first place? When you prioritize diversity, research shows that it generates better business results, including increasing employee retention! The best thing about diversity in the workplace? You have more perspectives, which means better ideas and more creativity. In this interview with Pame...

Is your office safe? Have you ever had or witnessed an incident at work where safety was compromised? How would this situation have been different if it were safer? I’m not just talking about tripping over a cord or having something thrown at you from someone’s office window. What about getting dysentery while traveling or being caught up in a criminal ambush? There are all things that leaders can...

How can you get your employees to take ownership of their work and do more? It’s a question that consistently frustrates leaders. When employees don’t take ownership, leaders spend their time following up and even cleaning up after their team's mistakes. This wastes time and money. However, when employees are truly “bought in”, their productivity and engagement increases. Leaders can then invest t...

How do you get your employees to buy in? For most leaders it’s a mystery, but it’s an important question to consider. In fact, employees who buy into the company culture and important changes are more likely to be motivated, engaged, and productive . Enter CEO of the Americas Region for DB Schenker - Hessel Verhage, who seems to have cracked the code on building trust and loyalty along with gettin...

Mark Whitten is the President & CEO of Spartanburg Steel Products (SSP) in Spartanburg, South Carolina.  They are a Tier 1 and 2 supplier to companies including BMW, Honda, Volvo, John Deere and Kubota.  Mark is a results-driven senior business leader with more than 25 years of manufacturing experience, including international assignments in Canada, Mexico and the United States.&nbsp...

Tom Szaky is founder and CEO of TerraCycle, a global leader in the collection and repurposing of complex waste streams. Tom started the company when he was 19 years old and has grown it to a $6M company today. TerraCycle operates in 21 countries, working with some of the world’s largest brands, retailers and manufacturers to create national platforms to recycle products and packaging that currentl...

Making great decisions at work is an essential leadership skill.  Yet, most leaders just "wing it" when it comes to decision making.  It doesn't have to be this way.  There are proven strategies to help improve your decision making which have positive downstream effects like improving your efficiency, increasing revenue, and reducing costs.  Enter Jennifer Davis, Chief Marketin...

It can be tough to balance getting bottom-line results and taking care of your people. Sometimes it can feel like it's an either/or choice. If you've ever faced this delimma, you're going to love what my guest today shares. Todd Cooper is Chief Operations Officer at Celestica with responsibility for global operations spanning 30 manufacturing locations across 14 countries.  Todd has over 25 y...

Joey Habert is the president of High Point Design, a division of The Moret Group in New York. High Point Design manufactures accessories, and hosiery, under many brands along with their world renowned Fuzzy Babbas!  Joey has more than three decades of experience in the fashion and accessories retail/wholesale industry. Under Joey’s leadership, the company enjoyed great success and growth...

Maggie Driscoll is Chief People and Culture Officer at Blackbaud. She leverages her extensive experience in human resources to foster a culture that enables Blackbaud to deliver on a vision of powering an Ecosystem of Good® that builds a better world. Prior to joining Blackbaud, she held senior leadership positions at the Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon) and CCBN, and C‑bridge/eXcelon, a techn...

Mahesh M. Thakur is Vice President of Product at GoDaddy.   He is also co-founder and former CEO of PhotoWeaver with over 20 years of experience working at Microsoft, Amazon, and Intuit. He is a member of the MG 100 coaches family and has hired, coached, and transformed product and engineering leaders at some of the world’s fastest-growing companies. He is a visionary leader who loves bu...

Tom Troy is President and CEO of CSAA Insurance Group , a AAA insurer. He is a 30-year veteran of the insurance industry and served as an executive with Allstate , Liberty Mutual , and Safeco . With more than 100 years of experience serving AAA members, CSAA Insurance Group offers automobile, homeowners and other personal lines of insurance to AAA members through AAA clubs. Tom Troy is a board mem...

Carin-Isabel Knoop is the Executive Director of the Harvard Business School Case Research & Writing Group. She’s written cases on managers and leaders all over the world across functions and industries for decades.  Carin co-authored the book on Compassionate Management of Mental Health in the Modern Workplace​ (with Dean John Quelch, Herbert Business School, University of Miami), and her...

Phil Kalin is President and CEO Pinnacol Assurance in Denver, CO where they protect nearly a million workers and 60,000 businesses. Phil has also served as a senior executive at Mt Sinai Medical Center in Cleveland, Rose Medical Center in Denver, Custom Med Solutions, and Henry Ford Health System in Detroit. Phil Kalin has a bachelor’s degree from University of Iowa and his master's degree in heal...

Jennifer McCollum is the CEO at Linkage, which is a Boston based leadership development firm that focuses on improving leadership effectiveness and gender equity in organizations globally. Jennifer's relentless commitment to changing the face of leadership has led to a complete revolution of how this 30+ year old firm is serving leaders. Most recently she co-created an innovative approach to devel...

Bill Keith is CEO and Co-Founder of Perfect Snacks.   You can say Bill Keith was a “born leader” as he is the eldest of 13 children, and they became known as the family that founded Perfect Bar.  Perfect Bar is the #1-Selling Refrigerated Protein Bar in the U.S. and is available in 27,000 retailers nationwide. Bill's quest to create Perfect Bar began in college, when he submitted a...

Jason Schulweis is Head of Partnerships at Morning Brew where he oversees Sales, Account Management, and the Creative Studio (Integrated Marketing, Branded Content and Creative). Morning Brew is a Media Company based in New York City with an audience of 3.5 Million Subscribers. Their mission is to empower the Modern Business Professional with engaging and accessible content.  His team drives...

Kim Scott is the New York Times Bestselling Author of Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity. and author of the Just Work, Get *t Done Fast and Fair. Kim was a CEO coach at Dropbox, Qualtrics, Twitter, and other tech companies. She was a member of the faculty at Apple University and before that led AdSense, YouTube, and DoubleClick teams at Google. Earlier in her career Ki...

Josh Ensign is currently Chief Operating Officer at Proterra, a company that designs and builds 100% battery electric buses, chargers, and powertrains for the heavy duty market.   He’s also held senior leadership positions at Tesla, Honeywell , and the US Army. Throughout his years, Josh has managed 42 different factories across 16 countries.   Josh’s career path has included m...

Michelle Thompson is CEO and Managing Partner of Cherry Bekaert , one of the top 25 US largest accounting firms. Michelle’s responsible for oversight of the firm’s Executive Team, executing and promoting the overall strategic plan and driving firm growth. Her leadership role includes chairing Cherry Bekaert’s Executive Board and overseeing the day-to-day administration and financial management of...