Leadership and Business

One of the hottest topics in business today is finding effective ways to connect with others by sharing compelling stories. Whether it's building the brand, closing the sale, or presenting to the board, many professionals and organizations are spending time and effort improving their storytelling abilities. Often, stories in business include data, and that presents a hurdle for many: How to presen...

We've all seen it: The CEO, the leader, the athlete, who continue in the role despite the fact their best days are clearly behind them. Clinging to a role in which you're no longer effective can tarnish an otherwise outstanding career and reputation. For many professionals, knowing when to leave or move on can be extremely difficult. Dave Heenan is a career executive, educator, and author of the b...

Retirement. We all look forward to it and spend our entire career saving for it. How do we make it an enjoyable and meaningful transition once it happens? How can we use and re-purpose the talents that made us successful in our prior careers throughout volunteer efforts on boards and service organizations while still enjoying our retirement years? Today's guest has done just that. After a successf...

Non-profit organizations play a significant role in the lives of Americans. In fact, 1 in 4 US citizens volunteered with a non-profit in 2014. One of the best-known and most successful non-profits is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, helping all people in the US and developing countries lead healthy, productive lives. Olympia Trumbower is Program Manager in the Global Policy and Advocacy Divi...

Communication is a critically important element of leadership. Even in small tightly-knit companies where everyone seems to be on the same page, it can be difficult to create a positive culture where quality communication is expected and practiced. Imagine being a CEO in a country and culture other than your own. Tim Murray knows all about that: Born, raised, and educated in the United States, he...

Being the founder and CEO of a new venture is the goal of many professionals. In fact, 1 in 4 of today's MBA students plan to start a business at some point. Some entrepreneurs manage to start companies that not only fill a need, but also align with their personal goals and interests. After 17 years with JP Morgan advising families on their investment portfolio, Rhian Horgan decided to focus on he...

Thanks to technology, globalization, and demographics, just about every business today is undergoing some level of transformation. One industry experiencing considerable change is television. Viewers watch what they want, when they want, and how they want, and as a result television networks and outlets are constantly on the lookout for new ways to connect with their audience. Cindy Davis is the E...

John Hewitt is one of the most successful leaders in the tax profession. He founded three top tax preparation firms, including Jackson Hewitt, and more recently Liberty Tax. After leaving H&R Block years ago, Hewitt pioneered the development of decision tree tax preparation software which revolutionized the tax business. Hewitt joins us today to discuss advice found in his new book "iCompete," inc...

Few people in the technology space have had careers as interesting and successful as Robbie Bach. In 1988, Bach joined Microsoft, where be began a 22-year tenure there; first in Marketing, then in Management, and then in Leadership. In 1999 he became Chief Xbox Officer, leading the team from its startup phase to the launch of Xbox 360 and Xbox Live, changing the gaming industry. In 2015 Bach wrote...

Never before have we seen such a time of disruption and innovation throughout all fields of business. Companies, organization, and leaders must be forward thinking just to survive. Over the last decade, some of the world's leading companies have embraced "design thinking," leading to groundbreaking new products and services. Today, William and Mary business professor Michael Luchs joins us to disc...

Huntington Ingalls is America's largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of manufacturing, engineering, and management services to the nuclear energy, oil, and gas markets. For more than a century, Huntington Ingalls has built more ships in more classes than any other U.S. Naval shipbuilder. Before taking the lead in 2011, President and CEO Mike Petters was President of Northrop Grumma...

One of the toughest leadership challenges is being at the helm of a big institution. Whether civic or private, bureaucracies often move at a snail's pace, and it takes a special leader with special qualities to drive change and improvement. Former Director of the CIA and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says large companies can be transformed, and explains how in his book "A Passion for Leadershi...

Back in the day, colleges and universities focused most of their efforts on classroom education, leaving the job and career search to the student. Times have changed, and schools like William & Mary invest greatly in career development. Kathleen Powell is Associate Vice President of Career Development and works with students on all facets of career counseling, placement, and coaching. She joins us...

Soft skills. Emotional intelligence. The willingness to be comfortable being uncomfortable. Companies everywhere are seeking employees and leaders who possess these qualities. Organizations are using multiple methods and approaches to teach a set of skills that improve communication, creativity and teamwork. For a number of organizations and professionals, improvisation training has become a popul...

In addition to being the number one chainsaw manufacturer in the world, STIHL produces other top quality outdoor power tools like blowers, trimmers, and edgers. The company is unique in that it does not sell its products through big box stores, but rather only through dealers who sell and service STIHL products to their very loyal customer base. Nick Jiannas is Vice President for Sales and Marketi...

The start of a new year - a time when many professionals set new goals - and for many, one of those goals includes catching up on their reading. If finding the right book for 2017 is on your list, today's show is for you. We spoke with Faculty and Staff here at William & Mary's Raymond A. Mason School of Business and asked them to share a recommendation regarding a book that professionals will fin...

The beginning of a new year is the time many professionals decide to take the plunge and change jobs. According to monster.com, December, January, and February are excellent months to apply for, and secure, a new position. If you're considering an employment change in the coming new year, our guests today will help you make all the right moves. Dawn Edmiston is a clinical associate professor of ma...

In today's constantly evolving business environment, companies and organizations must innovate to stay on top. The business that embraces change and disruption is the business that sets itself up for success. Sheri Bias is the owner of Liquid Talent Agency in Richmond, VA, and joins us today with her business partner Amory Holloway to discuss their new framework for doing business with actors, mod...

Some of the best organizations in the world have some of the best cultures. An effective organizational culture will attract the best professionals who generate world class results. One such organization is the Martin Agency, one of the top full-service agencies in the world, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. CEO Matt Williams joins us today to discuss advertising, leading creative professional...

The way we shop during the winter holidays and throughout the year continues to evolve. Consumers have many ways to buy from and interact with their favorite stores. Jennifer DiMotta is Vice President, Digital and Omni Channel, for Blue Mercury, a leading luxury beauty retailer. She spends much of her time and attention making sure her customers have a good experience with Blue Mercury, wherever t...

Donna McDermott has spent over 30 years as a brand management executive for some of the country's most well-known brands: Oscar Mayer, Tropicana, Bacardi, Heinz, AutoZone. She's developed scores of new concepts and prototypes while launching 12 new brands and line extensions that have resulted in annual sales of over 2 billion dollars. She is currently the marketing principle at FedEx, and joins u...

Huntington Ingalls is America's largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of manufacturing, engineering, and management services to the nuclear energy, oil, and gas markets. For more than a century, Huntington Ingalls has built more ships in more classes than any other U.S. Naval shipbuilder. Before taking the lead in 2011, President and CEO Mike Petters was President of Northrop Grumma...

Most entrepreneurs and professionals in the start-up world know that success is hard to come by, especially in the tech arena. For many, the number of failures far outweighs the number of successes. That has not been the case for Mike McSherry, who has successfully sold four of the five start-ups he has co-founded. He is currently CEO of Xealth - a digital prescribing and analytics platform integr...

One of the biggest, most expensive, and misunderstood threats to businesses today is the cyber attack. In today's environment, businesses and organizations are constantly at risk of being hacked, and those hacks can cause a company to lose its reputation, money, customers, and more. Cyber attacks are difficult to predict and stop, therefore many companies are bringing in "ethical hackers," compute...

Recently, Forbes Magazine reported that diversity and inclusion will be a top priority for businesses in the year ahead, explaining that gender-diverse companies were 15% more likely to outperform their peers. In addition, ethnically diverse companies are 30% more likely to do the same. Today, more companies are realizing that solid diversity and inclusion practices positively affect the bottom li...