Let Them Lead

Casey Cowell, son of a Detroit plumber, played goalie with the sons of Gordie Howe, and won a national title. He took that confidence with him to the University of Chicago, and at 24, turned $200 into a $2.5 billion company called U.S. Robotics, for many years the nation’s biggest designer and manufacturer of modems. Some pro tips: A strong team of dedicated B-players will beat an uncommitted team...

Longtime president of Michigan’s famed University Musical Society, Ken Fischer explains how this small town attracts world-class talent like Leonard Bernstein, Yo-Yo Ma, Wynton Marsalis, and the Royal Shakespeare Company. But the best insight is Fischer’s guiding principle: "Everybody In, Nobody Out.” His take-aways include: A ‘no’ is the first step to a ‘yes’!; You have to touch their heart; Get...

Tom Miller turned down Penn’s prestigious Wharton School of Business to join his high school girlfriend at the University of Michigan. His father objected, but he’s been married to Bonnie for 52 years, and has a record-tying five degrees from U-M, including an honorary diploma for giving a graduation speech in 2003. He entered foreign service on a lark, and ended up being named the U.S. Ambassador...

Hearst Television named Jordan Wertlieb president in 2013, leading 33 stations in 26 U.S. markets, plus digital properties, 2 radio stations, and more than 70 programming streams with multicast channels. He caught the TV bug in high school, and along the way learned a few things: the heart of your education might not be in the classroom; don’t be afraid to ask for help; and every role has lessons...

Jim Barahal’s first career would have been enough. After graduating from medical school he moved to Hawaii, started making house calls – unheard of in 1982 – and built a thriving practice, “Doctors on Call,” with 19 clinics and 60,000 patients a year, then sold most of it to Hawaii Pacific Health. He then took over the Honolulu Marathon in 1987, and built it into the world’s biggest by 1995. Take-...

Scott DeRue became the dean of Michigan’s Ross School of Business at the ripe age of 38, and pumped up revenue, research, and rankings. He then became the President of Equinox, the leading high-end fitness chain with 105 clubs, and 10,000 employees, and somehow managed to climb Mt. Everest and other peaks on the side. His quote in LET THEM LEAD: “Lead as though you have no power, because you have...

Our guest today is Bill Martin, who has worn more leadership hats than most. After being told by a high school teacher that he "would never go anywhere," Martin set out to prove him wrong, and did so, in spades! He started his business career while getting his MBA at Michigan with a $500 emergency student loan, and turned that into an $18,000 profit. First Martin Corporation, a property developmen...

This week I take a few minutes to look back at the Let Them Lead Podcast's first year: the idea behind the podcast, some of the highlights our 15 great guests have given us, including their memorable take-aways, and what we have to look forward to in 2022. I've greatly enjoyed getting to talk with some of the best and brightest leaders in business, sports, higher education, food service, high-tech...

Started in 1887 in Chelsea, Michigan, just outside of Ann Arbor, Chelsea Milling was pretty run-of-the-mill until the wife of the second generation, Mabel Holmes, figured out how to create a baking mix, called Jiffy Mixes, “so simple, even a man can do it!”Fourth generation CEO Howdy Holmes won two state hockey titles for Ann Arbor High before starting his own Indy Car team, becoming rookie of the...

Bev Plocki, born and raised in Pennsylvania steel country, earned All-American status in gymnastics at Alabama and West Virginia, before becoming Michigan’s gymnastic coach at the ripe age of 23. The team had gone 0-13 in the Big Ten the previous year, shared facilities with the Michigan Marching Band and IM basketball games, and hadn’t worked out the entire off-season. Plocki got to work changing...

On this weeks episode we have a special treat. A few months ago, the people who created and run The Next Big Idea book club, Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Adam Grant, and Daniel Pink, all big names and the leadership field, nominated Let them Lead for inclusion in their fall lineup. They asked us to record about 15 minutes of my top five book bites or big ideas from Let them Lead ,the book. Get yo...

Ron Warhurst won two NCAA titles as a member of the Western Michigan cross-country team in the 1960s. He graduated in 1966, volunteered for the Marines, then repeatedly asked to “walk point” through the Vietnamese jungle, which resulted in two Purple Hearts, before he was honorably discharged in 1970. He learned a simple lesson: “The world doesn’t stop because you’re scared.” Three later the Unive...

Since 2006 Steve Schram has served as the Executive Director and General Manager of Michigan Radio. With stations in Ann Arbor, Flint, and Grand Rapids, Michigan Radio serves more than one million listeners each month, and was named the Public Radio Station of the Year by the Michigan Association of Broadcasters for ten of the last 11 years. In this two-part podcast, Schram tells us how he first c...

Our guest today is Steve Schram, the executive director and general manager of Michigan radio. Steve has been in radio management and worked as an on-air personality since before graduating from Catholic Central high school. Steve holds a Bachelors degree in Television and Radio from Michigan State University and an MBA from Eastern Michigan University. Steve started his radio career by creating a...

GREG MEYER, 1983 Boston Marathon champion; 5-time state champion coach In 1983, Greg Meyer won the world’s most famous race at the peak of the American running boom, beating his friend and training partner, Bill Rodgers, a.k.a. Mr. Marathon. Even more impressive, Meyer ran a sub-4:00 mile, and set American records in the 8K, 10K, 15K, 25K, and 10 mile – despite carrying 155 pounds, 30 more than Bi...

RED BERENSON, former NHL and University of Michigan player and coach At the ripe age of 18, Berenson had the courage to turn down the Montreal Canadiens’ offer and pursue college hockey. Four years later he proved Montreal’s general manager wrong when he became the first player to jump directly from college hockey to the NHL – and also the first to wear a helmet before suffering a serious injury....

Anne Curzan, the granddaughter of legendary Michigan State University president John Hannah, attended Yale, where she participated in some-two dozen intramural sports. After earning her Ph. D. in English language and Literature at the University of Michigan, she served on the faculty for 17 years before becoming dean of the U-M College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA) in September of 201...

Entering her 38th season at the University of Michigan, Carol Hutchins is just six wins away from winning more games than any softball coach at any level, nationwide. Though she couldn’t guess it within a hundred, her win total currently stands at 1,631, with 31 Big Ten season and tournament titles, 18 regional NCAA crowns, 12 appearances in the College Softball World Series, and the NCAA title in...

To get to his current post, as Vice-President of a 250-store chain, Tim Williams beat the odds repeatedly. Born and raised in inner-city Milwaukee, Williams earned an academic scholarship to a Catholic boys’ school, then an athletic scholarship at the University of Michigan, where he started as linebacker and won three Big Ten titles. But Williams declined his fifth year, and a shot at pro footbal...

Let Them Lead is a podcast about the risks and rewards of leading today. I’m John Bacon, author of the book, LET THEM LEAD: Unexpected Lessons in Leadership from America’s Worst High School Hockey Team, which led to this podcast.  On Let Them Lead we talk to remarkable leaders from every field imaginable –automotive, computers, food service, education, and athletics, to name a few – and they share...

Let Them Lead is a podcast about the risks and rewards of leading today. I’m John Bacon, author of the book, LET THEM LEAD: Unexpected Lessons in Leadership from America’s Worst High School Hockey Team, which led to this podcast.  On Let Them Lead we talk to remarkable leaders from every field imaginable –automotive, computers, food service, education, and athletics, to name a few – and they share...

Let Them Lead is a podcast about the risks and rewards of leading today. I’m John Bacon, author of the book, LET THEM LEAD: Unexpected Lessons in Leadership from America’s Worst High School Hockey Team, which led to this podcast.  On Let Them Lead we talk to remarkable leaders from every field imaginable –automotive, computers, food service, education, and athletics, to name a few – and they share...

Let Them Lead is a podcast about the risks and rewards of leading today. I’m John Bacon, author of the book, LET THEM LEAD: Unexpected Lessons in Leadership from America’s Worst High School Hockey Team, which led to this podcast.  On Let Them Lead we talk to remarkable leaders from every field imaginable –automotive, computers, food service, education, and athletics, to name a few – and they share...

The Let Them Lead podcast is about the risks and rewards of leading in today's world. Hosted by John Bacon, author of Let Them Lead: Unexpected lessons in leadership from America's worst high school hockey team . Each week we'll talk to amazing leaders from around the country from just about every field you can think of and pick up their hard won wisdom. In the words of John’s fifth grade teacher,...