The Dr. John Bedker Leadership Podcast

In this episode, Dr. John Bedker reads an excerpt from the new book by Naomi Orestes and Erik Conway, The Big Myth: How American Business Taught Us to Loathe Government and Love the Free Market.  John highlights the critical role of leaders to embrace truth and to be factual.  As Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan stated, "everyone is entitled to their own point of view, they are not entitled to thei...

In this episode Dr. John Bedker offers his top 10 list of leadership practices and principles in our challenging world.  John offers this episode as an opportunity to embrace and enrich your leadership journey. 10 actionable practices are offered.

Dr. John Bedker rethinks the often-used metaphor of organizational pillars as a three-legged stool.  He does so consistently with our turbulent, chaotic, and uncertain world today.  John speaks to enterprise, politics, and culture as the three key pillars of each of our organizations today.  In this episode, John addresses communication as a key problem-solving leadership core competency.  Dr. Joh...

This Episode focuses on an iconic American brand, the Boeing company.  The perils of separating leaders from workers and economics over safety are central themes of this episode.  Dr. John Bedker leaves the listener with several key takeaways from the decision-making shortfalls of this once-proud brand.

This episode of the Dr. John Bedker Leadership Podcast raises a crucial conversation for our times.  Autocracy vs. Democracy.  Two very different approaches to leadership.  An added tension to this crucial conversation is the notion of capitalism.  Capitalism is a source of inequality and must be confronted in either an autocratic or democratic leadership space.  These opposing leadership forces a...

In Episode 20 of The Dr. John Bedker Leadership Podcast, John gives thanks.  Thanks to the many selfless and servant leaders that are all around us.  Examples are given of people in our communities that contribute, not for self, but others…Non-Sibi.  Leadership examples are given and highlight just a few of the many selfless and servant leaders that we should give thanks.

Sense and Meaning Making of the 2022 Midterm elections in the United States.  One week following the midterms, Dr. Bedker takes the opportunity to do what leaders do following significant events, to make sense of what happened, and to better understand what it means.  Sense and meaning-making are important constructs for leaders and the midterms were an important leadership event.

Episode 18 is provided just prior to the midterm elections in the United States.  Dr. Bedker encourages all eligible people to vote in the upcoming election.  Voting is a right, it is a responsibility, a civic duty, and most importantly it is a display of your engagement in our/your democracy.  It is an act of leadership.  Doing the right thing, and standing up for truth and freedom; are critical...

Episode 17 provides a summary of the Belarus Series.  Synthesis of each episode of the series is given with a specific connection to the current experience in the United States.  The case is made as a “cautionary tale” for the United States to not pursue a path toward autocracy.  Dr. Bedker makes clear the case for leadership in these turbulent times.  “Do the right thing."

In this third installment on the country of Belarus, Dr. John Bedker addresses the leader, the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko.  It is a tale of position and power, not of leadership.  In this episode, John makes clear the path of Belarus, the path to autocracy, and the last remaining dictatorship in Europe. It is a path, in Dr. Bedker's opinion, that is not dissimilar to the path the U...

In this second episode of the Belarus Series, Dr. John Bedker shares the current state of Belarus socially, politically, economically, and militarily.  Leadership insights are given on each of these axes to the country of Belarus and for their implications for the United States.  The case is made for leaders to be mindful of the paths of other countries as they may inform governmental leadership i...

In this episode, Dr. John Bedker begins a four-part series on the country of Belarus.  Sitting at the crossroads of East and West, Belarus has an increasingly important position geographically, politically, and geopolitically.  The leadership navigation and leadership strategies employed are key to the future of Belarus and this important crossroads in our world.  This introductory episode lays ou...

In this week's episode, Dr. John Bedker follows up on his recent Leadership Works Podcast on the mass shootings in Buffalo, NY, and Uvalde, TX.  The call for leaders to act, to do the right thing, is advanced.  Political leaders and Faith leaders are challenged to lead.  Macro gun violence data is unwrapped to reveal the concentrated and localized nature of gun violence in the United States.  The...

Reflective Practice is the focus of Episode 12.  Reflective Practice is an important leadership tool for successful leaders.  In this episode, Dr. John Bedker takes the listeners on a forward-looking reflective journey. A 1-2 year forward timeline is set to consider where we might or could be socially, politically, economically, and militarily.  John poses reflective questions on each of these axe...

This episode was recorded after the mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, but before the tragic mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas.  Dr. John Bedker focuses on gun violence and the gun culture in America as a Leadership moment.  Are we going to “do the right thing?’  This is the ultimate definition of leadership and the challenge of us all to be problem-solving leaders regarding gun violence and mass sh...

Episode 10- Steve Kerr- Exemplary Leader In this episode, Dr. John Bedker takes a deep dive into an exemplary and highly successful leader in the world of basketball.  The focus is on Steve Kerr, head coach of the NBA Golden State Warriors.  It is Steve Kerr’s back story, the formative and developmental experiences of his life that have led to Steve Kerr’s leadership pillars: Joy, Competition, Com...

Episode 9 is a sequel to Episode 8.  Episode 8 focused on Problem Identification and Episode 9 brings insights into Problem Solving.  The issue is the ongoing Institutional Leadership Failures of clerics in the Catholic Church.  What needs to be done for the church to get back on track is explored and a case is made for rethinking both the church’s organizational design and the makeup of its organ...

In this episode, Dr. John Bedker focuses on the institutional failures of the leaders of the Catholic church in the United States.  The ongoing efforts of church leaders in the United States to regularly advance a right-wing political agenda is brought to light.  This agenda is showcased in sharp contrast with the values and founding tenets of Catholicism.  John details two of the many departures...

Episode 7-  Democracy: Is it in Peril?   Harvard Gazette Staff Writer Colleen Walsh interviews the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard on the state of American democracy.  Dr. John Bedker addresses this interview from a leadership perspective.  John then expands on this interview to the perilous state of democracy globally. John’s focus is on Ukraine, a democracy, and the  response...

Episode 6- Understanding a Great Leader from What They Say and Do. Famous Quotes from Congressman John Lewis- An Exemplary Leader. The late Congressman John Lewis was an exemplary leader his entire life.  He brought an abundance of empathy, he encouraged the hearts of many he came in contact with, he challenged others to act for good and he modeled a better way for others to emulate. Episode 6 of...

Episode 5- Leadership Guiding Principles in the Global Pandemic. Moving From a Room Called Fear, to a Room Called Hope. In Episode 5 of The Dr. John Bedker Leadership Podcast, Dr. John Bedker reviews the recent article from the McKinsey Quarterly, authored by two Stanford Professors, Hayagreeva Rao and Robert Sutton.  The article acts as an important tool for leaders, a checklist.  The checklist o...

Episode 4- Doing the right thing…When Leaders cannot do anything else. Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, Director for European Affairs for the National Security Council, retires. Episode 4 of The Dr. John Bedker Leadership Podcastt details another instance where a leader chooses the good of the military service over his individual life as a military officer to bring the bullying and intimidati...

Episode 3- “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights…”   Well, maybe not may be the more accurate statement…leaderships role in seeking a more perfect union. During this 4th of July 2020 holiday, Episode 3 of The Dr. John Bedker Leadership Podcast takes the Declaration of Independence preamble an...

Episode 2- The Removal of Captain Brett Cozier, United States Navy, from Command of the Nuclear Aircraft Carrier, USS Theodore Roosevelt. A Story of Service to Others Over Self. Episode 2 of The Dr. John Bedker Leadership Podcast informs the listener of the events surrounding Captain Brett Crozier’s removal from command. Captain Crozier was the Commanding Officer of the United States nuclear aircr...

Episode 1- Fintan O’Toole shares a European view of President Donald Trump. How the words of the President of the United States shape the world’s view of America. Episode 1 of The Dr. John Bedker Leadership Podcast shares a fact-based review of the leadership practices of the President of the United States.  Fintan O’Toole, a celebrated Irish journalist writes of the world’s view of America during...