Disrupt Yourself Podcast with Whitney Johnson (Whitney Johnson)

Constraints.

For most of us, just hearing this word evokes a negative response. Limitations. Restrictions. A cage that prevents us from spreading our wings.

However, if you’re familiar with the accelerants of disruption, you’ll know that Accelerant #3—Embrace Constraints—will be one of your finest friends if you are really serious about growth. To build momentum toward the life you dream of, you need resistance. You need structure. And constraints provide both.

Full Episode & Blog Post: https://whitneyjohnson.com/embrace-constraints

Disruption helps us grow, stretching and developing us in ways that comfort cannot. Our guest this episode, Zaza Pachulia, is a great example of this truth. He is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and former professional basketball player. Born in Georgia, when it was still part of the U.S.S.R., Zaza moved to Turkey to play basketball when he was just 14. A year later, he made the Turkish national team and became one of the youngest players ever in the Euro League. And at 19, he was drafted into the NBA.

Zaza played for Orlando Magic, the Milwaukee Bucks, the Atlanta Hawks, the Dallas Mavericks, the Golden State Warriors, and the Detroit Pistons. He was with the Warriors in 2017, 2018, when they won back to back NBA championships.

In addition to his experience as a professional athlete, he owns two hotels in his hometown of Tbilisi, Georgia, the nation's capital. He's a partner and brand ambassador for Crosti, an athletic shoe company, he's the partner of a real estate development firm, and runs the Zaza Pachulia Basketball Academy in Tbilisi for nearly a 1,000 young people from the ages of 5 to 20.

In 2019, Zaza retired from playing basketball and is now exploring the business side of the Warriors organization, searching for his next learning curve leap.

For a complete transcript and links from this episode, please visit

http://www.whitneyjohnson.com/zaza-pachulia

In this episode, we are joined by John Mackey. In 1980 he co-founded small supermarket in Austin, Texas. Over the years the company has grown a bit. It now has more than 500 stores in North America and seven in the United Kingdom. You may have heard of it. It’s called Whole Foods. In 2017, the company was acquired by Amazon for $13.7 billion.

We discuss what it means to be a conscious leader and how this shows up in everyday leadership. John and I explore how outside events can push us to a new s curve and how those unexpected moments can actually help us grow and mature. John shares how his marriage has made him the man he is today and offers advice to others trying to practice conscious leadership.

For a complete transcript and links from this episode, please visit: http://www.whitneyjohnson.com/john-mackey/

For almost as long as humans have been using coins and dollars to trade and grow, we’ve also been using them as weapons. 

It’s almost a magical thing, one thing that can be traded for anything you want. And the people in charge of that currency control the magic. The idea of a common currency is intertwined in just about every facet of our lives, up to the very top on Capitol Hill. It seems natural that someone should be in charge of this huge power.

But this is where a cryptocurrency butts in and says, why does anyone have to be in charge? Today we’re going to focus on the practical promise of this emerging tech with Jaime Leverton, CEO of Hut 8. Practical, like two billion unbanked people getting access to a stable bank account. Hut 8 is one of the largest crypto mining operations today, and we’ll hear from Jaime how her background in everything from IBM to Blackberry enabled her to take the lead on this new project. 

There’s a saying that curiosity killed the cat. Have you ever seen a cat investigate a glass you left on the countertop? Or knock over a shelf of books while they try to perch on top? 

There’s something to admire in that attitude, that kind of pure, unabashed curiosity.

You’ll find Diana Kander to be that same kind of curious. A self-described serial entrepreneur, she played and continues to play a vital role in building up the Kansas City economic area. Today, she’s packaged what she’s learned from pitching those businesses, and the case studies of businesses who landed the impossible pitch, into a book – called “Go Big Or Go Home - 5 Ways to Create a Customer Experience That Will Close the Deal.”

Were we born with our instincts, or were they imprinted on us as at an early age? How do turtles know to lay their eggs in the exact spot they themselves were hatched? It's part of a field called evolutionary psychology -- evolving in ways that influence our behaviors as much as whether or not we walk on two legs.

Shade Zahrai is a master of unpacking that hindbrain thinking. Shade is a behavioral strategist and leadership coach, and the founder of Influenceo Global Inc, where she works to strengthen the leadership of companies from Microsoft to McDonalds.

With one-point-two million followers on Instagram and almost a million on Youtube, Shade’s bringing her unique take on building confidence and team compatibility to new audiences.

How many of us have mastered the skill of looking busy, at some point in our professional lives? It’s an art, really – moving from one tab to another with lightspeed, peering at the screen and making that face that you think communicates determination, drive, intent. 

Our guest today says that it’s nothing to feel bad about. When a portion of the population moved from factories to cubicles, they still brought that factory-floor mentality with them. Look good in front of the boss, keep working, don’t stop moving. Cal Newport calls this pseudo-productivity – the art of looking busy.

Cal says there’s a way out, though. He calls it Slow Productivity – also the title of his new book, out now. How can we accomplish our dreams without the emotional and physical burnout that so many industries seem to take for granted?

When we talk about robots, machines, artificial intelligence, it’s usually within the context of something theorists call the singularity. That’s the moment when AI figures out how to upgrade itself, and leaves us in the dust. After all, it can learn a library in an instant – the AI doesn’t need to stop for a snack and a nap. 

In the world of the Terminator, it took Skynet a single day to become self-aware, destroy most of human life, and then send Arnold back in time to make sure no one could stop it.

But in the end, The Terminator is one person’s vision of the future – a vision that’s also designed to sell well at the box office. Isn’t it just as possible to write a different version?

Our guest today is spending his time doing just that. Paul Allen, the co-founder and former CEO of Ancestry.com, is asking instead – what if we saw AI as an ally, not an arms race? With his new venture, Soar, Paul is writing a different story, one where the robots aren’t sent back in time to strip away our humanity, but rather – they exemplify everything that’s unique about being human.

For all the credit Superman gets, for being the Man of Steel, do you think he ever cries? When he’s Clark Kent, working at the paper, do you think Superman’s ever broken down in a bathroom stall?

When he’s flying folks out of a burning building, it’s easy to forget that his parents are dead, his home is dust and the only family he has wants him dead. All we see is the Man of Steel.

For 45 years, James Dixon only showed others what they wanted to see. What they didn’t see, was his prosthetic leg that he had kept hidden all that time. Until he decided to show them.

Today, James is out with a book about his experience, titled Absolute Motivation. From team lead at General Motors to firing up Fortune 500 crowds, James is in the business of building people up. That’s only after he learned to build himself up, too.

When Saul Kaplan produced his carefully compiled spreadsheet of how he planned to host a two day summit on innovation, the last thing he expected his friend to do was tear the spreadsheet to pieces—literally.

 His friend was none other than Richard Saul Wurman, the founder of TED, so his feedback was not something Saul could take lightly. This summit was his dream. After years of being a consultant and looking at innovation from the top-down, he knew that he wanted to put on an event that focused on innovation from the bottom-up—what Saul referred to as a “human-centered design.” He had planned everything, from how they would scale from the nano to the cosmic, but the feedback from Richard was blunt and to the point: “You have an awful lot to learn, Kaplan, about what organic engagement and connection is…Design something that you’re interested in, that you can learn from, and then allow other people to participate in that by doing it openly and transparently.”

In many ways, that has become the touchpoint of the annual Business Innovation Factory (BIF) summit. Organic engagement and connection permeate each session, and the best talks are those that solve problems in the real world and discuss the human experience.

Join us as we discuss his advice for anyone planning a conference or summit, what it means to “Cause a RCUS,” and how he continually finds ways to reinvent himself.

Show notes and links - https://whitneyjohnson.com/saul-kaplan

Today, we’ve got a special episode, one of my personal heroes––Alan Mulally.

You’ve probably sat in a Boeing 777 before. He was the chief engineer on that plane. You might have a Ford sitting out in your driveway. He’s the reason Ford was the only major American car company that didn’t take a bailout in 2008.

Alan Mulally has sat in many seats — President and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, President and CEO of Ford — but you have to hear it from him personally, how you put together four million plane parts, hundreds of thousands of employees and even more shareholders, to create an airplane that can deliver people point-to-point, non-stop, halfway around the world. Funnily enough, it all comes down to love.

Link to Alan's Working Together Principles

P.S. We just heard from John Coe, one of our listeners who said, "Your conversation with Alan gave me GOOSEBUMPS. Whoa! He has a greater understanding of human dynamics than just anybody alive today...Perhaps your all time best."

Ask any comedian what the hardest part of their job is, and they’ll probably tell you it’s being the second act in a show where the person before you just brought the house down. Suddenly you’re backstage, doubting your material, listening to this thunderous applause and wondering if you can even get close to that.

It’s not just a comedian’s dilemma – we all experience this follow-on problem at one point or another. How do you put your own stamp on things, and do so… with confidence? Our guest today has been through that ringer at one of the highest levels, as the second CEO after the company’s co-founder and original leader. Matt Sharrers is the former CEO and current executive chairman of SBI, a B2B firm dedicated to, as Matt says, “helping you sell more stuff.”

And today, he’s out with a new book, aptly titled “The Second CEO: Accelerating Scale When Following The Founder.” What can we learn from Matt’s journey, not just in growing the business, but growing as a person, too?

When we talk about disrupting yourself, I typically advise that you look before you leap. Make a planned exit, cushion the landing, prepare for the change. But that is not the route Ali Brown took.

After two years at a small marketing firm, she knew she was undervalued. She had so much more to give! Opportunities to move up were limited, and to top it all off, there wasn’t even a women’s bathroom! When a freelance marketer casually mentioned to her that he thought she had the skills to be a freelance copywriter, Ali started asking questions. What’s a freelancer? And, more importantly, can I take you out for coffee to learn more?

Join us as we discuss how Ali went from a simple email list to business consultant, how you can find your lane in life and the types of risk worth taking. Listen on the player below, or download the episode on iTunes. And please, let me know what you think of this episode. Can you relate to Ali? Have you found your lane?

Complete show notes and links at https://whitneyjohnson.com/ali-brown

Leaping to a new S-Curve of learning can be an overwhelming experience. As we transition from being at the top of our field into a new and less experienced trajectory, our emotions and anxieties can get the best of us. Our guest this week believes science, specifically the discipline of rocket science, can help us better navigate personal and professional disruption. Ozan Varol is a rocket scientist turned award-winning law professor and bestselling author. A renowned professor, author, and speaker, Ozan writes and speaks often about creativity and critical thinking.

He's authored many book chapters and law review articles, and now he has a new book: Think Like a Rocket Scientist: Simple Strategies You Can Use to Make Giant Leaps in Work and Life.

In this episode we learn how Ozan stays attune to his mind and body, sensing when it is time to disrupt. He shares how important it is to see yourself through a forgiving lens and discusses the importance of failure in the trajectory of success.

For a complete transcript and links from this episode, please visit https://whitneyjohnson.com/ozan-varol.

Tom Peters has walked many, many paths in life, more than many of us can claim. He's been a Navy Seabee overseas in Vietnam, a White House advisor, a McKinsey consultant, even a PBS show host. You might know him as the author of the 80s management bestseller, "In Search of Excellence."

Recently, Tom had the idea to start up a podcast of his own, and asked our host Whitney to be his first guest. Tom even had a name for the podcast ready: "Extreme Humanism," after another of his books. The two friends talked in front of microphones for over an hour, and then Tom retired, deservedly so.

With Tom's permission, we're happy to polish up that tape and present a bonus episode of Disrupt Yourself, one where Whitney actually won't be doing the interviewing. Join us (and Whitney's daughter, Miranda!) for a thoughtful dialogue about drawing maps to nowhere, five-star generals in the Indian military, and everything in between.

Coaching often involves speaking a truth the other person doesn’t really want to hear. Even when we’re lost for direction, being pointed in the right way can feel like this indictment on being lost in the first place.

But a lot of clients will describe this idea of the unlock – the a-ha – when that self-doubting voice fades, and the voice of the coach comes into focus. 

How can we prime ourselves to receive these messages? Our guests today have a new book out on exactly that question. Jacquelyn Lane and Scott Osman are co-authors of Becoming Coachable, along with Marshall Goldsmith. The book was borne out of the 100 Coaches agency, which Scott co-founded with Marshall.

So what does becoming coachable actually look like?

To say that Karen Beattie is comfortable with change is a bit of an understatement.

Her childhood was nomadic, with her father’s job taking her family to such diverse places as Trinidad, the Caribbean, Libya, Nigeria, United Arab Emirates, and the Philippines. It was not unusual for her father to come home and say, “We’re moving to a different country.” And Karen loved it.

It hasn’t been easy; Karen compares her professional life to a roller coaster. Through it all, Karen has found that being comfortable with change has given her opportunities she never would have dreamed of as a kid.

“[W]hat I did was I made a choice. Yes, do I want this. It’s going to be hard. So I intentionally stepped into it.”

Join us as we delve into Karen’s early career, her pursuit of flexibility and freedom, and how she took the leap for the right kind of risk.

Complete Show Notes and Links - https://whitneyjohnson.com/karen-beattie

It’s okay to end up in a place you didn’t expect. Just ask Eric Schurenberg. As with most of our guests, Eric’s path was not a linear one. His post-collegiate occupation was acting, but after finding some success he realized that the lifestyle no longer matched his ideals. Pivoting, he went back to school and launched himself into the world of journalism. His career continued to be punctuated by strategic pivots, with the end result being that Eric is now the CEO of Mansueto Ventures, the media holding company that is home to Inc. and Fast Company.

I’m excited for you to hear more about Eric’s incredible journey, as well as the amazing stories of others who have gone before. Hopefully, this will serve as a reminder: as you take the right risks and play where no one is playing, you’ll figure things out as you go, and it’s okay to end up in a place you didn’t expect.

Complete Show Notes and Links: https://whitneyjohnson.com/eric-schurenberg

"Fear of Missing Out" or "FOMO" is wired into our brains for a reason. When our ancestors flocked to greener pastures, it was advantageous to follow. FOMO can inform modern, strategic decisions as well, but Patrick McGinnis says we should be vigilant against its more dangerous sibling, FOBO: "Fear of Better Options."

This is a kind of decision paralysis that's catastrophic for personal well-being and companies. Patrick has studied it closely. After all, he invented the term "FOMO" back in 2004, written multiple books on the topic, and hosts the podcast FOMO Sapiens.

He and Whitney discuss how the breakneck speed of 21st century FOMO can trick us into "fear-based decision making," and why outsourcing low-stakes choices to Siri or a coin flip can be incredibly liberating.

Conflict is everywhere. Even in "normal" times, it's all around us. And it is inherent in the process of climbing an S-curve of learning. There will be challenges, there will be friction. Conflict is a constraint, so what do you do with that conflict? Does it stop you or does it become a tool of creation? Dr. Jen Goldman-Wetzler has an answer. She has the answer. She is the author of the new book, Optimal Outcomes: Free Yourself from Conflict at Work, at Home and in Life, which was recently named as a Financial Times Book of the Month.

Show notes and complete transcript available at https://whitneyjohnson.com/podcast

Our guest today is Angela Blanchard, a globally recognized expert practitioner in community development, disaster recovery, and effective long-term integration for immigrants and refugees.

It may be sad to think about, but we have culturally become accustomed to seeing the immediate aftermath of natural disasters. Dramatic visuals of fleeing citizens, devastated buildings, and heroic rescues fill social media feeds for the days immediately following the unthinkable.

Join us as we discuss the measure of a great city, the concept of “No one’s coming,” and how when everything is lost we can be the ones to stand in the gap and stabilize those who have been disrupted in unthinkable ways.

Full Show Notes and Transcript - https://whitneyjohnson.com/angela-blanchard

There’s an allure around the idea of sales. It’s the same allure they packaged so neatly in the show Mad Men, all confidence and charisma. But take it from the other perspective – have you ever had such a pushy car salesman, that you just left the lot?

Our guest today says that’s because charisma isn’t a sales strategy. There’s no room for building trust in your solution when you’re focused on the close. Scott K. Edinger is a sales consultant to Fortune 50 companies, including AT&T, and he’s out with a new book – The Growth Leader. With such a disconnect from their company leaders, Scott says, sales teams are left to fend for themselves in their calls with clients.

So how do you bridge the gap between the sales department and the C-suite? 

Jumping to a new S Curve is hardest when your identity hangs in the balance. This happens often with professional athletes and members of the military who have trained their entire life for one job ... until it's gone.

Our guest this week is Angela Ruggiero, one of the greatest ice hockey players in the world. She has represented the U.S. at four Olympic games, brought home multiple medals (including the gold), and served on the International Olympic Committee. But one of the greatest challenges of her life was reinventing herself after all that came to an end. A lot of soul-searching and more hard work resulted in the Sports Innovation Lab, a market research firm devoted to understanding 21st century fandom.

Angela shares the hard lessons about teamwork she learned on the ice, the time she gave herself permission to walk away from hockey (and eventually return), why CEOs must get used to hearing "no," and the advice her father gave her as a young player that informs every decision she makes to this day.

Israel and Palestine.

Northern Ireland.

Colombia.

Libya.

These are more than just countries to Donna Hicks. Notorious for their political upheaval and turmoil, within their borders, Donna has sat between sworn enemies and dared to help them find common ground. Wherever there is an “intractable conflict” in the world, Donna and her team work diligently to facilitate dialogue between the disparate parties and find ways for them to work together. It’s far from easy, but over the past 25 years, Donna has noticed a pattern emerge, helping her achieve better results with each conversation.

I can’t wait for you to hear one of Donna’s favorite stories from her time in Libya. It gives me hope that even when things look dark - when we choose to respect the dignity of others and connect with each other there will always be a light at the end of the tunnel.

For links from this episode and full show notes, visit https://whitneyjohnson.com/donna-hicks

Kare Anderson is an Emmy award-winning former journalist for NBC and the Wall Street Journal, as well as the author of “Mutuality Matters,” which was inspired by her TED talk “The Web of Humanity: Become an Opportunity Maker.” She believes passionately that individuals need to connect and make “unexpected allies,” where it’s okay to strongly disagree about some issues but still come to trust one another through shared interests. This mutuality allows us to find and recognize our strengths while interacting with those that have complementary skills. The more we interact and work together, the stronger we all become.

Kare inspired me, and I hope she inspires you, too. Click here to download the complete transcript of our conversation.

Attention is the real currency of all advertising. It’s how many seconds they can keep your eyes glued on whatever billboard or TV ad is in front of you at that moment. And then there’s the science of why exactly it caught your attention, in the first place.

Advertisers represent this fascinating intersection of business and psychology, so today we want to find out what we can glean from this unique industry. 

Today we're joined by Sam Horn, CEO and founder of the Intrigue Agency, where she helps brands craft their communication. She’s also an author focusing on how we can navigate conflict in our everyday lives, including Tongue Fu and Sam’s latest, Talking on Eggshells.

Our guest today Darrell Rigby, is an expert in the philosophy called Agile. According to Darrell, “Agile always begins thinking from the customer backward. What is the customer’s problem? What is the customer’s dilemma?” Basically, identify the issue and solve for it. Agile, when practiced correctly, is like an operational superpower - helping employees and organizations outperform their capabilities and circumstances. Darrell knows this superpower better than most.

Darrell is also a consummate disruptor, but his story is unique. in He discovered a way to disrupt and continue to grow all while staying at the same company for four decades! In this episode, Darrell shatters every preconceived notion about needing to leave your organization in order to disrupt yourself.

Darrell’s research is widely published in the business pages of many U.S. and international publications, including The Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, and The Financial Times. He is a frequent speaker and author on strategy issues, including Agile Innovation, BothBrainR innovation, Open-Market Innovation, Winning in Turbulence, and Omnichannel Retailing. Darrell has been a keynote speaker at global business conferences, and has made media appearances on CNN Moneyline, CNBC, NPR, and Bloomberg

We are grateful to have Darrell with us today and are excited to share his story with you.

For a complete transcript and links from this episode, please visit

http://www.whitneyjohnson.com/darrell-rigby/

Hard work is a pillar of any success, but it doesn't always have to feel so hard. Howard Morgan started his first company at 13 years old. Today it generates $130 million a year, and he hasn't slowed down.

But Howard's joyful optimism around hard work is what sets him apart. It was instilled in him at a young age by his grandfather and a rich family life.

Howard shares inspiring stories from his career, building multiple businesses, and his fascinating time settling labor disputes. His work illustrates how fairness and respect are much more productive than "taking sides" — sage advice for crucial conversations in any context.

His wisdom around letting the headlines be about others is essential listening for anyone who manages (or is part of) a team. Howard also warns against why investing in "overhead" is risky and often misguided.

We all have jobs to pay the bills, but what is your purpose? And what's your company's purpose? Leena Nair asks these questions every day. She's the chief human resources officer at Unilever. She's also the first female, first Asian, and youngest CHRO in the company's history. "Companies with purpose last. And people with purpose thrive," Leena explains. And she has the data to back it up. Ensuring the well-being of 150,000 employees is a monumental endeavor, but her success stems from spending time with people to understand their motivations. And she rejects outdated business models that only view employees as a cost, rather than a company's greatest asset. Leena's made huge investments in purpose workshops and mental health programs. It's not only good for people; it's good for the bottom line, too. "For every $1 I invest in human well-being, we get $2.50 back." Whitney and Leena discuss why raising your hand for the most difficult jobs is one of the most important things you can do. "When was the last time you did something for the first time in your life? That's the last time you grew." We're conducting a quick, anonymous survey to understand our audience better! It takes less than 1 minute, and is enormously helpful. Take it here: href="https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DisruptYourselfPodcast2021" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DisruptYourselfPodcast2021&source=gmail&ust=1632857829554000&usg=AFQjCNHNyY4m1QsTDalKt01s9GQDbqQ9OQ">https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DisruptYourselfPodcast2021

Anxiety isn’t bad….it’s just data. For some it can even serve as a catalyst, driving them to achieve. Morra Aarons-Mele is the founder of the communications firm Women Online, and hosts the award-winning Anxious Achiever podcast for LinkedIn Presents. Her book, The Anxious Achiever: Turn Your Biggest Fears into Your Leadership Superpower, is out next month. Morra would like to put an end to the demonizing of anxiety, and her argument is pretty compelling.

This week we’ve got a special episode, a longer one than we normally do. But when you have an opportunity, to talk to the person who built the Rotman School of Management into the powerhouse it is today, you have to use every minute you get.

 Roger L. Martin was told that the Toronto’s Rotman School wasn’t worth his time, that it was a quote – cesspool of intrigue. Roger himself will say that he didn’t do much in his 15 years as dean, just tinkering and prodding. He’s a bit of an understated enigma, as you’ll soon find out. But when Rotman’s prestige today ranks up there with Stanford and Harvard, you can’t really argue with his results. 

 There’s so much to mine in this conversation, we thought it would be a shame to cut it down and fit it within our normal episode length. If you have the time, I’d love for you to give it more than just one listen.

So much of what we talk about on here is change – navigating change, embracing change, creating change. I think it’s fair to say that if you’re listening, change of some form is on your mind. We’re no strangers when it comes to figuring out how to get from A to B.

But what happens when we have to change… how we’re changing? What happens when we plateau with our progress, and the old models of learning just aren’t sticking anymore? What does jumping to that new S Curve look like?

That’s where our guest today comes in. Eduardo Briceno is the co-founder of Mindset Works, a firm dedicated to bringing Carol Dweck’s growth mindset to workplaces world-wide. He’s out now with The Performance Paradox, a book dedicated to that question of changing how you’re changing.

From Caracas, Venezuela to the Stanford Business School, Eduardo has navigated all kinds of change, even a fear of public speaking. So what do we have to learn from him?

In anticipation of the re-release of my book, Disrupt Yourself with Harvard Business Press on November 12, 2019, we are continuing our look at the seven-point framework of personal disruption. Today, we will be examining accelerant number three - embrace constraints.

This accelerant can be tricky for people at first. It’s tricky because we think we need limitless resources to be successful. We think we can’t launch that company until we have an investor with deep pockets or think we can’t start that project until we have 4-hour blocks of time available to really focus. We somehow believe that in order to create the life we want to create we need to have nothing but blue skies and rainbows ahead. But in reality, embracing constraints - whether they be lack of time or money or expertise - can actually help us gain momentum more quickly as they force us to bootstrap and focus on what is essential. 

Our guest today is an expert in embracing constraints - Jonathan Mendonsa. Jonathan is the co-host of the popular Choose FI podcast and co-author of the new book Choose FI: Your Blueprint to Financial Independence.

Risk is all around us. It’s baked into everything we do, into every day of our lives, a feeling that danger – and loss – lurks around every corner. It’s even baked into our brains, back when we were scanning every branch and every bush for something that wanted to eat us. So now that our world is much more than just the forest floor, how are we managing modern-day risk?

This July 4th weekend, we’re celebrating almost 250 years of America’s history – and how often the country took on all kinds of risks, and came out on top. In that spirit, I wanted to bring back a conversation I had with one of our country’s leading scholars on risk management. General Stanley McChrystal led special operations in Iraq during the 2000s. Later that decade he was put in charge of all forces in Afghanistan. When we spoke, the retired four-star general had just released his book “Risk: A User’s Guide.”

So how can we approach risk management in our own lives? How can we keep an eye out for danger, without letting the fear overwhelm us? Well, the general has some thoughts, and you’d be surprised who the real enemy is. It might just be… ourselves. 

A silly little thing that takes over the world—to me, this is the simplest definition of a disruptor. My guest today is Becky Douglas, and her “silly little thing,” which began at her kitchen table with a handful of friends, has gone on to change the lives of thousands of individuals in India and beyond.  

After a family tragedy disrupted her life, Becky, a mother of nine children, found herself in India on the path to adopting a beloved tenth child. While there she was appalled to see the prevalence of beggars on the street, due in large part to those with leprosy being shunned and having no other avenue for survival. Becky had assumed, as many Americans do, that leprosy was no longer a problem in the world, but after only ten days in India, Becky knew that somebody needed to do something to help. 

“When I got home I couldn’t sleep. Those images just haunted me at night. And I remember, I just kept thinking, gosh, why doesn’t somebody do something? Are there really millions of people that live this way? So finally when…a night after no sleep, I thought, we were somebody. Do something.” 

And “do something” she did. Becky started Rising Star Outreach to serve the leprosy-affected of India, and, despite not even knowing how to use email at the time, Becky and her friends managed to start something that has gone on to help 30,000 people in 62 leper colonies in less than twenty years. 

That’s disruption. A silly little thing that changed many, many, worlds.

Join me as I listen to Becky explain the amazing path her organization blazed, from a seat at her kitchen table clear to the halls of the UN. Becky’s belief that “change Is possible” shines throughout her story, and as she was willing to expand and grow her talents to meet the demands of the situation she truly became someone able to do something.

Jillian Johnsrud is an author, blogger, podcaster, and coach who covers personal finance. But she’s not just providing stock tips and savings plans. Jillian wants us to rethink our relationship to money itself.

This passion is personal for her. When she and her family encountered major medical and student debt, she began to study how the language of finance is passed down – often detrimentally – from one generation to the next.

Despite major setbacks, Jillian and her family are now financially independent, and it’s her mission to help others do the same. She puts herself out there online every day, which inevitably invites some detractors. That’s what her new book is about. It’s called “Fire the Haters,” and it’s a study on how to keep online discourse productive, and when to ignore bad-faith arguments.

When sales are down and overhead costs are skyrocketing, what’s the instinct? Cut costs, maybe? Fire some folks? Trim down, get leaner?

Zeynep Ton says that instinct is shortsighted. It’s outdated. More than just old, it’s a deadly cycle, because cutting costs continues to come at the expense of the foundational unit – the employee. Zeynep is a professor at MIT’s Sloan School of Business, and her new book – The Case for Good Jobs – is out next month. By turning almost 40 years of Jack Welch-ian thinking on its head, Zeynep builds the argument that the only way to grow in those crucible moments is to spend more – on the employee.

Shortsightedness will kill us, Zeynep says. Nothing beats a good job.

Playing to your distinctive strengths is vital to personal disruption. We covered this accelerant in episode 120, and I hope you’ve taken the time to consider your own “superpower.” Today’s episode is focused on distinctive strengths, but with a bit of a twist—instead of focusing on your own, we’re going to discuss the inherent value of the distinctive strengths of others.

My guest today is CV Harquail, author, consultant, speaker, and self-proclaimed “change agent” whose life’s mission is to create a world in which all people flourish. CV wants to help leaders think differently about the relationships between business outcomes, organizations, and the individuals that inhabit the systems we create. Her new book, Feminism: A Key Idea in Business and Society, examines the role that feminism could and should play in the organizations and businesses.

This episode is the second part of a seven-episode series celebrating the re-release of Disrupt Yourself by Harvard Business Press on November 12, 2019.

Keith Krach collects people.

It’s not that he’s a comic book villain, mind you—Keith simply has a knack for finding people, discovering what they’re interested in, and building a team from that connection. Over the past ten years at DocuSign he has asked over 300 people to be on the Advisory Board (an unsually large number), but his reasoning is sound: why not? 

Creating genius is certainly familiar territory for Keith. In college, he earned an internship opportunity at GM, and went on to participate in their scholarship program at Harvard Business School. Finding leadership and team building to be his passions, Keith climbed the ladder at GM for a decade before moving on to Silicon Valley and opportunities to work in the C-suite. He is now the Chairman and former CEO of DocuSign, and co-founder and former CEO of Ariba. Along the way, he has always paid diligent attention to attracting and retaining the right talent.

More information and links from the episode available at https://whitneyjohnson.com/keith-krach

When’s the last time you felt out of place? I’m sure a lot of us have sat with that feeling, whether that’s professionally or personally. It can hit you just as easily in a boardroom meeting as when you’re out with friends.

So now that you feel like an alien that’s crash-landed, what do you do? Our guest today has built his career around finding community for these so-called “black sheep.” Peter Sims is a former corporate investor who became disillusioned with the high-powered world of finance and left to form his own creative firm – appropriately named, Black Sheep.

It’s also the name of his new book, out in May, subtitled The Quest To Be Human In An Inhuman Time.

What can we take away from Peter’s journey, to help us better navigate those moments when you feel the need to find a new tribe?

For most graduates, a steady job is a dream come true (bonus points if it comes with good pay). When Shachar Orren completed her two-year mandatory service in the Israeli army, her parents thought she had achieved that dream: she was offered a full-time job working in military intelligence, with steady work, excellent compensation, and a healthy dose of prestige.                                                

She would be crazy to leave…right?

But when a job popped up at her favorite magazine, Shachar leapt at the chance to become what she had wanted to be since she was a little girl—a writer. Despite conventional wisdom saying that she would be better off staying in military intelligence, Shachar knew that the best road to happiness was the one right in front of her.

For complete show notes and links from this episode, visit https://whitneyjohnson.com/shachar-orren

Victor Frankl once said, “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In that response lies our growth and freedom”. Our guest this week seeks to help us optimize that space. Carol Kauffman, founder of the Institute of Coaching at Harvard Medical School, and co-author of the soon to be released Real-Time Leadership: Find Your Winning Moves When the Stakes Are High, joins us to talk about the new book, her super power, and so much more! 

As I say at the beginning of every episode, I think, write, speak, and live all things disruption. I take this responsibility very seriously, so while each week I encourage you to disrupt yourself I am also looking for ways to disrupt myself.

Since I spend each podcast interviewing guests, my personal journey is revealed to you in drips and drabs, and periodically I like to turn on the water hose and let you know how I’m really doing, what I’m learning, and where I am on my own learning curve.

Today’s episode revolves around the question that you, as my audience, have asked me in person, tweeted online, or messaged me on LinkedIn. With me is Macy Robison, my fearless podcast manager and producer, who will be asking the questions and contributing some of her own insights along the way.

For links from today's episode and the full show notes, visit http://whitneyjohnson.com/qa-85

Being a leader and teaching leadership are two very different things. Harry Kraemer found this out when he jumped S-curves later in life.

Harry is the former chairman and CEO of Baxter International, a $12 billion global healthcare company. But more importantly for this conversation, he now teaches leadership at Northwestern University.

Harry explains the importance of self-reflection and genuine humility, and identifies the nature of "true self-confidence." It's not about taking risks or getting up in front of people. By contrast, true confidence is a leader's ability to say "I don't know."

Harry and Whitney discuss the qualities that make leaders both effective and relatable, and why it's never OK to say, "I don't know where you're coming from."

Harry's most recent bestselling book is titled: Your 168: Finding Purpose and Satisfaction in a Values-Based Life.

You know that little bright red wagon, with the long front handle? Maybe, you might have even sat in one, careening down a hill. The wagon, and the company that makes them, is called Radio Flyer. 

Over a hundred years since that first stamped metal wagon, that same company now makes a Radio Flyer Tesla S for Kids, in that same bright red. Right next to the classic wagon on their website, you can now buy Radio Flyer e-bikes, Radio Flyer go-karts, even a Radio Flyer trampoline.

Behind the company’s sustained success is one family – the Pasins. Three generations have sat behind the wheel of Radio Flyer, starting with Antonio Pasin in 1917, all the way to Antonio’s grandson, Robert. Robert became Chief Wagon Officer at Radio Flyer when he was just 27, taking on the burden of legacy. He joins us this week to talk about turning around a floundering family company, and remembering why you're in the business to begin with.

What does it mean to have a friend? What does it mean to be a friend?

Someone you can rely on. Someone who understands you, not just the “you” that you project into the world. A friend is someone who knows they can rely on you, too. 

How many times a week, a day, do you lean on your friends when you feel like you can’t stand on your own?

Our guest today has built his career on the power of those friends – and being a friend, too. Ken Woolley is the founder of Extra Space Storage, those ubiquitous blocky buildings you always see from the highway. He’s managed airlines, developed apartments, even flipped vintage cars. But to hear him say it, none of it would be possible without that true spark of trust that comes from the friendships he’s built.

If your company has too many meetings, this week's episode is a must-listen.

Email, Slack, and Zoom are technologies built to make us more productive. But when we use meetings and messages to solve all our problems, it leaves little time to actually get work done.

This is "collaboration overload." Our guest Rob Cross, who studies this phenomenon, says that collaborative demands on workers have risen 50% in the last decade, yet the enormous cost (time, money, and employee well-being) is often invisible to organizations. "If anything else had increased 50%, a CEO would be all over it," he says.

But tech tools are not the enemy, Rob explains. The culture and ground rules about their use (which come from the top!) are the culprit. His book, "Beyond Collaboration Overload," is filled with data and personal interviews to back it up.

In this week's discussion, Rob lays out his extraordinary research showing how not all tasks are equivalent when collaboration is involved, and why our culture of always "jumping in" to solve problems probably makes them worse. He also makes the case for a new executive position — Chief Collaboration Officer — who is responsible for empowering great teamwork, and rooting out dysfunction.

We're conducting a quick, anonymous survey to understand our audience better! It takes less than 1 minute, and is enormously helpful. Take it here: 

Organizational change can be a disorienting experience. We all have bristled against it at one time or another, unnerved by the unknown. However, leaning into change and following the path of disruption can be a liminal moment for organizations and the individuals involved. Our guest this week, a self-described change junkie, knows all to well the discomfort and rewards of disruption.

Michelle McKenna is currently the Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer for the NFL. She is responsible for their technology strategy, shared service delivery and management of the league’s technology activities. 

In this episode we learn the benefits of asking why we do it this way and how important it is to never stop innovating. Michelle offers an inside take on producing the 2020 NFL Draft and previews the future of data driven decision making for players and coaches.

For a complete transcript and links from this episode, please visit https://whitneyjohnson.com/Michelle-McKenna

Hybrid offices. Work-from-home. Unlimited vacation. Parental and sick leave. Diversity, equity, and inclusion. The scrutiny of company culture has intensified during the pandemic as millions ask: Is there a better way to work?

Johnny C. Taylor set out to write a book about this in March 2020 when we all expected a 2-3 week "pause" in normalcy. Two years of pandemic later, the thesis of his book transformed.

RESET: A Leader’s Guide to Work in an Age of Upheaval is Johnny's analysis of a radical post-COVID re-think. But he's not just an observer.

Johnny is a lawyer, longtime HR pro, and currently the CEO of the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM), an organization that educates and advises HR professionals. And while HR was previously viewed as the team to nag about payroll and benefits, Johnny says they've become the "emotional first responders" in a time of unprecedented uncertainty.

Johnny explains what workers want and expect from companies in 2022, the power of the perfect CHRO + CEO partnership, and why Diversity & Inclusion efforts require more than passionate good intentions. He also shares how firing one employee long ago changed his life forever.

My guest today is Marcus Buckingham, Best-selling author and the Head of ADP Research, People + Performance. Marcus spent almost twenty years at Gallup, and recently released Nine Lies About Work: A Freethinking Leader’s Guide to the Real World, which he co-wrote with Ashley Goodall of Cisco. His vast experience, applicable knowledge, and grounded wisdom make him a wonderful guest for this podcast.

Join us as we discuss the lies that we’ve been told about leadership, the myth of “high potential” and “low potential” people, and how performance reviews should be changed to make them effective (which they usually aren’t).

Show Notes: https://whitneyjohnson.com/marcus-buckingham

When we talk about starting a new S-curve, few exemplify this better than Jacqueline Novogratz. She upended her successful career in international banking to focus on addressing global poverty through the impact investment organization Acumen. Her journey is extraordinary, inspiring, and at times heartbreaking.

Jacqueline and Whitney talk about what it takes to have a "moral imagination," the foundational work of building a better world. As she puts it, "the opposite of poverty isn't wealth, it's dignity."

Jacqueline explains why top-down and bottom-up solutions lack the nuance to effect lasting change, and how she learned to leverage her privilege, rather than distance herself from it. And when extreme poverty and violence make everything feel futile, Jacqueline reminds us to look for beauty wherever we can find it. "Beauty reminds us why we're here to do the hard work."

We don't give much thought to consumer packaging — the "stuff" that all our stuff comes in. But the packaging industry has a massive influence on how we perceive products and the companies that make them. It also plays a huge role in what we’re doing to our environment.

Wes Carter is the president of Atlantic Packaging, which is the largest, privately-held packaging company in North America. Chances are, if you’ve bought something recently (and who hasn’t?), it was touched by Atlantic somewhere along the supply chain.

But Wes sees that influence as more than big business. It’s also an opportunity to affect sustainability in ways that individuals, companies, and even governments struggle with. Small, conscious changes across the global supply chain can have huge ramifications for our environment. And these lessons can be applied to our career S Curves as well.

What IS happiness, really? And what’s the difference between biting into a bar of chocolate and a much more sustained contentment that often eludes us?

Ph.D. psychologist Emma Seppälä has studied happiness for much of her career. She’s a best-selling author who also teaches business leaders at the Yale School of Management.

Turns out, achieving career success and wealth doesn’t lead to that contentment. If you’re searching for mental well-being, Emma says: Start with your body, specifically, your breathing.

She explains how anyone, from a stressed out manager to a soldier in a warzone, can use breathing techniques to gain focus and ingenuity. Emma also deconstructs many myths about what makes us happy, and how focusing our minds on others leads to long-term emotional resilience.

Today our guest is Stephen M.R. Covey, the best-selling author of the critically acclaimed book, The Speed of Trust. He is the son of Stephen R. Covey of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and co-founder of Covey Link and the Franklin Covey Global Speed of Trust practice. And today, he is here with us.

Stephen’s work shows us that trust is a valuable lever, one that makes organizations more profitable, people more promotable and relationships more energizing.

In this episode we learn how, in the midst of a strained and possibly failing merger, Stephen zeroed in on trust – doubled down – and never looked back.

For a complete transcript and links from this episode, please visit: https://whitneyjohnson.com/stephen-m-r-covey/

Vala Afshar, my guest on the Disrupt Yourself podcast, is here to answer the burning question:

What is a Chief Digital Evangelist?

For starters, that’s the role Vala fills with Salesforce, the dominant player in the sphere of CRM technology.

Vala, with his prior company, was an early Salesforce customer. He used Salesforce and innovated with it for years before he went to work there. He became “the first evangelist hired at Salesforce, so it was new territory.”

In addition to all things Salesforce, Vala talks about this—the nontraditional job search, and the nontraditional candidate vetting. His insights into how savvy, forward-thinking companies will be hiring in the future is worth a listen too.

Download the complete transcript and links in the show notes at WhitneyJohnson.com.

Many successful people at the top of their field hit a certain age, and the excitement of work starts to diminish. It may seem counterintuitive: Wouldn't mastery lead to satisfaction?

Social scientist and author Arthur C. Brooks thinks of it another way: That there are two S Curves of life. If you're starting to feel restless (especially after age 39), perhaps it's time to stop fighting the first curve, and embrace the second.

His latest book, "From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life," goes in depth on how to reap the well-being you've spent your early career cultivating. Overcoming "success addiction" and resisting the urge to constantly add things is a big part of the equation.

“If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”

Famous words by Bruce Lee, sure, but when we’ve felt like a stone our whole lives, what does becoming water actually look like? How do we learn to be more malleable in difficult situations? And how can we be confident we’re flowing in the right direction?

Samantha Cooprider is the senior director of global leadership development at Meta – formerly Facebook. Today, Sam’s shaping leaders at a corporate level, but her path to the top has been anything but straightforward. She’s had to learn how to flow from a Midwestern childhood, through the non-profit world, and into the C-suites of Tesla, Meta and Google. 

So how does Sam keep her mission top of mind when she’s moving from one cup to another?

Reframing failure as a learning experience is so hard to do. But when you can, it's one of the most powerful tools for personal growth.

This week, Whitney explores the value of a discovery-driven mindset through the advice of many past Disrupt Yourself guests, and her own experience.

Knowing where you are on your emotional journey before walking into the unknown removes so much risk. And traditional planning isn't always enough. Discovery-driven planning is a different, and often more flexible way to embark.

Whitney also discusses testing your assumptions by setting milestones, and why sometimes the bravest thing you can do is just show up.

This week Whitney shares a portion of one of her recent LinkedIn Live sessions. 

Joining Whitney this week is  NY Times best-selling author, Seth Godin – his most famous books being This is Marketing and Linchpin. In this episode, Whitney and Seth talk about one of his latest projects, The Carbon Almanac, the idea of imposter syndrome, and of course, marketing.

It’s often fascinating to pinpoint when someone received the first inkling of what their eventual career would be. For many, of course—thinking of all the kids who grew up wanting to be professional athletes, movie stars, astronauts, or firemen—their idealized career path often follows a long and winding road of self-discovery, full of detours and roadblocks that transport them to an eventual destination that was not on their original radar.

But what if you could date your dream? Get some firsthand experience in your supposed career of choice? Would you remain totally enamored with the opportunity and steadily move toward further engagement? Or, would you, like Seinfeld’s neurotic George Costanza, break things off with a nonchalant, “It’s not you, it’s me”?

Today’s guest, Jeanette Bennett, CEO and founding editor of Utah Valley Magazine and Bennett Communications, had that revelatory experience while working as a camera operator at an Idaho TV station when she was in high school. It turned out to trigger the first of many career reframes for this talented entrepreneur and storyteller.

We throw around this term a lot in the management profession, in the coaching profession, really everywhere in business – top thinker. 

But how often do we really interrogate that title? Because, really, wouldn’t we all like to think of ourselves as top thinkers?

In politics, it’s the journalists that hold politicians to account. In the world of management, there are two former journalists who are holding these top thinkers to account as well. Stuart Crainer and Des Dearlove used to write columns for The London Times, when they realized they could have a bigger impact connecting these thinkers directly.

As the founders of Thinkers50, an organization that comes together every two years to celebrate the true top thinkers, Stuart and Des have brought their skills of commentary and curation from the front page to a much larger audience.

So what makes a top thinker, truly? 

When Tamika Catchings was a freshman at the University of Tennessee, her coach, Pat Summit, told her that someday her story would “impact thousands, maybe millions of people.”

It was a crazy idea.

Diagnosed with hearing loss at the age of 3, Tamika was self-conscious about speaking in front of anyone, let alone large groups, and the idea that she would willingly speak in front of an audience was mind-boggling.

“And, now you fast forward, that was 1997. Now I’m a public speaker. That’s what I do, I go around, I speak, I tell, I share my story and share…about leadership and all the different things that I’ve learned throughout the course of my life.”

Join us to hear how Tamika achieved her goal, and not only became a star player but a valued “role player” as well. We’ll also discuss how her hearing loss improved her performance on the court, how she’s creating her legacy, and what goal is posted on her mirror today.

Links and Show Notes: https://whitneyjohnson.com/tamika-catchings

In this episode we discuss the complicated role failure plays in our lives... today, we give failure its due. This, the sixth accelerant in our personal disruption framework, is possibly the most instructive. Yet, because of the pain and shame associated with the experience, we often blow past the lessons, missing out on the gold mine of data revealed to us in the process.

However today, we take it all in - we discuss failure openly and learn together how to ditch the shame. We do this by first setting the context, explaining why failure is hard and then we’ll focus on the reframe - sharing amazing stories along the way.

Join us as we journey into a reframe of the past and a new way of looking to the future. Together, we will discover that failure is not something to be ashamed of but rather a gift - one that yields dividends for years to come. 

For a complete transcript and links from this episode, please visit: https://www.whitneyjohnson.com/give-failure-its-due/

Marcus Buckingham is obsessed with challenging common wisdom about human potential. He's a self-described psychometrician, on a quest to find the real data behind how and why we act. He spent so much time studying high-performers at Gallup that he co-created his own Strengths Finder tool, and now coaches executives around the world.

But there are some things about human achievement that simply can't be measured. His latest book is called "Love + Work" and it's about that special magic that unlocks when you're passionate about anything. It's about much more than finding the "dream job." It's about asking deeper questions: What do you actually love to do? And when was the last time you were really there?

Few things are as terrifying as vulnerability. Yet, when we allow ourselves to be vulnerable, we allow ourselves to be free. Free from shame, free from fear and free from the untrue stories we tell ourselves.

That is why I am excited for this episode.

Our guest, Dr. Brené Brown has spent the past two decades studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy and is the author of five #1 New York Times bestsellers: The Gifts of Imperfection, Daring Greatly, Rising Strong, Braving the Wilderness, and her latest book, Dare to Lead.

In this episode Brené shares what first inspired her to dig into research on vulnerability and how that decision changed her life. We discuss the stories we tell ourselves and how to deal with the negative effects of working in the public sphere. Brené shares her views on scaling up versus keeping things slower and closer, and we discover a new way to lead when someone leaves our organization.

Brené is a research professor at the University of Houston where she holds the Huffington Foundation – Brené Brown Endowed Chair at The Graduate College of Social Work. She is also a visiting professor in management at The University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business.

Brené hosts the Unlocking Us Podcast and the Dare to Lead Podcast. Her TED talk – The Power of Vulnerability – is one of the top five most viewed TED talks with over 50 million views. She is also the first researcher to have a filmed lecture on Netflix; The Call to Courage debuted in April 2019.

For a complete transcript and links from this episode, please visit:
https://whitneyjohnson.com/brene-brown-encore/

For the past few weeks, we have been taking a deeper dive into the seven-point framework of personal disruption in anticipation of my book Disrupt Yourself being re-released by Harvard Business Press on November 12. If you stick around to the end of this episode, we’ll talk about a special opportunity for those of you who pre-order the book.

So, today’s deep dive is on accelerant number five. Step back to grow. 

Though we always want to be moving forward in growth, this accelerant addresses the idea that our greatest progress almost always involves some type of step back: we crouch to jump, bring a fist back to punch, land lies fallow, we rotate crops. And while we’ve looked at stepping back in your career to facilitate that growth - one great example being Dan Shapero’s story in episode 97 - we haven’t talked much about the importance of rest.

Our guest for this episode is filmmaker, Webby award founder and newly minted author Tiffany Shlain. She recently released her book 24/6: The Power of Unplugging One Day a Week exploring her family’s decade-long, transformative practice of turning off screens one day each week for what they call Technology Shabbats. 

When President Kennedy announced in 1961 that he wanted to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade, it was a longshot. Some believed it to be impossible. However, on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong stepped out onto the surface of the moon and that “longshot” became a reality.

In January of 2011 President Obama put out his own “moon shot call”—in his State of the Union address, he announced the goal of 100k more science, technology, engineering, and math teachers in in the United States over the next 10 years. And not just any teachers: he wanted excellent teachers to help train the next generation of STEM students.

Talia Milgrom-Elcott remembers this speech vividly. It was a rallying cry that she felt deep in her bones. She knew it wasn’t enough to just stand and clap for the announcement (which received wide bipartisan support). Someone needed to do something—why not her?

Join us as we discuss how Talia built her team, when she realized how true success would be measured, and the difference between fixing symptoms and solving problems. Join us in the player below, or download the episode on iTunes. Links and show notes available at http://whitneyjohnson.com/talia-milgrom-elcott

TV host, author, and podcaster Mike Rowe would have been a construction worker if not for advice from his grandfather: "Find a different toolbox."

Turns out, Mike wasn't great with his hands, but his grandfather and other mentors recognized different skills. They pushed him out of his comfort zone and in front of microphones and cameras.

Today, Mike's wildly popular "Dirty Jobs" TV series has shown millions of viewers what it takes to do extraordinary jobs that don’t get talked about on “Career Day,” but are critical to a well-functioning society. And Rowe credits a lot of his success to multiple failures. The show itself was born out of a TV news segment gone wrong.

In this episode, Mike and Whitney discuss the unusual mindset of his early career: He sought out bad ideas and was happy to get paid to work on projects that were doomed to fail. Removing the stakes freed him up to experiment and take risks, which led to much more interesting projects.

Mike also discusses the importance of music in his life, and how a conclave of war veterans singing sad barbershop songs changed his perspective. "It was so uncool I was fascinated by it."

What did you learn from this conversation with Mike? What risks are you taking these days, and what are your fears about them? Email Whitney Johnson at wj@whitneyjohnson.com for a chance to receive a signed copy of Mike's book, "The Way I Heard It."

Today our guest is Jennifer Petriglieri, associate professor of organizational behavior at INSEAD. She's been shortlisted for the Thinkers50 New Thinker and Talent Awards and been named one of the world's best business school professors under 40 by Poets and Quants.

Jennifer is an expert on how people craft and sustain their personal and professional identities under conditions of high uncertainty such as organizations in crisis or mobile careers, basically when disruption is in play. Which is certainly true in the case of dual-career couples where there is a dance of disruption as by turns each partner upends the other, or in a time like we're experiencing at this airing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Jennifer discusses some sound principles and frameworks for navigating the transitions that allow us to thrive in relationships and careers.

Complete transcript and show notes available at https://whitneyjohnson.com/jennifer-petriglieri

“Disruption,” as a word, has always had an explosive sound to me. Disruption causes your world to shift and change—an earthquake in the making. However, every once in a while, I’m reminded that disruption does not have to be earth shattering. Sometimes, the smallest changes can have a long-lasting impact on your life, especially when those changes become habits.

Our guest this episode is James Clear author of the New York Times bestseller, Atomic Habits, An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones.  James advocates that the way to build habits is to try and get just one percent better each day—something that sounds almost too easy to do, and yet builds a firm foundation for continual improvement.

In this episode we learn practical and manageable tips for improvement…

• Habits are the “compound interest of self-improvement”.
• The two-minute rule – be wary of going big.
• Point and call, an audible habit builder.
• Implementation intentions; be specific!
• Track your habit – seeing is believing.
• Repetition is a form of change.
• Never miss twice.

For a complete transcript and links from this episode, please visit: www.whitneyjohnson.com/james-clear-encore/

It’s just the nature of our show that we often talk to folks in the mastery part of their professional S-Curve. It’s easy to talk to a CEO about leadership. It’s also another fact that our guests tend to be older – at least, out of college.

But it is rare that we come across an entrepreneur in that very first launch point of their career. A person that put college on hold to pursue an idea, a person willing to put their dreams on hold for an hour to talk to us.

Austin Hillam is the co-founder of ZipString, a handheld toy that keeps a string in constant motion.  It's easier to just watch than explain, here.

And we’ve got Austin today for a rare look at the phase of professional life that a lot of our guests can only reflect on – starting that first business. 

My guest today is Beth Comstock, former vice-chair of GE, a member of the Board at Nike, and author of the new book Imagine It Forward, a candid and encouraging narrative in which she shares both business and life lessons.

Despite having been a biology major in college, Beth realized early on that her passion led her to storytelling. Instead of becoming a doctor, as she originally planned, she turned instead to the world of television journalism. The call of the unknown led her to make many surprising leaps in her career, often with co-workers questioning her sanity, but Beth’s willingness to take a risk and play where no one else was playing allowed her to have a fascinating and varied path.

Join us as we discuss taking risks, the importance of communication, the difference between mentors and champions, and how Beth Comstock intends to start new again in 2018. Listen on iTunes or using the player below, and be sure to check out Imagine It Forward, available for purchase today on Amazon or at your local bookseller.

For show notes and links from the podcast, visit https://whitneyjohnson.com/beth-comstock

A wise man once said, “ Listening is the ultimate mark of respect, Listening is the heart and soul of engagement.” On the commemoration of our 300th episode, the Disruptive Advisors team would like to thank you for your respect, as we strive to provide you with engaging content. 

Our guest this week is management icon  Tom Peters.

Tom, the aforementioned wise man, has a new book out titled ,” Tom Peters' Compact Guide to Excellence. “ Join me as I talk to Tom about the new  book, lessons he’s learned through the years and the power of listening.

Joining Whitney this week is Mbali Maseko, Head of Well Being at Sasol South Africa, a global chemical and energy company. Mbali has a Masters in Public Health, a Masters in Business Administration and an Honors degree in Dietetics, attained through grit, hard work,  and the support and sacrifice of her family.

Trust is a thorny topic. In business and relationships, we're always assessing whether someone is trustworthy.

But what about our ability to trust others? To delegate those big projects we are so used to doing ourselves? To relinquish control and face the possibility that someone else might do it differently…do it worse…or even do it better than us?

This can be scary, but Stephen M. R. Covey and McKinlee Covey say that overcoming this fear is well-worth it, and can be absolutely life-changing for both the truster, and the trustee.

This father-daughter team have a new book out, entitled "Trust & Inspire: How Truly Great Leaders Unleash the Greatness in Others." It's filled with fantastic examples of how setting up clear expectations and boundaries can form a cycle of trust that inspires teams to greatness. They also argue that the old approach to management, about commanding and controlling, is outdated, especially in an era of hybrid work and high burnout.

Tim Harrison knows a thing or two about growth. At a young age, doctors said Tim would be physically behind all his peers. He outgrew every single one. During his time playing basketball in college, Tim faced significant  on and off court challenges, propelling him to…grow. Today, Tim strives to instill that same growth mentality into underserved high school students via his non-profit organization, EPOG Academy.

This week, the tables are turned when the host becomes the guest on her own show. Amy Humble, president of Disruption Advisors, interviews Whitney about the challenge and personal growth that comes out of writing a book.

Smart Growth, which expounds on the S-Curve of learning for organizations, had a dramatic development curve of its own: unbridled excitement at the beginning, with a plummet to the bottom when the work began. It was "laborious and painful."

But as Whitney explains, writing a book is not a solitary endeavor. "It's a team sport." Many hands have touched Smart Growth. A trusted friend even "eviscerated" an early manuscript — a terrifying ordeal that bore essential fruit.

As Whitney explains in the book, growth is contagious, which is why personal growth among individuals is critical to organizational growth. The birth of this book is no exception.

Smart Growth: How to Grow Your People to Grow Your Company is available for pre-order now wherever books are sold.

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My guest today is Chester Elton, the New York Times bestselling co-author of The Carrot Principle, which has sold over 1.5 million copies to date. He has been described by the Toronto Globe and Mail as “an apostle of appreciation,” a moniker which he has whole-heartedly embraced.

Coming from an athletic and competitively-minded family, Chester has always seen value in recognizing individual accomplishments. While selling televisions in New York City Chester was given the opportunity to work as a recognition program salesman to pharmaceutical companies, a service he felt was not only necessary in the corporate world, but noble.

Chester soon approached his boss about a potential way to increase sales: write a book. If their company could be seen as a “thought-leader,” clients would come to them, hopefully in droves. His boss was very excited about the idea, but there was a catch: he wanted Chester to write the book.

“He goes, ‘I love that idea.’ He says, ‘Write the book.’ And I said, ‘Kent, you give me these crushing quotas every year. I’m a sales guy, I’m not a writer.’ And then he said something that really changed my life forever. He said, ‘You know what, Chester, you’re a smart guy. Figure it out.’”

Chester has certainly “figured it out.” He and his co-author, Adrian Gostick, have written over ten books on the importance of recognition (or “carrots”) in the workforce, and they’re not showing any signs of slowing down. Their latest book, The Best Team Wins, examines the new disciplines of high performance teams and the differentiators in the workforce that have sprung up in the past twenty years.

“You know, we’re doing all this stuff…to create a customer experience that has them…not just loyal customers. They’re raving fans of your products and services, and those are our five disciplines.”

Join us as we discuss the power of recognition, the five disciplines of high performance teams, and how the prodigal son ended up in Chester’s family coat of arms. Listen on iTunes or in the player below, and if you enjoy the show, please make sure you subscribe so you don't miss an episode.

Takeaways and links from the episode at http://whitneyjohnson.com/chester-elton

David Epstein is an investigative journalist and author who is fascinated by extraordinary people. Are they born this way? Is it their upbringing? A lot of “hard work?”

Modern thinking about this, spearheaded by Malcom Gladwell, points to "10,000 hours" of narrow, focused work. Yo-Yo Ma and Serena Williams have been practicing their craft since the womb.

But David discovered a different paradigm: That the most successful professionals and entrepreneurs were not narrowly focused on practice, but had spent long portions of childhood “sampling” and exploring. By combining skills from many arenas, they become far more adaptable in the long run than those who stay narrow – and ultimately burn out.

David's latest book is called "Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World." His thesis has huge ramifications for education and career training, and as you’ll hear, he even went toe-to-toe with Gladwell on the topic.

When we’re feeling stagnate or trapped in our job, jumping ship altogether often seems like the best option for disruption. However—and this is a big one—what if you didn’t have to? What if you could identify what motivates you, and why your current job isn’t a good fit? What if you communicated your desires for growth to your boss, and were able to do so in a constructive way? What if you could find a way to disrupt yourself without quitting or losing your job?

Bethany Quam’s “first career” at General Mills was not a good fit. Having graduated from college with an accounting degree, Bethany spent her first two years working in the finance department and making practical use of her practical degree. At her annual performance review Bethany was shocked to find out that while she was considered technically sound at her job, she was also “too chatty.”

Bethany would go on to be in sales for 18 years before pivoting to a different “career” within General Mills (she says she’s had four careers in total). Her ability to communicate with her direct superiors about her motivation and drive allowed her to disrupt herself within the company, all while maintaining a steady paycheck.

Join us as we explore Bethany’s career journey, how to push out of the comfort zone to stay in growth mode, and Bethany’s love for the gift of feedback.

Links and show notes available on our website at https://whitneyjohnson.com/bethany-quam

Our guest this week is a New York Times bestselling author and champion humanizer, Martin Lindstrom. His latest book, The Ministry of Common Sense, releases today.

Martin is passionate about business culture and the customer experience. Today, we discuss his methodology of persistence - what can only be described as an above and beyond, up close and personal, all in, every time radical approach to organizational transformation. Martin's methods produce results and awaken cultures. 

He’s been named as one of the twenty most influential management thinkers in the world by Thinkers50, and by TIME Magazine as one of the world’s 100 most influential people.

Join us for a riveting deep dive with a truly exceptional human!

For a complete transcript and links from this episode, please visit: http://www.whitneyjohnson.com/martin-lindstrom/

My guest today is Peter Bregman, CEO and founder of Bregman Partners and author of the new book, Leading with Emotional Courage.

In his book, Peter expands on the idea that if leaders are willing to feel everything they will build better teams and accomplish more difficult tasks. It’s a labor of love for Peter, who hopes that the book will help others become more willing to examine their feelings and be present in each moment. 

“I've spent a lot of time trying to close the gaps between what we want to have happen in the world and what happens in the world, and how we want to be in the world and how we are. What we want to do in the world and what we end up doing. And there's a huge gap…there's constantly a gap and I'm trying to close it for myself; I'm trying to live up to my own expectations, and, and I'm trying to help other people close it.”

I found many inspiring and fascinating nuggets in Peter’s book, as well as this interview, and I hope after you listen to this podcast you take the time to track down a copy of Leading With Emotional Courage for yourself.

Full show notes at https://whitneyjohnson.com/peter-bregman

Jesse Iwuji is a first-generation Nigerian-American, U.S. Navy reserve officer, college football star, and if that’s not enough: an accomplished and beloved professional NASCAR driver.

So, how did he become a racing star? He just … wanted it. And one day, he decided to go for it. Along the way, many people told him he'd never succeed. He didn't have the money. He didn't have the connections. No sponsorships. People even said that "African Americans don't race cars."

Jesse's entrepreneurial savvy allowed him to self-fund his own outside-the-box training and compete with far more established racers. Today, he's on TV in the professional circuit, despite all the naysayers. How he got there is incredibly inspiring.

In an economy dominated by tech giants, growing your business to compete with Amazon or Google can feel futile. But Ray Wang thinks differently about this challenge.

Wang is the founder and chairman of Constellation Research, a Silicon Valley advisory firm that finds opportunities for businesses to scale — especially in highly competitive climates. He explains why companies that have won the digital innovation battle have yet to win the war.

From Domino's Pizza, to Honeywell, to Walmart, and even Mom & Pop businesses, Wang shares numerous examples of how successful companies stopped playing their competitors' game, and invented new lines of business they can uniquely own.

Wang also re-thinks personal data as a property right — a simple regulatory shift that would completely disrupt tech in favor of consumers and small businesses.

My guest today is Philip Sheppard, composer, cellist, inventor, and a professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

How do I unpack everything from this episode? Philip is an engaging conversationalist, and coupled with his British accent (let’s face it, in America that carries a lot of weight) I feel like we could have easily expanded this episode to twice the length of the final cut. Philip has led what I consider a dynamic and interesting life, peppered with stories of dinner parties with royalty and recording music in the famous Abbey Road Studio One with microphones used by the Beatles.

Phillip says he doesn’t have a “real job,” but he nevertheless is able to make the best of situations and do what needs to be done to be successful. Like many of us, he suffers from imposter syndrome, but instead of allowing that to prevent him from moving forward he leans in and learns whatever he needs to in order to accomplish the impossible.

Full show notes at https://whitneyjohnson.com/philip-sheppard

About six years ago, Tasha Eurich was in a work lull. Her coaching clients were on vacation for the winter holidays, and feeling the bug to accomplish something anyway she began to dig into one of her favorite topics—psychology. Tasha had noticed that many of her clients expressed a desire to see themselves clearly, to clarify who they were, and understand how others perceived them. A correlation was emerging between this self-awareness and her clients’ overall confidence and success, so she delved into the available literature. It quickly became clear that very little research had gone into the topic of self-awareness from a scientific standpoint. So Tasha did what any self-respecting Organizational Psychologist would do.

 She decided to study self-awareness.

Join us as Tasha and I dissect the nuances of self-awareness; how incremental improvement can change the way we see ourselves; and how musical theatre may have contributed to Tasha’s fascination with the human mind.

Full show notes and links at https://whitneyjohnson.com/tasha-eurich

Our guest this week, Sandy Stelling, is fluent in the language of growth. She started her career with Boeing, fresh out of college. After nearly eight years and rising to the level of Senior Engineer, Sandy took a leap and accepted a position with Alaska Airlines as a Project Manager. Twenty years and six titles later, she became the Vice President of Strategy, Analytics and Transformation. This may seem like an unexpected rise for someone who was hired on to manage projects, but Sandy’s approach to every role she takes tells a different story.

In this episode…

• We hear a true insider take on how the airline industry has been navigating the pandemic and how the power of choosing optimism – despite it all – has helped Sandy and the organization weather this storm.
• We learn how the ability to operate in ambiguity can help you support and lead.
• We talk about grace and space – the power of expressing radical forgiveness in the midst of exceptional circumstances.

For a complete transcript and links from this episode, please visit: http://www.whitneyjohnson.com/sandy-stelling/

Andre Menezes is the CEO of Next Gen Foods. On this week’s episode, Andre will share insights from his  journey of becoming a visionary in the world of sustainable food production. We’ll also learn how Andre developed a broader perspective about the world and how he learned at an early age to be the protagonist of his  story and not succumb to the victim mentality. In Andre’s words, “There’s no way to solve death. For all the other things in life, there’s something we can do about it.”

Turns out, people like Star Wars more than they like spreadsheets. That's pretty obvious, yet we constantly find ourselves in front of boring presentations. Data and facts are important, but when woven into a "hero's journey," they become undeniable.

Dan Roam is on a mission to put the tools of our greatest storytellers in your hands. Next time you need to convince your boss, your team, or a customer to get on board with an idea, consider his book, The Pop-Up Pitch.

Whitney and Dan discuss why humans are wired to love visual storytelling, the key moment of drama you need in every presentation, and the fateful day the back of a napkin changed the trajectory of Dan's career forever

Sometimes the business landscape can be a battlefield, but this week's guest puts all that in perspective.

General Stanley McChrystal is a highly decorated U.S. Army veteran who is no stranger to real battlefields. He’s a retired four-star general, and commanded an enormous contingent of U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. He’s also an avid student of history, who acutely observes how the great successes and failures of the past are so deeply intertwined with risk management.

His latest book is called Risk: A User’s Guide, and it documents the unsuspecting factors that undo successful organizations, and provides a framework of preparedness so you can weather the storm.

On today's episode of the Disrupt Yourself podcast, we're talking with Jim Ferrell. Jim is a bestselling author, sought-after speaker, and renowned thought leader on mindset and organizational change. And we're talking all about self-deception.

Understanding this concept of self-deception is key to one of the most important accelerants in disrupting ourselves - battling our sense of entitlement. This is where we preference ourselves above others, effectively turning those around us into objects, rather than seeing them as people, resistant to their feedback and ideas, preferencing our wants and needs above all else. This is a learning curve killer.

For show notes and links to the books and people mentioned in the episode, visit https://whitneyjohnson.com/disrupt-yourself-podcast

When we spend 50-60 of our waking weekly hours at the office, our "work family" sometimes eclipses our actual one. Companies capitalize on this. Our jobs become our identities. Our work becomes very personal. And this can lead to emotional disaster during career changes, layoffs, and other transactions.

What if we valued work differently? What would the world look like if we stopped treating work itself as our purpose, but as a means to enjoy a more important purpose: Family, relationships, hopes, dreams, and love?

That’s just the starting point of Sarah Jaffe’s book, "Work Won’t Love You Back." Sarah is a journalist who covers labor issues and social movements, and she’s observed a major shift in the way we view our jobs.

She profiles teachers, interns, programmers, and professional athletes to identify which kind of work is valued, and which is not. And as “The Great Resignation” has hinted, many people want out — but where are they actually going?

Most of us desire to be more intentional in our personal and professional lives. We want to steer life rather than have it steer us – but where do we start? Our guest this episode believes we start by defining our core values.

“One of the things about core values I've come to understand is I think they've been there since you were little. You just don't get the instruction manual, you know, when you're born saying, hey… here's, here's how you work.” – Robert Glazer

Robert Glazer’s intentional yet curious approach to life has yielded success. He is the founder and CEO of global partner marketing agency, Acceleration Partners and is the co-founder and Chairman of BrandCycle. A serial entrepreneur, Robert has a passion for helping individuals and organizations build their capacity to elevate.

A regular columnist for Forbes, Inc. and Entrepreneur, Robert’s writing reaches over five million people around the globe each year who resonate with his topics, which range from performance marketing and entrepreneurship to company culture, capacity building, hiring and leadership. His leadership focused newsletter, Friday Forward, reaches over 100,000 people and fifty countries. And now, Robert has published a new book showcasing 52 of his most brilliant and impactful stories. His book, appropriately titled Friday Forward, continues to deliver on what has set his newsletter apart – insightful and compelling stories that help lead you to lasting and positive change.

For a complete transcript and links from this episode, please visit

http://www.whitneyjohnson.com/robert-glazer/

Representation is the basis of our political system. We can’t get everyone’s vote on every issue – folks are busy, and that would take way too much time. So we pick someone we trust.

Have you ever represented someone else? It's terrifying. You have to make decisions on behalf of all those people, and those decisions could impact their home, their business, their politics, their whole way of life.

But in that way, representation can be one of the highest callings a human can achieve. Our guest today has put the representation of others at the center of her life. Her Royal Highness, Ambassador Reema Bandar is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s representative to the United States. In every conference room and congressional office, she’s speaking for about 38 million people. From a museum curator to a champion of women's rights, the ambassador has learned to center her own voice, and in the process, the voices of millions.

Is there a particular conversation you’ve had with someone, that keeps resurfacing as you grow and get older? In difficult moments, you find yourself traveling back to that day at the cafe or whatever it was, sitting down for a conversation you didn’t know would shape you as much as it has.  For me, it’s my talk with Brené Brown, all the way back in 2019. 

In case new listeners need an introduction, she holds the Huffington Foundation Endowed Chair as a research professor at the University of Houston. You might know her best as the writer of Daring Greatly, or The Gifts Of Imperfection, or as the speaker for one of the most popular TED Talks ever. When we spoke, she had just released her Netflix special, The Call To Courage, and it was a conversation that reminds me even today to appreciate the meaning that emerges from the human condition.

I want to bring back that conversation today in light of her most recent book, Atlas Of The Heart – all about the thousand different ways our body generates emotion. Like Emma McAdam says, stop trying to feel better, and get better at feeling – that’s something I’m still working on today. Brené’s work on the link between emotion and the meaning we make for ourselves is just as important today as it was in 2019. 

When we think of high-performance jobs like pro athletes and the military, practice is 90% of the work. An NFL quarterback trains a lot longer than the handful of games he plays, and benefits from a team of coaches.

Yet in the professional world, we are thrown into the deep end, often learning on the job. This has its benefits, but also creates uncertainty, stress, and burnout. With mental health in sharp focus recently, so too has professional coaching become more important.

But not everyone has access to it. That's the problem Alexi Robichaux has been trying to solve as the co-founder and CEO of BetterUp. It's an online platform that connects thousands of people to coaches to maximize their potential. But figuring out what the world wanted from a company like this was a confusing, bumpy ride. "There is no hack," Alexi says, when re-framing leadership coaching as a well-being practice, rather than a corporate band-aide.

Alexi shares the "gentle intervention" he received from a colleague that lead him to re-think his career and start the business, and why the world wasn't ready for an online coaching network...until now.

As a child, Allison Holzer was fascinated with the invisible. When asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, she would enthusiastically tell the listener that her dream job was to be a nuclear physicist (even though she wasn’t completely clear on what that meant). All she knew was that she wanted to study the teeny tiny particles that, when tapped into, could create huge amounts of energy.

Years later, Allison’s career trajectory took a turn when a psychology professor dramatically helped her realize the importance of mindset in shaping our reality. This ignited a new spark in Allison: a desire to understand what inspires people to do what matters to them, and what gives them the energy to achieve it.  

Join us as we discuss how inspiration is “contagious”; how to pull ourselves out of burnout; and tips for activating inspiration when we really need it.

Full show notes - https://whitneyjohnson.com/allison-holzer

The proverbial "glass ceiling" is real, and can block women from reaching their full potential. There is a lot of work to be done here, but not all women are in a position to effect systemic change.

So what can women (and their allies) do in their daily lives and careers to close the gap? That's the subject of Sally Helgesen's book, How Women Rise: Break the 12 Habits Holding You Back from your Next Raise, Promotion, or Job.

Helgesen's groundbreaking research with thousands of women and companies over 30+ years reveals the fascinating differences between genders in the workplace, and the reasons some women struggle to claim credit for their achievements and vocalize their career aspirations — habits that often come more naturally to men.

In a corporate culture where achievements are rarely valued unless you shout them from the rooftops, women constantly balance perceptions of being "too aggressive" and not advocating for themselves enough.

Helgesen says, "why not both?" And she shares practical advice for women navigating these tricky waters.

For a complete transcript and links from this conversation, visit      https://whitneyjohnson.com/sally-helgesen

John David Mann is a writer and the co-author of more than 30 books. Ana Gabriel Mann is a professional therapist, speaker and coach. Together, they’ve been married for more than 25 years, which also happens to be the subject of their latest work.

The Go-Giver Marriage is rooted in a framework of gratitude, kindness and self-disruption that John has been writing about for years. When Ana thought to apply this to relationships, it was a “light bulb” moment for both of them.

They join Whitney to discuss the 5 secrets that don't just apply to relationships in trouble, but can help an already good relationship (marriage or professional) become great.