Strategic Alliances Interview Steve Steinhilber

In this interview, I talked with Steve Steinhilber, author of Strategic Alliances: Three Ways to Make Them Work.

Steve heads up strategic alliances for Cisco and he has all sorts of interesting things to say about them. Consider that Cisco generates $5 billion through alliances and $10 billion for their partners. The results alone say a lot about Cisco's success and what can be done when the right conditions exists for partnerships.

mp3, 25 min, 17.4 MB

P.S. This is another great example of the Memo to The CEO Series that Harvard Business Publishing has bee putting out. Here are the first four titles they put out under this umbrella.

There's No Elevator To The Top Interview with Umesh Ramakrishnan

A few months ago I had the opportunity to interview Umesh Ramakrishnan, a leading headhunter. Umesh traveled around the world to interview leaders about their journey to the top. In these 23 minutes, we talk about what he looks for when headhunting, Sam Walton, Bill Gates, humbleness and ego.

Here's the mp3; it's just over 23 minutes and 23MB.

Crowdsourcing Interview with Jeff Howe

Jeff Howe, author of Crowdsourcing: Why the Power of the Crowd is Driving the Future of Business, and I talked about the phenomenon of using crowds to do work.

In this 33-minute podcast, you'll hear about Jimmy Wales and the founding of Wikipedia, Procter & Gamble using crowds for innovation, and the British Crown -- one of the first examples of crowdsourcing (around the 11.45 minute mark).

33.28 minutes; 30.7MB; download the mp3.

Interview with Jonathon Flaum

On his way through town, Jonathon Flaum stopped by Lodge 300 to talk with Todd about his new book How the Red Wolf Found Its Howl.

Todd and Jonathon covered a wide variety of topics including the motivation behind Jonathon's first book The 100 Mile Walk, how fear plays such a big roll in business, and even why Jonathon decided to self publish the latest book. Strap yourselves in, this is a good one.

mp3, 26.23, 36.2 MB

Sway Interview with Ori and Rom Brafman

This week, Ori and Rom Brafman joined us to talk about their book Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior.

The two are brothers; Ori adds the business perspective and Rom, the psychologist perspective. Together they sought to answer the question, why do rational people act irrationally? In the interview we talked about irrationality as a whole, how to recognize it in our own behaviors and various real-life examples of its manifestation.

And, last but not least, what the guys are currently reading. Enjoy!

mp3, 36:15, 20.8 MB

Inside Steve's Brain Interview With Leander Kahney

This week, we talk with Leander Kahney and his new book Inside Steve's Brain.

Kahney has been covering Apple as a journalist for over a decade. He started writing from MacWorld and now writes for Wired.

In the book, Kahney tries to get beyond the typical media depictions of Jobs as either industry god or managerial tyrant. We talked about design as more than veneer, how the best programmer is 100 times better than the average one, and how Jobs wants to "put a ding in the universe."

mp3, 37:56, 26 MB

Go Green, Live Rich: An Interview with David Bach

In today's podcast, we speak with David Bach, author of the popular Finish Rich series of personal finance books and the man who coined the term Latte Factor. His latest book, entitled Go Green, Live Rich: 50 Simple Ways to Save the Earth and Get Rich Trying, is a quick and interesting read, filled with a sense of purpose and easy steps that one can take to become a smarter consumer and live a greener lifestyle. We spoke last month about why he chose to write this book, and how--contrary to popular misconceptions--going green can actually save you money.

mp3, 27.10, 18.7MB

Leadership Therapy with Anna Rowley

For 14 years, Dr. Anna Rowley consulted as a psychologist for Microsoft. You can imagine the pressure Microsoft's employees are under. Anna helped employees overcome stumbling blocks and build their leadership skills. In her book Leadership Therapy, she introduces readers to the common run-ins associated with leadership and helps people become their own therapist through self-knowledge.

This podcast is a piece of the introduction. Here's how it starts.

"So, tell me about your childhood." This may seem an odd question to ask a manager--any employee, really--within the confines of company walls. But it's a commonplace one at Microsoft. Not that people walk around carrying boxes of Kleenex and confessing their innermost thoughts to their cube mates. Yet it is often one of the first things I ask when I walk into my clients' offices.

I'm not your typical therapist. I don't run a private practice catering to a wide range
of patients struggling with eating disorders or ruined marriages or agoraphobia. In fact,
my patients are some of the most successful, powerful, put-together, take-charge people
in the corporate world. So what are they doing in therapy? And why are we having our
sessions right in the middle of the workday, at the office?

Download the mp3 here.

Minutes: 12:25
File size: 11.4MB

Also, there are a few text excerpts available on Anna's website. Find them over here.

Meatball Sundae Interview with Seth Godin

This week's interview is with Seth Godin, author of Meatball Sundae: Is Your Marketing Out of Sync?.

Seth is the author of several books and in his latest he talks about how commodity products do not match well with the new marketing methods. We talk about how his books fit together (he says it has turned out they do), why he chooses marketing at end point of attack for the woes of businesses (when is the last you heard of a brave new way to do accounting?), and how every industry is the fashion industry (books are fashions). And that only get you about halfway through the interview.

mp3, 26:12, 18MB

Punching In interview with Alex Frankel

Alex Frankel spent the better part of two years applying at and working as a front-line employee for a variety of companies, including UPS, The Gap, Enterprise, The Apple Store, Starbucks, and others. The book, titled Punching In, shares his stories and insight into the heart of the American marketplace - it's companies, people, and brands, and how these things effect both customers and employees alike, sometimes turning them into fanatical endorsers and workers. In the interview, Alex goes into further detail about which companies truly know how to turn their employees into loyal team members and how they do it.

About Alex Frankel:
"Alex Frankel is a writer based in San Francisco. He has written about business culture and adventure for Wired, Fast Company, The New York Times Magazine, and Outside, and he is the author of Wordcraft: The Art of Turning Little Words into Big Business."

mp3, 24:33, 16.7MB

Peak Interview with Chip Conley

This week's interview is with Chip Conley, author of Peak: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo from Maslow.

Chip runs San Francisco based hotelier Joie de Vivre Hospitality and he is a big fan of Abraham Maslow. Chip has adopted Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to apply to employees, customers, and investors. It is intriguing stuff.

mp3, 34:10, 23.5 MB

How Starbucks Saved My Life Interview with Michael Gates Gill

If you haven't heard about Michael Gates Gill, the author of How Starbucks Saved My Life , he's lived a pretty incredible life that was turned completely upside-down. But, he's risen back to the top -- albeit in a much different way than his "old life." It was a real pleasure to speak with him about the value of serving and respecting others. Two points that might seem obvious, but it's a lesson that so many people, like Michael, learn the hard way. Hearing about his experience, and reading his book, are great ways for the rest of us to be more conscious of how we interact with others.

About Michael Gates Gill:
"As a successful creative director for one of the largest advertising agencies in the world, Michael Gates Gill had it all. But in a few short years, he lost his job, divorced, and was diagnosed with a brain tumor. With no money or health insurance Gill took a job at Starbucks where, with the help of an unlikely mentor, he learned the value of hard work, humility, and what it truly means to help another person. In his book, Michael Gates Gill shares how he had it all, lost it all, and was finally redeemed by a new job and an incredible friendship."

mp3, 20:58, 14.4MB

Leadership Challenge Interview with Jim Kouzes

In this interview, I talk with Jim Kouzes, co-author of The Leadership Challenge.

The book is a classic and was the first to look at leadership from a research-based perspective. I could have talked with Jim for three hours. If you are not familiar with this title, listen to Jim talk about the difference between management and leadership, his thoughts on how leaders made, and why he named the book Leadership Challenge.

mp3, 47:14, 32.4MB

Super Crunchers Interview with Ian Ayres

In this podcast, I talk with Ian Ayres, author of Super Crunchers: How Thinking by Numbers Is the New Way to Be Smart.

The book is a great survey of how analytical tools are allowing us to reach a whole new set of understandings about how the world works. Netflix uses regression to figure out what movie you may like, as eHarmony does the same for mates. Randomization allows JoAnn Fabrics to figure out if the picture of a sewing machine or a starburst with 20% will work better at getting customer to buy. Governments, medicine and filmmakers are all making use of Super Crunching.

Ian and I talk about tools, the wisdom of crowds, when super crunching doesn't work, and how he used all of this to improve his book.

mp3, 28:09, 19.3MB

Unstoppable Interview with Chris Zook

After a summer hiatus, we return with a great interview.

In this podcast, I talk with Chris Zook, author of Unstoppable: How to Identify Hidden Assets, Redefine the Core, and Fuel Future Growth. This book is the final in a business trilogy of sorts. Profit From the Core and Beyond the Core were his prior titles from Harvard Business School Press.

We cover a group of topics that Zook has explored in all of his books: focus, leadership economics, and profit pools. We also talk specifically about the challenges of redefining a business core and whether these same issues apply to small businesses.

mp3, 51:10, 35.1MB