Stay ConnectedWhat do most Fortune 500 executives have in common? They learned important lessons on the fields and courts of their high school and collegiate sports teams. This is true for both men and women. Ernst & Young found that a whopping 94% of women holding a C-suite position, played sports.
Join 11-time New York Times Best-Selling Author Don Yaeger on his journey to sit with some of the brightest executives in the world as we discuss how sports shaped their professional trajectory in life.
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Ep. 204: Football and IRONMAN Competitions shaped this executive who started from the bottom of Century 21 and worked his way up to CEO over two decades.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes Don’s favorite quotes from today’s episode and a reflection question so you can apply today’s insights.
Do you want to write a book? In my new role as Publisher at Forbes Books and with the incredible resources and expertise of their team, we’re making it easier than ever to help YOU to tell your story. Send us a message here to get started: https://books.forbes.com/don/
Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Jack Martha and Allie Karlinsky for making this episode possible.
Ep. 203: Playing in one of the coldest games in NFL History shaped this executive. From undrafted free agent to the Super Bowl, Blake Moore describes his journey and teaches us about the mindset of continuous improvement, the value of versatility, and the best way to empower your team.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes Don’s favorite quotes from today’s episode and a reflection question so you can apply today’s insights.
Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Lilly Mae Stewart and Chase Skipper for making this episode possible.
Ep. 202: Princeton Track shaped this executive who became the Managing Director of Exaltare Capital Partners (ECP) and expanded ECP Planet Fitness from 15 to 100 units. Omar serves on the boards of Urban Air, The Good Feet Store, and the International Franchise Association, embodying his belief that "no one creates value by themselves.”
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes Don’s favorite quotes from today’s episode and a reflection question so you can apply today’s insights.
Learn more about the Franchise Ascension Initiative Omar mentioned: https://pages.franchise.org/ifa-franchise-ascension-initiative/
Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Libby Klemeyer and Samantha Clark for making this episode possible.
REWIND EPISODE: In celebration of 200 episodes published, we are “rewinding” back to one of my favorite conversations from 2022— my interview with Dr. Condoleezza Rice.
You may know her as Secretary of State, National Security Advisor, and Director of Stanford’s Hoover Institution, but in this episode you will learn her background as a figure skater, tennis player, and a football savant. Her football coach father taught her so much about the game, she could break down defenses at just six years old!
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes my favorite quotes from today’s episode and a reflection question so you can apply today’s insights.
Episode Breakdown:
Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Francisco Nunez for making this episode possible.
Ep. 200: Professional soccer shaped this executive who now leads more than 10,000 employees at WWT, a global powerhouse generating $20 billion in annual revenue. The company helps 80 Fortune 500 companies modernize their IT infrastructure and create cutting-edge digital experiences. Recently, Jim was named one of Glassdoor’s top 25 CEOs in America!
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes Don’s favorite quotes from today’s episode and a reflection question so you can apply today’s insights.
Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Lilly Mae Stewart and Samantha Clark for making this episode possible.
Ep. 199: Cornell Football shaped this executive, who still holds three of the six longest punts in the program's history, and his 'yards per punt' average still ranks in the top 10 all-time.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes Don’s favorite quotes from today’s episode and a reflection question so you can apply today’s insights.
“When I went to Cornell, I walked over to the quarterback huddle with six or eight quarterbacks, but the coach grabbed me by the shoulder pad and said, 'Hey, Charles, we don't have a punter. Congratulations! You're the starting punter.' You could have hit me over the head with a sledgehammer,” he recalled. “That was not what I wanted to hear.”
Learn how Charles applies the lessons from that experience to his leadership today!
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Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Ethan Salzberg and Frank Nunez for making this episode possible.
Ep. 198: Growing up in small town South Dakota, this CEO learned to play golf on some of the roughest terrain: sand. While he cheerfully concedes he isn't the world's best golfer, Steve, who played on his high school’s team, took what he learned about persistence and applied it to his career at Great Clips.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes Don’s favorite quotes from today’s episode and a reflection question so you can apply today’s insights.
Listeners looking to expand their operations will learn lessons including:
Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Lilly Mae Stewart and Ethan Salzberg for making this episode possible.
Ep. 197: New York firefighter Stephen Siller never showed up to his tee time with his brothers on September 11th, 2001. When he received news of the attack, Stephen turned around and drove his truck to the entrance of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, but it had already been closed.
Determined to carry out his duty, he strapped 60 lbs. of gear to his back, and raced on foot 1.7 miles through the tunnel to the Twin Towers, where he gave up his life while saving others.
Today his family continues to honor his memory by retracing Stephen’s steps in a fundraiser that provides mortgage-free homes to fallen first responder families with young children.
Having raised more than $500 million and provided 1,200 homes, Frank Siller shares the valuable leadership lessons he's gained through the journey.
DONATE to T2T here!
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes Don’s impactful quotes from today’s episode and a reflection question so you can apply today’s insights.
Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Chase Skipper and Jack Martha for making this episode possible.
Ep. 196: Baseball and tennis influenced the life of the author Oprah calls “The Ultimate Comeback Coach.” Tim Storey has impacted millions of people in 75 countries through his keynote speeches and books.
Whether he's working one-on-one with celebrities like Robert Downey Jr. and Kanye West or sharing his wisdom on interviews like this one, Tim always inspires those around him.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes Don’s favorite quotes from today’s episode and a reflection question so you can apply today’s insights.
Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Lilly Mae Stewart and Samantha Clark for making this episode possible.
Ep. 195: Basketball was Josh’s primary sport and he was good enough at it that in his senior year of high school he was invited to play in the Tri-Valley League All-Stars game in Massachusetts! He recounts how he initially felt somewhat out of place, but the game had an incredible ending!
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes Don’s favorite quotes from today’s episode and a reflection question so you can apply today’s insights.
In this episode, Josh shares valuable insights gained from his 26-year tenure at Disney, revealing how he leads a team of 180,000 cast members. Lessons include:
Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Vince Jones and Samantha Clark for making this episode possible.
Ep. 194: Georgetown Soccer shaped this executive who, after playing for the Hoyas, took on the role of the program's play-by-play announcer. Two decades later, he’s only missed one game. Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes Don’s favorite quotes from today’s episode and a reflection question so you can apply Dan’s insights.
In this episode you will learn:
Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to T.J. Percell and Samantha Clark for making this episode possible.
Ep. 193: Cricket shaped the longest-tenured CEO ever featured on Corporate Competitor! Since 1988, he has managed to avoid burnout by "focusing on the most important things." Today, he diligently reviews weekly reports from his leadership team, posing questions such as, "What did you do this week to enhance your talent and service, expand your marketing within the team or community, improve technology, and advance social responsibility?"
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes Don’s favorite quotes from today’s episode and a reflection question so you can apply today’s insights.
Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Ethan Salzberg and Francisco Nunez for making this episode possible.
Ep. 192: Tennis and track shaped former Microsoft US President and current CEO of Lumen – the company that owns and operates one the world’s biggest, most connected fiber networks.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes Don’s favorite quotes from today’s episode and a reflection question so you can apply today’s insights.
Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Hannah Edwards and Tara Openshaw for making this episode possible.
Ep. 191: This financial services company hired eight of the women on the US Olympic rowing team. This partnership is led by Tim who went to Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship while captaining his Boat Club to its most successful season in 40 years.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes Don’s favorite quotes from today’s episode and a reflection question so you can apply today’s insights.
Listeners will appreciate the specific sports-to-business analogies and lessons he has implemented to keep his widely distributed workforce of 15,000 associates in 23 countries locked onto a common vision and culture.
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Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Chase Skipper and Jack Martha for making this episode possible.
Ep. 190: Northwestern University Soccer shaped this executive who held leadership roles at Salesforce and Slack before taking on the role of CEO at LogicMonitor, which helps companies monitor, manage, and maintain IT infrastructure.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes Don’s favorite quotes from today’s episode and a reflection question so you can apply today’s insights.
Listeners seeking to engage their teams more fully will enjoy her varied and sometimes humorous approach to communicating this mission-critical knowledge, including:
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Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Hannah Edwards and Jessi Wynn for making this episode possible.
Ep. 189: Alex shares 4 lessons that remain the same whether you devoting 500 hours to IRONMAN training or overseeing operations for more than 40,000 affiliated brokers and sales associates across 2,400 offices worldwide.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes Don’s favorite quotes from today’s episode and a reflection question so you can apply today’s insights.
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Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to T.J. Percell and Jessi Wynn for making this episode possible.
Ep. 188: Cricket shaped this executive’s decision to attend Stanford University. Rohan became a founding member of the cricket media site Cricinfo, which was later acquired by ESPN, and a member of the Stanford Supernovas Cricket Team, an alumni team that recently hoisted a league trophy.
Today, he works at Guild – an education benefits company that collaborates with large employers like Target, Chipotle, Hilton, and PepsiCo to train their workforces and create career mobility for employees – and will teach you how to harness momentum in business.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes Don’s favorite quotes from today’s episode and a reflection question so you can apply today’s insights.
Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Hannah Edwards and Nicklas Urban for making this episode possible.
Ep. 187: Absolute faith in each other is imperative among members of the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels precision flying team, where soaring canopy-to-canopy at 500 mph is all part of a day’s work. In this episode, “Boss” Armatas – a former lacrosse and basketball player— teaches you how to build trust, repair trust, resist micromanaging, and debrief effectively!
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes Don’s favorite quotes from today’s episode and a reflection question so you can apply today’s insights.
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Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Libby Klemeyer and Samantha Clark for making this episode possible.
Ep. 186: Basketball shaped Brian, who was the President and CEO of TruChoice Financial Group. He was the architect behind its construction before accepting his role at AmeriLife.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes Don’s favorite quotes from today’s episode and a reflection question so you can apply Brian’s insights.
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Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Hannah Edwards and Francisco Nunez for making this episode possible.
Ep. 185: Baseball shaped this leader originally from Italy, who manages a global workforce of 400,000 team members serving clients in 150 countries and generated an impressive $50 billion in revenue last year.
You will learn lessons in:
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes Don’s favorite quotes from today’s episode and a reflection question so you can apply Carmine’s insights.
Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Libby Klemeyer and Arianna Aly for making this episode possible.
Ep. 184: Ashland University basketball shaped this HR exec who learned a lesson in preparation while racking up double digit steals game after game. “I would study film of the point guard as she was running down looking over to the coach and calling the play, so I knew exactly where they were going to pass it,” she shared.
Now she’s studying what happens at LKQ, where she never misses an earnings calI and the chance to meet with investors or to walk the floors of departments outside of HR to better understand the business and how she can help it move forward.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes Don’s favorite quotes from today’s episode and a reflection question so you can apply Gen’s insights.
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Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Ethan Salzberg and Francisco Nunez for making this episode possible.
Ep. 183: Cal Basketball shaped Dave who was drafted by the Boston Celtics, only to be denied an NBA career because of a player’s strike and injury. But he pivoted to a career in finance and now serves as Co-CEO of Dimensional Fund Advisors.
In the 25 years since he joined, the firm has grown from $10 billion in assets under management to nearly $700 billion. You will learn:
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes Don’s favorite quotes from today’s episode and a reflection question so you can apply Dave’s insights.
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Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Hannah Edwards for making this episode possible.
Ep. 182: As a four-sport athlete, sports was one area that provided a level-playing field for Brian who grew up in Queens raised by his mom and grandparents. Coaching high school football helped pay his way through UCLA and now the chair and CEO of one of America’s most iconic companies, nearly 2,000-store Target, just shakes his head in wonder as he thinks about just how much he learned from watching UCLA’s John Wooden.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes Don’s favorite quotes from today’s episode and a reflection question so you can apply Brian’s insights.
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Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Libby Klemeyer and Daniel Kehn for making this episode possible.
Ep. 181: Colgate Football shaped this leader whose family of companies serves more than 38.5 million people. You will learn how to model calm presence and total responsibility to your team when these qualities are needed most.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes Don’s favorite quotes from today’s episode and a reflection question so you can apply Pat’s insights.
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Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Hannah Edwards and Catherine Pattillo for making this episode possible.
Ep. 180: Baseball shaped the founder of the company that grew to more than 250 million subscribers and fundamentally altered how the world experienced media. Lessons include:
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes Don’s favorite quotes from today’s episode and a reflection question so you can apply Marc’s insights.
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Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Nicklas Urban and Samantha Clark for making this episode possible.
Ep. 179: Field Hockey at the University of Pennsylvania shaped this non-profit leader. Good Sports – “a food bank for sporting goods” – just hit their $100 million donation milestone.
If you are a leader who wants to learn how to make a larger impact through your clearly defined mission, you have much to learn from Melissa’s experience building Good Sports!
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes Don’s favorite quotes from today’s episode and a reflection question so you can apply Melissa’s insights.
Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time, Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team toward personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Libby Klemeyer and Francisco Nunez for making this episode possible.
Ep. 178: Baseball and basketball shaped Jeff who leads 60,000 global tax professionals. While he doesn’t do his own taxes, Jeff does “file” several practical tips in this episode including:
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions.
Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time, Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to T.J. Percell and Nicklas Urban for making this episode possible.
Ep. 177: Baseball, football, and fencing in college shaped this leader who has received 30 promotions during his decades-long career—showcasing his determination to equip those around him with a team-first mindset that produced an impact across the company. You will learn:
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions.
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Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Francisco Nunez and Samantha Clark for making this episode possible.
Ep. 176: Steve found himself on the basketball court with Barack Obama growing up in Hawaii! His competitive spirit was on display when he co-founded AOL and lead the second largest merger of all time with the blending of new media AOL and old media Time Warner.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Click here to download the bonus resource.
Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Ethan Salzberg and Francisco Nunez for making this episode possible.
Ep. 175: Soccer shaped this leader who joined StretchLab when there were three franchise locations. Today, there are more than 400 studios across North America and 900 licensed locations globally, making them the global leader in assisted stretching. He offers numerous tips including:
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Click here to download the bonus resource.
Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time, Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team toward personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Libby Klemeyer and Meredith Grimm for making this episode possible.
Ep. 174: Cornell Lacrosse shaped Jon Gordon who recently released The One Truth: Elevate Your Mind, Unlock Your Power, Heal Your Soul. We discuss ways to keep your team connected, including specific techniques. Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and a leadership activity for your team to connect by sharing a hero, hardship, highlight, hope, and something hilarious. Click here to download the bonus resource.
+Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
++Special thanks to Samantha Clark and Vince Jones for making this episode possible
Ep. 173: Field hockey at the University of Delaware and Team USA shaped Rachel’s competitive spirit and teamwork skills that help her lead a dynamic team across 17 countries. You will learn:
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Click here to download the bonus resource.
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Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Ethan Salzberg and Francisco Nunez for making this episode possible.
Ep. 172: Football and baseball shaped Bob whose 33 years working for P&G culminated in his role as Chairman, President, and CEO. Under his leadership, P&G added nearly one billion people to its global customer base, and its stock price increased by 60 percent in his four years as CEO.
Following his career at P&G, Bob was selected by President Obama to head the Department of Veterans Affairs. While at the helm of the VA, Bob was able to help transform the agency into one that truly delivered better care for our Military veterans.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Lessons include:
Links mentioned in this episode:
Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team toward personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to T.J. Percell and Brian Schnorr for making this episode possible.
Ep. 171: To celebrate our new book that hits shelves March 12th, Coach Prime and I discuss the mindset that keeps him highly motivated – and highly motivating – after an impressive career.
This Pro Football Hall of Famer played 14 seasons in the NFL and nine seasons in Major League Baseball. His 1992 World Series appearance makes him the only athlete to play in both a Super Bowl and a World Series. Now he is developing young men into leaders as the football coach at University of Colorado.
In this episode and BONUS LEADERSHIP RESOURCE, lessons include:
Special thanks to Samantha Clark and Francisco Nunez for making this episode possible.
Ep. 170: Pickleball fuels the competitive fire of David Rogier who founded the streaming platform that makes it possible for anyone to watch or listen to hundreds of video lessons taught by 200+ of the world's best. In our conversation and DOWNLOADABLE BONUS RESOURCE.
You will learn:
Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time, Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team toward personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Ethan Salzberg and Francisco Nunez for making this episode possible.
Ep. 169: She was the first woman to lead the multi-billion-dollar global company and shares her success didn't come easily. Today we discuss the lessons in her new book, Making Waves: A Woman's Rise to the Top Using Smarts, Heart and Courage.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Click here to download the bonus resource.
Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Ethan Salzberg and Francisco Nunez for making this episode possible.
Ep. 168: CU Boulder Track and Cross Country shaped this CEO who runs a coaching and peer advisory organization for small and midsize businesses. Today, more than 45,000 members in 35 countries rely on Vistage to help make better decisions for their companies, families, and communities.
Learn how to set personal goals around the “Six F’s” of family, finances, function (your job), fitness, faith, and future.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Click here to download the bonus resource.
Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time, Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Meredith Grimm and Vincent Jones for making this episode possible.
Ep. 167: Giants Wide Receiver David Tyree’s “helmet catch” immediately went down as one of the iconic moments in Super Bowl lore, but did you know it likely wouldn’t have happened had Eli Manning and Tyree not “connected” earlier as colleagues and teammates?
Incredible athletic feats such as this are what Super Bowls are made of; but behind such feats are unseen examples of leadership that create the conditions for them to happen.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Click here to download the bonus resource.
Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time, Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team toward personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Francisco Nunez and Samantha Clark for making this episode possible.
Ep. 166: Basketball shaped the CEO at the helm of the global leader in real-time continuous glucose monitoring for people with diabetes. Kevin’s days coaching have taught him the value of teamwork– lessons he applies to his 8,300 Dexcom employees that go to work to accomplish the mission of empowering people to take control of their health.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Click here to download the bonus resource.
Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time. Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Tommaso Martone and Samantha Clark for making this episode possible.
Ep. 165: Squash shaped this “ex-Wall Street businessman” who quit his job at age 42 and enrolled in the International Space University to pursue his dream. In this episode you will learn how to:
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Click here to download the bonus resource.
Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Kyle Smedley and Francisco Nunez for making this episode possible.
Ep. 164: Georgetown Volleyball shaped this leader’s career, which includes 20 years at The Coca-Cola Company, where she led Worldwide Agency Operations across 200 countries and was recognized as one of Advertising Age’s “Women to Watch.”
In order to create a positive work-life balance, she learned how to set boundaries — but with one proviso. “Boundaries aren’t of any value if you don’t share them,” she noted. “People can’t honor boundaries they don’t know about.”
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Click here to download the bonus resource.
Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Tommaso Martone and Ryan Tevlin for making this episode possible.
Ep. 163: College basketball shaped this leader who was an executive at United Way Suncoast and enjoyed a lucrative career as a banking executive at Wells Fargo and BB&T before landing at Tampa Bay Partnership.
“True competitors aren’t actually trying to beat someone else,” she shared. “They are trying to be the best that they can be, and the byproduct is that they beat other people because they're assessing themselves against where they want to be.”
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Click here to download the bonus resource.
Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Daniel Kehn and Samantha Clark for making this episode possible.
Ep. 162: Hal was told he would never walk again, and ten years later he ran an Ultra Marathon. The new “Updated & Expanded Edition” of his book The Miracle Morning outlines his six-step morning ritual.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Click here to download the bonus resource.
+Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Tommaso Martone and Ryan Tevlin for making this episode possible.
Ep. 161: 44 Farms CEO Bob McClaren spent a decade as the president of business operations for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball before taking over his family’s cattle ranch.
Today he keeps the art of ranching alive with his partnership with Walmart, serving the highest quality beef to his customers for more than five generations as one of the largest Angus breeders in the United States.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Click here to download the bonus resource.
Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Lauren Stecker and Samantha Clark for making this episode possible.
Ep. 160: In his 42 seasons at Duke, Coach Mike Krzyzewski built a dynasty that few programs in the history of the game can match. He is the winningest, five-time national champion and NCAA record 13-time Final Four participant. As the head coach of the U.S. Men’s National Basketball Team, he brought home six gold medals. So you might say that Coach K knows a little something about getting “buy-in” from his team.
“You have to put yourself in a position to have conversations and build relationships with people,” he shared in this episode. “I spent more time near the locker room complex than in my sixth-floor office because I knew that would lead to impromptu discussions.”
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Click here to download the bonus resource.
+ Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time, Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team toward personal and professional greatness.
++ Special thanks to Lauren Stecker and Samantha Clark for making this episode possible.
Ep.159: “Being a professional is doing what you love to do even on days you don’t love doing it,” Daniel shared. This motto has netted him seven New York Times bestsellers, including his latest, The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward. His books have been translated into more than 40 languages, and have sold millions of copies around the world.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Click here to download the bonus resource.
Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time? Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to David Beiraand Lauren Stecker for making this episode possible.
Ep. 158: The leader who manages Erin Andrews, Deion Sanders, Michael Strahan, and Tony Gonzalez, joins the show to discuss how confidence and gratitude can co-exist to make you a better leader.
Constance shared that several important early lessons in leadership were learned through her own sporting experiences. A 95-pound softball player in high school who didn’t see a lot of at bats, she says she was proud to be a backup and “bench cheerleader.”
“It doesn't matter how great I play my position if the team loses,” she said. “And that's what we instill in our team.”
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Click here to download the bonus resource.
Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Meredith Grimm and Lauren Stecker for making this episode possible.
Ep. 157: Christian co-founded The Post with former Under Armour President Justin LaRose, an organization dedicated to the proposition that athletes offer a unique set of experiences and skills that make them promising candidates for leadership after they’ve hung up their cleats.
In the podcast, Christian shares lessons learned through a lifetime in sports about finding a sense of identity, purpose and community, including why hating to lose can be a better motivator and teacher than loving to win.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Click here to download the bonus resource.
Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team towards personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Lauren Stecker and Nico Finol for making this episode possible.
Ep. 156: College basketball shaped this CEO of HYBE America, and founder of SB Projects. Scooter focuses on what sports has taught him about getting the upper-hand on adversity in business and in life including:
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Click here to download the bonus resource.
Looking for a speaker for your next event? From more than 30 years of interviewing and studying the greatest winners of all time Don offers these live and virtual presentations built to inspire your team toward personal and professional greatness.
Special thanks to Ethan Salzberg and Francisco Nunez for making this episode possible.
Ep. 155: University of California Irvine Volleyball shaped the co-founder of the largest female-led Registered Investment Advisory firm in the United States. “I think athletes know what it takes to win,” Eusey said in the podcast. “And I think the reason they know what it takes to win is because they've experienced what it takes to lose. Today she expresses her competitive fire through running marathons but also by encouraging her team to challenge each other – and her – to make the whole team better.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Click here to download the bonus resource.
If these lessons resonated with you, connect with me and my team at maxwellleadership.com/don and together we can next-level your company culture!
Special thanks to David Beira and Daniel Kehn for making this episode possible.
Ep. 154: My co-author whose life inspired the hit movie The Blind Sideis back with an inspiring and motivating book on overcoming any obstacle, no matter how tough the odds! Click here to order the book!
The next chapter of Oher will be about positively impacting young people who are like he was before the world ever heard of this warm-hearted giant of a man.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Click here to download the bonus resource.
Special thanks to Francisco Nunez and Vincent Jones for making this episode possible.
Ep. 153: This prominent businessman serves on the board of directors at TD Ameritrade, a company founded by his father, and acquired by Charles Schwab in 2020.
Whether it is financial services or sports, Ricketts is a big believer in the power of culture, a belief that was reinforced after he donned a fake beard and glasses on Undercover Boss.
Working odd jobs around Wrigley field, Ricketts discovered something that vindicated his family’s focus on culture: “a contagious love for the organization.” The leadership lesson, said Ricketts, is as clear and crisp as a walk-off homer: “People should seek to be a part of something bigger than themselves and have a love for the organization in which they work.”
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Click here to download the bonus resource.
If these lessons resonated with you, connect with me and my team at maxwellleadership.com/don and together we can next-level your company culture!
Special thanks to Lauren Hafner and Samantha Clark for making this episode possible.
Ep. 152: Baseball and tennis shaped this co-founder of the Human Performance Institute. In the episode and BONUS RESOURCE Jim shares his philosophy and practical approaches to building healthy and high-performance teams, including:
If these lessons resonated with you, connect with me and my team at maxwellleadership.com/don and together we can next-level your company culture!
Special thanks to Cade Stransky and Daniel Madden for making this episode possible.
Ep. 151 REWIND EPISODE: College football shaped Keith Hoskins whose Navy career included serving as Commanding Officer for Naval Air Station Pensacola, where he provided leadership oversight for more than 25,000 military and civilian personnel.
You will learn incredible lessons in collaboration, character, and why compartmentalization isn’t always a bad thing
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Click here to download the bonus resource.
If these lessons resonated with you, connect with me and my team at maxwellleadership.com/don and together we can next-level your company culture!
Special thanks to Francisco Nunez and Lauren Hafner for making this episode possible.
Ep. 150: Swimming shaped Kris who climbed the corporate ladder at PwC and IBM before arriving at Ernst & Young. You will learn how to build effective coaching and mentoring into your daily routine.
Kris is a recipient of Consulting Magazine's Lifetime Achievement Award and she brings a wealth of knowledge to the table, acquired throughout her career and enhanced by her MBA from Harvard Business School.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Click here to download the bonus resource.
If these lessons resonated with you, connect with me and my team at maxwellleadership.com/don and together we can next-level your company culture!
Special thanks to Ethan Salzberg and Lauren Hafner for making this episode possible.
Ep. 149: Rugby, golf, and fishing have shaped Andrew, whose clients have included Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. He received international acclaim as a leading figure in his industry from Consulting Magazine and teaches why humility is a leader’s most potent leadership trait.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Click here to download the bonus resource.
If these lessons resonated with you, connect with me and my team at maxwellleadership.com/don and together we can next-level your company culture!
+Special thanks to Kyle Smedley and Lauren Hafner for making this episode possible.
Ep. 148: Equestrian and track & field shaped the leader responsible for Visa’s partnerships with the NFL, Olympics, and FIFA. In the months leading up to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, Andrea’s team will launch a marketing campaign based on the premise that “behind every number, there is a story” that will bring the achievements of these world-class athletes to life!!
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Click here to download the bonus resource.
If these lessons resonated with you, connect with me and my team at maxwellleadership.com/don and together we can next-level your company culture!
Special thanks to Kyle Smedley and David Beira for making this episode possible.
Ep. 147: Brown University football taught Damola about hard work and sacrifice, core values that he took to heart in a career that has taken him from the world of Wall Street to the C-Suite at P.F. Chang’s.
+Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Click here to download the bonus resource.
++If these lessons resonated with you, connect with me and my team at maxwellleadership.com/don and together we can next-level your company culture!
Special thanks to Cade Stransky and Francisco Nunez for making this episode possible.
Ep. 146: Wrestling shaped this founding member of the Disney Cruise Line who rose to President. When I first met Tom, he handed me the coolest business card I had ever seen. He was the chief executive of a 1-ship cruise line called The World. The business card he handed me let me know I was talking the President of The World.
Today as CEO of Virgin Voyages, he leads a world-class team in all elements of ship design, sailor experience, construction, crew, safety, operations and service delivery.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Click here to download the bonus resource.
If these lessons resonated with you, connect with me and my team at maxwellleadership.com/don and together we can next-level your company culture!
Special thanks to Davd Beira and Ethan Salzberg for making this episode possible.
REWIND EPISODE: Featuring the highest ranking woman in the oil drilling industry honor of Mother’s Day! Kim is a proud mother and learned valuable lessons from her time playing volleyball at Texas A&M and I know you will love her wisdom.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Click here to download the bonus resource.
If these lessons resonated with you, connect with me and my team at maxwellleadership.com/don and together we can next-level your company culture!
+At the time of the recording, I was recovering from a battle with COVID that put me in the ICU for 9 days, so you will notice my voice does not sound as it does today.
++Special thanks to Francisco Nunez for making this episode possible.
Ep. 144: Jesse is BACK as our first repeat guest to talk about our new book Banana Ball: The Unbelievably True Story of the Savannah Bananas. Whether at the ballpark, on social media, onstage delivering keynotes, or in features for ESPN, Jesse continues to create fans all over the world.
The Bananas have sold out every game since their first season and have a waitlist for tickets in the thousands. They have entertained millions of fans in Savannah and at ballparks all over their country on their Banana Ball Tour. Listen now and take notes on our free BONUS RESOURCE.
+If you want to connect with Don Yaeger to next-level your company culture connect with him at maxwellleadership.com/don
Special thanks to Lauren Hafner and Francisco Nunez for making this episode possible.
Ep. 143: Baseball and football shaped Jim whose experience includes executive roles at Comcast and AT&T. Today his competitive spirit can be seen golfing and skiing in his home state of Colorado!
“As a corporate leader, I'm always thinking about that person who takes the first phone call from our customer. ‘How hard are we making that job?’ I want to know.”
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Click here to download the bonus resource.
If these lessons resonated with you, connect with me and my team at maxwellleadership.com/don and together we can next-level your company culture!
Special thanks to Kyle Smedley and Francisco Nunez for making this episode possible.
Ep. 142: Vanderbilt Basketball shaped Drew. Growing up in Tennessee, he disciplined himself as a young boy to take 750-1,000 shots a day on the basketball court because he wanted to be the third person in his family to play basketball at Vanderbilt, where his dad and grandfather played.
"I want to eliminate 'destination disease.' Let's chase winning with everything that we have, but let's not allow that to become the impairment of us becoming all we can be along the journey." - Drew Maddux
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Click here to download the bonus resource.
If these lessons resonated with you, connect with me and my team at maxwellleadership.com/don and together we can next-level your company culture!
Special thanks to Kyle Smedley and Samantha Clark for making this episode possible.
Ep. 141: Golf shaped this PGA Golf Executive of the Year. He reminds us of the importance of building strong relationships in every area of an organization. Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions.
If these lessons resonated with you, connect with me and my team at maxwellleadership.com/don and together we can next-level your company culture!
Special thanks to Clayton Cole, Ethan Salzberg, and Lauren Hafner for making this episode possible.
Ep. 140: Tennis and gymnastics shaped Angela who has been named to the Forbes Most Powerful Women list an incredible EIGHT times. Today she serves on the Board of Ralph Lauren, AirBnb, and Save the Children International, a charity focused on improving the lives of at-risk children worldwide.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions.
+If these lessons resonated with you, connect with me and my team at maxwellleadership.com/don and together we can next-level your company culture!
Special thanks to Kyle Smedley and Samantha Clark for making this episode possible.
Ep.139: Princeton Lacrosse shaped this leader who won two national championships under legendary coach Bill Tierney. Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Click here to download the bonus resource.
You will learn:
If these lessons resonated with you, connect with me and my team at maxwellleadership.com/don and together we can next-level your company culture!
Special thanks to Nico Finol and Sam Manley for making this episode possible.
Ep. 138 Football and baseball shaped Chairman of Texas Mutual Insurance Company. Ron Simmons developed the practice of holding a 20-minute meeting with each of his team members with “no agenda other than getting to know each other.”
“I learned early on that if I wanted to be able to accomplish things, I needed to have my colleagues trust me,” Simmons said. “If you can develop a personal bond with someone, then when some conflict arises, you can melt it away a lot better by drawing on your understanding of the person.”
+Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Click here to download the bonus resource.
++If these lessons resonated with you, connect with me and my team at maxwellleadership.com/don and together we can next-level your company culture!
Special thanks to Cade Stransky and Daniel Kehn for making this episode possible.
Ep. 137: Cricket shaped the leader who grew up in Yorkshire, England where “the humans were outnumbered by the sheep.” Leave it to the CEO of WD-40 to figure out a way to smooth out the squeaks in his company’s culture, but that’s exactly what the company’s new boss Steve Brass did on day one of becoming the leader of a brand whose name has become synonymous with making things operate better.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Click here to download the bonus resource.
If these lessons resonated with you, connect with me and my team at maxwellleadership.com/don and together we can next-level your company culture!
Special thanks to Kyle Smedley and David Beira for making this episode possible.
Ep. 136: Harvard Football shaped this "business athlete" who bakes his company's purpose into his product while leading his 12,000 employees.
Scott founded Seattle Coffee Company in London before selling it to Starbucks and serving as the President of Starbucks Europe. In 2008, Scott and his wife Ally founded MOD Pizza in Seattle, a fast-casual restaurant chain that offers artisan-style pizzas and salads, and today they have 500 locations across America.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Click here to download the bonus resource.
+If these lessons resonated with you, connect with me and my team at maxwellleadership.com/don and together we can next-level your company culture!
Special thanks to Samantha Clark and Daniel Kehn for making this episode possible.
Ep. 135 REWIND EPISODE: To celebrate John’s new book The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication, we are throwing it back to one of our first episodes. John began practicing leadership as a sophomore on the Circleville, Ohio High School basketball team, when was named captain.
“He might be the youngest,” his coach said to the team, “but there is nobody here that wants you to succeed as much as John.” It’s no stretch to say that what was true then remains true of his team at Maxwell Leadership, as well as the countless teams they have coached and inspired worldwide.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Click here to download the bonus resource.
If these lessons resonated with you, connect with me and my team at maxwellleadership.com/don and together we can next-level your company culture!
Special thanks to Francisco Nunez and Lauren Hafner for making this episode possible.
Ep. 134: Notre Dame Soccer Captain and Ad Age CMO of the Year encourages you to keep a “happy folder” of nice notes and projects you are proud of so that when you exerpience low points you can revisit the folder and get a little boost.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode is “Build Trustworthy Relationships” which includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions for this episode. Click here to download the bonus resource.
Bring Don Yaeger’s inspiration and tools for culture transformation to your team! Connect with us here.
Special thanks to Haley Rose and Samantha Clark for making this episode possible.
Ep. 133: Johns Hopkins Lacrosse shaped Tracey who offers insights into skills that may not fit naturally on the resumé but belong in any true leadership toolkit. These include:
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions. Click here to download the bonus resource.
If these lessons resonated with you, connect with me and my team at maxwellleadership.com/don and together we can next-level your company culture!
Special thanks to Samantha Clark and Francisco Nunez for making this episode possible.
Ep. 132: Football shaped the leader in charge of Cigna’s U.S. employer group business market strategy, sales, and local community engagement initiatives. Some people view corporate success as climbing a ladder, Mike Triplett views it as crossing a bridge, and he takes special care never to cross a bridge without bringing someone along who contributed to his success.
Our BONUS RESOURCE includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions for this episode Click here to download the bonus resource.
+You can now bring host Don Yaeger’s inspiration and tools for culture transformation to your team! Connect with us here: http://maxwellleadership.com/don
Special thanks to Kory Gehring and Brett Rutherford for making this episode possible.
Ep. 131: Oxford Basketball shaped Stephen whose portfolio includes brands like FIJI Water, Halos Mandarins, POM Wonderful, and JUSTIN Wines.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode is “What Happens When You Walk in the Room?” which includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions from today’s episode. Click here to download the bonus resource.
If these lessons resonated with you, connect with me and my team at maxwellleadership.com/don and together we can next-level your company culture!
Special thanks to Brian Schnorr and Haley Rose for making this episode possible.
Ep. 130: When Stacie asks a client, “How do we compare to the competition,” she’s not going through the motions or being polite. She’s showing interest and creating a respectful environment in which honesty can develop—and she’s not afraid of what she might hear.
Listeners to this episode will learn:
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode is “How to Receive Feedback” which includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions so you can go from managing your team to leading them. Click here to download the bonus resource.
If these lessons resonated with you, connect with me and my team at maxwellleadership.com/don and together we can next-level your company culture!
Special thanks to Jacob Poverman and Samuel Manley for making this episode possible.
Ep. 129: Hockey shaped this cybersecurity executive, an industry with zero unemployment and three million open jobs on any given day. Download our “Make Your Employees Feel Like Superheroes” BONUS RESOURCE for this episode!
If these lessons resonated with you, connect with me and my team at maxwellleadership.com/don and together we can next-level your company culture!
Special thanks to Samuel Manley and Nico Finol for making this episode possible.
Ep. 128: Football, track, and baseball shaped Paul who was named to Glassdoor’s list of Top CEOs determined by employee approval ratings. Listeners will learn how KPMG uses DEI principles and practices in its strategic planning, especially with talent acquisition. “Worrying is not a productive way to bring about change,” he noted. “The leader’s role is to be the calm in the middle of adversity.”
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions so you can grow your influence in 2023.
Special thanks to Nico Finol and Haley Rose for making this episode possible.
Reflection episode: After more than 100 conversations with leaders from companies like Amazon, Netflix, Disney, and Google, I've learned that sports not only taught our guests great lessons that translate to business, but it is a common denominator that makes them more relatable.
For our last episode of 2022, I invited Maxwell Leadership Executive Vice President Chris Goede to our reflection episode to talk about his favorite episodes and specifically the formulas shared.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode is “Formulas For Success” which includes six formulas and one reflection question. Click here to download the bonus resource.
If these lessons resonated with you, connect with me and my team at maxwellleadership.com/don and together we can next-level your company culture!
Special thanks to Brett Rutherford and Lauren Hafner for making this episode possible.
Ep. 126: College football shaped this executive in his 40th year with Avnet. Phil leads more than 15,000 employees across 140 countiries. Phil doesn’t believe in quick fixes and argues that integrity, the first among core values, has to be developed in the way we behave in the here and now—and over time. “There’s an old saying,” says Phil, “that people build trust penny by penny and spend it like a buck. You have to prioritize standing by your word.”
Download our BONUS RESOURCE which includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions for you to complete throughout Phil’s teaching.
YOU WILL LEARN:
9:00 Why substituting the word “we” in place of “I” immediately builds trust.
11:30 The steps to a successful merger or acquisition.
15:30 How to prioritize your tasks in alignment with your values.
16:30 Why you need to walk into the office with good news, and run in with bad news.
Special thanks to Samuel Manley and Francisco Nunez for making this episode possible.
Ep. 125: Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro shaped the way this Fortune 500 CEO leads Insight Enterprises, a $9.4 billion solutions integrator. Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode is “How to Bring your Company Values to Life” which includes four reflection questions so you can create powerful, positive change in your organization.
You Will Learn
8:00 The need for "players" to be able to play in more than one position.
11:00 How to define and reinforce your company values.
13:00 One way you can recognize your teammates for living out company values.
20:00 How to align each team member’s personal goals with the team's goals.
23:00 Why there is no “one size fits all” approach to motivating your team.
Special thanks to Samuel Manley and Jacob Poverman for making this episode possible.
Ep. 124: We’re back for part 2 with the leader behind the phrase “Ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen.”
Download our free BONUS RESOURCE for reflection questions that will empower your team and listen for lessons in:
5:30 The difference between mission and vision
7:00 How to hire for purpose, not function.
8:00 How to frame a common objective in a way that unifies people.
9:00 Horst Schulze’s definition of a team.
12:00 What you gain by “selecting” people to work with you rather than “hiring” them.
13:30 The one thing that must be in every employee orientation.
If these lessons resonated with you, connect with Don and his team at maxwellleadership.com/don and together we can next-level your company culture!
Special thanks to Haley Rose and Samantha Clark for making this episode possible.
Ep. 123: Become the best in a world of compromise in the first of our two-part series with longtime COO and President of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company.
Download our free BONUS RESOURCE for reflection questions that will empower your team and listen for lessons in:
If these lessons resonated with you, connect with Don and his team at maxwellleadership.com/don and together we can next-level your company culture!
Special thanks to Haley Rose and Samantha Clark for making this episode possible.
Ep. 122: People admire perfection from a distance, but they can’t relate to it. Most leaders believe that sharing their failures, shortcomings, and faults will make them less followable, and less respected. But author and motivational speaker Ryan Leak believes the opposite is true. Connection, not perfection, is the goal.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode is “How to Start Meaningful Conversations” which includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions so you can create powerful, positive change in your organization. Click here to download the bonus resource.
And if you are interested in Ryan’s new book, Leveling Up: 12 Questions to Elevate Your Personal and Professional Development, order here.
Special thanks to Haley Rose and Brett Rutherford for making this episode possible.
Ep. 121: The NFL’s top female executive was a competitive gymnast who grew up on a farm in Western Kentucky. Renie oversees the League’s sponsorships, new business, and media sales for their NFL Network. You have probably seen NFL players using Microsoft Surface tablets on the sideline—that is a visual example of one of Renie’s many roles on display.
Download our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode which includes fill-in-the-blank notes for you to complete throughout Renie’s teaching.
You will learn how to treat your career as a series of stages, each one of which calls for re-evaluating what you’re willing to sacrifice at that time in your life. Plus, you will learn what “fake it ‘till you make it” really means!
Special thanks to Julia Monkarsh and Haley Rose for making this episode possible.
Ep. 120: UNC Tennis and being classmates with Michael Jordan shaped Pam, who leads in the third largest electric utility company in the United States. She learned about preparedness not on the frontline of storm recovery but on the backline of countless tennis courts, where her father coached her to see how sports could teach you important lessons.
Our BONUS resource for this episode is “How to lead through disaster” which includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions so you can create powerful, positive change in your organization. Click here to download the bonus resource.
Special thanks to Samantha Clark and Francisco Nunez for making this episode possible.
Ep. 119: Former U.S. Bank CEO who currently serves on the board of Mastercard, Mayo Clinic, Dow Chemical, and Wells Fargo says sports taught him that win or lose, you tend to have more fun when you are in the game. So, instead of setting a goal to play a certain position, he always did whatever he could to be a utility player, in sports and business.
"I've always believed that putting your hand up to do something demonstrates curiosity," he said. "And then, if you do it well, it demonstrates competency." As Richard made himself more valuable, the job titles also fell into place. All aspiring business leaders would do well to take to heart Davis' mantra to "set a direction, never a goal."
Our FREE BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions so you can create powerful, positive change in your organization. Click here to download the bonus resource.
Special thanks to Lauren Hafner and Brett Rutherford for making this episode possible.
Ep. 118: REWIND EPISODE: To celebrate the 25th anniversary of his charity, Homes for the Holidays, we are throwing it back to one of the first episodes we recorded. Warrick Dunn has now given homes to more than 200 single parents, and Don began sharing Warrick’s story to audiences all around the world as part of his keynote speech that teaches the 10 Elements of Well-Told Story. Don takes each audience member through a journey from their scribbled-down ideas to a place where they can tell their story in a way that provides lasting impact and deeper relationships.
+If you have a company event coming up and are interested in one of Don’s in-person or virtual speeches, click here to connect with our team.
+Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode is “How to Use Adversity as Fuel” which includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions to complete while you listen.
Special thanks to Francisco Nunez and Brett Rutherford for making this episode possible.
Ep. 117: One of 2022's "Most Powerful Women in Accounting" plays first base on the competitive women's softball team she manages. "I have a saying," Lara Abrash shares, "Work hard. Play harder.”
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode is “Are you a leader or a manager?” which includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions to complete while you listen.
Click here to download: https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-117/
You will learn:
Special thanks to Haley Rose and Lauren Hafner for making this episode possible.
Ep. 116: Wrestling at Cal State Fullerton shaped this EY Entrepreneur of the Year judge. His technology and consulting company has been named “Best Place to Work” in San Diego for seven consecutive years.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode is “How to Make Your Employees Feel Like Owners” which includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions so you can create powerful, positive change in your organization as you listen to Cesar’s episode.
Special thanks to Kory Gehring and Haley Rose for making this episode possible.
Ep. 115: Learn how he started from scratch in Brooklyn, bought Yankee Stadium, and built the largest sports marketing and memorabilia company in the country. Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode is “How to Establish Credibility” which includes fill-in-the-blank notes for you to complete throughout Brandon’s teaching.
Brandon has proven himself to be a great teacher, one credible enough to earn invitations to speak on marketing strategy at some of the top business schools in the country, including Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and Northwestern. At such gatherings of future business leaders, he shares the importance of mastering the basics day after day because “consistency over time equals credibility.”
Special thanks to Samantha Clark and Francisco Nunez for making this episode possible.
Ep. 114: Denver Bronco legend Karl Mecklenburg reveals the best goal-line defense against “big egos” on your team. Download the fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions so you can create powerful, positive change in your organization. Click here to download the bonus resource.
Karl retired from professional football with more than 1,000 tackles and is now tackling public speaking, inspiring organizations, and their leaders to make long-term positive changes. In this episode, Karl proves himself to be as versatile a storyteller as he was a football player when he once played seven different defensive positions in a single game.
Connect with Karl: https://karlmecklenburg.com
Special thanks to Samantha Clark and Kai Patricelli for making this episode possible.
Ep. 113: Lafayette College Football shaped this Harvard Business School grad. Tony shows how attention to the “human side” of competing in the global technology sector fosters resilient teams and more trusting customer relationships.
Our BONUS resource for this episode is “4 Questions Every Leader Needs to Ask” which includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions so you can create powerful, positive change in your organization. Click here to download the bonus resource.
Special thanks to Lauren Hafner and Julia Monkarsh for making this episode possible.
Ep. 112: Dan Cathy reveals the rewards of “leaving everything on the mat” as a state champion wrestler and member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. He is proudest of his service ethic, which has carried him for 40 years at the helm of the family business where he still welcomes guests with a firm handshake and the greeting, “Hi, I”m Dan. I work in customer service.”
As delicious as Chick-fil-A food is, that's not people's greatest need, avers Cathy. “Their greatest need is being encouraged. Chick-fil-A’s purpose is that customers leave better and more encouraged than when they came in.”
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions so you can create powerful, positive change in your organization.
Special thanks to Julia Monkarsh, Brett Rutherford, and Francisco Nunez for making this episode possible.
Ep. 111: Lesley was the first woman inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the first woman to broadcast the NBA Finals, World Series, and Final Four, and named as one of GQ’s “five ideal dinner guests,” an honor which reflects her expert listening skills as well as storytelling prowess and remarkable experiences.
In this episode, she shares the simple yet powerful philosophy that has steered her trailblazing career.
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode is “Never Save Your Best for Last” which includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions so you can make every at-bat a quality at-bat. Click here to download the bonus resource.
Special thanks to Kai Patricelli and Caitlin Wilkey for making this episode possible.
Ep. 110: Harvard Football taught Spencer that the best leaders are simplifiers. Do you track hundreds of metrics, assuming that more is always better? Or do you boil it down to the two or three that really matter?
Our BONUS RESOURCE for this episode is “Developing Discipline” which includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions so you can create margin in your life. Click here to download the bonus resource.
Special thanks to Brian Schnorr and Brett Rutherford for making this episode possible.
Ep. 109: Few things will make you more competitive than growing up with an identical sister in a small town. Amy applied her competitive spirit to gymnastics and cheerleading in high school, to business degrees from Cornell and The Wharton School, and then to executive roles, including COO of Ticketmaster and CEO of FanDuel.
Our BONUS resource for this episode is “Control Your Calendar” which includes fill-in-the-blank notes and reflection questions so you can create powerful, positive change in your organization.
Special thanks to Julia Monkarsh and Chase Crews for making this episode possible.
Ep. 108: When you spend 15 years working as a basketball performance coach alongside Kevin Durant, Steph Curry and Kobe Bryant, you gather incredible stories about the dedication required to be the best in your business. One of Alan Stein Jr.’s favorite stories involved Curry who, even as a young and unknown player, would not leave the court until he swished five free throws in a row.
“The first step of raising your game is to raise your standard. Curry did not accept the baskets that hit the rim in those moments when nobody was watching him. He took complete responsibility for his own development to guide him in becoming one of the greatest shooters of all time.”
Visit CorporateCompetitorpodcast.com/108 to download the free resource that includes a fill-in-the-blank outline and reflection questions to help you combat stress and burnout.
Special thanks to Brian Schnorr and Samantha Clark for making this episode possible.
Ep. 107: New Jersey’s EY Entrepreneur of the Year shares 3 questions every leader needs to ask their employees weekly – a lesson he learned from his Hall of Fame Hockey Coach Jacques Lemaire.
Visit CorporateCompetitorpodcast.com/107 for Don's episode notes and reflection questions.
9:00 How to be a consummate learner, not only from your industry but also from others.
13:30 How to better communicate to your internal team.
14:30 Three questions every leader needs to ask their teams weekly.
18:30 How to determine if your culture is “Hug-Worthy?”
21:30 How to increase the level of belief within a team.
Special thanks to Samantha Clark and Kai Patricelli for making this episode possible.
Ep. 106: The former marine sergeant was a three-sport athlete and looks every bit like the owner of a fitness franchise, but he recognizes that it’s not about the weight on the barbell, it’s about going in and recognizing who you are there to serve.
“I have a technique,” he said. “If I feel like the team is too focused on goals or KPIs, I get us out on the floor. And I’ll ask my team, ‘Who’s that on treadmill one? Tell me about him.’ You have to know your customers, not only their name but their story, their goals, and what they do in your community. The success of the business doesn’t come from the managers, it comes from the member base.”
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-106/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Special thanks to Samantha Clark and Savannah Hill for making this episode possible.
Ep. 105: Tim Ryan is a lifelong hockey guy and current running enthusiast, but the sports metaphor he reaches for to describe his role as the US Chair & Senior Partner of global financial powerhouse PwC is football.
"Too often in corporate America, we go into the huddle where we agree on a pass play but not on what routes everybody is running," he said. "In our case, we came into the huddle and decided we would be more diverse. But we never explored the best-in-class opportunities for executing this goal. It's up to the quarterback, or in the case of a business, the leader, to be responsible for implementing such a process."
Tim took this responsibility so seriously that he co-founded CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion™, where CEOs can gather to share best practices and ideas on equity. What started as a few CEOs collaborating in 2017 has turned into 2,200 leaders representing 21 million employees.
Visit CorporateCompetitorpodcast.com/105 for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Special thanks to Lauren Hafner and Brian Schnor for making this episode possible.
Ep. 104: Behind-the-scenes stories that only his children can offer to celebrate his 68th birthday. Learn how to be present and apply Walter’s “never die easy” code of conduct to work in your career and life.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-104/ a free gift and today’s show notes!
Special thanks to Brian Schnorr and Savannah Hill for making this episode possible.
Ep. 103: Alabama Football shaped this global investment management firm executive who has led Polen Capital to earn “Best Place to Work” six years in a row. You will learn how to use storytelling to build trust in your organization and how to replace a culture of fear with one of continuous improvement.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-103/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Special thanks to Caitlin Wilkey and Dylan Tolley for making this episode possible.
Ep. 102: When Mike and Bob Bryan retired from professional tennis in 2020, they held 118 doubles titles and 16 grand slam doubles championships. They spent 439 weeks ranked #1 in the world, which doubled the streak of any other duo.
And while singles tennis tends to capture the popular imagination more than doubles, the brothers' infectious energy on the court earned them the ATP Tour "fan favorites" for 13 consecutive years.
These charismatic geniuses of the court valued their relationship more than winning, offering a fitting lesson for any leader who knows that how you react to your teammates when you lose can determine how well you improve to win the next time.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-102/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Special thanks to Brian Schnorr, Sevas Cardona, and Dane Massey for making this episode possible.
Ep. 101: Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Title IX with the first woman to be signed to a collegiate scholarship at UCLA. There she earned All-American honors four times, spent her summers as a member of the U.S. Women's National Team, and won silver at the 1976 Olympics.
The barrier breaker went on to have an All-Star career in women’s professional basketball before moving into the broadcast booth and now the front office as the Vice President of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns and WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury.
Subscribe to the podcast here for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Special thanks to Dane Massey and Brian Schnorr for making this episode possible.
REWIND EPISODE: To celebrate Father’s Day we are highlighting an interview I did with the first family of golf when our book Best Seat in the House: 18 Golden Lessons from a Father to His Son released in 2021.
Although Jack Nicklaus is widely regarded as the best golfer of all time, with a record number of PGA major championships, his life and values show that true legacy lives on through your children, grandchildren, and others we are blessed to call family and friends.
Subscribe to the podcast here and receive a free chapter of Great Teams: 16 Things High Performing Organizations Do Differently andtoday’s show notes!
Special thanks to Francisco Nunez and Tara Openshaw for making this episode possible.
There is ONE question we have asked every guest and we have compiled our favorite answers here.
What are the elements that take a collection of individuals and make them a team? How can you go from just “wearing the same jersey” and “carrying the same business card” to a great team?
You will learn from:
(2:00) Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian.
(4:00) Team Building Expert Simon Sinek.
(6:30) Ernst & Young’s Beth Brooke and Kristy Ingram.
(9:30) Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan.
(11:00) Healthcare Executive Quint Studer.
(14:30) NASCAR Hall of Famer Rick Hendrick.
(15:30) Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
(17:30) Chick-fil-A VP of Corporate Social Responsibility Rodney Bullard.
(19:00) ESPN Senior Vice President and Founder of espnw Laura Gentile.
(20:00) Leadership Expert John C. Maxwell.
Special thanks to Francisco Nunez, Brett Rutherford, and Savannah Hill for making this episode possible.
Ep. 99: When you’ve played on teams with Kobe Bryant and LeBron James and for coaches like George Karl and Mike Krzyzewski, you know how to contribute to a team made up of talented people. Michael applied the lessons he learned from basketball to business as the founder of Twenty-Two Ventures, an angel investment company that has mentored and invested in 85 technology and media companies around the world.
Visit CorporateCompetitorPodcast.com/99 for your free bonus resource to next-level your learning.
In this episode:
3:00 How Team USA went from a collection of talent to a band of brothers.
10:30 Why understanding character builds culture.
12:00 Why your most important investment is in a leader rather than a product.
14:00 Why autonomy is superior to empowerment.
16:00 How your physical and emotional fatigue will show up in your business.
17:30 The real problem with the “lone genius” syndrome in tech startups.
20:30 Mentoring can also teach you what you do NOT want to do.
22:30 How to change your perspective of failure.
31:00 How to exude what you expect.
Special thanks to Samantha Clark for making this episode possible.
Ep. 98: Ed led the nation in stolen bases playing baseball at the University of Pacific where he learned the value of hard work. Although professional baseball in the Majors was out of his reach, Ed poured his energies into World Financial Group, one of the most prolific financial service companies in the world, achieving incredible success that eventually earned him a spot on the Forbes 50 Wealthiest Under 50 List.
In his new book, The Power of One More: The Ultimate Guide to Happiness and Success, he draws on 30 years of experience as an entrepreneur and coach to top athletes, entertainers, and business executives to reveal powerful strategies to help you live an extraordinary “one more” life.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-98/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Special thanks to Brian Schnorr for making this episode possible.
BONUS: I recommend you add another podcast to your queue. It is called The Leadership Podcast hosted by Jan and Jim who have become friends after I was a guest! They have more than 300 episodes to choose from with guests including Dan Pink, Margaret Heffernan, and Carole Robin. https://theleadershippodcast.com/tlp299-a-loss-is-not-a-failure-unless-you-make-it-an-excuse/
Ep. 97: Virginia’s Crew team shaped one of the 100 highest-ranking women in technology who serves as Chapter Chair of YPO San Francisco Bay.
In this episode, Joanna dips an oar into her experiences as an elite rower to discuss the importance of mastering the hard-won habit of learning from failure.
"Einstein once said, 'If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.’ He was talking about the difference between success and failure as learning what your strengths are. I didn't know I was a good athlete until I found rowing. The same applies to recruitment."
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-97/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Special thanks to Julia Monkarsh and Dane Massey for making this episode possible.
BONUS: I recommend you add another podcast to your queue. It is called The Leadership Podcast hosted by Jan and Jim who have become friends after I was a guest! They have more than 300 episodes to choose from with guests including Dan Pink, Margaret Heffernan, and Carole Robin.
Ep. 96: Known for his televised tightrope walks over Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon, Times Square, and an active volcano, Nik has been walking the wire since he took his first steps, but he had never experienced fear until a tragic accident in 2017. For the first time, he felt overwhelming fear, and Nik had to find it in himself to move on, release the past, and get back out on the wire.
Most of us will never walk a tightrope, but we face things that scare us every day. Whether you are putting yourself out there socially or seeking a dream job, all of us allow anxieties and fears to hold us back. In this episode, he shares his story so that we can learn:
5:30 Why everything matters when no one is watching.
13:00 The power of creative risk-taking.
25:00 How to heal and move forward from trauma.
38:00 The difference between healthy and unhealthy fear.
Subscribe here https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-96/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Special thanks to Francisco Nunez, Savannah Hill, and Brett Rutherford for making this episode possible.
BONUS: I recommend you add another podcast to your queue. It is called The Leadership Podcast hosted by Jan and Jim who have become friends after I was a guest! They have more than 300 episodes to choose from with guests including Dan Pink, Margaret Heffernan, and Carole Robin.
Ep. 95: With six marathons,13 half marathons, and intermual ping pong ;) to his credit, Mark Cole has earned the right to compare leadership to a running event—no, not a distance competition, but relay racing.
If the two runners are out of sync during the hand-off, notes Mark, they will slow the team down regardless of how fast the individual runners may be.
High-performing corporate teams function the same way, and it is the leader’s job to ensure the individuals are “humming” in harmony so that when it comes to pivot, everybody is working at the same pace.
The Maxwell Leadership enterprise is committed to helping you lead powerful, positive change through values-based leadership, and as CEO, Mark Cole is the greatest champion of YOU becoming the best leader you can be.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-95/ for this episode’s bonus resource!
Special thanks to Jake Decker, Lauren Hafner, and Francisco Nunez for making this episode possible.
REWIND EPISODE: To celebrate Mother’s Day we are highlighting one of the first episodes we recorded with Carla Vernon. Carla’s mother Cynthia was a NASA Hidden Figure and in this episode, Carla describes her as a brave trailblazer. To all of the moms listening today, Happy Mother’s Day! I respect your commitment and appreciate all that you do!
Subscribe to the podcast http://podcast-subscribe.donyaeger.com for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Special thanks to Francisco Nunez and Brett Rutherford for making this episode possible.
BONUS: I recommend you add another podcast to your queue. It is called The Leadership Podcast hosted by Jan and Jim who have become friends after I was a guest! They have more than 300 episodes to choose from with guests including Dan Pink, Margaret Heffernan, and Carole Robin.
Ep. 93: David has helped 28 NBA All-Stars reach their professional pinnacle. Since then, he has applied his mindset and leadership optimization programs to help Fortune 500 CEOs, tech moguls, Hollywood actors, and musicians develop better habits.
“Since 80 percent of what we do each day is habitual,” David pointed out, “we need to be intentional about our habits.”
For a free gift and today's show notes visit our website: https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-93/
Special thanks to Lauren Hafner and Francisco Nunez for making this episode possible.
BONUS: I recommend you add another podcast to your queue. It is called THE LEADERSHIP PODCAST hosted by Jan and Jim who have become friends after I was a guest! They have more than 300 episodes to choose from with guests including Dan Pink, Margaret Heffernan, and Carole Robin.
Ep. 92: FAT Brands Inc include brands you know and love like Johnny Rockets, Fazoli’s, Fatburger, and after the largest restaurant acquisition of 2021, they now have 17 brands across 40 countries with 2,300 restaurants.
How could they manage such exponential growth? According to Andy, you cannot expect to hit a grand slam without first mastering the basics of getting on base, “My view of success is always trying to hit singles and doubles, then home runs will come your way when the time is right.”
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-92/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Special thanks to Dane Massey and Xinyi Yang for making this episode possible.
Ep. 91: World Rugby Hall of Fame inductee Phaidra Knight recently starred in Halle Berry's movie Bruised and launched an activewear collection called PSK Collective. In this episode, she recalls the moment she was blindsided, the plane ride afterward, and her "resilience" lesson that we can learn.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-91/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Special thanks to Savannah Hill for making this episode possible.
REWIND EPISODE: In honor of MLB Opening Day, we are highlighting episode 14 with World Series Champion David Ross for #ThrowbackThursday.
We wrote a New York Times best-selling book together that teaches how to create environments that recognize and celebrate people who can become invaluable without ever being most valuable.
Download the bonus "bookmark" resource here!
Special thanks to Francisco Nunez for making this episode possible.
Ep. 90: Jake is the founder of one of the fastest-growing sports construction companies with clients that include the NFL, SEC, Big 12, and hundreds of high schools around the country.
“Above all,” he shares, “If you aspire to leadership, don't just perform well yourself, bring out the best in other people."
You will learn:
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-90/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Special thanks to Lauren Hafner and Francisco Nunez for making this episode possible.
Ep. 89: Dick Vitale and Jim Valvano shaped this business icon. Michael spent 33 years climbing the ladder at Xerox before OfficeMax hired him as Executive Vice President where he led a $3.6 billion dollar division. In 2012, he was named Chairman and CEO of the nutrition and weight loss company, Medifast. Under his leadership, Medifast's stock rose from $4 to $218 per share.
I knew Michael would be the perfect guest after reading his book From the Bench to the Boardroom. In the promotions for the book, Duke’s Coach Mike Krzyzewski described him as persistent and determined even in his current role as a board member of the V Foundation.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-89/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Special thanks to Lauren Hafner and Xinyi Yang for making this episode possible.
Ep. 88: Coach K and Duke Basketball shaped this sportscaster and lawyer. As a four-year starter on Duke’s basketball team and former member of the coaching staff of two national championship teams, Jay learned the art of being demanding without being demeaning– an art at which Jay says Coach K excelled. “He was very demanding,” noted Jay. “But his criticism never cut into your character as a person or an athlete. It was about your performance.” This way of managing people balances keeping teammates confident and accountable to each other.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-88/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Special thanks to Savannah Hill for making this episode possible.
You Will Learn:
Ep 87: Baylor Men’s Basketball coach joins us to celebrate March Madness and discuss his road to the 2021 national championship that began when he turned his job interview into a successful recruiting session. Coach Drew shares a treasury of leadership learnings that reflect the rich basketball culture from which he comes. You will learn:
6:00 Habits of a consummate learner.
11:30 How “the smart take from the strong.”
14:00 Why culture trumps talent every day on high-performing teams.
25:00 The phone calls Coach Drew made after winning the National Championship.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-87/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Special thanks to Brett Rutherford for making this episode possible.
Ep. 86: Mari rose to Senior Vice President as Intuit grew from 30 to 3,000 employees and went from $7 million to $700 million in revenue. She has fashioned a 20+ year career in which she has held CEO, President, and SVP positions in startups and Fortune 50 companies and built some of the world's most successful consumer brands, including Quicken (Intuit, Inc.), BabyCenter (Johnson & Johnson), and Diner Dash (PlayFirst Mobile Games).
As a three-sport athlete in high school, Mari opted not to try out for Stanford's track team and satisfy her competitive drive playing intramurals, eventually helping her team win the Intramural Co-Ed Flag Football championship. "Winning that championship was nothing to sneeze at," Mari said.
Neither is the passion, experience, and perspective Mari brought to every endeavor, including board roles, advising CEOs, mentoring entrepreneurs, and advancing women in leadership.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-86/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Special thanks to Florida State's Savannah Hill for making this episode possible.
Ep. 85: With 1M TikTok followers — tripple any Major League Baseball team — the minor league baseball team in Savannah, Georgia creates raving fans. In this episode, the team's owner Jesse Cole helps you design the ultimate customer experience through tools that identify friction points in your current processes. Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-85/ for a free gift and today's show notes!
You Will Learn:
(5:00) How to use “Idea Paloozas” to grow good ideas from the seeds of bad ideas.
(10:00) The “secret shopper” method Jesse uses to learn how fans really feel.
(15:30) Why customer experience trumps sales and revenue metrics every day.
(17:00) How to identify points of friction in your company. (Hint: NOT surveys!)
(26:30) How to have more fun at work.
(30:00) How to recharge through an “energy audit” of your calendar.
(36:00) How to create a vision like Walt Disney.
Special thanks to Florida State's Lauren Hafner for making this episode possible.
Ep. 84: Tennessee Basketball shaped the first woman to dunk in a nationally televised basketball game. At six-foot-five inches tall, the Pensacola native commands a sweeping view of the impact sports can have on business leadership. “As you progress in your life, you’ll only be alone if you don't bring someone along with you,” she observed. Michelle has been mentored by some of the best and she constantly reaches back to make sure that she is bringing others along.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-84/ for free access to Michelle’s Brilliant Brainstorming workbook!
Episode breakdown:
Special thanks to Florida State's Brian Schnorr for making this episode possible.
Ep. 83: When Chris became the first person with Down syndrome to complete an IRONMAN Triathlon, he etched his name in the Guinness Book of World Records and received the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance from Tim Tebow at the ESPYS. The process that got Chris over the finish line was a self-improvement model they developed called 1% Better. Today, they share this model with organizations teaching that while you may never be "the best," you can be 1% better when you stop imposing self-limitations and begin the journey to reach your goals.
You will learn:
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-83/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 82: Dr. Rice was the first woman on the College Football Playoff Committee and one of the first two women to be invited to join the previously all-male Augusta National Golf Course. You may know her as Secretary of State, National Security Advisor, and Director of Stanford’s Hoover Institution, but in this episode, you will learn her background as a figure skater, tennis player, and a football savant. Her football coach father taught her so much about the game, she could break down defenses at just six years old!
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-82/ for a free ebook chapter on building great teams and today’s show notes!
Ep. 81: Football and basketball shaped Don Yaeger! This episode caps off a month of podcasts featuring John C. Maxwell’s League of Extraordinary Leaders: Joel Manby, Valorie Burton, Tim Elmore, and Jeff Henderson. In this episode, you will learn:
Subscribe here for a free ebook on How to Build Great Teams and today’s show notes:
https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-81/
Ep. 80: Basketball shaped this leader who Chick-Fil-A CEO Dan Cathy called “one of the five greatest people ever to work at Chick-Fil-A.” Jeff has founded a new company called The For Company, which helps individuals and organizations achieve excellence by answering two key questions: “What are we known for? And what do we want to be known for?”
The leader’s job is to engage his or her team in answering these questions and then, in the role of servant-leader, work to align each team member’s dreams, goals, and special talents with the mission of “shrinking the gap” between what you are known for now and what you want to be known for.
You will learn:
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-80/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 79: Track shaped this author of 37 books. Tim Elmore has helped sports powerhouses like Ohio State and LSU, and corporate juggernauts like Home Depot and Chick-fil-A, improve team performance by visualizing excellence while learning to embrace ideas that may seem contradictory at first but can lead to great insight.
You will learn:
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-79/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 78: Valorie has been featured on the Today Show, Dr. Oz, and now she is joining four other distinguished writers and motivational speakers as part of John C. Maxwell's League of Extraordinary Leaders. She grew up participating in track and gymnastics until she reached high school, at which point she discovered two life-changing activities: cheerleading and leadership! An only child and daughter of a career military man, Burton took naturally to leadership on the first real “team” she ever joined. Although she recalls being a bit too “Patton-like” as a young leader, she took away lessons that served her well as the author of 13 books and founder of Coaching and Positive Psychology Institute (CaPP), headquartered in Atlanta.
Lessons include: The 3:1 principle of good to bad news and the ratio is critical to building strong teams, and how to begin meetings with a "win or a grin" moment.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-78/ for today’s FREE DOWNLOAD!
+Connect with Valorie: ValorieBurton.com and CaPPInstitute.com,
Ep. 77: Albion College baseball shaped this business icon. When Joel Manby took over as CEO of SeaWorld, the company was smack in the middle of national controversy following the 2013 release of the documentary Blackfish. Learn how he led with love and came to an agreement with the Humane Society through dialogue, not monologue, in this episode. You will learn:
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-77/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 76: In the spirit of year-end reflection, Don Yaeger uses the last episode of 2021 as a chance to invite podcast producer Savannah Gallagher on the show for a fun behind-the-scenes look recording the first 75 episodes of Corporate Competitor Podcast.
Visit http://podcast-subscribe.donyaeger.com/ for a free gift when you subscribe!
Their energetic conversation includes:
Ep. 75: John Maxwell Company’s Executive Vice President offers her success secrets for executives looking for ways to unleash their team’s motivations and make the best use of their time. “People don't lack a hope and a dream, they lack a leader and a plan.”
You will learn:
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-75/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 74: Texas High School Football shaped Steve Dulin. In his 20 years running Milestone Construction, the company never missed a deadline and never came in over budget… for 20 years. Learn how in this episode!
You will learn:
(6:30) Why every company needs to find “down-field” blockers.
(9:15) How to remain calm under pressure.
(13:00) How to lose graciously.
(22:00) The importance of “calling” in choosing a line of work.
(28:00) The three basic traits of well-run teams.
(29:30) The definition of company culture.
(30:30) The importance of great processes.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-74/ for a free gift!
Ep. 73: Basketball with Kevin Garnett shaped this marketing maven. As a boy growing up tall in South Carolina, Ryan Alford developed plenty of drive going toe-to-toe with another intense basketball player, young Kevin Garnett, and even played briefly on the same AAU team as the now NBA Hall of Famer. After graduating from Eastside High School, Ryan went to college at Clemson, not to pursue basketball but rather business. From there, he worked as a “Mad Man” in New York before returning to South Carolina to join Erwin Penland, a South Carolina ad agency. Before he was through there, Ryan would be part of a team that built a $50 million advertising account with Verizon Wireless, including the launch of the iPhone, beating out several big Manhattan agencies in the process.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-73/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 72: Former hockey coach John Bacon offers lessons he learned turning the nation’s worst high school hockey team into one of its most celebrated. Subscribe here https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-72/ for a free gift and today’s show notes! You will learn:
Special thanks to Florida State's Brian Schnorr for making this episode possible.
Ep. 71: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers shaped Casey Crawford. Movement Mortgage’s growing team of 4,000 have serviced about one out of every 45 home purchases in the U.S. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Casey used profits from its banking business to fund the opening of two tuition-free Title 1 schools serving the underserved and marginalized communities in which Movement operates.
You will learn:
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-71/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 70: Hockey shaped this Toronto-raised CEO! Mark’s career has taken him from Cisco Systems to Palo Alto Networks and numerous other places before he took the reins at Alteryx, where he has come to view his leadership as something like a curator in chief, one who is responsible for the development journey of each member of his team.
This journey begins with understanding their goals, which in turn reflect their ideas of “what success looks like.” Mark appreciates ambition and hunger in others and seeks to provide pathways for their success. He used to invite his old bosses - including Cisco’s legendary leader John Chambers - along on sales calls so he could learn from them and sound them out on his future career plans.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-70/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 69: John Crowley’s life story was made into a major motion picture called Extraordinary Measures, starring Brandon Fraser and Harrison Ford. This podcast offers its own life and business lessons straight from John himself, including the business he created to save his own children’s lives that grew into a global biomedical giant.
You will learn:
(19:00) How to recruit “passionate entrepreneurs.”
(20:00) How to lead empathetically.
(43:00) Three steps you need to take to turn big dreams into reality.
(44:00) Why spreadsheets should be set aside on day one of corporate retreats.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-69/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 68: Minnesota Vikings football shaped this business icon. Fran Tarkenton played professional football for 18 years! He reinvented the position of quarterback by honing the craft of scrambling with the ball rather than allowing himself to be sacked by opposing defenders. Today, the 81-year-old CEO, who has founded more than 20 businesses, hasn’t slowed down one bit. You will learn:
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-68/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 67: Oklahoma basketball shaped this leader. Renzi is the Founder and CEO of Saxum and is nationally recognized for his political intelligence and public relations insight. He serves as a member of the governing board of the University of Oklahoma and on the global board of directors for YPO.
In this conversation you will learn:
[9:30] What leadership is NOT.
[16:30] How to train yourself to overcome adversity.
[28:00] How to create value for your team.
[32:30] How to balance support and challenge.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-67/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 66: Growing up as the oldest of nine children whose parents ran a dental practice out of their home in New York, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian sought refuge on basketball courts and baseball diamonds, playing “just about every sport there is involving a ball.”
But no childhood bathroom squabble or station wagon road trip could prepare him for the challenge of leading a world-class company through years of challenge to become the most profitable competitor in its industry.
Listeners will learn the “dare” that led Ed to run his first marathon at the tender age of 58, and the $1.6 billion “thank you” he gave Delta employees after beating bankruptcy.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-66/ for a free gift, today’s show notes, and access to the full interview archive!
Ep. 65: Playing and coaching basketball-shaped this business icon. Long before he became a famous NBA coach with the New York Knicks and an analyst at ESPN, Jeff Van Gundy coached high school basketball in Rochester, New York, and Kevin LeGrett was all the wiser and better equipped to lead because of their relationship.
Upon graduating from college embarking on a career of his own, Kevin developed a reputation for generating tremendous bottom-line profit growth for the biggest media companies in the world, including CBS Radio, Citadel Broadcasting, and currently iHeartMedia.
In this podcast, Kevin connects listeners to the great chain of learning and leading he’s enjoyed through the years, including:
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-65/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 64: Robert “Bob” Glazer is a serial entrepreneur who has worked at think tanks such as Arthur D. Little and incubators such as Cambridge Innovation Center before founding a host of his own companies and charities. His longest-running priority, Acceleration Partners, began in 2007 and works with clients worldwide to develop and scale their affiliate partner programs. He thinks people glamorize entrepreneurship to their detriment.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-64/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
You Will Learn
Ep. 63: Rafe played linebacker for a Super Bowl Denver Broncos team and considered coaching until his entrepreneurial drive kicked into gear and led him to buy ODS Security Solutions. Over 15 years, he led the company through explosive growth, increasing his workforce from a team of 30 to more than 1,000. In 2016, he became a co-founding partner of CEO Coaching International with twelve-time triathlete Mark Moses. Whether he is coaching a client or a member of his team, Rafe believes in using difficult conversations to forge the best possible solutions, with the proviso that once a decision is made, agreement may be optional—commitment to it is not.
“When the huddle breaks, you may not be the one carrying the ball to glory and a touchdown,” Rafe noted, “but you have to execute your part to the fullest of your ability. The same is true in business.”
You will learn:
[3:00] What it was like to go to the Super Bowl his rookie year.
[13:00] How to overcome the “I don’t belong here” feeling.
[14:00] How to focus on what you can control.
[21:00] Importance of preparations and reflection.
[24:00] How to ask better questions while networking.
[33:00] How to take a group of individuals and make them a team.
[35:00] How to give real-time actionable feedback.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-63/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 62: Football, basketball, and track shaped Mark Steffe, an Illinois native responsible for guiding First Command Financial Services in its efforts to make lifelong financial security possible for all military families.
When an employee isn’t performing up to snuff, Mark wants his supervisors to avoid telling them to sell more, deliver more, get better results, work harder, and the like. Instead, he wants the leaders to “roll up their sleeves, get their hands a little bit dirty and help people get to a better place—not just tell them to get to a better place.”
Today, if you walk the halls of First Command— which maintains more than $35 billion in managed accounts and mutual funds and has more than $62 billion in life insurance coverage in force for some 280,000 military families— you will hear your fair share of sporting metaphors.
Listeners will enjoy learning how to be an agile leader, motivate with mission, and make love a core value.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-62/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 61: Cornell track and field shaped this entrepreneur. Lokai’s brand of beaded bracelets has become a phenomenon sold in 5,000 locations in 170 countries. The bracelets each contain a droplet of mud from the Dead Sea and water from Mount Everest to represent the highs and lows of earth and of life.
Steven paid his dues going “door-to-door” around New York City, trying to get stores to display his bracelets, and was rejected 95 percent of the time. Eventually, his hard work (and his discovery by celebrities like Justin Bieber, Cam Newton, and Blake Lively) helped the company turn the corner… and they haven’t looked back since.
Six years later, he founded his second company Elements, which produces functional wellness drinks formulated to consistently balance the body’s stress levels.
Listeners are sure to enjoy his descriptions of getting his businesses off the ground as well as the differences and similarities of being a founder versus a CEO, including why the numbers count… but aren’t everything, and baking social responsibility into your bottom line. Steven offers a distinctive blend of unwavering confidence and hard-won humility that is sure to inspire and awaken your own creative juices. And one thing’s for sure: you’ll never look at a baton handoff in a track relay the same way again.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-61/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 60: Baseball shaped this highly competitive and goal-oriented executive. Adi Ignatius is a leader who comes to play—whether the “play” involves slow-pitch softball or transforming the country’s oldest and most influential academic business journal.
His success includes writing for the Wall Street Journal, receiving a nomination for the Pulitzer Prize, writing for the Far Eastern Economic Review, Time Asia, and Time Magazine, where he became Executive Editor and Deputy Managing Editor before stepping down from Time to take the top job at HBR in 2009.
At HBR he was challenged with leading the transformation of a venerable and beloved business journal into a leading-edge digital platform. That he achieved this and kept the Review’s fiercely loyal readership engaged testifies to the inventiveness and flexibility of Adi’s mind.
In this episode, he shares stories and observations about the relationship between baseball and business. These include the batter whose appearance made him see business in a whole new light and the three key ingredients that keep winning teams winning together.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-60/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 59: University of Florida Crew shaped this technology leader. John O’Shea’s career at Tech Data started in 1994 when he was hired from a temp agency. Flying up the ranks as swiftly as one of those sculls plying the waters of a crystal clear lake—“I was averaging a new job every six or eight months!”—he rose to the position of President of Global Business Units at TD Synnex. He has developed a distinctive leadership style that CEO Rich Hume called strong and informed.
You will learn:
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-59/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 58: Bobsled & softball shaped this competitor and mother. When Elana Meyers Taylor finally steps out of the bobsled for the last time, maybe after the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, she will be able to look back at a trail-blazing career in which she became the first woman to earn a spot on the U.S. National Team competing alongside men as a four-man bobsled pilot. In this episode you will learn:
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-58/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 57: Georgia Tech football shaped this business icon. In 1971 Bert Thornton went to work at Waffle House flipping eggs and four decades later retired as the President and COO. His best leadership advice? Give out your cell phone number, because “when the trainees have access to the COO, communication improves among managers.”
Each of the 11 million bowls of Bert’s Chili served annually is named for Thornton, who came up with the recipe when Waffle House moved into Texas in the 1980s.
Ep. 56: Baseball shaped this great leader who has served as the president of Baptist Hospital and founded his own businesses serving his two passions: healthcare excellence and strong communities. Many have read his books on leadership and business operations.
Studer co-owns the Pensacola Blue Wahoos minor league baseball team with golf great Bubba Watson. The little-known team grabbed headlines in 2020 after the COVID pandemic shut down normal operations when they turned the stadium into a giant Airbnb.
The creative venture brought in revenue to the team provided a much-needed source of entertainment during the pandemic and earned international publicity.
Do you want your internal team to come up with genius ideas? Listen for six practices you can try to help your team hit it out of the park.
YOU WILL LEARN:
3:00 Baseball’s impact on Quint’s life.
13:00 How to bookend feedback with support.
20:00 The six do’s and don’ts for optimizing creativity and problem-solving on your team
29:00 How to turn down somebody’s idea without turning down the person.
32:00 How to replace a culture of “no” with a culture of “yes.”
33:30 When to credit your team with a great idea (even if you had it first).
35:00 Why perfectionism “kills” innovation.
37:00 Bubba Watson’s partnership with Quint and the Blue Wahoo baseball team.
For a free gift and to subscribe to the show visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-56/
Ep. 55: NFL special edition with guest host John C. Maxwell to discuss the benefits of having a system your whole team buys into.
“I used to say the job of a leader is to set the standard and demand all live up to that,” said three-time national championship coach Urban Meyer. “I’ve come to believe the job of a leader is to earn your team’s trust. And then you set a standard while equipping and inspiring them so they can achieve the standard.”
Meyer’s system for building a deep bench will help any business leader build strong teams in their organizations. Here you will learn about:
Check out more episodes of Corporate Competitor Podcast and John Maxwell’s Leadership Podcast!
Ep. 54: Harvard Hockey shaped this business icon. Angela took her joy of sport and turned it into a high-profile career. She played longer than any other man or woman in a USA Hockey jersey and was only the fourth woman inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame!
After she hung up her skates, she continued her studies at Harvard Business School and served on the International Olympic Committee. She was fascinated by the business of sports which led her to co-found Sports Innovation Lab, a data-driven market research firm that serves major companies throughout the world.
In this episode, she offers several experience-tested ways for "controlling the controllables" to ensure you and your team never leave the "field of play" without having given 100 percent. I have my notepad ready. I hope you do, too.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-54/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 53: Track and Field shaped this incredible leader.
Before joining RE/MAX – one of the largest publicly traded real estate companies in the world with 135,000 agents operating in 110 countries— Adam Contos ran a SWAT team, working for a local Sheriff’s Office. He describes the job as “kicking in doors, blowing things up, and saving people.”
In this episode, Adam shares that while his current professional life is completely different, his approach to leading high-performance teams remains the same. His goal is to break down barriers, blow up conventional thinking, and help as many people as possible achieve success.
How do you scale your organization in a way that values the people who are building it? You will find out here. I have my notepad ready. I hope you do, too!
Listen here or on Apple, Spotify, and IHeartRatdio.
You will learn:
(5:00) How to distinguish what you can control. (6:00) How to lead from the front. (12:30) How to use success as a stepping stone. (16:30) How to prioritize people over processes. (18:30) How to recruit people to FIT your culture. (24:00) The difference between a Super Bowl team and a Pro Bowl team in business.
Resources:
Ep. 51: As an equestrian in her native Australia, Kristy Ingram had to learn how to make the transition from managing horses to managing people when her competitive days ended.
Her 15 years of consulting experience includes managing Ernst & Young’s sponsorship of the Rio Olympics and developing their Women’s Athlete Business Network. Today she is EY’s Global Leader of Athlete Programs where she helps talent-hungry managers tap into a leadership pipeline that most overlook… retired athletes.
A big part of that process involves language and, specifically, the “descriptors” used to describe who we are—our identity. Many of us, not just athletes, will have to reinvent ourselves professionally from time to time. This conversation will prove to be a valuable tool in your toolkit.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-52/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 51: Pittsburgh Basketball and 10 years in the NBA shaped this entrepreneur. Charles Smith played with the Los Angeles Clippers, New York Knicks, and San Antonio Spurs. During that window, he was often asked to assume new roles, sometimes mid-season. The one skill he worked on constantly was shot blocking, and still today he ranks in the NBA’s top one percent of all-time shot blockers.
After retiring, he participated in the Executive Entrepreneurs program at Stanford University and has recently partnered with Fierce Inc., a global leadership development and training company whose client roster includes Apple, Coca Cola, and HBO. One of Fierce’s critical areas of focus involves helping teams communicate better.
“There’s an old saying in sport,” Charles said, “The game tape or practice tape doesn’t lie. If you fall down, it’s there for all to see. Businesses don’t have tape like sports teams do, but they do have measurables.”
And if the tape doesn’t get you, observed the 10-year NBA player, a good teammate will. Listeners to this podcast will enjoy Charles’ no-nonsense insights forged in the heat of world-class competition.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-51/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 50: Navy Basketball shaped this business icon. Carl Liebert played alongside two of the best players in the program’s history in Vernon Butler and David Robinson. He went on to earn advanced degrees from Harvard, Stanford, and Vanderbilt en route to attaining two decades of C-Suite experience at Home Depot, 24- Hour Fitness, USAA, AutoNation, and now Keller Williams’ parent holding company KWx.
In this episode, Carl discusses how leaders can prevent their teams from turning one mistake into two and explains why he gives his team “permission to fail.”
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-50/ for a gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 49: Delaware Lacrosse is just one of the FUN experiences Steve shares with Don Yaeger.
Listen to our conversation and then tune into College Bowl Tuesday nights on NBC!
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-49/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 48: Bubba Watson is an enthusiastic businessman with ownership stakes in the Blue Wahoos baseball team, a car dealership, and a candy shop in Pensacola, Florida. His heartfelt tears in the winner’s circle, joyously goofy hip hop performance in the boy band Golf Boys, and passionate advocacy for adoption have endeared him to millions.
In near lockstep with his considerable success on the golf course and growing portfolio of businesses, Watson has had to confront his battle with anxiety head-on. Since most of this struggle was private, few know Watson’s hard-won techniques for facing up to and then facing down his problems. In this episode, you will learn three methods that helped Watson cope and how he refocused his priorities.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-48/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 47: Basketball shaped one of the country’s best restaurant leaders. GJ served as CEO of California Pizza Kitchen and CEO of Texas Roadhouse, where he oversaw growth in revenue from $63 million per year when he arrived to more than $1 billion annually when he moved. Today he is in Austin, Texas, leading the rocket ship that is Torchy’s Tacos, one of the fastest-growing brands in America.
A proud graduate of James Madison University, GJ wanted to offer opportunities to students like himself and, in 2012, made a substantial donation of his time and resources that led the university to place his name atop the Hart School of Hospitality, Sport and Recreation Management.
In this episode, GJ shares why he hires for attitude over ability and offers listeners six proven lessons for leadership.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-47/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 46: Harvard Basketball shaped this business icon. As a student, Jessica had the opportunity to work with the Robert Kraft family, owners of the New England Patriots football franchise and Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts, on ways to increase the stadium’s revenue on non-game days. She parlayed the opportunity into a long term relationship with the Kraft family. Today, she is the CEO of Kraft Analytics Group (KAGR), which works with all of the major U.S. sports leagues and properties to apply business analytics in their operations.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-46/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 45: Air Force Football shaped this business icon. Before coming to Chick-fil-A, Rodney served as an Assistant United States Attorney prosecuting complex criminal cases. As a White House Fellow, the nation’s most prestigious public-service fellowship, Rodney was placed at NASA working directly for the NASA Administrator. He also previously served at the Pentagon as a Congressional Legislative Liaison in the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force.
In this episode, Rodney describes how athletics introduces competition in an appropriate and fair way. He teaches:
- How to develop your team members
- What he has learned from Chick-Fil-A CEO, Dan Cathy.
- How you impact the people three feet around you.
- The key to creating confidence and comfort on your team.
- How to build trust.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-45/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 44: Tulane football shaped this business icon. Steven went into business with his brothers, Paul and Scott, opening a restaurant and a couple of coffee houses. Under the banner Ballard Brands, the brothers went on to form a company that today owns, operates and manages more than 150 restaurants and food and beverage “concepts” in 28 states and 3 countries, including the acclaimed PJ’s Coffee of New Orleans and Smoothie King franchises. As their company has grown and the brothers have expanded their portfolio of businesses and hired additional layers of leadership and staff, Ballard has found himself drawing more and more on the tools he used to succeed as an athlete.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-44/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 43: Learn what made PGA Champion Jack Nicklaus an off-course success in Best Seat in the House that I co-wrote with his son Jack “Jackie” Nicklaus II. The book gives readers 18 valuable lessons that Nicklaus II learned from his father while caddying for him and those learned off the green. This interview with the first family of golf will delight golf fans of all ages, encourage fathers, and inspire readers to focus on what’s most important in life: family.
Visit Episode https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-43/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 42: Albany basketball alumnus shares how he is paying his coach’s example forward in business through principles like:
-Keeping things fun and upbeat at meetings.
-Using goal-setting rather than quotas in professional development because “nobody sets a quota on the basketball court."
-Practicing “self-care” by clearing out time for himself to just sit with pencil and paper and think so that he can come up with a game plan and turn them into actions.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-42/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 41: Michigan Rowing shaped this business icon. The mental discipline that earned Kate a seat on the US Olympic Crew Team also earned her a seat at the C-suite table at Visa and Google. As Visa’s Vice President of Global Sponsorship Marketing, she developed and led the relationships between Visa and 40+ partners including International Olympic Committee, FIFA, and the NFL. Today, as Google’s Head of Global Sports and Entertainment Marketing, she is responsible for connecting media partnerships across the company’s many business verticals. Kate’s leadership was recognized in Adweek's list of Most Powerful Women In Sports Business, and she received Sports Business Journal’s 40 under 40 Award.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-41/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 40: Chapek traces his remarkable journey, from humble roots running cross country in America’s industrial heartland to running one of the world’s most iconic companies.
Listeners looking to sharpen their presentation and leadership skills will receive a mini-tutorial from the master himself as Bob shows how he has turned “overpreparation” into an art form, including his patented “pencils down” process.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-40/ for today's show notes and a free chapter of Don's best-selling book on how to build great teams.
Ep. 39: LSU basketball-shaped this founder and CEO. Walk-On’s was named the “#1 Sports Bar in America.” Then, New Orleans Saints legend Drew Brees expressed an interest in the business and ultimately joined the Walk-On’s team as a co-owner. Today, with more than 100 locations in the works across 15 states, Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux operates with a mission of delivering a memorable game day experience with a taste of Louisiana.
In recounting his journey, CEO Brandon Landry offers sharp lessons for business leaders eager for insights on aligning staff, scaling company culture, raising the bar on expectations, and knowing when — and how — to change course when things are not going to plan…including holding a funeral when moving past failure!
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-39/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 38: Jeff Bell served in senior leadership roles at companies such as Ford, Chrysler, Microsoft, and NBC Universal before taking the reins as CEO of legal services provider LegalShield. In this episode, he offers an abundance of practical tips on vulnerability, dealing with pressure, and developing lifelong learning habits essential for leaders seeking to inspire their teams as well as progress in their careers.
For a free e-book chapter and today's show notes, visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-38/
Ep. 37: Florida State Football and Bobby Bowden shaped this leader. Two weeks after Warrick’s 18th birthday, his mother, a Baton Rouge police officer, was killed in a robbery at a bank. He became the legal guardian of his five younger siblings, won the National Championship with Bobby Bowden at Florida State, and was drafted 12th overall to Tony Dungy’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In this episode, you will learn about the legacy Warrick created with his charity, Homes for the Holidays. For a free gift and show notes visit: https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-37
Ep. 36: As the CEO of Continental Airlines — a position he accepted when he was only 33 years old — Continental went from ranking last in all of US Airline's key customer service areas to 18th on Fortune's list of "Best Companies to Work For." He continued this trend as the CEO of Burger King, PwC Consulting, and Quiznos.
As a golfer and as a leader, Greg knows how important it is not to let one bad shot, or one bad moment, turn into two.
His acclaimed Harvard Business review article "Right Away and All At Once: How We Saved Continental" led to his book teaching his five steps to transform your business and enrich your life.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-36/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 35: Discover how to ensure that internal competition fuels your employees and does not destroy team chemistry. Kikkan was 16 years old in Anchorage, Alaska when she was told that no American woman had ever won an Olympic medal in cross-country skiing. It was that moment that she set her goal: Make history. She went on to compete in FIVE Olympics and in 2018 in the last race of her last games… Kikkan Randall won gold. Three months later she was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. She used the lessons from sport to combat negative thoughts on her road to recovery. Today Kikkan serves on the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee and is part of the EY Women Athletes Business Network.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-35/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 34: He is best known for popularizing the concept of knowing your WHY, which he described in his first TED Talk. That talk went on to become the second most watched TED Talk of all time! Years later, his interview on millennials in the workplace broke the internet with over 80 million views in its first week. This led to Simon being YouTube’s fifth most searched term that year. In his newest book, The Infinite Game, Simon contrasts sports and business: In finite games, like football or chess, the players are known, the rules are fixed, and the endpoint is clear. The winners and losers are easily identified. In infinite games, like a business, the players come and go, the rules are changeable, and there is no defined endpoint. There are no winners or losers in an infinite game; there is only ahead and behind.
Ep. 33: Syracuse Basketball and Coach Jim Boeheim shaped Sean Kerins. Today as Arrow's CEO, he leads a team of 20,000 employees across more than 300 locations worldwide. He is committed to lifelong learning. "The further you go, the less you know," Sean explained, "The more willing you are to reach out and learn from others, the better off you will be."
In this episode, Sean explains how that curious culture inspired Arrow to modify a Corvette, empowering a quadriplegic former IndyCar race driver to drive again using only his head's motion. Through Sean’s story you will learn how to activate the company culture document that hangs in your office so that it becomes more powerful than just wall art.
Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-33/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 32: Missouri Western State Football shaped this business icon. Captain Keith Hoskins grew up with a dream to be a Blue Angel pilot— and that dream came true! His 27 years in the Navy included serving as Commanding Officer for Naval Air Station Pensacola, where he provided leadership oversight for more than 25,000 military and civilian personnel. The lessons he learned on the football field are ones he applies today as the Executive Vice President of Branch Operations for the world’s largest credit union— Navy Federal!
Visit Episode 32 of corporatecompetitorpodcast.com for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 31: Kyle was posted on a rooftop in Afghanistan when an enemy grenade landed between him and a fellow Marine. Without hesitation, Kyle jumped on the grenade, saving his best friend but sacrificing himself. After flatlining three times, undergoing 41 surgeries, and spending three years at Walter Reed Medical Center, Kyle ran the Marine Corps Marathon. He is the youngest living recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor. The book we wrote together is titled You Are Worth It, the response he gives when someone thanks him for his service. King Academy football shaped this American hero.
Visit Episode 31 of corporatecompetitorpodcast.com for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 30: Ohio State Softball shaped this military leader. In the history of the United States Air Force, 225 people have achieved the rank of four-star general, only five of them women. Recently retired General Maryanne Miller may have the most fascinating story of them all.
Growing up in Hilliard, Ohio, Miller spent many nights as a young girl playing baseball in the backyard. "Every family has that one thing that gathers them," she said, "Sports became that for all six of us in the house." Her fun family tradition led to a softball scholarship at Ohio State University, an experience that taught her valuable lessons in grit and perseverance.
In this candid conversation with one of America's great leaders, you will learn how to leverage your weaknesses properly, and we will reveal the biggest mistake people make as they seek to climb the ranks.
Visit Episode 30 of corporatecompetitorpodcast.com for a gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 29: West Point athletics shaped this business icon. Retired Brigadier General, Bernard Banks, knew as a child that he wanted to go to West Point because of his desire to develop himself as a leader. He was so successful in that journey that years later, West Point asked him to chair their leadership department. He has led multiple military units ranging in size from 10 to 3,000 people. In the early 2000s, He was brought in to improve an Apache Helicopter unit ranking in the bottom third globally. In just two years, under Bernie’s leadership, the same group was designated number ONE! Today he is an Associate Dean at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management teaching leadership in the MBA program!
Visit Episode 29 of corporatecompetitorpodcast.com for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 28: Purdue basketball shaped this business icon. Beth oversaw public policy for EY's operations in 150 countries. She has been named eleven times to Forbes "World's Most Powerful Women" list and, in 2015, was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. Recently retired, she now devotes herself to numerous boards, including The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee and the International Women's Forum.
Visit Episode 28 of corporatecompetitorpodcast.com for a gift and today's show notes!
Ep. 27: NASCAR Hall of Famer, Rick Hendrick, grew up on his family’s farm and turned his passion for the automobile into several successful business ventures. This episode explores the ultimate formula for keeping your team revved up. Hendrick believes open, honest, and frequent communication is the make or break skill separating those who get to victory lane and those who don’t.
Visit Episode 27 of corporatecompetitorpodcast.com for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 26: Navy Football shaped this business icon. This week’s episode features Dana Barnes, Senior Vice President of Palo Alto Networks, and a former member of the Naval Academy Football team. His past leadership experience includes Microsoft’s Vice President of State and Local Government and leading operations for Microsoft’s National Security Group.
Visit Episode #26 of corporatecompetitorpodcast.com for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 25: Albion football-shaped this business icon. Scott Mordell is Young Professional Organization’s longest-serving Chief Executive. YPO has 29,000 members in 142 countries committed to becoming better leaders and better people together. In this interview, you will learn how to “re-calibrate” your leadership and maintain curiosity. Visit Episode #25 of corporatecompetitorpodcast.com for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 24 In the spirit of year-end reflection, Don Yaeger uses the last episode of 2020 as a chance to invite podcast producer, Savannah Gallagher, on the show for a fun behind the scenes look recording Corporate Competitor Podcast. You will learn the “why” behind the podcast and get to laugh at the hilarious “off-mic” moments with the world’s best business leaders. Visit corporatecompetitorpodcast.com for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 23: UCLA Basketball shaped this business icon. I had the unbelievable good fortune to have legendary UCLA basketball coach, John Wooden, as a mentor. One day, Coach Wooden said, “Don, I want to tell you the story of one of the greatest players to ever play for me… Swen Nater.” In this episode, we will dive into his incredible story and learn a valuable lesson: We will never outperform our inner circle. Visit Episode #23 of corporatecompetitorpodcast.com for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 22: Brown University Rugby shaped this business icon. Chief Executive's CEO of the Year, Brian Moynihan, leads a team of more than 200,000 employees. You will learn how his childhood shaped his competitive nature and how to find great mentors, even when you’re at the top of your industry. Visit Episode #22 of corporatecompetitorpodcast.com for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 21: Dartmouth tennis and squash shaped this business icon. Dawn Hudson is one of Fortune’s 50 Most Powerful Women in Business. She served as the Chief Marketing Officer for the NFL and the President and CEO of Pepsi North America, and today she speaks around the world about smart reinvention and growth. Learn how this incredible leader was shaped by playing tennis and squash at a male-dominated Dartmouth, walking on campus just three years after they began accepting women. Visit Episode #21 of corporatecompetitorpodcast.com for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 20: University of Texas Arlington Basketball shaped this business icon Fred Perpall went to college at age 15 and rose to be CEO of The Beck Group— a prestigious construction and architecture group— at 37. He grew up in the Bahamas and turned down five track and field scholarships for one in basketball, and went on to play on the 1994 Bahamian National basketball team, and at the University of Texas Arlington. In this thought-provoking interview, you will learn how to develop a deep understanding of your team members, the three characteristics of great mentorship, and Fred’s shares why success and succession go hand in hand. Visit Episode #20 of corporatecompetitorpodcast.com for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 19: BYU Football shaped this business icon. Sean Covey, was the quarterback at BYU after Hall of Famer Steve Young. Sean’s father, Stephen Covey, most famous for his book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, loved watching his son play. Today Sean is a New York Times Best-Selling author and brings his competitive fire to FranklinCovey-- an organization whose mission is to enable greatness in students, teachers, and schools working in all 50 states and more than 150 countries. Visit Episode #19 of corporatecompetitorpodcast.com for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 18 : South Dakota State baseball shaped this business icon. CEO of Mayo Clinic Florida and Vice President of Mayo Clinic, Dr. Kent Thielen, has a strong personal interest in developing new technologies! He shares how they are using 3D printers to create anatomic models from a patient’s CT scans. He reflects on the lessons he learned as a three-sport athlete in high school, including how to push past self-limiting beliefs. Dr. Thielen graduated as his school’s first quarterback to throw for more than 1,000 yards and took his talents to South Dakota State, where he chose to play baseball! In this episode, he asks: Are you willing to go off-script when the situation calls for it? Visit Episode #18 of corporatecompetitorpodcast.com for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 17: Duke field hockey shaped this business icon. Forbes named ESPN's Senior Vice President of Marketing and the FOUNDER of espnW, Laura Gentile, one of the "Most Powerful Women in U.S. Sports." She was a two-time field hockey team captain at Duke and led the Blue Devils to their first appearance in the NCAA tournament, graduating as Duke's all-time leading scorer! Laura began her career at ESPN in 2003, working with legendary ESPN President George Bodenheimer. In the years since she has produced the annual women in sports summit featuring world-class athletes and talented hosts like Maria Taylor and Sage Steel. Visit Episode #17 of corporatecompetitorpodcast.com for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 16: Miami Baseball shaped this business icon. Through trials, including a season-ending baseball injury, and an emergency heart surgery, he has learned that his attitude governs his altitude. You will learn the power of a recommendation through the story of his Miami recruitment, and Matt’s 11 Ground Rules so that you attract trustworthy teammates that listen more than they speak. Visit Episode #16 of corporatecompetitorpodcast.com for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 15: Indiana State Baseball shaped this business icon. Learn how to navigate mergers and acquisitions in this technology month episode with Joe Quaglia! Joe joined the Tech Data team in 2006 and rose to be President of the Americas. Tech Data connects the world with the power of technology and has been named one of Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies for 11 straight years. Joe was a member of the Indiana State Baseball team until an injury to his throwing arm halted his aspirations to be a pitcher at the next level, but that shift taught him leadership lessons he still uses today! Visit Episode 15 of corporatecompetitorpodcast.com for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 14: Chicago Cubs Manager David Ross spent most of his 15-year career playing in the major leagues as a backup catcher. But, when he learned how to become a great teammate, his career doubled in length and he had the opportunity to win two world series championships.
We wrote a New York Times Best-Selling book together that teaches us how to create environments that recognize and celebrate those people who can become invaluable without ever being most valuable.
Click here for a free bookmark download!
Special thanks to Francisco Nunez for making this episode possible.
Ep. 13: Gymnastics shaped this business icon. We continue TECHNOLOGY MONTH with our first gymnast on the show, and although Jill Billhorn gave up the floor routines and balance beam long ago, her competitive spirit is still alive as, CDW’s Senior Vice President of Corporate Sales. She will reveal the question every salesperson should be asking their customers. Plus, you will learn the benefits of a high-pressure practice with a great story from my interview with Olympic Gold Medalist, Gabby Douglas. Visit Episode 13 of corporatecompetitorpodcast.com for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 12: Ohio State baseball shaped this business icon. TECHNOLOGY MONTH continues in Episode 12, and not only will you learn how to wake-up with a winning attitude, but you will also learn how President of ViON, Jeff Henry, has been shaped by his Ohio State University baseball experience. Jeff believes the ability to teach people, and then see their success, is more important than anything he could ever accomplish individually— and THAT is the kind of leader from which I want to learn! Today, you have an all-access pass to his wisdom here! Visit Episode 12 of corporatecompetitorpodcast.com for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 11: Rowing at Michigan shaped this business icon. We are kicking off TECHNOLOGY MONTH with ViON’s Executive Vice President of Operations, Rob Davies. ViON is a cloud service provider and market leader in the design, delivery, and maintenance of IT infrastructure solutions. Rob brings more than 25 years of experience to his role and over the course of his career, he has established a strong track record of generating growth, creating partnerships with customers, and empowering employees. Growing up, Rob played baseball, soccer, and tennis, then he joined the crew team at the University of Michigan. In this episode, you will learn how to set incremental goals and focus on consistency more than intensity. Plus, at the end of the episode, the winningest coach in college baseball history, Mike Martin, joins the show!
Visit Episode 11 of corporatecompetitorpodcast.com for a free gift and today’s show notes!
Ep. 10: Princeton ballet shaped this business icon. As Amazon’s Vice President of Consumables-- a $56 billion portfolio including grocery, household products, and beauty-- Carla Vernon is the highest-ranking woman of color at one of the world's largest corporations. Previously as the President of General Mills Natural & Organic, Carla restored growth to Nature Valley resulting in the highest level of unit sales in the brand’s history, making it the world’s top-selling granola bar. I am confident you will laugh out loud at least once during our authentic conversation. You will learn how to facilitate a sense of trust, create a shared experience, and collective direction. Plus, Carla shares her corporate warm-up that is easy to implement and has proven very effective. Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-10/ for free resources and a show outline!
Ep. 9: Edinboro basketball shaped this business icon. Xavier Williams, who played college basketball at Edinboro University, spent 30 years working for AT&T and rose to become President of the Public Sector and FirstNet. He leads with the motto: “Culture trumps strategy.” In this episode, you will get a behind the scenes look into how Xavier took one of the country’s lowest-ranking AT&T branches, and turned it into the fourth-best within two and half years, without changing a single team member. Xavier reveals steps you can implement today to spur growth and camaraderie. Doing the work from 8 to 5 is expected, but it takes a true Corporate Competitor to prepare and expand your knowledge from 5 to 8. Leaders are learners, and Xavier Williams is the perfect example. Visit Episode 9 on corporatecompetitorpodcast.com for a show outline and free resources!
Ep. 8: Basketball shaped this business icon growing up in Centerville, Ohio. In this episode, you will learn the #1 time-waster in leaders’ lives and how to eliminate it from leadership expert, John C. Maxwell. John is a #1 New York Times Best-Selling Author, speaker, and coach. He has sold 26 million books in 50 languages and trained six million leaders. He recently reached the milestone of having trained leaders from every country in the world. John began practicing leadership at a young age, as a sophomore on the Circleville High School basketball team, he was named captain. “He might be the youngest,” his coach said to the team, “but there is nobody here that wants you to succeed as much as John.” We discuss how to apply John’s bookends of success — preparation and reflection — to your routine. Plus, I ask John: Were you a trash-talker? For that hilarious answer and show notes, visit corporatecompetitorpodcast.com!
Ep. 7 SPECIAL EDITION: We know how sports shapes executives, but in this special edition, we discuss how sports shaped society. September 12th is the 50th anniversary of a game that, many would argue, completely changed college football.
Bear Bryant, who was still coaching an all-white football team at Alabama in 1970, slyly pulled off a game against a fully integrated Southern Cal team in a game many credited with opening the door to the full-scale integration of Southern college football.
In this bonus episode, Don Yaeger will start by telling you the story as it was chronicled in his book, Turning of the Tide. Then, three of the players who were in the stadium that night, join the show to reflect on the game – and its enormous implications.
AND get excited -- Don's colleagues at ESPN will continue celebrating with a College Gameday Feature on September 12th.
https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/
Ep. 6: Wrestling shaped this business icon growing up in Pennsylvania. As the President and COO of VMware, Carl Eschenbach helped build the company from 200 employees and 30 million dollars in revenue to 20,000 employees and 7 billion dollars in revenue. In 2016, he became a partner at Sequoia Capital – widely regarded as Silicon Valley’s most prestigious venture capital firm.
Carl is a true Corporate Competitor: He grew up in Pennsylvania and received five Most Valuable Athlete Awards and 10 varsity letters from his time playing football, baseball, and wrestling. In 2020, Carl was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as an Outstanding American.
In this episode, Carl emphasizes the importance of “learning how to lose” because it is unlikely we will go undefeated in life. You will hear specific examples of his push (motivation) and pull (inspiration) leadership techniques so you can fight complacency. Download a free bookmark of Carl’s best advice on the episode 6 page of corporatecompetitorpodcast.com
Ep. 5: Georgia Tech tennis shaped this business icon. Rugby and Weber State football shaped this business icon. In his senior executive role at Microsoft, Oguo manages Global Cloud Scale Services. Educated in three different continents, Oguo has the ability to interweave his mixed cultural background with his rich career experiences. In our conversation, Oguo shares stories about how his love of football, rugby, and soccer shaped his leadership journey and explains how everyone on your team falls into one of four categories. Plus, he gives us tips on how to interact with each type so that your team is operating efficiently! The power of perspective unfolds in Episode 5! Visit corporatecompetitorpodcast.com for show notes and free resources.
Ep. 4: Bill was a three-sport athlete in high school and rose to become a member of the Georgia Tech tennis team. His four decades of C-Suite experience include serving as the Executive Vice President of Honeywell, Chairman, and CEO of Medtronic, and TODAY he is a senior fellow at Harvard Business School, where he has taught leadership since 2004. He has written several best-selling books including one of my favorite leadership books of all time — True North. In this episode, you will see why clarity in leadership always begins with yourself. Plus, you will get the opportunity to take a leadership quiz on the Episode 4 page of corporatecompetitorpodcast.com.
Ep. 3: Texas A&M volleyball shaped this business icon. While studying petroleum engineering at Texas A&M, Kim McHugh played on the Aggie volleyball team and advanced to the NCAA tournament! She rose to become the Vice President of Chevron's Drilling and Completions and today attributes her mental strength to her experience on the court: You can do more than you think you can— it's your mind that stops you. In this episode, you will learn how to lead with empathy, communicate clearly, and fairly assess feedback from the highest-ranking woman in a very male-dominated industry. Not only is Chevron deemed as one of the best places to work, but their team is also celebrated for their inclusion. Visit corporatecompetitorpodcast.com for in-depth show outlines and free downloads that will help accelerate your climb up the corporate ladder.
Ep. 2: Drake track and field shaped this business icon. Louis Carr's story encourages us to set impactful goals, work harder than everybody else, and refine our mental skills. You will learn the power of competing against yourself as Don Yaeger interviews the man responsible for more advertising dollars targeting African-American consumers than any other professional or company in history. Louis Carr has led an incredible 21 straight years of advertising revenue growth. His athletic accolades are as impressive as his corporate leadership success. Louis was the co-captain of the 1974 State Champion Track Team at Lane Tech high school in Chicago and was awarded a four-year track scholarship to Drake University. In this episode, you will discover how he uses the lessons from the track in his leadership today. Visit CorporateCompetitorPodcast.com for show notes and a free chapter of Don's best-selling book.
Ep. 1: Harvard track and field shaped this business icon. In 2021, Dolf accepted the role of CEO of Lindblad Expeditions. His team partners with National Geographic to take customers on adventure cruises around the world. Dolf was a member of the Harvard track and field team in the early 1980s. Now, he sits on the board for USA Track and Field, and continues to find athletic success. Dolf is the #2 ranked Decathlete in the world for his age group and participated in two seasons of American Ninja Warrior.
His pole vaulting motto “choose to be brave before you start” shaped his two decades of C-Suite experience, including serving as the COO of Diedrich Coffee, COO of House of Blues Entertainment, President of Lucky Strike Lanes, President, and COO of Dave & Buster’s, and CEO of Topgolf where he oversaw 20,000 employees in 25 countries.
What do most Fortune 500 executives have in common? They learned their leadership lessons on the fields and courts of their high school and collegiate sports' teams. This is true for both men and women. Ernst & Young found that a whopping 94% of women holding a C-suite position, played sports.
Join New York Times Best-Selling Author Don Yaeger on his journey to sit with the brightest executives in the world as we discuss how sports shaped their professional trajectory in life.
Our first episode with Topgolf CEO, Dolf Berle, is coming Wednesday, August 5th and this preview gives you a behind the scenes look into what is coming up this year on this leadership podcast!
Visit our website corporatecompetitorpodcast.com for free downloadable resources and a leadership lesson from our weekly Forbes.com article.
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