Jay Rosenzweig: The Man With Five Careers

The Sydcast

Episode Summary:

Every once in a while our guest on The Sydcast seems to do everything well. Jay Rosenzweig, this week’s guest, is a great example. Entrepreneurial “breathing” is in his bones, whether that means building a major executive search firm, investing in dozens of Web 3.0 startups, or spearheading major initiatives at multiple non-profit organizations (including the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights). Add in music recording artist, publisher of the most important report in Canada on the status of women in leadership, mentor to NBA players and company founders alike, and you start to get the picture. Jay Rosenzweig is all about impact, which makes him the perfect guest for The Sydcast.

Sydney Finkelstein

Syd Finkelstein is the Steven Roth Professor of Management at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He holds a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics and a Ph.D. from Columbia University. Professor Finkelstein has published 25 books and 90 articles, including the bestsellers Why Smart Executives Fail and Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Master the Flow of Talent, which LinkedIn Chairman Reid Hoffman calls the “leadership guide for the Networked Age.” He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Management, a consultant and speaker to leading companies around the world, and a top 25 on the Global Thinkers 50 list of top management gurus. Professor Finkelstein’s research and consulting work often relies on in-depth and personal interviews with hundreds of people, an experience that led him to create and host his own podcast, The Sydcast, to uncover and share the stories of all sorts of fascinating people in business, sports, entertainment, politics, academia, and everyday life.

Jay Rosenzweig

Jay Rosenzweig is an internationally renowned social impact entrepreneur, humanitarian, trained lawyer, and leadership strategist. The founder of Rosenzweig & Company, Rosenzweig is an expert in designing, building, and attracting world-class teams. He consults with public and private companies, including large global corporations; emerging growth to mid-sized businesses; professional services firms; and private equity and venture capital firms. He invests in and advises several leading-edge tech companies across North America and beyond. Rosenzweig has been immersed in global human rights causes for well over two decades and has been internationally recognized for the Annual Rosenzweig Report on equality, which he has published for the past seventeen years. Rosenzweig’s Annual Report has received endorsements and contributions from a wide range of leaders and personalities such as Justin Trudeau, Alyssa Milano, Sheryl Sandberg, Mark Cuban, Deepak Chopra, Van Jones, Zainab Salbi, CEOs and Board Chairs of major corporations, and several other artists, humanitarians, politicians and business leaders. He is the Chair of the Board of Irwin Cotler’s Raoul Wallenberg Centre For Human Rights. In addition, he sits on a number of other purpose-driven boards supporting causes ranging from healthcare, youth empowerment, refugee protection, and anti-gun violence. Rosenzweig is an outspoken advocate against Antisemitism, racism, and all forms of hate and discrimination. He invests in businesses whose mission is to foster a world that gives equal opportunities for all, including greater access to education, capital, and mobility. Rosenzweig’s work has been featured in several publications, including The New York Times, Fast Company, The Guardian, Business Insider, BNN Bloomberg, Cheddar, Bold TV, Digital Trends, Business Rockstars, Globe & Mail, National Post, Toronto Star, Huffington Post, and Thrive Global. He earned three degrees at McGill University: Philosophy, Civil Law, and Common Law. In addition, he completed the Harvard Law School Negotiation Program, taught by expert negotiator Roger Fisher, author of Getting To Yes. Rosenzweig is an avid songwriter, having collaborated with a number of well-known recording artists.

Insights from this Episode

• Jay’s mindset of curiosity
• What has helped Jay to have an open mind to criticism
• Jay’s philosophy to explore the opportunities that life offers
• Jay’s professional trajectory
• How did Jay end up working on startups and founders
• What is the skill set needed to thrive in life and business
• What is going on in the digital sector
• What inspired Jay to work towards promoting female leadership
• What according to Jay’s perspective is one of the biggest issues for female workers in the business world
• How Jay was introduced to the music world

Quotes from the Show:

• “I think for a lot of individuals, and I coach a lot of individuals as well, ego gets in the way and defense mechanisms prevent individuals from actually seeking out criticism” - Jay Rosenzweig [16:41]
• “I take criticism in an objective way if you will, as a mean of self-improvement even if I receive irrational criticism, I don’t let that affect me, so it's a matter of really going more deeply into yourself to understand really the only thing you can control 100% is how you’re feeling inside of yourself” - Jay Rosenzweig [17:32]
• “My philosophy it's always been: when you see these windows of opportunity, when you see these cracks in the door, walk through them” - Jay Rosenzweig [19:50]
• “Success to me is not based on events that happen or based on results, success to me is because you have no control or very little control of what comes at you very often, so to me, success is how you respond to what is thrown at you” - Jay Rosenzweig [34:20]
• “The idea is to put a mirror to the corporate world in terms of the iron clad data of what the status of women is in leadership” - Jay Rosenzweig [45:21]
• “I’d say to myself, it’s going to be alright, enjoy the journey” - Jay Rosenzweig [57:54]

Stay Connected:

Sydney Finkelstein

Website: http://thesydcast.com

LinkedIn: Sydney Finkelstein

Twitter: @sydfinkelstein

Facebook: The Sydcast

Instagram: The Sydcast

Jay Rosenzweig

LinkedIn: Jay Rosenzweig

Website: Jay Rosenzweig

Twitter: Jay Rosenzweig

Instagram: Jay Rosenzweig

Subscribe to our podcast + download each episode on Stitcher, iTunes, and Spotify.

This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry.