From the creator of How I Built This, host Guy Raz invites you to listen in as he talks to leadership experts and the visionary leaders of some of the world's biggest brands. Along the way, you'll hear accounts of crisis, failure, turnaround, and triumph, as the leaders reveal their secrets on their way to the top. These are stories that didn't make it into their company bios, and valuable lessons for anyone trying to make it in business.
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Simple Change, Big Return: Sonic Drive-In's Cliff Hudson
38:51
38:51
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In today's fast-paced corporate world, the pressure to specialize is immense. But what if focusing on one expertise isn't the key to success? Cliff Hudson, author of Master of None, challenges this very notion, arguing that versatility, not specialization, is the real path to leadership. Hudson's own life story is a testament to this belief. Growin…
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From Lab to C-Suite, Then Turning Around a Startup, ft. George Scangos (Biogen)
36:02
36:02
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For George Scangos, the art of decisive leadership is part of his biology, you could say. Scangos is a former lab researcher who rose to the top of the biotech world. Transitioning from a biology researcher at Yale to a pharmaceutical executive, his journey is a testament to the power of interpersonal skills and strategic thinking. As the CEO of Bi…
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Why Uncertainty Matters: Margaret Heffernan
40:42
40:42
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Margaret Heffernan, an entrepreneur, CEO, executive leadership coach, and author of six books, delves into her often counter-intuitive insights on consensus-building, and decision-making. She and Guy discuss her book, Uncharted: How to Map the Future, where she explains why attempts to predict the future, even with today's AI and Big Data technolog…
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Success Doesn't Teach You Much, ft. Cheryl Bachelder (KFC, Popeye's)
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The former CEO of KFC and Popeye's doesn't love talking about success, of which she's had plenty. No, in fact she's more interested in life's stumbles, in the complexity of failures, and what they have to teach her and her team. Her leadership style is highly relational ("I must know you to grow you," she says). Bachelder became President of KFC ye…
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'Forget Vision:' Lou Gerstner's IBM Turnaround
46:12
46:12
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The legendary CEOs of the 1990s included Jack Welch of GE and John Chambers of Cisco, who was on our show last season. Another dominant figure was Lou Gerstner of IBM, the first IBM CEO recruited from outside the company. When he became CEO in 1993, IBM was struggling against competitors like Microsoft, Dell, and Compaq. Gerstner famously declared,…
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Why to Put a Chink in Your Own Armor: Brad Smith (Intuit)
47:34
47:34
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Brad Smith, the former CEO and now Chairman of the Board at Intuit, knows first hand why vulnerability and failure are intrinsic to good leadership. At one point in his career he lost $40 million for a company and then...got promoted. Smith, heavily influenced by his father's wisdom (i.e. "put a chink in your own armor") leaned into the power of au…
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The Importance of a Near Miss: Sarah Lewis (Harvard)
42:49
42:49
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In this episode, Dr. Sarah Elizabeth Lewis, a Harvard professor of History of Art and Architecture and African and African American Studies, joins Guy to discuss the role of failure in achieving mastery. Dr. Lewis, author of "The Rise: Creativity, the Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery," delves into the concept of the “ever onward almost” …
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From Intern to CEO: Greg Wasson (Walgreens)
36:31
36:31
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Greg Wasson jokes that he wanted to be a pharmacist because his two great uncles, both pharmacists, drove big Cadillacs. The Indiana native was, though, seriously inspired to enter the pharmacy school at Purdue. But before he even finished his degree, he started climbing the corporate ladder at Walgreens. New opportunities kept coming his way, and …
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Purpose-Driven Leadership: Capital One's Sanjiv Yajnik
51:42
51:42
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Sanjiv Yajnik, is someone who embraces risk and adapts to change with remarkable resilience. Sanjiv's career began as a marine engineer, spending over a decade at sea, working for major shipping companies. His dedication and all-in approach to engineering propelled his maritime career. However, Sanjiv took a bold leap, leaving his promising career …
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Never Stop Improving: Lowe’s Marvin Ellison
53:34
53:34
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Marvin Ellison is one of the few Black CEOs leading a Fortune 500 company. In this episode he shares his remarkable journey from retail security guard to CEO of two major corporations. Known for taking on the toughest jobs that others shied away from, Ellison became the go-to leader for companies like J.C. Penney and now Lowe’s during precarious ti…
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Why Some Never Break Through: Greg McKeown ('Effortless' and 'Essentialism')
45:57
45:57
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Leadership strategist, business speaker, podcaster, and author Greg McKeown (New York Times bestsellers Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less and Effortless: Make It Easier To Do What Matters Most) writes about ideas and strategies that explain, at least in part, why some break through to the next level while others don’t. His philosophy, "…
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Leadership for Innovation: Bill George (Medtronic)
44:07
44:07
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Initially reluctant to go to Medtronic, his time at that company ultimately became a life changing experience for Bill George. Not only did he usher the company into the Fortune 500 and grow the enterprise value of the company by 60x, he really started to lock in on his growing passion to influence leadership. Then, his career took a turn toward ac…
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The Solution to Overthinking: John Acuff of 'Soundtracks'
45:28
45:28
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Author, podcaster and speaker Jon Acuff, known for his humorous approach to leadership and goal-setting, is the author of seven best-selling books. The son of a Baptist minister, Jon worked as a copywriter throughout his twenties. His blog “Stuff Christians Like” caught the attention of personal finance guru Dave Ramsey (also a guest on Wisdom From…
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Leading From "We," Not "I" -- David Novak (Yum! Brands)
53:08
53:08
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David Novak has been a driving force behind brands like Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, KFC, and he co-founded YUM! Brands Inc., one of the biggest players in the quick service restaurant industry. He's written bestsellers including Taking People With You, The Education of an Accidental CEO, and his latest, co-authored with Jason Goldsmith, titled Take Charg…
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Failing Forward is Key: Andrea Jung of Grameen America
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One of the things Andrea Jung remembers Steve Jobs saying was "fail forward." If you don't fail you're not risking enough. For over a decade as CEO of direct-sales giant Avon, Andrea Jung was one of the most powerful women in the cosmetics industry. During her tenure, Jung saw striking success, but also faced daunting challenges with a failed produ…
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When he was a young management consultant at Boston Consulting Group, Morten Hansen put in long hours–up to 90 a week, regularly. The highest performer in his office, however, was a colleague who clocked significantly less hours and rarely came in on weekends. This experience helped inspire Hansen’s research on work and is a central topic in his la…
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When Maria Ross was trying to teach her son that empathy was a way to success, the world around them seemed to be sending the exact opposite message. So Ross took her years of experience as a management and brand consultant to make the case for empathy not as a moral imperative, but as a business strategy. It's an equation worth studying. Here, in …
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Explorer, writer, and publisher Erling Kagge came from a childhood enriched by an artistic household (the likes of Chet Baker and Eubie Blake once visited his home) and by ready access to nature. He was the first person to complete the Three Poles Challenge -- reaching the South Pole, the North Pole, and the top of Mt. Everest -- on foot. He talks …
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Mastering Crisis is Everything: Jeff Jones of H&R Block, Uber, Target
44:24
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Jeff Jones has had a few front row seats to crisis. From the 2013 Target data breach to a tumultuous period at Uber, he’s helped navigate companies out of some tough situations. So, when Jeff became the President and CEO of H&R Block in 2017, he was prepared. How a young man from West Virginia went from being an ad guy to heading one of the biggest…
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There was a devastating data breach, a failing foray into Canada, and they were losing US customers fast. In 2014, Target seriously needed a win—Brian Cornell was that win. He’d turned around plenty of other retailers like Safeway, Michael’s, and Sam’s Club, but this time he was thinking bigger. In this 2019 conversation: Playing the long game to m…
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How You Win by Failing: Sarah Robb O’Hagan
1:10:44
1:10:44
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Sarah Robb O'Hagan is brutally honest about the many, many times she messed up on the way to transforming Gatorade. She was a rabble-rouser at Virgin, which ended with her getting fired. She took a job at Atari, even though she hated video games. How those disasters made her into the right executive to pull Gatorade out of double-digit declines.…
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Jacqueline Novogratz (Acumen): When to Listen, When to Lead
37:10
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When the COO of Chase Bank told Jacqueline Novogratz that she had the potential for a high level career at Chase, she knew she had to quit her job. She continued to use the skills she learned from investment banking, and used them to change the way the world sees capitalism and philanthropy. Today Acumen has delivered more than 100 million dollars …
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Black Entertainment Television launched in 1980--at a time when MTV didn't play Hip hop or "urban music. Not only did BET fill a vital programming void, it was the first Black-owned business traded on the New York Stock Exchange, and it helped make the first Black Billionaire in the US (Bob Johnson). Debra Lee, a young Harvard-educated lawyer drawn…
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Growing up in a small town in India, Leena Nair overheard her mother say it was too bad Leena was born a girl, because it meant her smarts and talents would go to waste. But Nair went on to join Hindustan Unilever, becoming the first female manager to work on a factory floor, the first woman to serve on the management committee, and the youngest-ev…
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Take Risks, Break Barriers: Shellye Archambeau
1:01:40
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Shellye Archambeau knew as a teenager she wanted to grow up and become a CEO. But when Shellye started as an undergraduate at the Wharton School of Business in 1980, there were just two female CEOs of large corporations, and none of the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies were Black. Despite the lack of representation, Shellye became the first Black woma…
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