Radio Free Leader

Tim Sanders is the former Yahoo! Chief Solutions Officer and the author of four books, including the new book "Dealstorming." He is a co-founder of the research consultancy Deeper Media, Inc. and a top-rated speaker, lecturing widely at sales rallies, company kickoffs, and conventions. In this interview, we discuss why sales is everyone's business, how to prepare for meetings, and how to lead team's to genius solutions.

Daniel Korschun is an Associate Professor of Marketing at Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business and the author of "We Are Market Basket." In this interview, we discuss how the uniqueness of a business was due to the unique leadership of Arthur T. Demoulas and how reciprocal loyalty made for a successful business and a revolutionary act of followership.

Strategy guru Roger L. Martin and Skoll Foundation President and CEO Sally R. Osberg are co-authors of "Getting Beyond Better: How Social Entrepreneurship Works." In this interview, they describe how social entrepreneurs target systems that exist in a stable but unjust equilibrium and transform them into entirely new, superior, and sustainable equilibria. All of these leaders—call them disrupters, visionaries, or changemakers—develop, build, and scale their solutions in ways that bring about the truly revolutionary change that makes the world a fairer and better place.

Shawn Murphy is CEO and founder of Switch & Shift, an organization dedicated to the advancement of human-centered organizational practices and leadership. He is the author of The Optimistic Workplace. In this interview, Shawn and I discuss why our best work is the product of a positive environment and how to build that environment.

Jeffrey Pfeffer is the Thomas D. Dee II Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, where he has taught since 1979. In this interview, we take a hard-hitting dissection of the leadership industry and ways to make workplaces and careers work better.

Bill George is professor of management practice at Harvard Business School, where he has taught leadership since 2004. Mr. George is the former chairman and chief executive officer of Medtronic. He is the author of the new book, Discover Your True North, an updated version of his bestseller True North. In this interview, we discuss how to become an authentic leader.

Tom Rath is a researcher, author, and filmmaker who studies the role of human behavior in business, health, and well-being. He has been described by business leaders and the media as one of the greatest thinkers and nonfiction writers of his generation. Tom’s most recent work includes the bestselling book Are You Fully Charged? and the documentary Fully Charged. In this interview, we discuss the key elements of energizing one’s work and life.

Daniel H. Pink is the author of five provocative books — including three long-running New York Times bestsellers, A Whole New Mind, Drive, and To Sell is Human. Dan’s books have been translated into 34 languages and have sold more than 2 million copies worldwide. In this interview, I catch up with what Dan is working on now, and get some counterintuitive career advice.

A new year's announcement from David Burkus, host of LDRLB....or...wait....host of Radio Free Leader.

Whitney Johnson is the leading thinker on driving corporate innovation through personal disruption. She cofounded Rose Park Advisors, a boutique investment firm, with Clayton Christensen, and was an Institutional Investor-ranked analyst for eight consecutive years, including at Merrill Lynch. She is the author of Disrupt Yourself: Putting the Power of Disruptive Innovation to Work. In this interview, we describe how to upend your career and move into the leadership role you've always wanted.

Aaron Olson and BK Simerson are the authors of Leading with Strategic Thinking: Four Ways Effective Leaders Gain Insight, Drive Change, and Get Results. In this interview, we discuss why leadership and strategy are mistakingly treated as separate topics and how effective leaders drive strategic change.

Fred Kiel is the author of "Return on Character." He is is a founding partner of the leadership development and strategic analytics firm KRW International and a pioneer in the field of executive coaching. In this interview, we discuss his recent research showing how the character of corporate leaders can make a tangible difference to the bottom line.

Mike Figliuolo is the Founder and Managing Director of thoughtLEADERS, LLC - a leadership development and training firm. He's also the author of "Lead Inside the Box" and "One Piece of Paper." Mike graduated as an Honor Graduate from West Point and served in the US Army. He was a consultant with McKinsey & Co. and also had several executive roles at Capital One Financial and Scotts Miracle-Gro. In this interview, we discuss how smart leaders guide their teams to exceptional results.

Josh Davis, Ph.D., is the director of research and lead professor at the NeuroLeadership Institute, a global institute dedicated to synthesizing scientific research and guiding its use in the business and leadership domains. He has taught at Columbia University, New York University, and Barnard College of Columbia University. He is the author of "Two Awesome Hours: Science-Based Strategies to Harness Your Best Time and Get Your Most Important Work Done." In this interview, we discuss why work so rarely happens at work and how to get your best work done.

Susan Fowler is the author of "Why Motivating People Doesn't Work...And What Does." She is the lead developer of The Ken Blanchard Company's Optimal Motivation program, which has been implemented worldwide. In this interview, we discuss strategies for optimal motivation and what Maslow’s hierarchy won’t tell you about motivation.

Jean-Philippe Vergne is the author of "The Pirate Organization." He is an assistant professor of strategy at the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario. His ongoing research on the global arms industry received the inaugural Grigor McClelland Doctoral Dissertation Award in 2011. In this interview, we discuss how pirates and misfits preserve the spirit of capitalism.

Ryan Hartwig is Chair and Associate Professor, Department of Communication Studies at Asuza Pacific University, where he teaches courses on Group Communication and Leadership. He is co-author of "Teams That Thrive." In this interview, we discuss the myth of meaningful work, its leadership implications, and Ryan's recent TEDx talk on the subject.

Todd Henry is the founder of Accidental Creative, a company that helps creative people and teams be prolific, brilliant and healthy. He regularly speaks and consults with companies about how to develop practices that lead to everyday brilliance. His new book, Louder Than Words, outlines the role of a authentic voice as an individual and a leader.

Donald Sull is a global expert on strategy and execution in turbulent markets. He is a senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Kathleen Eisenhardt is the S. W. Ascherman Professor of Strategy at Stanford, a highly cited author, and the co-director of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program. The are the authors of the new book "Simple Rules: How to Thrive in a Complex World." In this interview, we talk about the complexity that surrounds all of us, and how by developing a few simple yet effective rules, people can best even the most complex problems.

Lee Cockerell is the former Executive Vice President of Operations for the Walt Disney World Resort. As the Senior Operating Executive for ten years Lee led a team of 40,000 Cast Members and was responsible for the operations of 20 resort hotels, 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, a shopping and entertainment village, and the ESPN sports and recreation complex. In this interview, we discuss how Lee created and led Disney magic and how you can too, no matter who you work for.