Corporate Competitor Podcast
Sean had been his high school's all-time leading scorer — a record he held for more than three decades— but his decision to be the "little fish in the big pond" and go to Syracuse paid off. He knew he would progress far more rapidly when competing against bigger and better, even if that meant less playing time than he might have received at a smaller school.
Today as Arrow's Chief Operating Officer, he leads a team of 20,000 employees across more than 300 locations worldwide with the same scrappy mindset. He is committed to lifelong learning.
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.
Eleven million spectators experience the U.S. Navy Blue Angels Air Show each year. In 1971, one of those spectators was five-year-old Keith Hoskins. As the F-4 Phantom jets flew overhead, he told his dad, “I want to be a Blue Angel.”
Nearly three decades later, that dream came true! His 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. Today, Captain Hoskins serves as Executive Vice President of Branch Operations for the largest credit union in the world -- Navy Federal!
You will learn incredible lessons in collaboration, character, and why compartmentalization isn’t always a bad thing.
In my 30 years as an author and storyteller, many people have asked, “What is your favorite story you’ve had the opportunity to tell?” Without question, it is the story of Kyle Carpenter.
On November 21, 2010, Carpenter, a U.S. Marine Lance Corporal, was posted on a rooftop in Afghanistan when a Taliban grenade landed between him and a fellow Marine. Without hesitation, Carpenter 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, Carpenter ran the Marine Corps Marathon. “The more I fought for my future instead of against my past, the more I realized that there wasn’t just life for me on the other side of this – there was life for me in the middle of it,” he said, “The smallest of steps eventually completes the grandest of journeys.”
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.
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.
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!
In a world where finger-pointing and playing the blame game has become second nature in many organizations, Beth Brooke offers a unique example of extraordinary achievement precisely because she owns her failures. Flipping that script landed Brooke on the Forbes "World's 100 Most Powerful Women" list eleven times and in 2015, she was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.
This episode of Corporate Competitor Podcast illustrates in Brooke's own words how communication, diversity and inclusion, and a culture of constructive feedback can help employees think more like owners.
Rick Hendrick grew up on his family’s farm and turned his passion for the automobile into several successful business ventures. The first, Hendrick Automotive Group, is the largest privately held automotive retail organization in the United States. With more than 130 retail franchises from the Carolinas to California, the company employs more than 10,000 people with the motto: Prioritize your people over profits. The company’s top 15 leaders have been with Hendrick for an average of 25 years, a record of longevity and loyalty that would be hard to match in any industry. Secondarily, he founded Hendrick Motorsports in 1984. Since then, his team has won an all-time record 13 NASCAR Cup Series championships. His rock-star roster of drivers has included Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Chase Elliott.
This episode explores the ultimate formula for competitors who want to keep their team revved up, including: Keys to proper communication, how to celebrate IMPROVEMENT as much as success, and how to limit mistakes.
When you play for the Navy, in any sport, the most important thing you can do is beat the Army. The rivalry is real. It makes each one of them better. 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. Dana shares that coaching youth ice hockey prepared him for his leadership transition, “Coaching youth sports taught me that I do not know it all,” he said, “When I came to Palo Alto Networks, I knew my job was to listen, learn, and create an environment that is conducive for my teammates to succeed.”
Scott Mordell is Young Professional Organization Global’s longest-serving Chief Executive. YPO has 29,000 members who have joined chapters in 142 countries. All of them are committed to becoming better leaders and better people together. Scott grew up in Detroit, Michigan, and played hockey, basketball, baseball, and football. He may have been the smallest offensive lineman, but that did not stop him from playing at Albion College before continuing his education at Michigan State and earning a master’s degree from Northwestern. In this interview, you will learn how to “re-calibrate” your leadership journey and maintain curiosity. Scott also shares his five business principles so you can grow in 2021.
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.
I had the unbelievable good fortune to have legendary UCLA basketball coach, John Wooden, as a mentor. We ended up in a relationship that allowed me every other month for 12 years to fly to California to spend a day learning from Coach. One day, Coach said, “Don, I want to tell you the story of one of the greatest players to ever play for me.”
Brian Moynihan was selected by his business peers to receive the Chief Executive Network's 2020 CEO of Year award. As one of eight children, competition was woven into the fabric of Moynihan’s childhood. Whether it was determining who had to do the dishes or a race to solve a mathematic equation, his family taught him to compete and cooperate.
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 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.
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.
President of FranklinCovey Education, 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 in more than 150 countries.
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.
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!
Synnex’s Matt Karst brings more than 30 years of experience in the technology industry leading successful sales organizations. 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.
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.
Two-time World Series Champion, David Ross, spent most of his 15-year career playing in the major leagues as a back-up 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.
