Whitney Johnson: The Four Key Questions To Ask Yourself to Make Sure You Are On The Right Path

Today’s guest, Whitney Johnson, is recognized as one of the 50 leading business thinkers in the world. She is an expert on disruptive innovation and personal disruption; specifically, a framework which she codifies in the critically acclaimed book Disrupt Yourself: Putting the Power of Disruptive Innovation to Work and in her new book Build an “A” Team: Play To Their Strengths and Lead Them Up the Learning Curve. She developed her proprietary framework and diagnostics after having cofounded the Disruptive Innovation Fund with Harvard Business School’s Clayton Christensen. This framework is complemented by a deep understanding of how executives create and destroy value, having spent nearly a decade as an Institutional Investor ranked equity analyst on Wall Street. In addition to her work as a speaker and advisor, she is one of Marshall Goldsmith's original cohort of 25 for the #100 Coaches Project, is a coach for Harvard Business School's Executive Education program, frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review, is a Linkedin influencer, and hosts the weekly Disrupt Yourself Podcast. I was fortunate to be coached by her during the earliest days of my business and she has been a true mentor to me over the years. I’m delighted to bring you this interview with Whitney Johnson. She has the front row spirit and shares her story and incredible insights in our conversation. Highlights: 4:30 Find out why Whitney had to “throw down her pom poms” and how it changed entire career path. 5:20 The beginning of disruptive innovation. What it is and how she figured out how to apply it. 7:45 Whitney’s first book Dare Dream Do was truly inspiring. Find out why Jen found it so helpful to her. 8:58 What’s your dream? The surprising answers that motivated Whitney to build a case for dreaming. Why is it important and how do you do it? How do you figure it out? 11:00 Ships and harbors (and why they matter) 13:50 Disrupt yourself. A how-to book for disrupting your life and how to figure out when it’s time to do something new. Don’t miss this part! 17:20 Year 4, and 4-year cycles and how to know if you are ready to move on or if it’s time to dig in and persevere. 18:50 4 Questions to determine if you are on the right path. 20:10 The vitamin vs. the pain pill. Why people will or won’t buy what you’re offering. 24:30 Why listening to compliments is important to gain perspective. 26:00 Find out how a constraint (lack of money and/or experience or time) can be an advantage. 28:50 Find out how Build an “A” Team: Play To Their Strengths and Lead Them Up the Learning Curve applies to entrepreneurs who are working virtually and learning how to scale. 33:20 How to make safe changes to continue to pursue happiness. 34:30 Four books that Whitney recommends. 37:30 Personal avatars – coming soon? 39:00 LinkedIn tips from Whitney and how using LinkedIn has helped her.