Wisdom From The Top with Guy Raz

Gordon Bethune took an unlikely path to becoming a leader in the airline industry. A self-described "hoodlum," Bethune dropped out of high school, joined the Navy, and became an airplane mechanic. With that experience, he gave Continental Airlines a tune-up, pulling it out of bankruptcy and guiding it through the deep uncertainty that followed the September 11th attacks. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Josh Silverman built Evite and turned around eBay. Then, in 2017, Etsy came calling. The online marketplace for creative goods was in deep trouble. Growth had plateaued and the company was on the verge of being sold. Josh stepped in as CEO and got the team focused on one simple metric that made all the difference. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Cisco was growing at breakneck speed when the tech bubble burst in 2001. As an industry veteran, CEO John Chambers knew firsthand that no company was immune to failure. Anticipating the need to transition, and using a '100 year flood' as an opportunity to rise to the top of the market. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What does it take for a person to change? BJ Fogg, founder of Stanford's Behavior Design Lab, says the key to behavior change isn't what we've always been taught. In Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything, Fogg draws upon true experiments — from his lab and his life — to outline a system anyone can use to create good habits or unravel the bad. In this episode: on making change through design and celebration.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jeremy Zimmer was not supposed to be heading one of the "big four" talent agencies in Hollywood. As a child he struggled in school and eventually dropped out of college to become a parking lot hustler, making money running schemes as a valet and spending nights partying. But that all stopped suddenly one day when he was violently attacked on the job. When he got back on his feet he found new focus and began his improbable rise to the top of the talent agency world. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When Sylvia Mathews Burwell was appointed Secretary of HHS in 2014, Health and Human Services — the agency responsible for administering Obamacare — was already under intense scrutiny. And the crises just kept coming: a government shutdown, unaccompanied minors at the border, Ebola and Zika. How she found compromise amidst crisis, and mastered preparing for the unexpected. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Leadership strategist and business speaker Greg McKeown is the author of two New York Times-bestselling books: Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less and Effortless: Make It Easier To Do What Matters Most. The core of McKeown's philosophy of "Essentialism" is to identify what is absolutely essential — and then work to prioritize that, and eliminate everything else. McKeown encourages readers to recognize the trade-offs inherent in trying to "do it all so you can have it all." His framework is helpful for every important decision — in both the professional arena, and the personal.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Running the world's wealthiest charitable foundation is all about tough choices. During her meteoric rise at Microsoft, Melinda Gates never guessed she'd spend decades trying to solve global problems. Learning to give by asking the right questions and accepting the limits of your own impact. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dr. Sarah Elizabeth Lewis is Associate Professor of History of Art and Architecture and of African and African American Studies at Harvard. Early in her career, she became fascinated with what she calls "back-turned paintings"--the paintings which artists keep turned around in their studios, thereby shielding them from view. She realized all of them were necessary steps in the artists' pursuit of mastery. Dr. Lewis talks about the "ever onward almost" on the path to mastering painting, writing, archery, filmmaking, and, yes, business leadership. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Why isn't Intuit dead? The key was transforming it into a "36 year old start up," says former CEO Brad Smith. Giving people the chance to make an impact, he says, is vital to energizing a workforce. How he lost $40 million and got promoted, and why vulnerability and failure are intrinsic to good leadership. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.