Wisdom From The Top with Guy Raz

Stephen M.R. Covey, son and collaborator of Stephen R. Covey, discusses the influential leadership teachings of his father, including the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. They explore the connection between principles and faith, the importance of trust in relationships and teams, and the positive impact of his father's legacy.

Carl Bass, a renegade and reluctant executive, steered Autodesk out of the global economic crisis. He discusses transitioning to a subscription model, uncovering stock option backdating, balancing stakeholder needs, and dealing with activist investors. He also shares his personal journey in math education and drops out of college to become a metalworker and builder.

Former parking lot hustler Jeremy Zimmer shares his improbable rise to leading one of the biggest talent agencies. Topics include mailroom training, transitioning from assistant to running clients, balancing success and personal relationships, and personal journey with depression and therapy.

Former CEO of Neiman Marcus and Macy's, Terry Lundgren, discusses his experience in merging these retail giants, turning Macy's into the first nationwide department store, the challenges faced by big retail stores in the late 90s, and the nature of leadership.

How a New Orleans native turned around a cruise company sinking from a public relations disaster... to one of the most valuable brands in its industry. When Arnold Donald took over Carnival Corporation and the nine cruise lines it operates, one of the biggest things he did was build a new leadership team. Seven of the cruise lines got new heads, including more women and minorities. He says that "diversity of thinking is a business imperative and a powerful advantage," and that you get better ideas and new growth opportunities when your leadership is diverse. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dan Schulman, CEO of PayPal, discusses integrating social justice into the company and supporting black-owned businesses. He shares his career journey and the challenges of the telecom industry. The process of separating PayPal from eBay is explored. Embracing remote work during the pandemic and its enhancements are discussed. The future of work, leadership, and employee well-being are also addressed.

Beth Comstock, former CMO and Vice Chair of GE, discusses her career path, implementing greener policies, learning from failure, and the decline of GE. She emphasizes the importance of embracing change, empowering advocates, and promoting diversity and inclusivity.

For years, it was a secret: the family that owned Lego was actually losing money on the company. The man who built the company back up into one of the biggest toymakers in the world, Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, reveals his controversial plan that led Lego back to profitability. It leaned on something that has always been Lego's strength: the creativity and passion of the children and adults who love to play with Lego. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

General Stanley McChrystal was born into a military family: three generations of men in his family were officers in the armed forces. He followed the family tradition and eventually rose up the ranks to become a General in the Army. While serving as the commander of Allied Forces in Afghanistan in 2010, he was forced to resign after he was quoted making disparaging remarks about President Obama. It was in the wake of this moment that General McChrystal learned the value of leadership. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

After one of the most deadly disasters in the history of space flight, Ellen Ochoa was a leader in NASA's recovery. She fixed the technical things that went wrong, but the most critical changes, she says, were human. Why she thinks it's important to make sure that naysayers always have a voice, and how to encourage employees to do something very difficult: disagree with the boss. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.