Corporate Competitor Podcast

Ep. 70: Hockey shaped this Toronto-raised CEO! Mark’s career has taken him from Cisco Systems to Palo Alto Networks and numerous other places before he took the reins at Alteryx, where he has come to view his leadership as something like a curator in chief, one who is responsible for the development journey of each member of his team. This journey begins with understanding their goals, which in turn reflect their ideas of “what success looks like.” Mark appreciates ambition and hunger in others and seeks to provide pathways for their success. He used to invite his old bosses - including Cisco’s legendary leader John Chambers - along on sales calls so he could learn from them and sound them out on his future career plans. Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-70/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!

Ep. 69: John Crowley’s life story was made into a major motion picture called Extraordinary Measures, starring Brandon Fraser and Harrison Ford. This podcast offers its own life and business lessons straight from John himself, including the business he created to save his own children’s lives that grew into a global biomedical giant. You will learn: (19:00) How to recruit “passionate entrepreneurs.” (20:00) How to lead empathetically. (43:00) Three steps you need to take to turn big dreams into reality. (44:00) Why spreadsheets should be set aside on day one of corporate retreats. Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-69/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!

Ep. 68: Minnesota Vikings football shaped this business icon. Fran Tarkenton played professional football for 18 years! He reinvented the position of quarterback by honing the craft of scrambling with the ball rather than allowing himself to be sacked by opposing defenders. Today, the 81-year-old CEO, who has founded more than 20 businesses, hasn’t slowed down one bit. You will learn: The business lesson he learned playing at Georgia. Why he values curiosity above all other leadership qualities. The surprising football failure that continues to fuel his drive for business success. Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-68/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!

Ep. 67: Oklahoma basketball shaped this leader. Renzi is the Founder and CEO of Saxum and is nationally recognized for his political intelligence and public relations insight. He serves as a member of the governing board of the University of Oklahoma and on the global board of directors for YPO. In this conversation you will learn: [9:30] What leadership is NOT. [16:30] How to train yourself to overcome adversity. [28:00] How to create value for your team. [32:30] How to balance support and challenge. Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-67/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!

Ep. 66: Growing up as the oldest of nine children whose parents ran a dental practice out of their home in New York, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian sought refuge on basketball courts and baseball diamonds, playing “just about every sport there is involving a ball.” But no childhood bathroom squabble or station wagon road trip could prepare him for the challenge of leading a world-class company through years of challenge to become the most profitable competitor in its industry. Listeners will learn the “dare” that led Ed to run his first marathon at the tender age of 58, and the $1.6 billion “thank you” he gave Delta employees after beating bankruptcy.  Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-66/ for a free gift, today’s show notes, and access to the full interview archive!

Ep. 65: Playing and coaching basketball-shaped this business icon. Long before he became a famous NBA coach with the New York Knicks and an analyst at ESPN, Jeff Van Gundy coached high school basketball in Rochester, New York, and Kevin LeGrett was all the wiser and better equipped to lead because of their relationship. Upon graduating from college embarking on a career of his own, Kevin developed a reputation for generating tremendous bottom-line profit growth for the biggest media companies in the world, including CBS Radio, Citadel Broadcasting, and currently iHeartMedia. In this podcast, Kevin connects listeners to the great chain of learning and leading he’s enjoyed through the years, including:  Why leaders should “talk to themselves… but not listen to themselves." How to find your team’s "extra dimension." Why do great coaches and leaders have great skill sets and mindsets... and also great resets. Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-65/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!

Ep. 64: Robert “Bob” Glazer is a serial entrepreneur who has worked at think tanks such as Arthur D. Little and incubators such as Cambridge Innovation Center before founding a host of his own companies and charities. His longest-running priority, Acceleration Partners, began in 2007 and works with clients worldwide to develop and scale their affiliate partner programs. He thinks people glamorize entrepreneurship to their detriment. Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-64/ for a free gift and today’s show notes! You Will Learn 3:00 Are you in a vicious circle or vicarious circle? 5:00 How to fight through the pain of learning something new. 7:00 Why hard work beats talent. 14:00 The #1 trait entrepreneurs need to have. 15:00 How to avoid being a “WANTrepreneur.” 24:00 How Friday Forward was born The key to a great culture. 29:00 Why you should not call your coworkers “family.”

Ep. 63: Rafe played linebacker for a Super Bowl Denver Broncos team and considered coaching until his entrepreneurial drive kicked into gear and led him to buy ODS Security Solutions. Over 15 years, he led the company through explosive growth, increasing his workforce from a team of 30 to more than 1,000. In 2016, he became a co-founding partner of CEO Coaching International with twelve-time triathlete Mark Moses. Whether he is coaching a client or a member of his team, Rafe believes in using difficult conversations to forge the best possible solutions, with the proviso that once a decision is made, agreement may be optional—commitment to it is not. “When the huddle breaks, you may not be the one carrying the ball to glory and a touchdown,” Rafe noted, “but you have to execute your part to the fullest of your ability. The same is true in business.”  You will learn: [3:00] What it was like to go to the Super Bowl his rookie year. [13:00] How to overcome the “I don’t belong here” feeling. [14:00] How to focus on what you can control. [21:00] Importance of preparations and reflection. [24:00] How to ask better questions while networking. [33:00] How to take a group of individuals and make them a team. [35:00] How to give real-time actionable feedback. Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-63/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!

Ep. 62: Football, basketball, and track shaped Mark Steffe, an Illinois native responsible for guiding First Command Financial Services in its efforts to make lifelong financial security possible for all military families. When an employee isn’t performing up to snuff, Mark wants his supervisors to avoid telling them to sell more, deliver more, get better results, work harder, and the like. Instead, he wants the leaders to “roll up their sleeves, get their hands a little bit dirty and help people get to a better place—not just tell them to get to a better place.” Today, if you walk the halls of First Command— which maintains more than $35 billion in managed accounts and mutual funds and has more than $62 billion in life insurance coverage in force for some 280,000 military families— you will hear your fair share of sporting metaphors. Listeners will enjoy learning how to be an agile leader, motivate with mission, and make love a core value. Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-62/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!

Ep. 61: Cornell track and field shaped this entrepreneur.  Lokai’s brand of beaded bracelets has become a phenomenon sold in 5,000 locations in 170 countries. The bracelets each contain a droplet of mud from the Dead Sea and water from Mount Everest to represent the highs and lows of earth and of life. Steven paid his dues going “door-to-door” around New York City, trying to get stores to display his bracelets, and was rejected 95 percent of the time. Eventually, his hard work (and his discovery by celebrities like Justin Bieber, Cam Newton, and Blake Lively) helped the company turn the corner… and they haven’t looked back since.  Six years later, he founded his second company Elements, which produces functional wellness drinks formulated to consistently balance the body’s stress levels.  Listeners are sure to enjoy his descriptions of getting his businesses off the ground as well as the differences and similarities of being a founder versus a CEO, including why the numbers count… but aren’t everything, and baking social responsibility into your bottom line. Steven offers a distinctive blend of unwavering confidence and hard-won humility that is sure to inspire and awaken your own creative juices. And one thing’s for sure: you’ll never look at a baton handoff in a track relay the same way again. Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-61/ for a free gift and today’s show notes!