CareerCast by the University of Chicago Booth School of Business

What hidden skill links successful people in all walks of life? What helps them make smart decisions? The answer is surprisingly simple: They know how to ask the right questions at the right time. Author, Frank Sesno, CNN anchor, White House Correspondent, and author of Ask More, should know. He has built an entire career on asking solid, direct, and thought-provoking questions to leaders all over the globe. In this CareerCast, Frank shares his insights, strategies, and experience on how to leverage the power of questions to open doors, uncover solutions, and spark change.

Do the biggest challenges require less time, not more? Do individuals produce better solutions than teams? Can you test anything in one week by building a realistic façade? Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky, Design Partners, GV, and co-authors of Sprint would answer “absolutely yes” to all three questions. In this CareerCast, John and Jake share their unique perspective from times at Google Ventures, YouTube and FeedBurner (which Google acquired in 2007) along with ideas, strategies, and a behind the scenes look at how startups sprint on difficult problems. So listen in if you have a big opportunity, challenge, or idea and need perspective, insights, and practical answers.

What if you could use design thinking to create a life that is both meaningful and fulfilling, regardless of who or where we are, what we do or have done for a living, or how young or old we are? Dave Evans, Adjunct Lecturer, Product Design Program at Stanford, Management Consultant, co-founder of Electronic Arts, and author of Designing Your Life, believes that you can and it’s one of the best things you can you do for your career and life. In this CareerCast, Dave shares his unique experience, multi-faceted perspective, and practical wisdom to help you get started.

What is it like to succeed as an MBA in Silicon Valley? Just ask Chris Yeh, co-author (along with LinkedIn co-founder, Reid Hoffman and entrepreneur, Ben Casnocha) of the New York Times bestseller, The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age. In this CareerCast, Chris shares his experience, insights and wisdom from founding, advising, or investing in over 100 high-tech startups.

Why do some people hit obstacles and derail while others create advantage and leverage from the challenges? While there are many factors, Doug Hensch, Executive Coach, Organizational Consultant, and author of Positively Resilient: 5 1/2 Secrets to Beat Stress, Overcome Obstacles, and Defeat Anxiety, would say that resilience is at the top of the list. In this CareerCast, Doug shares his insights, perspective, and how resilience is way more than just an ability to bounce back.

Is it possible to be personally authentic and a powerful leader? Dr. Karissa Thacker, President of Strategic Performance Solutions and author of The Art of Authenticity, would say that it’s the only way to sustain success and well-being at any organization and develop an effective, executable leadership strategy. In this CareerCast, Karissa will share her deep knowledge, experience, and wisdom working with companies like UPS, Best Buy, and AT&T.

Are you achieving high quality goals that are important to you at a fast-tracked pace? If you are, you are rare. Charles Duhigg, Harvard MBA, Pulitzer Prize winning reporter for The New York Times, and author of Smarter Faster Better and The Power of Habit, believes that there is a science behind productivity and it can be learned and leveraged across industries, functions, and levels. In this CareerCast, Charles will share his findings, insights, and practical advice on how to accelerate your goal achievement and have fun in the process.

Do you want to have a Board Directorship in the future, yet feel that you don’t know how to make that a reality? John Montford, author of Board Games: Straight Talk for New Directors and Good Governance, believes that there is a path to successful Board Leadership and helps global organizations get better results from executive search, management succession, and the board nominating process. In this CareerCast, John shares insights, perspective, and wisdom from decades of experience in and around the boardroom and with executive leadership.

Is executive leadership in need of a makeover? If you ask, Dr. Joelle Jay, a principal with the Leadership Research Institute and author of the New Advantage, you will get a resounding “Yes”. She believes that at the core of the change is leveraging women at the executive levels and creating organizations that empower all leaders. In this CareerCast, Joelle shares her insights, perspective, and lessons learned working with companies like Microsoft, MetLife, and Adobe.

Whether you are using data in a presentation at work, a pitch to potential funders, or a job interview, you can learn to make it a pivotal point in your story. This is the core message of Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic, author of Storytelling with Data and analytics professional with roles in banking, private equity, and most recently as a manager on the Google People Analytics team. In this CareerCast, Cole shares lessons grounded in theory, but made accessible through real-world examples. Listen in and learn how to leverage data to tell a compelling story to your next presentation, career move, and more.