Work And Life With Stew Friedman

Tony Schwartz is the founder and CEO of the Energy Project, which began in 2003. He is a thought leader on sustainable high performance and building more humane workplaces and he has been a frequent contributor to The New York Times. He began his career as a journalist and is author of several books, including The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time (with Jim Loehr) and The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working. He’s also co-author with Donald Trump, of The Art of the Deal. Tony has delivered keynotes and trainings to leaders of companies around the world and The Energy Project has offices in three countries. Stew and Tony talk about the importance of re-energizing and re-focusing in order to foster sustainable workplaces that allow employees to be productive. They discuss the role of feelings, one’s inner life, and one’s mood on performance and productivity. Tony talks about four reservoirs of energy -- physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual -- that need to be nurtured through ritual and practi

Josh Levs is an author, entrepreneur, and expert on fathers in the workplace. For 20 years, Josh wrote for NPR and CNN. He is a six-time Peabody award-winner and two-time Edward R. Murrow award-winner. At the time of the birth of his third child he sued his employer, CNN/Time Warner, to obtain a paternity leave for biological fathers that matched the company’s leaves for mothers and adoptive parents. This experience led him to write All in: How Our Work-First Culture Fails Dads, Families, and Businesses – And How We Can Fix It Together. In this episode, Stew and Josh discuss paternity leave and the outmoded policies and biases that prevent fathers from providing care. Josh recommends sweeping changes in both government and the private sector to support families by extending paternity leave. He describes the personal struggle he had supporting his third child and the progressive changes his employer, CNN/Time Warner, eventually made to support fathers. Other companies throughout America are making this leap. T

Sanyin Siang is an author, leadership advisor, and CEO coach. She co-founded and leads the Coach K Center on Leadership & Ethics (COLE) at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. As a CEO coach, she applies an ecosystem approach to problem solving, innovation, and culture building. Sanyin helps clients launch their careers, businesses, and their families to new heights by using principles of behavior science. She is an original member of Marshall Goldsmith's 100 Coaches, as well as an advisor for Google Ventures, The Sports Innovation Lab, and DukeCE (the #1 Financial Times ranked custom education provider for 12 consecutive years). Her The Launch Book draws on first-hand stories and behavioral science principles to help us all be braver about launching – because she believes that we’re all “launching” all the time. Stew and Sanyin talk about what happens when we’re trying something new—whether it’s an idea at work, a big move in our personal lives, or the start of a company. We often encounter self-d

Michael Bungay Stanier is founder of Box of Crayons, a company known for teaching 10-minute coaching so busy managers can build stronger teams and get better results. Michael left Australia 25 years ago to be a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University. He claims his only significant achievement there was falling in love with a Canadian, which is why he now lives in Toronto, having spent time in London and Boston. Balancing out these moments of success, according to Michael, he was banned from his high school graduation for “the balloon incident,” was sued by one of his law school lecturers for defamation, and his first published piece of writing was a Mills & Boone short story called “The Male Delivery.” More recently, he is also the author of The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever and also Do More Great Work: Stop the Busywork. Start the Work That Matters. Michael was the first Canadian Coach of the Year. Stew and Michael discuss the term coaching, which is floating aroun

Michael Bontrager founded Chatham Financial in 1991 and continues to serve as CEO. Luke Zubrod is Director of Strategic Initiatives; he works on ways to advance Chatham’s market impact and organizational culture, including initiatives that strengthen civil discourse within the firm. Mike was honored by Ernst & Young with an Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2015 in the services category, which recognizes those who demonstrate excellence and extraordinary success in innovation, financial performance, and personal commitment to their businesses and communities. Mike has an MBA from the Wharton School. Stew, Mike, and Luke discuss what’s called a “multiple bottom line” or “triple bottom line” approach to business—focused not just on making money but on what social and environmental impact an organization can have. Financial services companies seem to lag behind in taking this more holistic approach. Chatham Financial is on a quest to be a model and catalyst for restoring trust in capital markets. Mike and Lu

Sarah Green Carmichael is a Senior Editor at Harvard Business Review and host of the award-winning HBR IdeaCast, where she’s interviewed Stew a couple of times. So this episode turns the tables. Sarah edits HBR.org, which has won the Webby Award for Best Business Website the last two years in a row. She is a regular speaker and moderator at conferences like SXSW, the Drucker Forum, and Thinkers50. Prior to joining HBR, she was a sportswriter (her one major shortcoming is her unthinking devotion to the Boston Red Sox), taught middle school students, and worked as a researcher for Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Ellen Goodman. Her writing has been featured in many periodicals and magazines. She graduated magna cum laude from Brown University. Stew and Sarah talk about the growing problem of young people working too many hours, why this is an increasing risk in contemporary business life, and some practical ways to avoid the resulting burnout. Sarah labels it “work obsession” as opposed to “workaholism” or even

Roger Schwarz is an organizational psychologist, speaker, leadership team consultant, and CEO of Roger Schwarz & Associates. His clients include technology, manufacturing, and medical organizations as well as federal government agencies. Underlying Roger’s work is the premise that to create fundamental and sustainable change, people need to change not only their behavior, but their mindset. Roger is the author of Smart Leaders, Smarter Teams: How You and Your Team Get Unstuck to Get Results and The Skilled Facilitator: A Comprehensive Resource for Consultants, Facilitators, Coaches and Trainers. He writes also appears for Harvard Business Review. A former tenured professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Roger holds a Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology from the University of Michigan and a Master of Education degree from Harvard University. Stew and Roger discuss how our assumptions and values often go unexamined and they explore how this can negatively affect team performance, working

Harry Kraemer is the former Chairman and CEO of Baxter International Inc. -- a multi-billion-dollar global healthcare company -- and author of two books on values-based leadership: From Values to Action: The Four Principles of Values-Based Leadership and Becoming The Best: Build a World-Class Organization Through Values-Based Leadership. Harry is a clinical professor of management and strategy at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. He is an executive partner with Madison Dearborn Partners, one of the largest private equity firms in the United States, where he consults with CEOs and other senior executives of companies in MDP’s extensive portfolio. Stew and Harry discuss the importance of knowing yourself and your values in order to motivate, inspire, and lead others. They discuss strategies for how to develop effective values-based leadership through self-reflection, listening, and being open to others’ perspectives. Leaders must challenge themselves to take an honest look at their persona

Nancy Drozdow and Debbie Bing are two principals at CFAR; a private management consulting firm that focuses on both performance and relationships in family-owned businesses. CFAR was started as a research center at the Wharton School was established as an independent firm in 1987. Nancy Drozdow is a member of both the firm’s Board of Directors and Executive Committee. She is nationally known for her expertise as a thinking partner to leaders, successors, and successor candidates across the family enterprise. Debbie Bing began at the company as a Project Consultant in 1998, became an Associate in 1999, a Principal in 2006, and president in 2016. Her assumption of the Presidency represents the shift to CFAR’s second generation of leaders. Nancy and Debbie have been consulting with family-owned businesses for many years. Stew, Nancy, and Debbie talk about the special challenges and opportunities in family-owned business. s; they know how difficult it can be to integrate work and family when these two domains are

David Allen is the best-selling author of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity and an expert in personal and organizational productivity. He teaches multiple courses on productivity based on GTD. His philosophy is based on the powerful realization that your mind is for having ideas, not holding them. There is a reason why GTD is a worldwide bestseller: David has broken down productivity to easy and actionable steps that anyone can take. In this episode, David shares his approach to work and life; it isn’t about creating separation. Rather, it is about creating appropriate engagement which is explained in detail during the conversation. Stew and David discuss the importance of getting things “out of your head” and onto some other place, one you trust. This is the first, and probably most important, of the five steps that David outlines to achieve productivity. Throughout the conversation, David shares simple yet powerful steps listeners to take to be more productive and fulfilled in all par

Dorie Clark, who teaches at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, is a renowned branding expert and a marketing strategy consultant. She uses her expertise in self-reinvention to spark personal change in the lives of her clients. She is author of Stand Out: How to Find Your Breakthrough Idea and Build a Following Around It, which Inc. magazine named one of the top ten business books of 2015. Dorie speaks for clients including Google, Microsoft, Yale University, Fidelity, the U.S. State Department, and the World Bank. In this conversation, Stew and Dorie explore Dorie’s powerful framework for creating a distinct personal brand. Dorie helps people figure out how to distinguish themselves by becoming thought leaders in their organizations or professional communities. She walks Stew and listeners through the process of building a network, then an audience, and finally a community. Each step is essential for shaping your personal brand, one that enables you to have a positive impact in all parts of your life

Frank Dobbin is a Professor of Sociology at Harvard, where he studies organizations, inequality, economic behavior and public policy. He is also Chair of Harvard’s Organizational Behavior PhD Program. His 2009 book, Inventing Equal Opportunity (which won the Max Weber and Distinguished Scholarly Book Awards from the American Sociological Association), charts how corporate human resources professionals defined discrimination under the Civil Rights Act. With Alexandra Kalev, he is developing an evidence-based approach to diversity management, studying both the effects of corporate diversity programs on actual workforce diversity, and the effects of workforce diversity on corporate performance. Frank’s research shows that most corporate diversity programs don’t work. Stew and Frank explore the ways mandatory diversity training, diversity hiring quotas, and other programs actually decrease demographic diversity in management. They fail because of a focus on controlling managers’ behavior, rather than engaging the

Gretchen Rubin is a best-selling author of several books on human nature. Her first bestsellers -- The Happiness Project and Happier at Home -- both sparked powerful conversations about the human search for happiness. Her bestseller Better Than Before explored how we can change our habits and create lasting change. Her latest is The Four Tendencies: The Indispensable Personality Profiles That Reveal How to Make Your Life Better (and Other People’s Lives Better, Too). A member of Oprah’s SuperSoul 100, Gretchen has an enormous following, in print and online; on her popular daily blog, gretchenrubin.com, she reports on her adventures in pursuit of habits and happiness. She also has a highly ranked, award-winning podcast, Happier with Gretchen Rubin. Rubin started her career in law, and was clerking for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor when she realized she wanted to be a writer. Stew and Gretchen discuss how to use her very practical personality framework, how people respond to inner and outer expectations, and the

Bob Sutton is Professor of Management Science, Engineering, and Organizational Behavior at Stanford, where he co-founded the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP) and the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (which everyone calls “the d school”). He received his Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology from The University of Michigan (just a bit ahead of Stew). Bob studies organizational change, leadership, innovation, and workplace dynamics. He’s authored several bestselling books including The No Asshole Rule, which has been translated into more than 20 languages. His new book is The Asshole Survival Guide: How to Deal with People Who Treat You Like Dirt. In this conversation, Stew and Bob talk about surviving assholes at work and in other parts of life. Assholes hurt job performance, family life, and civil society. TCA (total cost of assholes) is a big problem! Bob provides proven, evidence-based strategies and tactics you can use to overcome people who treat you like dirt. But it starts with ourselves: But

Julie Lythcott-Haims served as Stanford University’s Dean of Freshmen for a decade. She received the Dinkelspiel Award for her contributions to the undergraduate experience. She’s a mother of two teenagers and has spoken and written widely on the phenomenon of helicopter parenting. She is also the author of the book How To Raise An Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success. In this episode, Stew and Julie discuss helicoptering parents and the harm they are doing to their children and society. Julie asserts that over-parenting deprives children of essential life skills needed to survive in the adult worlds of work, family, and community. She illustrates the effects of over-parenting on the emotional and intellectual development of the next generation of adults in our society. Julie then gives practical advice for parents, like making the shift away from the pronoun “we” when talking about their kids and learning to stop arguing with teachers or coaches on behalf of their chil

David Flink is Founder and Chief Empowerment Officer at Eye to Eye, a non-profit that empowers young people with learning disabilities by giving them a mentor who shares that experience. He struggled with dyslexia and ADHD all the way through his pre-college education, lacking the support of an educator who could directly relate to him. In addition to his work at Eye to Eye, David sits on the boards of several national nonprofit and speaks regularly on campuses and at conferences. He is the author of Thinking Differently: An Inspiring Guide for Parents of Children with Learning Disabilities. In this conversation, David tells the story of how he developed not just acceptance but pride in his identity as someone who learns and processes information differently. He strives to instill this pride in all of those now reached by Eye to Eye, which includes students in every state in the union. It’s a real social movement, with ever-increasing impact on helping all of us understand and embrace neurodiversity. David re

Mick Batyske is a multi-talented creative professional from Brooklyn by way of Youngstown, Ohio. He is one of the most in-demand DJs in the world, style influencer, tech investor, music curator, and brand consultant. And he’s a new dad. His work takes Mick all over the world, collaborating with artists including Beyonce and Adele. As a digital and social entrepreneur, he invests in and consults with an array of startups. He is a co-owner of Dot Dot Dash, a new media studio inventing cutting edge interactive environments, and Anchor, a new kind of radio where anyone can join the conversation. Stew and Mick talk about Mick’s first re-branding; transforming himself from a marching band nerd in high school to a turntable spinning DJ in college. After earning an MBA from John Carroll University, Mick moved to Brooklyn to start DJing full time. He has had enormous success, spinning at private parties for celebrities like Kayne West and Jay-Z. Central to his life and his success is Mick’s powerful commitment to his

Nilofer Merchant is a master at turning seemingly “wild” ideas into new realities and showing the rest of us how we can too. She has personally launched more than 100 products, netting $18B in sales, for companies ranging from Apple to Autodesk. Nilofer was awarded the Future Thinker Award from Thinkers50, which ranks the world’s leading business thinkers and which also named her the #1 person most likely to influence the future of management in both theory and practice. She is the author of The Power of Onlyness: Make Your Wild Ideas Mighty Enough to Dent the World. We live in a time when new ideas can reach multitudes because of the advent of the digital age. How can you harness this power? Stew and Nilofer discuss her personal “onlyness” story and what her research of hundreds of innovators shows about how to unlock each person’s potential to spread the word about their distinctive ideas for making the world better. She tells compelling stories of real people who have, against the odds, made positive chang

Sydney Finkelstein is the the Steven Roth Professor of Management and Associate Dean for Executive Education at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. He is author of Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Master the Flow of Talent. Sydney is a recognized thought leader on strategy, leadership, and corporate governance, having published several bestsellers including #1 bestseller in the U.S. and Japan, Why Smart Executives Fail. Sydney defines superbosses as those who have an outsized impact on their professional field by training and developing future leaders. In this episode, Stew and Sydney discuss what separates bad bosses, good bosses, and superbosses. Sydney believes all managers can better help their employees’ careers by learning from superbosses. Near the end of the conversation, Stew and Sydney talk to a Work and Life radio show listener who called to get some coaching on how to deal with a micromanaging (definitely not super) boss. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Stephanie Abbuhl MD is Professor and Vice Chair of Faculty Affairs in the department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. Since 2001, she has been Executive Director of FOCUS on Health & Leadership for Women, which works for the advancement of women faculty in leadership positions and promotes women’s health research. Stephanie has served in several leadership positions including Medical Director, Fellowship Director, and Vice Chair of Emergency Medicine . In this episode, Stephanie and Stew discussed the results of their NIH-funded study on transforming the culture of academic medicine, which examined factors that promote women’s careers in science and medicine. Stephanie also explains her research on the effects of unconscious bias against women in the workplace. She presents strategies for organizations to reduce the harmful impact of bias. Her work highlights the “cohort phenomenon,” which counteracts negative bias through strength in community buildin