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Season 7 Episode 26

Guest: Eric Redmond

Deep tech describes capabilities that were impossible yesterday, barely feasible today, but tomorrow will be so pervasive it will be hard to imagine we ever lived without it. In this early stage of the digital age, understanding how deep tech is disrupting the world is no longer a competitive advantage—it’s a matter of survival.  Eric Redmond joins us to discuss his new book, Deep Tech: Demystifying the Breakthrough Technologies That Will Revolutionize Everything.

Eric know of what he speaks; he’s the Forrest Gump of technology: a twenty-year veteran technologist who always happens to show up where deep tech history is being made, from the first iPhone apps to Bitcoin. He has advised state and national governments, Fortune 100 companies, and groups as varied as the World Economic Forum and MIT Media Lab.

Featured Guest: Sean Castrina

Disruption to the norm, unexpected events, uncertain times: these are part of life, not just limited to pandemic times.  These disruptions force companies to rethink how they have done business, and how they can continue to stay in business. Leaders are daily faced with tough decisions on how to lead in this new and different environment.

Sean Castrina launched over twenty successful companies.  He joins the show to discuss his story of overcoming a setback, how he moved beyond it to start multiple new businesses, and the leadership lessons he has learned from his experiences.

Season 7 Episode 24

Guest: Jeff Wald

The world has witnessed three-step functions in technological change: mechanization, electrification, and computerization. These industrial revolutions led to massive increases in productivity and thus we need far fewer workers. With each of these technological breakthroughs, the power balance between companies and workers shifted heavily to companies. The abuses of that power by companies instigated employee unrest. Counterbalancing forces rose to constrain companies’ power, eventually prompting unions, regulation, and the social safety net to bring stability to the relationship. As we enter the fourth great leap forward in technology with robots and AI, we face the first services revolution. The power balance will again shift massively to companies as new technologies drive productivity increases in the service industry, much as the last three industrial revolutions transformed manufacturing. Jeff Wald joins Maureen to discuss his book, The End of Jobs, and what the future of work is.

Season 7 Episode 23

Guest: Eric Douglas Keene

Diversity recruiting and retention is a hot topic in HR departments and the board room.  Their DEI initiatives often fall short, though; many organizations don’t understand the nuances of recruiting, nor how to navigate the complexities of retention. Ensuring candidates and organizations create the best experiences and a path for mutual success isn’t difficult. Eric Douglas Keene joins Maureen to discuss changes occurring in the world of diversity recruiting, with tips on helping your workforce benefit from the rich diversity of our citizenry.

Season 7 Episode 22

Guest: Jeff DeGraff

Everyone can be creative in their own way. Creativity skills can be learned and developed. The creative process is iterative: we typically fail many times before we succeed. We learn from those failures and approach the next experiment with new information and an improved understanding.  Yet it can be different in the workplace; particularly in large organizations, the innovative leader is often pushed down by stagnant thinking up the chain. Jeff DeGraff joins Maureen to share how you can tap your individual creativity…and how to deal with the realities of how true innovation is received in the workplace.

Featured Guest: Robert Rosenberg

Every entrepreneur dreams of expanding their business from around the corner to around the world. While today those dreams look doubtful, hope can be found from the story of a CEO who managed to do so despite decades of economic downturns, near bankruptcy, and constant change. Robert Rosenberg joins the show today to share insights and lessons learned from his experience taking Dunkin’ Donuts from 100 shops to 6,500 outlets.  These lessons are also captured in his new book, Around the Corner to Around the World: A Dozen Lessons I Learned Running Dunkin Donuts.

Featured Guests: Ricky Robinson & Keith Powell

Rising up the corporate ladder is fraught with challenges.  Those challenges — both visible and invisible — multiply for people of color, women, and others underrepresented in the executive suite.  Mentors are fine, but an in-house sponsor can truly make the path smoother.  Ricky Robinson and Keith Powell share why…not with theory, but hard-won practical advice from their own 20+ year journeys to C-suite success in some of the world’s largest companies.

Sponsored By: The International Leadership Association

Featured Guest:

Helle Bank Jorgensen

How do you get a corporation to change its views on society and the environment?  Start with its board of directors. They determine the heart and soul of an organization.  That’s vital now, with companies around the world examining environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues in the wake of 2021’s COP26 summit in Glasgow.  It’s quite possible to achieve both profit and environmental sustainability, but that requires deep thinking.  A board must ask direct questions on a range of complex issues:  climate change, ESG, corruption, cybersecurity, human trafficking, and supply-chain resilience. Helle Bank Jorgensen interviewed over 100 board members, experts, and executives for her new book, Stewards of the Future.  Their wisdom – and practical pointers on how corporations can realistically be part of the solution – is shared in the book…and in this episode, as Helle gives host Maureen Metcalf an overview of her guide for a profitable and planet-friendly future.

Sponsored By: Connex Partners

Featured Guest:

Alice Yoo LeClair

Contrary to old-school management beliefs, having a work-best-friend boosts productivity.  Having an entire work community?  That boosts a lot of people’s productivity, morale, even longevity with the organization.  Best of all, the communities you foster at work don’t need to be work-related to have these effects:  gamers, Trekkies, and football fanatics in your workplace all benefit.

So how does an HR leader drive community building within their organization?  Does remote work make it more difficult? How does it fit with the CHRO’s other responsibilities?  And how do you focus on this when managers so often dump their personnel responsibilities on the HR department instead of taking their own leadership reins? Alice Yoo LeClair knows the world of Human Resources well, with experience in organizations of all sizes.  With her deep experience and eyes on the future, she shares her wisdom and observations with host Maureen Metcalf.

This is the first of several episodes which view innovative leadership from the perspective of the CHRO and other human resources leaders:  the Connex Executive Insights Series.

Here’s what Alice and Maureen cover:

• What a community is, and why having work communities is so important for your team;
• How workplace communities benefit the broader business; and
• Why Gallup research shows that having good friends at work substantially boosts productivity.

Sponsored By: The International Leadership Association

Featured Guest:

Kim Campbell

“The future will spit on our graves.” Former Canadian Prime Minister Kim Campbell doesn’t mince words when she muses on the big issues facing the world today…and, particularly, what happens if we don’t work to fix them now. From climate change to sexual harassment, host Maureen Metcalf draws remarkably candid perspectives from the only female to have served in Canada’s top spot.