Sahar Hashemi OBE is best known as the founder of Coffee Republic, as well as a confectionery brand Skinny Candy. She is active in the world of entrepreneurialism and charity, and is an accomplished author, having written "Anyone can do it" about her journey from corporate lawyer to founding a successful chain of coffee shops, and a more recent book titled "Start Up Forever” helping large companies innovate.
In this conversation, we cover all topics related to being an entrepreneur, building a business, and what it means from a personal development point of view. We discuss some of the skills and mindsets that one needs, as well as how this impacts people in larger process-driven organizations looking to foster a more entrepreneurial mindset.
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In this episode, we are joined by Hal Gregersen, author of The Innovator’s DNA, to discuss his recent book, Questions are the Answer. Hal is a Senior Lecturer in Leadership and Innovation and the Executive Director of the Leadership Center at MIT, and has previously taught at Dartmouth College, The World Economic Forum, and the London Business School.
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James Breiding is the author of Swiss Made, a book on why Switzerland - a tiny country with few natural advantages - has become so successful in the world of banking, pharmaceuticals, machinery, and more.
James discusses innovation in Switzerland and makes the point that when an entrepreneur comes up with a new and innovative method or product, there will be resistance from those who have accepted the status quo. Entrepreneurs as well as intrapreneurs need to have thick skin if they wish to disrupt the market.
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Steven Kotler is a bestselling author and award-winning journalist, and the Cofounder and Director of Research at The Flow Genome Project, a research organisation dedicated to understanding the peak human performance state of Flow. Today he joins us to discuss how to hack Flow and how it can improve business performance.
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In this episode, we are joined by author and journalist Gillian Tett, to discuss the role anthropology plays in today’s business world. Gillian is the author of the award-winning book, Fool’s Gold, which analyses the origin of the 2008 financial crisis, and most recently, The Silo Effect, and is currently a columnist and US Managing Editor of The Financial Times.
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In this episode, we are joined by Robert Hagstrom, who is an author, investment strategist, and portfolio manager. His books include The New York Times bestselling The Warren Buffett Way and The NASCAR Way: The Business That Drives the Sport and Investing: The Last Liberal Art, in which he investigates investment concepts that lie out with traditional economics.
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In this episode, we are joined by digital and marketing entrepreneur, John Straw, who describes himself as a “technonomist” – someone exploring the cutting edge of technology and looking to understand where it fits from both an economic and commercial perspective. John is a Senior Advisor at McKinsey, as well as an author, speaker and investor with over 30 years of experience in IT and digital transformation.
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Céline Schillinger is a self-described corporate activist, who was called a troublemaker by her bosses. But thanks to her passion to grow and improve on rigid corporate systems, she was awarded Woman of the Year — La Tribune Women’s Awards in 2013. Céline was the Head of Quality Innovation & Engagement at Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of the multinational pharmaceutical company Sanofi. Now she is the Founder and CEO of We Need Social.
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Heiko Fischer is the CEO and Founder of Resourceful Humans. The company’s motto is 100% Entrepreneurship and 0% Bureaucracy. How does Heiko incorporate this motto into his company and the companies he consults with? Find out on this week’s episode.
In this episode, writer, speaker, and intrapreneur, Gib Bulloch, joins us to discuss his book, The Intrapreneur: Confessions of a Corporate Insurgent. He spent 20 years at Accenture where he started Accenture Development Partnerships (ADP), a buinsess unit set up to leverage that business’s expertise and experience in service of global development organizations.Gib now works as a consultant specializing in intrapreneurship, social enterprise, and cross-sectoral partnerships. He is also a noted public speaker and has contributed to The Huffington Post, Businessweek, and The Stanford Social Innovation Review.
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My guest in this episode is Benedict Allen, an English explorer, environmentalist, film-maker and author of a number of books, including “Mad White Giant”, “Into The Crocodile Nest” and “Hunting the Gugu.” Benedict has become famous for his immersive style of exploration, by disconnecting from technology and diving into the lives and cultures of indigenous communities, from whom he learns survival skills in challenging and often hostile environments. He has recorded six TV series for the BBC, both traveling solo and with camera crews, enabling armchair travelers to enjoy his remarkable adventures. In 2010, he was elected a Trustee of Royal Geographic Society.
My guest in this episode is Robert Swan, a world renowned polar explorer, environmental leader, public speaker and the first man in history to walk to both the North and South Poles. He is currently an advocate for the protection of Antarctica and renewable energy. Robert is also the founder of 2041, a company which is dedicated to the preservation of the Antarctic and the author with Gil Reavill of Antarctica 2041: My Quest to Save the Earth's Last Wilderness.
Diversity in all its forms is key to solving many of the most significant challenges we face today, and if we fail to address these challenges, future generations will inherit the consequences. Preserving cultural and intellectual diversity is the purpose of the Cultural Sanctuaries Foundation, and enables us to take advantage of useful wisdom hiding in plain sight. Learn more in this interview with the founders, photographer and National Geographic Society Fellow Chris Rainier and former Linklaters partner Olivia McKendrick.
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Dr. Andy Walshe is a globally recognised leader and expert in the field of elite human performance. He has spent more than 20 years researching ways to “Hack Performance” in sport, culture, military and business to create a deeper understanding of the “Human Potential Construct”. Andy’s ultimate vision is a world where we have established a known recipe for elite performance and thus can equip some of our greatest minds with the tools they need to succeed and improve the world. Andy’s elite performance programs are designed to make accessible, and to democratise these tools, and understandable to all regardless of industry, vocation or passion.
Andy led High Performance Program for Red Bull from 2009 to 2017, and worked with hundreds of international athletes and business leaders to develop and implement elite performance models. In 2012 he lead the performance plan for Felix Baumgartner’s record-breaking jump to Earth from the stratosphere. In 2017 he co-founded The Liminal Collective, which helps create, plan, organize and execute against some of humanity's greatest opportunities, ranging from space flight and deep sea exploration to reimagining the future of national security and elite sport.
In this episode, Andy and Mark sit down to discuss the intricacies of human potential and how certain qualities of elite performers resonate across sectors, industries and arenas; how companies can evolve to enable more talented employees to excel and his project Human 2.0 which looks at how new technologies especially in the arena of Artificial Intelligence encourage us to explore our own potential at a much higher level.
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Michael Gervais is a high-performance psychologist who works in the trenches of high-stakes environments, he is a recognized speaker on optimal human performance, and he is the host of the Finding Mastery podcast. What can Michael teach us about success in the corporate world? Well, just a few of the important topics Mark and Michael discuss on this week’s episode are:
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Scott Peltin is founder and chief performance officer of Tignum, a company that helps his executive clients achieve their full potential. He's worked with CEOs, C-level executives, professional athletes, and many top leaders to improve their performance and sustainability. Prior to founding Tignum in 2005, Scott worked on the front-line for over 25 years as a firefighter and as a captain, and later led his crews as a battalion and division chief in the Phoenix Fire Department.
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In this episode, we are joined by Steven MacGregor, who is the founder and CEO of The Leadership Academy of Barcelona and author of Sustaining Executive Performance and his latest book is Chief Wellbeing Officer, in which he discusses the importance of maintaining positive mental health in the workplace. Steven is also an academic specializing in executive education and has taught at Stanford University, IMD at Lausanne, and CIBS in Shanghai.
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David Allen is widely recognized as the world's leading expert on personal and organizational productivity. He is the author of Getting Things Done and has shown millions of people how to transform their overwhelming lives into a relaxed and more productive one. Listen to David's popular methodology and how it has helped successful leaders all over the world.
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Adam Morgan founded the company eatbigfish, which challenges the status quo and creates an environment of challenger thinking and behavior. In this episode, Adam discusses his book "A Beautiful Constraint," and talks on how intrapreneurs can leverage their limits to come up with creative solutions.
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Caroline Webb is an author, economist, executive coach and the CEO of How To Have a Good Day, a firm that shows people how to leverage behavioural science to improve their working life. Caroline is also the author of the book How To Have A Good Day, which has been published in 16 different languages, in more than 60 countries.
● The secret manifesto Caroline has hidden in the book.
● The 100-plus tools Caroline uses, all of which are scientifically proven, and operate independent of context, culture, or industry.
● What you can do to hack reality in service of having a good day.
We are pleased to welcome Michael Bungay Stanier back on the show. He is one of the world’s most respected coaches, author of The Coaching Habit, and founder of Box of Crayons, which
helps organisations harness the power of curiosity to drive culture. Since we last spoke, Michael published a new book called The Advice Trap, and stepped away from the leading position at the Box of Crayons to explore new routes in his business and life.
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Robert Cialdini has spent his entire career researching the science of influence. This has earned him an international reputation as an expert in the fields of persuasion, compliance, and negotiation. On this week’s episode, Robert discusses how to enlist the support of your senior managers prior to making an important presentation, how companies can boost their productivity by up to 60%, and what we can learn from Warren Buffett on communication.
What is Covered
In this episode, we are joined by award-winning author, David Pearl, to discuss his career as a creative confidante and personal development advisor to a number of the world’s top CEO’s and organisations. David is a respected public and keynote speaker and is the founder of Pearl Group, Opera Circus, Lively Arts and Impropera, as well as the non-profit organisation, Street Wisdom.
In this episode we’re joined by Tyler Gage, co-founder of the organic tea company Runa, and author of the book, Fully Alive: Using the Lessons of the Amazon to Live Your Mission in Business and Life. Tyler shares how his immersion into life in the Amazon guided him in building a socially responsible business able to thrive in the hyper-competitive soft drinks segment.
Christoph Goppelsroeder is the Chief Executive Officer and President at DSM Nutritional Products. Christoph talks on how a large organisation can create the right space for innovation and sustainability. He believes in order to create impactful and disruptive innovation, you must understand precisely what it is that your company lives for.
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01:50 - What is DSM?
03:15 - How does Christoph develop a long term plan in an ever-changing environment?
04:35 - What does the company live for? How do people see DSM?
05:10 - The three things that the company lives for are: safety, growing children, and sustainability.
13:25 - Do not delegate innovation. Don't push it down to your team.
14:15 - What kind of disruptive innovation has Christoph seen in his company?
18:05 - Christoph talks about project 'Clean Cow'.
22:15 - Who are the drivers of innovation in your country?
24:15 - How does Christoph encourage your team to be more innovative and creative?
30:15 - Collaborating with third parties was key to the growth of the organization.
30:35 - How does Christoph and his team reach out to third parties and collaborate with them?
34:15 - Celebrate your successes.
37:25 - Does Christoph have any daily rituals?
39:45 - What has Christoph changed his mind about recently?
41:00 - What advice would Christoph give his 25-year-old self?