Disrupt Yourself Podcast With Whitney Johnson

As we find ourselves in the midst of a great experiment around how and where work is done, I wanted to talk to someone who has been thinking about and leading companies through this process for years. Our guest today is Cali Yost, CEO and Founder of Flex+Strategy Group - a company that helps leaders reimagine how, when and where their people work today and tomorrow. Join us as we discuss 5 things you can do right now in your organization to help you weather our current coronavirus crisis and how you can take the things you learn into improving your culture in the future. Transcript and Links: https://whitneyjohnson.com/cali-yost

Our guest today is Scott Miller.  Scott is the Executive Vice President of the Thought Leadership practice at FranklinCovey. Scott is a twenty-three veteran of FranklinCovey, which is part of the reason that I wanted you to hear from him. His 20+ year tenure would suggest that FranklinCovey recognizes that for an organization to get where it wants to go, its people need to grow --- to practice personal disruption. Scott faced more than his fair share of struggles on his 20+ year path to leadership success. He has distilled those lessons into his new book, Management Mess to Leadership Success: 30 Challenges to Become the Leader You Would Follow, about becoming the leader you would want to follow. Join us as we talk about Scott’s journey through his various roles, the biggest challenges he faced in going from individual contributor and aggressive Type-A sales personality to seasoned leader, and get Scott’s hidden gems that can help make you the leader you yourself would want to follow. Show notes and transcrip

Right now, we find ourselves in uncharted waters. A pandemic, political wrangling, a volatile stock market. Most of it we’ve experienced before. But it feels a bit like we’ve sailed into the Bermuda triangle of uncertainty, even chaos. These macro events coupled with the micro anxieties that accompany our everyday human lives might make us fear we are sinking. There’s no question that the past few weeks have been disconcerting. Most of us are finding it discombobulating; pretty normal to be feeling that right now. Our way of life is without a doubt being disrupted. On this episode, we will review the framework of personal disruption within the context of our current crisis. It is a seven-point framework, and typically I refer to the seven steps as accelerants. And they are. But right now, when it often feels like we are on a ship that could sink any minute - they are guardrails. 7 Guardrails for the present; 7 accelerants for the future.

Today our guest is Stew Friedman, an organizational psychologist at Wharton. He's one of the most influential management thinkers in the world, as named by Thinkers 50, one of HR Magazine’s most influential thought leaders, and one of America's most influential men who have made life better for working parents according to Working Mother Magazine. And this is the subject of his latest book, Parents Who Lead, which he co-authored with Alyssa Westring, a management professor at DePaul University. Because for anyone who has become a parent, you will know that parenting is a very big disruption, but if you will let it, it will help you slingshot into who you want to, and can be.

Our guest today is Michael Bungay Stanier, and if that name sounds familiar, you may remember him from our previous conversation on the podcast in early 2018. Michael is our first repeat guest on the Disrupt Yourself podcast, and it would be hard to find a worthier candidate for the distinction. Michael is the number one thought leader in coaching as named by Thinkers 50 MG 100, and is the bestselling author of The Coaching Habit, which has sold a staggering 700,000 copies. His new book, The Advice Trap, is an excellent companion piece, filled with focused guidance on how to change behavior so you can, as Michael likes to say, “stay curious a little longer.” Join us as we discuss the three personas of “The Advice Monster,” the seven questions you can use to identify real problems, and the six “fogger fires” that distract us. Show Notes & Transcript: https://whitneyjohnson.com/podcast

My guest on the podcast today is Marco Trecroce, Senior Vice President and the first ever Chief Information Officer of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. I had a chance to meet Marco in Toronto a few months ago, and on hearing about his completion of a 10-year technology transformation which obviously requires all sorts of internal and personal disruption, combined with the fact that the Four Seasons is known as the global industry leader of luxury hotels and resorts, not technology, I was intrigued and wanted to hear more. Join us as we discuss what it takes to roll out and complete a project of this scale for a global brand and how sometimes innovation and disruption take time. Links and Show Notes: https://whitneyjohnson.com/marco-trecroce

Today's guest is Gabrielle Blair, a woman whose life has been full of disruption, of playing where no one else is playing and discovery driven learning and growth. Beginning with her lifestyle blog Design Mom - which she started in 2004 - a blog focused on the intersection of motherhood and design, she then founded Alt Summit, the premier summit for creative entrepreneurs and social media content creators. Gabrielle is a New York Times bestselling author of the book Design Mom: How to Live with Kids, and is the wife of one and mother of six with children ranging in ages from nine to 22.

My guest on the podcast today is Jeremy Andrus, the CEO of Traeger Grills and the former CEO of Skullcandy. During his tenure, Skullcandy grew from $1 million in sales to $300 million, and over the past few years, Jeremy has taken Traeger from $70 million in revenue to almost half a billion with a goal to reach $1 billion in the near future. Join us as we discuss Jeremy’s journey, from childhood dreams of being a CEO to realizing he needed to be a good CEO; his short-lived but thrilling career as a day-trader; and the importance of creating experiences for other people. Links and complete show notes: https://whitneyjohnson.com/jeremy-andrus

Our guest today is Tom Rath, the New York times bestselling author of How Full is Your Bucket and Amazon's top selling non-fiction book of all time StrengthsFinder 2.0. For the past five years Tom has served as Gallup senior scientist and he recently co-founded the publishing company Silicon Guild with Peter Sims (a previous guest on this podcast). Tom has sold over 10 million books, including his latest works Life's Great Question: Discover How You Contribute to the World, and the autobiographical It's Not About You. While many thought leaders focus on individuals “finding their passion,” Tom believes that we must shift focus outward to find work worth doing. Join us as we discuss the “buckets” of contribution, how to have conversations at cocktail parties, and the importance of challenging experiences. Transcript and show notes available at: https://whitneyjohnson.com/tom-rath

Our guest today is Angela Blanchard, a globally recognized expert practitioner in community development, disaster recovery, and effective long-term integration for immigrants and refugees. It may be sad to think about, but we have culturally become accustomed to seeing the immediate aftermath of natural disasters. Dramatic visuals of fleeing citizens, devastated buildings, and heroic rescues fill social media feeds for the days immediately following the unthinkable. Join us as we discuss the measure of a great city, the concept of “No one’s coming,” and how when everything is lost we can be the ones to stand in the gap and stabilize those who have been disrupted in unthinkable ways. Full Show Notes and Transcript - https://whitneyjohnson.com/angela-blanchard

Our guest on the podcast today is BJ Fogg, world-renowned behavioral scientist and the founder of Stanford’s behavior design lab. BJ’s new book, Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything, he examines the fundamentals of what it takes to modify our habits and lays out a framework for individuals to make small adjustments that lead to lasting change. Many authors once dreamed of writing a book, but BJ can state unequivocally that this book exists because of a dream. When he began teaching the concepts of Tiny Habits as far back as 2011, he was frequently asked when the book would come out—but unfortunately for his students, BJ wasn’t writing a book. He didn’t have the time. However, his priorities changed when he had a terrifying dream where he was about to die in a plane crash. The thought that remained with him long after that night was his gut reaction of deep, deep regret that he had never shared his work in a way that would help people outside of his classroom. BJ had long had the technical abi

My guest today is Claire Diaz-Ortiz, digital strategist and author of the new book Social Media Success for Every Brand. Claire’s journey in social media expertise began as an early user of Twitter, and to put that in perspective, her Twitter handle is @claire. That’s it. No other words, numbers, or symbols. Just @claire.  After effectively using the platform to raise funds and promote awareness for her nonprofit organization, Twitter hired her to help others do the same and proactively make a positive change in the world. Claire took this experience and successfully pivoted into consulting with startups on their branding and marketing strategy. She would create detailed marketing plans, including a strategic social media presence, but she began to notice an unfortunate trend: many clients firmly believed that their best social media strategy was to have a post “go viral.” “I think there is this crazy mistaken idea that social media is really only good for, quote on quote, going viral. And that, thus, that is

To kick off 2020 I am talking to Simon Sinek, who is best known for popularizing the concept of “why” in his 2009 TED talk. To date, it is the third most-watched talk at TED.com with over 40 million views. Simon is the author of several best-selling books, including “Start With Why,” “Leaders Eat Last,” and “The Infinite Game,” which was released in October of 2019.   Join us as we discuss how to shift your mindset from finite to infinite, the role of worthy rivals, and how becoming the leader you wish you had can change the future of a company. Complete show notes and podcast transcript with links mentioned in the episode available at https://whitneyjohnson.com/simon-sinek

The end of the year is a time for reflection and looking back at the progress made. We love taking a look at where we are as a team in our S-Curve of Learning as podcasters. looking back at some of our most popular episodes, which interestingly, include the solo episodes; we also love sharing our favorite conversations and the impact they’ve had on each of us. Full show notes and links available at https://whitneyjohnson.com/disrupt-yourself-podcast/

On today's episode of the Disrupt Yourself podcast, we're talking with Jim Ferrell. Jim is a bestselling author, sought-after speaker, and renowned thought leader on mindset and organizational change. And we're talking all about self-deception. Understanding this concept of self-deception is key to one of the most important accelerants in disrupting ourselves - battling our sense of entitlement. This is where we preference ourselves above others, effectively turning those around us into objects, rather than seeing them as people, resistant to their feedback and ideas, preferencing our wants and needs above all else. This is a learning curve killer. For show notes and links to the books and people mentioned in the episode, visit https://whitneyjohnson.com/disrupt-yourself-podcast

Constraints. For most of us, just hearing this word evokes a negative response. Limitations. Restrictions. A cage that prevents us from spreading our wings. However, if you’re familiar with the accelerants of disruption, you’ll know that Accelerant #3—Embrace Constraints—will be one of your finest friends if you are really serious about growth. To build momentum toward the life you dream of, you need resistance. You need structure. And constraints provide both. Full Episode & Blog Post: https://whitneyjohnson.com/embrace-constraints

When a photo of a new “boy band” crossed PR Agent Heather Hawkins’ desk in 2001, she was surprised at how glamorously they were presented. The era of Backstreet Boys was over; kids were listening to “real music” (like highly produced punk), and what was more, the look of the band didn’t match the sound. As Heather and her coworkers listened to the music and got to know the band members, they quickly realized that something needed to change. “[W]e realized that in order for them to survive in the ecosystem we needed to absolutely double down on the music and who they really were as people. We understood that that was going to mean making some really tough decisions.” Heather and her crew took on the philosophy of “Radical Authenticity” and proudly began shipping the band to Jeep Jamboree campouts, Sam Adams beer festivals, and locations, where bands respected for their musical proficiency, would be expected to play. Their long game paid off: the band, Maroon 5, became a globally recognized tour de force, and a

Disruption can be a powerful personal tool, but as we discussed during the re-launch of Disrupt Yourself earlier in the month, disruption is not limited to individuals looking to jump into the entrepreneurial life. Significant disruptions can come from within large organizations, leading, as Kaihan Krippendorff pointed out, to important innovation. But how do you disrupt from within a large organization? My guest today is one of the foremost experts on this very topic. A professor at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and partner at the consulting firm RBL Group, Dave Ulrich has published over 200 articles and 30 books, including his most recent collaboration with Arthur Yeung, Reinventing the Organization. For complete show notes and links from this episode, visit https://whitneyjohnson.com/dave-ulrich

As a child, Allison Holzer was fascinated with the invisible. When asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, she would enthusiastically tell the listener that her dream job was to be a nuclear physicist (even though she wasn’t completely clear on what that meant). All she knew was that she wanted to study the teeny tiny particles that, when tapped into, could create huge amounts of energy. Years later, Allison’s career trajectory took a turn when a psychology professor dramatically helped her realize the importance of mindset in shaping our reality. This ignited a new spark in Allison: a desire to understand what inspires people to do what matters to them, and what gives them the energy to achieve it.   Join us as we discuss how inspiration is “contagious”; how to pull ourselves out of burnout; and tips for activating inspiration when we really need it. Full show notes - https://whitneyjohnson.com/allison-holzer

Today is the day! Disrupt Yourself: Master Relentless Change and Speed Up Your Learning Curve has officially been re-launched into the world. As with all my book “children,” I am very proud of this creation. You, my audience, have been so receptive, and I am gratified and humbled by your many emails and comments characterizing what this book has meant in your life. Your stories are inspiring, and I am eager to learn more! On today’s episode, we have our wonderful producer, Macy Robison, back in the interviewer’s chair. This week’s podcast is really a reflection of the book—it’s a wide-ranging conversation, free-wheeling, and full of energy. I love the insights that Macy brings to the table as we discuss her connection to the book, the story behind the re-release, and what lessons I took away from the first launch. Thank you for being with me on this journey. Show notes available at https://whitneyjohnson.com/disrupt-yourself-relaunch