Professor Isaac Getz is the professor of Idea, Initiative and Innovation Management at the EACP Europe Business School and author of a new book that gets right to the very heart of what it takes to do Great Work in an organization: Freedom Inc.
It’s a terrific book and follows on nicely from the previous interview with Bob Cialdini. The book tells the stories of organizations that are approaching work by thinking about how to work differently and succeeding because of this approach. The subtitle says it all: Free Your Employees and Let Them Lead Your Business to High Productivity, Profits and Growth. Isaac incorporates his own background of innovation but looks at a bigger picture of how work is evolving, and that’s what we talk about in this interview. We discuss:
- How the style of “liberating leaders” is the starting point for any Freedom Inc.
- The importance of people feeling intrinsically equal – and what that actually means
- The impact of a lessening of control from the top – and the impact that has on agility and ability to serve your customers
You can learn more about Professor Isaac Getz and his book at freedomincbook.com.
Posted on March 5, 2010
I came across Chris Guillebeau when I stumbled across his terrific (and free) ebook, A Brief Guide to World Domination. Since we recorded this interview, he’s released another fantastic (and free) ebook 279 Days to Overnight Success and continues to write a great blog on his website, The Art of Non-Conformity. But what’s most impressive is that Chris is absolutely clear about what a good life means to him – and stands as an impressive role model on how to live that authentic, exciting and generous life.
I’m totally chuffed that Chris wrote an original piece for Do More Great Work.
In this interview you’ll hear:
- How the crisis that sparked his Great Work set the foundation for future success
- What Chris learned about focus from the Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami
- What Chris’s bad habit is – and how he manages it
- An approach for setting goals
This interview is approximately 25 minutes long.
Posted on February 12, 2010
If you’re interested in leadership, you know that a new book on the topic gets published, oh, about every 20 seconds. And most of them are eminently missable – the same tired truisms with a new smear of lipstick – with the life of a mayfly.
And then there are a few classics, books that have really stood the test of time. One of those is The Leadership Challenge, co-authored by Jim Kouzes and his long-time writing partner Barry Posner. It was recently nominated by 800 CEO Reads as one of their best business books of all time, and in part its strength lies in the fact that it is insight based on research, not just someone’s thought du jour. Jim is not only a author, he’s also the Dean’s Executive Professor of Leadership at the Leavey School of Business in Santa Clara University and at one stage was CEO of the Tom Peters Company for ten or eleven years.
In our interview we talk about:
- How 25% of the success of leadership can be explained (and what to do about that other 75%)
- Why challenging the process is a crucial part of Great Work
- A terrific story from Ben & Jerry’s. (Anything involving icecream fits into Great Work as far as I’m concerned.)
- The power of a creative partnership – and how he and Barry have maintained their working relationship for close to three decade
You can get access to a wide range of leadership materials at Jim’s website
Posted on February 3, 2010
Marcia Wieder is a force to be reckoned with. She is America’s Dream Coach, and is one of the on-going pioneers of the coaching profession. Her work is entirely focused on helping people connect to their passion – that’s Great Work right there – and to bring their dreams to life. She’s been a frequent Oprah visitor, has run a PBS special and written a number of books, the best-known of which is Making Your Dreams Come True. And just in case you were doubting her bona fides, she is Jack Canfield’s coach too. Not bad.
In this interview Marcia talks about
- The moment of truth when the seed for the Dream Coach University was planted
- How to find the right balance between strategies and possibilities
- Why intention is nothing without integrity
- Why uncertainty is such a powerful force to connect with Great Work
You can also pick up 10 free eBooks from DreamUniversity.com, courtesy of Marcia (and worth $150). Just click here to go to her web page [dreamcoach.com/gifts] to pick up your free resources.
If you enjoyed this interview, you’ll also enjoy my conversations with
Posted on January 11, 2010
