Steven Pressfield was one of the very first people I interviewed as part of this series, so it’s a pleasure to finally release it “from the vault”. I’ve even had people emailing me asking when he was going to make an appearance – yep, he’s that good!
Steven is a writer. He’s most commonly a historical military novelist, and his best known book of that genre is Gates of Fire. But I know him for what was a detour off the path for him, The War of Art. This is a fabulous book, nominally about the discipline it takes to be a writer but I think really applicable to what it takes to do Great Work.
In The War of Art Steven talks about what the difference is in those that approach their work as a professional and those that approach it as an amateur, and addresses ways of overcoming resistance – that familiar tug on the shirt well-known to anyone setting off on a Great Work journey.
In this interview we hear a little of Steven’s journey to become a successful novelist, explore how to overcome fear and resistance – and you find out just what he’d like to do to overnight successes…
The interviews are all between 25 and 30 minutes long.
You can either download them here as mp3s, or go to iTunes, type in “Great Work Interviews” and you’ll see them all there.
Posted on October 7, 2009
Before becoming the Chief Strategy Officer for Accenture National Security Services, Keith Lippert spent thirty-eight years in the US Navy and rose to the rank of Vice Admiral. In his final posting, he was the Director of the Defense Logistics Agency, a role he assumed just two months before the events of 9/11 and at a time when there was some discussion about doing away with the DLA.
Just to set some context, leading the DLA is no small thing. It manages 5.2 million items and the twenty-three thousand civilian and military personnel deal with fifty-eight thousand requests for material a day.
In this conversation with Keith we talk about what had to happen to focus on more Great Work, how the burning platform of 9/11 was important but not sufficient to drive change, and the role of communication is driving success. Here are two gems from the interview. Keith’s perspective on changing a legacy system, and the degree of maturity required to do that. And that in an organization focused on moving and managing material, the need to better focus on and engage the people of the DLA became critical.
The interviews are all between 25 and 30 minutes long.
You can either download them here as mp3s, or go to iTunes, type in “Great Work Interviews” and you’ll see them all there.
Posted on September 25, 2009
James Huffines is the Chairman of the central and south Texas district of the PlainsCapital bank in Austin, as well as being an SVP of the Plains Capital Corporation. In other words, James is a senior and experienced leader in the world of finance. But what was particularly rewarding in this interview is the perspective he brings having been actively involved in a number of non-profit organizations, such as the Austin and Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and in State government.
In the course of our conversation we looked at the differences between public and private organizations, as well as discussing different strategies leaders at all levels can use to champion change. Listen in particular for:
- What it means to make a commitment for success
- James’s strategies for overcoming resistance to change
The interviews are all between 25 and 30 minutes long.
You can either download them here as mp3s, or go to iTunes, type in “Great Work Interviews” and you’ll see them all there.
Posted on September 18, 2009
Carl Oxholm is a tax partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers here in Canada, and is a friend and a client. Above and beyond his regular duties managing client and their tax planning challenges, Carl is also the national champion for the Coaching Initiative for partners within PwC. In this conversation he brings the perspective not just of somebody who is at the top of his game in a professional service firm, but also has thought long and hard about he impact of coaching and how organizations can be doing more Great Work and less Good Work. In this broad-ranging interview we look at:
- Carl’s role in championing a vision and values program within PwC – and what made it stick
- How to balance focus on the “how” and the “what” to help support behavioural change
- The importance of “presence” and self-knowledge to be able to role model Great Work
- The role of courage in Great Work
Posted on August 11, 2009
Tags: Business,
Change,
Coaching,
Corporate Culture,
Courage,
Engagement,
Goals,
PFS,
Resistance,
Right People,
Values,
Vision
