When I interviewed Ed Cohen, he was CLO of Satyam, one of the biggest companies you’ve never heard of (at the time of the interview, 55,000 people in 60 countries around the world). Unless of course you work in the world of corporate training, because Sataym was recognized as the top training and learning and development company by the American Society of Training and Development in 2007.
Ed took the leap to join Satyam in 2005, leaving a safe life in Virginia and heading to a new role and a new life in India. Before that he’d spent more than a quarter century of experience in corporate learning and organizational development, including managing Booz Allen’s training initiatives. Ed’s also the author of Leadership Without Borders: Successful Strategies from World-Class Leaders.
When we talked, Ed was in a Hyderabad taxi – so there’s some fabulous background noise going on as we :
- learn abut the importance of a mentor and a sponsor to help you achieve Great Work
- discuss how to balance the competing needs of different stakeholders
- dig down into metrics – and come up with the importance of “delight” as a key measure
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.
If you enjoyed this interview, you’ll also enjoy:
- Kevin Wilde
- Marshall Goldsmith
Posted on December 18, 2009
Many people listening to this interview will have seen one of the short internet movies I’ve created – The Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun, The 5.75 Questions You’ve Been Avoiding, The Great Work Movie. Today’s interview is with the guy who planted the “make movies” seed, Scott Stratten. I’ve been watching Scott’s work for close to ten years, and have counted him as a friend – he’s a Torontonian too.
He’s done a number of remarkable things. First, he’s created over 60 internet movies that have been seen more than 60 million times, including his own movie that started the whole thing, Time. His work brings together insights on human motivation and what he calls ‘unmarketing’ – how to sell yourself and perhaps your products in a way that is authentic and doesn’t follow the herd. As an example of that, since we did this interview, Scott’s become a colossus in the world of Twitter, where as @unmarketing he is the most influential Canadian twitter there is.
In our conversation we talk about:
- The conversation with his company president that got the whole thing rolling
- Why you can never let someone else define your own Great Work
- Scott’s way of defining the difference between leading and managing
- What happens when you pull back the curtain to see the ‘Wizard of Oz’ – and the simple three part formula Scott uses to sustain his Great Work
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 16, 2009
Octavius is now the co-founder of one of the most interesting training companies in the world, as well as the author of three successful and excellent books – available almost everywhere in the world except, inexplicably, North America.
But I first met him over a decade ago, when I joined a small change management consultancy and Octavius was one of the partners. Even then he had a certain flair and a willingness to buck the system, all with a terrific sense of humour.
He’s been leading the Mind Gym for almost ten years now. In that time, it has become a global success and they have trained close to half a million people and worked in over 30 countries with every big name company you can think of. And what’s particularly cool for me is they’ve done it by changing the way coaching is sold and delivered, building courses that are delivered in 90 minute blocks.
In this conversation we talk about:
- How the idea for Mind Gym was first conjured up, and how it fell flat in its first iteration
- Why challenging the orthodoxy is critical to success
- How to ignore advice your accountant gives you (if you don’t like it, that is)
- A powerful strategy for when you’re feeling down
- What the Rubicon has to do with Great Work
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 16, 2009
Years ago when I worked for an innovation company, one of our clients was KFC. Now, the first thing that happened was the day after I was hired to run this project, Mad Cow Disease hit the UK and KFC’s sales doubled overnight. I tried to take credit for that.
And the second thing that happened was that we went to check out the competition. A new chain selling chicken had just arrived from South Africa, Nando’s. And it was good. It was very good.
Julia Claydon’s been part of that leadership team from almost the very start. She’s seen the chain grow from five stores to almost two hundred, with well over four million pounds turnover a week.
Part of their success is how they don’t treat this as a “McJob” for anyone in the organization. In out conversation she talks about the strategies they’ve used to successfully grow and keep people doing work that’s meaningful and engaging – part of the recipe for success, no doubt. Listen on to hear:
- a story where corporate values actually mattered, and weren’t just an ignored laminated poster
- a story where the humanity and skills of the front-line staff are fully recognized
- the unique structure by which feedback is passed from front-line to the senior leaders of the organization
It’s a terrific, behind-the-scenes tour of a growing organization.
Listen to my interview with Julia here
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 11, 2009
