Leading Smart

The end of Season Two heralds a new journey: the road to the Leading Smart Academy. The Academy will be a deep resource for leaders just starting out, those facing specific challenges, and veterans looking for a refresher. Sign up to be first in line. More information, a transcript, and a place to provide comments can be found at: https://clwill.com/pod/academy-road/ Written and Produced: Chris Williams Original Theme written by: John Stephens Connect: Facebook: https://facebook.com/theCLWill Twitter: https://twitter.com/theCLWill LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/theCLWill Email: pod@clwill.com

The most indelible cultural change is led from the top. Where the leader lives, promotes, recognizes, and corrects in furtherance of the effort. In this episode we explore a small example that can be a model for all organization culture change. More information, a transcript, and a place to provide comments can be found at: https://clwill.com/pod/time-change/ Written and Produced: Chris Williams Original Theme written by: John Stephens Additional Music and Effects: https://zapsplat.com/ Connect: Facebook: https://facebook.com/theCLWill Twitter: https://twitter.com/theCLWill LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/theCLWill Email: pod@clwill.com

Bob Muglia has led teams from as many as 10,000 to a small startup, often taking over teams in distress and returning them to success. But his focus has always been as much on how teams work as much as what they do, in what he calls values-based leadership. More information, a transcript, and a place to provide comments can be found at: https://clwill.com/pod/bob-muglia/ Written and Produced: Chris Williams Original Theme written by: John Stephens Connect: Facebook: https://facebook.com/theCLWill Twitter: https://twitter.com/theCLWill LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/theCLWill Email: pod@clwill.com

Changing an organizational culture is a heavy lift even if the issue is not especially thorny. The real question is who can make that change? In this episode we explore an example where a fairly small cultural change requires a clear sense of how to change. More information, a transcript, and a place to provide comments can be found at: https://clwill.com/pod/sense-of-change/ Written and Produced: Chris Williams Original Theme written by: John Stephens Connect: Facebook: https://facebook.com/theCLWill Twitter: https://twitter.com/theCLWill LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/theCLWill Email: pod@clwill.com

Brian Pedersen’s team helps companies negotiate the maze of corporate taxes. On top of the unique experience that requires, he faces all the challenges met by any leader of knowledge workers. Yet Brian has done it all remotely, even before it was required. More information, a transcript, and a place to provide comments can be found at: https://clwill.com/pod/brian-pedersen/ Written and Produced: Chris Williams Original Theme written by: John Stephens Connect: Facebook: https://facebook.com/theCLWill Twitter: https://twitter.com/theCLWill LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/theCLWill Email: pod@clwill.com

When a solid team mixes with a clear vision and an outstanding culture, the resulting brew can be magical. Success that breeds more success, enough to break records. In this episode we explore the qualities necessary to create organizational harmonics. Twenty Thousand Hertz, the podcast, can be found wherever you get your podcasts or at https://20k.org/ Clips in this episode are used by permission. The Virtual Choir can be found at: https://ericwhitacre.com/the-virtual-choir/ More information, a transcript, and a place to provide comments can be found at: https://clwill.com/pod/harmonics/ Written and Produced: Chris Williams Original Theme written by: John Stephens Additional Audio: Twenty Thousand Hertz https://20k.org/ Connect: Facebook: https://facebook.com/theCLWill Twitter: https://twitter.com/theCLWill LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/theCLWill Email: pod@clwill.com

David Sobeski has exercised his skill of a broad view with a detail focus at some of most customer-obsessed companies in the world including Disney and Nordstrom. All while remote working long before it was cool. This is my conversation with David Sobeski. More information, a transcript, and a place to provide comments can be found at: https://clwill.com/pod/david-sobeski/ Written and Produced: Chris Williams Original Theme written by: John Stephens Connect: Facebook: https://facebook.com/theCLWill Twitter: https://twitter.com/theCLWill LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/theCLWill Email: pod@clwill.com

What makes up an organization’s culture? What effect does culture have on the output of the team? Does a culture bend to the market or does the market select winners based on their culture? The series on organizational culture begins with: Culture Club. More information, a transcript, and a place to provide comments can be found at: https://clwill.com/pod/culture-club/ Written and Produced: Chris Williams Original Theme written by: John Stephens Additional Music: Culture Club Connect: Facebook: https://facebook.com/theCLWill Twitter: https://twitter.com/theCLWill LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/theCLWill Email: pod@clwill.com

Liz Pearce was in marketing at Sony, Google, and Amazon, and then a marketing consultant. At one of her clients, she rose from contract marketing consultant to CEO. Now leading Seattle startup Fresh Chalk, she discusses her journey, leadership, and the CEO role. More information, a transcript, and a place to provide comments can be found at: https://clwill.com/pod/liz-pearce/ Written and Produced: Chris Williams Original Theme written by: John Stephens Connect: Facebook: https://facebook.com/theCLWill Twitter: https://twitter.com/theCLWill LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/theCLWill Email: pod@clwill.com

The series on communication wraps up with a look at cursing in the workplace. We explore my tendency to use expletives inappropriately as well as how cursing is indicative of organizational culture and the power of leaders. This time, "I Swear". More information, a transcript, and a place to provide comments can be found at: https://clwill.com/pod/i-swear/ Written and Produced: Chris Williams Original Theme written by: John Stephens Additional Music: https://musicbed.com/ Sound Effects: https://zapsplat.com/ Connect: Facebook: https://facebook.com/theCLWill/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/theCLWill/ LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/theCLWill/ Email: pod@clwill.com

Donn Denman was an engineer at Apple in the very early years and is now at Google. In our conversation he shares what it was like working with Steve Jobs, what it’s like today at Google, and how vision and passion can change the world. More information, a transcript, and a place to provide comments can be found at: https://clwill.com/pod/donn-denman/ Written and Produced: Chris Williams Original Theme written by: John Stephens Sound effects: ZapSplat Connect: Facebook: https://facebook.com/theCLWill Twitter: https://twitter.com/theCLWill LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/theCLWill Email: pod@clwill.com

The series on communication continues with the best way to understand how your team and project are doing. There’s a wrong way and a right way to find out the answer to the question that keeps every leader up at night: “How’s it Going?” More information, a transcript, and a place to provide comments can be found at: https://clwill.com/pod/hows-it-going/ Written and Produced: Chris Williams Original Theme written by: John Stephens Connect: Facebook: https://facebook.com/theCLWill Twitter: https://twitter.com/theCLWill LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/theCLWill Email: pod@clwill.com

The exploration into firing continues with a look at the low end. What is magical about the bottom ten percent? How does stack ranking cheat some people out of a good performance review? What exactly is poor performance? This is Bottom Feeder. More information, a transcript, and a place to provide comments can be found at: https://clwill.com/pod/bottom-feeder-redux/ Written and Produced: Chris Williams Original Theme Music: John Stephens Additional Music: https://musicbed.com Sound effects: https://audiojungle.net Connect: Facebook: https://facebook.com/theCLWill Twitter: https://twitter.com/theCLWill LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/theCLWill Email: pod@clwill.com

How a brutal performance review meeting ended with me getting a stapler hurled at my head. And how that lead to one of my most steadfast rules: in the workplace, no surprises. More information, including a transcript and a place to provide comments, can be found at: https://clwill.com/pod/duck-and-cover-redux/ Written and Produced: Chris Williams Original Theme Music: John Stephens Additional Music: https://musicbed.com Sound Effects: https://zapsplat.com Connect: Facebook: https://facebook.com/theCLWill Twitter: https://twitter.com/theCLWill LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/theCLWill Email: pod@clwill.com

Adam Bosworth has led major startup projects both inside and outside of seminal companies of the tech world. In our talk he shares what he learned about building teams and about the impact of company culture on the products, the team, and himself. More information, a transcript, and a place to provide comments can be found at: https://clwill.com/pod/adam-bosworth/ Written and Produced: Chris Williams Original Theme written by: John Stephens Connect: Facebook: https://facebook.com/theCLWill Twitter: https://twitter.com/theCLWill LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/theCLWill Email: pod@clwill.com

The series on communication continues with a look at how to get good feedback. We examine the many pitfalls and one good way to use surveys as a mechanism to gauge your organization’s health. This is Survey Says. More information, a transcript, and a place to provide comments can be found at: https://clwill.com/pod/survey-says/ Written and Produced: Chris Williams Original Theme written by: John Stephens Additional Sound: Family Feud Connect: Facebook: https://facebook.com/theCLWill Twitter: https://twitter.com/theCLWill LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/theCLWill Email: pod@clwill.com

Somasegar pushed Microsoft to “build the muscle” of remote work, long before it was cool … or required by the pandemic. He also stretched himself to become a venture capitalist. In this episode he shares what we all can learn from his journeys. More information, a transcript, and a place to provide comments can be found at: https://clwill.com/pod/somasegar-2 Written and Produced: Chris Williams Original Theme written by: John Stephens Connect: Facebook: https://facebook.com/theCLWill Twitter: https://twitter.com/theCLWill LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/theCLWill Email: pod@clwill.com

Somasegar traveled from India to the US for his advanced degrees and ended up joining Microsoft for an illustrious 27-year career. Now he’s a venture capitalist. In this first of two episodes, he talks with us about his journey and his thoughts on leadership. More information, a transcript, and a place to provide comments can be found at: https://clwill.com/pod/somasegar-1 Written and Produced: Chris Williams Original Theme written by: John Stephens Connect: Facebook: https://facebook.com/theCLWill Twitter: https://twitter.com/theCLWill LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/theCLWill Email: pod@clwill.com

The series on communication continues with the focus on listening. We examine why careful examination of the echo of a leader’s message can help not only make the team more effective but diagnose communication problems. This is Echolocation. More information, a transcript, and a place to provide comments can be found at: https://clwill.com/pod/echolocation/ Written and Produced: Chris Williams Original Theme written by: John Stephens Sound Effects: https://zapsplat.com Connect: Facebook: https://facebook.com/theCLWill Twitter: https://twitter.com/theCLWill LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/theCLWill Email: pod@clwill.com

Peter Spiro’s work helped build Microsoft into an enterprise software giant. He also led one of the company’s most visible project downfalls. Through it all, he built a deep passion for leadership that he shares with anyone who’ll listen. This time with us. More information, a transcript, and a place to provide comments can be found at: https://clwill.com/pod/peter-spiro Written and Produced: Chris Williams Original Theme written by: John Stephens Sound Effects: https://zapsplat.com Connect: Facebook: https://facebook.com/theCLWill Twitter: https://twitter.com/theCLWill LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/theCLWill Email: pod@clwill.com