Day One Leadership Podcast

Thirteen gold medals. Twelve world records. One leg. An ad campaign once told the world: “She doesn’t want your sympathy. But her opponents might.” In this episode, Hall of Fame swimmer Stephanie Dixon reveals that for part of her life, her toughest opponents were her own feelings of insecurity and fear. Do not miss the story of the serious ass kicking those opponents have received.

Do you find yourself frustrated at work because you can’t stand being slowed down by bureaucracy or being told, “we’ve never done it that way before”? Do you find yourself rocking the boat and ruffling feathers? You might be an “intrapreneur”: an entrepreneur working in a corporate environment. Our guest this week thinks you deserve more love!

What does Sunday night dinner have to do with the quality of your workplace culture? What are the “three buckets of life”, and what on earth is “reverse mentoring”?  This week’s guest Yousry Bissada has spent a lifetime building and leading companies, and answers these questions and more on the Day One Leadership Podcast.

We may have never posted an episode of the Day One Leadership Podcast that provided more practical tips that you could put to use right away. This week’s guests, Joel Hilchey and Brandon Love, literally wrote the book on how to be “fearlessly creative”, and by the end of this episode, you’ll never fear “brainstorming” again. In fact, we bet you never even use the word again!

Father, business owner, and endurance athlete, Michael Cameron lives his life by the three tenets of Passion, Pride, and Purpose. In October of 2015 however, Michael’s world was shattered by an unimaginable act of violence. In this emotional episode, Michael talks about “redefining badass” and the power and importance of forgiveness in life and leadership.

When you’re the type of kid who stands behind a fence and yells at older kids, “Hey big kid, screw off” just to see how far you can get before you get caught, it’s no surprise you grow up to run a company you aim to “keep weird” at all costs. Considering it has become one of the world’s most valuable private tech companies, it seems the strategy is working. This week, Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman joins the Day One Leadership podcast!

Ilana intentionally lived “8 months of sin” to get over her fear of breaking the rules and spent her early days as an entrepreneur living in a house full of circus performers. Now the founder of an award-winning toy company Twenty One Toys, Ilana Ben-Ari takes us through her fascinating journey, including the roles of failure, guilt, and shame in the practice of leadership.

What kind of leadership does it take to build a single gym into a billion dollar-a-year fitness company? A company that so profoundly impacts customers and staff that many tattoo the corporate logo onto their bodies? Listen to this week’s Day One Podcast to find out as we talk to one of Chief Executive Magazine’s “CEOs of the Year,” Chuck Runyon of Anytime Fitness.

Neil Pasricha has written multiple #1 international bestsellers, including “The Book of Awesome,” which spent over two years on the bestseller list! He’s twice been given the “World’s Best Blog” award and now heads up the “Global Happiness Institute.” Today Neil is on the Day One Leadership Podcast to talk happiness and leadership.

Growing up in the 1950s and 60s, Erika Steuterman knew she wanted a job that offered equal pay for equal work. At the time that meant one option: the military. Hear her incredible story of rising to the upper echelons of leadership in an organization long dominated by men; the obstacles that stood in her way; the mentors that pushed her forward, and how she literally renamed herself to start a new chapter in her life.

Lonely and struggling with the transition to high school, Shane Feldman asked to transfer schools. His guidance councillor agreed… on one condition. Living up to that condition spawned an international movement that has touched millions of lives, and thrust Shane—one of Canada’s “Top 20 Under 20”—into a life of leadership he never envisioned.