Kerry Siggins Podcast

How Business Leaders Can Help Fix Our Broken Political and Economic Systems w/ Prof. Rawi Abdelal

Rawi Abdelal is a Herbert F. Johnson Professor of International Management at the Harvard School of Business. He's also the director of HBS's Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, faculty co-chair of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, and the faculty chair of the HBS/YPO President's program, which is where I met him. During his 20 years on the HBS faculty, Professor Abdelal has served in many leadership roles and has twice earned the Greenhill award for service to the Harvard Business School.
Professor Abdelal is an expert on globalization, geopolitics, and political economy. Widely published, he has written about the global financial system, international politics, the influence of multinational firms on world politics, and the transformation of energy markets. He is currently at work on two projects. One project, The Fragile State of the World, explores the interrelated challenges that undermined the first era of globalization and that threaten to destroy the current age of global capitalism. The second project, The Profits of Power, explores the geopolitics of energy in Europe and Eurasia.
Episode in a Tweet: As global political and economic systems break down, business leaders can step up and help fix the problems that plague us by focusing on income inequality, creating dignity at work, and looking at education differently.
Quick Background: I met Rawi when I attended the HBS/YPO president's program a few years ago, and I was struck by his speaking style, intellect, and knowledge of geopolitical systems. I love politics, some might say I am a bit of a politics junkie, so his lectures resonated with me. In December 2020, I invited Rawi to join me for a YPO fireside chat about the outcome and ramifications of the Joe Biden presidency. It was a fascinating conversation, and afterward, I asked him if he would come on Reflect Forward and he agreed. In this episode, Rawi and I talk about the state of global politics, why we have seen populist movements, and why politicians are unable to stimulate change. We also talk about how business leaders can make an impact by doing something about income equality, creating inclusive workplaces where people keep their dignity, and revamping our views on education by promoting trade school and alternatives to college degrees. Rawi also gives us insight into himself, sharing stories of deep shyness and how he has overcome his fear of public speaking. This is an in-depth and insightful interview and I feel fortunate to have spent this hour picking Rawi's brain and getting to know him better.
You can find Rawi on LinkedIn or on the HBS website.
Question of the Episode: Are you on Clubhouse yet?
My Answer: I am signed up, but I haven't used it much; I plan to put on a Clubhouse event sometime this summer. Curious about Clubhouse? It is a social networking app that allows people to gather in chat rooms to discuss various topics. You can't see each other; it's just an audio platform where a moderator oversees the discussions and interviews.

How to Build Meaningful Relationships in Business and Life w/ Susan McPherson

Guest: Susan McPherson is a serial connector, seasoned communicator, and founder and CEO of McPherson Strategies, a communications consultancy firm focused on the intersection of brands and social impact. She is the author of The Lost Art of Connecting: The Gather, Ask, Do Method for Building Meaningful Relationships. Susan has almost three decades of experience in marketing, public relations, and sustainability communications, speaking regularly at industry conferences and contributing to the Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and Forbes. She has appeared on NPR, CNN, USA Today, The New Yorker, New York Magazine, and the Los Angeles Times. Susan is a Vital Voices global corporate ambassador and has received numerous accolades for her voice on social media platforms from Fortune Magazine, Fast Company, and Elle Magazine. She resides in Brooklyn.
Quick Background: Even before the pandemic gripped the world, we had become a society engulfed in loneliness. People have hundreds of “friends and connections” on social media platforms, yet meaningful connection remains elusive. At a time when we are more physically distant than ever before—how can we reverse the growing trends of disconnection to forge meaningful relationships in business and in life? In this episode, I interview Susan McPherson about her “Ask, Gather, Do” method of connecting with others and her newly released book: “The Lost Art of Connecting: The Gather, Ask, Do Method for Building Meaningful Business Relationships.”
Susan shares her philosophy on why building meaningful connections can be as simple as going back to basics such as being kind, reaching out to others, and smiling. My favorite part of the interview is when she explains how relationships are like constellations and have a ripple effect on people you don’t even know. We also talk about why being helpful is such a powerful way to connect with others and why it’s essential to understand yourself and your “Chief Differentiating Factor when building connections and why you should reach out to your connections during the pandemic.
Susan is a beautiful person, and I am so glad I had the opportunity to meet her. Her book is timely and simply fabulous.
Visit Susan’s website here.
Get her book on Amazon here.
Connect with Susan on LinkedIn here.
Question of the Episode: “I am questioning where I am professionally and personally and struggling to figure out where exactly I where I want to be and what I want to be. I know that I can be a strong leader, but I don’t feel like I can do it in my current organization. I am not sure if it’s appropriate for me to be reaching out to you on LinkedIn, but I could use some advice on taking the next step in my career.”
My Answer: First, absolutely yes! Reach out and ask these types of questions to people on LinkedIn. The purpose of LinkedIn is to build professional connections and to engage with people who inspire you. You never know what door will open and what advice you will get when you reach out, so don’t be afraid to do it.
Second, career wellbeing is so important, and if you feel that you are in a dead-end job, I encourage you to look for one that is a good fit.

How the Rise and Fall of a Career Led to Service and Impact w/ Paul Rees

Paul Rees is now the Director of Professional Services at Financial Force, the leading provider of ERP and Services Automation solutions on the Salesforce platform, based in San Francisco. Before this role, he was the co-founder of VFP Consulting, a fast-growing Salesforce and FinancialForce professional services firm based in Sacramento, California. Putting his business's growth in front of his family and personal health, Paul was forced to look at his excessive drinking and absentee life when he had a debilitating breakdown due to burnout. In the end, he made the difficult choice to leave his company and focus on his health and rebuilding his family.
Paul has a fascinating story. Being deeply introverted and shy, he learned how to cope with chronic childhood illnesses and always being the new kid by creating personas through acting and music. When Paul started his career, he was miserable, always feeling exhausted at the end of the day because his job played to his weaknesses rather than his strengths. After learning more about himself through the Myer-Briggs and the StrengthsFinder assessments, his career took off, and he eventually started his own company, VFP Consulting. Quickly growing in the first few years, the desire to make the firm more successful consumed Paul. And he completely crashed and burned. Excessive drinking and complete burnout caused him to reevaluate his life, and he chose his marriage and his life over his business.
I believe Paul's story will resonate with most of us. Why? Because so many of us focus on growing our careers and businesses at the expense of personal health and wellbeing. We don't fully appreciate our families and the health of our relationships. We sacrifice what matters most but don't always see it that way.
When Paul broke down, he had to choose between his family and health, and his business. He walked away from the company he built to find balance and happiness again. Now, he isn't looking to advance his career. In fact, it's his mission not to. He doesn't want to be a CEO; instead, his mission is to stay healthy, balanced, and positively impact every person he interacts with. He finds daily satisfaction asking himself, "how can I make this person's experience better in some way?" and then acting in service of others.
Paul is a profoundly brilliant and articulate person, and during this interview, you will gain so many insights and be inspired. I adore him, and I'm pleased to have gotten to reconnect with him during this interview.
You can find Paul on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulrees/
Question of the Episode: "I am a CEO and am looking at building my brand, and I'm not sure how to get started. Is it worth doing myself, or should I hire someone?"
My Answer: YES! I think every CEO, leader, and professional should be using social media, particularly LinkedIn, to build a personal brand. People want to connect with you and get to know you. Social media is an excellent way to share your unique ideas and thoughts. I have not hired someone to do my social media, as I am the best person to convey my thoughts, ideas, and messages in my voice. Maybe someday I will hire it out, but creating my own content is rewarding and allows me to show up as my authentic self. If you have started putting out content that you craft (don't just share other people's content), today is the day to get started.

Why the Best Leaders are Catalysts for Change w/ Steve Burrows

Steve Burrows CBE is an experienced executive and a professional engineer. He has worked on some of the world’s most high-profile buildings and structures, such as Allianz Arena in Munich, the City of Manchester Stadium, the Beijing Olympics’ Birds Nest stadium (now called the National Stadium), and the Apple Campus. But he is not your typical engineer. His curiosity about the ancient past and how we should approach the future make him one of the most interesting people I’ve interviewed. He is a host on the show Time Scanners and produced the critically acclaimed and award-winning iMax movie Dream Big: Engineering Our World. He now owns a firm actively developing and advising developers of technology to disrupt the construction industry. And finally, I would be remiss if I left out that Steve was made a Commander of the British Empire by Her Majesty the Queen in 2009.
Steve and I discuss how to build deep and meaningful connections with others, why developing a team is critical to success, and why leaders need to be catalysts for change. After listening to this podcast, you’ll love Steve as much as I do!
And finally, my “listener asked” question is about the essential attributes a leader needs to be successful. I share my thoughts on why curiosity is fundamental to success. Why? Curious people desire to understand how the world works beyond what they experience, so they naturally ask more questions. This opens doors, giving them an advantage over those who are less curious. Asking good questions positions them to learn how to do a job better, faster, and creatively, leading to new assignments, promotions, and raises. Listen to learn more about my tips on how to expand your world and be more curious.
Here’s how you can find Steve:
https://dreambigfilm.com/
https://www.natgeotv.com/int/time-scanners
https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-burrows-cbe-pe-ceng-fice-fasce-mistructe-leed-ap-7b49954/

Disrupt Your Negative Thoughts and Overcome Your Destructive Core Beliefs w/ Jamie Gorrono

Jamie Gorrono is a Women’s Empowerment Coach and a bluntly put, an awesome human being. Through her coaching, she supports women going through life transitions who may feel unworthy, fearful, or lacking connection with themselves and others. Overcoming debilitating anxiety and depression herself, she has developed a unique ability to help others address their pain through the identification of Destructive Core Beliefs and change negative thought patterns. During her “Empowerment Experience”, her clients reinvent the direction of their lives and take charge of their happiness and self-fulfillment. Jamie and host Kerry Siggins talk about how to look at Destructive Core Beliefs, overcome fear, and change negative thoughts into positive ones to set your life in a new direction. This is a fun and engaging interview that all listeners will learn from, not just women!

The Potency of Blending Mindfulness Traditions and Startup Grit w/ Yosh Eisbart

Yosh Eisbart is a serial entrepreneur and a mindfulness practitioner. His most recent startup, Fulfilld, is and end-to-end intelligent warehouse management platform. In his 20+ years of leading, mentoring, and serving startup ventures, Yosh has come to learn the potency of blending Mindfulness Traditions and Startup Grit. He regularly authors and posts “The Startup Sutras” to capture and share the key lessons he’s learned over the years in an effort to help others avoid making the same mistakes he did, while hopefully being entertained. Yosh and host Kerry Siggins discuss the allure of startups, the value of being more mindful, and how to be a better leader.

Use Creativity to Re-imagine Your Business and Slingshot to Greater Growth w/ Gabor George Burt

Gabor George Burt is a leading expert of Blue Ocean Strategy, one of the most influential business strategy approaches taken by businesses around the world. He contributed case study material to this worldwide bestselling book and originated the most popular blog on Blue Ocean Strategy. He continues to be the global authority on re-imagining boundaries and author of the book “Slingshot: Re-imagine Your Business, Re-imagine Your Life.” He is a mastermind of innovation, creativity, and strategy. Gabor also writes for Forbes, Entrepreneur, and Harvard Business Review and his clients range from Fortune 100 companies to startups. Gabor and host Kerry Siggins discuss how to use creativity and curiosity to propel your business to the next level and how to create a brand your customers love and can’t live without.

Advice From a Turnaround Artist – Connecting Through Shared Experiences w/ Ahad Ghadimi

Ahad Ghadimi is Managing Director of Core Work Capital, an international advisory firm that helps companies transition to employee-ownership. Ahad is also the founder of Forums@Work whose mission is to democratize the Forum experience, a peer-to-peer intimate ‘experience sharing and support’ platform used by organizations such as YPO and EO. He has built his career around leading turnarounds of bankrupt businesses and family-owned enterprises transitioning to employee-ownership. Most recently, Ahad authored and published the book “Turnaround Artists,” a business fable based on his family’s business that guides readers on how to transform company culture through creating connections and sharing experiences. Kerry and Ahad talk about building a culture based on an ownership mindset, the value of employee ownership, and why Forums are a powerful way to improve work relationships and take your team to the next level.

How to Build a Valuable Business and Be a Leader Worth Following w/ Howard M. Shore

Howard Shore has established himself as one of the most sought-out business speakers in the country with more than 30 years of experience helping organizations across all industries achieve record breaking results. From his personal experience owning multiple companies and working with some of the most successful organizations in the world, he has discovered how to truly manage and grow businesses. Howard has also authored two bestselling books, “Your Business is a Leaky Bucket” and “the Leader Launchpad.” In this episode of Reflect Forward, Howard and I discuss the importance of creating a balanced team with a broad range of talent and working styles, why leaders need to play to win instead of play not to lose, and the importance of developing a true strategy (rather than an operational plan) that leads to faster growth and higher profitability. Howard gives so much great advice in this podcast; you don’t want to miss it!

How Embracing Change and Accepting Failure Led to My Success with Andy Petranek

Andy Petranek is a life and leadership coach. He works with successful executives, leaders, and entrepreneurs who are stuck - in a life situation, body, relationship, marriage, family, job, or career that's no longer bringing them the satisfaction, joy, energy, confidence, or passion it once did. As a leader, Andy has embraced change regularly throughout his life as a musician, U.S. Marine, sales rep, professional athlete, personal trainer, gym owner, global movement leader (CrossFit), entrepreneur, and social health game/platform founder (Whole Life Challenge). In this episode, Andy shares how diverse experiences, a difficult relationship with his father (an accomplished viola player in the National Gallery Orchestra), and the support of his family shaped him as a coach and leader in his journey to create a life he loves…which we can all relate to.