AMA Edgewise: Recent Episodes
American Management Association
American Management Association (AMA), a world leader in professional development and performance-based learning solutions, has surpassed one million “listens” for its popular podcast series Edgewise. The free weekly podcast program features the insights of recognized thought leaders, business executives and authors across a wide range of management and general business topics, and provides perspective to help listeners improve performance, adapt to changing business realities and prosper in a complex and competitive world.
Depending on your job, this episode is going to be a relief or a cause for concern. The good news is that automation is not going to get rid of the need for human work. In fact, technology is creating new categories of jobs that are abundant in the workforce. However, some jobs that were once seen as the holy grail of job security, coding in particular, are the easiest to be automated away. Alexandra Levit, author of the new book Humanity Works: Merging Technologies and People for the Workforce of the Future, joins us to explain the types of jobs that will be left to the machines and what will be left behind.
In the ten years since Distracted was first published and while a lot has changed a lost has stayed the same. Maggie Jackson is back with a new edition of her book, with new data and looking at our new relationship to the machines that surround our life. While there are more distractions than ever the good news is we're more aware of it as a culture and that's the first step in winning some of our attention back.
Women have been told to lean in but, more often than not, what women want is to "lean in-between." Kathryn Sollmann, author of the new book Ambition Redefined, is here to advocate for those women, the ones who want to work but have no interest in climbing the corporate ladder. There are lots of options out there to grow wealth that don't involve heading to the C-suite.
Cisco is hardly a startup anymore but they're in the business of bringing startups into the fold. The trick to that, according to John Chambers, is to have a culture that accepts outside people and ideas. It's a healthy mindset that extends beyond mergers and acquisitions and is one of the many things he talks about on the podcast today and in his new book Connecting the Dots.
After decades of working Chip Conley started all over again. Hired as an advisor at Airbnb he eventually became something of an intern to the young CEO. He's written a new book Wisdom at Work: The Making of a Modern Elder which reframes how to approach work for older workers, both as a keeper of wisdom and as a digital immigrant.
Mark Johnson has updated his classic book Seizing the White Space: Business Model Innovation for Growth and Renewal with a new chapter taking into account our relationship with digital technology. He joins us to talk about disrupting new markets and how to couple digital with business models.
If you've ever taken an Uber you know that you give your driver a rating at the end of your journey. You probably know that their job depends on how good their average score is. But do you know how high that score has to be before they are essentially fired? And did you know the drivers can rate you too? Alex Rosenblat, author of the new book Uberland: How Algorithms are Rewriting the Rules of Work, joins us to go behind the scenes on what your drivers are dealing with and the difficult choices they often have to make.
The story of Apple's success with the iPhone is that they didn't make a product people wanted, they made a product people didn't even know they needed yet but very soon had to have it. Today we're talking to Ken Kocienda, the creator of auto-correct on your iPhone, about what it was about Apple that put them so far ahead of the competition.
AMA Faculty member and author Ash Seddeek joins us to review some of FranklinCovey's 7 Habits and share some of the things he's learned from his years as an executive coach. and trainer
We're all born with inherent dignity. However, according to Donna Hicks, author of the new book Leading with Dignity, many of us have to be trained to learn how to recognize when we're being treated with dignity and when we are not. She joins us to talk about ways we as leaders can extend not just respect but dignity to those around us.
The last time Dan Schawbel was here he talked about the wonders of technology. Now he's returned to tell you to back off of your screens. In his new book Back to Human he argues we're suffering from a loss of human connection, it's time to get out there face to face and connect with our coworkers, friends, and family once again.
The understanding of what it takes to be a leader is both overly broad and too specific. We focus on lone, mythical, usually white, male figures and discount the leadership abilities inherent in all of us. Drew Dudley, author of the new book This is Day One, joins us to share his definition of a leader and how we can start acting like one today.
We're constantly trying to make changes that don't align with our brains. We make New Years resolutions and try to keep up with the news and watch movies about people achieving great things while not doing much ourselves. Carlie Harary, author of Unlocking Greatness, joins us to talk about ways we can relax more while still becoming the kind of person we dream we could be.
The myth of the lone creative genius is "wildly destructive" says Allen Gannett, not to put too fine a point on it. Our guest today talks about how we need to bring our ideas about inspiration out of the clouds and back to a much more encouraging and attainable reality. In a world of increasing automation, our creativity is our most valuable asset.
You don't have to be giving a TED talk to benefit from learning how to speak and tell stories well. Whether you're pitching a new project to your team or pitching yourself to an employer during an interview, the people who tell the best story see the best results. Carmine Gallo, author of Five Stars: The Communication Secrets to Get from Good to Great joins us to talk about how good communication is vital not matter what your level in your company.
You've heard of personality assessment tests before. You've probably taken one (or two, or three). But can you remember your personality type? Can you identify the type of the person sitting next to you? Probably not. That's why Suzanne Vickberg and her co-author Kim Christfort developed Business Chemistry, a personality test that's easy to remember and easy to distribute through your team.
Cal Turner Jr. was the CEO of Dollar General for decades after inheriting the business from his father. He joins us to talk about how faith and family helped him turn a million dollar business into a billion dollar business, plus a few stories from his new book My Father's Business: The Small-Town Values That Build Dollar General into a Billion Dollar-Company.
We are currently in the era of the Internet of Things. What does that mean and how does it affect us? Chuck Martin joins us to talk about his new book Digital Transformation 3.0 and what it means for us as workers and as employees.
Whether you're working with gig workers or people in multiple offices worldwide, these days we're seeing more and more teams spread out across the globe. Technology makes remote teams easier but it can only help so much. Kevin Eikenberry, co-author of The Long-Distance Leader, joins us to talk about some of the challenges to working remotely, the expected ones and some that you might not have thought of.
One of the most difficult conversations at work is when you've got an employee who is under-performing. Albert Siu joins us with some tips on how to get through that conversation so everyone is happy, plus other advice for managers both new and experienced.
Novartis is currently a multinational pharmaceutical company but when it started over two centuries ago they were manufacturing dyes for textiles. It was only when someone noticed the health benefits of their dyes that they made the switch. Howard Yu, author of Leap, joins us to talk about how this leap to a similar but different industries as the key to staying relevant in an constantly changing business market.
When we think of customer service we tend to focus on the front line employees who are taking the customer phone calls. While they are often the face of the organization, there are thousands of decisions made throughout the company than wind up making customers feel less-than great. Jeanne Bliss, author of the new book Would You Do That to Your Mother, says that treating customers with respect is something that needs to permeate the entire organization, from customer facing roles all the way to the CEO.
At the two ends of the neurological spectrum are logical thinking and elastic thinking. Generally the purvue of artists and great thinkers, elastic thinking is called upon more and more in our everyday lives. Luckily, we are not born one way or another. Leonard Mlodinow, author of the book Elastic, joins us to talk about ways we can train our thinking to be less logical and make up our own rules.
Can everyone run a marathon? Yes and no. A lot of people can but not tomorrow, not without training. The ones that want to will put in the work. To Fred Kofman, the same metric applies to leadership. It takes effort but the ones who put in the time will be able to learn how. He joins us to talk about some more of his leadership insights from his new book The Meaning Revolution.
Sometimes the more we know, the more we fall into a trap. How many times have we shot down ideas because we know they haven't worked in the past. It's time to break out of that monotonous thinking. Jonah Sachs, author of Unsafe Thinking, joins us to talk about ways we can learn to think more creatively and stay ahead of the competition.
Disrupters, the new book by Dr. Patti Fletcher is called the "anti-Lean In." Not because women should stay put, far from it. Dr. Fletcher is seeking a new way forward, one that doesn't rely on women simply emulating the way that men have traditionally behaved. She joins us to talk about how women and men can change their behavior to make the workforce more accommodating for all.
Artificial Intelligence is portrayed in fiction and media as either killer robots or the thing that will save us all. Ajay Agrawal and his coauthors of Prediction Machines take a different view, one of economists. To them, the most important question around any new tech is: what will this reduce the cost of? Listen to find out the one thing AI excel at when it comes to cost reduction.
Each of us has an innate "seeking system" that fuels our desire to know more. Since the industrial revolution, organizations have a tendency to behave in ways that discourage our natural tendency to learn. Dan Cable, author of Alive at Work, is here to talk about how to tap in to this fundamental, human drive to learn and thrive.
Changing culture starts from the ground up. Rasmus Hougaard & Jacqueline Carter, authors of The Mind of a Leader, advise that any leader who wants to affect change should just start, today. First walk the walk in your own leadership style, then let that radiate out through your own team and onward through the rest of the organization.
If you want to learn about disruption, look to Lady Gaga. She was a record-breaking pop-star who decided to make a jazz album with Tony Bennett, completely counter to what anyone thought her audience would like. Whitney Johnson, author of the new book Build an A-Team, joins us to talk about successful disruption and how it can apply to your work.
Customers these look to brands to solve their own personal problems and also work towards solving wider global concerns: they want the paper towels that will clean up messes in the kitchen and also made sustainably so they don't destroy the environment. Anne Bahr Thompson, author of Do Good: Embracing Brand Citizenship to Fuel Both Purpose and Profit, is here to talk about aligning your purpose and your brand to win more customers but also to improve the world.
Work smart, not hard. We've all heard that before but it's not very instructive. Morton Hansen, author of the new book Great at Work, joins us with some tips on how to avoid burnout, work less, and achieve greater results.
"What's your five year plan?" It's a classic interview question that just isn't relevant anymore, now that the market landscape can be radically different within months, never mind years. Allen Adamson and Joel Steckel, authors of the new book Shift Ahead, join us to talk about companies and brands that shifted their whole worldview to make sure they stayed relevant.
People love to talk about innovation but when it comes to actually changing how we work, suddenly everyone starts dragging their feet. Lior Arussy, author of Next is Now, joins us to talk about the different ways we resist change, how to spot that resistance, and eventually how to overcome it.
No, you are not going to be replaced by a robot but a robot might be your new coworker. While automation is here to stay, research has shown that human and machine collaboration consistently outperforms pure automation. H. James Wilson, author of Human + Machine, joins us to talk about the future of the working world.
After 11 years of writing the popular and informative Ask a Manager blog, Alison Green has seen it all, from dramatic exit interviews to the myriad ways our coworkers can get on our nerves. Throughout all the advice there seemed to be a common refrain: just talk about it. Now she's written a book called Ask a Manager, filled with advice and scripts for how to deal with issues at work, from the mundane to the extreme.
Stephen Denning, author of The Age of Agile, distinguishes between "operational agility" and "strategic agility." Operational agility is about improving products that already exist and already have a market. Strategic agility is about creating brand new markets for brand new products. While we should always have operational agility, we should be working toward being more strategic with our agility too.
Wish you could find more purpose and meaning in your work? Dr. Leah Weiss, author of How We Work, has techniques to shift your mindset away from work as a transaction of trading time for money and toward something more positive and motivating in the long run.
“CEO” can seem like a venerated title but the people occupying those positions are less intimidating than you might think. Maybe don’t march into their office unannounced and start chatting today, but CEOs are people who make mistakes and have weak spots, just like anyone. Kim Powell, along with her co-author Elena L. Botelho, interviewed thousands of CEOs and other leaders to get to understand the behaviors of those in leadership positions. She shares their findings with us and in her new book The CEO Next Door.
We’re back! After a short break we’re back with a lineup of exciting guests we’re excited to share with you. First, back from our hiatus, old friends of the AMA, The Carrot Guys: Chester Elton and Adrian Gostick. They’re here to share some of their favorite stories of teamwork success from their new book, The […]
Thank you so much to listening to AMA Edgewise throughout the years. To celebrate, we put together some of our favorite clips, excerpts from the following episodes: Dan Pink on the Modus Operandi of Motivation Bob Kulhan on Honing Your Improv Skills Ed Wallace on Becoming a Relational Leader Devora Zack on Singletasking Alex Frankel […]
The Camino Way is a trail across Spain that take a dedicated hiker a month of 15 miles days to traverse. As Victor Prince walked the trail he reflected on his life, both at home and at work, and came away with seven leadership lessons inspired by his journey. He shares these lessons on our […]
A lot of people pay lip service to culture or say they’ll work on getting a great culture later. According to Howard Behar there is no later, the time for great culture is now. The former president of Starbucks is here to motivate you to create a mission statement to improve your daily work for […]
G. Michael Campbell has found that there is one fairly reliable predictor of project success: communication. If you have good, open communication with the stakeholders involved in your project you are more likely to see the project through to completion. And vice versa. He joins us today to talk about his new book Succeeding with […]
Podcast consumption has been on a steady uptick and isn’t going anywhere. Hosting a podcast is a great form of publicity and business development for even the smallest business owners but getting started can be daunting. Stephen Woessner, author of Profitable Podcasting, published by AMACOM, is here with some ideas to allay your biggest fears […]
In the world of social media we need a modern Emily Post more than ever. Enter Rosanne Thomas with her book Excuse Me on how to navigate the business world with poise and tact. She joins us today with some of her tips from her new book, published by AMACOM, and make sure to sign […]
Digital is the way of the future no matter what your industry. Usually that switch comes with a lot of frightening language: transition, revolution, transformation. It doesn’t have to be that scary. Isaac Sacolick, author of the new book Driving Digital, published by AMACOM, is here to assure you that digital is going to happen […]
Stories have a beginning, a middle, and an end, that’s it. However, there is some nuance that can make a blah story into a memorable one. Esther Choy, author of Let the Story Do the Work, published by AMACOM, joins us with some ways to punch up your storytelling skills that will have people eager […]
Handling feedback, both giving and receiving, is one of the most difficult parts of office life. Mark Murphy, author of Truth at Work, has looked into the science of why we hate hearing feedback and has some ways we can deliver even the toughest messages in a way that will get through. Mark Murphy is […]
Machine automation and AI are the way of the future. That might seem frightening but the leaders at the forefront of this movement have been working together to make sure AI is done right. Josh Sullivan & Angela Zutavern, authors of The Mathematical Corporation, join us with stories of exciting new collaborative innovation that is […]
We talk a lot about great leaders but a leader needs a team working with them. Roberta Matuson has written a new book called The Magnetic Leader and she joins us to talk about her definition of magnetism as well as how to attract, hire, and retain top talent. Roberta Matuson, is the CEO and […]
If you want to be creative you have to keep a journal. It can be electronic or physical but you have to come up with a system for keeping track of all your ideas. So says Scott Berkun, author of The Dance of the Possible, who joins us with that and more tips on turning […]
Being authentic is one of the most important leadership skills. It helps others connect with you and helps your own path become more clear when you’re at a crossroads. Maureen Chiquet, author of Beyond the Label, joins us to talk about her journey during her career and how she decided on the career path she […]
You’d think with all the technology at our fingertips we’d be making decisions faster than ever. But tech still needs a human driver and we’re as fallible as ever. Cheryl Strauss Einhorn is here with her new book Problem Solved and her AREA method for streamlining solving complex problems. Cheryl Einhorn is a media consultant, […]
Chris Kuenne & John Danner, co-authors of the new book Built for Growth, have created a new assessment for entrepreneurs and they can you to try it out. They’ve identified the four types of entrepreneurial leaders and how they work. Listen to the episode and then check out their quiz to put the curiosity of […]
Being an inspiring leader seems like an innate quality that some people are just born with. However, it can be taught. Bonnie Hagemann, co-author of Leading with Vision, joins us with some tips on how to get buy-in from your team and become a visionary leader. Bonnie Hagemann is the CEO of Executive Development Associates, […]
Friction is an unfortunate part of life but it can be overcome. Jeff Rosenblum, co-director of the new documentary The Naked Brand, joins us to talk about the various kinds of friction we encounter and how brands can remove what is stopping their customers from making purchasing decisions. Jeff Rosenblum is the author of Friction, […]
You’ve probably seen Pretty Woman, Wall Street, or Working Girl and think you have an idea of how mergers and acquisitions work: a big scary company comes to buy a small company and sell it for scrap. David Braun, founder and CEO of Capstone, is here to tell you that is so outside the realm […]
There has been and probably always will be a culture clash when a new generation enters the workforce. With new technologies emerging every day, the clash between Millennials and their elders seems more pronounced than ever. Crystal Kadakia, author of the new book The Millennial Myth, joins us to talk about some companies that are […]
We know people can be measured on a scale on intelligence, but what if we could do the same for businesses? Our guest Anne Marie Knott has done just that. She’s here to talk about her RQ scale and how she uses it to measure the innovation output for companies worldwide. Anne Marie Knott is […]
When we think about inspirational leaders we tend to think about the big dreamers and the iconoclasts. It seems like it’s impossible to be inspiring ourselves. Kristi Hedges, author of the new book The Inspiration Code, joins us to talk about how we can make our words and actions more inspiring to others. Kristi Hedges […]
In today’s distracted world that’s always pulling us in a million different directions it’s hard to be memorable; there’s too much information and too little time. Paul Hellman, author of the new AMACOM book You’ve Got 8 Seconds, joins us with tips on how to capture attention and keep it. Paul Hellman consults and speaks […]
Sarah Robb O’Hagan joins us this week to talk about some of the principles in her new book Extreme You: Step Up, Stand Out, Kick Ass, Repeat. Listen in for her advice on building great teams, how to stop your company from being too risk-averse, and working towards your own success. Sarah Robb O’Hagan is […]
Most industry writing is, let’s face it, boring. Anelia Varela, US Director of The Writer, has made it her mission to change that. Listen in for her tips on how to make your business writing simpler, more effective, and stand out from all your competition. Also make sure to check out the archive of our […]