Leadership Works: Recent Episodes
John Bedker
The art and craft of leadership is more important in today’s turbulent world than ever before. If you want to learn about what makes a great leader and be able to apply leadership skills to enrich your life and those around you, then this podcast is for you.
Dr. John Bedker shares a lifetime of real leadership experiences and unpacks the ins and outs of what makes a great leader….and what does not. Gain actionable insights for your own leadership journey and learn from stories of the world’s most effective leaders across all walks of life.
Visit our website at: https://leadershipworkspodcast.com/
Sense and Meaning Making of the 2022 Midterm elections in the United States. One week following the midterms, Dr. Bedker takes the opportunity to do what leaders do following significant events, to make sense of what happened, and to better understand what it means. Sense and meaning-making are important constructs for leaders and the midterms were an important leadership event.
Episode 18 is provided just prior to the midterm elections in the United States. Dr. Bedker encourages all eligible people to vote in the upcoming election. Voting is a right, it is a responsibility, a civic duty, and most importantly it is a display of your engagement in our/your democracy. It is an act of leadership. Doing the right thing, and standing up for truth and freedom; are critical leadership imperatives. Vote!
Episode 17 provides a summary of the Belarus Series. Synthesis of each episode of the series is given with a specific connection to the current experience in the United States. The case is made as a “cautionary tale” for the United States to not pursue a path toward autocracy. Dr. Bedker makes clear the case for leadership in these turbulent times. “Do the right thing."
In this third installment on the country of Belarus, Dr. John Bedker addresses the leader, the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko. It is a tale of position and power, not of leadership. In this episode, John makes clear the path of Belarus, the path to autocracy, and the last remaining dictatorship in Europe. It is a path, in Dr. Bedker's opinion, that is not dissimilar to the path the United States is on. Government leaders and faith leaders are challenged to “do the right thing,” to not replicate the history of “leadership" in Belarus. The peril of democracy in the United States is real and Belarus may be a frightening end game to view. This episode of the Leadership Works Podcast addresses the many leadership challenges to the future of democracy in the United States.
In this second episode of the Belarus Series, Dr. John Bedker shares the current state of Belarus socially, politically, economically, and militarily. Leadership insights are given on each of these axes to the country of Belarus and for their implications for the United States. The case is made for leaders to be mindful of the paths of other countries as they may inform governmental leadership in the United States. Democracy may be imperfect and fragile, but it is well worth fighting for. This second episode of the Leadership Works Podcast Belarus series makes this case clear.
In this episode, Dr. John Bedker begins a four-part series on the country of Belarus. Sitting at the crossroads of East and West, Belarus has an increasingly important position geographically, politically, and geopolitically. The leadership navigation and leadership strategies employed are key to the future of Belarus and this important crossroads in our world. This introductory episode lays out the topics and critical issues to be reviewed in this important leadership series on the country of Belarus.
In this week's episode, Dr. John Bedker follows up on his recent Leadership Works Podcast on the mass shootings in Buffalo, NY, and Uvalde, TX. The call for leaders to act, to do the right thing, is advanced. Political leaders and Faith leaders are challenged to lead. Macro gun violence data is unwrapped to reveal the concentrated and localized nature of gun violence in the United States. The root causes of gun violence; poverty and fear are documented.
Reflective Practice is the focus of Episode 12. Reflective Practice is an important leadership tool for successful leaders. In this episode, Dr. John Bedker takes the listeners on a forward-looking reflective journey. A 1-2 year forward timeline is set to consider where we might or could be socially, politically, economically, and militarily. John poses reflective questions on each of these axes. The episode concludes by asking the listeners where we will be as Americans in 1-2 years. From the gun culture in the USA to the war in Ukraine. Episode 12 is an important reflective journey for everyone.
This episode was recorded after the mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, but before the tragic mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Dr. John Bedker focuses on gun violence and the gun culture in America as a Leadership moment. Are we going to “do the right thing?’ This is the ultimate definition of leadership and the challenge of us all to be problem-solving leaders regarding gun violence and mass shootings. Dr. Bedker will provide another episode on this crucial topic as events unfold in Uvalde, Texas, and in our Federal government.
Episode 10- Steve Kerr- Exemplary Leader
In this episode, Dr. John Bedker takes a deep dive into an exemplary and highly successful leader in the world of basketball. The focus is on Steve Kerr, head coach of the NBA Golden State Warriors. It is Steve Kerr’s back story, the formative and developmental experiences of his life that have led to Steve Kerr’s leadership pillars: Joy, Competition, Compassion and Mindfulness. John shares his insights into Steve Kerr’s leadership pillars and coaching philosophy.
Episode 9 is a sequel to Episode 8. Episode 8 focused on Problem Identification and Episode 9 brings insights into Problem Solving. The issue is the ongoing Institutional Leadership Failures of clerics in the Catholic Church. What needs to be done for the church to get back on track is explored and a case is made for rethinking both the church’s organizational design and the makeup of its organizational leadership team. The recommendations are consistent with the Pope’s guidance for priests "to be pastors and not politicians.” A call for the laity to engage in leadership is also made.
In this episode, Dr. John Bedker focuses on the institutional failures of the leaders of the Catholic church in the United States. The ongoing efforts of church leaders in the United States to regularly advance a right-wing political agenda is brought to light. This agenda is showcased in sharp contrast with the values and founding tenets of Catholicism. John details two of the many departures of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), the leaders of the Catholic church in the United States, from the founding beliefs of Catholicism. Abortion rights and the pedophilia crisis are highlighted.
Material for this podcast was sourced from:
BishopAccountability.org
Collated USCCB Data
Episode 7- Democracy: Is it in Peril? Harvard Gazette Staff Writer Colleen Walsh interviews the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard on the state of American democracy. Dr. John Bedker addresses this interview from a leadership perspective. John then expands on this interview to the perilous state of democracy globally. John’s focus is on Ukraine, a democracy, and the response of its President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The leadership competencies that have emerged from President Zelenskyy are brought to light as a hopeful sign for the future of democracy.
Episode 6- Understanding a Great Leader from What They Say and Do.
Famous Quotes from Congressman John Lewis- An Exemplary Leader.
The late Congressman John Lewis was an exemplary leader his entire life. He brought an abundance of empathy, he encouraged the hearts of many he came in contact with, he challenged others to act for good and he modeled a better way for others to emulate. Episode 6 of The Leadership Works Podcast takes quotes from the life and speeches of John Lewis and applies them to your leadership journey.
Dr. John Bedker brings his insights and lived experiences to relate famous quotes from Congressman Lewis to the world of leadership. In the case of John Lewis, imitation can be a sincere form of flattery. Episode 6 of The Leadership Works Podcast makes the compelling case for imitation in what John Lewis said and what he did.
Meacham, Jon. His Truth Is Marching on: John Lewis and the Power of Hope. New York: Random House. 2020.
Episode 5- Leadership Guiding Principles in the Global Pandemic.
Moving From a Room Called Fear, to a Room Called Hope.
In Episode 5 of The Leadership Works Podcast Dr. John Bedker reviews the recent article from the McKinsey Quarterly, authored by two Stanford Professors, Hayagreeva Rao and Robert Sutton. The article acts as an important tool for leaders, a checklist. The checklist offered by Rao and Sutton is offered for leaders in troubled times; a time we are clearly in. Written by academics, this article is noteworthy in its several operational guiding principles.
Dr. John Bedker has a rich history of bringing training and knowledge to practice. The article presented in Episode 5 of The Leadership Works Podcast by Rao and Sutton details several guiding principles of timely value in our pandemic world. The connections shared from theory to practice are compelling for scholars and leaders.
Rao, E. and Sutton, R. From a Room Called Fear to a Room Called Hope, Leadership Agenda for Troubled Times. McKinsey Quarterly. July 9, 2020.
Episode 4- Doing the right thing…When Leaders cannot do anything else. Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, Director for European Affairs for the National Security Council, retires.
Episode 4 of The Leadership Works Podcast details another instance where a leader chooses the good of the military service over his individual life as a military officer to bring the bullying and intimidation by President Trump to a close. Lieutenant Colonel Vindman, an active-duty Army officer working for the National Security Council served the Army and his country with exemplary service and distinction. Lieutenant Colonel Vindman chose the good of the Army and the best interests of his profession rather than his own interests to pursue the Army life he loved. This is an episode of true character. A mark of a real leader.
Dr. John Bedker speaks to the uncommon values of Alexander Vindman. It is these uncommon values that are markers of a great leader.
Source:
Schmitt, Eric and Cooper, Helene. “Lt. Colonel Who Testified Against Trump Will Retire.” New York Times, print ed., 9 July 2020, p. A16.
Episode 3- “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights…” Well, maybe not may be the more accurate statement…leaderships role in seeking a more perfect union.
During this 4th of July 2020 holiday, Episode 3 of The Leadership Works Podcast takes the Declaration of Independence preamble and relates this historic document and its preambles iconic words to the values represented by leaders today.
The focus of Episode 3 is on significant disruption; disruption to our health care system via a coronavirus pandemic, which has led to our economic system experiencing significant disruption in employment, business failures and diminishing prospects for workers future economic security. These parallel and related disruptors to the lives of many Americans have enabled the Band-Aid to come off of other systemic societal woes as well. Among these include inequalities in longstanding systemic racism, policing, education, employment and pay.
Dr. John Bedker discusses these many challenges to leaders in these troubled times in our nation’s calling “to form a more perfect union,” on this 4th of July holiday. John shares with you the need for leaders to lead in ways that all men and women will be treated equally. A leadership challenge, to be sure.
Sources include:
Christensen, Clayton M. (1997). The innovator’s dilemma: when new technologies cause great firms to fail. Boston, Massachusetts, USA: Harvard Business School Press.
Dillon, Karen, Guest Editor, MIT Sloan Management Review (Spring 2020, Volume 61, Number 3), What will it take to innovate and compete over the next decade? Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA: MIT Sloan Management Review.
Poo, Al-jen and Shah, Palak, The Future of Work Isn’t What People Think it is, May 7, 2020. New York, New York, The New York Times.
Episode 2- The Removal of Captain Brett Cozier, United States Navy, from Command of the Nuclear Aircraft Carrier, USS Theodore Roosevelt. A Story of Service to Others Over Self.
Episode 2 of The Leadership Works Podcast informs the listener of the events surrounding Captain Brett Crozier’s removal from command. Captain Crozier was the Commanding Officer of the United States nuclear aircraft carrier, Theodore Roosevelt. Following an outbreak of Coronavirus-19 onboard the Roosevelt a series of significant leadership events transpired.
Captain Crozier followed procedure and communicated the events onboard the Roosevelt to his Chain of Command. He put his crew and his ship before his personal self-interest. The leadership message of Episode 2 of The Leadership Works Podcast is clear: Non Sibi Sed Patriae- not for self, but for country.
The politicization of military leadership, and the politicization of a Commanding Officer’s judgment and decision making, critical leadership core competencies for any leader, are brought to light in Episode 2 of The Leadership Works Podcast. Dr. John Bedker, a former Naval Officer and Commanding Officer, brings his unique experience and insight.
Sources include: Gafni, Matthias and Garofoli, Joe. “Exclusive: Captain of the aircraft carrier with growing coronavirus outbreak pleads for help from Navy.” San Francisco Chronicle, 31 March 2020.
Gafni, Matthias and Garofoli, Joe. “A Captain’s Choice, Brett Crozier chose his crew over his career. His decision surprised no one who knows him.” San Francisco Chronicle, 5 April 2020.
Schmitt, Eric and Ismay, John. “He Led a Top Navy Ship. Now He Sits in Quarantine, Fired and Infected.” New York Times, 6 April 2020.
Lubold, Gordon and Gordon, Michael R. “Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly Resigns in Wake of USS Roosevelt Comments.” The Wall Street Journal, 6 April 2020.
Episode 1- Fintan O’Toole shares a European view of President Donald Trump.
How the words of the President of the United States shape the world’s view of America.
Episode 1 of The Leadership Works Podcast shares a fact-based review of the leadership practices of the President of the United States. Fintan O’Toole, a celebrated Irish journalist writes of the world’s view of America during the Trump administration. As Finton writes, words matter, and the truth matters. America has been loved, hated, and envied. Now Fenton writes, America is to be pitied. Episode 1 of The Leadership Works Podcast shares Fenton O’Toole’s article in its entirety.
Episode 1 begins with remarks given by Martin Baron, the editor of the Washington Post, at the Harvard Class of 2020 virtual graduation. Bacon makes the point that facts matter for leaders. To be trusted, leaders need to demonstrate trustworthy behavior. Trustworthy behavior begins with telling the truth.
Dr. John Bedker shares with the listeners the need and benefits of reflection for leaders. Leaders benefit by “looking in the mirror,” seeing, hearing, and learning from the voices of those that witness the leader in action. The erosion of trust as a result of a leader’s departure from facts and truth has a consequence. Leaders need to reflect on the voice they share and the true voices they hear from others. Facts and truth are determinative for leaders.
Sources: O’Toole, Fintan. “The World has loved, hated, and envied the U.S. Now, for the first time, we pity it.” Irish Times, 25 April 2020.
Powell, Alvin. “Washington Post’s Baron sends off the class of 2020, saying that facts and truth matter.” Harvard Staff Writer, Harvard Gazette, 28 May 2020, Martin Baron Commencement Speech for the online graduation program for the Harvard Class of 2020.