Imagine learning best business practices from the former vice chairman of Booz Allen Hamilton, Chairman of Chiquita Brands International, publisher and CEO of the Chicago Sun Times, and directors at Virgin America and Allegheny Energy.

You wouldn’t actually need a very big room, since Cyrus Freidheim filled everyone of those roles during his 55-year business career, as well as stints at Union Carbide, Ford Motor, and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Cyrus has summed up all he’s learned about business — and life — in a newly published book, Commit & Deliver: On the Frontlines of Management Consulting.

There’s no need to pay $1,000 an hour or more for Cyrus’s expertise. It’s free for the taking this week as host and award-winning journalist Dean Rotbart’s guest is Cyrus Freidheim.

Photo: Cyrus Freidheim, Commit & Deliver
Posted: December 27, 2021
Monday Morning Run Time: 56:08

Until they turn 25 years old, most individuals are really only life “interns.” Full life begins once we enter our mid-20s.

At its core, that is what Robert L. Dilenscneider’s latest book, Nailing It: How History’s Awesome Twentysomethings Got It Together, is about.

Dilenschneider, an accomplished author and communications consultant, tells the story of 25 well-known personalities when they were 25 years olds — from Mozart to Edith Paif, Albert Einstein to Steve Jobs — and the one defining trait they shared on their path to immortality.

To help interview Dilenschneider, host and award-winning journalist Dean Rotbart enlisted his multi-talented daughter, Avital, who not coincidentally, turns 25 years old this week. As Avital points out, there is a great deal to be learned from history, no matter your age.

Photo: Robert L. Dilenschneider, Nailing It
Posted: December 20, 2021
Monday Morning Run Time: 45.54

Treating all of your employees equally may seem like an ideal approach. But it's not.

The one-size-fits-all approach, says Minal Bopaiah, an expert in diversity, equity and inclusion, often holds back employees who don’t fit the prototypical characteristics of today’s workforce.

The better approach, Minal tells host and award-winning journalist Dean Rotbart, is to design a human-centered organization that offers “equity” to everyone — making room for those who are different and then leveraging those disparities.

Minal is the author of Equity: How to Design Organizations Where Everyone Thrives, an eye-opening new book that will challenge your perspective on fairness and productivity in the workplace. Her firm, Brevity & Wit, helps organizations — including Amnesty International, NPR, The Christian Science Monitor, and Human Rights Watch — achieve the change they wish to see in the world.

Photo: Minal Bopaiah, Brevity & Wit
Posted: December 13, 2021
Monday Morning Run Time: 47:29

[Purchase your copy of A Christmas Day Miracle by Dean and Talya Rotbart: “An inspirational adult yuletide tale that offers hope to everyone —  regardless of their religious beliefs — about the wonder and power of life’s unexpected blessings.” Get the Kindle edition for only $4.95.]

Some of the world’s most successful investors are also some of the happiest people on earth. It’s not because they are rich — money still won’t buy happiness — but because they are able to think more rationally, rigorously, and objectively when it comes to every aspect of their lives.

In his book, Richer, Wiser, Happier: How The World’s Greatest Investors Win in Markets and Life, author William Green shares insights he’s gleaned conducting dozens of interviews over the years with financial superstars including Sir John Templeton, Peter Lynch, Michael Price, Ed Thorp, and Charlie Munger.

Hearing the concepts that Green shares with host and award-winner reporter Dean Rotbart won’t magically turn you into an overnight billionaire. But it may very well help you improve your decision-making skills, assess risks, avoid preventable errors, and build resilience regardless of what life sends your way. And, Dean adds, you’ll likely become a better investor, too.

Photo: William Green, Richer, Wiser, Happier
Posted: December 6, 2021
Monday Morning Run Time: 1 Hour, 6 Minutes and 54 Seconds

[Purchase your copy of A Christmas Day Miracle by Dean and Talya Rotbart: “An inspirational adult yuletide tale that offers hope to everyone —  regardless of their religious beliefs — about the wonder and power of life’s unexpected blessings.” Get the Kindle edition for only $4.95.]

Change has changed.

That is the premise of bestselling author Erika Andersen’s latest book, Change from the Inside Out, a primer for businesses and individuals on how to rethink change — typically viewed as difficult, costly, and uncomfortable — and instead embrace it as doable, rewarding, and routine.

Erika, founder of Proteus International, is a consultant and advisor to top executives at organizations including Amazon, Spotify, and the Yale School of Public Health. She has made a career out of helping her clients become “change-capable” leaders; able to respond to, and actually benefit from, the rapid speed and relentless nature of change.

Are you prepared for whatever comes next? 

Join host and award-winning journalist Dean Rotbart as he and Erika explore the many advantages of greeting change with a fresh, positive perspective.

Photo: Erika Andersen, Proteus
Posted: November 29, 2021
Monday Morning Run Time: 48:03

Last week’s partial lunar eclipse attracted millions of people to gaze at our nearest celestial neighbor.

One of them, Daniel Sax, has designs on more than just staring at the moon. He intends to mine the crusty orb for water and oxygen, essentials that future planetary travelers will need to sustain them on lunar bases and fuel their voyages to Mars and beyond.

Daniel is the co-founder of Toronto-based Canadian Space Mining Corporation, launched in August 2020. He aims to propel Canada to the forefront of the anticipated demand for space-based supply chains and utilities, and he’s drawing a lot of interest from prospective investors and government officials.

Host and award-winning journalist Dean Rotbart says what makes Daniel’s story so compelling — and relevant to all entrepreneurs — is that he not only dreams big, he is crafting a pioneering business to turn his dreams into a reality.

Photo: Daniel Sax, Canadian Space Mining Corporation
Posted: November 22, 2021
Monday Morning Run Time: 38:42

In the latest edition of Publishers Weekly, the editors (BookLife Reviews) showcase Dean Rotbart’s September Twelfth: An American Comeback Story as a “book of outstanding quality.” Order your signed first-edition exclusively at GutenbergsStore.com.

For more than a century, General Electric stood as a beacon of American manufacturing and ingenuity. The 129-year-old company was once the most valuable U.S. corporation; its brand emblazoned on tens of thousands of products from light bulbs to nuclear power plants.

On November 8th, GE, which has been in decline for years, announced that it would spin out its remaining operations into three separate companies, in effect, heralding the end of General Electric as the world knew it.

What went wrong and what can today’s business owners and leaders learn from the rise and fall of GE?  Gary Hoover, executive director at American Business History Center and a leading business historian, is host Dean Rotbart’s special guest this week.

Photo: Gary Hoover, American Business History Center
Posted: November 15, 2021
Monday Morning Run Time: 26:20

Fear is a stick that many bosses use to squeeze extra productivity out of their employees: Fear of job loss, fear of career stagnation, and even fear of humiliation in front of their colleagues.

There remains a place for fear in the workplace — when well-managed —  but two former McKinsey and Company consultants have helped more than 1,000 business leaders and hundreds of organizations embrace the “Unfear” methods of leadership, leading to breakthrough success and elevated levels of employee satisfaction.

This week, authors Gaurav Bhatnagar and Mark Minukas share with host and award-winning journalist Dean Rotbart how fear — properly channeled — provides valuable opportunities for individuals and organizations to learn and grow.

[Pick up your own copy of Unfear here.]

Photo: Gaurav Bhatnagar (l) and Mark Minukas, Co-Creation Partners
Posted: November 8, 2021
Monday Morning Run Time: 42:34

The Op-Ed pages of The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and USA Today are among the hardest journalism forums for outsiders to crack.

Bob Brody has spent the past 40 years as an Op-Ed “safecracker,” having written or ghost-written roughly 1,000 Op-Ed essays.

If you are passionate about a topic of public interest or are looking for a way to bolster your stature in the public eye, Op-Eds can be a uniquely valuable tool.

This week Bob shares with host and award-winning journalist Dean Rotbart the methods that he’s discovered are most effective for newcomers hoping to break into the Op-Ed pages of the nation’s elite news organizations.

Photo: Bob Brody, bobbrody@hotmail.com
Posted: November 1, 2021
Monday Morning Run Time: 1 hour, 14 seconds

Read Dean Rotbart’s latest Op-Ed essay in The Wall Street Journal here.

Purchase a signed copy of Dean’s new book, September Twelfth: An American Comeback Story, here.

By now, nearly everyone knows that William Shatner, aka Captain James T. Kirk, flew into space aboard the Blue Origin spacecraft on October 13th.

Why would Jeff Bezos, who owns the rocketship company, want to invite a 90-year-old actor whose turn in the original Star Trek series took place more than 50 years ago on board when Bezos could have sold that seat for tens of millions of dollars? 

Longtime Wizard of Ads Partner Jeff ‘The Professor’ Sexton tells host and award-winning journalist Dean Rotbart that there are priceless marketing lessons to be gleaned from Bezos’s inclusion of Shatner — insights that can lead to out-of-this-world success whether you’re selling space exploration, insurance, beer, breakfast cereal, or even toilet paper.

Strap yourself in, Jeff and Dean are ready to blast off.

Read Jeff Sexton’s article, “Two Marketing Lessons From William Shatner and Blue Origin.”

Photo: Jeff Sexton, Wizard of Ads Partners
Posted: October 25, 2021
Monday Morning Run Time: 43:00