Leadership is comparatively easy.  Leading with honor requires men and women of special character and skills.  So says Colonel Lee Ellis (ret.), this week's guest on Monday Morning Radio. 

Colonel Ellis, an Air Force fighter pilot, spent 5 1/2 years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam.  He was the youngest POW to be imprisoned along with Senator John McCain at the notorious "Hanoi Hilton."  If leaders can act with honor under those circumstances, Colonel Ellis teaches, they certainly can act with honor as the heads of corporations, small businesses and nonprofits.  

Colonel Ellis is an author and expert in the areas of team-building, executive development and - of course - leadership.  He shares his unique insights with Monday Morning Radio listeners.

Colonel Ellis  is interviewed by Wizard Academy faculty member and graduate Dean Rotbart and by David Biondo, a veteran financial planner and successful entrepreneur. Rotbart and Biondo produce Monday Morning Radio and serve as co-hosts in cooperation with Business Unconventional on 710 KNUS AM in Denver.  Also joining the conversation is Jeff Wilson a small business expert with ActionCoach - Team Empowerment.  Wilson is a regular contributor to B. Unconventional. 

Pinterest is the 'hot' new social media site. Originally designed to cater to brides and weddings, the site has boomed in popularity and is now used by more than 16 million visitors a month.

Cyndie Shaffstall, a social media expert and author, is the guest this week, helping to explain Pinterest and why it is a must for some business owners.  Shaffstall is the founder of Spider Trainers in Lakewood, Colorado, and the author of more than a dozen books, including What, How, Who & When: Small-Business Guide to Winning at Web Marketing.

Shaffstall is interviewed by Academy faculty member and graduate Dean Rotbart and by David Biondo, a veteran financial planner and successful entrepreneur. Rotbart and Biondo produce Monday Morning Radio and serve as co-hosts in cooperation with Business Unconventional on 710 KNUS AM in Denver.

Tim Miles, a faculty member at The Wizard Academy and a Wizard of Ads Partner, specializes in helping owner-operated companies do more with less. He is the founder and head custodian - his words - of The Imagination Advisory Group, based in Columbia, MO.  

He is also the author of the recently released book, Good Company - Making It, Being It, Keeping It.  He is already at work on his next book, to be called We All Have Special Needs.

Tim is interviewed on Monday Morning Radio by fellow Academy faculty member and graduate Dean Rotbart and by David Biondo, a veteran financial planner and successful entrepreneur. Rotbart and Biondo produce Monday Morning Radio and serve as co-hosts in cooperation with Business Unconventional on 710 KNUS AM in Denver.

Be sure to follow B. Unconventional on Twitter: @BUnRadio and subscribe to Roy H. Williams's Monday Morning Memo.  The best things in life really are free!

Monday Morning Radio - Run Time:    31 min    17 sec
Photo: Tim Miles, The Imagination Advisory Group

Michael R. Drew, a veteran faculty member at The Wizard Academy, is a global superstar when it comes to helping authors propel their books onto the most-influential bestseller lists. To date, 74 books represented by Drew and his Promote-A-Book marketing agency have earned the title "bestseller."  A dozen of his books, in fact, have become New York Times #1 top sellers.

After helping so many others promote themselves and their books, Drew has joined with Wizard Academy co-founder Roy H. Williams to pen the new book, Pendulum: How Past Generations Shape Our Present and Predict Our Future.

Drew and Promote A Book strive to build strong and real relationships with clients and their audiences, increasing sales in a natural manner, and maximizing the depth and longevity of that relationship through its Persona Architecture and Platform Building programs. Drew has presented the Pendulum theory on stage with and for the Dali Lama, Sir Richard Branson, and Steven R. Covey, and privately for the Executive Committee at Franklin Covey. 

Drew is interviewed exclusively on Monday Morning Radio by fellow Academy faculty member and graduate Dean Rotbart and by David Biondo, a veteran financial planner and successful entrepreneur. Rotbart and Biondo produce Monday Morning Radio and serve as co-hosts in cooperation with Business Unconventional on 710 KNUS AM in Denver.

NOTE: The Monday Morning Radio interview with Michael R. Drew was orginally conducted on July 20, 2012.  Since then, publication of Pendulum has been rescheduled for October 2, 2012.

Lauren E. Miller is a nationally recognized expert on anxiety relief and stress reduction; an author; motivational speaker; and one-to-one coach (four, six and eight-week programs).  A majority of her clients are business owners and entrepreneurs.

Miller is interviewed by Academy faculty member and graduate Dean Rotbart and by David Biondo, a veteran financial planner and successful entrepreneur. Rotbart and Biondo produce Monday Morning Radio and serve as co-hosts in cooperation with Business Unconventional on 710 KNUS AM in Denver.

This week's audio explores ways that listeners can navigate their way back to inner peace. Lauren’s core advice is to “remain the gatekeeper of your thoughts.” Along with noted author and speaker Les Brown, Lauren is a cofounder of Stress Solutions University.

Doreen Bloch has written the book - literally - on which companies constitute "The Coolest Startups in America."  

Bloch, herself an entrepreneur and founder of Poshly.com, has surveyed the American business landscape to reveal the country's most innovative newcomers.  She reveals the common threads among these uncommon small businesses.

Bloch, who personifies the cutting-edge, unconventional thinking taught at the Wizard Academy, is interviewed by Academy faculty member and graduate Dean Rotbart and by David Biondo, a veteran financial planner and successful entrepreneur.

Rotbart and Biondo produce Monday Morning Radio and serve as co-hosts in cooperation with Business Unconventional on 710 KNUS AM in Denver.

Be sure to follow B. Unconventional on Twitter: @BUnRadio and subscribe to Roy H. Williams's Monday Morning Memo.  The best things in life really are free!

Run Time:  31 min  01 sec
Photo: Doreen Bloch, Poshly.com and The Coolest Startups in America

Mike O'Neil teaches businesses and professionals how to supercharge their LinkedIn pages to generate new customers and clients - and to build a priceless business network.  O'Neil, CEO of Integrated Alliances in Minneapolis, is an author, consultant, event organizer, and world-class networker.  Consider this your personal introduction to someone you really ought to know.

O'Neil, who personifies the cutting-edge, unconventional thinking taught at the Wizard Academy, is interviewed by Academy faculty member and graduate Dean Rotbart and by David Biondo, a veteran financial planner and successful entrepreneur.

Rotbart and Biondo produce Monday Morning Radio and serve as co-hosts in cooperation with Business Unconventional on 710 KNUS AM in Denver.

Be sure to follow B. Unconventional on Twitter: @BUnRadio and subscribe to Roy H. Williams's Monday Morning Memo.  The best things in life really are free!

Run Time:  29 min  30 sec
Photo: Mike O'Neil, Integrated Alliances: Home of The LinkedIn Rockstars

Rich Christiansen, author of The Zig Zag Principle and Bootstrap Business, writes from experience - lots and lots of experience.  Over the course of his serial entrepreneurial career, Rich has started 33 businesses on a shoestring budget.  Some have been amazing successes - 11 generated multi-million dollar revenues.  Others, he's cut loose and chalked up the failure to experience.  Indeed, part of what Rich teaches entrepreneurs is "how to fail efficiently."

Christiansen, who has taught courses at the Wizard Academy, is interviewed by Academy faculty member and graduate Dean Rotbart and by David Biondo, a veteran financial planner and successful entrepreneur.  Rotbart and Biondo produce Monday Morning Radio and serve as co-hosts in cooperation with Business Unconventional on 710 KNUS AM in Denver.

Be sure to follow B. Unconventional on Twitter: @BUnRadio and subscribe to Roy H. Williams's Monday Morning Memo.  The best things in life really are free!

Run Time:  18 min  44 sec
Photo: Rich Christiansen, The Zig Zag Principle

Peter Nevland didn't start out to be a much-in-demand business writing coach.  In fact, he began his professional career as an engineer for Motorola. But Peter discovered that good writing - even great writing - is within the grasp of every executive - regardless of how 'techie' that executive may be.  Peter's journey from slide rule junkie to wordsmith and word coach has an important lesson:  If he can do it, so can you!  

Peter shares some of the key lessons from his popular How To Write Workshops, including this tip:  "Combine the familiar with the unexpected" if you want to grab your readers by their eyeballs.

Nevlan is interviewed by Wizard Academy faculty member and graduate Dean Rotbart and by David Biondo, a veteran financial planner and successful entrepreneur.  Rotbart and Biondo produce Monday Morning Radio and serve as co-hosts in cooperation with Business Unconventional on 710 KNUS AM in Denver.

Be sure to follow B. Unconventional on Twitter: @BUnRadio and subscribe to Roy H. Williams's Monday Morning Memo.  The best things in life really are free!

Calling in from the newsroom of The New York Times, where he is an award-winning reporter, Charles Duhigg explains the methods that individuals and businesses can use to break bad habits and build new positive behaviors and patterns.

Duhigg is interviewed by Wizard Academy faculty member and graduate Dean Rotbart and by David Biondo, a veteran financial planner and successful entrepreneur.  Rotbart and Biondo produce Monday Morning Radio in cooperation with Business Unconventional on 710 KNUS AM in Denver.

Be sure to follow B. Unconventional on Twitter: @BUnRadio and subscribe to Roy H. Williams's Monday Morning Memo.  The best things in life really are free!

Run Time: 26 min 39 sec
Original Broadcast Date: March 25, 2012 
Photo: Charles Duhigg, The Power of Habit