“Genuineness and passion matter; they are the center of everything I’ve done in my career.” This interview explores trust as the foundation of business success.

Developing the inner creativity of your employees is the best investment. This interview explores cultivating authenticity, a key trait of the most effective leaders.

Humans are vulnerable to taking things personally. Business teams are no exception. This interview explores the use of compassion to minimize this distraction.  

Leading by Managing Self with an Adult Sibling: Interview with Bob Noone

• A masterful example of overcoming high stakes relationship challenges.
• How can we overcome long-standing differences by managing ourselves?
• How can we improve adult sibling relationships?

Bob shares an insightful and humorous story about resolving conflicts with his older brother and the benefits of doing it. And how our work relationships are reflected in our early sibling interactions.

Erik interviews Bob Noone, Ph.D; Co-Founder of the Center for Family Consultation, Chicago; Faculty, Bowen Center for the Study of the Family; Editor, Family Systems Journal; and author of the book, Family and Self: Bowen Theory and the Shaping of Adaptive Capacity.

Episode Three: Sara Byers, Co-Owner and President, Leonardo's Pizza

• “Sharing Love Through Pizza” isn’t just new branding for her family business, but also Sara’s philosophy of life. How does viewing the world as literally made of love translate to business success?  Sara says, “Love is everything.”
• Why does leading with authenticity and honesty resonate with so many business teams today?
• Sara explores the power to connect with employees, customers, and the community, and finds that its source is in the “unspoken.”

Erik interviews Sara Byers, Co-Owner and President, Leonardo’s Pizza. After an 11-year career around the US with Gap, Inc., Sara returned to Vermont to join her family’s business, Leonardo’s Pizza. Sara is co-owner and President of the company, which has locations in VT and ME. Sara serves as Board Chair at the Vermont Business Roundtable and as Board Vice Chair at Champlain College. In recent years, she has served on multiple boards, including the Lake Champlain Chamber of Commerce, LUND, and the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts. She has been appointed to multiple state initiatives, including the Governor's Opioid Coordination Council and the Capital Debt Affordability Advisory Committee. Sara is honored to have received numerous community awards including an Honorary Doctorate of Commerce Degree from Champlain College, the Catherine McAuley Award from Mercy Connections, a Health Building Block Award from the United Way of Northwestern VT, and the Rising Star Award from the Lake Champlain Chamber of Commerce. Outside of her professional roles, Sara is a wife, mother, poet, and soul explorer.

Episode Two: Leadership Presence

Interview with Mari McClure

• “As a CEO, I have found the relationship between responsiveness and presence hard to reconcile. It has almost felt like, when I am very present, I am not very responsive. And when I’m really responsive, I am not very present.  Being self aware about it …  I have prioritized presence.”
• ”The most strategic thing I do is stay engaged with our customers.”
• “Whether talking to a board member, a customer or a line worker who works for us, I know I am present when I hear both what they say and how they feel.”

Erik interviews Mari McClure, President and CEO of Green Mountain Power (GMP), a clean energy company featured this week in the NYT (Vermont Utility Plans to End Outages by Giving Customers Batteries) because of its pioneering programs to reduce costs and carbon, while increasing reliability. GMP made Time’s list of “100 Most Influential Companies” and Fast Company’s “Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in North America.” 

Mari stepped into her current role at the start of 2020 after years with GMP leading transformational work across the company, building strong teams, and motivating employees to serve customers. Prior to her time at GMP earned her law degree from the University of Buffalo School of Law in 2006, where she was captain of the women’s basketball team from 1997-2001.  Tune in to learn how Mari’s underdog team beat powerhouse UNC.

Recognized as a transformational leader, Mari discusses pushing limits and questioning the status quo. “I’ve never thought to myself that I reached my full potential. It was always motivating for me to think there was more in life for me to find, to get better at. There was always more out there in the world - I have always felt that way at GMP, too … a drive to continually find new things and get better.”

Erik Thompson interviews Mary Powell, the CEO of Sunrun, the largest residential solar, storage, and energy services company in the U.S. She is the former CEO of Green Mountain Power (GMP), the 2018 Vermont Business of the Year.

Is there a place for love at the edgy negotiating table?  According to the Harvard School of Business, positive negotiation relationships are important not because they engender warm, fuzzy feelings, but because they engender trust – a vital means of securing desired actions from others. Mary’s innovative approach to negotiation is a fascinating lesson in leading with kindness and humility.

Highlights of Erik's conversation with Mary:

• Why the road less traveled is often the right one for execs. Mary's upbringing in NYC, enrollment at the High School of Performing Arts (made famous by the movie FAME),  and her lifelong advocacy for animals led to her leadership role as CEO of a major utility. 
  
  
• Non-traditional CEO candidates can win. GMP board chair and Bruegger's Bagels founder Nord Brue discusses making the decision to hire Mary, someone who took an unconventional path to the role of CEO.
  
  
• Why focusing leadership on “culture over strategy” is a winning approach. Mary's culture of innovation put GMP on the map when she entered into an early partnership with Tesla. Mary credits her success to GMP's North Star: "An obsession with customers,  obsession with service, and obsession with providing green, clean, affordable service to Vermonters."
  
  
• How thinking differently and understanding the value of pioneering an “energy sharing economy” led to better outcomes for her company and customers.