369: You shape the container of your business culture through every conversation with guest expert Thomas Zweifel – ***STAGING*** My Quest for the Best with Bill Ringle

Thomas D. Zweifel, author of Leadership in 100 Days: Your Systematic Self-Coaching Roadmap to Power and Impact—and Your Future

Bill Ringle and Thomas Zweifel discuss every individual can take more responsibility for their own achievement as well as the overall success of the business without a title change.

>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.

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Interview Insights

Top 3 Takeaways

A well-defined vision is a north star that leaders follow. It gives us direction to where we should lead our organization, lets us prioritize goals, and keep things on track.

leadership is not a one way conversation with the person on top just issuing orders. Great leaders knows when to listen and when to start talking.

The series of actions we do daily impacts the outcomes we earn.

Read the Show Notes from this Episode

Political ethicist and leader Mahatma Gandhi was a massive influence on Thomas growing up. [01:29]
9/11 impacted many lives across the globe, Thomas being one of them. He shares that being an unfortunate witness to the terrible event that shook the world made him value his authentic self. [02:54]
Zusha of Hanipol and the essence of identity. [04:09]
The requirements of being a great leader. [05:05]
How rituals enable successful leadership and achievement of goals. [07:36]
Thomas talks about his student in Columbia and how an open-ended question in class helped him shape his vision. [09:50]
The five levels of the global leadership pyramid scheme – awareness, relationships, vision, strategy, and action. [11:40]
Why trust is paramount. [12:46]
Thomas talks about why Martin Luther King is a great leader. [15:02]
Thomas shares a story about an airline company who sadly lost their vision, thinking that their best days are behind them. [16:49]

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Expert Bio

In a VUCA world (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity), business-as-usual is still necessary, but no longer sufficient. A real partner from outside the system can help ask the right questions, confront taboos, stand in the future, build strategy alignment, and boost productivity.

Thomas is a trusted sparring partner for CEOs & C-level executives, board member and expert on strategy & performance. Since 1984, the ex-CEO of Swiss Consulting Group, named “Fast Company” by Fast Company magazine and featured on ABC, Bloomberg, CNN & The Financial Times, has coached leaders on four continents to open new strategic frontiers and meet business imperatives.

On average Thomas’ clients have realized 40X ROI in management results from working with him. An authority on integrating planning, people and performance, ultimately his specialty is unleashing the human spirit in organizations—without bla-bla, impractical training programs, or false dependencies on high-priced consultants.

He is an award-winning author of 8 books, e.g. Communicate or Die; Culture Clash 2.0; iCoach; Leadership in 100 Days; The Rabbi and the CEO (with Aaron Raskin); & Strategy-In-Action (with Ed Borey).

Thomas has been featured on ABC, Bloomberg, CNN, SRF, Fast Company & Financial Times, & “Top 100 Excellent Speakers” 2016-17 and a board member of Paramount Business Jets, JAFI Board of Governors, Keren Hayesod World Executive, Giordano Bruno Institute, International Journal of Communication Research.

His selected corporate clients include ABB, Airbus, Banana Republic, Citibank, ConocoPhillips, Credit Suisse, Danone, Dell, Deutsche Bank, DHL, Faurecia, Fiat, GE, GM, Goldman Sachs, Google, J&J, JPMorgan Chase, Medtronic, Nestlé, Novartis, P&G, Prudential, Roche, Sanofi, Siemens, Starbucks, Swiss Re, UBS, Unilever, Zurich.

Selected other clients: Kazakhstan prime minister & cabinet, Swiss government agencies, UNDP, US State Department, US Air Force Academy, USMA West Point.

Actor & director at age 17-22, learnt key leadership skills: authenticity on stage, empathy, charisma, public speaking, co-leadership & improvisation. Ph.D. international political economy 2001, New York University. Since 2001 adjunct professor Columbia University, since 2004 visiting professor HSG (St. Gallen University).

In 1996 Thomas realized his dream of breaking 3 hours in the NYC Marathon, and in 1997 was recognized as “fastest CEO in the NYC Marathon.” Today he lives with his family in Zurich.