In this episode ofTHE MENTORS RADIO, Host Dan Hesse talks with Howard Smith, who wrote My Friend Johnny, about his friendship with Johnny Carson.
Perhaps no person has received as many tributes and Thank You’s from others in their field than Johnny Carson. A countless number of aspiring comedians over the 30 years Johnny Carson hosted The Tonight Show moved to Los Angeles in the hope of being “discovered” by Johnny, as the exposure and coaching that Johnny provided propelled many successful careers, including David Letterman, Jay Leno, Jerry Seinfeld, Gary Shandling, Ellen DeGeneres, Joan Rivers, Jim Carrey, Rosanne Barr, Drew Carey and Richard Lewis.
In his book, our guest mentor Howard Smith takes us off the set of The Tonight Show to tell us who Johnny Carson—Howard’s close friend and neighbor of twenty years—truly was, as well as the qualities Howard most admired about Johnny and other famous people, and what he believes made them successful. Howard, now 84, retired when he was 42 because he was told he only had ten years to live, and he believes close friendships and devoting his life to helping others extended his life.
Howard Smith is also the former Chairman of USA Torco Oil Corporation and a former football coach at Oaks Christian High School and at Occidental College, both located near Los Angeles.
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In this episode of THE MENTORS RADIO, Host Dan Hesse talks with Jim Steeg, known publicly as “Mr. Super Bowl” and credited with transforming the Super Bowl from a singular championship to a multi-day extravaganza. While many books have been written about Super Bowl games, never has one been written about how the Super Bowl itself became the greatest sporting event created in the twentieth century. Only one person can tell that story definitively, and that is Jim Steeg, who joins host Dan Hesse to give The Mentors Radio show audience a sneak peak into his upcoming book. Publicly known as “Mr. Super Bowl,”
Jim spent almost four decades at the upper-most management levels in professional football, twenty-six of those years leading the NFL’s Special Events Department. During that time, he transformed the Super Bowl from a simple singular championship football game into a multi-day entertainment, marketing, and media extravaganza, as well as a beloved “national holiday.” In his book, entitled Super!, Jim chronicles the history, growth, and behind-the-scenes making of the Super Bowl, with lessons from which we can all learn, including how to build a lasting institution. Currently a consultant across both collegiate and professional sports, Steeg resides in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. In his yet-to-be-released book, Super!,Jim chronicles the history, growth, and behind-the-scenes making of the Super Bowl over his tenure, with many never-before-told stories, humorous anecdotes, and poignant moments.
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General Stan McChrystal discusses his book On Character - Choices That Define a Life. It's a personal guide for reflection and circumspection which also explains why we need character in our leaders, and why who you become is more important, and more difficult to achieve, than what you become.
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In this episode of THE MENTORS RADIO, Host Dan Hesse talks with Peter Banko, CEO of Baystate Health and author of The Necessary Goodbye: How Great Leaders Fire with Clarity, Confidence and Compassion. In this conversation, Peter joins Dan to explain why firing the right people is not only ethical, but often necessary for the well-being of the company and especially for its employees.
Peter is the CEO of Baystate Health, which is a connected ecosystem of 13,000 caregivers who individually and together are on a mission to redefine health and health care. Baystate Health is a not-for-profit, integrated health system serving more than 800,000 individuals in western Massachusetts with a service area stretching from Connecticut to Vermont. Baystate’s mission is to deliver compassionate, quality and accessible care.
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In this episode of THE MENTORS RADIO, Host Dan Hesse talks with Bruce Mehlman, CEO of Mehlman Consulting, a bipartisan firm he founded after serving at senior levels in politics, policy and business, to discuss the growing role that geopolitical risk plays in the strategy of all companies, large and small.
Mehlman Consulting helps Fortune 500 companies and innovative startups understand, anticipate and navigate the ever-evolving policy environment and trends likely to impact the global marketplace. A highly sought-after public speaker to Boards of Directors, global conferences and strategic planning sessions, Mehlman’s popular Age of Disruption substack reaches tens of thousands of readers across business, government, NGOs and global investment firms each week.
His well-recognized infographics regarding political trends are frequently covered in leading publications, including the Washington Post, Axios, Politico, CNN, Bloomberg and Fox News. Mehlman has lectured on “winning business-government relations” at the Harvard Kennedy School, Yale School of Management and Georgetown University, among others.
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In this episode of THE MENTORS RADIO, Host Dan Hesse talks with Chris Cillizza, an American political analyst, journalist, and digital media creator.
Chris is best known for his sharp, accessible breakdowns of U.S. politics. He now runs a popular YouTube channel and publishes on Substack, where he explains political news in clear, engaging terms. In his latest book, Power Players: Sports, Politics, and the American Presidency, Chris takes a non-partisan and fascinating approach to understanding leadership.
Instead of just studying presidents as politicians, he looks at them as athletes, competitors and fans, and uncovers what sports reveals about their leadership traits. His insights apply to all leaders, whether in business, entrepreneurship, at home or in a volunteer capacity.
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Work design is the primary reason work often fails to get done well, and why leaders need to thoroughly know the business and get involved with the front line to be effective and respected. Nelson is the Faculty Director of the MIT Leadership Center and the Distinguished Professor of System Dynamics and Organization Studies at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Nelson received the International System Dynamics Society’s Jay Wright Forrester Award, which recognizes the best work in the field in the previous five years and he received the Jamieson Prize for Excellence in Teaching. He was recently recognized by Poets and Quants as one of the country’s top instructors in executive education.
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In this episode of THE MENTORS RADIO, Host Dan Hesse talks with Dr. Kaushik Basu, Professor of Economics and of International Studies at Cornell University.
Dr. Basu was formerly Chief Economist of the World Bank, Chief Economic Adviser to the Indian Government, and president of the International Economic Association. He is currently co-Chair of the United Nations High-Level Expert Group “Beyond GDP”.
In this episode of The Mentors Radio, Host Dan Hessetalks with Sahil Bloom, author of The 5 Types of Wealth—A Transformative Guide to Design Your Dream Life to describe how important Time, Social, Mental, Physical, and Financial wealth are to leading one’s dream life, and how important it is not to sacrifice one kind of wealth in pursuit of another.
In addition to his debut book, Sahill captivates millions of people every week through his insights and biweekly newsletter, The Curiosity Chronicle. Sahil is a successful entrepreneur and the managing partner of SRB Ventures, an early-stage investment fund. He holds bachelors and masters degrees from Stanford University, where he was a four-year member of the baseball team.
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In this episode of The Mentors Radio, Host Dan Hessetalks with Robert L. Dilenschneider, who has been called “the Dean of American Public Relations Executives,” to discuss his just-released book, his nineteenth, Respect: How to Change the World One Interaction at a Time.
In 1991, Bob formed The Dilenschneider Group, providing strategic advice and counsel to Fortune 500 companies, leading families, and individuals around the world. He is well-known for his experience in fields ranging from mergers and acquisitions, crisis communications and marketing, to government affairs and international media.
Prior to forming his own firm, Bob served as the President and CEO of Hill and Knowlton for 15 years. In 2012, he established the Civility in America Lecture Series, featuring many of the nation’s leading thinkers, which provides a perspective on what can be done to restore civility in our Country.
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In this episode of The Mentors Radio, Host Dan Hesse talks with Cathy Lanier, whose amazing story continues to inspire. At age 14, Lanier got pregnant, ran away from home, dropped out of high school. But by age 39, this single mother became Washington D.C.’s Chief of Police, earned two master’s degrees, and now serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Security Officer for the National Football League (NFL).
In her role with the NFL, Lanier coordinates the efforts of the League offices—that is, all 32 clubs!—and federal, state and local law entities to ensure the security of the NFL’s venues, fans, players, staff and infrastructure. Cathy served as Chief of Police in Washington, D.C. from 2007 to 2016, where she was not only the first female police chief but also the longest serving chief, serving under three mayors. Her innovative strategies were credited with reducing violent crime in Washington, D.C. by 21 percent from 2007 to 2015 while the city’s population grew by 15 percent.
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In this episode of THE MENTORS RADIO, Host Dan Hesse talks with Carmen Policy, former President and CEO of the Cleveland Browns. But Policy is best known for his years as President and CEO of the San Francisco 49ers where he played a key role in all five of the 49ers’ Super Bowl winning teams — helping shape an organization that became widely viewed as the hallmark sports franchise of the ’80s and ’90s.
Both The Sporting News and Pro Football Weekly named Carmen Policy the NFL Executive of the Year in 1994, the latter award having been determined by a vote of NFL owners and executives. The Sporting News and GQ Magazine have also named him as one of the most influential people in professional sports. An ardent believer in public service, Carmen formerly served for several years on the Board of Trustees of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.
For that answer, listen to the recorded conversation below. You can find show notes and past episodes at the home of The Mentors Radio.
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In this episode of THE MENTORS RADIO, Host Dan Hesse is joined by Lt. General Robert Caslen Jr. (Ret.) and Michael Matthews, Ph.D. to discuss The Character Edge: Leading and Winning with Integrity, a unique book in the way it combines lessons from extensive leadership research—strengthened by experience and real-life examples of leadership in action, and shares practical tools that can both assess and develop character to maximize leadership effectiveness.
Robert Caslen served in the U.S. Army for 43 years. His distinguished military career culminated in 2018 as the 59th superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.Under his direction as Superintendent, the Academy was recognized as the Number One public college in the nation by Forbes Magazine and the Number One public college by U.S. News and World Report.
Caslen refined West Point’s leadership program with a focus on professional ethics as an essential part of leadership and character development. General Caslen also served in numerous combat and overseas deployments, including operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Central America, and Haiti. After retiring from the Army, he served as the 29th president of the University of South Carolina.
Dr. Michael Matthews is Professor Emeritus of Engineering Psychology at the U.S. Military Academy. He served as President of the American Psychological Association’s Society for Military Psychology and is a Templeton Foundation Senior Positive Psychology Fellow. He has authored more than 250 scientific papers and edited, authored, or co-authored several books.
In this episode of The Mentors Radio, Dan Hesse talks with Michael MacCambridge, the award-winning journalist and author featured on the acclaimed ESPN documentary series about the Kansas City Chiefs entitled “The Kingdom.”
Today’s discussion will focus on MacCambridge’s biography, Lamar Hunt – A Life in Sports, about the man who started it all. Lamar Hunt did more than launch the Kansas City Chiefs, he founded the American Football League and brought professional soccer and tennis to America. Lamar Hunt has been inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame, the International Tennis Federation Hall of Fame, and the National Soccer Hall of Fame. MacCambridge and Hesse discuss how Lamar not only participated in—but was the catalyst for—multiple revolutions in sports.
Many of Lamar’s innovations we take for granted today. Digging deeper, perhaps most importantly, you’ll learn what made Lamar Hunt an effective leader and someone beloved and respected by all who knew him.
In this episode of THE MENTORS RADIO, Dan talks with Ursula Burns, Chairwoman of Teneo and founding partner of private equity company Integrum Holdings. But Ursula is best known for serving as Chairwoman and CEO of Xerox during a 36-year-career there, where she became the first black female CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
In addition, Ursula serves on several private company boards, while also providing leadership counsel to several community, educational and non-profit organizations including the Ford Foundation, the MIT Corporation, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Mayo Clinic, among others. President Obama appointed her to lead the White House national program on STEM and she served as Chair of the President’s Export Council. Since February 2022, Ursula Burns has served as Vice Chair of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness.
In this episode of THE MENTORS RADIO, Host Dan Hesse talks with Kate Darling, PhD, an expert on robots and their impact on humans.
Just as animals have become helpers and companions over the centuries, so will robots, according to Dr. Kate Darling, a Research Scientist at the MIT Media Lab, where she leads the robotics, ethics & society research team at the Robotics and AI Institute (RAI). She is the author of The New Breed: What Our History With Animals Reveals About Our Future With Robots.
Kate’s work explores the intersections of robotic technology and society, with a particular emphasis on legal, economic, social, and ethical issues. She runs experiments, holds workshops, writes, and speaks about some of the most interesting developments in the world of human-robot interaction, and where we might find ourselves in the future. Kate joins Dan Hesse to discuss the implications of robots on job design and their future role as our close companions.
Listen to the recorded conversation below. You can find show notes and past episodes at the home of The Mentors Radio.
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In this episode of THE MENTORS RADIO, Host Dan Hesse talks with Patrick McGee, author of the best-selling book Apple in China, who tells a riveting story about how Apple almost single-handedly built the advanced electronics industry in China only to find itself trapped in a relationship with an authoritarian state making ever-increasing demands, and giving Beijing power that could be weaponized. Even though China’s immense domestic market is hard to resist, this is a cautionary tale for listeners thinking about doing business in China and helps explain how China made progress competing against American tech companies so quickly.
Patrick was the Financial Times’ principal Apple reporter from 2019 to 2023, where he won a San Francisco Press Club Award for his coverage. He joined the newspaper in 2013, in Hong Kong, before reporting from Germany and California. Previously, he was a bond reporter at The Wall Street Journal. He has a master’s degree in global diplomacy from SOAS at the University of London, and a degree in religious studies from the University of Toronto.
Listen to the recorded conversation below. You can find show notes and past episodes at the home of The Mentors Radio.
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In this episode of THE MENTORS RADIO, host Dan Hesse talks with legendary singer-songwriter Neil Young, who is widely regarded as one of the most influential and versatile musicians in history.
Young could be the most difficult artist to categorize as he plays rock, folk, country, rockabilly, blues, new wave and electronic music, plus he’s been recognized as the Godfather of Grunge. Neil Young has released more than 60 albums, received multiple Grammy Awards, been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame TWICE, and he’s influenced and inspired countless artists. Rolling Stone magazine includes Neil on their lists of the greatest guitarists of all time and the greatest artists of all time. He continues to be very active in supporting important causes, and he continues to provide us with both new and previously unreleased music such as the Neil Young Archives, Volume III.
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In this episode of THE MENTORS RADIO, Host Dan Hesse talks with Dr. Paul Christo, author and award-winning physician renown for his cutting-edge work as a pain specialist. Pain, if left untreated, can impact our performance and productivity, and even our enjoyment of life. In this episode, Dr. Christo discusses breakthrough techniques and therapies that can relieve even the most severe chronic pain. One of the world’s leading pain specialists, Dr. Christo is the author of Aches and Gains, A Comprehensive Guide to Overcoming Your Pain. He is the Chief of the Division of Pain Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Paul is also a frequent contributor on NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, and PBS television regarding pain and addiction. He hosts an award-winning, nationally syndicated SIRIUS XM radio talk show called Aches and Gains®. The show provides hope and treatment options for those suffering from medical illnesses, diseases, and the pain that often results from these conditions.
Dr. Christo is an invited lecturer both nationally and internationally, serves on four journal editorial boards, has published more than 100 articles and book chapters, co-edited five textbooks on pain, and actively teaches medical students, residents, and pain fellows. Paul also earned an MBA from the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School in Health Care Management.
Listen to the recorded conversation below. You can find show notes and past episodes at the home of The Mentors Radio.
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In this episode of THE MENTORS RADIO, Dantalks with Robert Parker, a man widely considered the most powerful critic of any genre in history, about changing careers to pursue a passion. Pulitzer-prize winning media critic David Shaw, in his two-part Front Page profile for the Los Angeles Times, called wine critic Robert Parker “the most powerful critic of any kind, anywhere.” Parker’s impact on the wine world has been unrivaled, and many others agree that no critic of any genre, be it theatre, movies, music, art or fashion, has been as influential in their industry as Robert Parker has been in wine. Internationally acclaimed and recognized, Parker is the only wine critic ever awarded France’s highest Presidential honor, which he received twice, from France’s Presidents Chirac and Mitterrand.
Listen to the recorded conversation below. You can find show notes and past episodes at the home of The Mentors Radio.
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