Christopher Lochhead Follow Your Different

On this episode of Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different, we talk about something that every single one of us has, very few of us think or talk about, and it's something that can have a profound impact on our lives. So let’s talk about Secrets with our guest, Michael Slepian. Michael Slepian is an Associate Professor of Leadership and Ethics at the legendary Columbia University. He's also a recipient of the Rising Star Award from the Association of psychological science. Michael is considered by many to be the leading expert on the Psychology of Secrets. He's got a brand-new best seller out called The Secret Life of Secrets, which we will get into this episode and much more. Michael Slepian on Secrets The conversation starts out on secrets, and how we all keep them. As to why we have secrets, Michael was asked if there were pros and cons in keeping secrets from people. “So the pros, you are protecting something, you might be protecting your reputation. And in your own mind, you might be protecting so

It is said that the people who have the most legendary careers are what you might think of as other-directed. The key to a successful life is to remove your joy blockers, and the goal of a career should be to, as Warren Buffett says, dance your way to work. We talk about all these and more on Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different with our guest David Novak. David Novak is the co-founder and was the CEO for 17 years of the legendary Yum! brands. Yum! is the world's largest restaurant company, which owns Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell, and many others. David also has an amazing podcast called How Leaders Lead, and a new book called Take Charge of You: how self-coaching can transform your life and your career. Learn how be a legendary leader, executive, and entrepreneur from the best by listening in to this episode. David Novak on Looking Back on his Career The conversation begins with David’s new book, and how it is a window to his career and life, and the interesting events and tidbits that go along

On this episode of Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different, we talk about the idea of startup capital, how to have an exponential career, and maybe even a new way to think about the future with our guest, Mike Maples, Jr. Mike Maples, Jr. is the co-founder of Floodgate Capital. Floodgate has led early-stage investments in companies like Twitter, Lyft, and much more. His podcast, Starting Greatness, is truly one of the greatest business podcasts there is. That said, let’s get into the discussion of how to think about the future. From Value Creators to Rent Seekers Mike Maples, Jr. dives into the idea of the industries and business leader’s mindset and drive for creating new ideas or the lack thereof. At the time when the animating forces behind industrial economy was mass production, mass distribution, and eventually mass computation, the focus in new technology and ideas revolved around improving performance. Over time, it evolved into developing networks, whether physical or via software, and value wa

On this episode of Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different, our guests Lauren Dunford and Kevin Maney discuss how Category Designers work to create the future. On this topic, we also talk about how do you create a company that makes a difference and makes money at the same time. Lauren Dunford is the cofounder and CEO of an extraordinarily exciting new company called Guidewheel. They are a mission to empower all the world's factories to reach sustainable peak performance. Kevin Maney is a legendary bestselling author and award-winning columnist. He’s also the co-founder of Category Design Advisors, where he helps companies create and dominate new market categories. He is also one of the co-authors of Play Bigger, and one of the Godfathers of Category Design. If you care about building companies that changed the future, I think you're gonna love everything about this episode. Lauren Dunford and Kevin Maney on Category Design The conversation starts off with an explanation on how Lauren Dunford and Kevin

On this episode of Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different, our guest Al Ramadan talks about what’s at stake when it comes to category battles, how you can spot the category challengers who can become category kings and queens, and what they need to become category leaders that earn 76% of the economics. There comes a time in every startup’s life, where they face an epic, typically 18-to-36-month category battle. As we reported in our first book Play Bigger, the company that wins that battle earns 76% of the total value created in the category as measured by the market caps for public companies and valuations for private companies. What that means is, in any space, one company earns two thirds of the economics, which makes that category battle, which is typically 18 to 36 months long, arguably the highest stakes game in business. This episode will be available on both Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different and Lochhead on Marketing, because we think it is that important that everyone must hear abou

On this episode of Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different, our guest Alexander Rose asked me a question that stopped me in my tracks. We go deep into that question, and a myriad of other topics in today’s dialogue. Alexander Rose is the executive director of the Long Now Foundation. And their mission is to foster long-time, long-term thinking. And they're probably most known for the building of this massive 10,000-year clock with the support of Jeff Bezos. If you are anyone who cares about products, if you're an engineer, a product leader, or frankly, anyone else who cares about creating products, or a different future, you're going to love this conversation. Alexander Rose on The Long Now Foundation The conversation starts off with Alexander describing the purpose of The Long Now Foundation and The Long Now Idea itself. It was started by a set of both technologist and artists, who are part of the earlier generation of Silicon Valley. “It was a group of people that were realizing that by the kind of f

Today’s episode of Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different is a love letter to our military and veterans. Our guest Christian Anschuetz shares his story of how he looked up to these brave heroes growing up, and how he became one of the heroes that serve our country. Christian Anschuetz retired from the U.S. military as a Marine Captain. After his service, he had a long and successful career as both an entrepreneur and an S&P 500, Senior C-level executive. After hanging up his uniform as and executive and advisor, he continues to serve as one of the leaders of the organization called Project RELO and will be spearheading an upcoming endeavor called Task Force Tribute. If you are interested in his story, and the story of thousands of active military and veterans who have served our country, stay tuned to this episode. Christian Anschuetz & the Legendary Humans of the US Military Imagine being 12 years old at home with your dad, as you watch a strange car pull up in front of your house. Two men in uniform

On this episode of Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different, we talk about how ordinary people do legendary things and push ourselves to go beyond ourselves with our guest, Colin O’Brady. Colin O’Brady is an extraordinary extreme athlete. He has summited Everest twice, and he is the first person ever to solo trek across Antarctica. And he's a 10-time world record breaking explorer and adventurer, and is considered to be one of the most legendary endurance athletes on the planet. Yet Colin considers himself a regular dude, and will share his story on how we can all do some serious legendary things in our lives. Colin O’Brady on his reasons for doing what he does The conversation starts off with the question of why Colin does what he does. “Why do I do what I do? Yeah, it's an easy question as you’re like, “Why would somebody walk alone across Antarctica for 54 days, dragging a 375-pound sled by themselves?” I asked myself that question sometimes.” – Colin O’Brady That said, Colin is very happy with his

On this episode of Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different, we talk about how we can create & design your life, and overcome anything with our guest, Chris Duffin. Chris Duffin is the world record holder in 1000-pound deadlifts and squats. He is one of the strongest men on planet Earth, which is a very legendary achievement. He's also an author of a fascinating riveting book called The Eagle and the Dragon, a story of Strength and Reinvention. Those achievement on themselves are amazing, but when you hear more about his background, it becomes a whole new level of legendary. Liquid Courage The conversation starts on the topic of alcohol, and how it helps take down the defenses that people normally have with strangers or on speaking in public. Chris Duffin follows up with a related piece that he wrote about drinking back in 2014, which was called Whiskey and Deadlifts. “It actually talks about how alcohol can be used as a performance enhancer. And I talked about the history of it actually being used as

The turmoil in the economy and stock market has created massive turmoil not only in Fiat currencies, but also in Cryptocurrency. As such, Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs are bracing for tough times. Today at Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different, we are here to make sense of it all with Sequoia Partner Michelle Bailhe. As you know, Sequoia is one of the giants of venture tech in Silicon Valley, and I have known and worked with the folks at Sequoia for over 20 years. Today, we get to hear from one of their partners and learn what advice Sequoia is currently giving to their entrepreneurs and much more. Michelle Bailhe and I go deep on what’s really going on with the crypto markets as they face their first meaningful downturn. Why bad times tend to yield great entrepreneurs and startups, and what we can learn from the 1600s. Michelle Bailhe on the crypto market The conversation starts off on the topic of the crypto markets. Michelle shares that she thinks crypto is in a very interesting moment, for a l

Welcome to the second part of a two-part series on neuro-diversity and mental health. If you happened to miss the first one, you can check out our dialogue with M.E. Thomas on psychopathy (FYD 277). On this episode of Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different, we talk about how to improve your mental health. And who better to have that conversation but with Sarah Fay, PhD. Sarah Fay is a bestselling author, and her new book is called Pathological: The True Story of Six Misdiagnoses. Apple books said Sarah’s new book is “a powerful memoir by a deeply compelling person and a fantastic writer.” Whether you are curious about neuro-diversity, or looking for ways to improve your mental health, you can’t go wrong with listening to this episode. The world that Sarah Fay lives in The conversation starts off on the topic of how Sarah is processing the world we live in today. As someone who was in the vacuum of the academe for a while, one might not even notice the world outside. Sarah admits that she pretty much m

This episode of Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different is a love letter to America. I recently posted something on LinkedIn and on social media about the court's decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade, and I wanted to share that with you and reflect on it with you for a moment. So, let's talk about America. Roe v. Wade People are saying this ruling put abortion back in the hands of the states. Sort of, but not really. It puts it back where it belongs in our hands. You and me get to decide what the future will be by voting. A poll with 235,613 responses says that 58% support women's rights to choose. Now, if the Democrats pick up seats in November, it will in large part demonstrate what Americans think about some combination of the abortion issue. And broadly, the Democratic agenda and how the Democrats have been performing in the White House and in Washington. With Biden at 38% approval, it seems very likely that the Dems will pick up seats in November. If the predicted red wave hits Washington, it will

On this remarkable episode of Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different, we talk with M.E. Thomas about psychopathy, and how you can be in a relationship that works with a psychopath. M.E. Thomas is a pseudonym of the bestselling author of Confessions of a Sociopath. She’s a lawyer, musician, and now a teacher. She is among the first psychopaths or sociopaths to come out of the closet, and share her life and experience. This episode will have you thinking deeply about your identity, relationships, and the masks that we all wear. So stay tuned. M.E. Thomas on Knowing she was “Different” The conversation started with the question of identity. Specifically, about when M.E. Thomas found out she was “Different”. “I always knew that I was different. But I had so many things that they’d be different, I just assumed it was one those – like, I was raised in a big Mormon family, so I grew up with five siblings. We just had weird idiosyncrasies. My dad was kind of a crazy guy. Even now, they call him Einstein because

On this episode of Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different, we talk about those voices in your head with our award-winning guest, Dr. Ethan Kross. Who knows, you might learn something useful from listening to it. Dr. Ethan Kross is an award-winning psychologist and professor at the University of Michigan and the Ross School of Business. He has a new book out called Chatter: the voice in your head, why it matters and how to harness it. Bestselling author Adam Grant says, “this book is going to fundamentally change some of the most important conversations in your life, the ones you have with yourself.” So if you want to know how you can work with those voices in your head to make your life better, stay tuned to this episode. Ethan Kross on the Voices in your head The conversation starts off with the topic of Ethan Kross’ new book, Chatter. Ethan explains that we all have an inner voice, which is the ability to silently use language to reflect on our lives. “it's a tool of the mind. It's a tool that that

If you’ve ever watched the Olympics, gone to a Major League game, or even turned on your Xbox, chances are you’ve seen our guest’s great work. On this episode of Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different, we have a dialogue with Audrey Arbeeny, the Category Queen of Sonic Branding. Audrey Arbeeny presented the discipline of Sonic Branding, way back in 1993 at the Design Management Institute in Amsterdam. Now that Sonic Branding has exploded, particularly as digital products have, it has been become a giant category across all kinds of areas marketing, branding, product design, and experience design in the arts world and the film to entertainment world. So if you are interested about Sonic Branding, and how it blitzed through the competition, stay tuned to this episode. Audrey Arbeeny on Sonic Branding The conversation starts off with defining what Sonic Branding is. Audrey has this to say on the matter: “I believe what you're doing is the same thing as when we did the original Major League Soccer, Anthem

Welcome to a very special episode of Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different, where we talk about how to make money in a recession. In times that are challenging, one of the greatest things we all can do is contribute what we can contribute. Given that it looks like we're about to be in a recession, what Eddie Yoon Nicolas Cole, and I aka the Category Pirates decided to do was to write a new mini book newsletter. It’s called How To Make Money In A Recession: Five steps to create demand for your product, service or platform. We elected to make the written version of this free. There'll be a link to it at the end of this show notes. So consider this episode, a mini book audio read. We are in a Recession Dear Friend, Subscriber, and Category Pirate, We are in a recession. (Not officially, but it is not looking good.) Stocks are down. Startup valuations have plummeted. Bitcoin and Ethereum have lost more than 50% of their total value since their respective highs back in November, 2021. And sentiment arou

On this episode of Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different, we have a radically different dialogue about thinking with the legendary Roger Martin – a man who has been called, “the world's number one management thinker” by former Ford CEO Jim Hackett. Roger Martin is a Professor Emeritus at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, where he served as Dean from 98 to 2013, and as Institutional Director of the Martin Prosperity Interest Institute from 2013 to 2019. In 2013, he was also named Global Dean of the Year. In this remarkable conversation, we dig into the definition of thinking. We also discuss the difference between what Roger calls reflexive versus reflective thinking, and why thinking is a meta skill. So if you are interested on expanding the way you think, stay and listen to learn more. Roger Martin on Thinking about Thinking The conversation starts off on the topic of thinking about thinking, and if it’s weird to do so. Roger offers his thoughts on the matter: “I don't th

Many people are asking how do we create legendary cultures in a digital / hybrid work environment. On this episode of Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different, we ask Daniel Coyle this question: how can we create legendary cultures? Daniel Coyle is a New York Times bestselling author. His book, The Culture Code, was named the Best Business Book of the Year a little while back by Bloomberg. He has a new book out now, called The Culture Playbook: 60 highly effective actions to help your group succeed. He is the man on all things culture, so stay and listen to learn more. Daniel Coyle on Writing His New Book The conversation starts of with congratulating Daniel Coyle on publishing his latest book, The Culture Playbook. Daniel follows up on his thoughts on how he feels when launching a new project or book. “We are living through a moment, aren't we? It's like, when you start a project like this, you're never quite sure when it's going to land. And everybody's trying to figure out, “How are we going? How are

Welcome to the second part of our extraordinary, unfiltered, unfettered real dialogue with David Gergen. On this episode of Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different, we dive into the key themes of his new book about leadership, called Hearts on Fire: How great leaders are made. David Gergen has served as an adviser to four United States President Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and most recently, Clinton. He is the rare political leader to serve his country from both Republican and Democratic vantage points. Professor Gergen also teaches public service, and as the founding director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School. He is also the winner of two Peabody awards for excellence in broadcasting. If you want to check out the first part our dialogue with David Gergen, you can check out FYD episode 266, where he talked about his thoughts on the war in Ukraine, and the people with important roles to play in it. David Gergen: Hearts on Fire The conversation starts off on the topic of David’s n

Free speech is often called the first freedom and the bedrock of democracy. Our guest today says that on one hand, free speech around the world has never been better. But right now, we are experiencing a free speech entropy in the United States. On this episode of Christopher Lochhead, we have a deep dialogue about Free Speech with Jacob Mchangama. Jacob Mchangama is a global expert on free speech. Political satirist PJ O'Rourke says that his new book is. “The best history of free speech ever written, and the best defense of free speech ever made.” That book is called Free Speech: a history from Socrates to social media, and it is out now. Jacob is a Danish lawyer, and the founder of Justicia, a Copenhagen-based think tank that focuses on human rights, freedom of speech, and the rule of law. So if you want to learn more about free speech, how it has evolved through history, and what it will look like in the future, stay tuned to this episode. Jacob Mchangama on Free Speech The conversation begins on Jacob’s