loader from loading.io

How to Succeed in Business without Really Crying with Tom Johnstone

Your Working Life with Caroline Dowd-Higgins

Release Date: 06/27/2025

The Power of No in a World That Demands Yes with Dr. Sunita Sah show art The Power of No in a World That Demands Yes with Dr. Sunita Sah

Your Working Life with Caroline Dowd-Higgins

is an award-winning professor at Cornell University and an expert in organizational psychology. She leads groundbreaking research on influence, authority, compliance, and defiance. A trained physician, she practiced medicine in the United Kingdom and worked as a management consultant for the pharmaceutical industry. She currently teaches executives, leaders, and students in healthcare and business. Dr. Sah is a sought-after international speaker and consultant, advisor to government agencies, and former Commissioner of the National Commission on Forensic Science. Her multidisciplinary...

info_outline
Embracing Uncertainty with Margaret Heffernan show art Embracing Uncertainty with Margaret Heffernan

Your Working Life with Caroline Dowd-Higgins

produced programmes for the BBC for 13 years.  She then moved to the US where she spearheaded multimedia productions for Intuit, The Learning Company and Standard&Poors. She was Chief Executive of InfoMation Corporation, ZineZone Corporation and then iCast Corporation, was named one of the “Top 25” by Streaming Media magazine and one of the “Top 100 Media Executives” by The Hollywood Reporter.  The author of six books, Margaret’s third book, Willful Blindness: Why We Ignore the Obvious at our Peril was named one of the most important business books of the decade by the...

info_outline
The Flexibility Paradigm with Manar Morales show art The Flexibility Paradigm with Manar Morales

Your Working Life with Caroline Dowd-Higgins

is a national thought leader and visionary on building human-centered workplace cultures at the intersection of diversity, flexibility, and well-being. As the Founder & CEO of the , Manar is on a mission to empower organizations to unlock their full potential by creating inclusive environments, implementing effective flexible work strategies, and prioritizing holistic employee well-being. A sought-after speaker, author, and trusted advisor, Manar brings a wealth of expertise from her background as an employment litigator and adjunct faculty member at Georgetown University. She is the...

info_outline
The Quiet Burn with Lynn Blades show art The Quiet Burn with Lynn Blades

Your Working Life with Caroline Dowd-Higgins

Lynn Blades episode: Minimal Brain Activity by Unheard Music Concepts (source: Free Music Archive) (CC BY)    Lynn Blades, author of , is the founder of Legacy Leadership, an executive leadership consultancy, and a dedicated DEI advocate. She has strived to cultivate a 21st-century leadership workforce that truly reflects the diversity of our society. RECOGNIZING AND PREVENTING BURNOUT Demanding Careers Should Not Overshadow Health And Well-Being Women face numerous challenges in their careers – dealing with sexist and demeaning work environments, juggling work and family...

info_outline
How to Succeed in Business without Really Crying with Tom Johnstone show art How to Succeed in Business without Really Crying with Tom Johnstone

Your Working Life with Caroline Dowd-Higgins

After graduating from Boston’s Emerson College in 1985, Tom headed west to work in the film and television industry. In Hollywood, he honed his writing skills through the trials and tribulations of episodic TV, animated series, screenplay options, and game shows for over two decades. When the feast or famine lifestyle of a Hollywood Writer became too sporadic for his maturing life (He had grown to enjoy eating two to three times a day – every day), he took a job at a call center to make ends meet. After his first day on the phones, his manager asked him to stop.  He was terrible at...

info_outline
How to Be a Likeable Badass with Alison Fragale show art How to Be a Likeable Badass with Alison Fragale

Your Working Life with Caroline Dowd-Higgins

Alison Fragle episode:  Distances by Beat Mekanik (source: Free Music Archive) (CC BY)    ALISON FRAGALE, PhD Speaker. Professor. Compulsive Organizer. Website  Newsletter  ALISON FRAGALE is the Mary Farley Ames Lee Distinguished Scholar of Organizational Behavior at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina. Her scholarship has been published in the most prestigious academic journals in her field, and featured in prominent media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Financial Times, Boston Globe, and Inc. She is...

info_outline
Learn How to Be an Unstoppable Entrepreneur with Lori Rosenkopf show art Learn How to Be an Unstoppable Entrepreneur with Lori Rosenkopf

Your Working Life with Caroline Dowd-Higgins

Lori Rosenkopf is the Simon and Midge Palley Professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. As Vice Dean for Entrepreneurship, she serves as Wharton’s faculty director for Venture Lab, Penn’s home for student entrepreneurs, and also their San Francisco campus. In a prior role as Vice Dean of Wharton’s Undergraduate Division, she introduced a new curriculum and developed experiential classwork in the tech sector. For over thirty years, Rosenkopf has taught entrepreneurship and management of technology to more than 20,000 high schoolers, undergraduates, MBAs, and...

info_outline
The Roadmap to Money and Love with Abby Davisson show art The Roadmap to Money and Love with Abby Davisson

Your Working Life with Caroline Dowd-Higgins

Abby Davisson episode:  Quickening by malictusmusic (source: Free Music Archive) (CC BY)  Abby Davisson is an author, speaker, and award-winning leader obsessed with holistic decision-making (the kind that takes multiple bottom lines into account). After spending two decades making change from within existing organizations, she launched her own, focused on helping leaders make smart choices for lasting success in work and life. The book she co-wrote with Stanford Professor and labor economist Myra Strober, Money and Love: An Intelligent Roadmap for Life's Biggest Decisions,...

info_outline
Finding Meaningful Work with Tamara Myles & Wes Adams show art Finding Meaningful Work with Tamara Myles & Wes Adams

Your Working Life with Caroline Dowd-Higgins

Distances by Beat Mekanik, via Free Music Archive (CC BY)    Wes Adams is the CEO of SV Consulting Group. He partners with Fortune 500s and scaling companies to develop high-impact leaders and design operating structures that support high performing teams. He is also a positive psychology researcher at the University of Pennsylvania where he studies the leadership practices and organizational structures that help employees thrive. He lives in Atlanta, GA.      Tamara Myles is a speaker, author, professor, and entrepreneur specializing in the science...

info_outline
Redefining the Successful Rainmaker with Karen Freeman show art Redefining the Successful Rainmaker with Karen Freeman

Your Working Life with Caroline Dowd-Higgins

Karen Freeman is Chief Product Officer at DCM Insights and one of the authors of the Activator research published in Harvard Business Review, titled "What Today's Rainmakers Do Differently."  That article was named one of HBR’s top 10 reads of 2025. At DCMi, she is one of the global faculty and responsible for the company’s training products and diagnostics.  She has delivered the Activator research and training programs across the globe to clients in the legal, consulting, accounting, and talent advisory sectors. Before joining DCMi, Karen was head of digital...

info_outline
 
More Episodes

After graduating from Boston’s Emerson College in 1985, Tom headed west to work in the film and television industry. In Hollywood, he honed his writing skills through the trials and tribulations of episodic TV, animated series, screenplay options, and game shows for over two decades. When the feast or famine lifestyle of a Hollywood Writer became too sporadic for his maturing life (He had grown to enjoy eating two to three times a day – every day), he took a job at a call center to make ends meet. After his first day on the phones, his manager asked him to stop.  He was terrible at the entry-level position. Tom got easily frazzled, had no focus, and was simply in the wrong role. But rather than look to another company to find his niche, Tom looked inward to learn more about himself and the industry that didn’t want him. Tom leveraged his findings to change himself and the work environments he occupied. Climbing the corporate ladder one rung at a time, Tom evolved into an innovative leader with a proven track record for success and effective team building. 

 

Over the past 25 years, he has worked at every level in the call center industry - from clerk to Senior Director.  He’s hired thousands, promoted hundreds, and fired somewhere in between - building trust, friendships, and Best Practices along the way. His personal approach of meeting business needs by pairing them with the drives of individuals’ passions has taken him around the world building call centers, making friends, and enjoying an industry that initially asked him to just stop. Tom has now returned to his roots as a professional writer, crafting his book, “How To Succeed In Business Without Really Crying,” a tried-and-true business approach based on personal stories that captivate, educate, and entertain. 

 

Suggested questions/topics for discussion:

1.     Tell everyone a little about your book, “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Crying.”  What motivated you to write this book, the format you chose, and why?

2.     Can you give us an example of a personal story you share in your book, and how that translates into a Business Best Practice.

3.     You mentioned building your own culture, and your book has a section about deciding when to rock the boat or just jump ship.  Can you expand on that? 

4.     Talk a little bit more about building a corporate subculture.  What does that look like?

5.     Building a corporate subculture requires openness and embracing change – and not everyone will always be on the same page.  How do you manage change to be as inclusive and as successful as possible?

6.     You just spoke about getting to know your stakeholders and your book goes into some detail about the different types of personalities in the workplace.  Why is that important?

7.     Your book also broaches knowing when to walk away from a position – and how to do that not only for yourself, but for the potential “greater good.”  Can you talk about that?

8.     What do you want people to take away from your book and experiences?

 

Social media:

·      LinkedIn: Tom Johnstone | LinkedIn

·      Book Purchase: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Crying Order Page   

·      Facebook (Book page): Facebook   

·      Midwest Book Review:  MBR: California Bookwatch, July 2024

·      Donovan Review: June 2024 Issue - Donovan's Bookshelf

·      Book Notions Review:           Authors In The Media With Tom Johnstone - Book Notions