Libsyn Directory

588: Former CEO of Jamba Juice on Leading with Culture

The Strategy Skills Podcast: Strategy | Leadership | Critical Thinking | Problem-Solving

Release Date: 09/22/2025

617: Inc 5000 fastest growing company on Psychology behind leadership influence and human behavior (with MichaelAaron Flicker)

The Strategy Skills Podcast: Strategy | Leadership | Critical Thinking | Problem-Solving

Michael explains that people often struggle because “adding and adding must be more effective,” yet humans are “more confident when just one advantage is presented.” He shares that Five Guys succeeded because they “only do burgers and fries” and that “if you say you are best at one thing most of all, they’re more likely to believe that.” He emphasizes that “buyers…have a top force-ranked prioritization of the most important thing,” and focusing on the thing you are “best in the world at” is “more believable and more memorable.” On pricing, he notes that...

616: NYU Stern’s Prof on How AI Is Rewriting the Future of Work (with Ben Zweig)

The Strategy Skills Podcast: Strategy | Leadership | Critical Thinking | Problem-Solving

When most executives discuss AI, they focus on automation. Dr. Ben Zweig, NYU Stern professor and CEO of Revelio Labs, explains why the real disruption isn’t machines replacing people, it’s our failure to rethink how work is structured. “Labor markets are not as sophisticated as capital markets,” Ben explains. “We allocate capital efficiently, but not labor. That’s a huge weakness in how our economy operates.” In this conversation, we explore: Why every company must learn job architecture, seeing jobs not as titles, but as bundles of tasks that must constantly evolve. The...

615: $12B Investment Firm CEO on Saving the American Dream (with Mark Matson)

The Strategy Skills Podcast: Strategy | Leadership | Critical Thinking | Problem-Solving

In this conversation, Mark explains that “we often build our lives on things we are certain about that simply are not true.” He describes how “we don’t actually see the world… we see screens of how we think the world is.” He explains that these screens create “a double paradox” shaping what we think is safe, what we think is risky, and how we choose to act. Mark describes the difference between someone who sees a large employer as stability versus an entrepreneur who sees it as danger, saying “which screen is right? Well, it depends on which screen is going to give you more...

614: Why Executive Leaders Feel Lonely

The Strategy Skills Podcast: Strategy | Leadership | Critical Thinking | Problem-Solving

Adam McGraw is a Fortune 100 VP turned entrepreneur and co-founder of a leadership community. “We try and really curate it for folks that are in the VP and above through CEOs as well, founders, etc., so that they have this kind of safe white space atmosphere to really consistently plug in and build community.” “Not just transact network-wise in things that are typically narrow and niche… we really love the idea of a melting pot for leaders.” “This is kind of the new normal: constant change, constant uncertainty, constant transition.” “Being in crew keeps me grounded and...

613: Microsoft CTO on AI, Human Agency and the Future of Work

The Strategy Skills Podcast: Strategy | Leadership | Critical Thinking | Problem-Solving

Technology is reshaping the world at a pace few people, inside or outside the industry, expected. But every so often, you meet someone who has not only witnessed the major waves of technological change, but helped build them. In this conversation, Marcus Fontoura, Technical Fellow and Corporate Vice President at Microsoft, CTO for Azure Core, walks us through the story of AI, what leaders are getting wrong, and how to develop the one thing that will matter more than any model or algorithm: human agency. Marcus has lived through every major inflection point: early search, the rise of cloud...

612: How to Have More Hope with Dr. Julia Garcia

The Strategy Skills Podcast: Strategy | Leadership | Critical Thinking | Problem-Solving

In this episode, Dr. Julia Garcia explains why hope is a habit and why it is critical for us to remove what blocks hope. She describes what happens inside teams when leaders lose hope, including “the culture that creates, the burnout that leads to, the discouragement and defeat.” Julia shows how unprocessed emotions drain leaders even when they appear high-functioning. “If we emotionally feel disconnected, we’re going to start looking elsewhere or we’re going to end up in a place of hopelessness where maybe we completely shut down in our career and now we’re just a robot.” One of...

611: Former U.S. Intelligence Officer on AI, Leadership, and Thinking Like a Spy (with Anthony Vinci)

The Strategy Skills Podcast: Strategy | Leadership | Critical Thinking | Problem-Solving

In this conversation, Anthony Vinci explains that “AI is going to be able to do more and more of what people do.” He describes a future where “AI is going to get better and better at doing what people do,” and highlights that leaders must understand “how do you figure out what AI is good at and then implement it to do that” and “how do you manage your workforce so that they are able to partner with that AI.” He warns that leaders often “overestimate what AI can do and underestimate it at the same time,” and stresses the importance of “getting that balance right.” As he...

610: Cas Holman on Play, Creativity, and the Future of Work

The Strategy Skills Podcast: Strategy | Leadership | Critical Thinking | Problem-Solving

When was the last time you played, really played? For Cas Holman, founder and chief designer of Heroes Will Rise and star of Netflix’s Abstract: The Art of Design, play isn’t childish. It’s the foundation of human creativity, resilience, and connection. She worked with LEGO, Disney Imagineering, and the LEGO Foundation and on a mission to help adults rediscover what children know instinctively: that play is how we learn, adapt, and feel alive. “Play isn’t what happens after work,” Cas explains. “It’s how we manage uncertainty. It’s how we cope, experiment, and find our way...

609: UCLA Professor and MD on How Gravity Shapes Your Health and Mind

The Strategy Skills Podcast: Strategy | Leadership | Critical Thinking | Problem-Solving

Dr. Brennan Spiegel, Director of Health Services Research at Cedars-Sinai and Professor of Medicine and Public Health at UCLA, author of the book Pull, explains why illness is often a failure to manage gravity. He describes how our relationship with gravity defines strength, balance, digestion, mental stability, and emotional health. Take the Gravotype Quiz at to identify how your body manages gravity. Key Insights and Action Steps — Dr. Brennan Spiegel “Every single cell of your body evolved from this force of gravity. Physics came first, and biology came second.” Illness arises...

608: Harvard Professor and former CEO of Medtronic, Bill George, on How Leaders Should Manage Challenging Times

The Strategy Skills Podcast: Strategy | Leadership | Critical Thinking | Problem-Solving

Bill George, former CEO of Medtronic and Harvard Business School Executive Fellow, explains how leaders can stay grounded, principled, and effective in chaotic times. “It’s a world of chaos and it requires a very different kind of leader than in more stable times.” The skills that once mattered (process control, long-term plans) are now secondary to courage, self-awareness, and moral clarity. George says most executives still lead comfortably “inside the walls” but fear the external world (media, public scrutiny, and rapid change). “Today, if you’re a leader, you are a public...

More Episodes

James D. White, former CEO of Jamba Juice, current board chair, and coauthor of Culture Design, shares how culture becomes a management discipline rather than a slogan. Drawing on his eight-year turnaround of Jamba, service on more than 15 boards, and leadership toolkit, he explains how listening, rituals, and disciplined systems embed values into sustained performance.

Key takeaways:

Start with stakeholder listening. White began his turnaround with nearly 200 “start, stop, continue” inputs across employees, suppliers, and board members. “I always start by listening,” he says, because the people inside the company “actually know what’s required to make the company run better.”
Make culture intentional. “Companies have culture by design or default.” Define what matters, create rituals that reinforce it, and remove practices that contradict stated values.
Reduce the say–do gap. “The really important things from a leadership perspective is what we say versus what we do, and minimizing the say–do gap.” Simple rituals—forums, recognition, measurement—align words with actions.
Invest in people individually. “People don’t care how much you know until they understand how much you care about them personally.” One-on-ones and role design that lean into strengths unlock discretionary effort.
Demand transparency. White is direct: “I want bad news first.” Candor allows leaders to respond before problems multiply.
Design mechanics, not just rhetoric. From anonymous feedback channels to departmental listening sessions, operating processes must “make it easier for our stores to deliver great products in the most efficient fashion.”
Balance preservation and change. Protect what works—“fantastic products” and passionate employees—while reallocating resources. One example was adding steel-cut oatmeal for colder markets, paired with smoothies.
Measure what matters. “Anything that matters, you always measure it.” White combines Gallup Q12 surveys, pulse checks, and qualitative indicators like recognition letters to monitor engagement.
Clarify board vs. CEO roles. “The CEO is responsible for running the company… the board chair is a facilitator of the collective board.” A strong chair–CEO relationship unburdens management while channeling board expertise.
Exit with care. Not every role fits every person: “You often… get to a place where you free up people’s future to go do something else. You do it with kindness and grace and thoughtfulness.”

For executives facing turnaround, scaling challenges, or governance decisions, this episode offers a tested blueprint: start with listening, design culture deliberately, align actions with words, and lead with humanity.

📚 Get James’s book, Culture Design, here: https://shorturl.at/NVrs1

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