Innovators on Tap
Chuck Swoboda
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Top 10 Innovators on Tap Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Innovators on Tap episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Innovators on Tap for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Innovators on Tap episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
Maximize Your Strengths w/ John Coyle
Innovators on Tap
09/02/20 • 35 min
On the first episode of this new season, we have an incredible guest. I sit down with John Coyle, an Olympic medalist, sought after speaker, design thinking expert, and a best-selling author.
But John’s success has been far from a liner path. After failing to qualify for the 1992 U.S. Olympic Speedskating Team, he decided to quit, abandon what was considered best practice at the time, and instead he trained by himself in a completely different way. Instead of working to better manage his weaknesses, he focused on maximizing his strengths. This approach led to John a Silver Medal in the 1994 Olympic Games, a U.S. record and an unofficial world record.
But that is only the beginning of John’s story as we talk about his later work with Lance Armstrong and former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling - and then we get into his unique ideas and insight around leadership and innovation - including the realization that I spent far too much time focusing on what team needed to do better, instead of putting them in positions to maximize their strengths.
Learn more about John here.
If you have an opinion on these topics, please feel free to email us through the contact page. The best ideas often stem from the intersection of different points of view.
You can follow the podcast and host Chuck Swoboda on Twitter for further exploration and discussion on innovation.
Do Things For The Right Reason w/ Todd Adams
Innovators on Tap
04/29/21 • 32 min
Gears. Bearings. Conveyors. Drainage systems. Plumbing fixtures. Not what you first think of when it comes to innovation - but areas that maybe even more affected by innovation that all those tech companies that we normally think about.
Why? Because while we often associate coming up with a new idea as the hard part of innovation, transforming existing industries can be even harder.
It’s the real world for most of us.
Today’s guest, Todd Adams, is the CEO of Rexnord, one of the real world companies driving innovation across several different industries. But like many successful leaders, he never imagined himself in that role. As he revealed during our conversation:
“I never aspired to be CEO. I wanted to contribute to the success of an organization and learn along the way”
Whether you want to be a CEO or not, Todd has some great advice about how you should go about any opportunity.
“Make sure you want to do things for the right reason. People sometimes aspire to roles because they want the title, the recognition, the money...but you actually have to love the job”
If you take away one piece of career advice from all the episodes we’ve done so far, that might just be the best.
You can follow the podcast and host Chuck Swoboda on Twitter for further exploration and discussion on innovation.
The episode is also available wherever else you listen to podcasts. Enjoy!!
Personal Disruption w/ Abim Kolawole
Innovators on Tap
02/03/21 • 28 min
When we talk about innovation, we often focus on disrupting certain industries, but innovation also requires you to embrace personal disruption: your beliefs will be challenged, your direction will be changed, and your responsibilities will be shifted.
Today’s guest, Abim Kolawole, has embraced personal disruption throughout his entire career. Starting out as a lawyer for the SEC, he pivoted into running the claims business at Northwestern Mutual, and then pivoted again to his current role as VP of Digital Innovation. When I asked him about the winding path he has taken, he said:
“Your career journey is about optionality. You have to keep your options open to maximize opportunity. ”
But this episode is not just about Abim’s story, but rather its about the classic Innovator’s Dilemma: why large, successful, well managed companies struggle to adopt new innovations and technologies even though they see them coming.
We also discuss how large companies can use a crisis to force themselves to innovate, how to build a team that can accomplish innovation and not just talk about it, and the necessity to be rapidly adaptable in today’s fast-paced society.
You can follow the podcast and host Chuck Swoboda on Twitter for further exploration and discussion on innovation.
The episode is also available wherever else you listen to podcasts. Enjoy!
Charging Ahead w/ Desmond Wiggan
Innovators on Tap
09/23/20 • 30 min
Desmond Wiggan started his career like many other aspiring leaders — working for a large company and immersing himself in their management development program. While learning how to manage a team and deliver on his targets were important skills, Desmond comes from a long line of entrepreneurs and wanted something more; He wanted to lead.
So he decided to pivot, gave up his job at a Fortune 500 company and moved to China to dive into their tech and startup scene. In a new country without any support network, he learned how to lead: making connections, learning to embrace risk, and finding a way to do what many others thought couldn’t be done.
Our conversation touches on how his experience in China led him to create his company: BatteryXchange, which utilizes a kiosk to allow customers to rent portable chargers to keep their devices powered all day, how he builds a team around a common culture and how he's adapting to the challenges caused by the COVID crisis to develop new opportunities for his business.
Follow Desmond on Twitter and check out BatteryXchange’s website.
You can follow the podcast and host Chuck Swoboda on Twitter for further exploration and discussion on innovation.
Solve Problems That Create Value
Innovators on Tap
05/06/20 • 13 min
Welcome to season 2 of Innovators on Tap!
This season will explore many of the concepts outlined in Chuck’s new book The Innovator’s Spirit.
For episode 2, we explore the hard part of innovation: solving problems and creating real value. We also explore the concept of features vs. benefits, Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla, and why thinking like a customer is key to innovation.
If you have an opinion on these topics, please feel free to email us through the contact page. The best ideas often stem from the intersection of different points of view.
You can follow the podcast and host Chuck Swoboda on Twitter for further exploration and discussion on innovation.
Innovation as a Mindset Live! w/ Chris Luecke
Innovators on Tap
04/08/20 • 35 min
Chuck Swoboda sits down with Chris Luecke, Account Executive at Rockwell Automation and Host of Manufacturing Happy Hour. They discuss the how to give the best feedback, their own definition of innovation, and how large organizations can embrace innovation and risk.
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FAQ
How many episodes does Innovators on Tap have?
Innovators on Tap currently has 88 episodes available.
What topics does Innovators on Tap cover?
The podcast is about Entrepreneurship, Podcasts, Self-Improvement, Education and Business.
What is the most popular episode on Innovators on Tap?
The episode title 'Do What They Say You Can't' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Innovators on Tap?
The average episode length on Innovators on Tap is 28 minutes.
How often are episodes of Innovators on Tap released?
Episodes of Innovators on Tap are typically released every 7 days.
When was the first episode of Innovators on Tap?
The first episode of Innovators on Tap was released on Sep 13, 2019.
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