Full Show Notes and Bibliography

Episode 1- Fintan O’Toole shares a European view of President Donald Trump. How the words of the President of the United States shape the world’s view of America.

Episode 1 of The Dr. John Bedker Leadership Podcast shares a fact-based review of the leadership practices of the President of the United States.  Fintan O’Toole, a celebrated Irish journalist writes of the world’s view of America during the Trump administration.  As Finton writes, words matter, and the truth matters.  America has been loved, hated, and envied.  Now Fenton writes, America is to be pitied.  Episode 1 of The Dr. John Bedker Leadership Podcast shares Fenton O’Toole’s article in its entirety.

Episode 1 begins with remarks given by Martin Baron, the editor of the Washington Post, at the Harvard Class of 2020 virtual graduation.  Bacon makes the point that facts matter for leaders.  To be trusted, leaders need to demonstrate trustworthy behavior.  Trustworthy behavior begins with telling the truth.

Dr. John Bedker shares with the listeners the need and benefits of reflection for leaders. Leaders
benefit by “looking in the mirror,” seeing, hearing, and learning from the voices of those that
witness the leader in action.  The erosion of trust as a result of a leader’s departure from facts and truth has a consequence.  Leaders need to reflect on the voice they share and the true voices they hear from others.  Facts and truth are determinative for leaders.
O’Toole, Fintan. “The World has loved, hated, and envied the U.S. Now, for the first time, we
pity it.” Irish Times, 25 April 2020.

Sources Included:

Powell, Alvin. “Washington Post’s Baron sends off the class of 2020, saying that facts and truth matter.” Harvard Staff Writer, Harvard Gazette, 28 May 2020, Martin Baron Commencement Speech for the online graduation program for the Harvard Class of 2020.

Episode 2- The Removal of Captain Brett Cozier, United States Navy, from Command of the Nuclear Aircraft Carrier, USS Theodore Roosevelt. A Story of Service to Others Over Self.

Episode 2 of The Dr. John Bedker Leadership Podcast informs the listener of the events surrounding Captain Brett Crozier’s removal from command. Captain Crozier was the Commanding Officer of the United States nuclear aircraft carrier, Theodore Roosevelt. Following an outbreak of Coronavirus-19 onboard the Roosevelt a series of significant leadership events transpired.

Captain Crozier followed procedure and communicated the events onboard the Roosevelt to his Chain of Command.  He put his crew and his ship before his personal self-interest.  The leadership message of Episode 2 of The Dr. John Bedker Leadership Podcast is clear: Non Sibi Sed Patriae- not for self, but for country.

The politicization of military leadership, and the politicization of a Commanding Officer’s judgment and decision making, critical leadership core competencies for any leader, are brought to light in Episode 2 of The Dr. John Bedker Leadership Podcast. Dr. John Bedker, a former Naval Officer and Commanding Officer, brings his unique experience and insight.

Sources Included:

Gafni, Matthias and Garofoli, Joe. “Exclusive: Captain of the aircraft carrier with growing
coronavirus outbreak pleads for help from Navy.” San Francisco Chronicle, 31 March 2020.

Gafni, Matthias and Garofoli, Joe. “A Captain’s Choice, Brett Crozier chose his crew over his
career. His decision surprised no one who knows him.” San Francisco Chronicle, 5 April 2020.

Schmitt, Eric and Ismay, John. “He Led a Top Navy Ship. Now He Sits in Quarantine, Fired and
Infected.” New York Times, 6 April 2020.

Lubold, Gordon and Gordon, Michael R. “Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly Resigns in
Wake of USS Roosevelt Comments.” The Wall Street Journal, 6 April 2020.

Episode 3 - July 4th Special

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights…”   Well, maybe not may be the more accurate statement…leaderships role in seeking a more perfect union.

During this 4th of July 2020 holiday, Episode 3 of The Dr. John Bedker Leadership Podcast takes the Declaration of Independence preamble and relates this historic document and its preambles iconic words to the values represented by leaders today.  

The focus of Episode 3 is on significant disruption; disruption to our health care system via a coronavirus pandemic, which has led to our economic system experiencing significant disruption in employment, business failures and diminishing prospects for workers’ future economic security.  These parallel and related disruptors to the lives of many Americans have enabled the Band-Aid to come off of other systemic societal woes as well.  Among these include inequalities in longstanding systemic racism, policing, education, employment and pay.

Dr. John Bedker discusses these many challenges to leaders in these troubled times in our nation’s calling “to form a more perfect union,” on this 4th of July holiday.  John shares with you the need for leaders to lead in ways that all men and women will be treated equally.  A leadership challenge, to be sure.

Sources include:

Christensen, Clayton M. (1997). The innovator’s dilemma: when new technologies cause great firms to fail. Boston, Massachusetts, USA: Harvard Business School Press.

Dillon, Karen, Guest Editor, MIT Sloan Management Review (Spring 2020, Volume 61, Number 3), What will it take to innovate and compete over the next decade? Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA: MIT Sloan Management Review.

Poo, Al-jen and Shah, Palak, The Future of Work Isn’t What People Think it is, May 7, 2020. New York, New York, The New York Times.

Episode 4- Doing the right thing…When Leaders cannot do anything else. Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, Director for European Affairs for the National Security Council, retires.

Episode 4 of The Dr. John Bedker Leadership Podcast details another instance where a leader chooses the good of the military service over his individual life as a military officer to bring the bullying and intimidation by President Trump to a close. Lieutenant Colonel Vindman, an active-duty Army officer working for the National Security Council served the Army and his country with exemplary service and distinction.  Lieutenant Colonel Vindman chose the good of the Army and the best interests of his profession rather than his own interests to pursue the Army life he loved.  This is an episode of true character.  A mark of a real leader.

Dr. John Bedker speaks to the uncommon values of Alexander Vindman.  It is these uncommon values that are markers of a great leader.

Sources Incuded:

Schmitt, Eric and Cooper, Helene. “Lt. Colonel Who Testified Against Trump Will Retire.” New York Times, print ed., 9 July 2020, p. A16.

Episode 5- Leadership Guiding Principles in the Global Pandemic. Moving From a Room Called Fear, to a Room Called Hope.

In Episode 5 of The Dr. John Bedker Leadership Podcast Dr. John Bedker reviews the recent article from the McKinsey Quarterly, authored by two Stanford Professors, Hayagreeva Rao and Robert Sutton.  The article acts as an important tool for leaders, a checklist.  The checklist offered by Rao and Sutton is offered for leaders in troubled times; a time we are clearly in.  Written by academics, this article is noteworthy in its several operational guiding principles.

Dr. John Bedker has a rich history of bringing training and knowledge to practice.  The article presented in Episode 5 of The Dr. John Bedker Leadership Podcast by Rao and Sutton details several guiding principles of timely value in our pandemic world.  The connections shared from theory to practice are compelling for scholars and leaders.

Sources Included:

Rao, E. and Sutton, R. From a Room Called Fear to a Room Called Hope, Leadership Agenda for Troubled Times. McKinsey Quarterly. July 9, 2020.

Episode 6- Understanding a Great Leader from What They Say and Do. Famous Quotes from Congressman John Lewis- An Exemplary Leader.

The late Congressman John Lewis was an exemplary leader his entire life.  He brought an abundance of empathy, he encouraged the hearts of many he came in contact with, he challenged others to act for good and he modeled a better way for others to emulate. Episode 6 of The Dr. John Bedker Leadership Podcast takes quotes from the life and speeches of John Lewis and applies them to your leadership journey.

Dr. John Bedker brings his insights and lived experiences to relate famous quotes from Congressman Lewis to the world of leadership.  In the case of John Lewis, imitation can be a sincere form of flattery.  Episode 6 of The Dr. John Bedker Leadership Podcast makes the compelling case for imitation in what John Lewis said and what he did.

Sources Included:

Meacham, Jon. His Truth Is Marching on: John Lewis and the Power of Hope. New York: Random House. 2020.

Episode 16 - Belarus Part 3

In this third installment on the country of Belarus, Dr. John Bedker addresses the leader, the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko.  It is a tale of position and power, not of leadership.  In this episode, John makes clear the path of Belarus, the path to autocracy, and the last remaining dictatorship in Europe. It is a path, in Dr. Bedker's opinion, that is not dissimilar to the path the United States is on.  Government leaders and faith leaders are challenged to “do the right thing,”  to not replicate the history of “leadership" in Belarus.   The peril of democracy in the United States is real and Belarus may be a frightening end game to view.  This episode of the Leadership Works Podcast addresses the many leadership challenges to the future of democracy in the United States.