

Do Good To Lead Well with Craig Dowden
Craig Dowden
If you're passionate about mastering self-leadership, you're in the right place. I've dedicated my career to understanding the science and practice of positive leadership. I Integrate evidence-based principles from the fields of positive psychology with those in leadership and organizational excellence that will help you develop real-life solutions to solve your greatest challenges. Each week I'll bring world-class content with industry experts to help you use positive leadership to build a peak performance culture.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Dec 29, 2022 • 1h 1min
Choosing Courage - Jim Detert
This week, Craig sits down with Jim Detert to explore the topic of courage. Jim is a professor at the Darden Graduate School of Business and the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia. Jim's research focuses on workplace courage, improvement-oriented voice (why people speak up or stay silent at work) and ethical decision-making and behavior. He believes systemic change is impossible without individual change from top to bottom in organizations. That’s why he focuses on helping people honestly examine themselves, what drives them and holds them back and what skills they must develop and personal commitments they must make if things are going to be different. When research-based theories are applied through innovative experiential learning, people build confidence in their ability to say and do the right things despite risk. Choosing Courage represents nearly two decades of learning how to help people on this journey. Tune in to find out how to be mindful with the language you use, be an effective leader and choose courage.

Dec 22, 2022 • 59min
Who Are We as an Organization? - Anne Whelan
Anne Whelan is principal shareholder and CEO of Seafair Capital, a growth-focused company with investments in community, behavioral health services, technology, e-learning and corporate services. Anne also serves as a corporate director of CSA Group and Nova Leap Health. She was appointed to the Bank of Canada’s Board of Directors in June 2018. Anne has been nationally and regionally recognized for her business and community contributions. She was named one of Canada’s 100 Most Powerful women in 2016 and 2021. In 2019, she was awarded the Red Cross Humanitarian of the Year Award. In 2017. She was named Startup Canada’s Entrepreneur of the Year for an outstanding contribution to Canadian entrepreneurship. Anne was also named Atlantic Business Magazine’s CEO of the Year in 2014 and was inducted into Atlantic Business Magazine’s Top 50 CEO Hall of Fame in 2015. In this episode, Craig and Anne have a fascinating conversation about breaking biases, finding your authentic self and establishing core values.

Dec 15, 2022 • 1h 1min
Hyper-Learning - Ed Hess
Ed Hess is Professor Emeritus of Business Administration, Batten Fellow and Batten Executive-in-Residence Emeritus at the Darden Graduate School of Business, University of Virginia, and the author of Hyper-Learning: How to Adapt to the Speed of Change. He spent twenty years in the business world as a Senior Executive and has spent the last 18 years in academia. Ed is the author of 13 books, over 140 articles and 60 Darden Case studies. His work has appeared in over 400 global media outlets including Fortune magazine, Forbes, Huffington Post, Washington Post, Dow Jones Radio, MSNBC Radio and Business Insider. His recent books and research have focused on “Human Excellence in the Digital Age: A New Way of Being; A New Way of Working; Humanizing the Workplace; and Hyper-Learning”. In this episode, Ed talks more about redefining the ego, setting daily intentions and collaboration.

Dec 8, 2022 • 60min
How to Lead During Challenging Times - Charles Brown
This week, Craig sits down with President and CEO of LifeLabs Medical Laboratory, Charles Brown, to discuss the importance of good leadership during challenging times. Since joining LifeLabs in 2018, Charles has worked to evolve the company into a commercially driven organization that brings customer-centered value to market. By showcasing the possibility of delivering value-based outcomes, Charles empowers his employees to make a difference and facilitate innovative change. During COVID, Charles’ leadership empowered the team to quickly pivot and adapt to respond to the pandemic by providing essential COVID-19 testing, while maintaining full operation of lab testing and diagnostic work. Charles was named one of the Top 100 Innovation CEOs by World Biz Magazine in 2022 and Top 25 Biotechnology CEOs by the Healthcare Technology Report in 2021 and 2022. Tune in to join this fascinating conversation about leadership, business and innovation.
What You'll Learn:
1. The importance of learning
2. Staying positive for your team
3. Using social media responsibly
4. Channeling empathy
5. Leaving things better than you found them

Dec 1, 2022 • 55min
Servant Leadership - Howard Behar
For 21 years, Howard Behar led Starbuck’s domestic business as President of North America and was the founding President of Starbucks International, opening the first store outside of North America in Japan. He served on the Starbucks Board of Directors for twelve years before retiring. Howard's career in business spans over 50 years, all in consumer-oriented businesses, and most recently as a speaker, advisor, mentor and bestselling author. The author of the classic It's Not About Coffee, a guide to leading by putting people first, and The Magic Cup, a parable about the power of personal values, he now travels the world speaking to leaders, organizations and students. His wisdom, generosity and level of integrity have had a profound impact on thousands of people who have been touched by his example, books and speaking. Tune in to hear Howard's expertise on leading in hard times, building good culture, working in the people business and constantly being a student.

Oct 27, 2022 • 43min
Is the World Happy? - Jon Clifton
This week's guest, Jon Clifton, is CEO of Gallup, the global analytics and advice firm. Mr. Clifton's mission is to help organizations create thriving workplaces; put 1 billion people in touch with their strengths; and help 8 billion citizens be heard on their most pressing issues through the Gallup World Poll, a 100-year initiative spanning over 150 countries. He previously served as Global Managing Partner of the company's worldwide consulting group, advising global leaders on how their organizations and countries can thrive using behavioral economics and analytics-based insights. In this episode, Craig and Jon discuss the rise in global unhappiness, how to measure that happiness and the complexity of the human mind.

Oct 20, 2022 • 59min
Practical Wisdom - Dr. Barry Schwartz
Dr. Barry Schwartz is a Visiting Professor at the Haas School of Management at Berkeley. He is a top TED speaker, with 5 different talks, which have reached an audience of over 25 million views. He has written numerous books, including The Paradox of Choice, Practical Wisdom, and Why We Work. In this episode, Craig speaks with Dr. Schwartz about the psychology of human decision-making and how we can learn to make the right choices, at the right times, and for the right reasons. Please listen to this fascinating conversation with one of the most highly respected experts on human behaviour in the world!

Oct 13, 2022 • 1h 2min
Positive Leadership - Yousry Bissada
Yousry Bissada is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Home Capital Group. He has more than 30 years of financial services experience focused on the mortgage industry and is a member of the Home Capital Group Board of Directors. Mr. Bissada is a CPA, GCA and Accredited Mortgage Professional (AMP) and holds an ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. In this episode, Craig speaks with Mr. Bissada about his journey and the lessons he has learned about positive leadership along the way.
What You'll Learn:
1. Covid's impact on communication
2. Preserving company culture
3. Engaging your team
4. The impact of going remote
5. Changes in the mortgage industry
6. Managing your emotions while maintaining a team
7. Virtual onboarding
8. Navigating a crisis

Oct 6, 2022 • 59min
Positive Energy - Dr. Kim Cameron
Dr. Kim Cameron is the co-founder of the Center for Positive Organizations out of the University of Michigan as well as the William Russell Kelly Professor of Management and Organizations at the Ross School of Business. Dr. Cameron is recognized as the foremost expert on positive relational energy, which is generated by virtuous actions and can have a profound impact on an organization’s success and an individual’s professional and personal life. He was recently recognized as being among the top 10 scholars in the organizational sciences whose work has been most frequently downloaded from Google. Dr. Cameron joins Craig on this week’s episode to discuss his latest book, Positively Energizing Leadership: Virtuous Actions and Relationships That Create High Performance.

Sep 28, 2022 • 1h
Grow as a Professional - Kim Furlong
A trusted advisor to governments, associations and corporations, Kim Furlong brings people together to enhance value and arrive at win/win scenarios for all. As CEO of Canada’s Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (CVCA), she advocates on behalf of the industry to ensure sound public policy and encourage a favorable environment for investment. Kim offers a unique combination of government, corporate and trade association experience from both sides of the table. A respected corporate leader, she brings with her an impressive network of national and international business leaders, diplomats, politicians and political staff across all major political parties both federally and provincially. On this week's episode, Kim talks about venture capital in Canada, the importance of asking questions and how she stays strong in her character.
What You'll Learn:
1. Opportunities in Canada
2. Entrepreneur culture in Canada vs America
3. How to reframe failure
4. Knowing when to ask for help
5. Creating a good team
6. Authenticity
7. Building your network
8. Mindfulness
9. Growing as a professional


