We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Don Schmincke a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Don, thanks for joining us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

Was MIT planetary physics major. Automated the Harvard/MIT biomedical lab. Became fascinated with humans. Did graduate work at Johns Hopkins, and went on faculty with the MBA program. Started seeing problems in management theory. Oxford gave me copyright to an ancient manuscript for developing leaders. I published and it went bestseller. I began funding my own research. Began training CEOs and working with entrepreneurs. Several books later, I’ve trained about 30,000. My new book, Winners and Losers, is focused directly on inspiring and supporting the independent, fresh entrepreneur. I love sharing unusual ideas that work even if they violate the status-quo, expose ivory-tower myths, and crush trendy theories. All evidence-based with real entrepreneurs.

Don, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Here’s my press bio. Feel free to cut and paste elements that you feel fit with your audience:

After training over 30,000 CEOs, a NY press agency accused Don of being “the most provocative speaker in industry.” What else would you expect from an MIT and Johns Hopkins researcher who was nearly arrested as a capitalist spy in the Soviet Bloc, was shot off an aircraft carrier, survived in the Kurdish capital as Tehran held hostages, became the first white person in an African Tsonga village, explored religious integration in Vietnamese mountain tribes, developed missile guidance systems while his frat brothers took Vegas (later portrayed in the movie “21”), and was seen by a North Korean DMZ mine-field with his kids (bad dad!)?

Don’s irreverent humor and unconventional methods provide audiences such a refreshing change to other status-quo topics that he’s been called the “management renegade.” His patent-pending offerings transcend typical programs via refreshing alternatives to trendy theories, unproven methods, and phony “experts.” The industry agrees: 

Bestselling books “The Code of the Executive”, “High Altitude Leadership” (with NBC Emmy-nominated climber Chris Warner), and “Winners and Losers”
Published in over 12 languages and recommended by top business schools.
Featured by CNN, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, MSNBC.com and many industry publications.
Host of Executive Insights TV series and The Leader’s Code radio program.
Lifetime Achievement Award and Top 10 Speaker Award by the world’s largest CEO organization.
Awarded Senior Member recognition by IEEE, the world’s largest organization for the advancement of technology.

The high failure rates of pop-management theories drove Don’s research using anthropology, evolutionary genetics and biology to dispel the “program-of-the-month” syndrome frustrating CEOs and their staff for so long. Don’s science-driven leadership methods accelerate strategic performance in revenue growth, talent management, employee engagement, structure, and cultural alignment. He admits, “our work is politically incorrect but scientifically accurate.”

Audiences love it!

“Most remarkable and entertaining insights I ever heard on stage!”

Today, Don flies 200K miles annually speaking at conferences and working in over 100 industries including healthcare, manufacturing, non-profits, technology, finance, insurance, the Department of Defense (where he helped the U.S. Navy evolve its Fleet Readiness strategy), the White House Press Club . . . and occasionally can be found at universities inflicting his unconventional techniques on innocent graduate students.

Has your business ever had a near-death moment? Would you mind sharing the story?

Several times I hired a executive team to take over so I could focus more on research and teaching. They all failed. I had to come back in after they almost bankrupted my business. Problem was trust. I trusted all of them. In the end, they did not have the capability to productize and scale my IP, even though they represented that they did. I had to turnaround my business a half dozen times. I learned a lot and no longer hire teams the way I did. I doubt more and realize they have to prove themselves on test-projects before we make any commitments.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I had to pivot from being a scientist/engineer to being a consultant, then an author, then a speaker, then, well, I don’t know what I am. My day is full of business development, research, product development, speaking to CEO groups, working with companies, trying to be a CEO (and sucking at it), developing an organization.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sagaleadership.com
• Other: Just google “don schmincke”. I think there are over 10,000 hits on various media.