Great Minds Series Podcast

Hilton Hotels & Resorts has 400,000 employees, in over 100 companies, working for 15 distinct brands. With those numbers, what does their L&D look like?  This week, Dr. Zandstra sat down with Vice President of Learning, Jennifer Rinck, to talk about the challenges of training globally. 

Starting a business is tough and failure is commonplace. However, problems can be turned into life-changing opportunities.  Today, Dr. Zandstra sat down with Kristen Hadeed to discuss her new book and the power of failure. 

Wolverine Worldwide is a global footwear and apparel wholesale and retail organization. It has 12 different brands and a footprint than spans the globe.  Today, Dr. Zandstra sits down with Toni Freeland, the Director of Learning and Development at Wolverine, to discuss how she works to help others realize their potential, one person at a time, one interaction at a time and one day at a time.

Today, Dr. Jerry Zandstra sits down with Jerry Kaminski, learning and development leader at Consumers Energy. Having spent over 30 years in L&D, Jerry has worked at multiple multinational organizations and has led thousands of people. Listen in as Jerry discusses how he works to effectively develop roughly 16,000 people every year.

Today, Dr. Jerry Zandstra sits down with Matt Brunk, training lead at Chipotle Mexican Grill. With a background in film, Matt has worked hard to bring "edutainment" to Chipotle. By mixing entertainment and education, Matt has created material that has resonated well with the restaurant's younger workforce.

Today, Dr. Jerry Zandstra sits down with Morris Sims. Morris spent over 30 years, leading the training and development efforts at New York Life Insurance Company and now speaks and writes on developing people to their fullest capacity.

Today, co-founder Dr. Jerry Zandstra sits down with Heiko Fischer, Founder and CEO of Resourceful Humans. Before starting Resourceful Humans, Heiko became the youngest head of Human Resources at Crytek, a European video game company. Though he resides in Berlin, Heiko was able to sit down with Dr. Zandstra and talk about how he works to turn Human Resources on its head. 

Today, co-founder Dr. Jerry Zandstra sits down with Alexandre Havard, author of a number of books including "Virtuous Leadership" and founder of the Havard Virtuous Leadership Institute. Alexandre holds a law degree from René Descartes University and travels the world to promote classical virtues as the basis for effective leadership. Listen in as Alexandre talks about his experience as well as what he's learned about the power of classical virtues and leadership in the workplace today.

Today, Dr. Jerry Zandstra sits down with Gretchen Stroud, Vice President of Global Training at Hilton Hotels. Gretchen has worked all over the world, directing the training efforts of Hilton Hotels. She's lead training efforts for multiple companies over the span of 15 years and is passionate about growing individuals. At Hilton, she trains thousands of employees in over 100 countries, in multiple languages, every day. Click below to hear her take on how to make training effective.

Today, Dr. Zandstra sits down with Yu-kai Chou, gamification guru. Yu-kai was one of the very first people to study gamification, back in 2003, and has since written several books and spoken on the topic around the world. In 2015 he was rated #1 among the "Gamification Gurus Power 100" by RISE and has received the "Gamification Guru of the Year Award" two years in a row by the World Gamification Congress.

Today, Dr. Jerry Zandstra was able to sit down with Kristen Hadeed, founder of StudentMaid. In 2009, Kristen Hadeed was just another college student who couldn't afford a pair of jeans. Needing cash, Kristen decided to start her own cleaning business called Student Maid. Eventually, her business grew to employ over 500 students. Today, Kristen spends her time running Student Maid and teaching people how to effectively lead millennials. 

Today, Dr. Jerry Zandstra was able to sit down with Capt. David Marquet, best-selling author and former nuclear submarine captain. Capt. Marquet wrote the book Turn the Ship Around, detailing his experience as the head of the USS Santa Fe. By working to empower his people, Capt. Marquet was able to turn the worst performing ship in the US fleet to the best.     

Today, Dr. Jerry Zandstra was able to sit down with Raj Sisodia, economist, speaker and author of Conscious Capitalism. Raj is the leader of the conscious capitalism movement and serves as a consultant for dozens of Fortune 500 companies, helping them create an environment in which people matter. 

Today, Dr. Jerry Zandstra was able to sit down with Bob Chapman, CEO of Barry Wehmiller, a 2 billion dollar privately held company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. He as also authored the book Everybody Matters. Using what he calls "truly human leadership", Bob is on a mission to change the way companies treat their people.