Lead with Purpose

Ron Boire
  • 5.0 (8)
  • Business

Lead with Purpose is a long-form series featuring leaders who are building something that matters. Founders, CEOs, board members, and thinkers sit down with Ron Boire, former CEO of Barnes & Noble, Sears Canada, and Brookstone, for unscripted, unedited conversations about how leaders define their purpose, navigate crisis, and make the hard calls that shape their companies, their teams, and their lives: from strategic transformation and the future of work to the human side of leading through technological change. No soundbites. No scripts. Just real dialogue between people who have sat in the chair.

  1. 5h ago

    JoAnn Garbin: More Good, Not Less Bad. Rethinking the Data Center [014]

    Episode description JoAnn Garbin is the first returning guest on Lead with Purpose. She led innovation work on the data center of the future at Microsoft, co-authored the bestselling The Insider's Guide to Innovation at Microsoft, and now runs Regenerous Labs, where her team designs data centers meant to be positive for the company, the community, and nature. Ron and JoAnn work through the fight happening in towns across the country. A Gallup survey found Americans would rather live near a nuclear plant than an AI data center, a result JoAnn calls a contradiction, since a gigawatt campus is asking for roughly what a nuclear plant provides. They dig into what water neutral actually means once you count power generation upstream and paved ground downstream, why eighty percent of a data center's water footprint sits in the grid rather than the building, and why software companies pretending to be power and construction companies keep learning expensive lessons. Full Podcast Available on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple. Ron Boire and The Upland Group Website: https://www.ronboire.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RonBoire LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronboire/ JoAnn Garbin: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joanngarbin/ Link to Book: https://www.amazon.com/Insiders-Guide-Innovation-Microsoft-ebook/dp/B0DLX2PF5J

    JoAnn Garbin: More Good, Not Less Bad. Rethinking the Data Center [014]

  2. Sep 8

    Caroline Webb: Deliberate Wisdom in the Age of AI [013]

    Episode description Caroline Webb spent her first career as an economist, forecasting the US economy for the British government at the Bank of England. She left because the work kept pulling her away from the human center. What followed was twelve years at McKinsey, where she stepped off the partner track to build a leadership practice from scratch, and then made partner anyway. Ron and Caroline discuss the distinction at the heart of her new book, Leadership Intelligence: experiential wisdom, which comes from years in the chair, and deliberate wisdom, the set of critical thinking habits anyone can build at any stage. The catch is that experience cuts both ways. The more of it you have, the heavier your blinkers, and the smartest and fastest leaders are often the most exposed. Ron Boire and The Upland Group Website: https://www.ronboire.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RonBoire LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronboire/ Caroline Webb Buy the Book: https://carolinewebb.co/books/leadership-intelligence/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolinewebbauthor/

    Caroline Webb: Deliberate Wisdom in the Age of AI [013]

  3. Aug 25

    The Bar Napkin: Dina Consolini Dommett on Building Things That Last [012]

    Guest bioDina Consolini Dommett is Director of Partnerships at the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs, where she designs and runs executive programs including the Ukrainian Veterans Leadership Program with the Victor Pinchuk Foundation. She has spent more than twenty-five years in international executive education at Columbia Business School, NYU Stern, London Business School, the London School of Economics, and Oxford's Saïd Business School, with stints in the London offices of Marconi plc and the Monitor Group. At Columbia she designed and launched EMBA-Global, the joint executive MBA with London Business School. She holds a PhD in Italian from Yale and a BA from Boston College, and she was a Fulbright scholar in Rome. What We Cover In the late 1990s, Ron Boire walked into an office at Columbia Business School hoping to talk his way into an executive MBA with no undergraduate degree. The woman across the desk told him the program he came for was wrong for him, pulled a bar napkin out of her drawer, and sketched something that did not exist yet. That napkin became EMBA-Global, the joint degree with London Business School; Ron was in the first class, and nearly three decades later the program is still running. Dina Dommett is the woman with the napkin: the youngest of six, daughter of a union carpenter in central Connecticut, who had never been on an airplane before she flew to Rome at twenty-two on a Fulbright, took a PhD in Italian at Yale, walked away from the professor track when she decided the field was not meeting the moment, and built a career instead at Columbia, London Business School, the LSE, and Oxford. Ron Boire and The Upland Group Website: http://www.ronboire.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RonBoire Executive Coaching: https://www.ronboire.com/executive-coaching Keynote Speaking: http://www.ronboire.com/keynote-speaking LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronboire/ Dina Consolini Dommett LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dina-dommett/

    The Bar Napkin: Dina Consolini Dommett on Building Things That Last [012]

  4. Aug 11

    Stefan Pagels Christensen: A Child Star, an Addiction, and What It Taught Him About Leading [011]

    About Stefan Pagels Christensen Stefan Pagels Christensen is the founder of IMPROV Communication, an international leadership and team development consultancy based in Helsingør, Denmark, specializing in psychological safety and emotional intelligence delivered through applied improvisation. A Danish child actor from the age of twelve, he performed in more than eight feature films and appeared at the Royal Danish Theatre at sixteen. He trained at the iO Theater in Chicago and became the first European invited back as a teacher, then founded Improv Comedy Copenhagen in 2016. IMPROV Communication works with global organizations across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the United States. What We Cover Ron and Stefan cover the full arc: fame before the brain is ready for it, battling addiction, ADHD as stigma and then as a tool, why prohibition creates the gateway rather than the drug. Then they get into the work: why one-off team training is a waste of money, what Stefan's survey of 402 participants revealed about the voice in people's heads, why psychological safety has nothing to do with being nice. Ron Boire and The Upland Group Website: http://www.ronboire.com YouTube:    / @ronboire   Executive Coaching: https://www.ronboire.com/executive-co... Keynote Speaking: http://www.ronboire.com/keynote-speaking LinkedIn:   / ronboire   Stefan Pagles Christensen Stefan Pagels Christensen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefanpagelsimprov/IMPROV Communication: https://improv.euThe Judge in the Room, the free field report Stefan references at : https://improv.eu/the-judge-in-the-roomIMPROV Communication monthly newsletter: sign up at https://improv.euIMPROV Communication on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/improvcommunication/

    Stefan Pagels Christensen: A Child Star, an Addiction, and What It Taught Him About Leading [011]

  5. Jul 28

    From Lechmere to the Ranch: Paul Spitale on a Life of Leaving It Better [010]

    About Paul Spitale Paul Spitale spent twenty-five years at Sony Electronics, rising through the ranks from regional sales associate to senior vice president. After Sony, he led a successful turnaround of a struggling paperboard company in New Jersey before joining Colt's Manufacturing in 2015, one of the oldest and most iconic firearms companies in America. At Colt, Paul served as Chief Commercial Officer and was instrumental in rebuilding the commercial business, modernizing the product line, revamping distribution, and reintroducing the legendary Python revolver to the market. Under his leadership, Colt went from heading into bankruptcy to generating over fifty-three million dollars in EBITDA before being acquired by CZ, a fellow firearms manufacturer. What made Paul uniquely suited for Colt was something very few executives in the industry could claim: he was an active shooter himself. Paul competes in IDPA, the International Defensive Pistol Association, where he has won local matches in New York and Connecticut and captured the IDPA State Championship in Pennsylvania twice. His hands-on experience as an active competitor gave him a credibility and product instinct that set him apart in an industry where most senior executives do not actually shoot. Today Paul lives on a ranch in Michigan where he creates content for his YouTube channel, Paul at the Ranch, which has grown to over sixty-two thousand subscribers. The channel covers shooting, hunting, outdoor skills, fitness, woodworking, and ranch life, all taught with the same values-driven approach Paul brought to every leadership role in his career. Ron Boire and Paul Spitale have known each other for thirty years, first meeting at Sony Electronics in Boston in the early 1990s. What We Cover Ron and Paul trace thirty years of friendship and professional overlap, from a tiny Sony sales office in Newton, Massachusetts to the boardrooms of Best Buy, Colt, and beyond. They tell the story of Mike London, the legendary merchant at Leechmere who mentored both of them in ways that shaped everything that followed. They dig into what it takes to turn around a company in bankruptcy, why values-driven leadership works in any industry, how Paul took Colt from near collapse to acquisition, and what made him walk away from the executive world to build something of his own on a ranch in Michigan. Along the way they talk about the 1911, the Python, servant leadership, AI in the workforce, win-win deal making, and the particular kind of authenticity that makes a YouTube channel worth watching. Ron Boire and The Upland Group Website: http://www.ronboire.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RonBoire Executive Coaching: https://www.ronboire.com/executive-coaching Keynote Speaking: http://www.ronboire.com/keynote-speaking LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronboire/ Paul Spitale YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Paulattheranch LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulspitale/

    From Lechmere to the Ranch: Paul Spitale on a Life of Leaving It Better [010]

  6. Jul 14

    Troy Rice: It's More Important to Get It Right Than to Be Right [009]

    Guest: Troy Rice, President and CEO of PGA Tour Superstore About Troy Rice Troy Rice is the President and CEO of PGA Tour Superstore, the largest specialty golf retailer in the United States, owned by Arthur Blank, co-founder of Home Depot and owner of the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United. Troy brings nearly four decades of retail leadership experience across some of America's most iconic brands, including Home Depot, Toys R Us, Office Depot, and Total Wine and More, where he served as CEO. He began his career working in his stepfather's grocery store in Beaman, Tennessee, a formative experience that shaped his lifelong belief in human connection, servant leadership, and the power of knowing your customer. Troy and Ron Boire first met at Toys R Us in 2006 and have remained close for twenty years. What We Cover Ron and Troy trace Troy's remarkable journey from a small-town Tennessee grocery store to the CEO chair of one of the most experiential retail concepts in America. Along the way they dig into the Toys R Us collapse and what it really teaches about leadership failure, the cultural breakdown that followed Bob Nardelli's arrival at Home Depot, why AI is accelerating rather than replacing the human connection in retail, and what it takes to build a team where trust flows in every direction. Troy also shares his philosophy on first-time CEOs, servant leadership, collective intelligence, and why getting it right matters more than being right. Ron Boire and The Upland Group Website: http://www.ronboire.com Executive Coaching: http://www.ronboire.com/executive-coa... Keynote Speaking: http://www.ronboire.com/keynote-speaking LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronboire/ Troy Rice Info: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/troy-rice-b78aaa1/ PGA Tour Superstore: www.pgatoursuperstore.com

    Troy Rice: It's More Important to Get It Right Than to Be Right [009]

  7. Jul 7

    The Board Is Not Your Audience: Bill Klepper on Governance That Works [008]

    Lead with Purpose | Episode Show Notes Guest: Bill Klepper, Leadership Scholar, Author, and Senior Faculty at Columbia Business School About Bill Klepper Bill Klepper is one of the most respected leadership scholars in the world and a defining presence at Columbia Business School for nearly four decades. He began his relationship with Columbia in 1986 when he was sent to Beijing to help launch the first MBA program in China. After a decade as an adjunct faculty member, he was brought in by executive education leadership to work directly with the faculty, a role that became a thirty-year commitment to the school. He is the author of The CEO's Boss, now in its second edition, a foundational text on board leadership and governance. He was a mentor to Ron Boire and played a direct role in Ron's decision to pursue the Columbia and London Business School joint EMBA program. Bill is Jesuit trained, which shapes his deep commitment to ethics, the social contract, and the question of what ought to be. What We Cover Recorded live at Columbia Business School, Ron sits down with the man who helped shape his leadership foundation. Bill and Ron trace the evolution of leadership over four decades, from the days when only two women held CEO positions in America to the current era of tech-driven authoritarianism. They dig into the ethics of leadership, the social contract, what business schools owe society, and what separates a great innovator from a great leader. The conversation covers Elon Musk, AI and the future of knowledge work, open source versus closed AI models, and what it means to lead with something greater than self-interest. Ron Boire and The Upland Group Website: http://www.ronboire.com Executive Coaching: http://www.ronboire.com/executive-coa... Keynote Speaking: http://www.ronboire.com/keynote-speaking LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronboire/ Bill Klepper Info: Book: https://www.amazon.com/CEOs-Boss-Boardroom-Columbia-Publishing/dp/0231149883 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-klepper-39b3a2/

    The Board Is Not Your Audience: Bill Klepper on Governance That Works [008]

  8. Jun 23

    CEO of Self: Carl Tishler on Managing the One Company You Never Run [007]

    About Carl Tischler Carl Tishler is the founder of the HPNA Academy, a performance academy built around the concept of high performing, non-arrogant leaders. After nine years on Wall Street as a banker and seven years as a private equity investor, Carl experienced the 2008 global financial crisis firsthand when his firm collapsed under the weight of rapid growth and cultural breakdown. That dislocation became the catalyst for building something entirely different: a curriculum and community designed to help driven, talented people learn to executively manage themselves with the same rigor they bring to their professional lives. He later spent six and a half years as COO and CFO of a deep tech AI company, where he tested and refined his framework in a live operating environment before launching the academy as a standalone business. What We Cover Ron and Carl trace Carl's journey from Wall Street banker to private equity investor to performance academy founder, and dig into one of the most overlooked problems in leadership: the complete absence of executive self-management in most high-achieving people's lives. Carl introduces the concept of CEO of Self, explains why the personal board meeting is the most important meeting most leaders never have, and makes the case that sustainable high performance has nothing to do with suffering and everything to do with structure, micro habits, and the right kind of community. Ron Boire and The Upland Group Website: http://www.ronboire.com Executive Coaching: http://www.ronboire.com/executive-coa... Keynote Speaking: http://www.ronboire.com/keynote-speaking LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronboire/ Carl Tishler Info: Website: https://www.hpna.pro LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carl-tishler/

    CEO of Self: Carl Tishler on Managing the One Company You Never Run [007]
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
8 Ratings

About

Lead with Purpose is a long-form series featuring leaders who are building something that matters. Founders, CEOs, board members, and thinkers sit down with Ron Boire, former CEO of Barnes & Noble, Sears Canada, and Brookstone, for unscripted, unedited conversations about how leaders define their purpose, navigate crisis, and make the hard calls that shape their companies, their teams, and their lives: from strategic transformation and the future of work to the human side of leading through technological change. No soundbites. No scripts. Just real dialogue between people who have sat in the chair.

Information

  • Creator
    Ron Boire
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    14
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Ron Boire