How to Do Crazy Good Turns — Frank Blake
Description
“You get what you celebrate.”
– Frank Blake
Frank Blake (@frankblake) served as chairman and CEO of The Home Depot from January 2007 to May 2014, and then as chairman through January of 2015. He previously served as deputy secretary for the US Department of Energy. Prior to that, he served in a wide variety of executive roles at General Electric.
Frank’s public sector experience includes having served as general counsel for the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), deputy counsel to Vice President George H.W. Bush, and law clerk to Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.
Frank serves on the board of directors for the Georgia Aquarium, Proctor & Gamble, Macy’s, and is currently serving as board chairman of Delta and Grady Memorial Hospital. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a jurisprudence degree from Columbia University School of Law.
Frank also produces a short-form podcast called Crazy Good Turns, which tells inspiring stories about amazing people who do things for others. In this wide-ranging conversation, we discuss a book that inspired both of us, advice from Jack Welch, the art of customer service, “productive conflict,” and much, much more. Enjoy!
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Want to hear another episode with a fascinating leader? Listen to my conversation with Ray Dalio. We discuss how Ray thinks about investment decisions, the three books he would give to every graduating high school or college senior, how he might assess cryptocurrency, and much, much more (stream below or right-click here to download):
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QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
Scroll below for links and show notes…
Selected Links from the Episode
- Connect with Frank Blake:
- Crazy Good Turns
- The Home Depot
- Built from Scratch: How a Couple of Regular Guys Grew The Home Depot from Nothing to $30 Billion by Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank
- General Electric
- How Home Depot CEO Frank Blake Kept His Legacy from Being Hacked by Jennifer Reingold, Fortune
- The Home Depot’s Inverted Pyramid
- Meaningful Growth vs. Metric Manipulation by Des Traynor, Intercom
- Net Promoter Score (NPS)
- Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A)
- Habitat for Humanity
- Call Home Depot CEO Frank Blake by Ben Popken, Consumerist
- Home Depot CEO Blake Says Breach Investigation Continuing by Leon Stafford, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie
- Crazy Good Turns Podcast by Former Home Depot Execs Highlight Stories of Worthy Non-profits by Kyle O’Brien
- Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t by Jim Collins
- Cultural Amnesia: Necessary Memories from History and the Arts by Clive James
- A la Recherche du Temps Perdu by Marcel Proust
- 300 Arguments: Essays by Sa