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My Favorite Mistake: Business Lessons from Failures and SuccessAuthor: Mark Graban
Unlock Leadership Excellence: Tune into My Favorite Mistake with Mark GrabanAre you a leader aiming to boost effectiveness, insight, and innovation? Join Mark Graban on My Favorite Mistake (and no, its not the Sheryl Crow song), where top business minds, C-suite executives, and industry innovators share their pivotal mistakes and the powerful lessons theyve learned.The ConceptEmbrace the transformative power of mistakes. Discover how errors can fuel leadership growth and creative problem-solving, turning each misstep into a masterclass in improvement and innovation.The StoriesDive into captivating interviews with international entrepreneurs, tech pioneers, accomplished athletes and entertainers, healthcare leaders, and award-winning authors. Each guest reveals how their significant mistakes shaped their careers and led to groundbreaking insights.The BreadthExplore a wide range of topics, from leadership psychology and organizational culture to process innovation and sustainability. Gain valuable perspectives to navigate the ever-changing business landscape.The ApproachGuided by Mark Graban, an author and seasoned consultant, each episode delves into Lean Management (based on the Toyota Production System) and psychological safety, uncovering strategies for individuals and organizations to learn from their mistakes.Why Subscribe?Engage with Thought-Provoking Dialogues: Challenge conventional wisdom and explore new perspectives.Access Tools and Frameworks: Gain actionable insights for a competitive edge.Discover Innovative Opportunities: Learn how to turn mistakes into catalysts for innovation.Develop Emotional Intelligence and Resilience: Enhance your leadership skills and agile thinking.Transform your approach to leadership and success. Subscribe to My Favorite Mistake today and embark on a journey of relentless improvement through the power of learning from mistakes. Language: en Genres: Business, Entrepreneurship, Management Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it Trailer: |
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From Medicare Fraud to Military Leadership: Dr. Josh McConkey’s Hard-Won Wisdom on Mistakes and Courage
Episode 332
Sunday, 14 December, 2025
In Episode #332 of My Favorite Mistake, Mark Graban talks with Dr. Josh McConkey — emergency physician, Air Force Reserve Commander, combat-deployed medevac leader, and Pulitzer Prize–nominated author. Known as the “MacGyver Doc,” Josh has spent his career solving problems in high-pressure environments where you rarely get a second chance. Episode page with links, video, transcript, and more Josh shares the most painful mistake of his professional life: entering a business partnership without doing the proper due diligence. What followed was a cascade of red flags — Medicare violations, skimming, financial misconduct, and even a $3.4 million bribe offer he refused. The ordeal ultimately cost him nearly $5 million and forced him to rebuild his career and life with integrity front and center. In our discussion, Josh explains how this experience reshaped his understanding of leadership, accountability, and courage — especially in systems where incentives can push good people toward dangerous choices. He also reflects on two decades in emergency medicine, including the structural failures that helped fuel the opioid crisis and the pressures physicians faced to prescribe narcotics. Josh shares why he wrote Be the Weight Behind the Spear and his new children’s leadership book The Heart of a Leader, and why he believes character development must start far earlier than most of us realize. We close with his decision to run for Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina in 2028 — a move grounded in service, accountability, and a desire to strengthen public leadership. This episode explores integrity, systemic failure, resilience, and the lessons we carry forward after a mistake that changes everything.
