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High Octane LeadershipMost leadership podcasts give you theory. Author: Donald Thompson
Most leadership podcasts give you theory. High Octane Leadership gives you the real playbook - from someone who has actually used it. Donald Thompson is an EY Entrepreneur of the Year, Forbes Next 1000 honoree, and 3x Inc. 5000 Chief Executive who has built, scaled, and successfully exited multiple companies over a 25-year career. He's advised Fortune 500 brands, led post-merger integrations, served on corporate and nonprofit boards, and authored Underestimated: A CEO's Unlikely Path to Success and The Inclusive Leadership Handbook. Now he brings that hard-won experience directly to you - in conversations with the executives, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders who are actually moving the needle. Every episode delivers cheat codes - the insights, frameworks, and lessons that took decades to earn and minutes to apply. Whether you're running a company, building toward your first leadership role, or somewhere in between, High Octane Leadership is where serious professionals come to get sharper. Subscribe and lead at full throttle. Language: en-us Genres: Business, Careers, Management Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it Trailer: |
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The University of Michigan Just Lowered the Bar. The Real World Didn't.
Episode 191
Wednesday, 26 August, 2026
The University of Michigan recently announced it would go pass-fail for freshmen and remove SAT and ACT requirements, all in the name of protecting mental health. Donald Thompson isn't buying it.In this 11-minute segment, Donald makes the case that lowering academic standards doesn't protect young people — it underprepares them. The business world doesn't go pass-fail. Pressure is the curriculum. Failure is how you build a career. And the generation coming out the other side of these policies is going to find that out the hard way.Inside this episode:• Why removing grades and test scores is a disservice — not a kindness• The real job of a university: prepare students for the world they're going to live in• Why the business reality is a stress test on resiliency — and always will be• Don's mentoring story: the young professional who almost quit, stayed, and landed a new job in a down economy• The difference between "I can't handle this" and "I'm choosing not to" — and why that distinction is everything• Who wins when standards drop: the people who kept themDonald Thompson LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donaldthompsonjrDonald's Newsletter & Substack: https://substack.com/@donaldthompsonjrDonald's Books: https://donaldthompson.com/books-resources/Stay connected with Donald: Get his newsletter packed with actionable insights and the kind of straight-talk leadership intelligence that helps build authority, drive performance, and stay ahead of what’s coming next: donaldthompson.com.
