Everybody Leads with Tim Lupinacci

David Walker - CEO, EBSCO Industries

Episode Summary

This week, Tim Lupinacci welcomes David Walker, chief executive officer of EBSCO Industries, to the Everybody Leads podcast. David started his career as a CPA with Ernst & Young before joining EBSCO in 2000. He has served EBSCO in a variety of roles since, including CFO, COO, and CEO. David shares insights on his leadership journey, the development of company culture, and long-term success, emphasizing humility, investing in others, and the significance of vulnerability and transparency.

Episode Notes

This week, Tim Lupinacci welcomes David Walker, chief executive officer of EBSCO Industries, to the Everybody Leads podcast. David started his career as a CPA with Ernst & Young before joining EBSCO in 2000. He has served EBSCO in a variety of roles since, including CFO, COO, and CEO.

During this episode, David discusses his leadership journey, building culture in such a large company, and sustaining success over time. His experiences as the CEO of EBSCO provide him with a unique and useful perspective on leadership with themes of humility, investing in others, and not underestimating the importance of vulnerability and transparency. David also outlines:

• What sparked the trajectory of his leadership journey
• His leadership style and approach
• How he prioritizes culture-building and “empowerment without abandonment” in a large global company and lessons learned
• Balancing hard work with humility
• Building trust by being vulnerable, transparent, and open to feedback
• Dealing with making mistakes
• Resources he found helpful
• How to sustain momentum and success over time
• Daily disciplines to stay energized and focused
• How his company is focusing on its talent advantage
• Advice to leaders without a formal title
• Leaders with no formal title who have inspired him

Additional Resources: 

• Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t  by Jim Collins
• Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by Jim Collins
• Turning the Flywheel: Why Some Companies Build Momentum and Others Don’t by Jim Collins
• Multipliers: How the Best Leads Make Everyone Smarter by Liz Wiseman
• Impact Players: How to Take the Lead, Play Bigger, and Multiply Your Impact by Liz Wiseman
• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Pat Lencioni
• Harvard Business Review

Non-profits:

• United Way of Central Alabama: https://www.uwca.org

Charity:

This episode is in support of David Walker’s designated charity, Hand-in-Hand. We have made a donation to this charity as a thank you to David for joining Everybody Leads. To learn more about this charity, please visit https://www.shades.org/about/ministries/special-needs.

Contact David Walker:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-walker-826090a

Learn more about EBSCO Industries:

• https://www.ebscoind.com