Episode 063: Whitney Johnson – How To Disrupt Yourself To Dare, Dream, and DO Remarkable Things

This was a very interesting conversation with Whitney Johnson... She has an extremely interesting story to tell about how she disrupted herself in order to do something bigger.  She was an incredibly successful equity analyst and she quit in order to follow a dream of doing something bigger and helping others. 

Whitney Johnson is an investor, speaker, author, and leading thinker on driving innovation through personal disruption.  Johnson is the co-founder of Rose Park Advisors, along with Clayton Christensen where they led the seed round for Korea’s Coupang, currently valued at $5+ billion.

Whitney is a frequent contributor and writer, including to the Harvard Business Review, as a LinkedINfluencer, and through other channels. She is the author of two books, Dare, Dream, Do (2012), and the Disrupt Yourself: Putting the Power of Disruptive Innovation to Work (2015). She is also a prolific speaker and has spoken to audiences of more than 25,000 on her ideas and vision. Johnson is represented by the New Leaf Speakers bureau, along with other thought leaders in business and innovation.

Episode 063: Whitney Johnson – How To Disrupt Yourself To Dare, Dream, and DO Remarkable Things

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The Learning Leader Show

“What does disruptive innovation look like for an individual?”

Some Questions I Ask:

• What are common characteristics of people who have achieved success?
• What does it mean to “disrupt yourself?”
• Why did you write “Dare, Dream, Do?”
• What possessed you to quit your job as an extremely successful Equity Analyst?
• Why do we fail to implement and execute our plans?
• What does the first 60 minutes of your look like?
• What is the first thing that pops in your mind when you hear the phrase, “Learning Leader?”

“Too often we hear people say, I don’t have permission to dream.”

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

• What it means to disrupt yourself
• The importance of curiosity and drive
• Deliberate practice and implementation of new ideas.  A “how to” guide to making this happen
• How this theory can apply and be done by anyone
• Why we must be uncomfortable to grow
• The need to take risks
• A learning leader is continually asking questions

Continue Learning

• Go to Whitney’s website: whitneyjohnson.com
• Buy her book and read the incredibly impressive reviews on Amazon: Disrupt Yourself
• Read: "Dare, Dream, Do: Remarkable Things Happen when you Dare to Dream"
• Follow Whitney on Twitter: @johnsonwhitney

You may also like these episodes:

Episode 001: How To Become A Master Connector With Jayson Gaignard From MasterMind Talks

Episode 002: How To Take Over And Set Bigger Goals With Chris Brogan

Episode 004: How Todd Wagner (and Mark Cuban) Sold Broadcast.com To Yahoo! For $5.7 Billion

Episode 010: Shane Snow – How To Accelerate Success Using Smart Cuts

Did you enjoy the podcast?

I love learning from people who bring a new idea to the table… That is what Whitney Johnson has done.  She is an extremely interesting and inspiring person. Who do you know that needs to hear this?  Send them to The Learning Leader Show!

Episode edited by the great J Scott Donnell

Bio From WhitneyJohnson.com

Whitney Johnson is an investor, speaker, author, and leading thinker on driving innovation through personal disruption.  Johnson is the co-founder of Rose Park Advisors, along with Clayton Christensen where they led the seed round for Korea’s Coupang, currently valued at $5+ billion.

Whitney is a frequent contributor and writer, including to the Harvard Business Review, as a LinkedINfluencer, and through other channels. She is the author of two books, Dare, Dream, Do (2012), and the Disrupt Yourself: Putting the Power of Disruptive Innovation to Work (2015). She is also a prolific speaker and has spoken to audiences of more than 25,000 on her ideas and vision. Johnson is represented by the New Leaf Speakers bureau, along with other thought leaders in business and innovation.