#190: Steve Duncker, former Chairman of NYRA – One size doesn’t fit all

How Leaders Lead with David Novak

David Novak Leadership

Entrepreneurship, Business, Management

4.8 • 596 Ratings

🗓️ 6 June 2024

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Every leader has their own style and their own way of leading. And that’s true – but sometimes, you have to adapt that style, depending on who and where you’re leading. If you want to learn how it’s done, listen to this episode with Steve Duncker. He’s a former partner at Goldman Sachs and the former Chairman of the New York Racing Association, which operates the three largest thoroughbred horse racing tracks in the state of New York. You’ll also learn: Practical ways to drive culture at every level of your organization What to pay attention to when you make big career decisions Why your words matter How he won a horse playing backgammon Take your learning further. Get proven leadership advice from these (free!) resources: The How Leaders Lead App: A vast library of 90-second leadership lessons to stay sharp on the go Daily Insight Emails: One small (but powerful!) leadership principle to focus on each day Whichever you choose, you can be sure you’ll get the trusted leadership advice you need to advance your career, develop your team, and grow your business.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to How Leaders Lead where every week you get to listen in while I interview some of the very best leaders in the world.
0:10.5	I break down the key learning so that by the end of the episode, you'll have something simple you can apply as you develop into a better leader.
0:17.8	That's what this podcast is all about.
0:20.2	My guest today is Steve Dunker. He's a former
0:22.7	partner at Goldman Sachs and the former chairman of Naira, the New York Racing Association, which
0:29.4	operates the three largest thoroughbred horse racing tracks in the state of New York. And that
0:35.0	includes Saratoga, where they'll be running the prestigious Belmont
0:38.9	Stakes this Saturday. Now, let me tell you, Steve's had quite the varied and successful career,
0:44.6	in large part because he's got this uncanny ability to learn quickly and make smart investments
0:50.5	and smart decisions. But in all those various situations, he's learned that you can't
0:56.7	rely on just one leadership playbook. You've got to be able to adapt your style to suit the situation
1:02.8	and the people you're leading. And Steve's got a lot of great insights into how you can do just
1:08.1	that. He's also got some amazing stories you have to hear or to believe.
1:13.0	So here's my conversation with my good friend and soon to be yours, Steve Dunker.
1:24.7	You know, I can't wait to talk about your career at Goldman Sachs and NYRA, but first, I want to take you back to the beginning.
1:33.3	What's a story from your childhood that shaped the kind of leader that you are today?
1:38.6	That's a good question. I think to some extent it was the first business that I was involved in. And it happened with my
1:46.3	lifelong friend, Ted Levis and I, we started a business resurfacing driveways, charing driveways in
1:51.5	St. Louis. And one of the things that happened is when we decided to go into that business,
1:57.0	that we had to do a lot of things that took capital. We had to be able to go buy a truck that
2:03.1	would carry 55-gallon drums of tar. And what I did realize early on is that nobody's going to do
2:09.7	that for you. You're going to have to go find the truck, find the money for the truck, find the
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from David Novak Leadership, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of David Novak Leadership and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.