‘Leading the Way’ Podcast: Anthony Kennedy Shriver

Spending an hour with Anthony Kennedy Shriver and learning about the Best Buddies initiative is time well spent! Shriver, founder of Best Buddies International, is the latest guest on Leading the Way ( now available on iTunes). He is inspiring, enthusiastic, informative, and brings to life the importance of creating a diverse workforce. In the podcast, he’ll share several interesting stories, as well as what it was like growing up in one of America’s most well-known family.

Be sure to review i4cp’s study, Employing People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities , that Shriver refers to as, “Substantial data, an objective perspective and confirms everything we have been saying on the impact companies have when they choose to include individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.”

Key soundbites

• On Innovation – “The spirit of failure [is the most significant experience in developing innovative thinking]…not getting done what you wanted and coming at it with another strategy, another way of solving it.”
• On Inclusion – “It’s the concept of ‘choose to include.’ That’s the only way to live a full, rich and rewarding life. Choosing to exclude, isolate, and separate leads to enormous failure and heartache.”
• On employee retention – “It’s tough to find good employees. If you’re an employer trying to find good talent and ways to retain them, and [you’re looking for people who] come to work with enormous enthusiasm and contribute to your work culture in a positive way, then you have to hire people with special needs.”
• On diversity – “You’ve got to have a workforce that’s dynamic, diverse, exciting, and enthusiastic to compete and be successful. Otherwise you’re dead.”

About Leading the Way

Leading the Way is a weekly radio and podcast series that highlights influential business leaders and leading people practices from i4cp. Hosted by Emmy-award winning radio host Scott Murray and i4cp's Angel Carlton, the show feature interviews with respected business leaders, from Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt to "Shark Tank" investor Mark Cuban.

The show airs live each Sunday at 4pm CT on KLIF 570 in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, and debuts on iTunes and the i4cp website the following week.