Off the Rak
Walt Rakowich's passion to help shape a generation of leaders who lead with honesty, humility and heart inspired him to launch Off the Rak: Conversations on Transformative Leadership. Featuring rich and raw conversations with notable leaders across different industries, Off the Rak inspires curious leaders to embrace challenges, seize opportunities and become positive influences in their world.
Episodes
34 episodes
Rak Rewind: How to Measure Success in Business Through Love with Joel Manby
Can you lead with your heart first in corporate America? Or do the pressures of the c-suite leave little room for love and humanity? We’ve invited Joel Manby to Off the Rak to share what he’s learned from more than 25 years of experience as a C...
A World of Good: How Purpose Helps Business Succeed with Carol Cone
As human beings, we crave purpose. Ask any pastor, priest, monk, imam, rabbi, politician, philosopher, or psychologist. We also expect it of our organizations — in today’s transparent world, businesses are expected to stand for more than just p...
Rak Rewind: Nurturing Talent in a Business of “No” with Robert Creighton
Finding an agent, getting an audition, nailing the callback, having a great performance — show business can seem full of crowded paths with few roles and that means hearing a lot of no’s before you hear a “yes!” Veteran stage character actor, s...
Steady in the Storm: Redefining Crisis Leadership with Cliff Holtz
Disasters are getting bigger and more complex. How do you prepare an organization—and its people—to respond quickly, effectively, and with humanity?Let's challenge the idea that crisis leadership is all about command. Instead, thi...
Rak Rewind: Finding Courage and Hope to Fight Back Against the Odds with Rocky Bleier
If you know your Steelers history then you know how Rocky Bleier was an essential player for the team’s first four Super Bowl victories, serving as its fourth all-time leading rusher. But do you know the odds he overcame to get there? He wears ...
Leading Better in Crisis Through Compassion with Dr. Christian Ntizimira
On this episode of Off the Rak, Dr. Christian Ntizimira — a Rwandan palliative care physician, Harvard-trained researcher, and Executive Director of the African Center for Research on End-of-Life Care — shares how prioritizing compassion, digni...
Rak Rewind: Getting Honest About Culture Change with Tina DeSalvo
Sitting on a stoop conjures up summer weather, friendly neighbors, and good conversation. It’s a place of community, purpose, and safety. Join a stoop chat with the founder of The Soul Purpose.Culture change doesn’t happen from th...
Embracing Change and Tradition: Insights from Former USAA CEO Wayne Peacock
Is it possible to honor traditions and still embrace a growth mindset? Wayne Peacock’s 35-year tenure as USAA’s CEO has demonstrated that an entrepreneurial spirit can not only be nurtured at a 103-year-old company, but it ca...
Rak Rewind: Winning the War for Talent Through Purpose (and Strategic Hiring) with Jennifer Trzepacz
Insights from a people guru who’s hired over 6,500 employees in 23 countries!Employment used to be transactional. But companies don’t just go out and hire people, especially talented people. They need to attract them. It seems tha...
Rethinking Work in Humanity’s AI-Driven Future with Rishad Tobaccowala
Are you prepared for the future of work? Off the Rak welcomes Rishad Tobaccowala, a global business advisor, author, and futurist, to explore what transformative leadership looks like in a fast-moving, AI-enabled world. Drawing on four decades ...
Rak Rewind: Turning Adversity into an Opportunity to Help Others with LPGA Pro Stacy Lewis
Learn what it’s like being a professional female athlete from the recently retired LPGA golfer and two-time U.S. team captain. Lewis announced that she will be stepping away from full-time competitive golf at the end of the 2025 season — let...
Turning Personal Crisis into a Drive for a Cure with Dr. David Fajgenbaum
How do you make the journey from being given last rites in a hospital bed to founding an organization that has saved thousands of lives through medical innovation? Dr. David Fajgenbaum is a physician-scientist, Castleman disease survivor...
Rak Rewind: Fostering More Human Connection and Empathy Through Leadership with Michael Lee Stallard
Michael Lee Stallard is president of E Pluribus Partners, and a speaker, teacher, and consultant on leadership, employee engagement, productivity, and innovation. He is the primary author of "Fired Up or Burned Out: How to Reignite Your Team's ...
Coaching Leaders to Flourish in Life and Work with Steve Graves
Ready to discover what separates truly effective CEOs from those who just look good on paper?Seasoned CEO advisor Steve Graves shares hard-won insights from three decades of coaching executive leaders. With 20 books on strategy an...
Rak Rewind: What Does the Future Hold? Higher Education, Loyalty, and Impact with Neeli Bendapudi
“When I think about the value proposition of higher education… I think about the essence of leadership where they call it the knowing, being, and doing.”Featuring the first female president of Penn State University, Neeli Bendapud...
Eradicating Entitlement: A Path to Higher Purpose with Dr. Joe Sanders
Let's tackle a broader disease that needs eradicating: entitlement.Joe Sanders is a thoughtful and focused leader who brings a wealth of experience serving youth to Colorado Uplift as its CEO. Not only is he a retired Air Force Co...
Off the Rak Rewind Minisode: LPGA Pro Stacy Lewis
In honor of Stacy Lewis' retirement at the end of the 2025 LPGA season, Off the Rak rewinds to a special minisode from September 2024 honoring TEAM USA's win in the Solheim Cup — the first since 2017! You don't want to miss these two inspiratio...
Rak Rewind: Leading Diverse Teams On and Off a Baseball Diamond with Clint Hurdle and Dan O’Dowd
Two good friends and two icons in the world of baseball talk creating a positive cultureColorado Rockies legends Clint Hurdle and Dan O’Dowd join Off the Rak to share their experiences leading diverse teams, the Colorado Rockies t...
Rak Rewind: How to Build High-Trust Organizations with Joel Peterson
What does it take to build high-trust organizations and cultures through your leadership? The former chairman of JetBlue Airways and professor at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, Joel C. Peterson tells us that the high trust leader is on...
Rak Rewind: How Collaborative Disruption Can Grow a Business with Tom Muccio
Exploring what collaboration and positive influence look like in the workplace with a former P&G executive!Can collaboration and disruption unite to positively influence a workplace and grow the bottom line? This Off the Rak g...
Rak Rewind: Invest in People to Defeat Tech Disruption with Deanna Mulligan
"Some occupational categories might disappear, but many more will simply evolve, requiring new sets of skills over time and providing new opportunities for workers."Named by Fortune as one of the “50 Most Powerful Women in Busines...
Rak Rewind: How Influence is a Gift with Tommy Spaulding
You’ll influence approximately 80,000 people in your lifetime, according to this bestselling author, leadership speaker and coach.World-renowned keynote speaker and bestselling author Tommy Spaulding estimates that you’ll influenc...
Rak Rewind: Loving What You Do and Those You Lead with Steve Farber
Bestselling author of “Love Is Just Damn Good Business,” “The Radical Leap,” and “Greater Than Yourself” and founder of The Extreme Leadership Institute Steve Farber talks leadership, empathy,and influence. The Extreme Leadership Institute is a...
Rak Rewind: Shaping Next Generation Servant Leaders with Lorii Rabinowitz & Joseph Sanders
In this look back from season 2, Off the Rak sits down with the CEOs of Denver Scholarship Foundation and Colorado UpLift to explore what makes their partnership tick, how they’re teaching servant leadership fundamentals and the subtle practice...
Rak Rewind: Getting Passionate About Servant Leadership with Cheryl Bachelder
Off the Rak welcomes Cheryl Bachelder, restaurant industry executive and former CEO of Popeyes® Louisiana Kitchen, Inc. She’s the author of “Dare to Serve,” and a passionate advocate of servant leadership. When she took over the company in 2007...