In this episode, my guest is Charles Koch. Charles G. Koch is chairman and CEO of Koch Industries, one of the largest privately held American companies. During his tenure with the company, the estimated value has grown from $21 million to more than $100 billion. Charles has published several books detailing his business philosophy: The Science of Success, Good Profit, and Believe in People.
As an influential philanthropist, he supports education, a community of organizations addressing persistent poverty, and public-policy research focused on developing effective solutions to societal problems. He has founded numerous organizations, including Stand Together and the Cato Institute. He holds two master’s degrees in nuclear and chemical engineering from MIT and lives in Wichita, Kansas, with his wife, Liz.
In this episode, I talk to Charles Koch about his bottom-up approach to social change. Charles recognizes that each individual has a gift; schools and organizations should cultivate these unique strengths instead of trying to force people into molds. Charles asserts that institutions can create more meaningful value this way, by truly believing in people. We also touch on the topics of multiple intelligences, self-actualization, education, innovation, and philanthropy.
Website: charleskoch.com
Twitter: @KochIndustries
Topics
- Multiple intelligence theories
- Finding consistent principles of human progress
- Transforming Koch Industries
- Virtuous Cycles of Mutual Benefit
- Bottom-Up Solutions for a Top-Down World
- Empowering contribution-motivated individuals
- Supervisors as self-actualization coaches
- From partisanship to partnership
- Charles’ vision for a self-actualizing society
- Eupsychian Management by Maslow
- Frederick Douglass and Viktok Frankl
- #GiveTogetherNow
- A society that rewards synergy