Lately I've been listening to Jack Welch's podcast from BusinessWeek. For those of you unfamiliar with podcasts, they are free audio programs available for download all over the internet. They are called "podcasts" because generally people download them through Apple's iTunes software for play on Apple's iPod.
Podcasts are like the audio version of public access cable. There are people broadcasting their own shows on diverse topics like classical music, cooking, bee keeping, baseball, whatever. You can bet that whatever topic you can think of there's a podcast for it. Professional media uses podcasts too.
Each week, Welch and his wife Suzy pick a different topic on management or business and ruminate on it for 7-10 minutes. Not only are the topics fantastic -- how to fire someone, qualities of a great leader, how to do performance reviews for maximum effect -- but listening to Welch is like sitting down for a personal chat with him. The passion, experience and plain-talking wisdom gained from his 41 years of magnificent achievement at GE jumps out of the headphones in New York brogue. If you are interested in business and management I highly recommend this podcast.