News & Highlights

  • MARCH 2025
  • HBR COLD CALL

Football Legend Deion Sanders’ Unorthodox Leadership Style

Senior Lecturer Hise Gibson discusses the case "Deion Sanders: The Prime Effect” in an episode of Harvard Business Review's "Cold Call" podcast. In 2022, Deion Sanders, known as "Coach Prime," a Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee and two-time Super Bowl champion, was hired as head coach at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU). He was tasked with reviving the struggling football program, which had achieved only one winning season in the prior 15 years. His hiring sparked debate about his experience and whether his "old school" leadership style, focused on discipline and accountability, would be effective and resonate with today's student-athletes. In this conversation, Gibson examines how Sanders has attempted to transform CU’s team with his unorthodox style of leadership. Listen to the podcast here.
  • SEPTEMBER 2024
  • HBR COLD CALL

Uncle Nearest Cofounder Fawn Weaver and Her Entrepreneurial Journey in the Spirits Industry

In an episode of Harvard Business Review's "Cold Call" podcast, Senior Lecturer Hise Gibson discusses the case "Uncle Nearest: Creating a Legacy." In 2017, Fawn Weaver cofounded Uncle Nearest, a premium American whiskey brand created to honor the legacy of a formerly enslaved man, Nearest Green, who taught Jack Daniel the art of whiskey distillation. Since its launch, Uncle Nearest has become the fastest-growing and most-awarded whiskey brand in the United States. The interview focuses on Weaver's entrepreneurial journey, leadership style, and the challenges she faced breaking into the highly regulated and competitive spirits industry. Gibson reflects on the leadership principles that could contribute to her continued success as she enters the cognac market and considers what other leaders can learn from her journey. The podcast is available here.
  • July 2024
  • FELLOWSHIP

The Road to Revitalization: Leadership Fellow Joel Hurd and the City of Detroit

After earning his MBA, Joel Hurd joined Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan’s office as senior advisor on special projects through the HBS Leadership Fellows Program. This position was a step toward fulfilling a promise Hurd made to himself a decade earlier to contribute to the ongoing evolution of the city he calls home. Living in metro Detroit and Flint, Hurd experienced firsthand the shortcomings of public transportation, sparking his passion for improving these systems with the belief that "bridging communities through effective transit solutions is not only a means to physical mobility, but class mobility as well." Drawing from his varied experiences at Fiat Chrysler and May Mobility, an autonomous vehicle company, Hurd will focus on fostering community engagement to advance the revitalization efforts of Detroit.

New Research on the Region

  • November 2024
  • Case

Demond Martin and WellWithAll

By: Hise Gibson, Archie L. Jones and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

This case study chronicles the transformative entrepreneurial path of Demond Martin, co-founder and CEO of WellWithAll, a health and wellness startup. Motivated by a pivotal life experience and deep concern for racial health inequities, Martin transitions from a successful hedge fund career to champion health equity through WellWithAll. He leverages his extensive network and industry reputation to forge strategic alliances with The Campbell’s Company, retail giants like Target and Thrive Markets, and health equity partners such as Advocate Health and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. While tackling the challenges in the crowded supplements and energy drinks market, Martin is committed to investing 20% of profits into Black and Brown communities, aiming for a $300 million impact on racial health disparities over the next decade. Key themes include a late-career transition to entrepreneurship, leveraging relationships, team building, and scaling a mission-driven business.

  • July 2024
  • Case

Living up to Purpose and Performance at Parker Hannifin

By: Hubert Joly, Alicia Dadlani and Martha Hostetter

In 2019, Parker Hannifin, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of motion and control technologies, did something unusual for an industrial company: it created a purpose statement. Even though it already had a clear business strategy and longstanding culture of empowering its employees, creating a nine-word purpose statement proved transformational. This was particularly true during the pandemic, when Parker’s purpose—Enabling Engineering Breakthroughs that Lead to a Better Tomorrow—came to life as team members built parts for lifesaving ventilators and designed a filtration system that enabled the mass-production of vaccines. Now Parker’s new CEO must determine how to bring Parker’s purpose fully to life, using it to inspire team members, connect with customers, and guide the company as it navigates clean energy technologies and other challenges.

  • June 2024
  • Teaching Material

Miami's Climate Tech Potential (A): The State of Play

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 324-119. Miami-Dade County led the work to get South Florida designated a national climate resilience tech hub, the only one of 31 focused on climate change, an urgent major issue for the region in light of global warming and sea level rise. Venture capitalists saw the potential but not many investable ventures; some entrepreneurs created scalable ventures but without much regional support; economic development agencies were not yet fully building the ecosystem or just getting started. Most wanted more from government, higher education, and others. The label “climate tech hub” had to be backed by specific proposals to attract available funding. What are the gaps and missing ingredients? What actions might fill the gaps?

See more research

Mid-US Staff

Alicia Dadlani
Executive Director (Columbus, OH)
→ Biography
Martha Hostetter
Senior Researcher (Cleveland, OH)
Ai-Ling Jamila Malone
Senior Researcher (Atlanta, GA)
Jennifer Sears
Senior Coordinator (Columbus, OH)