Did you ever stop to think where you got the drive and initiative to start your company? To work for an entrepreneur? I recently had the opportunity to be a part of a Leadership Interview Series in Philadelphia, PA. This was my second time around with Herb Cohen, an angel investor and entrepreneur in his own right, who loves to ask questions of people that run and grow companies. What makes them tick? What prompted the entrepreneurial process?

The catch? I brought my dad, Alan Burkhard for a talk on multiple generations of entrepreneurs.

I had a paper route. When I was 14, I worked in a pizza shop. I worked 80 hours a week as a teenager moving furniture. I had a lot of early influences. The most influential was my Pop. Serial entrepreneur six, seven, eight times over, but who’s counting? As you will notice I was more of a side kick than the main attraction this go round.

The best part of listening to this is I get a constant reinforcement of the foundation of my early leadership education. The hallowed grounds for me. It is about starting a company that competes on culture. That has operating philosophies that focuses on the employee. That focus the business less on the product of the business and more on the customer experience around it. That wins by unleashing the inner talents of average employees, they embrace it and become extraordinarily productive.

I hope you enjoy.

By the way — we were invited back for round 2 soon. Maybe I will get to say a few more words!

Business getting better? Drop me a note. I am hearing from readers that the jobless recovery is starting to create some jobs. What do you see?

CLICK HERE to listen to the webcast.