In The News
How to Grow a Business by Taking Risks - Interview with Chuck Swoboda
August 12, 2020
On this episode of the SME Insights Series, Chuck shares his experiences doing sales & marketing at HP, innovating at Cree and growing the business to $1 billion+ in revenue, and sitting on multiple boards.
Episode 124: The Innovator’s Spirit
July 20, 2020
Former Cree CEO Chuck Swoboda talks with Scott McCarthy about the inspiration behind his book, what it means to have an innovator’s spirit and how leader can ensure that their organization’s culture enables innovation.
The Circle of Innovation
July 9, 2020
Infographic created by Gavin Blake during Chuck Swoboda’a AMP Amplify Digital talk which reminded individuals to take business risks during 2020.
1615: Discovering the Mindset to Pursue the Impossible with Chuck Swoboda
July 5, 2020
Conversation with Neil Ball on his podcast, The Entrepreneur Way where we discuss my biggest business challenges, entrepreneurial role models, and even some of my favorite books.
Adopting an Innovation Mindset
June 29, 2020
Innovation is much more about mindset than anything else. Chuck and Tamara discuss what our roles are in being innovators in a time of crisis, and how we can change the mindset of being uncomfortable and uneasy with upheaval to that of seeing the opportunities. Chuck also shares more about the role of fear in limiting innovation, why it is easier to embrace risk in trying new ideas during crisis times, and how we can get our teams to embrace constructive conflict.
Episode 269 - Chuck Swoboda, Part 2 - What can we learn from the LED market boom?
June 25, 2020
Part 2 of Nico Johnson’s interview of Chuck Swoboda on the topics of lesson learned about disrupting an established industry.
Episode 268 - Chuck Swoboda, Part 1 - Innovation & Mindset w/ former CEO of CREE Inc.
June 25, 2020
Part 1 of Nico Johnson’s interview of Chuck Swoboda on the topics of Innovation and Mindset
Why read Chuck Swoboda’s new book? Here are his 5 essential points
May 21, 2020
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – Chuck Swoboda, longtime chair and CEO of Cree, is making headlines with his new book “The Innovator’s Spirit.” In his own words he describes what he believes are the five essential points that you make in this book – and why is each so important: innovation is about people not process, you can’t manage innovation; it requires leadership, failure drives learning and learning drives innovation, there is no box & best practice isn’t good enough.
The Burden of Command: Chuck Swoboda
May 17, 2020
Earl Breon speak with Chuck Swoboda about the importance of innovation and how crisis can speed the process up.
How a Crisis can Unleash the Innovator’s Spirit
May 13, 2020
We often think that coming up with an innovation is simply coming up with a new idea. The reality is that innovation is not only an idea, but one that solves a problem and creates real value. The bigger challenge, however, is convincing people to embrace something new and different from what they know. And when people’s sense of normalcy has been challenged, they are often more willing to embrace new ideas.
Book Review: The Innovator’s Spirit
May 13, 2020
Chuck Swoboda’s book The Innovator’s Spirit: Discover the Mindset to Pursue the Impossible isn’t meant to offer readers directions about how to be an innovator. Such a book is likely impossible. Swoboda, a three decade veteran of the technology world with a long history of innovative ideas to his credit, instead looks to inspire readers to recognize and tap into their own innovative inclinations. The book is Swoboda’s first and came about after Marquette University asked him to comment on their syllabus and design for a class covering innovation. He provided them with voluminous comments that inspired university officials to suggest he write a book and, shortly thereafter, Swoboda began writing. This book is the result of those efforts.
TEI 282: Do you have an innovator’s mindset to succeed as a product manager? – with Chuck Swoboda
May 11, 2020
Are you an innovator? Not every product manager is, but I think the good ones need to be. Innovation is most frequently described as a process that brings something new into existence, creating value for others, such as customers. Our guest, Chuck Swoboda, shares that innovation is really about people and those who are good at it have a different mindset. While process is important, innovation needs the right people involved.
LAL 085: LEADING PEOPLE TO PURSUE THE IMPOSSIBLE WITH CHUCK SWOBODA
May 11, 2020
Leadership is about showing someone why what you want them to do is in their best interests. People’s behaviors are a function of their beliefs. If you want to help people, you have to understand the belief that is getting in their way and help them to discover it as well.
AGL 155: The Innovator’s Spirit with Chuck Swoboda
May 11, 2020
Chuck Swoboda talks with John Rouda about innovation, how the future doesn't just happen, the difference between features and benefits, accountability and empathy.
Episode 10: Disrupting an Industry
May 11, 2020
Chuck Swoboda, former CEO of Cree and author of The Innovator’s Spirit, in conversation with Kris Østergaard on how he and his team led the LED lighting revolution that drove the obsolescence of the Edison light bulb and did what everybody talks about: Disrupting an industry.
Book Review: THE INNOVATOR’S SPIRIT
May 6, 2020
Chuck Swoboda’s The Innovator’s Spirit: Discover the Mindset to Pursue the Impossible is his first book but one unquestionably close to his heart. His years spent in the technology industry put him at the forefront of pioneering developments in LED lighting as CEO and Chairman of Cree, Inc. before he decided to step away from the arena after over thirty years in the technology field. He is now President of Cape Point Advisors and Innovator-in-residence at Marquette University. Assuming the latter position is what, in part, gave birth to this book. Marquette decided to develop a course in innovation for students and sought out Swoboda’s input. Swoboda responded with voluminous notes and commentary on the proposed syllabus and structure for the class prompting Marquette officials to suggest he write a book on the subject. The suggestion stuck.
Book Review: The Innovator’s Spirit by Chuck Swoboda
May 5, 2020
The Innovator’s Spirit: Discover the Mindset to Pursue the Impossible is Chuck Swoboda’s first book and over three decades in the making. The book is the end product, in a sense, of Swoboda’s extensive time working as Chairman and CEO of Cree Inc., one of the industry leaders in LED lighting. Swoboda harnesses the full gamut of the knowledge he accumulated over the course of his time in a leadership position within the technology industry to impart what he believes makes an innovator and provides ample examples of innovation in action, both from his own life and the historical record. He’s an Innovator-in-Residence at Marquette University and heads Cape Point Advisors as its President, but can now add author to his list of accomplishments.
Do You Have The Innovator’s Spirit? Chuck Swoboda, Former CEO Of Cree Inc.
May 5, 2020
Chuck Swoboda is no stranger to the pressure and privilege of leadership. As the CEO and Chairman of Cree Inc, the category-changing LED Lighting brand many are familiar with, he led the company from $6Million to over $1.6Billion in revenue over 65 quarters of growth and industry-leading innovation.
Chuck recently presented the keynote address for our inaugural SunCast Clean Energy Summit, so what you’re about to hear is the audio version of that live-streamed interview.
DAILY BUZZ: ARE YOU READY FOR INNOVATION?
May 5, 2020
It takes the right mindset to bring real change. Also: how a social media schedule can improve your marketing efforts.
In business, innovation can be the key to continued success. But it’s not necessarily the fix for everything.
Jason Hillenburg’s Review
May 2, 2020
Chuck Swoboda’s book "The Innovator’s Spirit: Discover the Mindset to Pursue the Impossible" is the result of over three decades as an innovator in the technology field – he boasts more than twenty-five patents covering LEDs and other lighting technology as a co-inventor and is the retired CEO and Chairman of Cree, Inc. He now serves as President of Cape Point Advisors and Innovator-in-residence at Marquette University. Those experiences as well as his work as a public speaker and host of the “Innovators on Tap” podcast inform his thinking on innovation and even a single reading reveals Swoboda to be an impassioned advocate for following your innovator within.
You Can’t Manage Your Way Out Of A Crisis—You Have To Lead
May 1, 2020
The worldwide containment effort to halt the spread of COVID-19 has had far-reaching impacts on both the world economy and local communities.
Our lives have been significantly altered and the economy has been severely impacted, as reflected in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which was down nearly 30 percent before partially recovering recently. In addition to our 401ks quickly shrinking, job losses have accelerated over the last two months with real unemployment now over 20%, levels not seen since the Great Depression.
The Innovator’s Spirit: Discover the Mindset to Pursue the Impossible
April 16, 2020
Everyone wants to create new products and services, find new customers and markets, stay ahead of the competition, and work smarter instead of harder.
Yet with all the focus and attention on innovation, the term has become an overused buzzword rather than a real, tangible concept. If you want to seriously pursue innovation—you need to strip away the hype.
6 Tips for Innovating Through a Crisis
April 14, 2020
For the past five years, Marquette University’s faculty and administrators have had many serious conversations about how to take the classroom online. Marquette has been offering some online learning opportunities for several years, but progress was incremental at best. They lamented that such a major undertaking would take years to implement on a large scale.
The Innovator’s Spirit with Chuck Swoboda
April 13, 2020
On this episode, I had the pleasure of talking with innovation expert, Chuck Swoboda, about his new book: The Innovator's Spirit. This is a very relevant conversation for all of us as we are traversing through new territory. One key thing that Chuck shares is that in every crisis, there is also an opportunity. Are you ready to grab your opportunity? Listen and find out how you can with some great tips from Chuck!
Chuck Swoboda Tells Us the Difference Between Invention and Innovation on Hack the Process Podcast
April 8, 2020
In this Hack the Process interview, Chuck explains how he learned to leverage failure without making it an objective, what changed for him as his company grew from 30 employees to several thousand, and why the best opportunities often come from being told something is impossible.
272 Chuck Swoboda: Never Stop Innovating
April 8, 2020
Chuck Swoboda was working in a big company that was supposed to be an innovator. Seeing the bureaucracy and the senior leaders not really upholding the company’s core values, Chuck became frustrated and left the company. He went on and worked in a smaller company, eventually becoming the CEO, and did everything opposite of what a big company would do and found success through innovation.
To Lead Innovation, Learn to Embrace Risk
April 7, 2020
Chuck Swoboda, an Innovator-in-Residence at Marquette University, President of Cape Point Advisors and author of the new book “The Innovator’s Spirit: Discover the Mindset to Pursue the Impossible” joins Enterprise Radio.
Innovator’s Spirit Chuck Swoboda and Grow the Pie Alex Edmans
March 24, 2020
Chuck Swoboda retired as chairman and CEO of Cree in October of 2017. While CEO of Cree, Chuck led the LED Lighting Revolution by developing innovative, energy-efficient, smart LED lighting that fundamentally changed the way people experience light and drove the obsolescence of the Edison light bulb.
The Native Influencer - The Interview
March 16, 2020
Chuck has discovered a second career helping people realize that innovation is fundamentally about people and not process. He advises companies on how to overcome the challenges of scaling a business, utilize disruptive technologies to change the world and embrace crisis as an opportunity. Whether he is coaching CEOs, advising companies or teaching students, he brings a passion and enthusiasm to helping people realize that there is always a better way.
For Marquette's First Innovator-In-Residence, The Phrase 'A Light Bulb Went On' Has Extra Meaning
January 23, 2020
If you use energy efficient LED light bulbs in your home, you partly have Chuck Swoboda to thank. He spent 16 years as CEO of Cree Inc., a company that helped bring LED lighting to the market.
Former Cree CEO returns to Marquette to Foster Innovation in Milwaukee
December 16, 2019
After graduating from Marquette University’s college of engineering in 1989, Chuck Swoboda headed to the nation’s hub of innovation and technology, Silicon Valley.
This CEO Grew His Company to Become a $1.6 Billion Market Leader. Now He’s Written a Book on the Anatomy of Innovation
December 5, 2019
When Chuck Swoboda was hired at electronics manufacturer Cree in 1993, household light bulbs came mostly in two flavors: incandescent and fluorescent. The company had just gone public and generated just over $6 million in annual revenue.
22. Chuck Swoboda, Marketing Innovation + Company Culture
December 2, 2019
Episode 22 features Chuck Swoboda - former CEO of Cree and current Innovator-in-Residence at Marquette University. If you work with or manage a marketing team, Chuck's experience ideating and marketing products is the tangible take-home advice you'll want.
The Different Ways Leadership Can Effect a Team - Chuck Swoboda
November 5, 2019
Chuck Swoboda is the former CEO of Cree, now turned Podcaster, Author, and Professional Retiree! In this episode, we dive a lot into leadership, how it is earned, and how anyone can become a leader, even if they never initially wanted to be one!
Building a New Podcast: Marquette University's Innovators on Tap with Chuck Swoboda
October 18, 2019
What drives innovation? Is it people? Process? Who's considered an innovator? What even is innovative thinking? What does it take to get there? Marquette University's newest podcast, Innovators on Tap, aims to explore the questions above and understand what it takes to challenge the status quo.
Lift Off
October 8, 2019
The decision to throw out the rule book and leave the manual in the dust came in an unceremonious, simple setting. Chuck Swoboda, Eng ’89, then CEO of Cree Inc., sat across from his longtime colleague Neal Hunter at a small circular table.
It was time to go rogue.
Entrepreneurial Alumnus named Marquette University’s First Innovator-in-Residence
September 25, 2019
“I had the opportunity to witness innovation up close and personal every day, and I learned that innovation is fundamentally about leadership, not management,” Swoboda said. “It is a mindset to find a better way, and ultimately innovation is about people. It is an incredible honor to give back to my alma mater and to also learn from the next generation of innovators.”
‘Innovators on Tap’ brings stories of innovation, leadership to MU
September 17, 2017
Behind every great idea, there is a person, and behind every great person, there is a story. Two Marquette alumni are on a journey to tell the stories behind great people and ideas in a new and unique way — via podcast.
How Your Company Can Innovate in 2019
May 8, 2019
Chuck Swoboda and Kelly Fitzsimmons come on the podcast to talk all things innovation.
Marquette Receives $2.5 Million Gift to Support Innovation Alley Leadership Initiatives and Men’s Basketball Program
April 29, 2019
Chuck and Karen Swoboda, an alumni couple, have committed a $2.5 million gift to Marquette University, President Michael R. Lovell shared today.
Vesper Appoints Charles Swoboda and Hassan Ahmed to It’s Board of Directors
March 27, 2019
Vesper, developer of the world's most advanced acoustic sensors, has appointed Chuck Swoboda, President of Cape Point Advisors, and Hassan Ahmed, Chairman and CEO of Affirmed Networks, to their board of directors.
Anixter International Inc. Appoints Bill Simon, Chuck Swoboda to the Board of Directors
February 21, 2019
Anixter International Inc. (NYSE: AXE) today announced the appointment of two new members, Bill Simon and Charles “Chuck” Swoboda, to its board of directors, effective March 1, 2019.
Karen & Chuck Swoboda 2018 Marquette University Alumni of the Year
April 2018
Chuck and Karen are quick to agree: Beyond the invaluable practical and problem-solving skills gained as engineering students, their Jesuit education deepened their faith and encouraged them to live beyond themselves, enabling them to Be The Difference.
How Cree Perfected The 20-Year Lightbulb
June 10, 2013
This North Carolina maker of light emitting diodes aims to kill off the incandescent lightbulb. It's already doubled its market cap to $7 billion in just one year.
A New Ultra-Cheap LED Light Looks and Acts Like An Incandescent Bulb
March 5, 2013
“We have the first LED bulb that really looks like an [incandescent] lightbulb, and we’ve designed it in a way that it works like a lightbulb. Those two things combined with the price we think can get consumers to really try LED lighting.”
The Fabulous Swoboda Brothers
July 27, 2010
If you cut your teeth on LED technology over the past 10 to 15 years here in the States, chances are good you might have worked with one, or both, of the Swoboda brothers.