Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Qualcomm CMO Don McGuire: How to Stay Relevant, Resilient, and Ready for Change | E152
31 Mar 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
When I decided to get the startup bug, I had three small children and a mortgage and a lot of responsibilities. It turns out that like most startups, it didn't work out. So I found myself one day with that moment of, what am I going to do?
Chapter 2: What early experiences shaped Don McGuire's resilience?
We all go through this in times in our life, and it's good to take a pause.
Don McGuire is the Chief Marketing Officer of Qualcomm, one of the world's most influential CMOs by Forbes. I can't wait to dive into how he became the CMO of such an impactful organization.
I fell in love with tech and I fell in love with the fact that this industry is always moving, it's always changing, always innovating, luckily fairly recession-proof. I think it's really easy to kind of fall into an ethos of where you work or who you work for. And then you wake up one day and you're like, oh my gosh, it's been 10 years. How am I still here?
For me, I was always like, look ahead, pick your head up every once in a while, see what's going on. And then when an opportunity opened up, put your fear aside and, you know, go for it.
The world is kind of going upside down a little bit. How as a leader are you able to navigate it?
I think as leaders, we go through a lot and
Welcome to the Leap Academy with Ilana Golan's show. I'm so glad you're here. In the Leap Academy podcast, I get to speak to the biggest leaders of our time about their career, how they got where they are today, the challenges, the failures, and countless lessons.
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Chapter 3: How did Don McGuire transition from sales to marketing?
So lean in. This episode is going to be amazing.
Chapter 4: Why is it important to stay in control of your own career?
I'm on a mission to help millions reinvent their career and leap into their full potential. land their dream roles, fast track to leadership, jump to entrepreneurship, or build portfolio careers. This is what we do in our Leap Academy programs for individuals and teams.
Chapter 5: What lessons can be learned from startup experiences?
And with this podcast, we can give this career blueprint for free to tens of millions. So please help my mission by sharing this with every single person you know, because this show has the power to change countless of lives. Deal? Okay, so let's dive in.
When you think about the technology that connects our world, the phones in our hands, the cars we drive, the network powering everything around us, there's a good chance Qualcomm is somehow behind it. Don McGuire is the chief marketing officer of Qualcomm, one of the world's most influential CMOs by Forbes. That's a big deal.
Chapter 6: How did a crisis impact Qualcomm's storytelling?
And I can't wait to dive into how he became the CMO of such an impactful organization. And also, what is it like to navigate it at a time of change? And how does he see hiring and jobs evolving and how anyone driven can still be successful at this time of change? So Don, super glad that you're here.
I'm super glad to be here. Thank you so much for having me.
So let's have some fun and take us back in time.
Chapter 7: What crucial skills do Gen Z and Gen Alpha need for success?
And I remember hearing a little bit of a story, but I wanted to think about some lessons that shaped you to who you are today.
Oh, wow.
Chapter 8: How can professionals stand out in an AI-driven job market?
So many things. But I think a couple that sort of stand out is I think when you fail or when you lose or when you don't achieve your goals throughout growing up or early on in your career, your life, you can either use that as an opportunity to grow or you can let it take you down a different path.
So I think that there was like lots of examples of skinning my knees and falling down and not achieving what I thought I wanted to achieve. And, you know, it hurts.
Share with me something that comes to mind. I want to hear a story.
So I did a speech in college at a speech class and I had to do an informational speech. I was trying to figure out like, what am I going to do this speech on? And so I said, what do I know? Like, what do I really know how to do? And one of the things I said, well, I know how to lose because I had lost up to that point every election I'd ever run for. You know, I ran for senior class president.
I ran for ASB. In college, I actually ran for student government as well. And, you know, I'd not been picked or I'd not won an election. And so I said, well, I'm going to do this speech on how to be a loser. So I got up in front of everybody and I had a big cardboard L that I cut out and I taped it to my forehead like this. And I talked about how to be a loser.
And people, of course, laughed and it was funny. And, you know, it was sort of a little bit self-deprecating, but it was all about this idea that losing actually is something that can be used as a launchpad, right? It can actually teach you humility and it can help you reflect. And then it can help you sort of craft yourself for the future.
And I think sales experience also gives you that grit because you have to learn how to handle rejection and you have to learn how to read people's both verbal and nonverbal cues. And you have to get a certain amount of no's before you get a yes. And so I think those types of struggles or those types of things that you face that are adverse make you stronger and help you become more resilient.
They do. But how do you figure this out when you're a kid? I don't know if I had that perspective as a kid. Like as a kid, it just hurt, period. Is it your parents? Who instilled in you that it's okay to lose and continue?
You know, a little bit who you're surrounded by, whatever sort of parental guidance or figures, your siblings, your sort of immediate ecosystem of people that influence in your life on a day-to-day basis. I come from an Italian-Irish-Catholic family, and I'm the youngest of four boys. So I used to get the crap kicked out of me on a daily basis. That in itself, you know, teaches you resilience.
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