Zak Brown: F1 Racing, Leading Under Pressure, and Split-Second Decisions

Dec 9, 2025
23 mins

Episode Description

How do you make a quick decision when the stakes are high? Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing, shares hard-won lessons from his journey from professional driver to marketing entrepreneur to Formula One executive. Zak reveals why asking questions matters more than having all the answers, how he learned to control emotional reactions that could have derailed his racing career, and what Formula One can teach anyone about decision-making under pressure. He discusses the parallels between driving at 200mph and leading 1,400 people, why sleep and attention to detail are underrated skills, and how embracing failure accelerates learning. 


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Learn more about Zak’s new book: Seven Tenths of a Second: Life, Leadership and Formula 1 

Leading Up: The Work Shift is produced by Udemy in partnership with  Pod People.

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