Podcasts about business results

Bad Posture = Bad Business Results? Posture To Supersize Your Business... Challenge Day 170! Pop in here every day for a dose of different business building perspective! https://facebook.com/supersizebusiness Supersize Your Business (free) Skool link: https://www.skool.com/supersize-your-business-1654/about #supersizeyourbusiness #supersizechallenge #supersizeyourbusinessannualchallenge #supersizeyourbusinesschallenge #physicalhealth #physicalwellbeing #whatyouconsume #energy #posture #confidence

Bad Posture = Bad Business Results? Posture To Supersize Your Business... Challenge Day 170! Pop in here every day for a dose of different business building perspective! https://facebook.com/supersizebusiness Supersize Your Business (free) Skool link: https://www.skool.com/supersize-your-business-1654/about #supersizeyourbusiness #supersizechallenge #supersizeyourbusinessannualchallenge #supersizeyourbusinesschallenge #physicalhealth #physicalwellbeing #whatyouconsume #energy #posture #confidence

What does it take to move from AI experimentation to real business impact? Recording during Google Cloud Summit London 2026 at Tobacco Dock, I had the opportunity to speak with Maureen Costello, Vice President for UKI and Sub-Saharan Africa at Google Cloud, about one of the biggest shifts currently taking place across technology and business. After years of discussion around generative AI, the focus is now turning toward agentic AI and how organizations can put these capabilities to work in practical, measurable ways. Maureen offered a fascinating view from the front line of AI adoption, sharing how businesses across financial services, retail, government, and other sectors are beginning to move beyond pilots and proof-of-concept projects. We discussed how AI is helping organizations improve customer experiences, increase productivity, strengthen decision-making, and create new opportunities for growth. From helping banks tackle financial crime and deliver smarter customer services to supporting government departments in modernizing public services, the conversation is filled with examples that bring the technology to life. We also explored why the UK is so well positioned for the next chapter of AI adoption. With world-class research, exceptional talent, and ambitious investment across both the public and private sectors, Maureen believes the UK has a genuine opportunity to remain at the forefront of AI innovation. She also explained why skills development, data readiness, security, governance, and trust will play such an important role as organizations begin introducing AI agents into everyday workflows. What I particularly enjoyed was discussing the human side of this transition. As AI becomes embedded into business operations, how should leaders prepare their teams? What separates organizations that achieve meaningful outcomes from those that struggle to move beyond the early excitement? And how can businesses strike the right balance between innovation, responsibility, and long-term value? Whether you're following the announcements from Google Cloud Summit London, building your own AI strategy, or simply trying to understand where this technology is heading next, this conversation offers valuable insight into one of the most talked-about topics in business today. What role do you think agentic AI will play inside your organization over the next 12 months, and are businesses finally moving from curiosity to meaningful adoption?

Anselmo Ramos is one of the most respected creatives in advertising and the co-founder of GUT, the agency behind some of the world's most talked-about campaigns. Built on the belief that brave creativity drives business growth, GUT has quickly become one of the industry's most successful modern agencies.In this episode, Anselmo shares the story behind founding GUT, the principles that guide the business, and why marketers need to trust their instincts more. We discuss the power of relationships, how to build a great co-founder partnership, and why the biggest challenge often comes after success.We also explore GUT's approach to pitching, the bravery gap facing modern brands, the role of AI, and the campaigns that have helped define the agency's remarkable rise.Timestamps00:00:00 - Start00:02:44 - Why is the industry obsessed with making rational advertising?00:04:19 - Why GUT have 68 principles00:06:27 - Why you need to pay more attention to your GUT00:09:10 - The GUT agency founding story00:12:41 - The secret to a successful co-founder relationship00:14:42 - Lessons from creating a successful agency00:17:58 - The surprising challenges of growing a successful agency00:20:14 - The compounding power of relationships00:22:55 - GUT's approach to pitching00:29:26 - How to be productive and find inspiration00:31:50 - The power of working without approval00:36:26 - The bravery scale and the bravery gap00:40:17 - How to become a brave brand00:43:26 - Why brave creativity drives business results00:45:52 - Why black t shirts?00:49:09 - How GUT's acquisition changed the business00:56:21 - How to plan your exit strategy00:59:29 - The Artois Probability: a Grand Prix winning campaign01:03:55 - Wimbledon All White Stella Artois Can01:05:59 - Stella Artois partnership with David Beckham01:11:06 - Where Anselmo uses AI01:13:53 - The best advice Anselmo has ever been given

AI agents are already shopping, comparing, booking, and contacting support for the customers we've spent decades trying to understand. That means customer experience is no longer judged only by what a person feels in the moment, it's also scored by what an AI can find about your brand across policies, pricing, FAQs, reviews, and the broader web. If that idea makes you a little uneasy, good. It's the wake-up call CX leaders need right now. I break down what “agentic AI” changes in the customer journey and why it creates a world with no fine print. When an agent can surface your warranty terms, return rules, delivery performance, and reputation signals in seconds, the gaps between your brand promise and real experience become impossible to hide. We talk about the trust signals AI is likely to reward, including transparent pricing, clear and consistent policies, accurate product information, reliable delivery, and responsive customer service. Consistency stops being a nice-to-have and becomes the proof your brand can be trusted. And we don't lose the human part. Emotions still drive loyalty because people still make the final decision about who they trust. I share why a clear customer experience mission statement matters more than ever, especially if you're training internal teams and tools around a defined promise of how you want customers to feel. You'll leave with practical next steps: experiment with AI like a customer, audit your digital experience, remove hidden friction, and tighten the public signals that shape recommendations. If an AI agent evaluated your brand today, what would it say about your customer experience? Listen now, then subscribe, share with a CX leader, and leave a review.Resources Mentioned:Order your copy of Experience Is Everything -- http://experienceiseverythingbook.comLearn more about CXI Membership™ and apply -- http://CXIMembership.comExperience Investigators -- https://experienceinvestigators.comEnjoyed the show? Subscribe, share with your team, and leave a quick review to help others find us. Leave your review at ratethispodcast.com/xact.Want to ask a question? Visit askjeannie.vip to leave Jeannie a voicemail! (And don't forget to follow Jeannie Walters, CCXP, CSP on LinkedIn!)

Your Body's Energy Directly Controls Your Business Results! Active Recovery And Rest Are Part Of Training To Supersize Your Business! Challenge Day 164! Pop in here every day for a dose of different business building perspective! https://facebook.com/supersizebusiness Supersize Your Business (free) Skool link: https://www.skool.com/supersize-your-business-1654/about#supersizeyourbusiness #supersizechallenge #supersizeyourbusinessannualchallenge #supersizeyourbusinesschallenge #physicalhealth #physicalwellbeing #whatyouconsume #energy #body #sleep #strength #proactiveapproach #activerecovery #settheexample #rest #recovery

Your Body's Energy Directly Controls Your Business Results! Active Recovery And Rest Are Part Of Training To Supersize Your Business! Challenge Day 164! Pop in here every day for a dose of different business building perspective! https://facebook.com/supersizebusiness Supersize Your Business (free) Skool link: https://www.skool.com/supersize-your-business-1654/about#supersizeyourbusiness #supersizechallenge #supersizeyourbusinessannualchallenge #supersizeyourbusinesschallenge #physicalhealth #physicalwellbeing #whatyouconsume #energy #body #sleep #strength #proactiveapproach #activerecovery #settheexample #rest #recovery

If you've ever shouted “just let me talk to a person” at a chatbot, this one's for you. Jeannie Walters is joined by special cohost Brandon McGovern, Senior Director of Customer Experience at HP, to pressure-test the biggest question in AI customer service right now: how do we automate without breaking trust?We start with a headline that feels like a warning label. Norse Atlantic Airways offers dirt-cheap tickets, but customers say there's a catch: customer support is so locked behind tech that getting help can become impossible. We unpack why this isn't simply a “tech problem,” but a governance and leadership problem. When companies remove phone numbers, skip the escape hatch, and ignore high-emotion journeys like refunds and disruptions, they don't just frustrate people, they create financial harm and open the door to fraud.Then we zoom out to the enterprise reality. Cisco's line that adopting AI is “like surgery without the drugs” is painfully honest, and it frames the messy middle many CX teams are living through. We talk about why rushing to automate tasks can amplify mistakes, how to redesign workflows around outcomes, and why “faster” is the wrong North Star compared to what's now possible. Along the way, we dig into authenticity, rising customer expectations, and why AI is killing the illusion of fine print as customers use their own tools to read policies and push back.If you're leading CX, contact centers, or digital support, you'll leave with practical guardrails for pilots, measurement, and intent selection. Subscribe, share this with a teammate, and leave a review with the biggest AI question you're wrestling with right now.About Brandon McGovernSenior Director of Customer Experience at HPUnderstanding your customers isn't enough. I build the systems that turn that understanding into outcomes.I'm a Senior Director of Customer Experience at HP, leading enterprise-wide measurement, analytics, and operations that enable the company to understand and act on customer sentiment in real time. I oversee a global Voice of the Customer ecosystem capturing tens of millions of signals annually, translating them into product, service, digital, and brand strategy decisions across the business.My work has delivered double-digit NPS improvements and material revenue impact by shifting CX from a reporting function to an operational and strategic capability - powered by data, automation, and applied AI.Beyond enterprise implementation, I build with AI hands-on - personal projects in game design, product prototyping, and workflow automation using Claude, Lovable, and other tools. Building outside my domain teaches me where AI actually breaks down, which makes me a better architect of AI-powered operating models at work.I bring engineering depth coupled with business leadership (MBA, MS in Electrical Engineering, Stanford executive education), and I specialize in building scalable CX platforms, driving cultural change, and aligning executives around customer-led transformation. Follow Brandon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonmcgovern/Articles Mentioned:- Norse Atlantic Airways Offers Dirt-Cheap Tickets. There's a Catch (Wired) -- https://www.wired.com/story/norse-airlines-ftc-complaints-ai-scams/- Cisco exec says adopting AI is like 'surgery without the drugs' (Business Insider) -- https://www.businessinsider.com/cisco-ai-adoption-customer-service-2026-5- Dissatisfied: Three-fourths of AI customer service rollouts are a letdown (The Register) -- https://www.theregister.com/ai-ml/2026/05/13/ai-customer-service-bots-get-rolled-back-at-74-of-firms/5239800Enjoyed the show? Subscribe, share with your team, and leave a quick review to help others find us. Leave your review at ratethispodcast.com/xact.Want to ask a question? Visit askjeannie.vip to leave Jeannie a voicemail! (And don't forget to follow Jeannie Walters, CCXP, CSP on LinkedIn!)

Atiba de Souza is an author, entrepreneur, and relationship mentor who helps leaders break free from burnout and build teams that take ownership. He wrote The Delegation Trap: It's Not Them, It's You, a story-driven guide teaching leaders how to let go of every task and get results that shine. With 25+ years running gyms, bakeries, and food service companies and coaching National Championship youth football teams, he knows firsthand what it takes to turn average performance into excellence. His mission is simple: transform overwhelmed bosses into confident leaders of teams that thrive, even when they're not in the room.      

Momentum is the thing every CX leader wants and almost nobody hands you. When you're staring at a 12-month roadmap but drowning in daily requests, it's easy to feel like you're working nonstop while nothing actually changes. We built this conversation for that exact moment, and we keep it practical: seven days, one intentional move, and a clear path to visible customer experience impact.We walk through a simple three-step framework we use with leaders who are trying to turn CX strategy into action. First, we orient before we act by choosing where our energy belongs instead of reacting to whatever is loudest. We talk through a clear set of focus areas and how a quick assessment can highlight the biggest gap between the experience you want to deliver and what's getting done right now. Then we get real about focus: protecting time, avoiding data rabbit holes, and picking an outcome you can actually ship in a week.Finally, we make one intentional leadership decision that isn't driven by urgency or the inbox. That decision might be defining what success looks like, revisiting a customer experience mission statement, or having the buy-in conversation you've been avoiding. The goal is not perfection. The goal is momentum you can feel and results you can point to.If you're ready to try the seven-day challenge, listen now, share this with a CX peer who feels stuck, and subscribe so you don't miss what comes next. After you listen, what's the one move you'll commit to this week?Exclusive for podcast listeners: Get your 7-Day Free Trial of CXI MembershipOther Resources Mentioned:Learn more about the CXI Navigator™ framework -- https://experienceinvestigators.com/our-framework/Take the CXI Compass™ assessment -- http://CXICompass.comOrder your copy of Experience Is Everything -- http://experienceiseverythingbook.comExperience Investigators -- https://experienceinvestigators.comEnjoyed the show? Subscribe, share with your team, and leave a quick review to help others find us. Leave your review at ratethispodcast.com/xact.Want to ask a question? Visit askjeannie.vip to leave Jeannie a voicemail! (And don't forget to follow Jeannie Walters, CCXP, CSP on LinkedIn!)

On this episode of The Office, Kolawole sits down with Olawanle Sunday Moronkeji for a compelling conversation on how organisations can drive sustainable business results through effective people management and strategic leadership.With over 31 years of distinguished experience in Human Resource Management, Olawanle Sunday Moronkeji (OSM) shares deep insights into the evolving role of HR as a core driver of organisational performance, culture, and long-term growth.The discussion explores leadership development, workforce strategy, employee engagement, and the importance of aligning people with business objectives in today's competitive environment. Drawing from decades of executive experience, OSM also reflects on transformation, adaptability, and the value of building people-centered organisations that can deliver measurable results.Insightful and executive-driven, this episode highlights why strategy and people must work hand in hand for any organisation to truly succeed.

If your CX work keeps getting reduced to dashboards, survey scores, and “please fix this one issue,” it's time to change how you lead. We respond to a listener who's using Experience Is Everything with their team and wants the clearest path from customer experience ideas to real execution. The big theme is simple: structure creates credibility, and credibility creates the room you need to drive meaningful change. We start with the most powerful foundation you can build fast: a CX mission statement. It aligns mindset across the organization, helps you stop acting like a feedback narrator, and gives your team language they can confidently evangelize. From there, we dig into customer experience strategy, because too many organizations never actually write one down. We walk through how to define success in a way that supports organizational goals so your CX work becomes proactive, intentional, and business-led rather than reactive. Then we get practical about culture and discipline. Culture is hard to change, so we talk about scoring where you are today, choosing one area you can influence, and re-checking progress over time. We also cover the CX charter, the document that turns your foundation into coordinated efforts with the right people involved, a clear communication cadence, and shared measures of success. Subscribe, share with your team, and leave a rating and review so more CX leaders can find it.Enjoyed the show? Subscribe, share with your team, and leave a quick review to help others find us. Leave your review at ratethispodcast.com/xact.Want to ask a question? Visit askjeannie.vip to leave Jeannie a voicemail! (And don't forget to follow Jeannie Walters, CCXP, CSP on LinkedIn!)

In this podcast, Greg Voisen sits down with Chester Elton to dismantle the "soft and fluffy" myth of gratitude and dive deep into his book, "Leading with Gratitude: Eight Leadership Practices for Extraordinary Business Results." Most bosses think they're great at saying thanks; most employees feel completely invisible. Chester calls this the "Gratitude Gap," and it's costing companies a fortune in burnout and turnover. If you're tired of "Seagull Managers"—those who fly in, crap on everything, and fly away—this episode is your survival guide for a more human, high-performance way to work.

Burnout doesn't come from “not being able to handle it.” It happens when CX work becomes an endless stream of urgent requests with no clear priorities. In this episode, we unpack why customer experience leaders burn out trying to solve everything at once, and how a clear CX mission and strategy create the guardrails to prioritize, push back, and lead proactively instead of reactively.We also explore what strategy looks like in practice: focusing on outcomes that matter most, aligning CX work to business goals, and building small habits that keep you grounded. If you're not sure where to start, we walk through a simple reset: picture what “wins” you want one year from now, then work backward into practical next steps. And because CX asks a lot of empathy from you, we close with an essential reminder: show yourself the same compassion you expect your teams to show customers, and build small habits that help you stay centered before taking on one more thing.If this resonates, share it with a CX leader, subscribe so you don't miss what's next, and leave a rating or review to help more leaders find the show.Resources Mentioned:Order your copy of Experience Is Everything -- http://experienceiseverythingbook.comLearn more about CXI Membership™ and apply -- http://CXIMembership.comExperience Investigators -- https://experienceinvestigators.comEnjoyed the show? Subscribe, share with your team, and leave a quick review to help others find us. Leave your review at ratethispodcast.com/xact.Want to ask a question? Visit askjeannie.vip to leave Jeannie a voicemail! (And don't forget to follow Jeannie Walters, CCXP, CSP on LinkedIn!)

On this episode of The Office, Kolawole leads a thoughtful conversation on the evolving role of Human Resources through the lens of empathy, culture, and performance.Joining the show is Deborah John-Moteh — an accomplished HR executive and People & Culture Strategic Partner recognized for her work in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB), employee experience, and strategic human capital transformation.The discussion explores the concept of “humanising HR” and the challenge of balancing empathy with business outcomes in today's workplace. From employee well-being and inclusive leadership to accountability, productivity, and organisational growth, the episode examines how companies can build people-focused cultures without losing sight of results.Drawing from her global training and professional expertise, Deborah shares practical insights on the future of HR, workplace trust, and why emotional intelligence has become a critical leadership tool in modern organisations.Insightful, timely, and deeply relevant, this episode reframes HR as both a strategic function and a human-centered responsibility.

In this episode of C-Suite Perspectives, Martin Wiese, leader of the European Governance & Sustainability Center at The Conference Board, speaks with Dr. Márcia Balisciano, chief sustainability officer and global head of corporate responsibility at RELX, about how companies can move from sustainability ambition to measurable impact. They discuss the shift from reporting to execution, how sustainability drives financial performance, and what it takes to embed sustainability into commercial strategy and innovation. More from The Conference Board: ·         What's Next for ESG Legislation in Europe? ·         Europe 2026: Competitiveness, Clean Industrial Policy, and Industrial Reform ·         EU Regulatory Outlook: The Way Ahead for 2026 ·         Corporate Governance in an Era of Sustained Disruption

What if the reason your team isn't performing has nothing to do with strategy and everything to do with leadership? In this episode of Wickedly Smart Women, host Anjel B. Hartwell welcomes Kathy Eastwood, CEO and creator of the human-first E3 Leadership Code and a leadership strategist with over thirty years of executive experience across EY, Hewlett-Packard, high-growth startups, and private equity-backed companies. This conversation dives into the real reason most teams struggle, why emotional intelligence is the missing link in leadership. If you've ever questioned your leadership environment, your next career move, or how to build a business that aligns with your values, this episode will challenge how you think about success and performance. What You Will Learn: How misaligned leadership directly impacts culture, performance, and team engagement. What signals indicate it may be time to leave a corporate role and explore something new. How emotional intelligence influences leadership effectiveness and team results. What the E3 Leadership Code is and how it creates sustainable high performance. Why fear-based leadership fails and what to do instead to motivate teams. How to navigate the financial uncertainty of leaving corporate and starting a business. What it really takes to build a people-first organization that drives profit and retention.   Connect with Kathy Eastwood E Equals Why https://marketing.eequalswhy.com/e3-leadership-code   Connect with Wickedly Smart Women® Wickedly Smart Women Wickedly Smart Women on X Wickedly Smart Women on Instagram Wickedly Smart Women Facebook Community Wickedly Smart Women Store on TeePublic [5X Award-Winning Book] Wickedly Smart Women: Trusting Intuition, Taking Action, Transforming Worlds Email: listeners@wickedlysmartwomen.com  

AI is loud right now, but the real question is quieter: how do we use it to create a better customer experience without losing the human at the center? From the floor of CXPA CX Leaders Advance, Jeannie Walters grabbed a few brilliant minds and asked one simple prompt: What's the one thing we should be thinking about for the future of CX?The answers go far beyond any single trend. From evolving skill sets and smarter measurement to human-centered design and change management, this episode brings together a range of perspectives on where CX is heading next.You'll hear insights on blending technical and human skills, capturing and acting on customer emotion, grounding strategy in real value, and ensuring teams can actually adopt the changes we design.If you're shaping experiences, building journeys, or leading CX transformation, this is a quick hit of perspective to help you focus on what matters most.Subscribe, share this with a CX leader on your team, and leave a review so more people can find the show.Episode Guests:Sasha Fard, MBA, CCXPDirector, Omnichannel Analytics, AssurantFollow Sasha on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sashafard/Heidi Taylor, PMP, CCXPSenior Global CX Project Manager, LenovoFollow Heidi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidimtaylor/Emma Winstead, CCXPCustomer Experience Business Partner, Delaware NorthFollow Emma on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-winstead-ccxp-90b815172/Nicole Aguilera, CCXPBusiness System Consultant III, Mutual of OmahaFollow Nicole on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoleaguilera/Scott Lee Holloway, CCXPHead of Customer Experience, APS BankFollow Scott on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottleeholloway/Lauren WierCustomer Experience Business Partner, Delaware NorthFollow Lauren on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-wier-17448430/Resources Mentioned:Order your copy of Experience Is Everything -- experienceiseverythingbook.comLearn more about CXI Membership™ and apply -- CXIMembership.comExperience Investigators -- experienceinvestigators.comEnjoyed the show? Subscribe, share with your team, and leave a quick review to help others find us. Leave your review at ratethispodcast.com/xact.Want to ask a question? Visit askjeannie.vip to leave Jeannie a voicemail! (And don't forget to follow Jeannie Walters, CCXP, CSP on LinkedIn!)

Most companies are now tracking whether their teams are using AI tools. But there's a more important question leaders should be asking. Is AI actually helping your business grow? In this episode of Grounding AI, Donna Peterson walks through the critical shift leaders need to make, from monitoring usage to driving results. Because activity alone doesn't move a business forward. Direction does. You'll learn why simply telling your team to “use AI” often leads to confusion, inconsistency, and wasted investment, and what to do instead. Donna introduces a practical 90-day framework that helps teams build confidence, stay aligned, and apply AI in ways that directly support business goals. What You'll Learn: Why tracking AI usage alone creates a false sense of progress The risk of investing in tools without structured guidance How lack of training leads to fragmented, ineffective efforts Why consistency and collaboration matter more than frequency How to align AI usage with real business outcomes The 90-Day AI Adoption Plan Days 1–30: Build Habit and Visibility Short check-ins 3x per week Focus on how AI will be used that week Share early wins and ideas across the team Days 31–60: Strengthen Consistency Weekly team check-ins Address challenges and refine usage Share templates and successful workflows Days 61–90: Scale and Optimize Monthly deep-dive sessions Demonstrate real use cases step-by-step Provide recordings for continued learning Key Takeaway: Usage does not equal results. AI should help your team focus on the right work, not just more work. Action You Can Take Today Set up a simple weekly check-in with your team: Ask how AI is being used Identify one successful use case Share it across the team Start guiding direction, not just tracking activity. Try the 90-day approach with your team and observe what changes. If you want help structuring it for your organization, reach out directly. *** Reach out to dpeterson@worldinnovators.comif you'd like help building a marketing strategy that builds relationships and/or AI training for individuals or full teams.*** Visit www.worldinnovators.comfor more resources on building stronger marketing and leadership strategies.*** Subscribe to the Grounding AI podcast for weekly insights into marketing, leadership, and the future of AI.

Customer experience isn't failing because people don't care, it fails because teams confuse slogans with systems. Jeannie Walters is joined by Larissa Salazar from Brand Builders Group for a special CX Pulse Check to celebrate the launch of Jeannie's book, Experience Is Everything: Making Every Moment Count In The Age Of Customer Expectations, and to talk about what it really takes for a message to break through in a noisy world. We get practical about the shift that changes everything: customer service is reactive, but customer experience must be proactive. If you only show up when something goes wrong, you're already behind. We talk about designing the end-to-end customer journey with intention, choosing how you want customers to feel, and connecting experience design to the outcomes leaders care about. Along the way, we call out a common trap in CX leadership: treating Net Promoter Score like a strategy instead of a measurement you influence through real changes. Jeannie also shares the mindset strategy discipline framework from the book, including how a clear customer experience mission statement becomes a usable North Star across teams. Larissa pulls back the curtain on what she sees with experts and first-time authors, why your best knowledge is often the “small steps” you forget to write down, and how templates and frameworks help customer experience change agents take action fast. If you're trying to operationalize customer-centricity, build a real CX strategy, and move from reactivity to discipline, this conversation is your push to start. If it helps, subscribe, share this with a change agent on your team, and leave a review so more leaders can find the show.About Larissa Salazar, Team Lead & Personal Brand Strategist | Brand Builders GroupSalazar is a highly respected personal brand strategist and speaker at Brand Builders Group, an international personal branding firm and an Inc. 5000 fastest-growing company. As one of the youngest and fastest-rising strategists in the organization, she has quickly built a reputation for helping authors and thought leaders clarify their expertise, define their message, and build brands that create lasting influence.With a strategic mindset and a deep appreciation for storytelling, Larissa has a unique ability to distill complex ideas into clear, compelling messaging. She doesn't just help clients communicate their insights—she guides them in developing proprietary intellectual property and signature frameworks that make their teachings memorable, shareable, and scalable. Her approach ensures that thought leaders don't just teach for the moment, but create content and concepts that spread, endure, and position them as industry authorities.Follow Larissa on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/larissa-ann-salazar/Book a meeting with Larissa: https://freebrandcall.com/lsResources Mentioned:Order your copy of Experience Is Everything -- http://experienceiseverythingbook.comExperience Investigators Website -- https://experienceinvestigators.cEnjoyed the show? Subscribe, share with your team, and leave a quick review to help others find us. Leave your review at ratethispodcast.com/xact.Want to ask a question? Visit askjeannie.vip to leave Jeannie a voicemail! (And don't forget to follow Jeannie Walters, CCXP, CSP on LinkedIn!)

Are you drowning in feedback and still struggling for progress? In this bonus episode, we're bringing you more conversations from the Qualtrics X4 Summit 2026 in Seattle. These conversations tackle the same problem from different angles: how to turn customer and patient feedback into real operational change, and how to protect trust as AI becomes part of the workflow. If you collect surveys, run a CX program, or lead a healthcare team, this one is about what happens after you hit “export.” First, we talk with leaders from Trillium Health Partners about redesigning their patient experience measurement: Kerry Kuluski, Research Chair in Patient and Family-Centered Care, and Adam Gdyczynski, Senior Corporate Lead, Patient Experience Measurement and Planning. They share how moving from paper and call-center methods to modern digital surveying helped drive an 880% increase in survey responses, plus what they did next to avoid being buried by the volume. We dig into practical tactics like shorter surveys, QR codes on after visit summaries, and using iPads to improve access in areas with lower electronic response rates. We also get into why equitable care depends on knowing who is responding, and how demographic and cultural insights can inform smarter decisions while supporting patient and family centered care. Then we shift to the trust layer with Qualtrics Chief Security Officer Assaf Keren. We unpack why trust is more than security, why shortcuts create incidents, and why transparency matters when things go wrong. We also get specific about AI governance: third-party risk, building guardrails, managing data access, and keeping a human in the loop when risk is high or confidence is low. If you want to turn insights into action without losing the human side, listen now. After you finish, subscribe, share this with a teammate, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.Follow Kerry Kuluski on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerry-kuluski-a9791b227/Follow Adam Gdyczynski on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-gdyczynski-mba-che-83100635/Follow Assaf Keren on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/assafkeren/Resources Mentioned:Qualtrics -- https://www.qualtrics.com/Order your copy of Experience Is Everything -- http://experienceiseverythingbook.comLearn more about CXI Membership™ and apply -- http://CXIMembership.comExperience Investigators -- https://experienceinvestigators.comEnjoyed the show? Subscribe, share with your team, and leave a quick review to help others find us. Leave your review at ratethispodcast.com/xact.Want to ask a question? Visit askjeannie.vip to leave Jeannie a voicemail! (And don't forget to follow Jeannie Walters, CCXP, CSP on LinkedIn!)

AI is moving fast, but most customer experience programs still get stuck in the same place: teams chase tools, dashboards, and “shiny” promises while the real work and the real problem stay fuzzy. We wanted a grounded conversation about customer experience strategy that actually holds up inside complex organizations, especially when trust, risk, and regulation are part of daily life.Jeannie Walters is joined by Dr. Elizabeth ErkenBrack, Head of Strategy in the Office of the CEO at Qualtrics. They sat down at the Qualtrics X4 Summit 2026 in Seattle to talk about starting with the outcome you're trying to achieve, defining who you're designing for, and mapping the work that needs to change before you ever “plug in” AI. They get specific about where automation helps and where the human touch still matters most, particularly in vulnerable moments like healthcare, financial services, and other deeply personal journeys.They also dig into the ROI side of experience management: how to shift from CX as a cost center to CX as an investment, how to connect NPS and CSAT to action, and how to tie experience improvements to attributable revenue through churn, retention, conversion, and operational changes. A key takeaway is governance: measurement and execution often sit in different silos, and bringing them into lockstep is an executive decision. If you're trying to make CX “count” in the C-suite, this gives you language and structure that leaders can align around.If this helped you rethink how you're framing your next CX initiative, subscribe, share this episode with a teammate, and leave a review so more people can find it.Follow Elizabeth ErkenBrack on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-erkenbrack-phd-380b5b30/Resources Mentioned:Qualtrics -- https://www.qualtrics.com/Order your copy of Experience Is Everything -- http://experienceiseverythingbook.comLearn more about CXI Membership™ and apply -- http://CXIMembership.comExperience Investigators -- https://experienceinvestigators.comEnjoyed the show? Subscribe, share with your team, and leave a quick review to help others find us. Leave your review at ratethispodcast.com/xact.Want to ask a question? Visit askjeannie.vip to leave Jeannie a voicemail! (And don't forget to follow Jeannie Walters, CCXP, CSP on LinkedIn!)

You can have the strategy. The plan. The ideas.…and still feel like your business isn't working the way it should.This episode is a real, honest look at what's actually going on in those moments.Because more often than not… it's not about doing more.It's about what's happening in the in-between moments — when you soften your message, hesitate before selling, or convince yourself to “wait a little longer.”The part most people miss?

You may not realize it but your level of self-love dramatically affects your business. Just like strong systems and habits support your success, so does the way you care for yourself and what you believe about yourself. It affects how you talk about your business, how confident you feel making an offer, how much you charge and more! Today's guests share how they prioritize themselves to ensure they and their business operate at peak performance. Just like every other aspect of entrepreneurship, you can learn to boost your self-love for greater success. Tune in to find out how.Connect with today's guests:Mandy Hawtin – https://seadragonorganic.com.auKaren Goslin – https://karengoslinspeaks.comDonita Mudalige – https://needleforward.comKazemaru Yukawa – https://kazemaru.comLisa Taylor – https://lisataylorholistic.com

Some of the biggest CX breakthroughs don't come from bigger budgets, they come from sharper thinking about trust, value, and what people actually feel in the moment. We're sharing a special Women's History Month collection of insights from Dr. Amy Climer, Ovetta Sampson, Camille Kremer, Neen James, and Brooke Sellas, each bringing a different lens on customer experience leadership, innovation, and connection.We start with a future-facing question: when AI shows up on the screens inside our cars, is it there to help the driver or to sell to them? Amy challenges us to treat creativity as “novelty that is valuable,” and to judge value from the customer's perspective, not the company's. From there, Ovetta gets candid about generative AI, chatbot hallucinations, and why “set it and forget it” is a fast track to broken customer trust. If you're building AI into customer support, you'll hear why rigorous testing and ongoing oversight are now core CX operations.Camille breaks down expectation setting as the hidden equation behind loyalty: customers invest, brands deliver or don't, and trust is the outcome. Neen reframes luxury as a mindset where experiences matter more than things, anchored in making people feel seen, heard, and valued. Brooke closes the loop for social media and content marketing: content is the vehicle, emotion is the destination, and connection beats chasing a single “big win.”If this sparked new ideas for your CX strategy, subscribe, share this with a CX leader on your team, and leave a review so more people can find the show.Experience Action Episodes Mentioned:CX Pulse Check – February 2025CX Pulse Check – May 2025CX Pulse Check – August 2025CX Pulse Check – September 2025CX Pulse Check – November 2025Resources Mentioned:Order your copy of Experience Is Everything -- http://experienceiseverythingbook.comLearn more about CXI Membership™ and apply -- http://CXIMembership.comExperience Investigators Website -- https://experienceinvestigators.comEnjoyed the show? Subscribe, share with your team, and leave a quick review to help others find us. Leave your review at ratethispodcast.com/xact.Want to ask a question? Visit askjeannie.vip to leave Jeannie a voicemail! (And don't forget to follow Jeannie Walters, CCXP, CSP on LinkedIn!)

On this episode of Cherokee Business Radio, Joshua Kornitsky talks with Farrell Middleton to discuss what it really takes to lead, scale, and execute in today's complex business environment. The conversation explores how leaders can cut through noise, align teams around clear priorities, and drive meaningful results without getting stuck in overcomplication. Farrell shares practical […]

On this episode of Cherokee Business Radio, Joshua Kornitsky talks with Farrell Middleton to discuss what it really takes to lead, scale, and execute in today's complex business environment. The conversation explores how leaders can cut through noise, align teams around clear priorities, and drive meaningful results without getting stuck in overcomplication. Farrell shares practical […]

A lot of companies say they “listen to the customer” and they do. They survey, they track NPS, they build dashboards, they share reports. But then nothing changes. Today we respond to a sharp question from a listener about what separates organizations that embed customer insights into everyday decision making from those where Voice of the Customer stays stuck as a feedback exercise.We walk through the mindset shift that turns VoC into real customer experience strategy: using your mission and goals as the lens for what you act on, getting aligned on expectations, and defining a clear customer experience mission statement so improvements aren't scattered across one-off complaints. When teams fix isolated issues without a unified view of the customer journey, customers feel the inconsistency and trust drops fast.Then we get practical about execution. Customer insights only matter when they influence decisions across product, operations, communication, and the partners you choose. That requires shared ownership, clear governance, and consistent processes for reporting what you're doing about the feedback and closing the loop with customers. We also address the “shoot the messenger” trap and how CX leaders can connect the dots to business value so teams understand what's in it for them.If you want to turn Voice of the Customer into decision infrastructure and measurable business outcomes, press play. Subscribe, share this with a CX leader on your team, and leave a rating and review so more people can find the show.Resources Mentioned:Order your copy of Experience Is Everything -- http://experienceiseverythingbook.comLearn more about CXI Membership™ and apply -- http://CXIMembership.comExperience Investigators Website -- https://experienceinvestigators.comEnjoyed the show? Subscribe, share with your team, and leave a quick review to help others find us. Leave your review at ratethispodcast.com/xact.Want to ask a question? Visit askjeannie.vip to leave Jeannie a voicemail! (And don't forget to follow Jeannie Walters, CCXP, CSP on LinkedIn!)

When AI can move faster than your team ever could, the real question isn't “What can we automate?” It's “What should represent us?” In this CX Pulse Check episode, Jeannie Walters sits down with Deborah Reuben, CEO of Tomorrow Zone and author of Enter the Tomorrow Zone, to unpack how agentic commerce and automation can elevate customer experience only when purpose leads and tools follow.They dig into the messy middle of AI adoption—from trust gaps and backlash moments to why innovation driven by shiny features often scales the wrong experience. They share a practical blueprint for leaders under pressure to deliver: define a clear CX mission, align success metrics across teams, and identify the high-stakes moments where humans must stay in the loop.The conversation also explores how organizations can design AI that signals trust through capability, honesty, predictability, and care. As automation expands and bots increasingly interact with bots, they discuss how measurement must evolve beyond traditional engagement metrics to focus on outcomes like resolution confidence, perceived fairness, and clarity of next steps.If this sparks ideas for your roadmap or raises thorny questions about where humans should stay in the loop, we want to hear from you. Subscribe for more conversations like this, share the episode with your team, and leave a review.About Deborah Reuben, CLFPAuthor | Innovation Strategist | CEO & Founder, TomorrowZone®Deborah Reuben is an innovation strategist, advisor, and the CEO & Founder of TomorrowZone®. She works with senior leaders across finance and technology to help them navigate complexity, gain clarity, and design future-ready systems.Her work is grounded in firsthand experience leading and advising complex, large-scale transformation efforts. Deborah is known for helping leaders see patterns they're too close to notice, and for reframing innovation as a human, systemic practice rather than a technology initiative.She is the author of Enter the TomorrowZone, which examines why capable leaders get trapped in constant reaction, and how stepping back creates clarity to design what's next.Follow Deborah on LinkedIn.Learn more about Enter the TomorrowZone and Deborah's work at tomorrowzone.io.To find out more about the book, visit EnterTheTomorrowZone.com.Articles Mentioned:- Own the agentic commerce experience (National Retail Federation) -- https://nrf.com/research/own-the-agentic-commerce-experience- The 2026 Braze Customer Engagement Review: AI Innovation Meets the Trust Plateau (CMSWire) -- https://www.cmswire.com/the-wire/the-2026-braze-customer-engagement-review-ai-innovation-meets-the-trust-plateau/- AI Backlash and Public Perception: How AI Strategy Shapes Customer Trust (SupportNinja) -- https://www.supportninja.com/articles/ai-backlash-public-perception-ai-strategy-shapes-customer-trustResources Mentioned:Order your copy of Experience Is Everything -- experienceiseverythingbook.comExperience Investigators Website -- experienceinvestigators.comEnjoyed the show? Subscribe, share with your team, and leave a quick review to help others find us. Leave your review at ratethispodcast.com/xact.Want to ask a question? Visit askjeannie.vip to leave Jeannie a voicemail! (And don't forget to follow Jeannie Walters, CCXP, CSP on LinkedIn!)

The most practical CX breakthroughs are happening in day-to-day choices by leaders who meet their organizations where they are. From the Medallia Experience 2026 conference in Las Vegas, we pull together no-fluff lessons on turning insights into impact, leading with intent, and using AI to accelerate change—without overpromising. Jeannie talks with Experience Transformation Award winner Paloma Paraja, Customer Experience Manager at Santalucía Seguros, about breaking down silos in a 100-year-old insurer by unifying Voice of Customer, empowering internal champions, and turning feedback into stories teams can act on. She also reconnects with Camille Kremer, Senior Director of Customer Experience at Holiday Inn Club Vacations, for a masterclass in prioritization—using driver modeling and smart experiments to separate noise from real impact, and applying AI to speed service and personalization without eroding trust. Plus, we chat about an Experience Is Everything book club with Deborah Bearden, Enterprise Customer Experience Manager at Simmons Bank.The theme: progress over perfection. Choose high-impact actions. Test, measure, and scale what works. Let AI amplify a strategy you've already defined.Enjoyed the conversation? Follow the show, share it with a CX friend, and leave a quick review to help more leaders find it. Have a question or story to add? Leave me a voicemail at askjeannie.vip.Follow our guests on LinkedIn:Paloma Paraja -- https://www.linkedin.com/in/paloma-paraja/Camille Kremer -- https://www.linkedin.com/in/camillekremer/Deborah Bearden -- https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborah-bearden/Resources Mentioned:Order your copy of Experience Is Everything -- http://experienceiseverythingbook.comLearn more about CXI Membership™ and apply -- http://CXIMembership.comExperience Investigators Website -- https://experienceinvestigators.comEnjoyed the show? Subscribe, share with your team, and leave a quick review to help others find us. Leave your review at ratethispodcast.com/xact. Want to ask a question? Visit askjeannie.vip to leave Jeannie a voicemail! (And don't forget to follow Jeannie Walters, CCXP, CSP on LinkedIn!)

What if the fastest answer isn't the right one? We unpack the tension between speed and resolution in customer experience, exploring why AI bots can erode trust when they chase efficiency instead of fixing the real problem. With guest co-host Jennie Lewis of Airship, we dig into pragmatic ways to use AI as an amplifier for empathy.We also step into hospitality, where automation has raced ahead with mobile keys, kiosks, and virtual front desks. Convenience is great—until an empty lobby at midnight changes how safe a guest feels. From solo travel realities to on-the-ground service design, we discuss how to widen the journey map beyond “check-in to room” and include the edge cases that define trust.Then we tackle dynamic pricing. There's a world of difference between rewarding loyalty and playing whack-a-mole with rates. We call out practices that feel predatory, highlight proactive offers that build goodwill, and suggest clear guardrails that prevent sticker shock.If you care about CX that feels human and scales gracefully, this conversation will sharpen your playbook. Subscribe, share with a colleague, and leave a quick review.About Jennie Lewis:Sr Manager, Customer Insights at AirshipJennie Lewis is a value-focused researcher who transforms complex data into revenue-driving narratives. An expert in quantifying CX ROI, she began as a self-taught coder automating emails for GM before leading agency teams that supported iconic brands like Marriott, Chase, and Marvel. She bridges the gap between technical data and business strategy, managing a portfolio of research results that achieve increased influenced revenue. Certified by Northwestern, eCornell, and Google, Jennie is a recognized thought leader and mentor dedicated to proving that great customer experience is a measurable driver of growth.Follow Jennie on...LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennie-lewis/Articles Mentioned:- Customer service AI bots not ready for prime time, survey suggests (Consumer Affairs)- Ireckonu- 2025 year in review: What had happenend in the hospitality technology industry? (Breaking Travel News)- Asda's unhappy shoppers give boss food for thought (The Times)Resources Mentioned:Women In CX CommunityOrder your copy of Experience Is EverythingExperience Investigators WebsiteWant to ask a question? Visit askjeannie.vip to leave Jeannie a voicemail! (And don't forget to follow Jeannie on LinkedIn! www.linkedin.com/in/jeanniewalters/)

In this episode, business coach Andy Hemming dives into the powerful connection between mindset, behavior, and business results. Drawing on over 17 years of coaching experience, Andy explains why sustainable growth starts with understanding how thoughts drive actions — and actions drive outcomes. He challenges the idea that strategy alone creates success, emphasizing instead the importance of belief systems, language, and personal development in shaping how leaders and teams operate.Coaching is more than a job, it's a calling. Discover how you can become a certified ActionCOACH and change lives, starting with your own. Get started by clicking here. https://lp.actioncoach.com/franchise-apply About Andy Hemming:Andy Hemming is a business coach with over 17 years of experience helping business owners transform results by changing the way they think. With a strong foundation in mindset, leadership, and personal development, Andy specializes in uncovering the beliefs that drive behavior and business performance. Known for his thoughtful, values-driven approach, he helps entrepreneurs gain clarity, improve efficiency, reclaim time, and build businesses that align with both their goals and their lives.Learn more: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/businesscoachbirminghamAbout ActionCOACHActionCOACH is a global business coaching firm founded in 1993 by Brad Sugars. It offers coaching services to all types of businesses, providing guidance and support in various aspects of business management, including marketing, sales, finance, team building, and systems development. ActionCOACH operates through a network of trained business coaches who work directly with clients to help them achieve their business goals and overcome challenges. The company's vision is to "create world abundance through business re-education," aiming to empower entrepreneurs and business owners to build profitable enterprises that work without them. Learn more about ActionCOACH: https://www.actioncoach.com/Become A Coach: https://www.actioncoach.com/

In this podcast, Greg welcomes back Yosi Amram, PhD, a licensed clinical psychologist and CEO leadership coach whose background spans from an Israeli military sergeant major to an MIT and Harvard-educated tech CEO. His life took a radical, life-altering turn on a massage table when, after taking his first company public, he experienced a spontaneous spiritual awakening that "blew a fuze" in his mind. This traumatic catalyst—which led to him being pushed out of his own organization—inspired Yosi to pioneer research into Spiritual Intelligence (SI). He views SI as the critical missing piece for leaders who have achieved outward success but still face soaring rates of anxiety and polarization. Yosi's approach isn't about escaping to a cave in India; it is a "middle way" where the divine meets the boardroom to reveal the spiritual sparks in everything we do. He breaks down his award-winning framework of seven dimensions—including Grace, Truth, and Wisdom—to show how "ego-looseness" and intuitive leadership are not just feel-good concepts, but powerful drivers of massive financial performance and collective well-being.

Send Jackie A Message!If you're trying to grow your studio and keep hitting invisible walls—this episode explains why. Jackie Murphy breaks down the real thing that creates results in your business (and it's not an Instagram strategy or another tactic). It's your thinking.In this Yoga Boss Vault episode, Jackie teaches the difference between the primitive brain (the part of you that's wired for safety, efficiency, and avoiding risk) and the prefrontal cortex (the part of you that thinks like a CEO—strategic, logical, and action-oriented). You'll learn how fear-based thoughts quietly run your decisions, why your brain acts like an “over-sensitive smoke alarm,” and the six common fears that show up for business owners—especially when marketing, selling, or investing.Most importantly, Jackie shows you how to build the skill of expecting yourself to win—without delusional “positive thinking.” If you want sustainable growth, you have to learn to lead your mind first.Timestamped Outline (approx)[00:00] Why mindset creates results (not tactics)[03:00] Primitive brain vs prefrontal cortex[06:30] The “over-sensitive smoke alarm” analogy[09:00] Six fears that derail your business[18:30] Expectation as a CEO superpower[22:00] “I can't” → “How can I?”[24:30] Why growth includes dips (roots + physics analogy)[28:00] Weekly practice: where are your thoughts coming from?Key Takeaways Your thoughts shape your decisions, actions, and resultsThe primitive brain is wired for safety—not business growthFear thoughts are often false alarms, not real problemsCEO thinking comes from expectation + problem-solvingGrowth includes dips—and dips can accelerate your progress“How can I?” is a leadership skill you practice into identityFAQ:What part of the brain creates fear when I market or sell my studio? Your primitive brain (often called the limbic system). It's designed to keep you safe and avoid risk—so it creates fear-based thoughts when you try something new.How do I know if a thought is from my primitive brain? If it's rooted in fear (rejection, disappointment, being wrong, being seen), it's likely a false alarm—not a real business problem.What is the prefrontal cortex and why does it matter for business owners? It's the part of your brain responsible for planning, problem-solving, and long-term thinking—the exact skills required to lead as a CEO.Why do I freeze or procrastinate when I try to post or sell? Because your nervous system is scanning for safety. When your primitive brain thinks visibility is risky, it tries to stop you through avoidance.How do I shift from fear-based thinking to CEO thinking? Practice noticing where the thought comes from, then intentionally move into questions like: “How can I?” and “What's the next best step?”Is expecting yourself to win just toxic positivity? No. Jackie teaches expectation paired with action and realistic management of dips. It's not “wishful thinking”—it's leadership thinking.Why does business growth feel up and down? Because growth is nonlinear. Dips are part of the process—and often thWork with Jackie Murphy Say Hi on Instagram @studioceoofficial 3 Marketing Mistakes Yoga & Pilates Business Owners Make: https://www.jackiegmurphy.com/3-marketing-mistakes Join The Studio CEO Program: https://www.jackiegmurphy.com/studioceo

Ever feel like your journey map leaves teams on the sidelines? In this episode, we explore a practical way to make customer journey mapping more inclusive without losing the customer's voice. We reframe journey mapping as a verb—one that engages cross-functional partners, incorporates frontline insight, and is grounded in customer data—while keeping the focus on real customer moments like triggers, actions, emotions, and outcomes (not org chart debates).From there, we introduce service blueprinting as the execution layer that turns insight into action. You'll hear how blueprinting clarifies what happens front stage and backstage, and how people, processes, systems, and tools support—or hinder—the experience you're trying to deliver.Along the way, we share practical tips for building alignment and shared ownership: inviting stakeholders who felt left out, defining goals that cut across teams, and tying internal decisions to customer outcomes. We also discuss the constraints and gaps that surface when teams blueprint together, plus the kinds of measurable improvements you can expect. Whether you're refreshing an existing map or pairing it with your first blueprint, this conversation offers grounded guidance for creating clarity, momentum, and more connected CX work.Have a question you want us to tackle next? Leave it at askjeannie.vip, explore more tools inside our CXI Membership, and pre‑order Experience Is Everything to deepen your practice. If this conversation helped, follow the show, share it with a teammate, and leave a quick review to support the community.Resources Mentioned:Learn more about CXI Membership™ and apply -- http://CXIMembership.comCustomer​​ Service Blueprinting [LinkedIn Learning Course] -- https://bit.ly/lilblueprintCustomer Experience: Journey Mapping [LinkedIn Learning Course] -- https://bit.ly/liljourneymapOrder your copy of Experience Is Everything -- http://experienceiseverythingbook.comExperience Investigators Website -- https://experienceinvestigators.comWant to ask a question? Visit askjeannie.vip to leave Jeannie a voicemail! (And don't forget to follow Jeannie on LinkedIn! www.linkedin.com/in/jeanniewalters/)

Great management isn't a "soft skill" — it's a measurable performance lever. Ashley Herd, founder and CEO of Manager Method and author of The Manager Method: Practical Strategies to Lead with Purpose and Confidence, joins host Mike Wallberg, CFA, to unpack why communication sits at the heart of effective leadership and how small managerial choices ripple through engagement, retention, and profitability. Drawing on her experience as a lawyer, in-house leader, and advisor who has trained more than 250,000 managers, Herd explains why promoting top performers into management roles so often backfires, how leaders can avoid micromanagement without disappearing, and why her "pause, consider, act" framework helps managers handle everything from delegation to performance conversations. The discussion also explores what investors and analysts can learn about management quality by listening closely to leadership behavior — not just the numbers — and why culture and innovation are inseparable from long-term returns. Listen to the full episode of Enterprising Investor to hear practical insights on building better managers, stronger teams, and more resilient businesses.

What does real AI transformation look like when leaders stop chasing prototypes and start demanding outcomes they can actually measure? That question sat at the center of my conversation with Alex Cross, Chief Technology Officer for EMEA at CI&T, alongside Melissa Smith, as we unpacked why so many organizations feel stuck between AI ambition and business reality. There is no shortage of excitement around AI, but there is growing skepticism too, especially from leadership teams who have seen pilots come and go without clear return. This episode focuses on how CI&T is addressing that gap head on. Alex shared how CI&T frames its work as AI-enabled transformation rather than simply layering AI tools onto existing processes. The distinction matters.  Instead of using AI to speed up broken workflows, CI&T reshapes how work gets done so AI becomes part of value creation itself. We explored a standout example from ITAU, the largest bank in Latin America, where deep modernization work helped deliver gains that most executives only ever see in strategy decks.  Productivity rose sharply, digital launch cycles collapsed from years to months, customer satisfaction jumped, and the commercial impact reached hundreds of millions in uplift. These are the kinds of results that change boardroom conversations. A big part of how CI&T gets there is its proprietary Flow platform. Alex explained how Flow gives clients a day-one AI environment, removing the heavy upfront cost and complexity that often slows momentum. Instead of spending months building platforms before any value appears, teams can move from proof of concept to production in as little as six to eight weeks. Flow also plays a second role that many AI programs miss, acting as a measurement layer so performance, efficiency, and ROI are visible rather than assumed. We also talked about why partnerships matter when execution is the goal. CI&T works closely with hyperscalers like AWS and Databricks, combining native tools with its own codified expertise. That combination has helped the company achieve an unusually high success rate in bringing AI initiatives to production, a challenge many organizations still struggle with. For Alex, the difference comes down to a relentless focus on production readiness and collaboration between business and technology teams from day one. Looking ahead, the conversation turned to CI&T's expansion across EMEA and what the company's 30th year represents. Rather than chasing every new trend, the focus is on productizing services around real client problems, whether that is legacy modernization, efficiency, or growth. The goal is to bridge strategy and execution in a way that feels practical, fast, and accountable. If you are leading AI initiatives and wondering why progress feels slower than the hype suggests, this episode offers a grounded perspective from the front lines. So, as organizations head into another year of bold AI plans, the real question becomes this. Are you building faster caterpillars, or are you ready to do the harder work required to turn ambition into something that can truly scale? Useful Links Connect with Alex Cross Connect With Melissa Smith Learn more about CI&T Follow CI&T on LinkedIn and YouTube Thanks to our sponsors, Alcor, for supporting the show.

Losing a customer hurts—but missing what their exit can teach you hurts more. In this episode, we unpack a two-phase offboarding feedback strategy that captures the truth twice: immediately after churn and again once customers have settled with a new provider. You'll learn how to ask hard questions without defensiveness, why timing changes insight quality, and how to turn churn into actionable CX signals.We cover the exact questions that surface breaking points, broken promises, and hidden process gaps—then show how to translate those patterns into leadership language around risk, speed, and results. Plus, why AI can support workflows but can't replace trust, adoption, or accountability.If you're ready to move from CX heroics to consistent, scalable experience design, this conversation gives you the framing, timing, and questions to start.Please subscribe, share with a teammate, and leave a review to help other CX leaders find the show. Resources Mentioned:Learn more about CXI Membership™ and apply -- http://CXIMembership.comOrder your copy of Experience Is Everything -- http://experienceiseverythingbook.comExperience Investigators Website -- https://experienceinvestigators.comWant to ask a question? Visit askjeannie.vip to leave Jeannie a voicemail! (And don't forget to follow Jeannie on LinkedIn! www.linkedin.com/in/jeanniewalters/)

Start the year with clarity instead of clutter. We're sharing five decisive questions that help you cut noise, design automation that still feels human, and align your customer experience strategy with outcomes your executives and your customers actually care about. If AI, tight budgets, and shaky trust are pulling you in every direction, this conversation gives you a practical way to choose what matters and let the rest go.We dig into where value is truly created across your journey and where activity masquerades as progress. You'll learn how to build a balance between fast, scalable automation and the empathy customers crave when stakes are high. We talk through using a CX mission and a success blueprint to connect initiatives to revenue, retention, cost to serve, and risk reduction—without resorting to vanity metrics. Along the way, we share how to craft human-centered stories that move leaders, and how to build guardrails so AI augments your team instead of eroding trust.Customer expectations have shifted, so your insights need to as well. We outline practical methods for refreshing journey maps with real behavior, analytics, and interviews, and we show how co-creating with customers accelerates clarity. Finally, we turn the mission from a poster into an operating system: a tool for prioritizing roadmaps, guiding trade-offs, and running quick post-launch reviews that keep experience quality high. Call this the year of intention—simplify, align, and keep showing up with respect and consistency.If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a teammate who's buried in dashboards, and leave a quick review to tell us which question you'll tackle first. Your feedback helps more leaders find the tools to build trust and deliver results.Resources Mentioned:CX Mission Statement Workbook -- https://bit.ly/cx-mission-workbookCX Success Statement Workbook -- https://bit.ly/cx-success-workbookOrder your copy of Experience Is Everything -- http://experienceiseverythingbook.comExperience Investigators Website -- https://experienceinvestigators.comWant to ask a question? Visit askjeannie.vip to leave Jeannie a voicemail! (And don't forget to follow Jeannie on LinkedIn! www.linkedin.com/in/jeanniewalters/)

Join us for an enlightening discussion as we explore the intersection of hospitality and leadership with our latest guest, Taylor Scott. Taylor, an accomplished author, keynote speaker, and leadership development consultant, shares insights from his rich career spanning Disney Parks and Resorts, Gaylord Hotels, and Las Vegas landmarks like Wynn and the Cosmopolitan. He reveals the inspiration behind his latest book, "Give Hospitality," a Hawaiian-themed fable that draws on real-life experiences and relationships with influential leaders. Listen in as we discuss the art of storytelling and its power to convey essential leadership principles, while Taylor highlights the role of mentors and personal connections in shaping his narrative.Discover the transformative essence of hospitality in leadership as we reflect on its role in creating welcoming and inclusive environments. Inspired by a memorable pre-opening speech at Gaylord Palms Resort, we explore how the spirit of hospitality can bridge divides in both personal and professional settings. This conversation emphasizes the importance of generosity, kindness, and the spirit of Aloha in fostering meaningful relationships and driving performance. Taylor shares personal anecdotes that illustrate the impact of empathy and authenticity in leadership, revealing how these qualities build trust and foster a culture of connection.We also touch on the importance of intentional leadership and organizational transformation, as Taylor shares his journey from Walt Disney World to the bustling scene of Las Vegas. He emphasizes the significance of gratitude and intentionality in overcoming challenges and achieving desired outcomes. In addition, we discuss the dual aspects of giving and receiving hospitality through effective feedback, underscoring the importance of dialogue and constructive conversations. Finally, we highlight the role of personal and organizational values in creating a culture of hospitality, offering practical exercises and metrics to measure success. Join us for an engaging and thought-provoking conversation that promises to inspire and inform.Key Takeaways– Hospitality is the ability to make people feel welcome, comfortable, and important, a core competency of transformational leadership that applies across all industries – Emotional connection drives behavioral change; Jonathan Haidt's "rider and elephant" metaphor shows how emotion (the elephant) provides the energy while logic (the rider) provides direction– Consistency in leadership behavior, not initial perfection, builds trust and credibility; keep showing up authentically even when facing initial skepticism – Remote leadership is possible when leaders commit to three non-negotiables: one-on-one meetings, team meetings, and strategic digital communicationChapters02:21 Guest Introduction: Taylor Scott's Background and 20-Year Hospitality Career03:54 The Inspiration Behind Give Hospitality: Hawaiian Theme and Fable Format05:25 The Story of Kauele Resort: Character Development and Core Values12:31 The GIVE Framework: Hospitality Rooted in the Spirit of Aloha14:21 Business Results and Hospitality: The Inseparable Connection Between Relationships and Performance18:33 Empathy as a Learnable Skill: Building Authentic Connection in Stressful Times21:01 Consistency in Leadership: Why Daily Behaviors Build Trust More Than Words27:33 Intentional Leadership: Vision, Mission, and Values as Accountability Anchors45:50 Leading with Hospitality in Remote and Hybrid EnvironmentsConnect with Craig Dowden and the Do Good to Lead Well PodcastWebsite: https://www.craigdowden.comGuest Contact InformationTaylor Scott: Founder Hospitality, LLCWebsite: https://www.leadwithhospitality.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tscott1502/Email: info@leadwithhospitality.comBooks:- Give Hospitality- Lead with Hospitality- Ball Games to Boardrooms

Clicking “buy now” shouldn't feel like shouting into the void. In this episode, we explore how digital retail can feel more human by pairing smart personalization with trust-building micromoments. Instead of proving what we know, we focus on what customers need next: clear fit guidance, delivery transparency, and friction-removing policies that build confidence before checkout.We share practical moves you can use this week—from confirmations that speak to the shopper (not the order number) to shipping updates in plain language, short stylist videos, and behind-the-scenes warehouse moments. We also cover how to use chat well: being upfront about bots, designing warm handoffs to humans, and giving AI a role that feels helpful, not blocking.Reassurance is the real conversion multiplier. We talk about sizing honesty, responsible return signals, clear expectations on duties and timelines, and how to keep the warmth going after checkout. The simple test we return to again and again: would this message feel kind and useful if you sent it to a friend?If these ideas help, subscribe for more customer experience strategies, share this episode with your team, and leave a quick review so others can find us. Your feedback shapes what we explore next.Resources Mentioned:Order your copy of Experience Is Everything -- http://experienceiseverythingbook.comExperience Investigators Website -- https://experienceinvestigators.comWant to ask a question? Visit askjeannie.vip to leave Jeannie a voicemail! (And don't forget to follow Jeannie on LinkedIn! www.linkedin.com/in/jeanniewalters/)

Peers and Innovation – Peernovation This week on A New Direction with Coach Jay, we're diving back into a powerful idea that has only grown more relevant: Peernovation. Leo Bottary returns with the newly revised 2nd Edition of Peernovation: Leverage Peer Wisdom to Create Team Excellence and trust me… this update is not just a cosmetic refresh. It is a transformational rethinking of how people, teams, and leaders rise together. In a world where complexity increases and isolation becomes easier; Leo makes a bold case: the future belongs to the teams who intentionally harness the wisdom of their peers. This is not “team building”—this is unlocking human potential through connection. We'll explore why the most successful groups don't happen by accident—they happen by design. Peernovation challenges leaders to rethink the way they select, develop, and inspire teams. It shows why the who always comes before the what, and why the right peers can elevate performance faster than any strategy, incentive program, or motivational campaign. Leo breaks down the research behind high-performing groups and reveals the hidden habits that allow teams to become more innovative, more accountable, and more resilient. If you've ever wondered why some teams consistently outperform—even when they shouldn't—this episode will give you the blueprint. We're also going to dig into the shift from individual excellence to collective greatness—something many leaders say they want but rarely know how to cultivate. Peernovation demonstrates that peer influence is the most powerful driver of behavior and performance inside any group. When you understand how peer dynamics shape standards, culture, and outcomes, you stop “managing people” and start unleashing them. This is where the magic happens. This is where belonging fuels bravery, and where teams start to multiply their potential instead of adding to it. Join us to discover how peer-powered teams are built, how they sustain excellence, and how you can create them in your organization, your business, or your life. Whether you’re a business owner, a leader under pressure, or someone who wants to elevate the people around you, this conversation with Leo Bottary will challenge you, inspire you, and give you tools you can use immediately. Peernovation isn't just a concept… it's a movement. And tomorrow, we're going to show you how to become part of it. Leo Bottary‘s book, “Peernovation: Leverage Peer Wisdom to Create Team Excellence (2nd Edition) is insightful and gives the most fundamental and necessary components to building organizational and business groups and teams that are not only effective but will lead your business to greater growth and profitability. We all know it’s true, we can be far more creative in a group that we can be on our own.  We know that we make better decisions in groups then we can on our own. We also know that growth doesn’t happen in a silo it happens in groups and teams.  So how do we build these groups and teams so that we can be as successful as possible.  This is where “Peernovation” comes to the rescue. Peernovation is the combination of two words.  Peers, such as your colleagues and people like you, and Innovation, the creative process that helps us grow and achieve more.  We put them together to create Peernovation.  But it is not for the faint of heart.  To have successful peernovation there are some hard choices we have to make.  Such as insuring that there is absolute psychological safety, that there are value and behavior alignment, etc. The 2nd edition is a great read.  It flows well.  The new ideas added to the book are fantastic and insightful.  After reading it I also found myself trying to figure how I take my own existing teams and reestablish ground rules and better communication so that I have better Peernovation. Click here to get your copy of Peernovation Please thank our sponsors for joining us here on A New Direction Linda Craft Team, Realtors has been a partner with A New Direction since the very beginning. They are the relationship real estate professionals, and for more than 40 years they have built a reputation in the world wide real estate community as the real estate people with “Legendary Customer Service”. They understand that a home is made not of bricks, sticks and mortar, but of people and those are memories that are personal and last a lifetime.  You don’t last for 40 years in the real estate business if you don’t provide an amazing client experience and fantastic customer service after a home has sold and closed.  Are you ready to experience the Linda Craft Team difference?  Click on over to www.LindaCraft.com. and Enhance Your Audiobook Experience with Zoundy! If you're an author or narrator looking to produce high-quality audiobooks with ease, Zoundy is the ultimate tool you need. Designed specifically for audiobook creation, Zoundy delivers crystal-clear sound, seamless editing capabilities, and professional-grade production tools—all in one intuitive platform. Whether you're recording your own book or refining your narration, Zoundy ensures every word is heard with perfection. And here's the best part: As a listener of A New Direction, you get an exclusive deal! Head over to zoundy.com/jay and use the code JAY25 at checkout to unlock special savings on your audiobook production. Don't settle for anything less than studio-quality sound—power up your audiobook journey today with Zoundy! There are No Business Problems… Only Personal Problems that Infect Your Business Most Consultants Fix the Spreadsheet. I Fix the Human Who Broke It. If you are running a company of $10M+, you don't need more strategy. You have plenty of strategy. You don't need more “motivation.” You have plenty of drive. So why are you stuck? Why is the profit margin slipping? Why does everything feel like it relies on you? Here is the uncomfortable truth: The bottleneck isn’t the market. It isn’t the product. It's the psychology. And that is exactly why you hire me. 1. I Go Where Others Won't Most business coaches will look at your P&L and tell you to cut costs. I look at your leadership team and tell you to cut the behavior. Whether you are navigating a high-conflict divorce, suffering from “Founder's Ego,” or paralyzed by indecision—I don’t shy away from the personal chaos. I build a blast shield around your business so the personal storm doesn’t sink the ship. 2. I Don't “Guess”—I “Profile” I am a Behavioral Strategist. I don’t operate on gut feeling. I use deep behavioral diagnostics to see exactly why your team is failing. Example: I recently found a “COO” hiding inside a client’s Marketing Department. We didn’t hire an expensive executive; we just realigned an existing employee based on her psychological profile. Result: 100% execution rate. 3. I Turn “Mindset” into “Millions” “Psychology” sounds soft until you see the math. I recently worked with a Founder who was psychologically attached to a “global footprint”—expensive offices and servers he didn’t need. The “business” advice was ignored. It took a Behavioral Intervention to break that attachment. The result? We saved $3 Million annually and brought investors back to the table. The Bottom Line: There are no business problems. There are only personal problems that infect your business. If you want a cheerleader, hire a coach. If you want to unlock the millions trapped behind human friction, hire a Strategist. Check out my case study on LinkedIn Hey book lovers!  Would you rather read or listen to a book?  Well, here is your chance to listen to books and a FREE 30-day trial. Now you can get your FREE 30-day trial and other discounts by using going to www.audibletrial.com/AND

What if customer experience stopped living in customer service and started living in the core of your business? We tackle a listener's challenge and turn it into a practical playbook: define a shared mindset, build a success blueprint tied to revenue and cost, and practice the daily discipline that makes change stick. Along the way, we share the one-line definition leaders can use to rally teams: customer experience is the system we build to deliver on the promises we make.We start by stripping away the fuzziness around CX. Instead of ten different definitions across the company, we push you to craft a clear CX mission statement that guides choices in sales, product, marketing, operations, and HR. From there, we elevate CX from reactive troubleshooting to proactive design—fixing upstream processes that create downstream tickets, refunds, and churn. The message to skeptics is grounded and simple: fewer service issues, lower cost-to-serve, stronger retention, and more referrals.Then we map CX to executive priorities with a customer experience success blueprint. We talk through how to align with the CFO's bottom line, show the CMO how advocacy can lower paid media spend, and help product and operations choose fixes that move the needle. You'll hear how to translate friction into financial levers, set a tight measurement set that includes outcome, perception, and behavior metrics, and build governance that runs like any other business function. Finally, we offer storytelling tips to earn buy-in, celebrate small wins, and keep momentum through the long, non–light switch journey of change.If this resonates, share it with a colleague who still thinks CX is a department. Subscribe for more practical plays, leave a quick review to help others find the show, and send us your questions—your challenges fuel the next conversation.Resources Mentioned:Order your copy of Experience Is Everything -- experienceiseverythingbook.comExperience Investigators Website -- experienceinvestigators.comWant to ask a question? Visit askjeannie.vip to leave Jeannie a voicemail! (And don't forget to follow Jeannie on LinkedIn! www.linkedin.com/in/jeanniewalters/)

The most dangerous number in customer experience isn't low—it's shiny. In this CX Pulse Check, we unpack why a single score can seduce teams into storytelling that investors love and customers don't feel, and we make a case for the harder, more honest work of proving value creation by cohort, not by kudos. With Rob Markey of Bain & Company and Harvard Business School, we discuss whether customer metrics predict growth or distract from it, and we separate real loyalty from repeat purchase.We go straight at the NPS debate: what the score can predict, where it fails, and how it becomes powerful only as part of a system that links feedback to actions that change renewal, cross-sell, referrals, and cost-to-serve. We talk airlines, captive markets, and the language games behind “loyalty” programs that purchase repetition without building emotional commitment. Then we get practical. You'll hear a little about how to read interaction telemetry for risk signals, and build models that translate service performance—wait times, abandon rates, repeat contacts—into forward revenue forecasts your CFO will respect.This is a great listen for leaders who want both heart and proof: real-time feedback to understand emotion and expectation shifts, behavioral data to see what customers actually do, and investor-ready visuals like tenure curves and revenue per customer by acquisition year. If you've ever wondered how to tell a CX story that earns budget because it earns returns, tune in to this conversation.If this resonates, follow the show, share it with your team, and leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Then send in a question you want us to tackle next at askJeannie.vip.About Rob MarkeyAdvisory Partner, Bain & CompanySenior Lecturer, Harvard Business SchoolRob Markey (https://robmarkey.com) is a Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School and an advisory partner at Bain & Company. The creator of the Net Promoter System, he has spent more than three decades helping companies grow by earning customer loyalty and increasing the value of their customer relationships. He teaches Managing Service Operations in the MBA program at HBS and hosts the Customer Confidential podcast, where he speaks with leaders building customer-centric businesses.He is the co-author of The Ultimate Question 2.0 and a leading voice in the movement toward Customer Capitalism.Follow Rob on...LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robmarkey/Articles Mentioned:- The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI): Quarter 3, 2025 - A Threat Potentially More Damaging Than the Great Recession (American Customer Satisfaction Index) -- https://theacsi.org/news-and-resources/press-releases/2025/11/13/press-release-national-acsi-q3-2025/- CoStar (CSGP) Q3 2025 Earnings Call Transcript (The Motley Fool) -- https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2025/10/28/costar-csgp-q3-2025-earnings-call-transcript/Want to ask a question? Visit askjeannie.vip to leave Jeannie a voicemail! (And don't forget to follow Jeannie on LinkedIn! www.linkedin.com/in/jeanniewalters/)

BONUS: Flawless Execution — Translating Fighter Pilot Precision to Business Results In this powerful conversation, former fighter pilot Christian "Boo" Boucousis reveals how military precision translates into agile business leadership. We explore the FLEX model (Plan-Brief-Execute-Debrief), the critical difference between control-based and awareness-based leadership, and why most organizations fail to truly embrace iterative thinking. From Cockpit to Boardroom: An Unexpected Journey "I learned over time that it doesn't matter what you do if you're always curious, and you're always intentional, and you're always asking questions." — Christian "Boo" Boucousis   Christian's path from fighter pilot to leadership consultant wasn't planned—it was driven by necessity and curiosity. After 11 years as a fighter pilot (7 in Australia, 4 in the UK), an autoimmune condition ended his flying career at age 30. Rather than accepting a comfy job flying politicians around, he chose entrepreneurship. He moved to Afghanistan with a friend and built a reconstruction company that grew to a quarter billion dollars in four years. The secret? The debrief skills he learned as a fighter pilot. By constantly asking "What are you trying to achieve? How's it going? Why is there a gap?" he approached business with an agile mindset before he even knew what agile was. This curiosity-driven, question-focused approach became the foundation for everything that followed. The FLEX Model: Plan-Brief-Execute-Debrief "Agile and scrum were co-created by John Sutherland, who was a fighter pilot, and its origins sit in the OODA loop and iteration. Which is why it's a circle." — Christian "Boo" Boucousis   The FLEX model isn't new—fighter pilots have used this Plan-Brief-Execute-Debrief cycle for 60 years. It's the ultimate simple agile model, designed to help teams accelerate toward goals using the same accelerated learning curve the Air Force uses to train fighter pilots. The key insight: everything in this model is iterative, not linear. Every mission has a start, middle, and end, and every stage involves constant adaptation. Afterburner (the company Christian now leads as CEO) has worked with nearly 3,800 companies and 2.8 million people over 30 years, teaching this model. What's fascinating is that the DNA of agile is baked into fighter pilot thinking—John Sutherland, co-creator of Scrum, wrote the foreword for Christian's book "The Afterburner Advantage" because they share the same roots in the OODA loop and iterative thinking. Why Iterative Thinking Doesn't Come Naturally "Iterative thinking is not a natural human model. Most of the time we learn from mistakes. We don't learn as a habit." — Christian "Boo" Boucousis   Here's the hard truth: agile as a way of working is very different from the way human beings naturally think. Business leadership models still hark back to Frederick Winslow Taylor's 1911 book on scientific management—industrial era leadership designed for building buildings, not creating software. Time is always linear (foundation, then structure, then finishing), and this shapes how we think about planning. Humans also tend to organize like villages with chiefs, warriors, and gatherers—hierarchical and political. Fighter pilots created a parallel system where politics exist outside missions, but during execution, personality clashes can't interfere. The challenge for business isn't the method—it's getting human minds to embrace iteration as a habit, not just a process they follow when forced. Planning: Building Collective Consciousness, Not Task Lists "Planning isn't all about sequencing actions—that's not planning. That's the byproduct of planning, which is collectively agreeing what good looks like at the end." — Christian "Boo" Boucousis   Most people plan in their head or in front of a spreadsheet by themselves. That's not planning—that's collecting thoughts. Real planning means bringing everyone on the team together to build collective consciousness about what's possible. The plan is always "the best idea based on what we know now." Once airborne, everything changes because the enemy doesn't cooperate with your plan. Planning is about the destination, not the work to get there. Think about airline pilots: they don't tell you about traffic delays on their commute or maintenance issues. They say "Welcome aboard, our destination is Amsterdam, there's weather on the way, we'll land 5 minutes early." That's a brief—just the effect on you based on all their work. Most business meetings waste 55 minutes on backstory and 5 minutes deciding to have another meeting. Fighter pilots focus entirely on: What are we trying to achieve? What might get in the way? Let's go. Briefing: The 25-Minute Focus Window "You need 25 minutes of focus before your brain really focuses on the task. You program your brain for the mission at hand." — Christian "Boo" Boucousis   The brief is the moment between planning and execution when the plan is as accurate as it'll ever get. It's called "brief" for a reason—it's really short. The team checks that everyone understands the plan in today's context, accounting for last-minute changes (broken equipment, weather, personnel changes). Then comes the critical part: creating the mission bubble. From the brief until mission end, there are no distractions, no notifications. If someone tries to interrupt a fighter pilot walking to the jet, the response is clear: "I'm in my mission bubble. No distractions." This isn't optional—research shows it takes 25 minutes of uninterrupted focus before your brain truly locks onto a task. Yet most business leaders expect constant availability, with notifications pinging every few minutes. If you need everyone to have notifications on to run your business, you're doing a really bad job at planning. Execution: Awareness-Based Leadership vs. Control-Based Leadership "The reason we have so many meetings is because the leader is trying to control the situation and own all the awareness. It's not humanly possible to do that." — Christian "Boo" Boucousis   During execution, fighter pilots fly the plan until it doesn't work anymore—then they adapt. A mission commander might lead 70 airplanes, but can't possibly track all 69 others. Instead, they create "gates"—checkpoints where everyone confirms they're in the right place within 10 seconds. They plan for chaos, creating awareness points where the team is generally on track or not. The key shift: from control-based leadership (the leader tries to control everything) to awareness-based leadership (the leader facilitates and listens for divergences). This includes "subordinated leadership"—any of the four pilots in a formation can take the lead if they have better awareness. If a wingman calls out a threat the leader doesn't see, the immediate response is "Press! You take the lead." This works because they planned for it and have criteria. Business teams profess to want this kind of agile collaboration, but struggle because they haven't invested in the planning and shared understanding that makes fluid leadership transitions possible. Abort Criteria: Knowing When to Stop "We have this concept called abort criteria. If certain criteria are hit, we abort the mission. I think that's a massive opportunity for business." — Christian "Boo" Boucousis   There are degrees of things going wrong: a little bit, a medium amount, and everything going wrong. When everything's going wrong, fighter pilots stop and turn around—they don't keep pressing a bad situation. This "abort criteria" concept is massively underutilized in business. Too often, teams press bad situations, transparency disappears, people stop talking, and everyone goes into survival mode (protect myself, blame others). This never happens with fighter pilots. If something goes wrong, they take accountability and make the best decision. The most potent team size is four people: a leader, deputy leader, and two wingmen. This small team size with clear roles and shared abort criteria creates psychological safety to call out problems and adapt quickly. The Retrospective Mindset: Not Just a Ritual "A retrospective isn't a ritual. It's actually a way of thinking. It's a cognitive model. If you approached everything as a retrospective—what are we trying to achieve? How's it going? Why is it not going where we want? What's the one action to get back on track?" — Christian "Boo" Boucousis   The debrief—the retrospective—is the most important part of fighter pilot culture translated into agile. It's not just a meeting you have at the end of a sprint. It's a mindset you apply to everything: projects, relationships, personal development. Christian introduces "Flawless Leadership" built on three M's: Method (agile practices), Mindset (growth mindset developed through acting iteratively), and Moments (understanding when to show up as a people leader vs. an impact leader). The biggest mistake in technology: teams do retrospectives internally but don't include the business. They get a brief from the business, build for two months, come back, and the business says "What is this? This isn't what I expected." If they'd had the business in every scrum, every iteration, trust would build naturally. Everyone involved in the mission must be part of the planning, briefing, executing, and debriefing. Leading in the Moment: Three Layers of Leadership "Your job as a scrum master, as a leader—it doesn't matter if you're leading a division of people—is to be aware. And you're only going to be aware by listening." — Christian "Boo" Boucousis   Christian breaks leadership into three layers: People Leadership (political, emotional, dealing with personalities and overwhelm), Impact Leadership (the agile layer, results-driven, scientific), and Leading Now (the reactive, amygdala-driven panic response when things go wrong). The mistake: mixing these layers. Don't try to be a people leader during execution—that's not the time. But if you're really good at impact leadership (planning, breaking epics into stories, getting work done), you become high trust and high credibility. People leadership becomes easier because success eliminates excuses. During execution, watch for individual traits and blind spots. Use one-on-ones with a retrospective mindset: "What does good look like for you? How do we get to where you're not frustrated?" When leaders aren't present—checking phones and watches during meetings—they lose people. Your job as a leader is to turn your ears on, facilitate (not direct), and listen for divergences others don't see. The Technology-Business Disconnect "Every time you're having a scrum, every time you're coming together to talk about the product, just have the business there with you. It's easy." — Christian "Boo" Boucousis   One of the biggest packages of work Afterburner does: technology teams ask them to help build trust with the business. The solution is shockingly simple—include the business in every scrum, every planning session, every retrospective. Agile is a tech-driven approach, creating a disconnect. Technology brings overwhelming information about how hard they're working and problems they've solved, but business doesn't care about the past. They care about the future: what are you delivering and when? During the Gulf War, the military scaled this fighter pilot model to large-scale planning. Fighter pilots work with marines, special forces, navy, CIA agents—everyone is part of the plan. If one person is missing from planning, execution falls apart. If someone on the ground doesn't know how an F-18 works, the jet is just expensive decoration. Planning is about learning what everyone else does and how to support them best—not announcing what you'll do and how you'll do it. High-Definition Destinations: Beyond Goals "Planning is all about the destination, not the work to get there. Think about when you hop on an airplane—the pilot doesn't tell you the whole backstory. They say 'Welcome aboard, our destination is Amsterdam, there's weather on the way, we'll land 5 minutes early.' All you want is the effect on you." — Christian "Boo" Boucousis   Christian uses the term "High-Definition Destinations" rather than goals. The difference is clarity and vividness. When you board a plane, you don't get the pilot's commute story or maintenance details—you get the destination, obstacles, and estimated arrival. That's communication focused on effect, not process. Most business communication does the opposite: overwhelming context, backstory, and detail, with the destination buried somewhere in the middle. The brief should always be: Here's where we're going. Here's what might get in the way. Let's go. This communication style—focused on outcomes and effects rather than processes and problems—transforms how teams align and execute. It eliminates the noise and centers everyone on what actually matters: the destination.   About Christian "Boo" Boucousis   Christian "Boo" Boucousis is a former fighter pilot who now helps leaders navigate today's fast-moving world. As CEO of Afterburner and author of The Afterburner Advantage, he shares practical, people-centered tools for turning chaos into clarity, building trust, and delivering results without burning out.   You can link with Christian "Boo" Boucousis on LinkedIn, visit Afterburner.com, check out his personal site at CallMeBoo.com, or interact with his AI tool at AIBoo.com.  

The customer journey guides the lifetime value of our most important audiences, yet how do we ensure that we are planning, mapping, managing, and optimizing these journeys effectively?Agility requires a deep understanding of your customer's journey and the ability to adapt your strategies and tactics in real-time. It also demands a willingness to experiment, learn, and iterate quickly, embracing change as an opportunity rather than a threat.Today, we're going to talk about the exciting new Institute for Journey Management and how it's helping businesses unlock the power of customer-centricity in a complex and ever-changing world. To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome, Mark Smith and Raymond Gerber from the Institute for Journey Management. About Mark Smith and Raymond Gerber Raymond GerberRaymond Gerber is Co-Founder of the Institute for Journey Management (I4JM) and Founder of JourneyCentric-CX, where he helps enterprises operationalize customer journeys to drive measurable value. With over 25 years of experience, including leadership roles at Qualtrics, Thunderhead (acquired by Medallia), Pegasystems, and Chordiant, Raymond has been at the forefront of journey orchestration, analytics, and AI-driven engagement. He holds 5 patents in journey analytics and customer experience innovation and has guided multiple SaaS organizations through successful acquisitions.Mark SmithMark Smith is Co-Founder of the Institute for Journey Management (I4JM) and Founder of Journey-Smiths, a boutique consultancy helping companies drive value from journey technology.  Mark has over 30 years of experience in customer analytics and engagement, including leadership roles at Kitewheel, CSG, Portrait Software and Quadstone - guiding a series of software start-ups to over $100M in exits.   He has steered customer analytic products to recognized market leadership positions since the late 1990s, and became a pioneer in the new domains of journey analytics and orchestration in 2013.   By training Mark is a statistician, with a PhD from the early days of AI and distributed computing.  However he fights against the statistician stereotype and has focused on customer and market alignment for products throughout his career.The Institute for Journey Management is a new industry association with a mission to unite journey management ecosystem members. It brings together business leaders, practitioners, implementers and vendors in a collaborative, non-profit initiative to develop shared knowledge of the business benefits possible from journey management.  Resources Institute for Journey Management: https://www.i4jm.org/ This episode is brought to you by Kinetic Data. Self-service without compromise. Build powerful self-service experiences across your entire organization without sacrificing speed, flexibility, security, or control. https://kineticdata.com/ Register now for Sitecore Symposium, November 3-5 in Orlando Florida. Use code SYM25-2Media10 to receive 10% off. Go here for more: https://symposium.sitecore.com/Don't Miss MAICON 2025, October 14-16 in Cleveland - the event bringing together the brights minds and leading voices in AI. Use Code AGILE150 for $150 off registration. Go here to register: https://bit.ly/agile150 Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstromDon't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://www.theagilebrand.showCheck out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The customer journey guides the lifetime value of our most important audiences, yet how do we ensure that we are planning, mapping, managing, and optimizing these journeys effectively? Agility requires a deep understanding of your customer's journey and the ability to adapt your strategies and tactics in real-time. It also demands a willingness to experiment, learn, and iterate quickly, embracing change as an opportunity rather than a threat. Today, we're going to talk about the exciting new Institute for Journey Management and how it's helping businesses unlock the power of customer-centricity in a complex and ever-changing world. To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome, Mark Smith and Raymond Gerber from the Institute for Journey Management. About Mark Smith and Raymond Gerber Raymond GerberRaymond Gerber is Co-Founder of the Institute for Journey Management (I4JM) and Founder of JourneyCentric-CX, where he helps enterprises operationalize customer journeys to drive measurable value. With over 25 years of experience, including leadership roles at Qualtrics, Thunderhead (acquired by Medallia), Pegasystems, and Chordiant, Raymond has been at the forefront of journey orchestration, analytics, and AI-driven engagement. He holds 5 patents in journey analytics and customer experience innovation and has guided multiple SaaS organizations through successful acquisitions.Mark SmithMark Smith is Co-Founder of the Institute for Journey Management (I4JM) and Founder of Journey-Smiths, a boutique consultancy helping companies drive value from journey technology.  Mark has over 30 years of experience in customer analytics and engagement, including leadership roles at Kitewheel, CSG, Portrait Software and Quadstone - guiding a series of software start-ups to over $100M in exits.   He has steered customer analytic products to recognized market leadership positions since the late 1990s, and became a pioneer in the new domains of journey analytics and orchestration in 2013.   By training Mark is a statistician, with a PhD from the early days of AI and distributed computing.  However he fights against the statistician stereotype and has focused on customer and market alignment for products throughout his career.The Institute for Journey Management is a new industry association with a mission to unite journey management ecosystem members. It brings together business leaders, practitioners, implementers and vendors in a collaborative, non-profit initiative to develop shared knowledge of the business benefits possible from journey management.  Resources Institute for Journey Management: https://www.i4jm.org/ This episode is brought to you by Kinetic Data. Self-service without compromise. Build powerful self-service experiences across your entire organization without sacrificing speed, flexibility, security, or control. https://kineticdata.com/ Register now for Sitecore Symposium, November 3-5 in Orlando Florida. Use code SYM25-2Media10 to receive 10% off. Go here for more: https://symposium.sitecore.com/Don't Miss MAICON 2025, October 14-16 in Cleveland - the event bringing together the brights minds and leading voices in AI. Use Code AGILE150 for $150 off registration. Go here to register: https://bit.ly/agile150 Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstromDon't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://www.theagilebrand.showCheck out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company

Annie Trombatore, Chief People Officer at Vox Media, discusses the evolving role of HR, the impact of AI on people operations, and the importance of effective internal communications. She emphasizes the need for HR to align closely with business goals, adopt an AI mindset, and empower managers to lead authentically. 

The power of empathy for organizational success is not just proven in all the data. Neuroscience backs up our human need to connect and form relationships. But why does empathic communication lead to better business results, improved wellness, decreased burnout, and better workforce retention? We explore that today with Dr. Helen Riess. Persuaded by the belief that empathy can transform healthcare, Dr. Riess founded Empathetics to meet medicine's most pressing challenges. We talk about whether empathy can be taught or if it's an inborn trait, the evidence for how empathy improves measurable outcomes, and what shifts we need to make to more fully bring empathy into work. Dr. Riess shares how the brain works on empathy and how it looks different for different people of all abilities. Finally, we discuss the importance of getting people into the right seat to lead with empathy and why self-regulation skills are critical to leadership success.To access the episode transcript, please scroll down below.Listen and discover:Why empathy is a key survival trait of the human species.Effective shifts to bring more personal compassion, kindness, and empathy to the workplace.The best ways to start your day for effective, empathetic leadership.Advice for dealing with people at different stages and levels of empathy.Why practicing empathy at work spills over into other aspects of your life. "Neuroscience shows that when the brain is at rest, we're not doing nothing. The default mode is all about working out relationships. It just shows how critical human relationship and connectedness really is." — Dr. Helen RiessFrom Our Partner:SparkEffect partners with organizations to unlock the full potential of their greatest asset: their people. Through their tailored assessments and expert coaching at every level, SparkEffect helps organizations manage change, sustain growth, and chart a path to a brighter future.Go to sparkeffect.com/edge now and download your complimentary Professional and Organizational Alignment Review today.About Dr. Helen Riess, Founder and Chief Medical Officer, EmpatheticsDr. Helen Riess, a psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital and an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, is renowned for her groundbreaking research into the neurobiology of empathy. Dr. Riess has shown that empathy can be taught and learned. Her work has reshaped how healthcare professionals connect with patients and colleagues, fostering trust and greater patient and clinician satisfaction. Her award-winning research has been published in leading peer-reviewed journals.Persuaded by the belief that empathy can transform healthcare, Dr. Riess founded Empathetics to meet medicine's most pressing challenges. As Chief Medical Officer, she translates her research into programs that help healthcare teams navigate the communication demands of modern practice. Her empathy training programs improve wellness, reduce burnout and employee turnover, and improve workforce cultures.Her best-selling book, The Empathy Effect, has resonated globally. Her TEDx talk, “The Power of Empathy,” has nearly one million views. A Founding Member of Newsweek's Expert Forum, Dr. Riess continues to champion the transformative power of empathy to improve healthcare for everyone.Connect with Helen: Empathetics, Inc: empathetics.comInstagram: instagram.com/helen.riessLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/helen-riessTEDx: The Power of EmpathyBook: The Empathy Effect: empathetics.com/empathy-effect-bookConnect with Maria:Get Maria's books on empathy: Red-Slice.com/booksLearn more about Maria's work: Red-Slice.comHire Maria to speak: Red-Slice.com/Speaker-Maria-RossTake the LinkedIn Learning Course! Leading with EmpathyLinkedIn: Maria RossInstagram: @redslicemariaFacebook: Red SliceThreads: @redslicemaria

You're probably opening a fresh chat in ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini—and that might be sabotaging your productivity.Randomly starting conversations with no plan wastes time, fragments context, and lowers the quality of what you get from LLMs.Learn the essentials of Gemini Gem, GPTs, and Projects—how they differ, when to use each, and how to structure prompts and workflows so AI actually speeds you up instead of slowing you down.Newsletter: Sign up for our free daily newsletterMore on this Episode: Episode PageJoin the discussion: Thoughts on this? Join the convo and connect with other AI leaders on LinkedIn.Upcoming Episodes: Check out the upcoming Everyday AI Livestream lineupWebsite: YourEverydayAI.comEmail The Show: info@youreverydayai.comConnect with Jordan on LinkedInTopics Covered in This Episode:Harnessing Custom GPTs for EfficiencyGoogle Gems vs. Custom GPTs ReviewChatGPT Projects: Features & UpdatesClaude Projects Integration & BenefitsEffective AI Chatbot Usage TechniquesLeveraging AI for Business GrowthDeep Research in ChatGPT ProjectsGoogle Apps Integration in GemsTimestamps:00:00 AI Chatbot Efficiency Tips04:12 "Putting AI to Work Wednesdays"08:39 "Optimizing ChatGPT Usage"11:28 Similar Functions, Different Categories15:41 Beyond Basic Folder Structures16:25 ChatGPT Project Update22:01 Email Archive and Albacross Software24:34 Optimize AI with Contextual Data27:49 "Improving Process Through Meta Analysis"30:53 Data File Access Issue33:27 File Handling Bug in New GPT36:12 Continuous Improvement Encouragement41:16 AI Selection Tool Website43:34 Google Ecosystem AI Assistant45:46 "Optimize AI Usage for Projects"Keywords:Custom GPTs, Google's gems, Claude's projects, OpenAI ChatGPT, AI chatbots, Large Language Models, AI systems, Google Workspace, productivity tools, GPT-3.5, GPT-4, AI updates, API actions, reasoning models, ChatGPT projects, AI assistant, file uploads, project management, AI integrations, Google Calendar, Gmail, Google Drive, context window, AI usage, AI-powered insights, Gemini 2.5 pro, Claude Opus, Claude Sonnet, AI consultation, ChatGPT Canvas, Claude artifacts, generative AI, AI strategy partner, AI brainstorming partner.Send Everyday AI and Jordan a text message. (We can't reply back unless you leave contact info) Ready for ROI on GenAI? Go to youreverydayai.com/partner