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We don't sugarcoat eternity… We expose it. We don't tiptoe around the stakes… We name them: heaven or hell, life or death, victory or regret.We don't bow to comfort, compromise, or cancel culture… We charge into the fire, because Christ is King and the boardroom belongs to Him.Welcome to episode 167 of the C-Suite for Christ podcast, where Paul M. Neuberger pulls zero punches. Today's rally cry is clear: eternity hangs in the balance, and the road is narrow—few will walk it, but only the faithful survive it.Paul M. Neuberger confronts the culture head-on: “Salvation is free, but following Jesus will cost you everything.” He dismantles easy Christianity, exposes lukewarm faith, and calls out a church obsessed with comfort instead of conviction.The cost? Criticism. Rejection. Sacrifice.The truth? Jesus didn't call us to a wide, easy road. He called us to full surrender. The world applauds the crowd—God crowns the courageous.What will you do when YOUR narrow road comes calling?Are you ready to deny yourself, take up your cross, and walk where few dare to go?Buckle up. This one's raw, real, and rooted in the Word.Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. –Matthew 7:13-14 Episode Highlights:04:56 – Culture says the narrow road is judgmental. Culture says the narrow road is old fashioned. Culture says the narrow road is intolerant. Culture says the narrow road is hateful. Culture believes every road leads to heaven unless you believe that one road doesn't. But Jesus didn't say the road is narrow because he wanted to exclude people. The road is narrow because truth is narrow. The road is narrow because holiness is narrow. The road is narrow because obedience is narrow. The road is narrow because sin can't travel with you. The road is narrow because your will must die on that road. The road is narrow because Christ is the only way. And only has never been a popular word. Today, the wide road dominates American Christianity. It's in prosperity preaching, it's an entertainment preaching. It's in the God wants you be happy movement. 13:27 – The narrow road is narrow because Christ is the gate and Christ is not optional. The narrow road is also marked by fruit. Jesus said this in Matthew 7:20, by their fruits you will know them. That means the narrow road produces visible evidence, repentance, righteousness, compassion, purity, generosity, faithfulness, boldness, courage and obedience. And perhaps the clearest marker of the narrow road is this. It changes you. Not your personality, your identity, not your preferences, your priorities, not your feelings, your foundation. The Narrow road is not something you admire, it's something you walk. And those who walk it are unmistakably different from the world. Not because they're better than anyone else, but because Christ has made them new. 29:59 – You can't stay on the narrow road accidentally. You can't stay on the narrow road passively. You can't stay on the narrow road on spiritual autopilot. You stay on it intentionally or you drift off of it inevitably. So how does the disciple stay anchored? If you like lists, boy, you love this episode because here's another one for you. How do you stay anchored on the narrow road?Connect with Paul M. NeubergerWebsite
Ambition can be a powerful force—but when myths and missteps fuel it, the climb to the top can feel more like a trap than a triumph. In this episode, we pull back the curtain on executive leadership and ask: What's really behind the chase for the title? - Why would anyone actively pursue C-Suite roles? - What are the wrong reasons to chase the C-suite—and how can you spot them before they derail your path? - What did we think mattered in landing the role, only to discover it didn't? - And when the pressure peaks, have we ever considered walking away? What made us stay? This episode hooks aspiring leaders early with honest reflections and hard-earned wisdom. If you've ever wondered whether the title is worth the trade-offs, this conversation is for you.
Success is in the eyes of the beholder. For projects, that means winning over the top decision makers in the C-suite. How can project management office leaders best share project progress with executives? How can you better engage the C-suite to manage their POVs? We discuss this with Douglas Pulini, PMP, PMI-PMOCP, head of the strategic management office at SPC Brasil in São Paulo, and Stephan Wohlfahrt, PMI-ACP, DAVSC, PMP, head of the project management office at Bosch Mobility in Stuttgart, Germany. Key themes00:56 The C-suite's role in project success02:33 How PMO leaders decide what information to share with executives05:24 Ways to engage executives to benefit project success10:26 Choosing how to best present project updates to the C-suite14:28 Must-have skills for PMO leaders to effectively manage stakeholder perceptions
What if chasing “having it all” is exactly what's making you miserable?In this episode, Bill challenges what “having it all” means and explores what actually creates sustainable happiness for high-performing leaders. He shares moments from when he had money, success, and recognition, but still felt empty, and explains why joy often comes from subtraction of things. Topics explored in this episode:(03:40) Success Without Joy Is Emptiness*Bill reflects on hitting financial and professional milestones; yet still feeling a strange emptiness. *Challenge the belief that: achievement = happiness. *External wins don't always translate to internal satisfaction.(07:15) Why the Gratitude Advice Doesn't Always Work*Break “Thanksgiving” into two core practices: Thanks (appreciation) and Giving (generosity).*Start with gratitude for team members, family, and yourself.*Let go of expectations, and express that through generous action.(10:50) The Secret Might Be: Wanting Less*True happiness often comes from removing things, not adding more. *Reconsider the idea of “having it all.” *Creating fewer goals for yourself actually might be the real key to fulfillment.Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the Scaling Up Business podcast, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth. Join Bill in the Growth Navigator Coaching Program: https://ScalingCoach.com/workshop Bill on LinkedIn: https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/BillGallBill on YouTube: https://www.YouTube.com/@BillGallagherScalingCoach Visit https://ScalingUp.com to learn more about Verne Harnish, our team of Scaling Up Coaches, and the Scaling Up Performance Platform, which includes coaching, learning, software, and summit. We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail. We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around people, strategy, execution, and cash so that they can scale up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Did you enjoy today's episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover Scaling Up Business with Bill Gallagher so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.Subscribe via Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3PGhWPJSubscribe via Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3PKe00uBill on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/billgall/ Bill on Twitter/X: https://x.com/billgall
AI Unraveled: Latest AI News & Trends, Master GPT, Gemini, Generative AI, LLMs, Prompting, GPT Store
Welcome to AI Unraveled (December 03rd, 2025): Your daily strategic briefing on the business impact of AI.Strategic Pillars & Topics
Scrappy ABM brings together host Mason Cosby and Yadin Porter de León, Director of Customer Stories and thought leadership over at Heroku, which is a part of Salesforce, to talk about going straight to the top of your target accounts without getting blacklisted.ㅤInstead of getting stuck in email blasts and third-party events that promise “rubbing elbows” with executives, Yadin shares a high-level framework that starts small with relationships your own C-suite already has, then builds proof points through web stories, webinars, podcasts, and thought leadership videos. The conversation walks through going top down from your CEO and bottoms up from directors and senior managers, doing the hard “eat your vegetables” work of segmentation, and mapping LinkedIn so you make it easy for leaders to say yes.ㅤThrough stories from Angel Med Flight, JetBlue, GE Healthcare, NASA Jet Propulsion Labs, Wells Fargo, Michael Dell, and a seven-figure deal, Mason and Yadin show how time and trust, podcasts, and truly helping individuals with their own goals can turn a focused ABM program into a powerful path to the C-suite.ㅤ
Welcome to another edition of This Week in Work, where Chartered Occupational Psychologist Leanne Elliott and business owner Al Elliott break down the latest news on people, culture, and behavioral science. This week, we look at the direct, measurable impact of toxic culture and unpack the new anxieties surrounding Artificial Intelligence. Plus, in our Truth or Lies segment, we dive deep into the science behind 'faking it 'til you make it'.
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Stop making million-dollar decisions alone. Hampton gives you a personal board of eight vetted founders in your city who meet monthly to tackle your hardest problems. Find your group: joinhampton.comEveryone wants to know what founders really earn, but most of the numbers out there are either outdated or just plain wrong. We gathered fresh data from 150+ high-performing founders, and the results reveal just how differently they think about paying themselves. Some take home millions, others nothing at all, and the logic behind those decisions says more than the numbers themselves.Here's what we talk about:8% of founders take no salary at all — why? (and whether they'd do it again)The sweet spot for founder take-home pay: how much is too much?C-Suite compensation breakdown: who's earning what, and where bonuses explodeLifestyle vs. legacy: how founders think about cash flow vs. long-term exitsIndustry winners: finance, pets, and healthcare dominate earningsThe one funding stage where founders earn the leastNon-salary perks: credit card hacks, expense runs, 401(k) tricks, and company-backed loansA rare peek into the creative (and sometimes questionable) ways founders make it worth their whileCool Links:Hampton https://www.joinhampton.com/Lower Street https://www.lowerstreet.co/Sponsors:Get a team of AI agents that run compliance for you at delve.co/moneywiseAchieve your dream body with dailybodycoach.com/moneywiseTame your taxes today at https://olarry.com/Chapters:(1:37) Base Salaries(3:14) Founders Who Pay Themselves Nothing(3:56) Salary Distribution and High Earners(4:34) Additional Payouts and Bonuses(5:11) Two Types of Founders: Reinvesting or Cashflow(6:14) Take Home Pay by Net Worth(7:18) C-Suite Salaries and Bonuses(8:43) Industry Salary Breakdown(9:24) Highest and Lowest Paying Industries(10:03) Compensation by Funding Stage(10:52) Creative Compensation StrategiesThis podcast is a ridiculous concept: high-net-worth people reveal their personal finances. Inspired by real conversations happening in the Hampton community.Your Host: Jackie LamportNot really the host, but the producer.Wrote this sentence.
How can we help recruiters advocate for us in a tough job market? According to people industry veteran Christy Honeycutt, our guest in episode 353, it starts with being kind and translating your experience into something a recruiter can understand. And even more importantly, it takes practice. In part 2 of our discussion with Christy, she translates deep experience in talent acquisition and recruitment that gives us insight into the current job market. You'll hear more details about the nuances of RPOs (recruitment process outsourcers), the difference between job hugging and job abandonment, and the importance of personal branding and differentiation. Stay until the end when Christy shares her reasons for turning down C-suite positions and how clarity on her long-term goals is carrying her forward into what's next. Now that you've heard someone model it for you, how will you translate your own experience? If you missed part 1 of our discussion with Christy, check out Episode 352 – People First: Systematizing Go-to-Market for Your Role with Christy Honeycutt (1/2). Original Recording Date: 09-30-2025 Topics – A Deeper Look at Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO), Translating Your Experience with 3 Wins, Bad Actors and Leadership in the People Industry, Today's Job Market and Life Outside the C-Suite 2:56 – A Deeper Look at Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) When it comes to RPO (recruitment process outsourcing), is this a one-size-fits-all approach, or does it show up differently depending on what a company needs? In Christy's experience, most RPO organizations offer services like executive search, but they may offer full RPO, which usually involves hiring more than 500 people per year. Normally an RPO brings a mix of skills to the table. A client may want the RPO to take only talent acquisition or may want to control offer management, but they may want the RPO to take everything (attracting new talent, offer management, coordinating with HR for new employee onboarding). “If a company wants it a certain way, they can stop it at a certain point…. But most RPOs, full RPOs, is attraction to offer accepted and then it tees over to the HR team.” – Christy Honeycutt John has worked for companies where the recruitment or talent acquisition personnel were marked as contractors in the internal global address book but had company e-mail addresses. Would this mean the personnel are contracting directly with a company or working through an RPO? Christy says it could be either scenario. When she managed an RPO earlier in her career, they were most successful when the client encouraged the RPO to brand as the company. Someone might indicate they do recruitment for a specific company on LinkedIn but be an employee of an RPO. Christy tells us how important it is for the RPO to understand an organization's mission, vision, benefits, and culture because the RPO is often attracting talent and selling people on why they should apply and interview. “When you think about recruitment and talent acquisition, regardless, it's a lot of marketing because you've got a really cool position and you've got to find the perfect fit.” – Christy Honeycutt 5:55 – Translating Your Experience with 3 Wins Right now, recruiters and talent acquisition professionals have a distinct challenge. Many resumes look the same because candidates are using AI tools. “What people think is helping set them apart is actually making them look more similar. So now you've got recruiters and talent acquisition; they don't know if these are fake resumes. They don't know if they're real. And they're getting on the call with these people and finding out they are fake; they don't have any of this requirement.” – Christy Honeycutt Christy shares a little secret about learning recruitment. She gives the example of a recruiter needing to recruit for an executive level role in technology. Recruiters are encouraged to seek out and find the C-players to practice asking them questions, understand nuance, and grasp the terminology. This is a training exercise. Following this process, a recruiter would then have more credibility once they speak to the A-players they actually want to hire. “What I would encourage is if you are a C-player, you're not going to know it. Just be kind and know that the person you're talking to has never held a technical role (probably, most likely)…and might not understand half the stuff that you guys do. The acronyms aren't going to be the same. Just be gracious with them because the more you can help them translate your experience, the better you're going to be positioned to get you over the line…. They don't want to talk to 10 people to get 1 hire. They want to talk to 3 people to get a hire…. And remember that the TA, HR, recruiters, whatever you want to call them…there's a pretty good chance that they want to help you and that they're doing the job because they like people. And I think they get a bad rap.” – Christy Honeycutt Christy tells us about something called a slate (a group of 3-5 individuals who apply for a job that a recruiter will go and interview). Recruiters are using AI to help filter through applications. “The biggest thing I can tell you is be your own person. Be your own, authentic person. Have your stories of how you've shown up and shown out…. I tell everybody for every job that you've worked at, you need to have 3 wins…. Figure out…your top things that you accomplished at each role and have that and be ready to speak to it. And then…ask questions. Interview them too…. Make sure it's a culture fit for you.” – Christy Honeycutt Christy says things like the great resignation and quiet quitting are just behaviors that get repeated over time. Right now, there is a fearful state of job hugging. “We're job hugging. No one is hugging a job. People are trying to stay employed in the market. That's all it is.” – Christy Honeycutt Christy says if you are staying somewhere because you have a job and are not happy, figure out how to make yourself happy by determining it is not a fit, understanding your passions, and beginning your exit plan. “Companies are not our families. They are going to let us go. It's going to come down to the business.” – Christy Honeycutt It's important to keep the human element in mind if we are seeking a new role (the human element on both sides). Christy tells the story of a senior recruiter who called her about a conversation with a job candidate, and Christy knew the person was burned out, bored, and curious. “High performers are always open minded and curious, but if you fall in that category, figure it out sooner than later so you're not burning yourself out because then you're in a very dangerous situation. That job hugging is going to be job abandonment. You're going to get to boot. It's not going to be the other way around. It's just kind of level setting with your psyche.” – Christy Honeycutt 11:28 – Bad Actors and Leadership in the People Industry Going back to recruiters getting practice and experience from interviewing candidates, Nick looks at this from the lens that everyone needs at bats to gain experience. Though it may be batting practice for a recruiter, it is also practice for the candidate. We don't practice interviewing very often. Christy agrees it is practice on both sides and emphasizes that kindness is key. She's had multiple conversations with recruiters who didn't understand why a hiring manager did not want a specific candidate. We might never know all the effort a recruiter put into promoting us with a hiring manager. Some recruiters, however, should not be in their roles. Christy tells us about a time in her career when she was referred to as “The Kraken.” Christy managed a tight team of talent acquisition professionals who respected and loved her as a boss. They knew she had high expectations of her team. Christy's team members would have to launch programs for global clients within 30-60 days sometimes, for example. “So, my team had to be kind of like special ops because we managed the globe, and it was high pressure.” – Christy Honeycutt As she progressed in her career, Christy would be given individuals who were not performing on other teams. Before managing someone out of the business, Christy always gave people a chance to redeem themselves because until she met the person and they worked for her, she was only hearing one side of the story. Christy recounts being asked to join an RPO to clean it up. She met with each recruiter to understand the key metrics and performance indicators. Christy tells us that for any job opening (or job requisition) a recruiter was carrying at this time, they should be submitting 3-5 candidates for each job, and a manager would expect this within 2 weeks of the job opening. There was a specific recruiter who only submitted 2 candidates per week across 15 job openings, and Christy recounts the performance conversation with this person. “There are some people that are in roles that they shouldn't be that take advantage and kind of sit back….” – Christy Honeycutt As people gain seniority in talent acquisition and recruitment, sometimes you deal with people's egos. This is the exception and not the rule. John mentions it would probably be difficult to coast based on one's reputation in talent acquisition. Based on the metrics for success and open job requisitions, it should be obvious who is doing well and who isn't. Christy says this goes back to leadership. Maybe these individuals never had a boss who would hold them accountable. “If we go back to managers and leaders, most of them aren't trained, and a lot of them want to be liked.” – Christy Honeycutt Christy is the daughter of a Marine. This means the mission gets accomplished no matter what with the fewest amount of casualties. It's her job as the leader of a team to keep them focused on the mission and accomplishing it. Removing someone from the team may be the best option to keep the rest of the team on track in accomplishing a mission. “You're only as strong as your weakest link, so if your weakest link is not holding themselves accountable and respecting their team, then they're putting everybody else's jobs at risk. And unfortunately, there are bad actors in every industry, in every role, in every organization…and we've all seen them. They are like cancer. They really hurt retention. They hurt elevation. They are usually the ones taking credit, taking too long at lunch, whatever the case may be…we've all seen them…. It all comes down to behaviors.” – Christy Honeycutt Christy thinks leaders want to be liked and are afraid of having a complaint filed against them. For example, people might file a complaint because they were not doing their job and their manager held them accountable for not doing it. “It's weird to be in the people industry for so long because it's just behaviors. It's just humans.” – Christy Honeycutt Before someone shows up for work, we have no idea what may be going on in their life outside work. Christy encourages us to meet one another with more grace. “Those of you out there, if you're lucky enough to have a job and be employed, do the job. Because there's a lot of people that don't that will come in and do a better job than you. Honor yourself, honor your employer, and show up. But unfortunately, there's bad actors.” – Christy Honeycutt John directs the conversation back to hiring cycles. He has heard it's beneficial to apply for a job opening quickly and to be in the first wave of candidates but didn't really think about the why behind it. Christy tells us this varies based on the position, the job requirements, location, salary, and other factors. In fact, recruiters often have to reset unrealistic expectations from hiring managers (i.e. what a specific role salary should be). “If you think about a client and them opening a position, they probably needed that position 30 days before it was ever approved. So, there's already a ticking time on the recruiter whether that's fair or not because in the manager's mind that role opened the second they thought they needed it. Not when they requested it, not when it got approved, but when they realized in their brain, ‘I need this position filled,' that's when the clock starts for them. So, it's an unfair disadvantage for a recruiter.” – Christy Honeycutt Listen to Christy's description of a best-in-class 4-week process from job opening to making the right candidate an offer. 20:45 – Today's Job Market and Life Outside the C-Suite If we look at this through the lens of the current job market, how much do recruiters need to sell candidates on roles when there are hundreds of applications to sort through for a single job opening? “Tech is like recruitment, like marketing. It's always the first to go…until they realize…it went, and we need it. So, it's a boomerang effect with those industries…always has been, always will be.” – Christy Honeycutt Christy tells the story of being at the HR Tech conference with a young lady who was recently laid off from a tech company. This person walked from booth to booth and began networking with people in search of new roles and was able to leverage Christy to get some introductions. She had 5 interviews over the course of the 3-day event. “In the job market today, with recruiters not able to tell if it's an AI resume or not, with them being overloaded with a vast amount of resumes…the best thing that anybody can do is make sure that your personal brand is on point. Make sure that whatever it is that you're doing…you're sharing, you're engaging your community, and that you're seen doing it.” – Christy Honeycutt Christy was part of the same tech startup mentioned above and also lost her job. But she had been working on her personal brand before that happened. Christy was speaking at events, sharing with her community, doing podcasts, and doing many go-to-market things on behalf of her employer. Christy's heart goes out to others in her field who have been out of work for multiple years. Within 3 days of losing her role, Christy was offered 3 different C-suite positions. She turned them all down. “I've had that moment where I've realized that where I want to go and where I am are 2 different places…. If I put my focus on something, my energy is going to flow in that direction, and I need to make sure that's the direction I want to go…. Do I want to go be c-suite and kill myself for the next 4 years? …But the reason that gave me confidence is I'm 3 days without a job. I've got several job offers. And I realized, they don't care how I work with them. They just want to work with me, so why don't I go out on my own?” – Christy Honeycutt, on the internal discussions she's having after encountering job loss Christy understands she's in a gifted place only because she put in the work of giving back to her community before she was in a tough spot. Her efforts include things like hosting Inside the C-Suite and doing free mentoring and coaching for others. “It's because of all the goodwill I've done. My community paid it back tenfold. So set yourself apart in whatever it is that you're doing…. Where we are today is you have to have a differentiator, or you're going to be sitting on the shelf for 5 years.” – Christy Honeycutt Christy mentioned previously that it's lonely when someone takes a C-suite role. How did her conversations with executives on Inside the C-Suite together with her experience in talent acquisition and recruitment impact her decision to not take a C-suite role? Christy knows that she doesn't do anything halfway. If she were to take a C-suite role, she would be working 80 hours per week and traveling nonstop. Christy and her partner want to slow the pace down for their family, take time to travel, and do more purposeful things. She shares a story about Matthew McConaughey wanting to make the shift from romantic comedies to more serous roles to illustrate a shift of priority and focus. “Yeah, it crossed my mind. But it does not align with my long-term goal…. I realized I have a choice. You know, the universe has brought a lot of stuff to me. Is it because it's meant for me, or is it noise?” – Christy Honeycutt Christy has shown up, given to her community in a visible way, and found her voice. But taking a C-suite role right now is not where she wants to be. Some of the job offers Christy received came from people who had been on her podcast. Christy tells more of the story of being at HR Tech and the reactions people in the industry had to her being on the market. Christy plans to continue conversations with those people about ways they can work together moving forward. “I'm really good at certain things, which you guys have broken down and helped me understand. I repeatedly get asked for those things, and those are the things I like to do. So why not go do that? Why not go be a consultant and do the things that I really like to do for people and not do the things I don't like to do…? …I can just go do the fun stuff that they need my specialization in.” – Christy Honeycutt Christy wants to stay true to herself and honor the decision to increase bandwidth for her family. Many of the C-level executives Christy speaks to on her podcast love what they do, but they've had to learn to put themselves first. “I hear this more often than not. When they first start their organization, it's business business business. Their health fails. Their family fails. So, the ones that actually made it and recovered through that little spike and actually make it out on the other side very quickly flip to ‘take care of my body (my temple), my soul, my family, then my business. It's a battle for them.” – Christy Honeycutt At the time of this recording, Christy is thinking of starting her own firm, so she hopes she can take it slow enough to avoid these pitfalls. When we decide to slow the pace and do more of what we enjoy, can reflecting on those 3 wins from each previous job help us be confident that we can still get those wins without running at a hectic pace? Did Christy do this when thinking about what she wanted to do? Christy says she did not think about these for herself even though it would be her coaching to others in need of advice. “What I found interesting is that when you're looking for an answer, if you actually open your eyes, it's right there. It plays back to you. It plays back to you in conversations you have with people…. You often say what you need and what you want and where you're at, but you don't comprehend it. But if you hear someone you love, that you trust, repeat it back to you…it's almost like it gives you permission to accept it.” – Christy Honeycutt Sometimes instead of giving people advice, we need to act as a mirror and reflect back what they've said. Christy didn't need a C-level title. She doesn't need to go do something to prove she can do it. She's already done it. Christy understood she was ready for something different, even if it's a little bit scary to consider going out on one's own. “It's scary to put yourself out there like that, but if you don't, you'll never know. I'd rather try and fail and learn than regret and not know.” – Christy Honeycutt If you want to follow up with Christy on this conversation, you can find here: On LinkedIn On her website On the podcasts she hosts – Inside the C-Suite and StrategicShift Mentioned in the Outro Do you have 3 wins from each job or at least the past several jobs you've held? And do you know the stories that go along with these? There are prerequisites that must be met before we can speak to our wins in an interview. It starts with documenting our accomplishments on a regular basis. Consider what the 3 wins are from your accomplishment list. Maybe you have more than 3 or need to use a different set of 3 based on a job to which you're applying. Consider writing the story that goes with each win. It could be a resume bullet, but think of it as more detailed and something you can share in an interview. This is part of drafting a career narrative like Jason Belk suggested in Episode 284 – Draft Your Narrative: Writing and Building a Technical Portfolio with Jason Belk (2/2). We should not only write the draft but gain practice sharing the stories verbally in interviews, possibly conversations with our manager, and maybe even in conversations with industry peers at networking events (if and when appropriate). This is an iterative process! We like looking at conversations with recruiters as opportunities to practice telling our win stories. In the discussion with Christy, we heard about her experience losing a job. In Christy's case she had been giving to her network long before this happened in a very visible way. Maybe you are doing this in a less visible way. Consider documenting that work, but make the overall intent to help others and impact people positively. It will pay off later when you need help. Christy shared an exercise in finding clarity. She knew a C-suite role would not match the pace that was aligned with what her family wanted. It wasn't just about personal ambition. Remember to check out Christy's podcasts, Inside the C-Suite and StrategicShift. Contact the Hosts The hosts of Nerd Journey are John White and Nick Korte. E-mail: nerdjourneypodcast@gmail.com DM us on Twitter/X @NerdJourney Connect with John on LinkedIn or DM him on Twitter/X @vJourneyman Connect with Nick on LinkedIn or DM him on Twitter/X @NetworkNerd_ Leave a Comment on Your Favorite Episode on YouTube If you've been impacted by a layoff or need advice, check out our Layoff Resources Page. If uncertainty is getting to you, check out or Career Uncertainty Action Guide with a checklist of actions to take control during uncertain periods and AI prompts to help you think through topics like navigating a recent layoff, financial planning, or managing your mindset and being overwhelmed.
Tom Kay says the industry is at an inflection point — with technology, talent, and consumer expectations all shifting at once. Tom describes how facilities can shape the customer experience every day, and has never been more essential. The teams who embrace data, modern tools, and continuous upskilling will lead the next chapter of the built environment. Welcome to Elevating Brick and Mortar. A podcast about how operations and facilities drive brand performance.Today, we talk with Tom Kay, managing partner at Efficio Advisors. Efficio partners directly with CEOs and boards to cut through distraction, mitigate risks before they surface, and unlock sustainable growth.TIMESTAMPS01:18 - About Tom04:20 - Advising the industry12:34 - Is FM misunderstood?18:00 - The talent gap31:00 - The impact of new tech45:35 - Future thinking52:42 - Where to find Tom53:09 - Sid's takeawaysSPONSOR:ServiceChannel brings you peace of mind through peak facilities performance.Rest easy knowing your locations are:Offering the best possible guest experienceLiving up to brand standardsOperating with minimal downtimeServiceChannel partners with more than 500 leading brands globally to provide visibility across operations, the flexibility to grow and adapt to consumer expectations, and accelerated performance from their asset fleet and service providers.LINKS:Connect with Tom on LinkedInConnect with Sid Shetty on LinkedinCheck out the ServiceChannel Website Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
"Si lo que realmente te apasiona es picar código y nerdear, no te hagas CTO". Con esta honestidad brutal nos recibe Sergio Gago, CTO de Cloudera y autor de "The CTO Toolbox", en un episodio diseñado para romper los idealismos de la carrera tecnológica. Sergio defiende que un líder debe tener "manos de constructor" , pero nos enfrenta a la gran paradoja del rol: para triunfar, debes soltar la reconfortante certeza del código y abrazar el caos de la gestión humana y la incertidumbre del negocio.Desde sus inicios como lo que él llama un "CTO Mickey Mouse" en una startup de 3 personas hasta gestionar estrategias globales de Big Data e IA, Sergio disecciona las fases de madurez por las que pasarás, de gestionar tu casa a gobernar un país entero, y revela la verdad más incómoda de la transición: llega un día en que tu equipo deja de ser los ingenieros con los que te ibas de fiesta y pasa a ser la C-Suite, un grupo de ejecutivos que hablan un idioma financiero que probablemente necesites aprender a la fuerza (o con un MBA) para sobrevivir en la mesa de decisiones. Un viaje imprescindible sobre cómo superar el síndrome del impostor, evitar ser el cuello de botella de tu empresa y entender por qué, a veces, el éxito significa dejar de hacer lo que más te gustaba.Support the show
Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society. In this episode, Justin interviews two guests who presented at the RIMS ERM Conference 2025 in Seattle, Washington. First, Dr. Gav Schneider, Group CEO Risk 2 Solution Group and Founder, Institute of Presilience Risk 2 Solution, and second, Shreen Williams, Founder & CEO, Risky Business SW, LLC, and a member of the RIMS Rising Risk Professional Advisory Group. Dr. Schneider explained the meaning of Presilience and risk intelligence in ERM. Shreen Williams discussed the cognitive biases that can be mitigated through the six stages of an ERM Framework. Listen for insights into implementing an ERM Framework in your organization. Key Takeaways: [:01] About RIMS and RIMScast. [:17] About this episode of RIMScast. Our interviews were recorded live on site at the RIMS ERM Conference 2025 in Seattle. Our guests are Dr. Gav Schneider and Shreen Williams. We're going to have fun in this episode! But first… [:48] The next Virtual RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep will be held on December 9th and 10th. From December 15 through the 18th CBCP and RIMS will present the RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep Boot Camp. [1:05] Another virtual course will be held on January 14th and 15th, 2026. These are virtual courses. Links to these courses can be found through the Certifications page of RIMS.org and through this episode's show notes. [1:18] RIMS Virtual Workshops! "Managing Data for ERM" will be led again by Pat Saporito. That session will start on December 11th. Registration closes on December 10th. RIMS members always enjoy deep discounts on the virtual workshops. [1:37] The full schedule of virtual workshops can be found on the RIMS.org/education and RIMS.org/education/online-learning pages. A link is also in this episode's notes. [1:48] The RIMS CRO Certificate Program in Advanced Enterprise Risk Management is hosted by the famous James Lam. This is a live, virtual program that helps elevate your expertise and career in ERM. [2:01] You can enroll now for the next cohort, which will be held over 12 weeks from January through March of 2026. Registration closes on January 5th. Or Spring ahead and register for the cohort held from April through June of 2026. Registration closes on April 6th. [2:21] Links to registration and enrollment are in this episode's show notes. [2:25] This episode was recorded at the RIMS ERM Conference 2025. We've covered a lot of ERM ground in the last few episodes, and for those who want to catch up, I've included a link to the RIMS ERM Special Digital Edition of Risk Management magazine in this episode's notes. [2:49] RIMScast ERM coverage is linked as well. Enhance your ERM knowledge with RIMS. [2:54] On with the show! We are following up last week's episode with ERM Global Award of Distinction winner Sadig Hajiyev by featuring interviews with two of the presenters who appeared at the RIMS ERM Conference, Dr. Gav Schneider and Shreen Williams. [3:12] Long-time RIMScast listeners may remember Dr. Gav Schneider from an episode in November of 2023. We were delighted that he made the trip all the way from Australia to join us at the ERM Conference in Seattle. [3:27] Dr. Gav is the Group CEO at Risk2Solution Group and the Founder of the Institute of Presilience. The title of his session on November 17th was "Embedding Presilience and Risk Intelligence into ERM." This harkens back to his prior episode about wicked problems. [3:45] We're going to start there and discuss how presilience takes that thinking to the next level for ERM leaders, and we're going to get some of his risk philosophies and have a great time. Let's get to it! [3:56] Interview! Dr. Gav Schneider, welcome back to RIMScast! [4:24] Dr. Schneider is here at the RIMS ERM Conference for the first time. It's the second-highest-attended ERM Conference in RIMS history. His session, later today, is called "Embedding Presilience and Risk Intelligence into ERM." [4:54] On Dr. Schneider's last visit to RIMScast, he talked about wicked problems. How does presilience take that mindset and thinking to the next level for ERM? [5:08] Dr. Schneider says the core idea of ERM is about getting scalable decision-making, recording, and outcomes, in terms of risk, for your organization. More and more, our organizations are facing these wicked problems. [5:25] We can't function anymore in a world of absolutes. When we plug risk intelligence into the way we think, act, and plan, we become adaptive. We also become opportunity-centric. [5:37] A wicked problem is not easily solved. When you implement a solution, it often leads to more problems. You have to be able to learn. If you can't learn, you can't adapt. [6:17] What are the core components of the Presilience Framework? Dr. Schneider says, simplistically, we think about tackling risk at three levels: the self, the team, and the organization. Then we overlay that with people and process, connected through leadership. [6:34] To make that work, we have to develop a set of core attributes: situational awareness, critical thinking, enhanced decision-making, effective and directive coms, the ability to act and enact, and the ability to learn and grow. [6:46] When you can plug that into your architecture, leveraging insight, hindsight, and foresight, you then can make the right calls about whether or not to do something. It becomes an overlay model for most ERM-type structures, where we can plug the human piece into the system. [7:15] Dr. Schneider says the core aim of ERM turns risk management into a team sport, with everyone across an organization reporting, collaborating, and understanding to make great decisions about where the organization is and where it's going, not where we think it is. [7:32] To do that, we need to plug certain things into the ecosystem of the organization, some of which are policies, procedures, and tech. Most ERM experts do that. The piece that we've ignored is the human part, because it's hard. [7:49] Dr. Schneider has compiled The Organizational Risk Culture Standard. It took about nine months of work. It was a thorough process. Five experts wrote it, 15 peers reviewed it, and 11 organizations have approved it, endorsed it, and are supporting it. [8:09] For years, Dr. Schneider had heard that organizations would not focus on human-centricities that they couldn't measure. [8:17] Dr. Schneider's framework has 10 domains with a maturity model that aligns beautifully with RIMS's ERM Model. It's built to encapsulate and incorporate ISO 31000 and COSO. Dr. Schnieider has just released it, free to download. [8:39] Dr. Schneider is excited about presenting his session in a couple of hours. Everyone tells him that the RIMS ERM Conference is the sharp end of the spear, with the smartest risk people. The session is "Embedding Presilience and Risk Intelligence into ERM." [9:10] Session attendees will learn about risk intelligence. Dr. Schneider's definition is an applied attribute or living skill that enables you to seize upside opportunities while you manage potential negative outcomes. [9:44] When you speak of risk intelligence as a living skill and applied attribute, it becomes an ability to scale great decision-making. You want risk-intelligent people, working in risk-intelligent teams, empowered and structured into a risk-intelligent organization. [10:18] Dr. Schneider says if we can't get those three layers to integrate and work together, you get frustrated stakeholders. Get your ERM team working to get everyone to understand the basics of risk reporting, using the metrics, and sharing information. [10:33] Justin compares it to the gears in a watch. Dr. Schneider agrees; there's not one moving piece, it's a complex ecosystem in most organizations because humans are complex. We're relying on tech and on variables we don't control. [10:46] Dr. Schneider says, in the conference, everyone's accepted how disruptive the current climate is, how difficult it is to forecast, and how uncertainty and volatility are dominating. [10:59] With that in mind, we've got to think of it differently. You can't force people to adopt a system and think it will work. If you want to get a high-performance culture, ERM is an incredibly useful tool, but only if people want it, like it, want to use it, and understand the benefit it adds. [11:17] Dr. Schneider thinks ERM is going to take a massive leap forward because of generative AI and because we've done well in process-based risk management. There are models, standards, and tools we can reference on how to do this. [11:32] Why most organizations fail is that people don't understand people and the drivers people have. The one thing that Dr. Schneider would love people to take away from his session is that "I have to start with me." [11:43] Dr. Schneider continues. If I'm trying to get people to do something, I need to understand the voice in my head, what's coming out of my mouth, and what my actions are. If I can't control that, what makes me think I'm going to change organizational culture? [11:54] It starts with me. Then I can move to us, and we can get this high-performing risk team. If I can get a high-performing risk team, now we are ready to take it through the organization. We can be the real value-add. [12:06] The risk departments of the future are not going to be what they were or what they are now. They're not going to be compliance departments anymore. [12:14] Risk departments of the future are going to be insight, hindsight, and foresight departments. They're going to create understanding of what's happened, what's happening, and what we need to do to capitalize on opportunity, while we manage downside. [12:34] Dr. Schneider points out that if we're looking at the same thing, we see something different. That's great for managing bias, but terrible if we can't align because we'll each think we're right, and pull apart. [12:47] One of the missions is to develop adaptable, high-performing humans who can leverage tach, collaborate, and solve problems. That's the future of risk management. [13:05] Dr. Gav Schneider, I look forward to popping into your session today. It is called "Embedding Presilience and Risk Intelligence into ERM." [13:19] Quick Break! RISKWORLD 2026 will be held from May 3rd through the 6th in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. RISKWORLD attracts more than 10,000 risk professionals from across the globe. It's time to Connect, Cultivate, and Collaborate with them. Booth sales are open now! [13:42] Registration is open for RIMS members. General registration and speaker registration will open on December 3rd. Marketplace and Hospitality badges will be available starting on March 3rd. Links are in this episode's show notes. [13:55] Let's Bring out Our Next Guest, the Founder and CEO of Risky Business SW LLC, Shreen Williams! [14:05] If you are a regular reader of RIMS Risk Management magazine, you may recognize her name from the byline of a recent article, "How to Overcome Cognitive Biases in Risk Management." [14:19] Shreen is also a member of the Rising Risk Professional Advisory Group here at RIMS. She presented at the ERM Conference a session in the Foundational Level, called "Beating the Bias: Exposing and Combating Cognitive Biases in ERM." [14:35] Justin sat in on this session, and he had some follow-ups about cognitive biases and how they relate to ERM and risk management, generally. If you missed the session or have not yet read the article, this will give you a taste of what you missed or what you're going to read. [14:53] We're going to have a lot of fun! Let's get to it! [14:56] Interview! Shreen Williams, welcome to RIMScast! [15:05] Justin sat in on Shreen's session, "Beating the Bias: Exposing and Combating Cognitive Biases in ERM." Shreen explains that there are more than 150 biases from the standpoint of the psychology of human behavior. [15:29] Shreen focuses on the ones that are relevant to the ERM process. There are more than enough. In her presentation, Shreen focused on seven biases. The lifecycle for the ERM process has six stages. Five stages cover one bias each; the Risk Assessment stage covers two biases. [16:00] Justin mentions that for anyone who attended, the handout is available through the RIMS Events App. Shreen says she also put a QR code on the deck, so if you got the deck, you have that code, as well. [16:27] Shreen has an audio-visual platform she uses to get her thought leadership content out about what she loves most. She calls herself a risk nerd. She likes talking about the discipline in a way that's accessible and digestible to the end user. [16:43] Shreen says most of the time, you'll see the term ERM delivered in such a complex and jargon-filled way that it turns folks off who are not in this sector. That leads to confusion, overwhelm, and killing their engagement. [16:54] Shreen loves doing interviews to talk about the discipline in a way that is approachable, accessible, and digestible to the end user without any academic discipline. [17:05] In her session, Shreen said that cognitive biases often embed themselves in ERM processes without detection. Shreen describes a bias in the first stage of the ERM process life cycle, Identification. The bias that creeps in is Complexity Bias. [17:33] Shreen says that Complexity Bias is when organizations or people believe that the more complex something is, the more superior it is. It's not always true, and it's the worst posture to have in ERM. [17:48] Shreen gives a Complexity Bias example. A company hires a consultant to create an ERM Program and gets a 200-page framework to give to employees. The executives feel smart. The front-line employees are overwhelmed. It's too complex. It can't be operationalized. [18:13] You don't have consistent risk participation because the people don't know how to do it. [18:17] Shreen explains her technique to handle Complexity Bias. If you can't explain something in two minutes or less, go back to the table and try again. The more digestible you make the lingo, the more it will stick. [18:39] Shreen is a visual learner. She sees things clearly if you show them in an infographic. Different generations may learn differently. Shreen is very close to Gen Z. They keep her young! They also give her fresh perspectives on the discipline. [19:09] Ten years ago, most of the college curriculum for risk management was highly insurance-centric: actuary, underwriting, claims adjudication. [19:21] Shreen started in the banking sector, where ERM is prevalent and mature. Other industries didn't see the need for it. There were no regulatory requirements for it. [19:30] From the young people she coaches and mentors, Shreen has seen that universities are now teaching not only the insurance side but also ERM, and are framing the discipline as Risk Resilience. [19:51] Shreen says young people are graduating with a broader perspective of the discipline, which opens opportunities for them. [20:00] Shreen has said she was the sober adult in the room while the leadership doused itself in champagne. She embraced that role when she joined the tech sector. Before then, Shreen worked for companies in heavily regulated industries: finance, transportation, and government. [20:18] Shreen says tech is completely night and day different from those industries. She says it's a hyper-close space. You have to get to things quickly and tell leaders what you are going to do immediately. You have about three minutes in front of the board. You have to be quick. [20:31] You have to be highly visual. You don't need 50 bullet points on the screen to make your point. You should be the expert. The visual just makes it more accessible to the people. [20:46] Shreen explains Premortem Analysis. We all talk about postmortems and after-actions. This makes ERM practitioners cringe. [21:05] Everything that happened was something you told the people was something on the table, and no one took you seriously, so now you're reactive and resolving whatever risk materialized. [21:16] Premortems are a favorite of Shreen's because you get to work through whatever that scenario is or that initiative is and flesh it out, from end to end. Then you reverse-engineer it and go back for each opportunity or risk you identify, good or bad, and you get to the best response. [21:30] If the initiative gets approved, you've already flushed out everything that could go wrong. [21:51] Shreen told a joke during the session that if you want your initiative to die, take it to ERM, and they'll tell you no. Shreen says, No, take it to ERM to get a clear and confident Yes. [22:14] Justin tells Shreen, You left us yesterday with a great sentiment that bias is not the enemy, blindness is. That hearkens back to everything in a premortem analysis. [22:27] Shreen's final words to the audience: "For those who are new to the discipline, do not be turned away or feel like you're not enough or something's wrong with you because you don't understand it. It's not you. It's likely the person or textbook you're getting information from. [22:40] "Most of the things that teach about ERM are highly theoretical. If you can find someone to align with, someone who's a mentor to you, see what they do, and how they go about it, highs and lows, you'll learn a lot more about the discipline hands-on than from any book. [22:55] Blindness and blind spots you cannot see. Sometimes you're focused like a racehorse with blinders on. With blinders on, you cannot avoid bias. Humans are a big part of the process. With humans come human biases. [23:21] The mitigant for bias is to have an awareness of it and have your little toolbox of those leading biases that you can go around to mitigate. [23:31] Justin says, Shreen, it's been such a pleasure. [23:36] Special thanks once again to Dr. Gav Schneider and Shreen Williams for joining us here on RIMScast. They were fantastic speakers. I've got links to Dr. Schneider's prior episode and Shreen's RIMS Risk Management magazine article in this episode's show notes. [23:54] Be sure to check out last week's episode with Sadig Hajiyev, one of the two winners of the RIMS ERM Global Award of Distinction. For more ERM Conference coverage, check out the RIMS LinkedIn page for all sorts of photos, videos, and coverage of this fantastic event. [24:11] We had a great time, and we look forward to seeing you next year in Washington, D.C. for the RIMS ERM Conference 2026. [24:19] Plug Time! You can sponsor a RIMScast episode for this, our weekly show, or a dedicated episode. Links to sponsored episodes are in the show notes. [24:47] RIMScast has a global audience of risk and insurance professionals, legal professionals, students, business leaders, C-Suite executives, and more. Let's collaborate and help you reach them! Contact pd@rims.org for more information. [25:04] Become a RIMS member and get access to the tools, thought leadership, and network you need to succeed. Visit RIMS.org/membership or email membershipdept@RIMS.org for more information. [25:22] Risk Knowledge is the RIMS searchable content library that provides relevant information for today's risk professionals. Materials include RIMS executive reports, survey findings, contributed articles, industry research, benchmarking data, and more. [25:38] For the best reporting on the profession of risk management, read Risk Management Magazine at RMMagazine.com. It is written and published by the best minds in risk management. [25:52] Justin Smulison is the Business Content Manager at RIMS. Please remember to subscribe to RIMScast on your favorite podcasting app. You can email us at Content@RIMS.org. [26:04] Practice good risk management, stay safe, and thank you again for your continuous support! Links: RIMS-CRO Certificate Program In Advanced Enterprise Risk Management | Jan‒March 2026 Cohort | Led by James Lam RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP) RISKWORLD 2026 Registration — Open for exhibitors, members, and non-members! Reserve your booth at RISKWORLD 2026! The Strategic and Enterprise Risk Center RIMS Diversity Equity Inclusion Council RIMS Risk Management magazine | Contribute RIMS ERM Special Edition 2025 RIMS Newsroom: "Two Dynamic ERM Programs Win Top Honor at RIMS ERM Conference 2025" RIMS Risk Management Magazine: "How to Overcome Cognitive Biases in Risk Management" RIMS Now RISK PAC | RIMS Advocacy | RIMS Legislative Summit SAVE THE DATE — March 18‒19, 2026 Upcoming RIMS Webinars: RIMS.org/Webinars Upcoming RIMS-CRMP Prep Virtual Workshops: RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep December 9‒10, 2025, 9:00 am‒4:00 pm EST, Virtual CBCP & RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep Bootcamp: Business Continuity & Risk Management December 15‒18, 2025, 8:30 am‒5:00 pm EST, Virtual Full RIMS-CRMP Prep Course Schedule "Leveraging Data and Analytics for Continuous Risk Management (Part I)" | Dec 4. See the full calendar of RIMS Virtual Workshops RIMS-CRMP Prep Workshops Related RIMScast Episodes: "RIMS ERM Global Award of Distinction 2025 Winner Sadig Hajiyev — Recorded live from the RIMS ERM Conference in Seattle!" "Risk Rotation with Lori Flaherty and Bill Coller of Paychex" "Energizing ERM with Kellee Ann Richards-St. Clair" "AI and the Future of Risk with Dan Chuparkoff" (RIMS ERM Conference Keynote) "Talking ERM: From Geopolitical Whiplash to Leadership Buy-In" with Chrystina Howard of Hub "Shawn Punancy of Delta Flies High With ERM" "Tom Brandt on Growing Your Career and Organization with ERM" "James Lam on ERM, Strategy, and the Modern CRO" "Risk Quantification Through Value-Based Frameworks" "Solving Wicked Problems with Dr. Gav Schneider" (2023) Sponsored RIMScast Episodes: "Secondary Perils, Major Risks: The New Face of Weather-Related Challenges" | Sponsored by AXA XL (New!) "The ART of Risk: Rethinking Risk Through Insight, Design, and Innovation" | Sponsored by Alliant "Mastering ERM: Leveraging Internal and External Risk Factors" | Sponsored by Diligent "Cyberrisk: Preparing Beyond 2025' | Sponsored by Alliant "The New Reality of Risk Engineering: From Code Compliance to Resilience" | Sponsored by AXA XL "Change Management: AI's Role in Loss Control and Property Insurance" | Sponsored by Global Risk Consultants, a TÜV SÜD Company "Demystifying Multinational Fronting Insurance Programs" | Sponsored by Zurich "Understanding Third-Party Litigation Funding" | Sponsored by Zurich "What Risk Managers Can Learn From School Shootings" | Sponsored by Merrill Herzog "Simplifying the Challenges of OSHA Recordkeeping" | Sponsored by Medcor "How Insurance Builds Resilience Against An Active Assailant Attack" | Sponsored by Merrill Herzog "Third-Party and Cyber Risk Management Tips" | Sponsored by Alliant RIMS Publications, Content, and Links: RIMS Membership — Whether you are a new member or need to transition, be a part of the global risk management community! RIMS Virtual Workshops On-Demand Webinars RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP) RISK PAC | RIMS Advocacy RIMS Strategic & Enterprise Risk Center RIMS-CRMP Stories — Featuring RIMS President Kristen Peed! RIMS Events, Education, and Services: RIMS Risk Maturity Model® Sponsor RIMScast: Contact sales@rims.org or pd@rims.org for more information. Want to Learn More? Keep up with the podcast on RIMS.org, and listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Have a question or suggestion? Email: Content@rims.org. Join the Conversation! Follow @RIMSorg on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. About our guests: Dr. Gav Schneider, Group CEO Risk 2 Solution Group / Founder Institute of Presilience Risk 2 Solution Shreen Williams, Founder & CEO, Risky Business SW, LLC Also a member of the RIMS Rising Risk Professional Advisory Group Production and engineering provided by Podfly.
AI Unraveled: Latest AI News & Trends, Master GPT, Gemini, Generative AI, LLMs, Prompting, GPT Store
Welcome back to AI Unraveled, your strategic daily briefing on the business impact of artificial intelligence. It is Monday, December 1st, 2025, and the industry has just crossed two historic thresholds.First, the balance of power in the 'Open AI Economy' has officially flipped—with Chinese developers overtaking the US in market share for the first time. Second, Black Friday has proven that the age of 'search' is dead, replaced by the age of 'prediction,' as AI agents drove nearly $12 billion in sales.We are also covering DeepSeek's new math-crushing model, Runway's victory over Google, and why memory chips are about to become the most expensive resource on earth.Let's unravel the news.Strategic Pillars & Topics
AI Unraveled: Latest AI News & Trends, Master GPT, Gemini, Generative AI, LLMs, Prompting, GPT Store
Special Report: The Quantum Threshold (December 02, 2025)This special episode dissects the paradigm shift from theoretical quantum physics to engineering reality, triggered by Google's latest hardware and AI advancements.Key Topics & Takeaways:⚡ The Engineering Miracle (Google Willow): Google has unveiled "Willow," a 105-qubit processor that successfully demonstrates the "Threshold Theorem." For the first time, increasing the number of physical qubits (from code distance 3 to 7) has led to an exponential drop in error rates, proving that fault-tolerant quantum computing is physically possible.
She's a leader who unexpectedly finds herself running a company, but isn't sure it is the right role for her long-term. Host Muriel Wilkins coaches her through defining what she can do versus what she wants to do, the level of responsibility she truly wants, and what might lie at the heart of her current discomfort.
In this episode, I share lessons from a powerful C‑Suite for Christ event that reminded me how vital it is for leaders to stay spiritually fueled. Inspired by Paul Neuberger's message, we'll explore three principles of stewardship — Appreciate, Activate, and Authenticate — and how they can transform both your leadership and your faith. From cultivating gratitude, to boldly using your God‑given gifts, to living with authentic integrity, these truths challenge us to lead with purpose and courage. I'll also reflect on Moses' journey and what it teaches us about trusting God fully. Tune in to be encouraged, equipped, and reminded that when we put faith first, God moves in amazing ways through our leadership and our lives.
SEO Secrets for Explosive Growth in Website Traffic, Leads, and Sales from Search
In this C-Suite roundtable, Bobby Holland, J. Carter Bush, and Cesar Toledo explore the powerful intersection of AI, SEO, and business growth — and how these forces are reshaping the digital landscape.This conversation delivers executive-level insights into:• How AI is transforming search behavior and strategy• Why SEO frameworks must evolve for 2025 and beyond• Building authority and trust in an AI-first world• Practical frameworks for scaling business visibility• The role of leadership in modern digital strategy• Real tactics used inside Bipper Media to drive resultsWhether you're a marketer, founder, strategist, or someone navigating the future of search and AI — this episode gives you actionable clarity and direction.
AI Unraveled: Latest AI News & Trends, Master GPT, Gemini, Generative AI, LLMs, Prompting, GPT Store
Welcome back to AI Unraveled (November 28th 2025), your daily strategic briefing on the business impact of AI.Today, the open-source community scores a massive victory as DeepSeek's new model achieves Gold Medal status at the International Math Olympiad, effectively commoditizing reasoning capabilities that were once the exclusive domain of Google and OpenAI. We also dissect the sobering financial reality facing OpenAI as HSBC predicts a $207 billion funding gap, and the strange new security flaw where rhyming poetry can trick AI into building weapons.Strategic Pillars & Key Takeaways:
AI Unraveled: Latest AI News & Trends, Master GPT, Gemini, Generative AI, LLMs, Prompting, GPT Store
Welcome to AI Unraveled (From November 24 to November 30, 2025): Your daily strategic briefing on the business impact of AI.This week's headlines mark a pivot point in the industry—from the "scale-at-all-costs" mentality to a focus on efficiency, reasoning, and monetization.Strategic Pillars & Topics
We don't tiptoe around the crisis… We sound the alarm. We don't cower before culture… We stand tall, watchful, unashamed. This week on the C-Suite for Christ Podcast, we march straight into the fire with Paul M. Neuberger leading the charge.Today's episode isn't for the faint of heart. We're grabbing hold of Ezekiel 33:6—God's warning to every so-called “watchman” on the wall. This isn't business as usual. This is God's business. And when the world celebrates sin, glamorizes rebellion, and punishes righteousness, Paul M. Neuberger says it's time to blow the dang trumpet, no matter the cost.You want sanitized sermons? Hit pause. You want bold, Gospel-powered truth? Get ready: you will be challenged. You will be convicted. Silence isn't neutral—it's deadly—but courage backed by Scripture is always in style.The world is watching. The enemy is advancing. What will you do when your moment on the wall arrives?Buckle up. This one's raw, real, and rooted in the unshakeable Word.“But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone's life, that person's life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.” (Ezekiel 33:6)Episode Highlights:04:45 – But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people, and a sword comes and takes someone's life, that person's life will be taken because of their sin. But I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood. Accountable for their blood. Those aren't the kind of words you cross stitch onto a pillow. Those are the kind of words that get into your bones and keep you up all night. Words that remind you that being a follower of Christ isn't a spectator sport. 07:43 – God isn't just calling ancient prophets to accountability. He's calling CEOs, business owners, executives, managers, and leaders of every kind. In today's society, where sin is celebrated like a national pastime and truth is treated like hate speech, the role of the watchman is more critical than ever. Corporate America pushes gender ideology. Schools indoctrinate children. Entertainment glamorizes rebellion. Politicians legalize wickedness. And through all this, God is watching his people, watching his watchmen, watching to see if we recognize the sword approaching and whether we're willing to blow the dang trumpet.32:32 - Faith comes by hearing. People can't hear your silence. Third, we must call out sin in our own circles. Not with arrogance, not with cruelty, not with self righteousness, but with the humility and urgency of someone who genuinely cares about souls. A watchman warns because he loves. A watchman speaks because eternity is at stake. Connect with Paul M. NeubergerWebsite
What do winning teams in elite sports teach us about driving transformation in business? This week, Kevin Carmody, a senior partner and global coleader of our CFO and finance excellence practice, speaks with former McKinsey partner Jason Wright, who helped lead a transformation as-president of the Washington Commanders (and is also a former NFL running back), and is now Managing Partner & Head of Investments at Ariel Project Level, a private equity fund focused on investing in women's sports. Jason shares how clear, measurable goals and micro-markers can accelerate culture change; why some symbolic moves matter as much as big P&L levers; and how leaders can balance staying “on the wave tops” with timely “porpoise dives” into the details. He reflects on accountability, the balance between honesty and radical transparency, and what ultimately signaled that a troubled culture at the Washington Commanders was turning the corner. The conversation also explores Jason’s lessons from public crises, and his current role investing at scale in women’s sports. We recorded Jason and Kevin’s conversation at a gathering of transformation leaders. Related insights: Worst to first: What it takes to build or remake a world-class team McKinsey Transformation on LinkedIn McKinsey Transformation insightsSupport the show: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/mckinsey-strategy-&-corporate-finance/See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information
Season 8 of Lessons I Learned in Law continues in partnership with Wordsmith AI, the legal-AI platform built for in-house teams.This week, Scott is joined by Katja Fenton, General Counsel and Executive Team Member at Fugro, the global geo-data company supporting safer infrastructure, offshore wind development, cleaner energy, and sustainable cities. Remarkably, Katja joined the conversation during her first 90 days—a pivotal moment when lessons feel sharpest, transitions feel largest, and instincts matter most.Katja reflects on the early months of stepping into C-suite leadership while taking on responsibility for a global legal & compliance function of around 60 professionals across four regions. Her first lesson—integrity is trusting your gut, even when it's uncomfortable—comes from a defining moment early in her career, when she turned down a high-profile international assignment because the work didn't align with her values. She shares how that instinct has shaped her approach to ethics, leadership, and decision-making ever since.Her second lesson explores the quiet but transformative power of allyship and sponsorship: the people who open doors for you when you're not in the room. Katja discusses the individuals who have championed her career—from a sixth-form teacher who changed her university path, to leaders who offered opportunities at critical moments—and why she now feels a responsibility to pay it forward.Her final lesson reframes imposter syndrome as evidence of growth. From Dubai's major construction projects to stepping into the executive team at Fugro, Katja describes how feeling out of depth has consistently signalled the start of her biggest periods of development.Katja also speaks candidly about global mobility, returning to Europe after years in Asia, building diverse teams, raising three young children in the Netherlands, and the importance of curiosity as a core legal skill.Guest Recommendations
Forget the old playbook. The linear career ladder — degree, loyalty, promotions, retirement — is gone for good. Today's market doesn't reward tenure, job titles, or waiting your turn. It rewards adaptability, strategic width, and leaders who can go deep without staying narrow. If you're still measuring success by promotions instead of progress, you're playing a game that no longer exists. The real cost of staying ladder-minded Three years. That's the average tenure of a C-Suite leader today. The skills that got you hired five years ago? Already trending obsolete. And in a market moving this fast, the only real job security is the kind you build yourself — through range and relevance. In this episode: • Why the old equation “progress = promotion” is keeping leaders stuck • The rise of the T-Shaped leader — and why depth alone is now a liability • How adaptability replaced tenure as the top hiring metric • The difference between strategic width and being a generalist • Why projects, not positions, drive credibility in a skills-based market • How to communicate your value on LinkedIn in seconds — the new résumé reality A real before/after transformation Before: A seasoned executive with deep expertise and a standout vertical — but no visible width. Their experience ran deep, but it looked narrow from the outside. Then: They reframed their story around strategic width, showcasing cross-functional experience, adjacent skills, and project-based wins. After: They moved from being overlooked as “too specialized” to being the standout candidate who could bridge data, strategy, tech, and communication. Their search accelerated — and so did their offers. That's the power of becoming T-Shaped: not more skills, but the right adjacent ones. Timestamps (0:00) – Intro (1:13) – Why skills-based hiring is a different market entirely (3:37) – What killed the traditional career ladder (5:20) – Ladder vs. lattice: why upward-only thinking no longer works (8:09) – Depth + breadth: the new definition of progress (10:02) – What a T-Shaped leader actually looks like (14:01) – Strategic width vs. generalist thinking (19:18) – How to show your T-Shape on LinkedIn (21:52) – Projects that signal adaptability (26:41) – The 3-question audit for staying relevant (28:48) – How to strengthen and deepen your T-Shape The takeaway The market doesn't reward ladder climbers anymore. It rewards leaders who stay sharp, multidimensional, and adaptable. The ladder is dead. The lattice won. Build the shape that gets you hired next. Connect with Today's Guest, Raina Gandhi LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rainagandhi/ Website: https://www.rainagandhi.com/ Subscribe to Career Blast in a Half Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ph/podcast/career-blast-in-a-half/id1670977528?i=1000735380994 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3b3kSamj8RbTNNgOg5E5oi?si=6d74e695780f4780 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpGM7j8croBkkZ4bLqN7DOQ/ About Career Blast in a Half A third of our lives is spent working. Career Blast, In a Half is your 30 minutes of weekly simple, powerful and actionable career fuel to keep your success track no matter where you are in your career or what's to come next. Hosted by career strategist Loren Greiff. Work with Loren Join the 30-Day BLAST Program: https://www.portfoliorocket.com/our-programs Connect with Loren: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorengreiff/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/portfoliorocket/ Leave us a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts and let us know what career topics you'd like us to cover!
What does it really mean for people to feel like they matter in the workplace?In this episode, Zach Mercurio unpacks why mattering is the missing piece in most workplace cultures and how leaders can foster it. He also explores how a sense of value and contribution drives engagement, innovation, and retention. Zach is on a mission to make work and life more meaningful. As an author, researcher, and speaker, he helps leaders create environments where people feel valued. Topics explored in this episode: (02:15) The Science of Mattering* How mattering influences employee performance and well-being.* Why recognition alone isn't enough to make people feel valued.(10:40) Workplace Disconnection* The hidden costs of employees feeling like they don't matter.(18:55) The Role of Leaders in Creating Mattering* Mattering shouldn't be just an HR initiative—it's a leadership responsibility.(28:30) Purpose vs. Mattering* Why having a sense of mattering is more foundational than purpose.* Case studies of companies that have built cultures of mattering.(47:20) Building a Mattering-Centric Culture* The three key components of a workplace where people feel they matter.Thanks to Zach Mercurio for being on the show! Learn more about Zach: https://www.zachmercurio.com/Get Zach's book: The Power of Mattering: How Leaders Can Create a Culture of Significance: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D8XMWCLJ Connect with Zach on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachmercurio Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the Scaling Up Business podcast, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth. Join Bill in the Growth Navigator Coaching Program: https://ScalingCoach.com/workshop Bill on LinkedIn: https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/BillGallBill on YouTube: https://www.YouTube.com/@BillGallagherScalingCoach Visit https://ScalingUp.com to learn more about Verne Harnish, our team of Scaling Up Coaches, and the Scaling Up Performance Platform, which includes coaching, learning, software, and summit. We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail. We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around people, strategy, execution, and cash so that they can scale up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Did you enjoy today's episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover Scaling Up Business with Bill Gallagher so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.Subscribe via Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3PGhWPJSubscribe via Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3PKe00uBill on Facebook:
It's not always the big decisions or key moments that make a difference. In fact, those moments are often set up by a series of incremental events. That's why Pulte Homes Minnesota Division President Jamie Tharp encourages her team to improve by 1% per day. In this download, Jamie shares her path to leadership with Kathy & Dardy, a journey that required grit, determination and strong belief in herself.Connect with Versique
On this episode of the C-Suite for Christ Podcast, we're taking off the kid gloves and calling out the entitlement mindset strangling our homes, churches, and nation.Paul M. Neuberger rips the mask off comfort culture. He names the lies, shatters the excuses, and lays bare the roots of entitlement—biblical rebellion, not just bad behavior. He names the cost: a generation gone soft, a nation handing over its freedom for comfort, a Church trading grit for grievance.But the greater truth? Jesus is still King. Work is still holy. Blessing comes through gratitude, grit, obedience—never entitlement.The world says you're owed. Christ says, pick up your cross and follow Me.So, when your moment of truth strikes—will you demand your rights, or will you rise with responsibility?Buckle up. This one's raw, real, and rooted in the unfiltered Word."If anyone is not willing to work, he must not eat." –2 Thessalonians 3:10Episode Highlights:01:07 – And I'm here to tell you bluntly and biblically, you're not entitled to a single darn thing. Not from God, not from your boss, not from your spouse, not from your government, and certainly not from your church. Everything you have is either grace or it's the fruit of discipline and hard work."06:21 – Entitlement makes God your servant and you the master. Let me say that again for the people in the back: entitlement turns the creator into the butler and the creature into the boss. That's blasphemous. That's satanic. That's why this topic matters so much.45:31 – You aren't entitled to anything. And that reality is not depressing. It's liberating. It's empowering. It's the best news you're going to hear today, my friend. When you believe you're entitled to nothing, you finally see everything correctly. Entitlement twists your vision. It distorts your expectations. It poisons your joy, it corrodes your character. Connect with Paul M. NeubergerWebsite
What does it really take to scale a B2B software company from early traction to a category leader? In this episode, Maitlan Cramer, Managing Director at Bow River Capital, breaks down the "Capital Plus" playbook used to manage roughly $4.7 billion in assets across the firm.Maitlan moves beyond the typical VC advice, explaining why growth equity is about "rolling up your sleeves" to fix broken processes rather than just writing checks. He shares why he will always choose a great market over a great product, how to distinguish between vanity growth and sustainable revenue, and why founders need to stop fearing the "growth equity" label.⭐ Sponsored by Podcast10x - Podcasting agency for VCs - https://podcast10x.comWHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society. In this episode, Justin interviews Sadig Hajiyev, SOCAR Türkiye, Risk & Compliance Group Director, about SOCAR Turkiye and winning the RIMS ERM Global Award of Distinction. Sadig speaks of their ERM transformation that shifted SOCAR Türkiye from a compliance-oriented approach to an integrated, strategy-driven system, and a pivotal change. Sadig explains how they keep the ERM cohesive for business leaders, enabling decision-making. Sadig comments on external shocks that pressure-tested the program, showing the organization's true resilience and how it adapted its ERM approach. He speaks of one innovation with the biggest measurable impact. Justin and Sadig discuss SOCAR Türkiye's maturity jumping from a level-3 "repeatable" program to a level-5 "leading practice" in just a few years, supported by both the RIMS RMM and internal surveys, and how they are sustaining that momentum, having reached the top tier. Listen for words of wisdom and encouragement for risk practitioners. Key Takeaways: [:01] About RIMS and RIMScast. [:17] About this episode of RIMScast. Our guest today is Sadig Hajiyev. He is the Risk & Compliance Group Director for SOCAR Türkiye, and he was one of two recipients of the RIMS Global ERM Award of Distinction. [:47] We will talk about the unique characteristics of his ERM Program and his unique risk philosophies. But first… [:55] The next RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep with AFERM will be held on December 3rd and 4th. The next RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep with PARIMA will be held on December 4th and 5th. These are virtual courses. [1:12] Links to these courses can be found through the Certifications page of RIMS.org and through this episode's show notes. [1:19] RIMS Virtual Workshops! "Managing Data for ERM" will be led again by Pat Saporito. That session will start on December 11th. Registration closes on December 10th. RIMS members always enjoy deep discounts on the virtual workshops. [1:38] The full schedule of virtual workshops can be found on the RIMS.org/education and RIMS.org/education/online-learning pages. A link is also in this episode's notes. [1:50] The RIMS CRO Certificate Program in Advanced Enterprise Risk Management is hosted by the famous James Lam. This is a live, virtual program that helps elevate your expertise and career in ERM. [2:02] You can enroll now for the next cohort, which will be held over 12 weeks from January through March of 2026. Registration closes on January 5th. Or Spring ahead, and register for the cohort that will be held from April through June of 2026. Registration closes on April 6th. [2:22] Links to registration and enrollment are in this episode's show notes. [2:27] This episode was recorded at the RIMS ERM Conference 2025. We've covered a lot of ERM ground in the last few episodes, and for those who want to catch up, I've included a link to the RIMS ERM Special Digital Edition of Risk Management magazine in this episode's notes. [2:50] RIMScast ERM coverage is linked as well. Enhance your ERM knowledge with RIMS. [2:56] On with the show! This special episode was recorded live from Seattle at the RIMS ERM Conference 2025. [3:05] It was one of the best-attended ERM Conferences in RIMS history, with hundreds of ERM practitioners and students from around the world connecting, learning, and celebrating. [3:17] In RIMS tradition, we awarded the RIMS Global ERM Awards of Distinction. This year, there were two winners, one of which was SOCAR Türkiye, a pioneering energy company based in Turkey. The company's ERM program wowed our judges. [3:34] Accepting the award is Sadig Hajiyev. He is the Risk & Compliance Group Director. As you will hear, he took the ERM Program to the next level. Since we were in person, it was the perfect time to sit down and speak with him after receiving his award. [3:49] We're going to learn all about the program and Sadig's unique risk philosophies. Let's get to it! [3:53] Interview! Sadig Hajiyev, welcome to RIMScast! [4:18] Sadig says winning the award is a great feeling! Knowing someone here understands the value of the ERM Program and appreciates it is great! He shared photos and his reflections with his organization and got many congratulations, even though it was almost midnight in Turkey! [5:09] Saig explains that SOCAR is a global company, based in Azerbaijan, with more than 100K people working in Turkey. They have refineries and petrochemical facilities working together. They are also in the energy trading business. They have terminals. [5:34] They have multiple sectors, including fiber optic cables. They are doing so much in Turkey. SOCAR Türkiye is the biggest single-point investment in the history of Turkey, worth around $20 billion U.S. [6:01] Sadig's department is 15 people, including compliance professionals. They have a resource pool of experts and allocate teams as needed. [6:16] In 2022, SOCAR Türkiye shifted from a compliance-oriented approach to an integrated, strategy-driven system. [6:29] SOCAR Türkiye does international business. It is highly dependent on international trade regulations, especially trade sanction regulations. Being compliant is not sufficient for SOCAR Türkiye. Sadig says sanction regulations are very dynamic, and you should be adaptive to them. [6:57] Sadig says adaptation should be risk-based. At that time, SOCAR Türkiye started to implement risk-based compliance studies and approaches to make healthier decisions. They understood that it was the right decision. [7:21] SOCAR Türkiye has a modular ERM framework that spans Scenario Analysis, Risk and Control Self-Assessments (RCSAs), Regulatory Attestation Cycles, the ISO 22301, and the Resilience Maturity Model. [7:42] Justin asks how Sadig keeps them cohesive and digestible so that his leaders in SOCAR know that ERM is enabling decision-making. Sadig says it's not easy. They all met the needs that came up. [8:14] The risk leader needs to understand the context of the company. Being very close to the first line, Sadig does not believe there is value in going to the C-Suite and asking what they expect of risk management. They have no idea. [8:33] Sadig says it's more important to have a smooth discussion with them. At that point, the skill of the risk manager comes in to understand the context there and find out what would work best for this need. By that, you are supporting the company's decision-making. [9:05] Sadig is a boxer. He keeps telling his team that risk management shouldn't be very friendly. Conversations shouldn't be easy or enjoyable. Discussions should be disruptive. Sadig risk is the department asking, if zombies are coming and invading our vault, what will happen? [9:47] Risk leaders are the ones at the table to trigger those discussions and have the tough conversations. At that time, a leader's personality and personal brand are important. Managers should understand you are not doing it just to disrupt. [10:08] You are doing it for the company's sake, to make the decision-makers consider all the aspects, risks, threats, and opportunities. [10:43] SOCAR Türkiye faced significant external shocks in the last couple of years: security incidents, sanctions, and energy price volatility that pressure tested the ERM Program, but the company demonstrated resilience. [11:11] Each of these incidents had its own dynamics that made the ERM Program learn or find a way to adapt. [11:29] Turkey is a country with a very diverse range of uncertainties: political, economic, and geographical. The oil and gas sector is under pressure from international regulations, the climate, and more. There are so many issues going around. [11:51] Facing real-time instances can be disruptive and impactful on daily business. The most important thing is the ability to adapt. It's the top management's job to adapt. Risk management is about the future. If something happens, risk management is there to support. [12:23] Quick Break! RISKWORLD 2026 will be held from May 3rd through the 6th in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. RISKWORLD attracts more than 10,000 risk professionals from across the globe. It's time to Connect, Cultivate, and Collaborate wth them. Booth sales are open now! [12:45] Registration is open for RIMS members now, as well. General registration and speaker registration will open on December 3rd. [12:53] Links are in this episode's show notes, and this year, when you purchase one Full-Conference Pass by December 2nd, you can add a second Full-Conference Pass at 50% off, through December 31st. [13:07] When an eligible member selects a Full-Conference Pass while registering online, a Promo Code will be generated on the Review step of the registration form. [13:05] This code will also be included in the Confirmation Email. It may be shared with a second eligible member from the same company or same email domain, and receive that 50% discount. Bring a colleague for 50% off. This is available to organizational and individual RIMS members. [13:32] Links are in this episode's show notes. [13:35] Let's Return to My Interview with 2025 RIMS ERM Global Award of Distinction Winner Sadig Hajiyev! [13:46] Justin speaks of SOCAR Türkiye's impressive innovations, dynamic risk appetite metrics tied to EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization), an AI Geopolitical Scenario Engine, and a Resilience Scorecard linked to Capital Allocation. [14:10] Justin says he thinks all of this helped drive SOCAR Türkiye's nomination to the winning category. Justin asks which one brought the biggest measurable impact. [14:20] For the biggest financial result, Sadig says it was the assumption studies SOCAR Türkiye implemented to its financial projection. Sadig believes risk managers look at a range of values. [14:50] Sadig says, like quantum physics, it's not one or zero. It can be one or zero in different contexts and times. The assumption studies proved that, in context, for a set point of time, a long-term financial projection is useless. Sadig focuses on short-term targets and planning. [15:21] Sadig says short-term planning is annual to less than five years. Sadig believes the assumption studies had a measurable financial impact. [15:34] Justin notes that SOCAR Türkiye's Maturity jumped from a Level 3 Repeatable Program to a Level 5 Leading Practice in just a few years, supported by the RIMS Risk Maturity Model and internal surveys. [15:53] Justin asks what cultural or leadership behaviors Sadig believes were essential to achieving that Level 5 performance. Sadig says it is prioritization. They have a well-developed metric to model, mostly inspired by the RIMS Maturity Model, with tailored components added. [16:29] Sadig says SOCAR Türkiye conducts a biannual Maturity Survey with its target audience, the risk champions, decision-makers, and C-Suite. [16:41] The SOCAR Türkiye ERM Program defined its Maturity Model with the participation of an external auditor. They were missing the implementation of the GRC Platform, the digitalization of the whole system, strategy embedding, and risk-based budgeting. [17:04] The ERM Program prepared a roadmap to link up with the GRC Platform, implemented the roadmap, and defined the latest state as a fixed level. [17:27] Having achieved the top tier, the ERM Program is still chasing new things to do. Now, they are focusing first on incident management and second on captives. [17:46] For incidents, it's easy to collect information based on the declaration, but Sadig is dreaming about eliminating the human factor from incident recording to have a very objective and transparent information base. [18:03] The ERM Program has already worked on it to link the incident information to the risk assessment. This can automate the risk assessment based on the incident results or impacts. [18:18] The next step is finding how to monetize the maturity level of risk management. This idea brought SOCAR Türkiye to implement captives. [18:37] SOCAR Türkiye has a tremendous amount of budget allocated to insurance. They can rely on, to a certain threshold, the ability to manage risks in a controlled environment, in the effort to optimize their insurance program and budget. Captives are the future. [19:07] Justin comments that the RIMS 2025 Risk Manager of the Year is the Captive Manager for her organization, Hyatt. The trend is that a lot of people are going toward captives to self-insure. It can be a revenue generator. [19:27] Sadig adds that the move to captives is not just to put risk management in more of a position of strategy or as a budget supporter. It's because of the risk environment. There are new risks emerging and evolving. [19:46] Sadig believes these new risks will be uninsurable in the near future because of AI and new cyber risks. The insurance sector is not able to adapt quickly enough to create a pool to insure the risk all around the world. The responsibility will stay with companies and captives. [20:31] Sadig's final words on the value of ERM: Risk managers in the company are the only people who take the future in a systematic way. The future is always important, never urgent, but when it comes, it's already here. [20:49] The board and the C-Suite rely on risk managers to be able to have better insight before the future comes. [21:03] Justin says teşekkürler (thanks)! It's been a real pleasure to meet you, and congratulations again! [21:11] Special thanks again to Sadig Hajiyev for joining us here on RIMScast. This episode was produced live on-site at the RIMS ERM Conference in Seattle. Our coverage of the RIMS ERM Conference will continue in the next installment of RIMScast with two interviews in one episode! [21:28] Be sure to visit the RIMS LinkedIn page for all sorts of photos, videos, and coverage of this fantastic event! We had a great time, and we look forward to seeing you next year in Washington, D.C., for the RIMS ERM Conference 2026. [21:44] Plug Time! You can sponsor a RIMScast episode for this, our weekly show, or a dedicated episode. Links to sponsored episodes are in the show notes. [22:13] RIMScast has a global audience of risk and insurance professionals, legal professionals, students, business leaders, C-Suite executives, and more. Let's collaborate and help you reach them! Contact pd@rims.org for more information. [22:31] Become a RIMS member and get access to the tools, thought leadership, and network you need to succeed. Visit RIMS.org/membership or email membershipdept@RIMS.org for more information. [22:48] Risk Knowledge is the RIMS searchable content library that provides relevant information for today's risk professionals. Materials include RIMS executive reports, survey findings, contributed articles, industry research, benchmarking data, and more. [23:05] For the best reporting on the profession of risk management, read Risk Management Magazine at RMMagazine.com. It is written and published by the best minds in risk management. [23:19] Justin Smulison is the Business Content Manager at RIMS. Please remember to subscribe to RIMScast on your favorite podcasting app. You can email us at Content@RIMS.org. [23:31] Practice good risk management, stay safe, and thank you again for your continuous support! Links: RIMS-CRO Certificate Program In Advanced Enterprise Risk Management | Jan‒March 2026 Cohort | Led by James Lam RISK PAC | RIMS Advocacy | RIMS Legislative Summit SAVE THE DATE — March 18‒19, 2026 RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP) RISKWORLD 2026 Registration — Open for Members! Reserve your booth at RISKWORLD 2026! The Strategic and Enterprise Risk Center RIMS Diversity Equity Inclusion Council RIMS Risk Management magazine | Contribute RIMS ERM Special Edition 2025 RIMS Now SOCAR Türkiye Upcoming RIMS Webinars: RIMS.org/Webinars Upcoming RIMS-CRMP Prep Virtual Workshops: RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep with AFERM Virtual Workshop — December 3‒4 RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep with PARIMA — December 4‒5, 2025 Full RIMS-CRMP Prep Course Schedule "Leveraging Data and Analytics for Continuous Risk Management (Part I)" | Dec 4. See the full calendar of RIMS Virtual Workshops RIMS-CRMP Prep Workshops Related RIMScast Episodes: "Risk Rotation with Lori Flaherty and Bill Coller of Paychex" "Energizing ERM with Kellee Ann Richards-St. Clair" "AI and the Future of Risk with Dan Chuparkoff" (RIMS ERM Conference Keynote) "Talking ERM: From Geopolitical Whiplash to Leadership Buy-In" with Chrystina Howard of Hub "Shawn Punancy of Delta Flies High With ERM" "Tom Brandt on Growing Your Career and Organization with ERM" "James Lam on ERM, Strategy, and the Modern CRO" "Risk Quantification Through Value-Based Frameworks" Sponsored RIMScast Episodes: "Secondary Perils, Major Risks: The New Face of Weather-Related Challenges" | Sponsored by AXA XL (New!) "The ART of Risk: Rethinking Risk Through Insight, Design, and Innovation" | Sponsored by Alliant "Mastering ERM: Leveraging Internal and External Risk Factors" | Sponsored by Diligent "Cyberrisk: Preparing Beyond 2025" | Sponsored by Alliant "The New Reality of Risk Engineering: From Code Compliance to Resilience" | Sponsored by AXA XL "Change Management: AI's Role in Loss Control and Property Insurance" | Sponsored by Global Risk Consultants, a TÜV SÜD Company "Demystifying Multinational Fronting Insurance Programs" | Sponsored by Zurich "Understanding Third-Party Litigation Funding" | Sponsored by Zurich "What Risk Managers Can Learn From School Shootings" | Sponsored by Merrill Herzog "Simplifying the Challenges of OSHA Recordkeeping" | Sponsored by Medcor "How Insurance Builds Resilience Against An Active Assailant Attack" | Sponsored by Merrill Herzog "Third-Party and Cyber Risk Management Tips" | Sponsored by Alliant RIMS Publications, Content, and Links: RIMS Membership — Whether you are a new member or need to transition, be a part of the global risk management community! RIMS Virtual Workshops On-Demand Webinars RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP) RISK PAC | RIMS Advocacy RIMS Strategic & Enterprise Risk Center RIMS-CRMP Stories — Featuring RIMS President Kristen Peed! RIMS Events, Education, and Services: RIMS Risk Maturity Model® Sponsor RIMScast: Contact sales@rims.org or pd@rims.org for more information. Want to Learn More? Keep up with the podcast on RIMS.org, and listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Have a question or suggestion? Email: Content@rims.org. Join the Conversation! Follow @RIMSorg on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. About our guest: Sadig Hajiyev, Risk & Compliance Group Director, SOCAR Türkiye Production and engineering provided by Podfly.
In this episode of the Drop in CEO podcast, host Deb Coviello welcomes Joe Bockerstette, Managing Partner at Business Enterprise Mapping. Joe shares his journey from engineering to consulting, angel investing, and leading transformative workflow improvements for organizations. Together, they discuss the realities of process management, the challenges of change leadership, and practical advice for business leaders seeking sustainable growth and peace of mind. Episode Highlights: [1:00] Joe Barker’s career journey: from engineering to consulting and angel investing [9:00] The realities and risks of angel investing for entrepreneurs and investors [17:00] Mapping business processes: identifying “red clouds” and driving organizational change [24:30] Real-world example: Transforming a marketing firm’s operations and achieving peace of mind Joe Bockerstette is the Managing Partner of Business Enterprise Mapping in Phoenix AZ., a professional services firm delivering transformative workflow improvement. He has more than 30 years’ experience as a CEO, business consultant, and private equity/angel investor. Joe was previously a Consulting Partner with PwC, co-founded a private equity firm, Equity Management Group and was the first Managing Partner of the Main Street Venture Fund, an angel pledge fund in Indiana. Joe holds a BS degree in Engineering from the University of Cincinnati, and an MBA from Xavier University. He has served as a director on a variety of public, private, and non-profit boards and has co-authored three books, Attracting an Angel, How to Get Money from Business Angels and Why Most Entrepreneurs Don't, Time Based Manufacturing and Red Cloud Road, How Strategic Process Management Drives Competitive Advantage. Company Website: www.businessmapping.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-bockerstette-86875a17 For more information about my services or if you just want to connect and have a chat, reach out at: https://dropinceo.com/contact/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In this episode, Bob ‘n Joyce explore how the words we think and speak shape the world we live in. Our language can either unlock new possibilities or quietly reinforce the status quo. And in a world that's often dripping with negativity, it's easy to get swept up and mirror the tone around us. The same dynamic plays out inside organizations: the prevailing language can propel a culture forward… or keep it stuck. Key Takeaways: • Choosing our words consciously — what we call activating language — can bring new possibilities into being that wouldn't emerge on their own. • The words we use about ourselves influence how we show up and how others experience us. • Most of us toss out language without realizing its impact. • The dominant language inside an organization is a direct signal of the health of its culture. Join us as we unpack how language shapes personal and organizational wellbeing. Come on in. Grab a snack. Welcome!
In this episode of the C-Suite for Christ podcast, we're calling out the silent killer of the modern church: cowardice. We live in a world where standing for biblical truth can cost you everything, and too many believers have traded courage for comfort, conviction for convenience, and the cross for a couch.The world doesn't need more cautious Christians; it needs courageous ones. Courage isn't a personality trait; it's a biblical command. From David facing Goliath to the apostles facing execution, every generation has been called to pick up a stone and stand firm.This episode is a spiritual boot camp designed to expose the fears that keep us silent and reignite the holy boldness required to be a warrior for Christ.Buckle up. We're not here to be safe; we're here to be soldiers."Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." – Joshua 1:9Episode Highlights:07:55 - Satan loves silent Christians. He doesn't need to make you evil. He just needs to make you quiet. A 2023 Barna Group study found that 64% of Christians say they avoid sharing their faith at work out of fear of offending others or facing a backlash. Nearly two-thirds of believers admit they self-censor because they're afraid of what people might think about them.13:06 - Courage is what turns conviction into conduct. It's what transforms belief into boldness. Because without it, Christianity becomes nothing more than words, a bumper sticker, a slogan, heck, even a quaint little social club.56:28 - Courage will cost you something. Comfort, reputation, popularity, maybe even relationships. But the cross always costs. Courage doesn't mean you won't lose. It means you're willing to lose. And here's the paradox: what you lose for Christ, you never really lose.Connect with Paul M. NeubergerWebsite
Most new account executives stare at their territory list and feel the weight of it immediately. Fifty accounts. A hundred accounts. Sometimes more. Each one needs research, a plan, and outreach that doesn't sound like every other cold email clogging their prospect's inbox. Jake McOsker, an account executive at Forrester Research, found himself facing exactly this problem when he moved from BDR to AE. He cracked it by changing how he used AI for account planning. "Rather than taking 10 to 15 minutes to get an account plan out or understand who the notable stakeholders and the decision makers that I need to go with," he explained, "it's a 2 to 3 minute process to go through each one of these accounts." The traditional approach to AI account planning doesn't solve the territory problem. You ask ChatGPT or Claude for company information, and you get Wikipedia summaries. Founded in 1987. Headquartered in Dallas. 15,000 employees. The chief sales officer you're calling doesn't care about any of that, and showing up with generic facts makes you look lazy, not prepared. When you're new to the role, you don't have years of pattern recognition to fall back on. You don't know what good account planning looks like yet. You just know you need to get meetings with people who have better things to do than talk to a rep they've never heard of. The solution isn't using AI as a search engine. It's using it as a sales assistant with a specific job to do. The Problem With How Most Reps Use AI for Account Planning Here's what usually happens. A rep needs to prepare for a call with a VP of Marketing at a healthcare company. They open their AI tool of choice and type: "Tell me about [Company Name]." The AI spits back: Company history Product offerings Recent press releases Maybe some executive names The rep skims it, copies a few bullet points into their CRM, and calls it account planning. Then they get on the call and realize they have no idea what this VP is actually trying to accomplish this quarter. They ask surface-level questions. The prospect checks out. The meeting goes nowhere. This happens because most reps are using AI like a faster Google. They're asking for information instead of asking for intelligence. AI account planning only works when you give the AI a role and a specific outcome to deliver. Not "tell me about this company." Instead, "You're an account executive trying to book a meeting with this company's CMO in the next two weeks. Based on their recent announcements and what their executives are posting on LinkedIn, what initiatives are they likely prioritizing right now?" How to Set Up AI Agents for Account Planning The difference between a basic AI chat and an AI agent is memory and context. When you create an agent, you're teaching it what kind of output you need every single time. You're not starting from scratch with every account. Here's the framework that works: Step 1: Give Your AI Agent a Clear Role Don't just ask questions. Set up the scenario with urgency and context. For example: "You are an account executive at [Your Company]. You've been tasked with bringing in [Target Company] as a new customer within the next 90 days. Your first call is with their [specific role, like Chief Sales Officer]. Based on the materials I'm providing, what are the top three business initiatives this person is likely focused on right now?" This does two things. First, it forces the AI to think from your perspective instead of just summarizing data. Second, it prioritizes current, actionable information over historical background. Step 2: Feed It the Right Source Material Wikipedia summaries don't help you. But these sources do: Recent press releases about new initiatives or leadership changes LinkedIn posts from executives at the company (especially the person you're calling) Company blog posts about their strategic direction Industry news articles mentioning the company Their "About Us" or "Newsroom" page for current priorities Analyst reports or industry trend pieces relevant to their sector If you're selling to publicly traded companies, earnings call transcripts and annual reports (10-Ks) are gold mines. But most new AEs aren't calling on Fortune 500 companies. The good news is that smaller companies often share more on LinkedIn and their blogs because they're trying to build their brand. Upload PDFs or paste content directly into your AI tool. Then let it analyze the content through the lens of the role you gave it. The output will focus on strategic priorities, not corporate history. Step 3: Ask Follow-Up Questions Based on Persona If you're calling into marketing, tech, security, or customer experience, the priorities are different. Your AI agent should help you understand how company-wide initiatives affect the specific person you're talking to. After the initial analysis, ask: "How would these initiatives specifically impact the VP of Marketing's goals this quarter?" Now you have talking points that matter to the person on the other end of the call. Step 4: Validate With Human Intelligence AI gets you 80% of the way there in three minutes instead of fifteen. But you still need to cross-check. Look at LinkedIn. Check recent news. If you have access to account managers or customer success reps who work with similar companies, ask them if the trends you're seeing match reality. AI account planning is a tool, not a replacement for critical thinking. If the output feels off, it probably is. Trust your gut and adjust. How to Turn Research Into Value Messages The goal of account planning isn't to memorize facts about a company. It's to walk into a conversation with an informed hypothesis about what they're trying to accomplish. When you do this right, your opening changes. Instead of starting cold with "Tell me about your role," you can say: "I saw your CEO recently posted about accelerating your digital customer experience, and I'm assuming that's putting some pressure on your team to modernize how you're approaching customer engagement. But I could be completely wrong. What's actually taking up most of your time right now?" Here's how you've impacted your prospect: First, it proves you did real research. Second, it gives the prospect something specific to react to instead of making them explain their entire world from scratch. Third, and this is critical, it still leaves room for discovery. You're not skipping the "What are your biggest challenges?" question. You're earning the right to ask them by showing you've already thought about their business. When prospects talk about their challenges in their own language, you learn how they frame problems, what matters to them, and where your solution might actually fit. Even if your hypothesis is wrong, you've separated yourself from the 90% of reps who show up with nothing. And when you're right, you skip past the surface-level conversation and get straight into the dialogue that matters. That's how you earn credibility as a new account executive, even when you don't have ten years of experience to lean on. Building a Repeatable AI Account Planning Workflow This only scales if you systematize it. You can't rely on remembering the perfect prompt every time or recreating your process from scratch for every account. Create separate agents for different use cases. One for account planning. One for prospecting outreach. One for call preparation. Train each agent for the output you need so you aren't constantly course-correcting. Save your account plans in a central location. The information changes, so plan to refresh your research quarterly. What mattered in Q2 might not matter in Q4, and your account planning needs to reflect that. The key is building a system that you can repeat across your entire territory without burning out. Two to three minutes per account. Not fifteen. Not thirty. That's how you research 50 accounts in a week instead of just five. What This Actually Looks Like in Practice Let's say you're targeting a mid-market software company. You start by checking their LinkedIn. The CEO posted last week about expanding into healthcare verticals. You pull up their blog and find three recent posts about compliance challenges in healthcare tech. You upload screenshots or copy the text into your AI agent and give it the prompt: "You're an AE trying to close this software company in 90 days. The first meeting is with their Chief Revenue Officer. What are the top three priorities they're likely focused on, and how do those connect to the company's broader goals?" The AI analyzes the content and tells you: They're investing heavily in healthcare vertical expansion, but facing longer sales cycles due to compliance requirements They're dealing with the need to build credibility fast in a regulated industry Their CEO has committed to proving ROI in healthcare within two quarters Now you have a hypothesis. The CRO is probably under pressure to close healthcare deals faster while managing a team that doesn't have deep healthcare expertise. That's your angle. You cross-check this with LinkedIn and see that the CRO has been engaging with posts about sales enablement in complex verticals. You look at recent news and find they just hired a VP of Healthcare Sales. Everything lines up. Your outreach message writes itself. You're not pitching. You're acknowledging what they're working on and offering a perspective on how companies in similar situations have approached the same problem. What to Do After the Meeting Your AI workflow doesn't end when the call does. This is where most reps leave value on the table. After your meeting, take the transcript from your call recording tool (Fathom, Gong, Chorus, whatever you use) and upload it to your AI agent. Then ask specific questions:
Download for Mobile | Podcast Preview | Full Timestamps Older Twitch VODs are now being uploaded to the new channel: https://www.youtube.com/@CastleSuperBeastArchive Behold: GABECUBE Can AI replace the C-Suite please? Infinite Actually Just Means 4 Years Live Action Zelda's Cosplay Problem One Guy So Toxic, He Crashed The Deadlock Servers Rabbids Were An Industry Plant Watch live: twitch.tv/castlesuperbeast Exclusive $45-off Carver Mat at https://on.auraframes.com/SUPERBEAST. Promo Code SUPERBEAST Level up your game and get 10% off @TurtleBeach with code CASTLE at http://turtlebeach.com/castle #turtlebeachpod Take advantage of Ridge's Biggest Sale of the Year and GET UP TO 47% Off by going to https://www.Ridge.com/superbeast #Ridgepod Go to http://uncommongoods.com/SUPERBEAST to get 15% off your next gift! The Steam Hardware family officially expands in early 2026. Steam Controller. Steam Machine. Steam Frame. Halo Infinite Operation: Infinite First images from the live-action Legend of Zelda movie, in theaters May 7th, 2027 The Super Mario Galaxy Movie | Official Trailer destiny 2 put out a star wars DLC but said 'it's just an homage, no star wars characters in it NieR: Automata creator Yoko Taro says he's actually been working on a lot of projects recently, it's just that they got cancelled midway Horizon Steel Frontiers Developers Used AI 'Extensively' Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is littered with AI art slop, because your $70 means nothing anymore After South Korean publisher Krafton announced it's transforming into an "AI first" company, it's now offering employees voluntary resignation Krafton CEO allegedly asked Chat-GPT to help him find a way out of paying Subnautica 2 devs their bonuses because he wanted to avoid the 'professional embarrassment' of being seen as a 'pushover'
Are you planning time off or avoiding the truth about your team?In this solo episode, Bill explores how the holiday season acts as a diagnostic tool for your business. Are you building a company that thrives without you or one that collapses the second you unplug? He shares why most founders avoid taking time off and how strategically stepping away can highlight leadership gaps, capacity issues, and trust breakdowns. If you're feeling pulled in every direction heading into November or December, this episode is for you. Topics explored in this episode:(01:15) The Holiday Season Is a Double-Edged Sword*The holidays are often very joyful, but they also carry a lot of stress.*Leaders are managing business deadlines, shorter days, and personal expectations collide.*It's important to acknowledge that stress exists alongside celebration(02:25) Redefining “Thanksgiving”*Break “Thanksgiving” into two core practices: Thanks (appreciation) and Giving (generosity).*Start with gratitude for team members, family, and yourself.*Let go of expectations, and express that through generous action.(5:25) Build Systems That Let You Breathe*Think through the logistics of how you will see and connect with friends and family. *What's gone wrong in the past? How can you prevent it from going wrong this year? *Apply the same reflection to your team; ask how they're feeling and what support they needBill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the Scaling Up Business podcast, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth. Join Bill in the Growth Navigator Coaching Program: https://ScalingCoach.com/workshop Bill on LinkedIn: https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/BillGallBill on YouTube: https://www.YouTube.com/@BillGallagherScalingCoach Visit https://ScalingUp.com to learn more about Verne Harnish, our team of Scaling Up Coaches, and the Scaling Up Performance Platform, which includes coaching, learning, software, and summit. We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail. We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around people, strategy, execution, and cash so that they can scale up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Did you enjoy today's episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover Scaling Up Business with Bill Gallagher so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.Subscribe via Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3PGhWPJSubscribe via Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3PKe00uBill on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/billgall/ Bill on Twitter/X: https://x.com/billgall
19 Nov 2025. We’re broadcasting live from Day 3 of the Dubai Airshow 2025 - and it’s a full C-suite takeover at the biggest aviation event of the year.We hear from:• His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and CEO of Emirates Airline and Group• Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports• Antonoaldo Neves, Group CEO of Etihad Aviation Group• Adel Al Redha, Deputy President and COO of Emirates AirlineFrom fleet strategy to airport growth to the new era of Gulf aviation, we bring you the biggest headlines straight from Dubai World Central.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
*Are we finally reaching Peak eVTOL? Jason and Alex on Joby's big Abu Dhabi moves and Archer's purchase of LA's Hawthorne Airport.On a PACKED Monday TWiST, Jason is BACK from MENA and Tokyo. Hear tales from his whirlwind trips launching new Founder University satellite programs… and find out why construction and fintech are BOOMING across the Middle East.PLUS Ramp raised $300M… here's why Alex calls the round “pretty baller.” We question why AI companies are growing SO MUCH FOUNDER than their SaaS counterparts. We're digging into the Problem with Dropbox.AND we're saying goodbye to KitKat, the beloved SF bodega cat who was reportedly run over by a Waymo. Here's why Jason's not too broken up about it (but he's JUST JOKING!)
Today, Bob 'n Joyce welcome Bernie Youngblood — a force of nature who brings passion, candor, and a deep sense of purpose to everything he touches. A self-described “accidental entrepreneur,” Bernie has launched eight companies, reinvented industries, and built a career anchored in one simple belief: doing good and doing well should go hand-in-hand. Bernie doesn't dodge hard questions. In fact, he runs straight at them. In this conversation, he challenges conventional thinking and offers a perspective that every leader — from scrappy founders to seasoned execs — needs to hear. We cover a wide terrain, including: • The biggest mistake startup CEOs make • Why the world needs more people willing to speak truth to power • Why it's never just about the money • How organizations can win by putting purpose, wellness, and culture first • The myth of scarcity • Staying hopeful in chaotic times Bernie is a provocateur in the best sense — someone who shakes people awake, pushes for better, and reminds us that leadership is ultimately about impact. Here we go. Come on in. Grab a snack. Welcome. About Our Guest Bernie Youngblood is an 8x founder, CEO, marketer, and change agent who helps organizations win by putting purpose, wellness, and culture at the center of their strategy. After starting his career in finance, Bernie found his true calling in sales, marketing, and entrepreneurship — leading national campaigns, driving corporate spin-offs, building startups from the ground up, and helping Fortune 500 companies rethink how they go to market. Today, he splits his time between two missions: transforming workplace wellness as Director of Partnerships at HOTLOGIC®, and leading ThinkPartners, a boutique firm that connects for-profits, nonprofits, and artist communities to ignite purpose-driven growth. He also hosts Unboxing the Office, a podcast exploring corporate culture with honesty and humor. Bernie's work is rooted in a simple conviction: thriving people build thriving companies.
"People do more research on buying a refrigerator than they do on buying their health plan. And so I saw that as a level of brokenness that I felt... we as consultants could actually make a profound impact." - Trey HalbertThe old-school, transactional broker is dead. My guest this week, Trey Halbert, CEO of ExperINS, joins the show to discuss the rise of the modern "Strategic Consultant" and what that evolution means for employers.Trey breaks down the playbook for this new, elevated role. We discuss why consultants must align the benefits program with the C-suite's core business strategy, not just the HR department. We also explore how AI is not a threat, but a powerful tool to augment advisors by handling menial tasks (like contract review), freeing them up for the high-level critical thinking and problem-solving where humans truly add value.This entire shift is part of a bigger journey: moving from a career focused on success and "resume virtues" to one focused on significance and "eulogy virtues."Tune in for a high-level discussion on the future of benefits consulting!Chapters:(00:00:00) Aligning Benefits with the C-Suite: The Modern Consultant's Playbook (00:06:23) The Evolution of Self-Funding (00:15:05) Why Consultants Are More Critical Than Ever (00:20:46) The Power of a Peer Network (True Network) (00:29:07) Speaking to the C-Suite, Not Just HR (00:35:51) How Benefits Drive Business Valuation (00:43:19) How AI Will Augment, Not Replace, Brokers (01:04:35) The "No A**holes" Rule & Building CultureKey Links for Social:@SelfFunded on YouTube for video versions of the podcast and much more - https://www.youtube.com/@SelfFundedListen/watch on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/1TjmrMrkIj0qSmlwAIevKA?si=068a389925474f02Listen on Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/self-funded-with-spencer/id1566182286Follow Spencer on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/spencer-smith-self-funded/Follow Spencer on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/selffundedwithspencer/
Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society. In this episode, Justin interviews Julia Anna Potts, President and CEO of the Meat Institute, about her career, background, lifelong interest in agriculture and food, and how she joined the Meat Institute following a career in environmental law. The discussion covers the role of the Meat Institute in the food supply chain and how it serves member companies and the food industry in general, through its food safety best practices and a free online course, "The Foundations of Listeria Control." Julia reveals the Protein PACT initiative and explains how food safety relates to risk management with their shared values. She tells how meat processors are good community members. Listen for advice on the culture of safety and how it starts at the very top of the organization. Key Takeaways: [:01] About RIMS and RIMScast. [:17] About this episode of RIMScast. We will be joined by Julia Anna Potts, the CEO of the Meat Institute. We'll discuss food safety and education, and risk frameworks that the Institute uses to ensure that our food and supply chains are clean. But first… [:47] The next RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep with AFERM will be held on December 3rd and 4th. The next RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep with PARIMA will be held on December 4th and 5th. These are virtual courses. [1:03] Links to these courses can be found through the Certifications page of RIMS.org and through this episode's show notes. [1:11] RIMS Virtual Workshops! On November 19th and 20th, Ken Baker will lead the two-day course, "Applying and Integrating ERM." [1:24] "Managing Data for ERM" will be led again by Pat Saporito. That session will start on December 11th. Registration closes on December 10th. RIMS members always enjoy deep discounts on the virtual workshops. [1:40] The full schedule of virtual workshops can be found on the RIMS.org/education and RIMS.org/education/online-learning pages. A link is also in this episode's notes. [1:52] This episode is released on November 18th, 2025, Day Two of the RIMS ERM Conference in Seattle, Washington. We've covered a lot of ERM ground in the last few episodes. For more ERM, click the link to the RIMS ERM Special Edition of Risk Management magazine in the notes. [2:18] RIMScast ERM coverage is linked as well. Enhance your ERM knowledge with RIMS! [2:24] On with the show! Our guest is Julie Anna Potts. She is the President and CEO of the Meat Institute. She leads the Institute in implementing programs and activities for the association. [2:38] She is an agricultural veteran, previously serving the American Farm Bureau Federation as its Executive Vice President. [2:47] With Thanksgiving coming up next week in the U.S., I thought this would be a great time on RIMScast to talk about food safety, food production, and what another not-for-profit is doing to ensure the safety of our products and the speed and efficiency of our supply chain. [3:07] We're going to have a lot of fun and talk turkey, so let's get to it! [3:12] Interview! Julie Anna Potts, welcome to RIMScast! [3:27] Julie Anna Potts and RIMS CEO, Gary LaBranche, are both part of the Committee of 100 with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C. They get together with other association heads across industries. Julie Anna says it is very valuable. [3:44] Julie Anna and Gary were talking in the summer about food safety and about what the Meat Institute does, and Gary invited her to be on RIMScast. [3:57] Justin notes that it is the week before Thanksgiving in the U.S. Juliana says they are doing so much in Washington now, and food safety is always top-of-mind around the holidays. There are lots of turkeys and turkey products being sold in the United States. [4:45] Julie Anna says turkey is cultural for Thanksgiving, and poultry, and how you cook it and handle it in the kitchen is incredibly important for food safety. [5:01] Justin asks, Is fish meat? Julianna says fish is protein, but we don't classify it as meat or poultry. Justin wants to keep the argument going with his family at Thanksgiving. [5:31] Julie Anna says they have lots of arguments around the Meat Institute, like whether ketchup belongs on hot dogs. Julie Anna says the answer to that is no. [5:41] Julie Anna has been at the Meat Institute for a little over seven years. She came in as President and CEO. She has been in Washington for most of her career, since undergrad. She graduated from law school in D.C. and worked at a firm. [5:59] Julie Anna has been in agriculture, representing farmers for years. She went to the Senate as Chief Counsel of the Senate Agriculture Committee. She has been at the Meat Institute for the last seven years. [6:19] Food and agriculture have been central to Julie Anna's career and also to her family life. Her husband grew up on a farm. Julie Anna is two generations off the farm. [6:32] They love to cook, dine out, and eat with their children; all the things you do around the holidays, and gather around the Thanksgiving table. They have passed to one of their three children their love of food traditions. She's their little foodie. [6:52] Julie Anna has a career and a personal life that is centered around food. [7:11] The Meat Institute members are the companies that slaughter animals and do further processing of meat. They are in the supply chain between livestock producers and retail and food service customers. [7:35] To be a general member of the Meat Institute, you have to have a Grant of Inspection from the Food Safety Inspection Service of the USDA. The Federal Grant of Inspection is a requirement to be able to operate and to sell into the market. [7:56] When we look at the capacity we have at the USDA, in the last several months, we're not seeing a decline in capacity, but more emphasis on our Food Safety Inspection Service. [8:18] Through DOGE, voluntary retirements, through additional resources coming in with the One Big Beautiful Bill, and through recruiting, the Meat Institute is seeing its member companies have staffing, even through this government shutdown. They're considered essential, as always. [8:54] The Meat Institute was established in 1906 for the purpose of addressing food safety and industry issues. Those are Jobs One, Two, and Three, every day. The Meat Institute has all kinds of education it offers to its members. [9:15] The members of the Meat Institute have strong food safety programs. They have HASSA Plans and third-party audits. The Meat Institute helps any member company of any size, from 25 employees to global companies, with education on, for example, Listeria training. [9:53] The Meat Institute has just launched an online platform that has had great uptake. If you have associates in your business who have never had food safety training, for all levels of folks, there is online, free, and freely available training on how to deal with Listeria. [10:19] All the Meat Institute member companies have significant Food Safety staffing and Food Safety Quality Assurance Programs. Julie Anna praises the people throughout the industry who work in Food Safety for their companies. It's a life-or-death matter. [10:45] Food Safety staff are always seeking to become better, so the Meat Institute has a Food Safety Conference and Advanced Listeria Training (an in-person module). They interface with the regulators, who are partners with the Meat Institute in this. [11:14] The Meat Institute is always striving for better Best Management Practices across everyone's programs, which are never just the minimum. A philosophy of doing just what is compliant does not get you into the best space. [11:36] The Meat Institute is here to encourage Best in Class, always. Food Safety is non-competitive in the Meat Institute. Everyone across the different-sized companies, from 25 employees to 100,000, can feel comfortable sharing what's working for them. [12:06] That is important when it comes to conferences and other things they do. Let's be candid with each other, because nobody can get better if you're not. [12:17] The Meat Institute has seen cultural issues where CEOs don't think about Food Safety and Quality Assurance because they have great people taking care of it. That's true a lot of the time, until it isn't. [12:42] The tone that needs to be set at the very top of the organization is that this is hugely important for risk management. Hugely important for your brand and your ability to operate. [12:56] The Meat Institute board asked, if we are pushing culture down through the organization, what kinds of questions do I need to ask, not just my Food Safety Team, but everyone, and demonstrating my knowledge, understanding, and commitment to governance of this big risk? [13:31] The Meat Institute created a template of a set of questionnaires for executives. It is a C-Suite document and documentation. [13:47] It's a voluntary questionnaire for a CEO, regardless of company size, indicating that you understand how important this is in ensuring that everything that you push down through your organization, culturally, is focused on Food Safety. [14:05] The link to the Listeria Safety Platform is in this episode's show notes. [14:11] Justin says the structure of the Meat Institute is very similar to the structure of RIMS, with open communications and knowledge-sharing, or else the industry does not grow or improve. [14:27] Justin says it sounds like the industry executives are stepping up their game amid the tumult coming out of Washington. Julie Anna agrees. [14:47] Julie Anna says the Meat Institute has been driving that progress. It is incredibly important. Julie Anna thinks that in a lot of industries, there is a pull and tug between the companies and regulators. [15:07] In the case of meat and poultry inspection and what the Meat Institute does with FSIS, it is a collaboration. The inspectors verify for consumers what the companies are doing to keep food safe. [15:28] It is up to the company to decide how it is going to do this effectively and successfully and get better at it. [15:41] Numerous third parties do audits and help customers across the supply chain, but the responsibility rests with the companies. [15:59] The Meat Institute staff has highly technical people who come out of academia, out of the plant, having done FSQA, Legal, and safety regulations. There are folks who have been in inspection in the government at FSIS. [16:29] The Meat Institute has several staff whose job it is to stay on top of the latest improvements and ensure that everybody knows what those are, and in dialogue with our FSIS inspection leadership here in Washington, D.C. [16:46] The Meat Institute looks to FSIS to make sure that consumer confidence is there. It does nothing for our industry if consumers think that FSIS isn't being an effective regulator. [17:11] The Meat Institute companies have to be the ones that do more than the bare minimum to ensure they're doing the best they can. The Meat Institute's philosophy is always to push further and further. [17:25] There is an expense associated with that. The Meat Institute does its best to help manage that risk for its companies by giving them everything they need to be the best that they can be. [17:40] The Meat Institute has 36 employees. They are very transparent in the Food Safety world. They want non-members to take advantage of all their resources in Food Safety. A lot of the things they offer on education and regulations can be accessed without being a member. [18:14] The Meat Institute has recently joined an alliance to stop food-borne illness and is looking to get more engaged in that organization. That's across several segments, not just meat and poultry. [18:35] The Meat Institute has committed and re-committed over the years to the efforts it makes with its companies. The Meat Institute looks for its companies to be leaders in the Food Safety space. [18:53] Quick Break! The RIMS CRO Certificate Program in Advanced Enterprise Risk Management is our live virtual program led by the famous James Lam. Great news! A third cohort has been announced, from January through March 2026! [19:14] Registration closes January 5th. Enroll now. A link is in this episode's show notes. [19:22] Save the dates March 18th and 19th, 2026, for The RIMS Legislative Summit, which will be held in Washington, D.C. [19:31] Join us in Washington, D.C., for two days of Congressional Meetings, networking, and advocating on behalf of the risk management community. Visit RIMS.org/Advocacy for more information and updates and to register. [19:45] We've got more plugs later. Let's return to our interview with Meat Institute CEO Julie Anna Potts! [19:56] Julie Anna says a lot of our companies are also regulated by the FDA because they do further processing. For example, pizzas with pepperoni, or any number of mixed products that have both FDA and USDA regulatory personnel on site. [20:20] FSIS is, by far, more present and more in tune with what member companies are doing than the inspectors at the FDA. [20:30] Justin asks if restaurants can be members of the Meat Institute. There is a segment of membership called Allied Members, which includes restaurants and grocery stores. If they are not processors, but they are procuring meat and poultry for sale, they are in the meat industry. [21:09] The Meat Institute has had a great deal of interaction on many issues with its retail and food service customers. [21:25] Shortly after she joined the Meat Institute, Julie Anna was handed a mandate from the board to be proactive and lean in on the things consumers are interested in with an initiative to continue to maintain or rebuild trust. [21:48] These are things like food safety, animal welfare, environmental impact, and worker safety. They call this initiative Protein PACT (People, Animals, and the Climate of Tomorrow). Food Safety is front and center in Protein PACT. [22:13] The Meat Institute has a way of focusing its efforts through this lens of improvement in five areas that work together to reassure consumers. When they know that you're working on all these issues and trying to improve, it increases trust in all the above issues. [22:54] Retail and Food Service customers in the industry want to know more and more. They want to know upstream, what are you doing to get better? [23:05] They want to know how they can take the data that you are collecting anonymously and in the aggregate to communicate at the point-of-sale area to ensure that their customers, collectively, are getting what they need? [23:23] Julie Anna saw this recently at H-E-B, a popular grocer in Texas. Julie Anna walked through one of their huge, beautiful, newly renovated stores. The engagement the ultimate customer has is in the store, asking questions of the butcher. [24:07] It's wonderful to be able to say, If you have food safety concerns, we have a relationship that we can give you the knowledge you need to answer those concerns, and it's coming very consistently across the industry. [24:40] Justin asks, When the Meat Institute members lean in, are they leaning in at 85% or 93%? You'll only get ground beef jokes here, on RIMScast! Julie Anna says, it's all good. Justin says those kinds of jokes are called The Manager's Special. [25:17] One Final Break! RISKWORLD 2026 will be held from May 3rd through the 6th in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. RISKWORLD attracts more than 10,000 risk professionals from across the globe. Guess what! Booth sales are open now! [25:37] This is the chance to showcase your solutions, meet decision-makers face-to-face, and expand your global network. Connect, Cultivate, and Collaborate with us at the largest risk management event of the year. The link to booth sales is in this episode's show notes. [25:53] Let's Return to the Conclusion of My Interview with Meat Institute CEO Julie Anna Potts! [26:16] Julie Anna was an environmental lawyer in private practice. Her work involved the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and Superfund. One of her clients was the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF). [26:42] When Julie Anna left the firm, she moved in as General Counsel to the AFBF, the largest general farm organization in the U.S. Besides environmental law, she worked there in lots of other types of law as General Counsel. [27:06] At the Meat Institute, Julie Anna collaborates with the AFBF. The ag sector in Washington, D.C., is very collaborative. The Meat Institute works closely with the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, the National Pork Producers Council, and the commodity groups. [27:35] Everybody is connected. If you are working on an animal issue, you're going into crop groups and animal health companies. The Meat Institute works with everyone. Their philosophy is, We all get better when we share knowledge. [28:03] That's the basis of the conversation Julie Anna and Gary LaBranche had in the summer about this podcast. The Meat Institute has resources it would love to share on the risk management of food safety issues. [28:20] The Meat Institute also knows consultants and other help outside of the meat industry that they can point people to, as needed. The Meat Institute would love to be a resource to the listeners of RIMScast. You can check out the contact information in the show notes. [29:02] Julie Anna is familiar with risk professionals. She serves on the board of Nationwide Insurance. Nationwide Agribusiness has Food Safety expertise. When Julie Anna practiced law, she worked with clients on helping them manage risk and assess potential outcomes. [30:09] Julie Anna says risk management is one of her favorite topics. How do you plan to recover from a flood after a hurricane? How do you plan for farm animal disease? There are now three animal disease outbreaks that are constantly on their minds at the Meat Institute. [30:31] The Meat Institute helps run tabletop exercises with its companies, sometimes involving government officials, as well. It's New World Screwworm to the South. It's High Path Avian Influenza, which has crossed over from poultry to dairy and beef cattle. [30:48] Julie Anna continues, We have African Swine Fever, which has not gotten to the United States, thank goodness! All of these require a certain level of preparedness. So we work on it as a policy matter, but we also need to operationalize what happens when this happens. [31:16] The pandemic is a good recent example of what happens when things fall apart. Member companies have a very limited ability to hold live animals if they're not going to slaughter. They don't have anywhere to go. [31:44] The pandemic was an example of what happens when something reduces capacity and the animals start backing up. It's incredibly important that things work. The pandemic was unimaginable to a lot of people. It tested our risk management models. [32:10] Once we were there, dealing with it, we had incredible adaptability to the circumstances we were facing. That only happens if you face certain problems every day to keep that plant running. For member companies, if the plants don't run, the animals don't have a place to go. [32:37] Farmers get a lower price for their animals, consumers have the perception that there's not going to be enough food, and there's a run on the grocery stores. During the pandemic, it righted itself really quickly, once we got some PPE, etc. in place, and some guidance. [32:59] The member companies relied heavily on the CDC to tell them how to get people in so the plants could run. It was difficult for everyone. Julie Anna thinks that we learned a lot from that experience on how to help your company troubleshoot in the moment to keep going. [33:37] Julie Anna addresses how PFAS issues are being handled. It's an EPA issue and a state's issue for regulations on packaging and recycling. The state issues are predominant. Environmental issues are being addressed at the state level. We could end with 50 regimes. [35:04] That's where there's more risk for the Meat Institute and its members, especially companies that sell nationwide. There is very little state regulatory work that the Meat Institute does directly. [35:26] The Meat Institute is examining how to utilize other resources to figure out, with a small staff, how to monitor and stay ahead of these things for our members. That's very much on their minds. The EPA's work has been swinging back and forth between administrations. [36:02] It's hard to convince a business of a good recommendation if the rules are going to change with the next administration. It's a problem of where to invest in things like measuring emissions and what to do to satisfy customers when the rhetoric changes dramatically. [37:04] Justin says we've had a different administration every four years for the last 16 years. He says if he were a business owner, he would do everything he could to make sure the water coming in and going out is clean to avoid verdicts. Nuclear verdicts are through the roof. [37:27] Julie Anna speaks of social inflation by juries wishing to send a message to big corporate entities. She says member companies are dealing with these issues all the time. What's the right amount of rulemaking for effluent limitation guidelines? [38:20] The Meat Institute had opposed what the Biden administration had proposed, given that the number of companies it estimated would not be able to stay in business was close to 80. The Trump administration has backed off and is leaving in place what was there before. [38:52] That's all part of the Federal policy debate in D.C. It does not diminish the commitment its members have to be good community members. They work in their communities. Julie Anna was just down in East Tennessee at a wonderful family company, Swaggerty Sausage. [39:16] They do water treatment. They are beloved in the community because of how they take care of people. They bring in pigs from North Carolina and turn them into sausage. Julie Anna met the fifth generation. He is eight months old. [39:40] Julie Anna had a great visit with people, understanding how their commitment to the environment and animal welfare, and the things they can show their community members that they are doing, works for them. Julie Anna saw how the sausage is made, Justin adds. [40:28] Justin says, You've been such a delight to speak with, and we've learned so much. Is this the busiest time of year for your members, with Thanksgiving coming up, the religious holidays coming up, and then New Year's? Are they keeping Safety at the top of their risk radar now? [40:59] Julie Anna says Our members, and we, keep Safety at the top of the risk radar every single day. It does not get harder during high-volume days. [41:15] There's a spike around Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day. There's a lot more turkey happening around Thanksgiving and possibly Christmas, but certainly, hot dogs, hamburgers, sausages, brisket, and all kinds of things. It's cyclical. [41:49] Julie Anna wishes Justin could come into a plant with her, walk through, and see the number of times there are interventions for food safety. X-rays for foreign material. Sprays for certain types of pathogens, and the ways in which the hide is treated. [42:14] It is such a huge part, and they are so proud of what they do. They are happy to show anybody how we continue to hold that up as the most important thing. Worker Safety is also hugely important. We're talking about our humans and what we do to protect them. [42:42] Safety is really important, and it does not receive any less attention at busy times. [42:50] Justin says that's a great sentiment to close on. It has been such a delight to speak with you, and I'm so glad we had the chance to do this. It's going to be especially impactful now, just ahead of Thanksgiving and the religious holidays, and the New Year. [43:16] Special thanks to Julie Anna Potts of the Meat Institute for joining us here on RIMScast just ahead of Thanksgiving 2025. Links to the Meat Institute resources are in this episode's show notes, as is RIMS coverage of Food Safety and related topics. [43:34] Plug Time! You can sponsor a RIMScast episode for this, our weekly show, or a dedicated episode. Links to sponsored episodes are in the show notes. [44:02] RIMScast has a global audience of risk and insurance professionals, legal professionals, students, business leaders, C-Suite executives, and more. Let's collaborate and help you reach them! Contact pd@rims.org for more information. [44:20] Become a RIMS member and get access to the tools, thought leadership, and network you need to succeed. Visit RIMS.org/membership or email membershipdept@RIMS.org for more information. [44:38] Risk Knowledge is the RIMS searchable content library that provides relevant information for today's risk professionals. Materials include RIMS executive reports, survey findings, contributed articles, industry research, benchmarking data, and more. [44:54] For the best reporting on the profession of risk management, read Risk Management Magazine at RMMagazine.com. It is written and published by the best minds in risk management. [45:09] Justin Smulison is the Business Content Manager at RIMS. Please remember to subscribe to RIMScast on your favorite podcasting app. You can email us at Content@RIMS.org. [45:21] Practice good risk management, stay safe, and thank you again for your continuous support! Links: RIMS-CRO Certificate Program In Advanced Enterprise Risk Management | Jan‒March 2026 Cohort | Led by James Lam RISK PAC | RIMS Advocacy | RIMS Legislative Summit SAVE THE DATE — March 18‒19, 2026 RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP) Reserve your booth at RISKWORLD 2026! The Strategic and Enterprise Risk Center RIMS Diversity Equity Inclusion Council RIMS Risk Management magazine | Contribute RIMS Risk Management Magazine: "USDA Budget Cuts Present Food Safety Risks" (May 2025) Meat Institute Meat Institute — Foundations of Listeria Control RIMS Risk Management magazine ERM Special Edition 2025 RIMS Now Upcoming RIMS Webinars: RIMS.org/Webinars Upcoming RIMS-CRMP Prep Virtual Workshops: RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep with AFERM Virtual Workshop — December 3‒4 RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep with PARIMA — December 4‒5, 2025 Full RIMS-CRMP Prep Course Schedule "Applying and Integrating ERM" | Nov 19‒20, 2025 | April 4, 2026 "Leveraging Data and Analytics for Continuous Risk Management (Part I)" | Dec 4. See the full calendar of RIMS Virtual Workshops RIMS-CRMP Prep Workshops Related RIMScast Episodes: "Recipes for Success with Wendy's CRO Bob Bowman" "Franchise Risks with Karen Agostinho of Five Guys Enterprises" "Risk Insight with AAIN Leadership and Panda Express" Sponsored RIMScast Episodes: Secondary Perils, Major Risks: The New Face of Weather-Related Challenges | Sponsored by AXA XL (New!) 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RIMS Virtual Workshops On-Demand Webinars RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP) RISK PAC | RIMS Advocacy RIMS Strategic & Enterprise Risk Center RIMS-CRMP Stories — Featuring RIMS President Kristen Peed! RIMS Events, Education, and Services: RIMS Risk Maturity Model® Sponsor RIMScast: Contact sales@rims.org or pd@rims.org for more information. Want to Learn More? Keep up with the podcast on RIMS.org, and listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Have a question or suggestion? Email: Content@rims.org. Join the Conversation! Follow @RIMSorg on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. About our guest: Julie Anna Potts, CEO, The Meat Institute Production and engineering provided by Podfly.
He's relatively new to being a people manager after working hard and getting promoted quickly at his organization. He's struggling with communicating and managing effectively with some on his team, especially former peers. Executive coach Muriel Wilkins guides this leader through how he's currently trying to motivate people, what is or isn't working, and how he can scale his leadership even further.
In this episode of the Drop in CEO podcast, host Deb Coviello welcomes Terry Blachek, an accomplished entrepreneur and franchise leader with over 35 years of experience in the health, fitness, and consumer lifestyle sectors. Terry shares his journey from humble beginnings to scaling major fitness brands like Orange Theory Fitness, discusses the importance of clarity, business models, and mindset, and offers actionable advice for leaders looking to grow and sustain their businesses. Episode Highlights: 2:22 — Terry’s entrepreneurial roots and early career in fitness and business 6:18 — The founding and explosive growth of Orange Theory Fitness 10:25 — The power of clarity, communication, and solving the right problem in business 19:36 — Mindset, overcoming adversity, and building a personal advisory board Terry Blachek is an accomplished entrepreneur, speaker, and franchise leader with over 35 years in health, fitness, and lifestyle industries. As Managing Director at Franvest Capital Partners, he scales high-growth brands, including The Dog Stop. A founding partner of Orangetheory Fitness, he built Austin Fitness Group into 130+ studios and earned induction into the Orangetheory Hall of Fame. A recognized industry voice, he’s spoken at IHRSA, Disney Institute, and hosts the Tuesday with Terry podcast. Formerly an executive at Crunch, Lifestyle Family Fitness, and The Fitness Company, Terry continues to inspire leaders with his proven expertise in growth, culture, and performance. Company Website: https://franvest.ca/our-team/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/terry_blachek/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/terry-blachek-78431a174/ For more information about my services or if you just want to connect and have a chat, reach out at: https://dropinceo.com/contact/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In this episode of Alliance Insights, Jack Elliott, Regional VP of Operations with Alera Group and Risk & Insurance Research Academy Board Chair, shares how a high school internship changed the course of his life. The Academy's Sharla Floyd talks with Jack about his path from the classroom to the C-suite and why he is so passionate about creating opportunities for today's students through initiatives like the CISR High School Program. Jack's story is a powerful reminder of how early exposure and industry engagement can truly change lives, and why giving back to the next generation matters now more than ever. Watch now and be inspired to help build the future of our industry. Focusing exclusively on risk management and insurance professional development, the Risk & Insurance Education Alliance provides a practical advantage at every career stage, positioning our participants and their clients for confidence and success.
In this episode of the C-Suite for Christ podcast, we're going to war with one of the most destructive deceptions of our time: the transgender movement. This is not a political discussion. This is a spiritual war. The transgender movement isn't a debate about identity; it's a full-frontal assault on the image of God Himself. It's a deception that whispers to our children that their bodies are a mistake, that tells parents affirmation is love, and that demands the Church trade truth for tolerance.Let's call it what it is: a rebellion against the Creator. The world labels the words "male and female" as hate speech, but we call it holy scripture. The time for silent, comfortable Christianity is over. We can't cover the world in Christ if we're afraid of the world's opinion.This episode isn't about hate. It's about truth—the kind of truth that confronts lies, protects children, and ultimately saves souls.Buckle up. This isn't about politics—it's about principalities. This is a battle for the very image of God."So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." – Genesis 1:27Episode Highlights:07:20 - Nearly one out of every 20 teenagers in America is now identifying as something other than their biological sex. That's not biology. It's indoctrination. And it's happening fast. There's been an explosion of confusion. Not because kids suddenly woke up trapped in the wrong bodies, but because a movement has been relentlessly telling them that they are.14:43 - This battle over gender isn't just a culture war. It's a spiritual war. It's not about pronouns, politics, or personal preferences. It's about the very foundation of creation, If Satan can convince society that we can rewrite what God has written, then he's convinced society that we no longer need God at all. That's what's at stake here.25:07 - Truth without love is cruelty. But love without truth is compromise. We don't mock, insult, or hate people who identify as transgender. We love those people. But we love them enough to tell them the truth. If your definition of love allows someone to walk toward destruction unchallenged, then I'm sorry, that ain't love. It's neglect.Connect with Paul M. NeubergerWebsite
Our guest on this week's episode is Alex Saric, CMO at Ivalua. We have definitely seen a lot of uncertainty this year due to changing economic policies and the supply chain shifts that have resulted. It has placed a lot of companies on the sidelines trying to figure out what to do next with their technology investments. How do they get from just being in survival mode to thriving? Our guest today joins Ben Ames with some insights. Working with small businesses can help strengthen supply chains and boost local economies; that's according to a report from supplier intelligence platform Supplier.io, released earlier this week. The company analyzed data from more than 500 large enterprises for its 2025 Small Business Impact Report—to learn more about those companies' small sourcing initiatives. We share some highlights from that report.A report from the supply chain software company Kinaxis reveals that there is a gap between AI ambition and AI implementation. The report found that at many organizations, business leaders tend to underestimate the new risks and complexities that AI may introduce. But on the other hand, their staffers are very well aware of those complexities, because they're focused on the practical realities, such as the effort, change management, and technical challenges. The executives want a fast ROI from AI, but staffers see the hurdles.Supply Chain Xchange also offers a podcast series called Supply Chain in the Fast Lane. It is co-produced with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals. A new series is now available on Top Threats to our Supply Chains. It covers topics including Geopolitical Risks, Economic Instability, Cybersecurity Risks, Threats to energy and electric grids; Supplier Risks, and Transportation Disruptions Go to your favorite podcast platform to subscribe and to listen to past and future episodes. The podcast is also available at www.thescxchange.com.Articles and resources mentioned in this episode:IvaluaSmall business spending fortifies supply chainsAI reality cap - C-Suite executives expect quick ROI but staff see hurdlesVisit Supply Chain XchangeListen to CSCMP and Supply Chain Xchange's Supply Chain in the Fast Lane podcastSend feedback about this podcast to podcast@agilebme.comThis podcast episode is sponsored by: Storage SolutionsOther linksAbout DC VELOCITYSubscribe to DC VELOCITYSign up for our FREE newslettersAdvertise with DC VELOCITY
What does it really take to lead powerfully and why does knowing yourself matter more than sounding confident?In this episode, Bill sits down with Susan Power, Founder and CEO of PowerUp Leadership, for a conversation about what it takes to lead well in today's world. Susan shares her personal evolution as a leader, from trying to “do it all” to embracing emotional intelligence, slowing down, and showing up as her full self.They discuss how leadership isn't about being louder or tougher, it's about knowing how you operate, communicating clearly, and making space for others to grow. Susan uses with her high-growth clients, including emotional check-ins, mindset shifts, and coaching techniques to increase self-awareness.Topics explored in this episode:(06:45) The Path to Becoming a Leader*Susan discusses how her leadership style has changed over the years. *Play to your strengths.*What does Susan struggle with the most in her leadership style? (15:25) Communicate with Power*The better leadership skills you have, the better you'll be at sales.*When things are hard, when you're tired, just remember, you're going to be okay. *You need to believe in yourself in order to go for new heights. (28:15) Leadership is Emotional; Lean Into It *It's okay to be emotional and expressive. *Susan loves to use an emotional wheel to help her clients get dialed in on their feelings. *Sometimes you have to slow down to pay attention to your body. (31:35) How You Show Up Matters*The value of coaching helps you increase your self-awareness.*It's okay to give people a heads up on how you operate. *Most people don't know what their weaknesses are. Thanks to Susan Power for being on the show!Learn more about Susan here: https://powerupleadership.caConnect with Susan: https://www.linkedin.com/company/powerupleadership/Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the Scaling Up Business podcast, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth. Join Bill in the Growth Navigator Coaching Program: https://ScalingCoach.com/workshop Bill on LinkedIn: https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/BillGallBill on YouTube: https://www.YouTube.com/@BillGallagherScalingCoach Visit https://ScalingUp.com to learn more about Verne Harnish, our team of Scaling Up Coaches, and the Scaling Up Performance Platform, which includes coaching, learning, software, and summit. We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail. We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around people, strategy, execution, and cash so that they can scale up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Did you enjoy today's episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover Scaling Up Business with Bill Gallagher so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.Subscribe via Spotify:...
Speakers: Judge Sandra Engel retired from the bench in September of 2022. She served as a Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court Judge for over 16 years. She currently sits on the bench as a senior judge. She received her B.S. in Marketing from the University of Alabama and received her J.D. from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1993. After moving to New Mexico, she spent a few years in private practice handling both civil and criminal cases, acting as a guardian ad litem, CASA and respondent's attorney in child abuse cases. She was an Assistant City Attorney for the City of Rio Rancho, handling primarily DWI cases, and served as Assistant District Attorney for the Second Judicial District, Bernalillo County for 10 years prosecuting misdemeanor and felony cases.As a judge, she presided over a large misdemeanor criminal docket. In addition to the duties of her regular criminal docket, she also had been heavily involved in specialty courts. She created, implemented, and presided over the Community Veterans Court; a specialty treatment court designed to help effectuate treatment for Veterans coming through Metropolitan Court. She created and implemented the Courts to School Program where Defendants are sentenced in front of high school and college students with the purpose of educating and deterring the students from drinking and driving. She also served as Presiding Judge of the Domestic Violence Early Intervention Program (EIP). She served as presiding judge over the criminal division of the Metropolitan Court and served as chief judge as well, managing a C-Suite and staff of over 300 employees. In 2021, Judge Engel became an executive leadership coach, working with law students, judges, attorneys, and business leaders. She completed her coach training and received her certification from ICF as an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) and is currently pursuing her PCC. She has completed the Train the Trainer Program through the Justice Coaching Center and now trains and supports the implementation of coaching programs in judiciaries around the nation. She specializes in leadership/ performance coaching and transformational transition coaching. She regularly presents at legal conferences in the areas of leadership and well-being.Pamela Moore, LPCC, CCTP currently serves as a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, Certified Clinical Trauma Professional and Director of the State Bar of New Mexico's Legal Well Being Department where she educates the legal community on positive health and well-being and assists in providing resources and services to any legal professional struggling with mental, emotional or behavioral issues. Ms. Moore served as an advisory member to the National Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs in 2019, 2020, and again in 2026 and is the current New Mexico representative for the Institute for Well Being In Law. Eduardo Ramirez is an Assistant Public Defender with the Law Offices of the Public Defender in the Hobbs Office. Eduardo joined the LOPD family in February of 2021 after relocating to New Mexico at the end of 2020. Eduardo earned his law school degree from the University of Colorado Law School, graduating in May 2019. He is the first in his family to not only graduate from college, but also law school. Since as far back as he can remember, Eduardo has always had a passion for helping individuals who are underprivileged and impoverished. Growing up in poverty himself, he saw many people struggle with the criminal justice system and just how important effective representation is. As an adult, Eduardo has learned the importance of self-care, to continue representing clients to the best of his ability. He helps with their criminal case but also makes efforts to better their lives. Eduardo is a zealous advocate, and his goal is to eventually rid the notion of a “public pretender.” Luckily, he has amazing mentorship and colleagues down in Hobbs who help him, and he would not be the attorney he is, without them! Outside of work, Eduardo enjoys being involved in the community, caring for his various plants, and his lovely Pit Bull, Izabel.Disclaimer: Thank you for listening! This episode was produced by the State Bar of New Mexico's Well-Being Committee and the New Mexico Lawyer Assistance Program. All editing and sound mixing was done by the State Bar of New Mexico and/or the State Bar Foundation. Intro music is by Gil Flores. The views of the presenters are that of their own and are not endorsed by the State Bar of New Mexico. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment or legal advice. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.The views expressed in this podcast are solely those of the participants and not intended as statements on behalf of their employers.
Founded as Farmer's State Bank in the small town of Arnegard, North Dakota, First International Bank & Trust has grown to serve rural and urban communities across Arizona, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. In this episode, it's all about family as Kathy & Dardy welcome fourth generation family CEO Peter Stenehjem to share how his family has kept banking in their bloodline for over 115 years.Connect with Versique
In this episode of the Drop in CEO podcast, Deb Coviello welcomes back Todd Wilkowski, a seasoned fractional general counsel and trusted advisor to family-owned and closely held businesses. Together, they explore the evolution of the fractional executive model, the importance of building relationships over transactions, and how proactive legal and business strategies can empower small and medium-sized businesses. Todd shares personal stories, the VROOM framework, and insights on collaboration, risk, and the future of work in the age of AI. Episode Highlights: 02:00 – Todd shares his unique background, from Air Force officer to trusted legal advisor, and the value of diverse experiences. 21:00 – The rise of the fractional executive model: why relationships, not transactions, are the future for business advisors. 33:00 – Introducing the VROOM framework: Value, Relationship, Resources, Responsiveness, Relevancy, and Measurability for client success. 45:30 – Embracing AI and collaboration: how technology and human connection are shaping the next era of business leadership. Todd is a trusted advisor and outside general counsel for private, closely held, and family-owned businesses. A former Air Force officer and experienced construction law attorney, he brings a unique perspective to risk management, compliance, and strategy. Before joining Frost Brown Todd, he spent seven years as General Counsel for Baker Concrete Construction, overseeing all legal and enterprise risk functions. Todd provides practical, strategic counsel on contracts, disputes, HR, and governance, helping companies strengthen operations and seize growth opportunities. His proactive, business-minded approach helps clients manage risk, plan for succession, and position their organizations for long-term success. Company Website: https://frostbrowntodd.com/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/todd-wilkowski-8802286/ For more information about my services or if you just want to connect and have a chat, reach out at: https://dropinceo.com/contact/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In this podcast episode, Dr. Jonathan H. Westover talks with leveraging spiritual and emotional intelligence at work. Yosi Amram Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist, a CEO leadership coach, and a best-selling and award-winning author. Previously the founder and CEO of two companies he led through successful IPOs, Yosi has coached over 100 CEOs—many of whom have built companies with thousands of employees and revenues in the billions. In addition to working with individuals, Yosi works with couples interested in passionate, conscious relationships that serve their psycho-spiritual healing and growth. With engineering degrees from MIT, an MBA from Harvard, and a Ph.D. in Psychology from Sofia University, he is a pioneering researcher in the field of spiritual intelligence whose research has received over 1000 citations. As a C-Suite, Amazon, B&N best-selling author of the Nautilus Book Award Gold Medal-winning Spiritually Intelligent Leadership: How to Inspire by Being Inspired, Yosi is committed to awakening greater spiritual intelligence in himself and the world. Yosi is also the founder of several non-profits, including trueMASCULINITY.org, Engendering-Love.org, and AwakeningSI.org. Check out all of the podcasts in the HCI Podcast Network!