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DJ DiDonna makes the case for why taking more extended time off helps professionals get further in their careers–and shares tricks for actually snagging that time. — YOU'LL LEARN — 1) How to convince your boss to let you take a sabbatical 2) How sabbaticals act as “regret insurance”3) How to plan a truly fulfilling sabbaticalSubscribe or visit AwesomeAtYourJob.com/ep1169 for clickable versions of the links below. — ABOUT DJ — DJ DiDonna is a senior lecturer of business administration at Harvard Business School, where he teaches MBA courses on entrepreneurship and building meaningful professional and personal lives. He has spent his career translating social science research into real-world tools for positive change. In 2019, DiDonna founded The Sabbatical Project to define, explore, and research the role of sabbaticals in modern life. He has helped organizations around the world—from nonprofits to Fortune 50 companies—design and implement sabbatical policies.His work has been featured in The Atlantic, Harvard Business Review, Time, Fast Company, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. Previously, DiDonna cofounded EFL Global, a fintech company that enabled more than $2 billion in capital to underbanked businesses and individuals across twenty countries before its acquisition in 2018. DiDonna earned his MBA from Harvard Business School. On his sabbatical, DiDonna walked nine hundred miles on pilgrimage in Shikoku, Japan, helped lead the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities at his undergraduate alma mater, Notre Dame, and unskillfully remodeled his kitchen. Outside work, you can find him plotting how to be in the Big Outdoors.• Book: Big Time Off: The Transformative Power of Sabbaticals and How to Take One by DJ DiDonna• LinkedIn: DJ DiDonna• Website: TheSabbaticalProject.org• Website: djdidonna.com— RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE SHOW — • Tool: Voice Dream Reader• Book: The Three-Body Problem (The Three-Body Problem Series, 1) by Cixin Liu• Book: Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career by Herminia Ibarra— THANK YOU SPONSORS! — • Shopify. Sign up for your free trial at Shopify.com/awesomepod• Monarch. Get 50% off your first year with code AWESOME at Monarch.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Ludmila Praslova: The Canary Code Ludmila Praslova is a Professor of Industrial-Organizational Psychology at Vanguard University of Southern California and regularly writes for Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, Psychology Today, and Forbes. She's the recipient of the 2025 Talent Award from Thinker50 and has been named a LinkedIn Top Voice. She is the author of The Canary Code: A Guide to Neurodiversity, Dignity, and Intersectional Belonging at Work (Amazon, Bookshop)*. We've all seen career paths that sound like this: analyst 1, analyst 2, senior analyst, lead analyst, manager of analysts, etc. Those paths to leadership work for some people, but they don't work for others. In this conversation, Ludmila and I explore how to create leadership paths that work for everyone. Key Points Canaries were used in coal mines because they were more sensitive to early indicators of problems – in a way that helped everyone. The same is often true for neurodivergent leaders in organizations. The “ideal leader” is a myth. If we are honest, no individual fits the ideal profile. Having different paths to leadership makes more sense in a complex world. Many of the best leaders are specialists in something. Instead of looking for “culture fit,” challenge yourself and your organization to do a “culture add.” Neurodiverse leaders can be less susceptible to bias and have higher levels of divergent thinking – huge benefits strengths for many organizations. In addition to people management, consider paths for leadership that focus strength and skill on system and process, strategy, expertise, though leadership, global leadership, and creative ideation. Making the workplace more accessible and equitable for one population almost always makes it better for everyone. Resources Mentioned The Canary Code: A Guide to Neurodiversity, Dignity, and Intersectional Belonging at Work by Ludmilla Praslova (Amazon, Bookshop)* Interview Notes Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required). Related Episodes The Mindset Leaders Need to Address Burnout, with Christina Maslach (episode 608) The Neurodiversity Edge in Organizations, with Maureen Dunne (episode 694) How to Motivate Younger Employees, with David Yeager (episode 775) Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.
What allows some CFOs to lead with influence while others never move beyond the numbers? Today's CFOs are expected to do much more than oversee financial performance. They must build trust, influence executive decisions, communicate with empathy, and help shape company strategy. In this episode, leadership expert and former CFO Dr. Emilia Bunea shares why technical expertise alone isn't enough and explains the mindset and behaviors that help CFOs lead executive teams, boards, and entire organizations more effectively. By listening to this episode, you'll learn how to: Discover why relationship building and influence have become essential skills as CFOs lead beyond traditional finance responsibilities. Learn practical techniques for communicating strategic recommendations in ways that earn buy-in from CEOs, boards, and executive teams. Understand the leadership habits that prepare finance executives to become trusted business leaders and future CEOs. Listen now to learn how CFOs lead with influence, strategic thinking, and emotional intelligence to create stronger organizations and position themselves for greater leadership opportunities. Check out: 05:10 | Why CFOs Lead Through Relationships, Not Just Numbers Dr. Emilia Bunea explains the difference between an accounting leader and a true CFO, revealing why relationship management and influence are what separate finance executives from strategic leaders. 14:35 | Influence Is More Powerful Than Logic Learn why even the strongest financial arguments can fail without emotional engagement, and how CFOs can present ideas that inspire action instead of resistance. 31:10 | Preparing CFOs to Become CEOs Hear the leadership qualities boards look for when evaluating CFOs for the CEO role, including strategic thinking, executive presence, and building trust outside the finance function. About Emilia Bunea Dr. Emilia Bunea, CFA, is a leadership lecturer at VU University Amsterdam and co-founder and CEO of Ed.movie, a California-based edutainment company. She served in CFO and CEO roles at large financial corporations, most recently as CEO of MetLife Romania, and previously as CFO of ING Insurance Europe, and currently serves on the board of directors of an asset management company. Dr. Bunea received her Ph.D. in Management from VU Amsterdam, her MBA from the University of Washington, and is a CFA charterholder. She delivers lectures and keynotes on leadership at business schools, companies, and events around the world. Her research was published in Human Resource Management Review, Corporate Governance - An International Review, Frontiers in Psychology, Academy of Management Proceedings, and shared through outlets such as Harvard Business Review and Le Monde. Emilia Bunea is the producer and co-writer of Crossroads Life, the world's first "cinematic management case"—a groundbreaking teaching tool that combines the rigor of the case study method with the storytelling power of film. Based on the real-life leadership journey of a CFO, the film has won multiple international awards (IMDb link). Each chapter of her book, Leadership for the CFO, includes curated film scenes that bring its concepts to life.
A epidemia de solidão virou oportunidade de mercado. O diretor de tecnologia da Amazon, Werner Vogels, aposta que a solução pra solidão que atinge uma em cada seis pessoas no mundo é um amigo de inteligência artificial. Os apps de companhia por IA cresceram setecentos por cento entre 2022 e meados de 2025, e companhia e terapia já são os dois maiores motivos pra usar IA, segundo a Harvard Business Review. Bruno Natal recupera a reportagem do New York Times que ligou tecnologia e solidão, lembra a epidemia declarada pelo então cirurgião-geral Vivek Murthy e confronta o discurso da indústria com a pesquisa da própria OpenAI e do MIT Media Lab, que analisou quase quarenta milhões de conversas e descobriu que os usuários mais pesados de ChatGPT são os mais solitários e emocionalmente dependentes. O remédio pode estar aprofundando a doença. Apresentado por Bruno Natal.--Assine a newsletter O Futuro Explicado: https://resumido.substack.com/subscribe Faça sua assinatura: https://resumido.cc/assinatura Loja RESUMIDO: https://www.studiogeek.com.br/resumido Ouça mais: https://resumido.cco.cc
He was terminated twice. He filed for divorce. He gained 60 pounds and drank on the highs AND the lows. Then May 5, 2018, he walked out of an AA meeting and hasn't touched alcohol since. Nick Jonsson is a licensed specialized counselor, best-selling author of Executive Loneliness (the book coined a term that now has its own dedicated Wikipedia page), leads one of Asia's largest networks of senior executives, is a TEDx speaker on sleep, and an Ironman triathlete who splits time between Sweden and Asia. He's also the father of a 17-year-old son and a working husband. In this conversation, Nick and Ted go deep on the drift that destroys high-performing men — the anxious-overachiever wound that made them successful in the first place, the 68% of executives who have nobody to confide in (per Harvard Business Review), the corporate stigma that keeps men silent even when they know better, the KLM Tenerife disaster that shows what fear of speaking up actually costs, and Nick's 5-Step framework from Executive Loneliness for the man ready to come back. Plus the through-line Nick applies to triathlon, executive coaching, marriage, sleep, and time — the "principles that work in this work in all areas of life" reframe that turned a mediocre triathlete into an Ironman PR-setter and a man 60 pounds lighter with 30 years of marriage ahead of him. If you're a high-performing man between 25 and 55 with more contacts than you have people to actually call — this one's for you. Key insights from this episode: The anxious-overachiever wound that made you successful (and why healing it doesn't kill your edge) Why 68% of senior executives have nobody to confide in — and why 84% won't even tell HR Multiple purposes, not one — the "keep steady in the middle" reframe from 12-step recovery The KLM Tenerife disaster — what fear of speaking up actually costs Nick's 5-Step framework from Executive Loneliness Take Stock. Who Can You Talk To. Get Healthy. (Plus what comes next.) Sober since May 5, 2018 — the exposure sequence that changed everything Sleep half an hour more, break your Ironman PR (Nick's TEDx origin) Removing the TV from the bedroom — and other things Nick surrendered Own your shit — Nick's final answer, the biggest transformation of his life Chapters: 00:00 The confession — terminated twice, 60 pounds, drinking on emotions 01:00 Welcome brother — Ted's intro 01:26 What keeps high-performing men isolated? 02:06 The anxious-overachiever wound 03:04 The wound that made you successful (and the fear of healing it) 05:44 Multiple purposes vs. one why 07:20 Keep steady in the middle 08:35 The Harvard 68% stat 09:58 Nick's own survey (30% / 75% / 84%) 11:00 If you break a leg you see a doctor. If you break your emotions, you hide. 11:43 Therapy as maintenance, not crisis 13:21 Stigma, the corporate ladder, and resilience 15:22 Real-world consequences of vulnerability 18:10 The KLM Tenerife disaster 20:19 Chernobyl, night shift, and mistakes made from silence 22:13 Step 1 — Take Stock 23:31 Step 2 — Who Can You Talk To 25:19 The May 5, 2018 exposure sequence (wife, doctor, friend) 27:00 The tribe found — the urge lifted 27:49 The primal fear of rejection 29:14 The three people you'd call at 2 a.m. 30:30 Build safe spaces in the good times 31:32 Being discerning with who you offload to 32:56 The through-line — from recovery to triathlon 34:23 Applying the same principles to everything 35:00 Signing up for a triathlon tribe (coach, cycling club, swim academy, running club) 36:14 The sleep experiment — 30 days of half an hour more 37:00 The TEDx that came from sleeping more 37:34 Ted on the sleep struggle 39:48 Discipline, accountability, and "just keep going" 41:19 The Ironman as a mini-life 41:50 Ted on Hyrox 44:06 How Nick manages time (paid to remove the bedroom TV) 44:45 Say a lot of no. Hit many birds with one stone. 45:30 Cycling with his 17-year-old son 47:09 Where to find Nick and Executive Loneliness 48:36 Own your shit — the biggest transformation 49:53 Outro and Ted's recap
Glen Allmendinger, the Founder and President of Harbor Research and co-author of the Harvard Business Review article “Four Strategies for the Age of Smart Services” … Read more The post What Happens When Buildings Start Making Decisions On Their Own? appeared first on Top Entrepreneurs Podcast | Enterprise Podcast Network.
Most professionals focus almost exclusively on performance—and then wonder why someone else gets promoted. This 97% Effective Essentials episode introduces a simple framework that fundamentally changes how you see and approach career success.Learn more about Michael Wenderoth, Executive Coach: www.changwenderoth.comSHOW NOTES:Performance and PIEThink about yourself as a productDoes this mean I should stop doing great work?Why organizations are different than school and many sports3 “sad but true” research findings that reveal who gets credit, and who gets pickedInsight on perception from photographer Richard Waine: “You're professional headshot is not about you.”Flip the script: how do others see you?“I” = ImageThe definition of brand and a quick exercise to uncover your brandA warning from executive coach Anne Marie Segal about typecasting – and the leap you need to makeHow are you showing up?“E” = Exposure, which can come in many waysHow award-winning speaker Alex Tremble did two things to catapult his early rise in the Federal GovernmentExposure in a remote worldDo you need to make radical shifts?If you don't manage your Image and Exposure, what's likely to happen BIO AND LINKS:Michael Wenderoth is an Executive Coach that helps executives re-examine their assumptions about power, politics, and authenticity to get promoted, become more effective at work, and break glass ceilings holding them back. Having served 20 years in senior roles with companies across the globe, and then 7 years as a professional coach, he has helped accelerated the careers of clients from diverse industries, backgrounds, and levels of seniority, helping them get ahead – without having to sell their souls in the process. Michael is the award-winning author of Get Promoted, host of the 97% Effective career acceleration podcast, and a frequent speaker and media contributor on career advancement, leadership and navigating power and politics. His work has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Stanford Business School Executive Education and IE Business School, where he collaborates with renowned professors, coaches, executives and experts. Michael holds an MBA from Stanford and trained as an executive coach at Columbia University (3CP). Michael's Book, Get Promoted: https://tinyurl.com/453txk74Michael on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelchangwenderoth/Learn more about Michael Wenderoth, Executive Coach: www.changwenderoth.comResearch cited: See Chapter Chapter 5 (“What the Evidence Really Says” in Get Promoted: https://tinyurl.com/453txk74Richard Waine on what professional headshot is really about: https://tinyurl.com/2wcmamkwAnne Marie Segal on how to avoid being “typecast”: https://tinyurl.com/39myjfzsAlex Tremble on visibility in the corridors of power: https://tinyurl.com/4paf4evjGet Promoted named Winner (Business-Careers) and Finalist (Business-General), 2023 International Book Awards: https://www.internationalbookawards.com/2023pressrelease.htmlAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Warum stellen viele Unternehmen immer wieder die falschen Mitarbeitenden oder Führungskräfte ein? Nicht, weil sie die Qualifikation falsch bewerten. Sondern weil du unbewusst Menschen auswählst, die dir selbst ähnlich sind. Gleiche Denkweise. Gleiche Werte. Gleicher Führungsstil. Das fühlt sich zunächst richtig an – doch genau hier beginnt häufig der größte Fehler im Recruiting. Die erfolgreichsten Unternehmen setzen nicht auf Gleichheit, sondern auf Ergänzung. In diesem Video erfährst du, warum unterschiedliche Persönlichkeiten der Schlüssel zu besseren Entscheidungen, erfolgreicher Führung und nachhaltigem Unternehmenserfolg sind. Außerdem zeige ich dir, wie das DISG-Persönlichkeitsmodell dabei hilft, leistungsstarke Teams aufzubauen und Führungskräfte gezielt auszuwählen. Das erwartet dich im Video - ✅ Warum Führungskräfte häufig Menschen einstellen, die ihnen selbst ähnlich sind - ✅ Was die Harvard Business Review über erfolgreiche Teams herausgefunden hat - ✅ Warum homogene Teams schneller entscheiden – heterogene Teams jedoch häufiger die besseren Entscheidungen treffen - ✅ Weshalb Persönlichkeitsvielfalt ein entscheidender Wettbewerbsvorteil ist - ✅ Die vier DISG-Persönlichkeitstypen einfach erklärt: - D – Dominant: Entscheidet, übernimmt Verantwortung und treibt Veränderungen voran. - I – Initiativ: Begeistert Menschen, motiviert Teams und verkauft Ideen. - S – Stetig: Schafft Vertrauen, Stabilität und Zusammenhalt. - G – Gewissenhaft: Erkennt Risiken, sichert Qualität und arbeitet strukturiert. - ✅ Warum jede Persönlichkeit unverzichtbar ist - ✅ Wie modernes Executive Search heute funktioniert - ✅ Warum die richtige Teamzusammensetzung langfristig über den Unternehmenserfolg entscheidet Erfolgreiche Führung bedeutet, Unterschiede sinnvoll zu nutzen - Die stärksten Unternehmen bestehen nicht aus Menschen, die gleich denken. - Sie bestehen aus Persönlichkeiten, die sich gegenseitig ergänzen. - Ein dominanter Entscheider braucht jemanden, der Risiken erkennt. - Ein gewissenhafter Analytiker braucht Menschen, die Entscheidungen treffen. - Ein kreativer Ideengeber braucht Kollegen, die konsequent umsetzen. - Ein stetiger Teamplayer sorgt dafür, dass Veränderungen dauerhaft funktionieren. - Nicht Gleichheit macht Teams erfolgreich. - Ergänzung macht Unternehmen erfolgreich. Für wen ist dieses Video besonders interessant? - ✔ Unternehmerinnen und Unternehmer - ✔ Geschäftsführerinnen und Geschäftsführer - ✔ Führungskräfte - ✔ HR-Manager und Personalverantwortliche - ✔ Recruiter - ✔ Executive Search Berater - ✔ Coaches - ✔ Organisationsentwickler - ✔ Mittelständische Unternehmen - ✔ Familienunternehmen - Jetzt bist du dran -
Brad Power spent years advising major corporations on systems design, process engineering, and decision making before lymphoma shoved him into the patient side of American healthcare. Instead of accepting the experience at face value, he started reverse engineering the machinery around cancer itself. Brad is the founder of Cancer Patient Lab and Open Cancer AI, two projects built around a blunt reality most patients discover too late: the healthcare system rewards people who know how to navigate it. Everyone else risks getting steamrolled by information asymmetry, insurance barriers, administrative friction, and institutional incentives designed around efficiency instead of human survival.The conversation starts with Harvard Business Review and Tumblr blogs before moving directly into the darker architecture underneath modern cancer care. Power explains how hospitals optimize for throughput, how insurance companies reward operational consistency over personalized medicine, and why many patients quietly end up needing a crash course in oncology, reimbursement policy, and behavioral psychology while fighting for their lives.The discussion digs into CAR-T therapy, functional testing, AI assisted decision support, and the growing collision between personalized medicine and standardized care pathways. Power argues that engaged patients often get better outcomes because they learn how to push for off guideline treatments, contest denials, and ask smarter questions. The counterpoint lands hard: patients should never have needed to become experts in the first place.The episode also explores the cultural consequences of AI entering cancer care. OpenAI advertising, data privacy, trust erosion, pharmaceutical influence, and “agentic AI” all collide inside a healthcare economy already drowning in distrust. Power sees artificial intelligence as a force multiplier for patient literacy and access. The larger system still decides who gets approved, who gets delayed, and who gets left behind.By the end, the conversation lands exactly where modern healthcare keeps forcing people to land: survival increasingly depends on learning how the machine works before the machine works on you.RELATED LINKSBrad PowerCancer Patient LabOpen Cancer AIHarvard Business ReviewResearch to the PeopleCAR T Cell TherapyFEEDBACKLike this episode? Rate and review Out of Patients on your favorite podcast platform. For guest suggestions or sponsorship email podcasts@matthewzachary.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Psychologists Off The Clock: A Psychology Podcast About The Science And Practice Of Living Well
Sometimes saving the planet can feel like a massive, exhausting guilt trip. In this episode, Debbie sits down with University of British Columbia professors Elizabeth Dunn and Jiaying Zhao to talk about their book, Leave the Lights On: How Joyful Decisions Can Save Our Species. Their main point is about the whole "you must be perfect" climate messaging is totally backfiring, and focusing on joyful, high-impact changes is actually what keeps people motivated. Jiaying breaks down a massive 63-country study showing how scare tactics just make people want to shut down, and the duo debunks some common eco-myths.It turns out that obsessing over turning off the lights or choosing the perfect reusable bag doesn't move the needle much. Instead, they shout out smarter, high-leverage moves like treating beef and lamb as occasional splurges, eating more plants, and traveling lighter. They also get into how to influence the people around you by making sustainable choices easy, attractive, and non-political, proving that individual habits and big systemic changes (like voting) both matter.Listen and Learn: How "doom and gloom" climate messaging actually backfires by discouraging real-world actionSurprising insights from a massive global study of 60,000 participants across 63 countriesFinding joyful, climate-friendly lifestyle changes to create a positive feedback loop that makes us happier and more motivated to protect the planet How making practical, high-impact shifts in your daily habits like smarter food choices can create a truly sustainable difference for both you and the planetData-backed truth behind common environmental myths and how to easily focus your energy on the daily lifestyle choices that actually make a high-impact difference for the planet How to significantly lower your carbon footprint without sacrificing the foods you loveReducing your carbon footprint without giving up the joy of travel by mastering the art of packing light, making smarter flight choices, and embracing the unexpected adventure of staycations How to inspire positive behavior change in others without lecturing them on climate change Why individual action and systemic change are not a false dichotomy, but rather a powerful partnership where local community engagement can drive larger policy shifts and boost your personal happiness Resources: Leave the Lights On: How Joyful Decisions Can Save Our Specieswww.happyclimate.org Book Debbie mentioned: Soil: The Story of a Black Mother's Garden, by Camille T. DungyDebbie's essay about the drought in Denver, with pictures of her low-water garden: https://drdebbiesorensen.substack.com/p/drought-dispatches-from-denver About Elizabeth Dunn Elizabeth Dunn is Professor of Psychology at the University of British Columbia and coauthor of Happy Money. She directs UBC's Happy Lab, which focuses on how to optimize valuable resources including time, money, and carbon to maximize human well-being. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic, TIME, Rolling Stone, and Harvard Business Review; and on numerous podcasts and television shows, including Hidden Brain, NPR's Short Wave, The Happiness Lab, Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris, Morning Joe, and CBS Mornings. Dunn spoke on the TED mainstage in 2019, and her talk was selected as one of the top ten TED talks of the year.About Jiaying Zhao Jiaying Zhao (JZ) is Professor of Psychology and Sustainability and founded the Behavioral Sustainability Lab at the University of British Columbia, which designs and tests behavioral solutions that encourage climate action. She has worked with NASA, NOAA, and the US and Canadian Forest Service to develop pathways to net zero. Zhao has appeared on numerous podcasts and in documentary films, including Why Is This Happening? With Chris Hayes and Close the Divide. Her research has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, TIME, The Economist, Scientific American, CNN, and NBC. In 2023, Zhao gave a TED talk on climate strategies rooted in happiness, which was selected as one of the top TED Talks to be a better you in 2024.Related Episodes:262. Hope and Values in Dark Times with Us 255. Influence is Your Superpower with Zoe Chance 215. How to Change with Katy Milkman 371. Uniting Toward a Better Future with Diana McLain Smith 431. Ordinary Magic: Social Psychology for Big Change with Gregory Walton See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Slowing down isn't just taking a vacation or finding time to rest. Slowing down in order to speed up is an intentional strategy to improve our impact in our life and work. For Full Show Notes Visit https://www.jasonvbarger.com/podcast/slowing-down-to-speed-up/ Jason challenges the traditional corporate hustle, exploring why the most effective leaders and teams must intentionally slow down in order to truly speed up. Please rate and review the podcast to help amplify these messages to others! Summary: In a fast-paced business world, velocity is often mistaken for validation. But does running faster actually mean we are getting further? In this episode of The Thermostat, Jason V Barger deconstructs the "busyness myth" and explores the direct correlation between intentional rest and high performance. Drawing on revealing research from the Harvard Business Review, Jason highlights how constant context-switching—where professionals shift focus 300 to 500 times a day—destroys baseline productivity and degrades team execution. Instead of grinding at all hours, the most successful executives build deliberate margins to recharge their mental bandwidth and regain clarity on their highest priorities. Essential listening for C-Suite executives, operations directors, and team leaders committed to shaping compelling corporate cultures, this episode offers a practical four-part framework—seeking joy, breaking tendencies, growing like bamboo, and thorough preparation—to help you calibrate your organizational thermostat and lead with unshakeable confidence. Episode Notes & Timestamps: Intro: Jason introduces the counterintuitive concept of slowing down to speed up, challenging the idea that constant motion equals progress. A Milestone Celebration: Thanking loyal listeners as The Thermostat is officially recognized as the #13 top authentic leadership podcast in the world by Million Podcasts. The Strategic Pause: Why stepping away and taking time off is a calculated performance strategy rather than just an administrative luxury. The Busyness Myth: Insights from Jason's second book, Remember, addressing the reality of the modern distracted worker. The 30% Productivity Cliff: Unpacking a Harvard Business Review study proving that constant task-switching yields a massive drop in actual effectiveness. Strategy 1 - Seek Joy: Stepping away from the unyielding to-do list to actively pursue experiences that restore your baseline mental presence. Strategy 2 - Break Tendencies: Disrupting rigid operational routines and personal habits to stimulate fresh thinking and expand creative bandwidth. Strategy 3 - Grow Like Bamboo: Allowing your strategic ideas to mature and wander beneath the surface before scaling vertically. Strategy 4 - Prepare for Confidence: How intentional reflection and dreaming during recovery windows builds unshakeable execution confidence for the road ahead. Questions to Ponder: Jason challenges leaders to identify specific ways they will recharge to bring their absolute best when it is required. Key Takeaways for Leaders: Busyness vs. Effectiveness: Stop equating constant task-switching with actual progress; prioritize intentional focus over chaotic multitasking. Strategic Rest: Treat downtime, vacations, and daily margins not as weaknesses, but as non-negotiable performance enhancers for yourself and your team. Break Routines to Innovate: Deliberately alter your personal and professional cadences to prevent complacency and spark new strategic alignment. Listen to the full episode and access show notes at: https://jasonvbarger.com/podcast/slowing-down-to-speed-up/ Bio: Jason Barger is a husband, father, speaker, and author who is passionate about business leadership and corporate culture. He believes that corporate culture is the "thermostat" of an organization, and that it can be used to drive performance, innovation, and engagement. The show features interviews with business leaders from a variety of industries, as well as solo episodes where Barger shares his own insights and advice. Connect: Subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/@JasonVBarger Make Your 2026 Effective! Book Jason with your team at https://www.jasonvbarger.com Like or Follow Jason
In this episode, hosts Lee-Sean Huang and Giulia Donatello sit down with Jeff Leitner, the co-founder of UX for Good, architect of Norm Design, and a partner to organizations ranging from the US State Department and NASA to Harvard Medical School. Together, they unpack the core ideas behind his Summer 2026 Stanford Social Innovation Review article, "The Science of Norm Design," exploring why smart, well-funded initiatives fail roughly 70% of the time. Jeff shares his extensive experience studying the "invisible architecture" of social environments. He offers a critical challenge to the design industry, inviting practitioners to look past boilerplate briefs and standard user research to systematically uncover and design for the unwritten rules that dictate human behavior.In This EpisodeHere is the section trimmed down by 25% for a faster, punchier read, with all text formatted in plain text:The definition of norm design. Jeff defines norm design as an essential layer built on top of traditional research to uncover a group's informal, unwritten rules. Because every solution lands within a complex social ecosystem, these hidden dynamics ultimately dictate whether a design succeeds or fails. The 70% organizational failure rate. Stagnant for decades, the standard failure rate for organizational change is famously high. The uncomfortable reality is that most interventions fail because they inadvertently obey the exact same unwritten rules as the problems they are trying to fix. The New Orleans musicians' paradox. Partnering with UX for Good to help local musicians, who average $24,000 a year, the team found that standard financial literacy training routinely failed. A norm-based approach revealed that musicians viewed asking for tips as humiliating. By bypassing the ask and adding a tipping line directly to club receipts, they successfully transferred thousands of dollars to bands. Unwritten rules vs. employee manuals. Social norms are rarely documented. To find a company's true constraints, Jeff suggests asking employees what they would tell a best friend over drinks about "how the place really works," rather than what's printed in the onboarding manual. The structural empathy trap. While designers champion empathy, leaning too deeply into a user's perspective can cause researchers to absorb the same invisible constraints that the target group can't see, effectively blinding the designer to the overarching social norms. Empathy vs. compassion in Rwanda. At the Kigali Genocide Memorial, the team challenged the default industry strategy of showing horror to inspire action. Brain research shows that witnessing suffering floods our pain circuits, causing distress, fatigue, and shutdown. By profiling ordinary heroes, they engaged the brain's compassion networks to cultivate the will to act. How success derailed NASA. Jeff discovered that 100% of interviewed NASA staff anchored their operational norm to JFK's 1962 "Moonshot" speech. However, waiting for a singular political figure to rally the public blinded the agency to the modern reality of private spaceflight, turning a historic triumph into a systemic roadblock. ResourcesThe Science of Norm Design by Jeff Leitner (Stanford Social Innovation Review) – https://ssir.org/articles/entry/the-science-of-norm-designLeitner Studio Official Website – leitnerstudio.com UX for Good Nonprofit – uxforgood.org Cracking the Code of Change by Nitin Nohria and Michael Beer, the original source of the 70% failure rate of change initiatives (Harvard Business Review) – https://hbr.org/2000/05/cracking-the-code-of-changeAIGA Design Podcast Feedback and Voicememos – podcast@aiga.org
What if your motivation problem is actually a belief problem?We often assume that knowing what to do and understanding why it matters should be enough to change our behavior. Yet knowledge rarely produces lasting action on its own. The missing ingredient is often the belief that our effort will make a difference.In this episode of The Good Leadership Podcast, Charles Good speaks with Nir Eyal, New York Times bestselling author of Hooked, Indistractable, and his new book, Beyond Belief.Nir explains how beliefs function as working models of reality, shaping what we notice, what we expect, how we feel, and what we ultimately do. Rather than treating beliefs as unquestionable truths or relying on empty positive thinking, he offers a science-backed approach to developing beliefs that are useful, empowering, and open to revision when new evidence emerges.This conversation is not about pretending that obstacles do not exist. It is about developing beliefs that help us see reality more clearly, persist through discomfort, and recognize where our actions can meaningfully influence the outcome.NIR EYAL is a globally recognized authority on behavior change and human potential. His frameworks have empowered millions to build better habits, enhance focus, and unlock greater agency in their lives and work. He is the New York Times bestselling author of the international bestsellers Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products and Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life, which have sold over one million copies in more than 30 languages. Hooked was a finalist for the 2014 Goodreads Choice Awards. Indistractable won the 2019 Outstanding Works of Literature (OWL) Award and was named one of the Best Business & Leadership Books of the Year by Amazon, Audible, and The Globe and Mail. His third book, Beyond Belief: The Science-Backed Way to Stop Limiting Yourself and Achieve Breakthrough Results, became an instant New York Times best-seller and reveals how to identify and replace the hidden beliefs that define our limits.His writing has been featured in The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, The Atlantic, and Psychology Today. CHAPTERS00:00 Introduction to Beliefs and Human Performance01:07 Nir Eyal's Background and Work02:12 From Habits to Behavior Change03:38 Why We Don't Do What We Know05:03 Beliefs as the Linchpin of Motivation06:55 What Is a Belief? Fact, Faith, or Tool?07:49 The Three Powers of Belief09:16 Beliefs Filter Our Reality11:09 Seeing Through the Lens of Beliefs13:01 Beliefs and the Perception of Opportunities16:34 Anticipation and Experience Loops20:25 The Power of Expectation in Experience25:39 Beliefs and Behavior: Building Hope28:37 The Role of Limiting and Liberating Beliefs30:22 The Impact of Beliefs on Performance34:58 Pain, Discomfort, and Growth36:56 The Problem With Positive Thinking38:24 Mental Contrasting and Preparing for Obstacles40:06 The Dark Side of Labels and Nocebos42:00 The Power of Expectations and Placebos44:08 Changing Limiting Beliefs for Empowerment45:18 Actionable Steps to Re-Engineer BeliefsSubscribe to The Good Leadership Podcast: [Apple Podcasts] | [Spotify] | [YouTube]LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/charlesagoodSubstack Channel (Outlearn to Outperform): charlesgood.substack.comLinkedIn Newsletter (The Outlearn Advantage): [Subscribe]The Institute for Management Studies
Consistency sounds boring until you realize it's the fastest path to trust and the easiest way to spot what's broken. In this CX Pulse Check episode, Jeannie Walters is joined by Nick Westergaard, host of the On Brand podcast and author of Brand Now and Get Scrappy, to look at what actually moves the needle in customer experience (CX) and brand building when attention is scarce and expectations are high.We dig into why major brands point to reliable basics as the key to their turnarounds: better training, smoother checkout, smarter inventory, and fewer “almost good enough” moments. Nick shares a simple mental model for this kind of work: stop chasing one huge “wow” and start raising the floor everywhere. When customers know what to expect, they don't just come back, they give you more grace when something goes wrong.Then we zoom in on neuroscience and cognitive load, the hidden force behind friction. Customers live in constant partial attention, and every extra step, confusing choice, or unnecessary question drains their mental energy. We talk about why simplification often beats adding features, how AI customer service earned distrust through bad early experiences, and what it takes to use automation without getting in the way.We close with brand storytelling and cultural moments, including what we can learn from campaigns that hit at the right time and why even a small change like a Spotify icon can spark big feelings in a deeply personal product. If you want a sharper CX strategy, better customer journey design, and a clearer brand experience, hit play, subscribe, and share this with someone who owns a form, a flow, or a brand decision. If you have a question for the podcast, leave a message at askjeannie.vip.About Nick WestergaardNick Westergaard (https://www.nickwestergaard.com/) is an author, educator, and speaker. He's spent his career building standout brands at organizations of all sizes—from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies to President Obama's Jobs Council. Nick teaches at the University of Iowa's Tippie College of Business, where he leads the Story Lab program. He's the author of the books Brand Now and Get Scrappy, a contributor to the Harvard Business Review, host of the popular On Brand podcast, and a Moth StorySLAM Champion. An in-demand keynote speaker at conferences throughout the world, his work helps those struggling to stand out in our crowded, distracted world.Follow Nick on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/nickwestergaard Follow Nick's Podcast – On Brand - https://www.nickwestergaard.com/on-brand-podcast/ Follow Nick on Instagram - https://instagram.com/nickwestergaard Articles Mentioned:- Why 3 major brands see a consistent experience as key to their turnarounds (CX Dive) -- https://www.customerexperiencedive.com/news/3-major-brands-consistency-key-turnaround-efforts/822944/- Rethinking CX: The role neuroscience plays in developing the customer experience (Retail Customer Experience) -- https://www.retailcustomerexperience.com/blogs/rethinking-cx-the-role-neuroscience-plays-in-developing-the-customer-experience/- Every Brand Has a Story to Tell — CMOs Decide How and When to Tell It (Variety) -- https://variety.com/2026/biz/news/walmart-cmo-nfl-spotify-loreal-cannes-lions-variety-1236788926/Resources Mentioned:Order your copy of Experience Is Everything -- http://experienceiseverythingbook.comExperience Investigators Website -- https://experienceinvestigators.comEnjoyed the show? Subscribe, share with your team, and leave a quick review to help others find us. Leave your review at ratethispodcast.com/xact.Want to ask a question? Visit askjeannie.vip to leave Jeannie a voicemail! (And don't forget to follow Jeannie Walters, CCXP, CSP on LinkedIn!)
A few years ago, senior FBI SWAT team leader Matt Hoffman called Preston after a fatal operation. To assist the team in working through the loss, Preston and Matt used a process that went beyond the standard after-action review by incorporating narrative inquiry. The goal was to let a fractured team's story come back together before anyone examined what went wrong, rather than extracting lessons first.Later, Preston worked with Matt and Dr. Angus Fletcher — Professor and Director of the Leadership Initiative at Ohio State's Fisher College of Business — to write up what they learned. Their paper, "A Better Approach to After-Action Reviews," was published in Harvard Business Review.This summer Matt and Angus joined Preston to discuss Angus's research, why traditional AARs work when they're done right, and narrative competence over narrative allegiance.The three of them dig into why a story lands in the brain differently than a data point does, why the breakfast that follows a hard AAR isn't a throwaway ritual but an active repair, and why naming the discomfort in the room, not necessarily fixing it, is often the whole job of a leader. Advice for Monday: stop chasing lessons learned first. Get the full story. The lessons will surface on their own.If you found value in this discussion, the best way to support our work and stay up to date on future episodes is to subscribe and leave us a quick rating or review. It helps us reach more people who need to hear these conversations.
Explore places of people with needs to find more meaning, money, and momentum:“Leaders leave thinking they're on the same page.”“You can't pull out the nuances over the phone.”“Get out there, see the reality.”The table, cat, kitchen, route, and agent may know what AI misses...See BoldEncounters.TVTable Turners SeriesIn Table Turners, Mark invites former guests to reverse roles and interview him on subjects he has spent a career studying, testing, and teaching. In this series, Angela Finlay presses Mark on Bold Immersion: getting close enough to clients, users, employees, patients, workflows, and actual places to see what meetings, reports, AI, dashboards, and assumptions often miss.Opening SummaryFormer guest Angela Finlay reverses roles and interviews Mark about Bold Immersion, the practice he names as the strongest predictor of better client outcomes, stronger financial impact, and deeper passion at work. Angela begins with Harvard Business Review's “false alignment” problem: leaders meet, discuss Artificial Intelligence, strategy, and customer needs, then leave seeing different parts of the elephant.Core ValueBold Immersion means entering the real world of the person you serve before you decide what to build, sell, fix, lead, or automate. Mark connects it to customer journey mapping, in-home observation, ride-alongs, product ethnography, contextual inquiry, Voice of the Customer, workflow observation, Human-Centered Design, Design Thinking, Lean improvement, product development, field marketing, and customer experience. The deeper move is simple: replace secondhand confidence with firsthand reality.Inside This Episode• Why false alignment can be more dangerous than visible disagreement.• How Chad Wells used Medicare customer journey mapping and ride-alongs at UnitedHealth Group.• Why camera crews, kitchens, old books, artifacts, and a cat revealed hidden customer context.• How Queens and Bronx sales-agent ride-alongs changed what marketing needed to build.• Why Bold Immersion belongs in ordinary workflows, not only innovation, UX, Lean, or product roles.Go Deeper — Premium Action PlanThis four-part Table Turners series culminates in Mark's Premium Action Plan. Begin this week by selecting one customer, employee, user, patient, beneficiary, prospect, agent, partner, or internal customer whose reality you have only experienced secondhand. Decide whether your next move requires a ride-along, contextual interview, workflow observation, site visit, customer journey review, or field conversation before your next important decision.Listen + Connecthttps://www.BoldEncounters.TVAngela Finlayhttps://www.windwardhcm.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/ablumfinlay/Chad Wellshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/chad-j-wells/Mark S. Cookhttps://www.WindfallPartners.comMoments To Revisit• Angela's elephant-vantage warning about AI, meetings, and false alignment.• Chad Wells describing hundreds, maybe thousands, of in-home Medicare appointments.• The dining-room customer who could not be understood through a phone call.• The female sales agent entering places that changed the marketer following her.• The UnitedHealthcare sales kit born from seeing agents and customers in motion.What Now?Watch Part 1, then continue the Table Turners Bold Immersion series at:https://www.BoldEncounters.TVThank YouChad Wells, customer journey mapping and ride-alongs at UnitedHealth GroupCalvin Cook—Caljo, original music, @Caljo MusicSach Arias, Post Production, aliyahmpena@gmail.comAliyah Peña, Post Production, aliyahmpena@gmail.comSkyler Maudsley, Video Editing, skylermaudsley@gmail.comRosalie McGinn, Social Media, rosalie.mcginn1@gmail.com
Leadership advisor and DEI expert Stacey Gordon returns to Leading Through Crisis to explain why diversity, equity, and inclusion should never be treated as a bolt-on "initiative," and why that mistake is exactly why so many companies have abandoned their DEI programs. Stacey and host Céline Williams dig into why so many leaders struggle with flexibility and self-awareness, how communication breakdowns between managers and teams happen even when everyone has the best intentions, and why "inclusive leadership" is really just... good leadership. They also unpack the biases quietly shaping hiring decisions, why leaders rarely get real feedback about how their teams actually experience them, and Stacey's free Leadership Reality Check quiz for anyone ready to find out the gap between how they think they lead and how their team sees them. This conversation might just challenge how you think about communication, feedback, and what DEI actually means. — Stacey Gordon is a globally recognized keynote speaker, leadership advisor, and workplace culture strategist who helps organizations build inclusive, high-performing workplaces as they navigate today's evolving legal, social, and business landscape. As the founder of Rework Work, Stacey partners with executive leaders, people managers, and HR and legal teams to strengthen talent systems, leadership capability, and workplace culture— relying on a foundation of legally sound, people-first approaches. Her work focuses on debiasing systems, developing inclusive leadership behaviors, and creating cultures of fairness, belonging, and accountability that benefit everyone. Stacey is a frequent keynote speaker at HR, talent, and leadership conferences worldwide and has served as an adjunct professor at several universities. She is also a trusted voice in the broader business conversation, having provided subject matter expertise to Harvard Business Review, SHRM, Fast Company, Forbes, NPR, and BBC Radio. She is the author of UNBIAS, a widely used resource for leaders globally, and the creator of the unconscious bias course on LinkedIn Learning, which was the #1 most-watched course on the platform in 2021, has been translated into multiple languages and has reached nearly two million learners worldwide. You can learn more about Stacey and her work and grab the Leadership Reality Check assessment at reworkwork.com. You can also find her on Substack (https://reworkwork.substack.com/), LinkedIn (Linkedin.com/in/staceygordon), and Instagram (@ReworkWork). See also CDO Action coalition at https://cdoaction.com.
How do you hold employees to high standards of performance while being a compassionate leader? The answer is walking the accountability tightrope. In this episode of Boss Better Now, Joe Mull kicks off a special four-part series adapted directly from his live leadership workshops on accountability in leadership. Listen in as he explains why equating caring with leniency leaves teams frustrated and exactly what you need to do to fix it. Many managers fall into a protector mindset where they prioritize comfort and underestimate employee capability. Joe shares real stories from his own career about being overly delicate and nervous about giving feedback to employees because he wanted to be liked. He details exactly how to shift away from rescuing struggling employees and instead provide the productive struggle necessary for growth. What to Expect in This Episode: Why Feedback is the Most Important Leadership Skill: Why vague, subjective language triggers defensiveness and how to avoid it. What is the Accountability Tightrope?: Joe introduces the summer series focused on balancing high standards with supportive relationships. Why "Soft" Leadership Causes Employee Frustration: The real costs of avoiding uncomfortable conversations and letting employees coast. Recognizing the Protector Mindset at Work: How avoiding meaningful work and lowering expectations prevents teams from reaching peak performance, and what the mentor mindset looks like instead. Overcoming the Need to be Liked as a Manager: Joe's personal story about walking on eggshells and how it harms team development. How to Raise Standards When You Already Offer High Support: Steps to articulate clear expectations rooted in culture and values. The Viral Teacher Hack for Correcting Behavior: Stop targeting the person and start naming the standard. Using the Feedback Stack Framework: How to give feedback to employees using objective, behavior-based language that lands without triggering defensiveness. To subscribe to Joe Mull's BossBetter Email newsletter, visit https://BossBetterNow.com For more info on working with Joe Mull, visit https://joemull.com For more info on Boss Hero School, visit https://bossheroschool.com To email the podcast, use bossbetternow@gmail.com #leadership #management #toxicworkculture #teambuilding #workplaceculture #conflictmanagement #employeeengagement #motivation Joe Mull is on a mission to help leaders and business owners create the conditions where commitment takes root and the entire workplace thrives. A dynamic and deeply relatable speaker, Joe combines compelling research, magnetic storytelling, and practical strategies to show exactly how to cultivate loyalty, ignite effort, and build people-first workplaces where both performance and morale flourish. His message is clear: when commitment is activated, engagement rises, teams gel, retention improves, and business outcomes soar. Joe is the founder of Boss Hero School™ and the creator of the acclaimed Employalty™ framework, a roadmap for creating thriving workplaces in a new era of work. He's the author of three books, including Employalty, named a top business book of the year by Publisher's Weekly, and his popular podcast, Boss Better Now, ranks in the top 1% of management shows globally. A former head of learning and development at one of the largest healthcare systems in the U.S., Joe has spent nearly two decades equipping leaders—from Fortune 500 companies like State Farm, Siemens, and Choice Hotels to hospitals, agencies, and small firms—with the tools to lead better, inspire commitment, and build more humane workplace cultures. His insights have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Harvard Business Review, and more. In 2025, Joe was inducted into the Professional Speakers Hall of Fame (CPAE). This is the speaking profession's highest honor, a distinction granted to less than 1% of professional speakers worldwide. It's awarded to speakers who demonstrate exceptional talent, integrity, and influence in the speaking profession For more information visit joemull.com. Timestamps 0:00 Why do vague performance reviews trigger defensiveness? 0:30 How do you navigate the accountability tightrope? 1:54 Why does a soft leadership style backfire? 3:01 What is the protector mindset in management? 4:06 How to stop rescuing your struggling employees 5:39 Overcoming the manager's need to be liked 6:30 How do highly supportive leaders raise standards? 9:14 How to correct behavior by naming expectations 10:28 How to use the feedback stack methodology 11:36 How to bring accountability training to your team
A tough job market rewards the people who can say, in one sentence, why they, and not the other thousand applicants, should get the role. This episode turns into a live coaching session. Dr. Kyle Elliott, a tech career and executive coach, walks Ben through the exercise he uses with senior leaders across Silicon Valley: gathering feedback from people who knew you as a child and people who know you now, then finding the overlap. That overlap, in Kyle's language, is your fabulousness, the specific and provable things that set you apart from everyone else with a similar background. The episode moves from theory into practice quickly. Kyle coaches Ben live, drawing out how Ben's own friends describe him, then pressing for the proof behind each trait: not just positive, but the specific week a deal fell through and Ben kept going anyway. That gap between a personality trait and a concrete story is where resumes and LinkedIn profiles usually fall flat, a problem Sales Engineers, Technical Consultants, and Customer Success leaders run into constantly once a market tightens. The conversation also covers the part of hiring nobody agrees on right now: how much AI is actually reading resumes, and how much a candidate should let AI write theirs. Kyle's answer, drawn from clients inside Google, Amazon, and other large tech companies, cuts against the assumption that bots decide everything. He also unpacks his cake and frosting framework for balancing the qualifications a role demands against the individuality that gets someone remembered, and how to talk about weaknesses in an interview without hiding them or handing the interviewer a reason to say no. Dr. Kyle Elliott, is a tech career coach and executive coach at CaffeinatedKyle.com, working with senior managers, executives, and job seekers across Silicon Valley and the wider tech industry. He is a member of the invitation-only Forbes Coaches Council and a consultant with the Myers-Briggs Company, and his coaching has been featured in Business Insider, Fortune, and the Harvard Business Review. Show notes footer: Listen and subscribe: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1yU6AcoCLySqE1wGn80HOT?si=649d8f8c3d8b47a3 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/tech-world-human-skills/id1674003078 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@techworldhumanskills/podcasts Newsletter and archive: https://www.techworldhumanskills.com Connect with Ben: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benpthoughts Technical Storytelling for Individuals: https://www.elevatedyou.live/individuals Technical Storytelling for Organisations: https://www.elevatedyou.live/organisations Dr Kyle Elliott: https://caffeinatedkyle.com/freebies/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylecromerelliott/
Get the 200+ Page Optimal Living Daily Workbook (PDF) — Free. Want to turn today's episode into an actionable plan? Join the Optimal Living Weekly newsletter and I'll send you our 200-page digital workbook immediately. It's packed with the best takeaways from the show, formatted for easy reading and implementation at home. Get your free PDF workbook here: https://oldpodcast.eo.page/join Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com. Episode 2106: Amanda Kruse explores why compensation goes far beyond a paycheck and how insurance, flexibility, paid time off, and retirement plans can dramatically impact both your finances and quality of life. She also highlights emerging perks like student loan assistance, mental health support, and family planning benefits that can make one job offer far more attractive than another. Read along with the original article(s) here: https://womenwhomoney.com/significant-employee-benefits/ Quotes to ponder: "Employee benefits can make a significant difference in your job satisfaction." "Many people are willing to take lower pay for the option to have more work flexibility." "Your goals, lifestyle, and family situation will determine what's most important to you." Episode references: Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA): https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/benefits-leave/fmla 401(k) Plans Resource Guide: https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/401k-plans Thrift Savings Plan (TSP): https://www.tsp.gov/ Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Eric Ries is the creator of the Lean Startup method and the author of the New York Times bestseller The Lean Startup, The Leader's Guide, and The Startup Way. As a founder, Eric has put his own ideas into practice through the Long-Term Stock Exchange (LTSE), Answer.AI, an AI R&D lab, Virgil, a legal services startup, and IMVU. On The Eric Ries Show, he talks with world-class technologists, thought leaders, and executives who are building for the long term. Get a copy of his new book Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad... and How Great Companies Stay Great New here? I am a two-time New York Times bestselling author and one of the most sought-after public speakers globally, having addressed over 500 companies in more than 40 countries. My clients include Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Nike. My work has been covered in print media, including The New Yorker, The New York Times, Time, Fast Company, Fortune, Politico, Inc., and Harvard Business Review. It has also been featured on NPR, NBC, FOX, and multiple times on The Steve Harvey Show. Get more stuff from me: Join 200K+ subscribers on my FREE weekly newsletter: https://gregmckeown.com/1mw/ Stay in touch with me: Instagram https://www.instagram.com/gregorymckeown/ LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregmckeown/ X https://x.com/GregoryMcKeown Hire me to speak: https://gregmckeown.com/keynote/
Karl Schmidt is the Co-Founder of A to B Insight, where he helps organizations transform their sales approach by aligning with how customers actually make decisions. Drawing on years of experience at leading firms including Boston Consulting Group and Gartner, Karl has conducted award-winning research into buyer behavior, commercial strategy, and complex B2B decision-making—including work that contributed to the groundbreaking insights behind The Challenger Sale.As the co-author of The Framemaking Sale, Karl equips sales leaders and organizations with practical frameworks for increasing buyer confidence, simplifying complex decisions, and creating customer experiences built on trust rather than pressure. His research and thought leadership have been featured in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and other leading business publications, making him one of today's foremost voices on decision science in modern sales.SHOW SUMMARYIn this episode of the Selling from the Heart Podcast, Larry Levine and Darrell Amy welcome Karl Schmidt, Co-Founder of A to B Insight and co-author of The Framemaking Sale, for a fascinating conversation about how customers truly make decisions—and why helping buyers gain confidence is more valuable than simply persuading them.Karl introduces the concept of "framemaking," explaining that exceptional sales professionals don't just provide information or recommend solutions—they help buyers navigate complexity, clarify priorities, and build confidence in their own decision-making process.The conversation explores groundbreaking research showing that buyer decision confidence is one of the strongest predictors of successful, high-quality purchases. Rather than focusing solely on convincing prospects that your solution is the best, Karl explains why helping buyers feel confident in themselves creates better outcomes, stronger trust, and longer-lasting customer relationships.Listeners will also discover why emotions play a critical role in decision-making, how trust is built through shared experiences, and practical ways to simplify buying decisions while preserving customer autonomy.If you want to become the trusted guide your customers need—not just another salesperson competing for attention—this episode offers a refreshing, research-backed perspective on modern selling.KEY TAKEAWAYSBuyer decision confidence is one of the strongest predictors of successful, low-regret purchasing decisions.Great sales professionals help buyers gain confidence in themselves—not just confidence in the product.The best sales conversations move customers through know → feel → do, not simply know → do.Framemaking helps customers organize complexity instead of overwhelming them with information.Customers value guidance that preserves their autonomy rather than pressure that limits it.Helping buyers make the best decision—even if it's not your solution—builds long-term trustHIGHLIGHT QUOTESOur goal isn't to make customers choose us. It's to help them make the best decision possible.Decision confidence isn't confidence in the seller—it's confidence in yourself.People don't just need to know what to do. They need to feel confident enough to do itThe best salespeople don't tell customers what to think. They help them think more clearly.Frame making creates clarity without taking away the customer's agency.ADDITIONAL RESOURCESExplore the secrets of heart-centered leadership and thriving workplace cultures with Culture from the Heart Podcast! Nominate a visionary CEO at www.culturefromtheheart.com!Listen to Larry Levine's Bestselling Book: Selling in a Post-Trust World! Now available on Audible! Transform your sales approach with insights that matter. Subscribe to The Selling from the Heart Podcast Youtube Channel! Stay updated with the latest episodes and leadership tips: Selling from the Heart YouTubeGet Your Daily Dose of Inspiration:Click Here for Your Daily Dose
You can be invisible with brilliant ideas. Or you can be everywhere with nothing worth saying. Neither works. In the age of AI, the barrier to building things has collapsed. The tools exist. The access exists. Which means the differentiator is no longer whether you can build — it's whether you know what to build, and whether people trust you to build it. That's product thinking. And that's personal brand. And they are not two separate skills. They are two sides of the same thing. In this episode: Why product thinking is no longer just for founders and product managers — and what it actually means to create something valuable Why personal brand without substance gets you nowhere — and what substance actually looks like Why the most ambitious professionals need both — and how to start building them deliberately How my clients are combining both to get promoted, get published and get discovered by the right people This episode is for you if: You have good ideas but the right people don't know it You're visible in your industry but not sure you have the frameworks to back it up You're a founder or senior leader who wants opportunities to come to you rather than chase them Book a free consulting session with Sophia: https://calendly.com/sophia-matveeva/new-meeting-1 Timestamps: 00:00 - Introduction: The invisible professional and the overexposed one 02:20 - Free gift: A one-on-one consulting session with Sophia 03:10 - The show's evolution: Product thinking meets personal branding 06:58 - Why product thinking is now a non-negotiable career skill 09:18 - You need to think of yourself as the product 11:33 - How personal branding built a $300,000 government contract 13:00 - Client story 1: A product manager going on international trips with the CEO 15:20 - Client story 2: A consultant heading to the Harvard Business Review 16:17 - Client story 3: A fintech founder building credibility ahead of fundraising 18:27 - Why strategic personal branding is not LinkedIn likes and followers 21:00 - Summary: Why product thinking + personal brand = unstoppable 23:02 - Closing and how to book your free session Follow and Review: We'd love for you to follow us if you haven't yet. Click that purple '+' in the top right corner of your Apple Podcasts app. We'd love it even more if you could drop a review or 5-star rating over on Apple Podcasts. Simply select "Ratings and Reviews" and "Write a Review" then a quick line with your favorite part of the episode. It only takes a second and it helps spread the word about the podcast. Listen to our podcast on: Apple Spotify YouTube Audible Pandora Transcript: https://www.techfornontechies.co/blog/310-product-thinking-and-personal-brand-why-you-need-both-to-win
The world feels increasingly uncertain, yet much of the leadership advice we hear remains idealistic and incomplete. In this 97% Effective Essentials episode, I share three uncomfortable truths that separate effective leaders from well-intentioned ones.Learn more about Michael Wenderoth, Executive Coach: www.changwenderoth.comSHOW NOTES:Hard truth #1: It's not all about collaboration (lessons from Tenille Cromwell, Chief Pilot & former Navy Mission Commander)Descending into Bozeman when you can't see the runway: “It's not all ‘kumbaya': There's a time and place for absolute decision making”The #1 mistake is not leaders abusing power, but their failure to use it.Ask yourself: How might I be avoiding making hard decisions?Hard truth #2: Think beyond hearts and minds (insight from Professor Don Moore, Haas School of Business School, and author of Decision Leadership)Thinking beyond inspirational speechesLeadership is about influencing the behavior of others toward a desired outcomeAsk yourself: How might I build systems to make it easy for people to choose wisely?Hard truth #3: “Keep your damn job” (Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer at Stanford, and author of 7 Rules of Power, on a leader's first responsibility)If you lose your position or job, your ability to get stuff done will go way downAsk yourself: Am I paying sufficient attention to who and what keeps in my role?Summary and final thoughts BIO AND LINKS:Michael Wenderoth is an Executive Coach that helps executives re-examine their assumptions about power, politics, and authenticity to get promoted, become more effective at work, and break glass ceilings holding them back. Having served 20 years in senior roles with companies across the globe, and then 7 years as a professional coach, he has helped accelerated the careers of clients from diverse industries, backgrounds, and levels of seniority, helping them get ahead – without having to sell their souls in the process. Michael is the award-winning author of Get Promoted, host of the 97% Effective career acceleration podcast, and a frequent speaker and media contributor on career advancement, leadership and navigating power and politics. His work has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Stanford Business School Executive Education and IE Business School, where he collaborates with renowned professors, coaches, executives and experts. Michael holds an MBA from Stanford and trained as an executive coach at Columbia University (3CP). Learn more about Michael Wenderoth, Executive Coach: www.changwenderoth.comMichael on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelchangwenderoth/Episode #42 - Tenille Cromwell, Chief Pilot and Former US Navy Mission Commander: A Chief Pilot's Insight: 4 Leadership Lessons To Help Your Career Take Off https://redcircle.com/shows/86fcd90d-083e-4af2-9bc8-6d52fb981ae1/ep/9462d482-32c2-43ac-8409-1dceffd5e645Episode #56 - Don Moore, Professor at the Haas School of Business: Expand your influence through “Decision Leadership” https://redcircle.com/shows/97-effective/ep/44d05e21-c339-4007-b823-d2b2f11f2f42Episode #65 – Jeffrey Pfeffer, Professor at Stanford: What Leaders Should Care About Most https://redcircle.com/shows/86fcd90d-083e-4af2-9bc8-6d52fb981ae1/ep/42e4bfe8-9ef5-4d26-bb21-4011cdb02450Michael's book, Get Promoted: What You're Really Missing at Work That's Holding You Back: https://a.co/d/8s0pFVj97% Effective, on Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/bdz53mc5Get Promoted, on Audiobook: https://tinyurl.com/mwf2s28yAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Anxiety is often treated as something to overcome. But what if it's also one of the forces driving your success? In this episode, JR speaks with Morra Aarons-Mele, author of The Anxious Achiever and host of Harvard Business Review's popular podcast of the same name, about the complex relationship between anxiety, achievement, leadership, and performance. Morra argues that anxiety isn't necessarily a weakness to be fixed. For many high performers, it fuels preparation, creativity, empathy, and ambition. The challenge isn't eliminating anxiety—it's learning how to understand it, manage it, and work with it rather than against it. Their conversation covers:What separates anxious achievers from people who are simply stressedHow anxiety can become both a leadership asset and a liabilityWhy so many high performers are driven by fear, control, and hypervigilanceThe connection between childhood experiences and achievement-oriented behaviorHow mindfulness and self-awareness help people manage anxiety more effectivelyWhy boundaries are especially difficult—and important—for anxious achieversWhat psychologically healthy teams and workplaces look likeHow managers can better support different working styles and needsWhy today's workplace often works against mental well-beingHow leaders can build resilience in an increasingly uncertain world If you've ever felt driven by a constant inner voice pushing you to prepare more, do more, and achieve more, this conversation offers a thoughtful framework for understanding anxiety—not as a flaw, but as something that can be harnessed with greater awareness, intention, and self-compassion.Check out the full series of “Career Sessions, Career Lessons” podcasts here or visit pathwise.io/podcast/. A full written transcript of this episode is also available at https://pathwise.io/podcasts/morra-aarons-mele.For more career guidance and resources, subscribe to my member community at https://pathwise.io/join-now/
Guest Elizabeth Weingarten is a journalist and applied behavioral scientist who works at the intersection of science and storytelling. A graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, she has worked on the editorial staffs of The Atlantic, Slate, and Qatar Today, and was Managing Editor of Behavioral Scientist. Her writing has appeared in publications including The Atlantic, Slate, CNN, The Financial Times, Quartz, Harvard Business Review, and Time. She has led research programs at the think tank New America, the consultancy ideas42, and at tech companies Torch and Udemy. An in-demand speaker, she has shared her work and conducted workshops at venues including SXSW, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University, and the University of Virginia. She lives in Northern California with her husband and son. Summary In this conversation, author Elizabeth Weingarten discusses her book How to Fall in Love with Questions—a New Way to Thrive in Times of Uncertainty, which explores how people can develop a healthier relationship with uncertainty. Drawing on the writings of Rainer Maria Rilke, behavioral science, neuroscience, philosophy, and personal experience, she argues that uncertainty is not something to be eliminated but to be navigated thoughtfully. Weingarten explains that our brains are wired to seek certainty, which leaves discomfort in the wake of unanswered questions. Yet rushing toward easy answers often leaves us more confused and stuck. She introduces practical frameworks, including a "question map" and a fruit-tree model that categorizes questions by the time and attention they require. The discussion also examines leadership, decision-making, perfectionism, community, and self-compassion. Ultimately, Weingarten suggests that growth comes not from finding immediate answers but from learning to live with meaningful questions long enough for deeper clarity and wisdom to emerge. The Essential Point The central idea of Elizabeth Weingarten's message is that uncertainty is not a problem to be solved as quickly as possible; it is a condition of life that can foster growth, insight, and self-discovery when approached with curiosity and patience. Many of life's most important questions cannot be answered immediately, and trying to force certainty often prevents us from finding the deeper understanding we actually need. Social MediaWebsite LinkedIn
Are your brand colors actually helping people trust you, or are they just colors you happen to like? In this episode, Dr. Lauryn sits down with branding expert Nadine Hanafi to unpack why color choices are one of the most emotionally charged, overthought, and misunderstood parts of building a personal brand or business.Together, they discuss why branding is a strategic decision, not a stylistic one, how to choose colors based on brand energy instead of personal preference, and the difference between personality-driven and corporate-style brands. Nadine also breaks down common branding mistakes, when it makes sense to rebrand, why black-white-beige might be a safety move, and how “procrasti-branding” keeps entrepreneurs from actually putting themselves out there.Key Takeaways:Brand colors should be chosen strategically, not emotionally. Nadine explains why picking colors based only on personal preference can create misaligned branding that fails to communicate trust, confidence, authority, or the right brand energy.Personal brands and corporate brands need different color strategies. If you are the face of the business, your visual identity should reflect your personality while still sending the right signals to the clients, patients, or audience you want to attract.Rebranding is not a lifetime commitment. Nadine shares why branding is seasonal and may need to evolve when your audience, positioning, offers, business model, or personal identity shifts.“Procrasti-branding” is a real trap for entrepreneurs. Spending too long tweaking colors, logos, fonts, and photos can become a creative way to avoid launching, being visible, and telling the world what your brand is really about.Guest Bio:Nadine Hanafi is the founder of Digital Brand Kit and creator of Branded in a Day, a premium branding experience designed to help entrepreneurs develop a complete, strategic brand quickly and confidently. After more than a decade working with hundreds of personal brands, Nadine created her unique color consultation and branding process to help business owners avoid long, expensive, overwhelming branding projects and instead walk away with clear positioning, a cohesive visual identity, and the confidence to show up online. Her work has helped entrepreneurs, speakers, coaches, and industry leaders create brands that reflect the level they are operating at, attract aligned clients, and stand out with more clarity and confidence. Nadine's work has been featured in Fast Company, Entrepreneur, TED, Time Inc., and Harvard Business Review.To shop Nadine's Digital Brand Template and let her know She Slays sent you, visit here.To shop Nadine's Digital Branded In A Day Experience and let her know She Slays sent you, visit here. Follow Nadine on Instagram & LinkedInResources:Find all things Dr. Lauryn B including ways to work with herFollow Dr. Lauryn: Instagram | Facebook | LinkedInFollow She Slays on YouTubeMentioned in this episode:INSiGHT CLAThis episode is brought to you by the INSiGHT scanning system from CLA, the tool that helps chiropractors show patients objective neurological data so the value of care becomes clear, fueling conversion, retention, and growth. She Slays listeners get preferred pricing, affordable financing, and a free Getting Into Scanning guide.CLA (Current)Holistic Marketing HubThis episode is sponsored by Holistic Marketing Hub. Created by marketing strategist Molly Cahill, it's a proven Instagram system with a 500+ caption content library and a step-by-step curriculum that's helped 400+ chiropractors, acupuncturists, and other health pros fill their practices with right-fit patients. Enroll Now!Holistic Marketing HubClinic MindClinic Mind is the all-in-one EHR and practice management platform built for chiropractors — billing, documentation, scheduling, and patient follow-up in one place, whether you run a cash practice, take insurance, or are scaling to multiple locations. She Slays the Day listeners get an exclusive offer.Clinic Mind
In this podcast episode, Dr. Jonathan H. Westover talks with Rebecca Homkes about why uncertainty is the defining leadership skill of this decade.Dr. Rebecca Homkes is high-growth strategy specialist and the founder of a boutique consultancy firm, advising CEOs and executive teams focused on growth and success through uncertainty. She is a Faculty at Duke Corporate Executive Education, Lecturer at the London Business School (LBS) Executive Education, Advisor and Faculty at BCGU (Boston Consulting Group), and previous Fellow at the London School of Economics (LSE)'s Centre for Economic Performance. Dr. Homkes is also the director of the Young President's Organization (YPO) global Active Learning Program (ALP); a former partner with GrowthX, a Silicon Valley investment ecosystem and innovation consultancy; and the faculty lead of fintech scaleup accelerators. A global keynote speaker, she is a member of several advisory boards, directed the joint McKinsey & Co and LSE Centre for Economic Performance Global Management Project from 2007-2014 and has regularly been featured in Harvard Business Review, CNBC, Bloomberg, Fortune, and Forbes. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
I sat down with Ranya Nehmeh, HR strategist, professor, and author of In Praise of the Office. Our conversation reinforced what I've been hearing from many clients lately. HR today isn't just policies or processes. -It's culture. -It's learning. -It's how people actually develop in a distributed world. HR is a strategy now -Culture, development, and psychological safety—all part of the role. The hybrid has to be designed -Onboarding, mentoring, and collaboration don't happen by default. If people come in only to sit on Zoom, something's off. Leaders set the tone -Presence, learning, and collaboration follow what leaders model. When work is designed with care, people feel it. And when people feel it, they show up differently. And that's where great work starts— and where retention improves as people choose to stay. --- Dr. Ranya Nehmeh is a people and talent management expert, future of work advocate, author, and adjunct university professor. With over 20 years of experience across both the private and public sectors, she has worked at the intersection of strategy, leadership, and human capital. Ranya began her career at a public relations speaker bureau in London before joining a global telecommunications company. She then moved into senior HR roles within international financial institutions, including the European Central Bank in Frankfurt and the OPEC Fund for International Development in Vienna. She has led projects related to talent management, internal talent marketplaces, strategic workforce planning, and leadership development, among other initiatives. She is the co-author of In Praise of the Office: The Limits to Hybrid and Remote Work (Wharton School Press, 2025) and author of The CHAMELEON Leader: Connecting with Millennials (2019). Her work explores how organizations can create more human-centered, agile, and sustainable workplaces. Ranya is also a frequent contributor to leading journals and publications. Her most recent articles appeared in the Harvard Business Review, Hybrid Still Isn't Working (July/August 2025), HR's New Role (May/June 2024), and It's Time To Do Away with "Dry Promotions" (July 2024) Connect with Jon Dwoskin: Twitter: @jdwoskin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jonathan.dwoskin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thejondwoskinexperience/ Website: https://jondwoskin.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jondwoskin/ Email: jon@jondwoskin.com Get Jon's Book: The Think Big Movement: Grow your business big. Very Big! Connect with Dr. Ranya Nehmeh:Website: https://www.ranyanehmeh.com *E - explicit language may be used in this podcast.
Rebecca Hinds is the bestselling author of Your Best Meeting Ever and a leading expert on work transformation and the future of work. Rebecca earned a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. from Stanford University. In 2022, she founded the Work Innovation Lab at Asana, a first-of-its-kind think tank that conducts actionable research to help leaders and organizations navigate the growing challenges and changes of work. In 2025, she founded the Work AI Institute at Glean, where she leads cutting-edge research on how AI is reshaping work. Rebecca's award-winning research and insights are consistently featured in places like Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Inc., and Time. Rebecca is a co-instructor for the CNBC Make It course, How to Use AI to Be More Successful at Work, and a columnist at Inc. and Reworked.Link to claim CME credit: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3DXCFW3CME credit is available for up to 3 years after the stated release dateContact CEOD@bmhcc.org if you have any questions about claiming credit.
In today's hybrid and digital workplaces, the instinct for many busy managers is to rely on quick tech tools like AI or generic emails to communicate care. Henna Pryor argues this approach is actually backfiring. She challenges leaders to recognize that we are living in an "age of doubt" where skepticism is the default posture, urging them to close their "signal gaps" by aligning what they say with how they actually show up. Joe Mull sits down with Henna for a conversation about workplace trust and leadership skills. As a workplace performance expert, speaker, and author of Good Awkward and the upcoming book The Signal Gap, Henna brings a wide-ranging career background. From surviving the grueling hours of Big Four public accounting to spending fourteen years in executive search, she uses her front-row seat to team dynamics to help leaders build trust at work and become more believable and impactful. Henna breaks down the difference between cheap and costly signals, explaining why simply expressing gratitude is no longer enough to make employees feel valued. She shares stories from her own career (including her first job at a diner and the sting of being ignored as a high-achieving employee) to illustrate the importance of leadership communication. She also warns against "intent smuggling" and the dangers of public microclaims in the digital age. In this episode, you'll learn:
Most organizations treat meetings as the default answer to everything, but that's costing you more than you think. Rebecca Hinds, Head of the Work AI Institute at Glean, researcher, and author of YOUR BEST MEETING EVER, brings a product design mindset to the most expensive form of collaboration in your org. She shares how to spot meeting dysfunction, use AI to audit your calendar, and make intentional changes that actually stick. In this episode: • Why meetings have become the 'junk drawer' of organizational communication, and how visibility bias keeps the habit alive. • How to use return on time investment (ROTI) scoring, meeting minimalism, and shared language to redesign your meeting culture. • The role AI and data play in building the business case for calendar reform, especially with a skeptical C-suite. Timestamps [00:01:10] Why Rebecca went all-in on meeting research and the psychology of visibility bias. [00:02:19] The meeting junk drawer: why meetings become the default for everything. [00:04:39] Treating meetings like a product, including the concept of meeting debt. [00:06:26] Return on time investment (ROTI): a data-driven way to rate your meetings. [00:08:16] How leadership buy-in determines how boldly you can reform your calendar. [00:08:56] Using AI to build meeting calculators and get C-suite buy-in. [00:10:52] Making the business case by anchoring on what the most powerful person cares about. [00:13:54] Building psychological safety so people feel empowered to flag bad meetings. [00:16:36] Shared language for meeting dysfunction, including Meeting Doomsday and meeting minimalism. [00:21:05] The one thing every leader can do this week: intentional design across four meeting dimensions. Guest Bio Rebecca Hinds is the author of YOUR BEST MEETING EVER, a leading expert on organizational behavior and the future of work, founder of the Work Innovation Lab at Asana and the Work AI Institute at Glean. She holds a BS, MS, and PhD from Stanford University. Her research is consistently featured in top-tier publications like Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Wired, and more. She is a trusted advisor to companies navigating the challenges of modern work, from meeting overload and hybrid dysfunction to the messy realities of AI adoption and organizational change. Brought to You by Paylocity Paylocity is the fastest growing unified platform for HR, Finance, and IT. Paylocity brings your people, processes, and data together in one place so HR leaders can spend less time managing systems and more time doing the work that actually moves their organizations forward. Learn more at paylocity.com Keywords: meetings, meeting culture, organizational behavior, future of work, meeting debt, return on time investment, psychological safety, AI, calendar reform, Meeting Doomsday, meeting minimalism, collaboration, HR leadership, Rebecca Hinds, HR Mixtape
Ron Friedman reveals the science behind unlocking extraordinary team performance. — YOU'LL LEARN — 1) The three strengths that separate superteams from average teams 2) Why managing energy and attention matters more than working harder3) The feedback approach that encourages lasting behavior change Subscribe or visit AwesomeAtYourJob.com/ep1163 for clickable versions of the links below. — ABOUT RON — Ron Friedman, PhD, is an award-winning psychologist and the founder of ignite80, a learning and development company that teaches leaders science-based strategies for building high-performing teams. His research has been featured on NPR, Bloomberg, CBS, NBC, FOX, CNN, as well as in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Guardian, The Globe and Mail (Toronto), Fast Company, Psychology Today, and Harvard Business Review. He is the author of The Best Place to Work, an Inc. Magazine Best Business Book of the Year, and Decoding Greatness. He lives in Pittsford, New York.• Book: Superteams: The Science and Secrets of High-Performing Teams• Website: SuperteamsMasterclass.com• Website: SuperteamsInc— RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE SHOW — • Book: The Award: A Novel by Matthew Pearl— THANK YOU SPONSORS! — • Shopify. Sign up for your $1/month trial at Shopify.com/awesomepodSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week on the show host Noah Nelson is joined by The L.A. Times' Todd Martens, ARGNet owner Michael Andersen, and NoPro's own Kathryn Yu to spin stories from Knott's Ghost Town Alive, do some close reading of a new Harvard Business Review article on immersive experiences, and react to the big Sphere-related news of the week.SHOW NOTESMr. Todd's Wild Ride (L.A. Times)ARGNet‘Rocky Horror Picture Show' Set to Screen at Sphere Las Vegas in 2027 (Variety)Why The Best Immersive Experiences Succeed (Harvard Business Review)Understanding The Immersive Audience (Immersive Experience Institute)Knott's Berry Farm's Ghost Town AliveOne of the Best Larps I Ever Played Was at a Theme Park (ARGNet)Pageant of the Masters (Festival of the Arts - Laguna Beach)Museum of Make Believe (Laguna Beach)KcymaerxthaereTest Pilots (Hollywood Fringe) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
AI tools create a specific kind of trust problem on teams, and most leaders aren't sure what to name it or where it's coming from. In this Practical Field Notes episode, Mimi and David react to a Harvard Business Review piece by Jayshree Seth and Amy Edmondson on psychological safety and AI integration. They connect the article's ideas to what leaders are actually navigating in their organizations, including how to build learning loops that keep AI use transparent and how leaders can model the kind of openness that makes it safe for teams to question, challenge, and learn. Humanergy is a leadership development company that helps leaders and teams work better under real conditions. Learn more at humanergy.com.(Note: The HBR article is behind a paywall. HBR offers free monthly access, if you're out of free reads, you can still follow this conversation without it.)Link to article here: https://hbr.org/2026/02/how-to-foster-psychological-safety-when-ai-erodes-trust-on-your-teamLearn more about Humanergy's work: https://www.humanergy.comJoin the Humanergy community on LinkedIn.Sign up for our FREE leadership workshops.
Robbie talks about what a successful book launch in 2026 and beyond looks like, emphasizing the importance of a high quality book for an audience that recognizes the problem. He discusses utilizing your book as a business development tool and breaks down his book launch method, and much more! Robbie Samuels is a multi-passionate entrepreneur. He is a speaker, book launch strategist, event design consultant, executive Zoom producer, and business development coach. Robbie has been recognized as a networking expert by Inc., Harvard Business Review, and Lifehacker. He's known for helping entrepreneurs turn their books into powerful business assets. He is the founder of Biz Book Pub Hub, a resource ecosystem and collaborative community, and hosts the Biz Book Pub Hub Podcast. He is the award-winning author of four books that have collectively received hundreds of Amazon reviews and reached #1 Best Seller in 37 categories in the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia.
What happens when the pressures of work intensify AND parenting intensifies at the same time? Senior-level mothers are caught in a two-way trap—and many are quietly burning out, believing it's a personal failure rather than a systemic one.In this episode, I talk with Shalene Gupta, staff editor at Fast Company, about her groundbreaking investigation into how senior-level women are coping with the impossible. After putting out a call on LinkedIn, Shalene received over 100 responses—48,000 words' worth—revealing both the ingenuity and the despair of working mothers trying to have it all.Discover the creative solutions that are actually working: job-sharing arrangements that have lasted 13 years, radical transparency about boundaries that builds trust, and companies (like Cakes) that are redesigning the workplace from the ground up. But also understand why these individual hacks aren't enough—and why the real answer requires systemic change.If you're a working parent, an ambitious woman in corporate America, or someone who wants to understand what's really happening behind closed doors, this is a conversation you need to hear. Because as Shalene says: "It's not you. The system is broken. And it can be redesigned."Featuring:Fast Company article: Corporate America is Crushing Senior-Level Mothers. Here's How They're Coping by Shalene Gupta The 13-year job-share that changed everythingHow transparency becomes a negotiation superpowerWhy women entrepreneurs are building their own solutions and winningWhat real support for working mothers actually looks likeSHALENE GUPTA BIO:Shalene Gupta is a staff editor at Fast Company covering work life and leadership. Her investigative journalism on women, work, and wellness has appeared in The Atlantic, Fortune, Harvard Business Review, ESPN The Magazine, and TIME. She is co-author of The Power of Trust and author of The Cycle: Confronting the Pain of Periods and PMDD. Shalene holds an MS from Columbia Journalism School, a BA in creative writing and psychology from Johns Hopkins University, and is a Fulbright grant recipient. Her work focuses on the systemic barriers women face in corporate America—from motherhood to menopause—and the creative solutions women are building to survive (and thrive) in broken systems.Connect with Shalene on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shalenegupta/Connect with Jamie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leejieunjamie/Text me your thoughts on this episode!Enjoy the show? Don't miss an episode, listen and subscribe via Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Leave me a review in Apple Podcasts. Connect with meBook a free hour-long consultation with me. You'll leave with your custom blueprint to confidence, and we'll ensure it's a slam-dunk fit for you before you commit to working with me 1:1. Connect with me on LinkedIn Email me at jamie@jamieleecoach.com
Over the summer, I'm revisiting nine of the most important ideas from the first 140 episodes of 97% Effective—from career strategy and leadership to power, promotion, and influence.In this first 97% EFFECTIVE ESSENTIALS episode, I call out the immense power in getting others to share their insight with you. Discover the surprisingly simple habit that has helped my clients build influence, gain visibility, and accelerate their careers.Learn more about Michael Wenderoth, Executive Coach: www.changwenderoth.comSHOW NOTES:Two reasons why you need to open doors and build relationships with people at workWhy seeking advice feels counterintuitive – but is powerful and highly beneficialFour situations where seeking advice pays huge dividendsSituation #1: When Sam sought a mentor or sponsorWhat's wrong with “Let's catch up for coffee” and “Can I pick your brain”Situation #2: When Dave sought clarity on the path to promotionThe important of getting your boss's perspectiveSituation #3: When Jack sought support for his proposalThe “meeting before the meeting” to build allies and avoid surprisesSituation #4: When Alex turned an adversary into an allyWays to seek advice from someone you probably detestThree mistakes to avoid when asking advice BIO AND LINKS:Michael Wenderoth is an Executive Coach that helps executives re-examine their assumptions about power, politics, and authenticity to get promoted, become more effective at work, and break glass ceilings holding them back. Having served 20 years in senior roles with companies across the globe, and then 7 years as a professional coach, he has helped accelerated the careers of clients from diverse industries, backgrounds, and levels of seniority, helping them get ahead – without having to sell their souls in the process. Michael is the award-winning author of Get Promoted, host of the 97% Effective career acceleration podcast, and a frequent speaker and media contributor on career advancement, leadership and navigating power and politics. His work has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Stanford Business School Executive Education and IE Business School, where he collaborates with renowned professors, coaches, executives and experts. Michael holds an MBA from Stanford and trained as an executive coach at Columbia University (3CP). Learn more about Michael Wenderoth, Executive Coach: www.changwenderoth.comMichael on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelchangwenderoth/Harvard Business Review: How to get your first promotion: https://hbr.org/2022/10/how-to-get-your-first-promotionResearch: Why Seeking Advice Boosts Perceptions of Confidence https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=47824Research: Why Seeking Advice Rather Than Feedback Yields More Developmental, Critical and Actionable Input https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=56638Michael's Award-Winning Book, Get Promoted: https://changwenderoth.com/#tve-jump-180481ecea397% Effective, now on Youtube! https://tinyurl.com/bdz53mc5Get Promoted, also available on Audiobook: https://tinyurl.com/mwf2s28yAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
My guest today is Bonnie Low-Kramen. Bonnie is one of the most respected voices in the field of executive and personal assistant training, having taught in 14 countries and worked with organizations, including Google, Amazon, Microsoft, the Wharton School, and even the British Parliament. But what makes Bonnie's perspective so fascinating is where it all began. For 25 years, she served as the personal assistant to Academy Award-winning actress Olympia Dukakis, giving her a front row seat to leadership, human behavior, communication, trust, pressure, and what really makes people thrive at work or walk away from it. She's the author of the book Staff Matters: People-Focused Solutions for the Ultimate New Workplace and Be the Ultimate Assistant. Her TEDx talk is titled The Real Reasons People Quit, and her insights have appeared in both Harvard Business Review and Forbes. But this is not just a conversation about assistance. It's a conversation about leadership, about respect, about culture, about the people behind the people and the invisible glue that holds organizations together while everyone else is busy chasing the next shiny AI headline. Bonnie brings something we could all use a little more of: real-world perspective from someone who understands that no technology will ever replace the value of deeply human work.
#266: Austen Allred is a technology entrepreneur, education innovator, and Y Combinator founder whose work has influenced the national conversation around workforce development, skills-based hiring, and alternative pathways to technology careers. He is the founder and CEO of Gauntlet AI an intensive AI engineering talent platform that partners with employers to identify and develop elite AI-native engineers. Previously, he co-founded Lambda School, later rebranded as BloomTech, one of the most recognized coding academies of the past decade, helping pioneer income-share agreements and raising more than $100 million from leading investors, including GV, Y Combinator, and Stripe.Before founding BloomTech, Allred co-founded the citizen journalism platform Grasswire and co-authored the bestselling growth-marketing book Secret Sauce. His perspectives on entrepreneurship, education reform, and the future of work have been featured in publications including Harvard Business Review, The Economist, WIRED, Fast Company, TechCrunch, and The New York Times. Today, he is widely recognized for his efforts to rethink how top technical talent is trained and deployed in the age of artificial intelligence.
Take charge of your future. Our next group proram starts in September and is limited to 10 people. The Very Early Registration discount (45%) ends on June 21. Learn more here. — Dan Pontefract spent two decades building leadership, culture, and engagement inside high-tech and telecom organizations, and never once thought seriously about age. Then, in his early fifties, he had a wake-up call. It sent him to look under a rock he'd never lifted, where he found “an absolute cavern of issues.” The result is his sixth book, The Future is Grey: The Untapped Value of Age in the Workforce. Dan lays out the coming “bell to bulb” demographic inversion and the risks for organizations ignoring it. For individuals, he reframes the whole arc of a working life, from the language of generations (which he rejects as an ageist cognitive bias) to three universal career eras: Rivers, Rocks, and Rubies. That demographic inversion means experience will become more scarce and valuable. The through-line is don’t retire, rewire instead. He shares stories of people who kept working or returned to work in a different way, which brings his concept of the “experience dividend” to life. ________________________ Bio Dan Pontefract is a renowned leadership and culture strategist, author, and keynote speaker with over two decades of experience in senior executive roles at companies such as SAP, TELUS, and Business Objects. Since then, he has worked with organizations globally, including Salesforce, Amgen, State of Tennessee, Nestlé, Canada Post, Autodesk, BMO, Government of Canada, Manulife, Nutrien, UBC, McGill University, Virgin Media O2, City of Toronto, among others. Dan has firsthand experience in turning leaders and corporate cultures into a competitive advantage. In addition to The Future of Work Is Grey, Dan has written five other books: WORK-LIFE BLOOM, LEAD. CARE. WIN., OPEN TO THINK, THE PURPOSE EFFECT, and FLAT ARMY garnering multiple awards including the Thinkers50 Top New Management Book and the Axiom Business Book Awards Gold Medal. Dan has also written for Forbes, Harvard Business Review, Leader to Leader, The Globe and Mail, Inc., among other outlets. Dan is a renowned keynote speaker who has presented at four TED events and delivered over 600 keynotes. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Victoria and has received over 25 personal awards. Dan’s career is interwoven with corporate and academic experience, coupled with an MBA, B.Ed, and multiple distinctions. Notably, Dan is listed on the Thinkers50 Radar, HR Weekly’s 100 Most Influential People in HR, PeopleHum’s Top 200 Thought Leaders to Follow, and Inc. Magazine’s Top 100 Leadership Speakers. ___________________________ The Future is Grey: The Untapped Value of Age in the Workforce Website ___________________________ Other Retirement Podcast Conversations You’ll Love The Second Curve of Life – Arthur C. Brooks Design a Phased Retirement – Anna Rappaport Rewirement – Helen Dennis ___________________________ Wise Quotes On Wisdom “Wisdom is to the experience dividend what oxygen is to fire.” On Retiring Retirement “Instead of using the word retire, I very much encourage people to use the word rewire.” On Demographic Shifts “We're shifting from a bell-shaped society to a bulb-shaped society, and it's going to change the talent makeup of your organization very, very soon.” ___________________________ About The Retirement Wisdom Podcast There are many podcasts on retirement, often hosted by financial advisors with their own financial motives, that cover the money side of the street. This podcast is different. You'll get smarter about the investment decisions you'll make about the most important asset you'll have in retirement: your time. About Retirement Wisdom I help people who are retiring, but aren't quite done yet, discover what's next and build their custom version of their next life. A meaningful retirement doesn't just happen by accident. Schedule a call today to discuss how the Designing Your Life process created by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans can help you make your life in retirement a great one — on your own terms. About Your Podcast Host Joe Casey is an executive coach who helps people design their next life after their primary career and create their version of The Multipurpose Retirement.™ He created his own next chapter after a 26-year career at Merrill Lynch, where he was Senior Vice President and Head of HR for Global Markets & Investment Banking. Joe has earned Master's degrees from the University of Southern California in Gerontology (at age 60), the University of Pennsylvania, and Middlesex University (UK), a BA in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and his coaching certification from Columbia University. In addition to his work with clients, Joe hosts The Retirement Wisdom Podcast, ranked in the top 1% globally in popularity by Listen Notes, with over 2 million downloads. Business Insider recognized Joe as one of 23 innovative coaches who are making a difference. He's the author of Win the Retirement Game: How to Outsmart the 9 Forces Trying to Steal Your Joy.
In this episode Derek Champagne talks with NY Times best selling author Liane Davey. Liane has spent more than 25 years researching and advising teams on how to perform at their best. Known as the “teamwork doctor,” she works with teams from the frontlines to the boardroom, across industries and around the world, from Boston to Bangkok. Through her work with hundreds of teams, including 26 Global Fortune 500 companies (and counting), she has developed a practical, research-backed approach to solving the challenges that prevent teams from working effectively together.Liane is a New York Times bestselling author of You First: Inspire Your Team to Grow Up, Get Along, and Get Stuff Done and The Good Fight: Use Productive Conflict to Get Your Team and Organization Back on Track. She is a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review and a sought-after expert for media outlets including CNN, NPR, USA Today, The Globe & Mail, and Forbes. Her work focuses on increasing productivity, strengtheningengagement, developing leaders, and helping teams navigate conflict in healthier, more effective ways.Liane's clients have included Amazon, Walmart, TD Bank, RBC, AMD, MD Anderson, Google, Bayer, KPMG, Aviva, UNICEF, and SONY Interactive Entertainment. While she works across a wide range of industries, she customizes every conversation to reflect the realities of each audience.In Thoughtload, Liane tackles today's most pressing management challenges: over-burdened systems, burned-out teams, and plateauing results. However, contrary to conventional wisdom, Davey argues that the problem is not with out-sized workloads. The root cause of the madness sapping productivity in today's offices is our excessive thoughtload.Thoughtload is the cumulative and often overwhelming burden of increasing cognitive and emotional demands, worsened by decreasing physical and mental energy. In this brilliant, highly prescriptive guide, Davey lays out the steps for reducing thoughtload, so that managers and their teams feel more focused―and get more done.For free resources and to order a copy of Thoughtload visit: Thoughtload.comBusiness Leadership Series Intro and Outro music provided by Just Off Turner: https://music.apple.com/za/album/the-long-walk-back/268386576
Justin Hale reveals the key to communicating difficult truths while strengthening relationships. — YOU'LL LEARN — 1) How avoiding conflict erodes trust in teams2) How to set expectations that leave no room for misunderstanding3) The mindset shift for calmer conversationsSubscribe or visit AwesomeAtYourJob.com/ep1160 for clickable versions of the links below. — ABOUT JUSTIN — Justin Hale is an author and keynote speaker who has worked with hundreds of organizations worldwide, helping leaders and teams communicate better, elevate productivity, and build healthier cultures. He is the coauthor of the New York Times best seller Crucial Accountability: Proven Skills to Build Trust, Address Disappointment, and Get Results.His research and writing has been published in places like Harvard Business Review, CNBC.com, Fox Business, Bloomberg, and Fast Company. Justin's coaching and advice is also published regularly in the Crucial Skills newsletter.• Book: Crucial Accountability: Proven Skills to Build Trust, Address Disappointment, and Get Results, Third Edition• LinkedIn: Justin Hale• Website: CrucialLearning.com— RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE SHOW — • App: Note to Self• Book: Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen• Book: Why We Do What We Do by Edward Deci• Past episode: 015: David Allen, The World's Leading Authority on Productivity• Past episode: 482: David Allen Returns with the 10 Moves to Stress-Free Productivity— THANK YOU SPONSORS! — • Shopify. Sign up for your $1/month trial at Shopify.com/awesomepodSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Keith Ferrazzi is Chairman of Ferrazzi Greenlight and its Research Institute. He is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Who's Got Your Back and bestsellers like Never Eat Alone, Leading Without Authority, and Competing in the New World of Work. He is a frequent contributor to Harvard Business Review, the Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Forbes, Inc, Fortune, and other many other publications. He is also the author of a new book, which launches today, called Never Lead Alone. In his third appearance on the Elevate Podcast, Keith joined host Robert Glazer to discuss his new book, the move from leadership to teamship, and much more. Thank you to the sponsors of The Elevate Podcast Shopify: shopify.com/elevate Framer: framer.com/elevate Indeed: indeed.com/elevate Ethos Life: ethos.com/elevate Keeper Security: keepersecurity.com/ELEVATE Fora Travel: foratravel.com/elevate Northwest Registered Agent: northwestregisteredagent.com/elevate Whatnot: Search "Whatnot" in the app store to download Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Michael Shermer speaks with Oxford philosopher Carissa Véliz about the long human desire to know the future—from ancient oracles and astrology to AI, surveillance capitalism, predictive policing, and "data-driven" decision-making. Véliz argues that prediction is rarely neutral: the same machinery that collects personal data also tries to forecast behavior, and once institutions start treating predictions as facts, forecasts can become tools of control. The conversation gets into why privacy matters for democracy, how algorithms can turn human lives into self-fulfilling prophecies, and why extraordinary people often fall outside predictive models. Shermer and Véliz also discuss the limits of science, the replication crisis, crime statistics, effective altruism, utilitarian ethics, and free will. Carissa Véliz is an associate professor at the Institute for Ethics in AI at the University of Oxford. Her first book, Privacy Is Power (Melville House) was an Economist book of the year and has been published in seven languages. Her academic work has been published in The Harvard Business Review, Nature, AI & Society, and The American Journal of Bioethics, among others. Her new book is Prophecy: Prediction, Power, and the Fight for the Future, from Ancient Oracles to AI.
Phil Le-Brun: The Octopus Organization Phil Le-Brun is an executive in residence at Amazon Web Services and a former corporate VP and international CIO at the McDonald's Corporation. He is a sought-after speaker and has been featured in Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, and The Guardian. He is the co-author with Jana Werner of The Octopus Organization: A Guide to Thriving in a World of Continuous Transformation (Amazon, Bookshop)*. Most of us have gone through some version of a reorg. A lot of leaders have also implemented their own reorgs. Sometimes they work. Many times, they don't. In this conversation, Phil and I discuss what goes wrong with reorgs and how we can do better. Key Points Organizations traditionally looked like the tin man from The Wizard of Oz: perfectly planned, many interchangeable parts, not flexible. An octopus organization adapts, works independently to serve the larger whole, and is innately curious. A reorg that starts with an org chart misses the complex organic connections you are unlikely to fully understand. Prioritize structural stability while building internal flexibility. Nurture the complex informal human networks that deliver value. Be honest about objectives and communicate a reorg early. Engage people by starting with smaller-scale change. Clarify the problem to be solved instead of the structural “answer.” Resources Mentioned The Octopus Organization: A Guide to Thriving in a World of Continuous Transformation by Phil Le-Brun and Jana Werner (Amazon, Bookshop)* Interview Notes Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required). Related Episodes How to Get the Ideal Team Player, with Patrick Lencioni (episode 301) How to Approach a Reorg, with Claire Hughes Johnson (episode 621) How to Help Employees Handle Tough Moments, with Anthony Klotz (episode 777) Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.
The Learning Leader Show with Ryan Hawk www.LearningLeader.com New Book - The Price of Becoming www.LearningLeader.com/Becoming Ron Friedman is a psychologist and researcher who has spent his career studying what separates great teams from average ones. His research, which has surveyed thousands of professionals across dozens of industries, became the second most-read article in Harvard Business Review history. He is the author of three books, including his latest, Superteams: The Science and Secrets of High-Performing Teams. This is brought to you by Insight Global. If you need to hire one person, hire a team of people, or transform your business through Talent or Technical Services, Insight Global's team of 30,000 people around the world has the hustle and grit to deliver. Key Learnings Ron's dad threw himself into impossible challenges and taught his family the dignity of hard work. A physician in Israel, he didn't want his son in the army, so he picked up the phone and started dialing hospitals in New York City until he landed a job at NYU. He pulled his family out of a country he knew, didn't speak the language fluently, and succeeded anyway. Ron dedicated Super Teams to him. He recently passed away. Only 8% of teams qualify as super teams. Ron's team polled thousands of workers and asked two questions: How effective is your team at meeting its goals? And how does it compare to others in your industry? Super teams hit the perfect score. The only office amenity that statistically drives performance: quiet space for focused work. Not the gym. Not the ping-pong table. Most offices are an attentional war zone. That's why people prefer working from home. How a team works matters more than where a team works. Remote, hybrid, in-office. The data shows none of those predict performance. Intention does. Don't make meetings the default. Make them the last resort. Super teams are 50% better at avoiding unnecessary meetings and 54% less likely to schedule recurring ones. Recurring meetings are insidious. Once they're on the calendar, removing one feels like breaking up with someone. So they just live there forever. Ron's rule: no decision, no meeting. Have a question? Pick up the phone. Have an update? Record a video or send an email. Don't pull people away from their work. The average worker loses 18 hours a week to meetings. And another 11 hours to messages. That's three-quarters of the week gone before they've achieved a single task. Meeting-free days cut stress in half and increase productivity by 71%. People go home feeling satisfied because they were able to actually do the work. Three pillars of super teams: They get more done by managing time, energy, and attention. They don't just collaborate. They actively make each other better. They're never satisfied. They're constantly building skills and improving. Recovery isn't passive. Scrolling Instagram or binging Netflix helps you wind down, but it doesn't restore your energy. Mastery experiences do. Learn a new song. Try pickleball. Cook a new recipe. When leaders recover, their teams perform better. A well-rested leader shows up in a positive mood. That mood lifts the team. Investing in your own recovery isn't selfish. It moves your team forward. The best leaders support their people's side hustles. Not because they assign them, but because their people feel they have permission to grow outside the job. That's a signal you care about the person, not just the output. Three factors predict trust in a leader: competence, caring, consistency. Any one of them breaks down and trust breaks down. "How was your weekend?" is lame. Be specific. Ask about the kid's soccer game by name. Specificity proves you actually thought about the person. People need to be appreciated for who they are, not just what they do. That's how they feel cared for. The top three characteristics of toxic teammates: unreliable, bad attitude, and arrogant. The top three characteristics of the best teammates: knowledgeable, dependable, and a good communicator. Notice what's not on the list. Funny. Good listener. Caring. Those are nice-to-haves. They don't move the team forward. The best teammates make excellence the norm. On super teams, 94% say their teammates motivate them to do their best work. On super teams, 82% say they feel worse about letting down their teammates than their manager. When people know their teammates are counting on them, they work harder. Constant togetherness is not collaboration. The Succession writers' room cycled between solo writing and group critique. Real collaboration protects focus time first. Brainwriting beats brainstorming. Have people generate ideas alone first, then bring them to the room. You get higher quantity and higher quality ideas. 97% of feedback fails to lift performance. Over a third actively makes it worse. What does the 3% do differently? Focus on one thing at a time. Future-oriented, not past-oriented. Top performers want to know what they did wrong. Confidence allows them to absorb criticism and correct it. Most people aren't there. Gauge the feedback to the person. Great football coaches give feedback differently to the quarterback than the lineman. Know your people. Adjust your approach. Comedians get better at the Comedy Cellar because of what happens next door. Seinfeld, Chappelle, and Schumer gather at the Lemon Tree Cafe after sets to critique each other. Ryan calls it the "see it, say it" mentality, an ethos his teammate Geron Stokes brings every day. Great compliment, say it. Falling short of the standard, say it. The best teammates care enough to tell you how you can improve. Ron's champagne moment a year from now: his 19-year-old daughter landing a finance internship she earned on her own. Reflection Questions What's your recurring meeting that should be a breakup conversation? When was the last time you asked a teammate something specific about their life, by name? Or are you defaulting to "how was your weekend?" What's your version of the Comedy Cellar's Lemon Tree Cafe? Who do you go to for the candid feedback that makes you better? More Learning #422: Ron Friedman - How to Reverse Engineer Excellence #535: Geron Stokes - Maximizing People #647: Tim Ferriss - Effectiveness Over Efficiency Podcast Chapters 00:00 The Price of Becoming - Pre-Order Now! 01:09 Meet Ron Friedman 02:41 Ron's Dad and the Dignity of Hard Work 03:47 Two Workplaces, Two Cultures, One Lesson 06:01 The Super Teams Methodology 07:13 The Only Office Amenity That Drives Performance 08:50 How a Team Works Matters More Than Where 13:06 The Three Pillars of Super Teams 16:11 Meeting Guidelines That Actually Work 18:42 The Power of Meeting-Free Days 22:23 Why Guidelines Beat Rules 23:40 Side Hustles, Recovery, and the Goldman Sachs CEO Who DJs 28:53 The Three Factors of Trust: Competence, Caring, Consistency 30:13 Why "How Was Your Weekend?" Is Lame 31:02 Get Specific or Don't Bother 31:22 The Manager Who Asked About Miranda by Name 32:08 The Spreadsheet for Remembering People 33:09 What Makes a Toxic Teammate 35:05 Chevy Chase and the Cost of Burning Bridges 35:52 The Best vs. Worst Teammate Traits 37:08 How Tom Brady Lifted an Entire Organization 38:06 Why Super Teams Hold Each Other Accountable 39:39 Inside the Succession Writers' Room 40:46 Brainwriting Beats Brainstorming 41:41 The Candid Feedback Culture That Drives Improvement 43:06 Painting in Red: The Power
Dr. Anthony Klotz discusses how to manage the big and small moments that make us question our next career moves.— YOU'LL LEARN — 1) How the pandemic fundamentally altered our relationship with work2) Why doing nothing is often your best solution 3) How to find more satisfaction in a job you're stuck in Subscribe or visit AwesomeAtYourJob.com/ep1158 for clickable versions of the links below. — ABOUT ANTHONY — Dr. Anthony Klotz is a professor of organizational behavior at the UCL School of Management in London. Known for predicting a global labor shift and dubbing it the Great Resignation, Klotz writes for Harvard Business Review and The Wall Street Journal, and his research is regularly published in leading management journals. He has discussed the current and future state of work with media outlets, including The New York Times, BBC, and CNN, and with executive teams at Fortune 100 firms.• Book: Jolted: Why We Quit, When to Stay, and Why It Matters• Email: a.klotz@ucl.ac.uk• LinkedIn: Anthony Klotz• Website: AnthonyKlotz.com— RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE SHOW — • Study: “Employee theft as a reaction to underpayment inequity: The hidden cost of pay cuts.” by J. Greenberg• Book: Asking: A 59-Minute Guide to Everything Board Members, Volunteers, and Staff Must Know to Secure the Gift by Jerold Panas• Book: Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect by Will Guidara• Book: The Log from the Sea of Cortez by John Steinbeck• Past episode: 346: Seizing Career Opportunities with AstroLabs' Muhammed Mekki— THANK YOU SPONSORS! — • Shopify. Sign up for your $1/month trial at Shopify.com/awesomepodSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Dr. Eric Cole has worked in cybersecurity for over 30 years, helping organizations protect their data. He started as a CIA hacker who could access any internet-connected computer. Using this expertise, he built companies focused on defense. Dr. Cole has worked with Lockheed Martin, McAfee, and consulted globally for clients like Saudi Aramco, Nouryon, utility companies, nuclear sites, financial institutions, and healthcare. He secures the Gates family and was a commissioner for President Obama, continuing to advise on security. Get a copy of his new book "Digital Danger: AI, Cybersecurity, and the Fight for Our Future" here: https://amzn.to/4vqWaSS New here? I am a two-time New York Times bestselling author and one of the most sought-after public speakers globally, having spoken to over 500 companies while traveling to more than 40 countries. My clients include Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Nike. My work has been covered in print media, including The New Yorker, The New York Times, Time, Fast Company, Fortune, Politico, Inc., and Harvard Business Review. It has also been featured on NPR, NBC, FOX, and multiple times on The Steve Harvey Show. Get more stuff from me: Join 200K+ subscribers on my FREE weekly newsletter: https://gregmckeown.com/1mw/ "Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less" https://amzn.to/3EkZycH "Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most" https://amzn.to/3EAkADZ "The Essentialism Planner: A 90-Day Guide to Accomplishing More by Doing Less" https://amzn.to/42CAsA3 Stay in touch with me: Instagram / gregorymckeown LinkedIn / gregmckeown X https://x.com/GregoryMcKeown Hire me to speak: https://gregmckeown.com/keynote/