Podcasts about skills

Ravi Rajani shows you how to build meaningful relationships, one conversation at a time. — YOU'LL LEARN — 1) The Three C's of building trust2) What makes people say, “Tell me more” 3) Why compliments come across as insincereSubscribe or visit AwesomeAtYourJob.com/ep1125 for clickable versions of the links below. — ABOUT RAVI — Ravi Rajani is an international keynote speaker, transformational coach and LinkedIn Learning instructor, with over 65,000 people having taken his courses on Conscious and Charismatic Communication. Widely seen as one of the world's top communication experts, mission-driven leaders, entrepreneurs and organizations such as Oracle NetSuite, T-Mobile, and Sherwin-Williams have engaged Ravi to help them and their people become masterful communicators so they can build meaningful relationships that amplify revenue growth and cultivate a culture of trust.Off stage or camera, Ravi lives just outside of London, UK, with his wife, son, daughter and furry little West Highland Terrier. He loves the movie Limitless, a good stand-up comedian and a quintessentially British suit.• Book: Relationship Currency: Five Communication Habits For Limitless Influence and Business Success• LinkedIn: Ravi Rajani— RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE SHOW — • Study: “Processing of Social and Monetary Rewards in the Human Striatum” by Keise Izuma, Daisuke N. Saito, and Norihiro Sadato• Book: Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown— THANK YOU SPONSORS! — • Monarch.com. Get 50% off your first year on with the code AWESOME.• Vanguard. Give your clients consistent results year in and year out with vanguard.com/AUDIOSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We continue to build upon Boomtown - our real-time worldbuilding experiment - armed with the comments of our listeners. Having been playing through the Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game, we've experienced firsthand how alterations to the classes available for players really helps to lend a unique and immersive quality to the campaign setting – setting it apart from all others.In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave sit down to discuss Clerics in a world where all the magic that is known seems to be technologically-based. We take them from 1st to 3rd level and, along the way, discuss the changes that reflect our weird west setting. Make sure to Join the Conversation!4:00 The Name! Always start with the name. Introducing Sister Mercy Cain.5:30 Renaming the Cleric: The Prophet Class.7:20 Rolling Mercy's stats.10:50 Customizing Saving Throws.13:30 A short step back into Sneak Attack and finesse weapons in regards to Firearms.16:50 No Plate Mail in the western setting - Unarmored Defense for all classes.21:12 Skills and a discussion on a Preach skill instead of Religion.28:00 Everyone gets a Frontier Pack! Building out equipment and weapons.34:30 We begin to discuss spellcasting for the Prophet class – 3 separate ideas.42:50 Leveling Sister Mercy to 2nd level and our discussion on Channel Divinity, Domains, and Deities.53:00 Our 3rd Level Prophet!53:30 Final Thoughts.

Let’s talk about AI for NetOps: It’s not just coming, it’s here. There are tools to use, skills to acquire, and we want to talk about what’s needed for highly certified network engineers to skill up in AI. What certification opportunities or paths exist? What developments do we think we’re going to see here? And... Read more »

The VIBE Podcast with Kelly Cardenas featuring Michael Ivanov explores leadership, resilience, mindset, and personal transformation through one of the most powerful life stories you'll hear. In this episode of The VIBE with Kelly Cardenas, best-selling author and motivational speaker Michael Ivanov shares a moving conversation on survival, purpose, faith, and what it truly means to live boldly.Born in the shadow of the Soviet Union's final days, Michael immigrated to the United States as a child carrying a legacy of unimaginable resilience. His grandfather survived both the Siege of Leningrad and the Dachau concentration camp, a history that shaped Michael's belief that no matter the odds, the human spirit is built to endure.Kelly Cardenas brings his signature blend of heart, humor, and curiosity to this unforgettable dialogue, creating space for a story that transcends generations and cultures. Together, Kelly and Michael unpack how fear can bury talent — and how courage, faith, and intention can unearth it.Through The VIBE Method™ — aligning Heart (beliefs), Mind (intentions), and Skills (actions) — this episode invites you to dream without limits, find beauty in life's smallest moments, and keep moving forward even when the path feels uncertain.This conversation is a reminder that resilience isn't just about surviving — it's about choosing meaning, embracing purpose, and refusing to quit on yourself.If you're navigating adversity, leadership challenges, or a season of reinvention, this episode will meet you right where you are and push you one Inchstone closer to who you're meant to become.

Let’s talk about AI for NetOps: It’s not just coming, it’s here. There are tools to use, skills to acquire, and we want to talk about what’s needed for highly certified network engineers to skill up in AI. What certification opportunities or paths exist? What developments do we think we’re going to see here? And... Read more »

Danny and Ritu dive deep into Anthropic's new Cowork feature in Claude Desktop - the good, the bad, and the ugly. Ritu shares a cautionary tale about file deletion gone wrong, while Danny demonstrates his custom skills pack that protects users from common pitfalls. What You'll Learn: What Cowork is and how it differs from Claude Code and Claude Desktop Why the rm -rf command can permanently delete your files (and how to prevent it) How to set up deny lists in your Claude settings to protect critical files The power of skills and bootstrap files for consistent, reliable outputs Decision panels: letting Claude guide you through complex choices Cascade skills: research to article to slides in one automated flow Key Timestamps: 00:00 - Introduction to Cowork 02:13 - Ritu's file deletion disaster story 08:37 - Understanding rm vs rm -rf commands 10:01 - Setting up deny lists for protection 16:00 - Evolution from Claude Desktop to Claude Code to Cowork 25:55 - Skills deep dive: orchestrator, quality gate, flow state 39:48 - Research cascade skill demonstration 43:18 - Decision panels walkthrough 48:58 - 2026 predictions: Ambient AI and pixel-free interfaces Resources Mentioned: Danny's Skills Pack (available to listeners) Typora - Markdown editor ($14 lifetime) Time Machine backup for Mac users Git for version control Connect with Ritu Java: LinkedIn Connect with Danny McMillan: LinkedIn | Seller Sessions

Underrated Life Skills Course: https://www.cory-allen.com/skillsStarts Feb 9th. Use the code "Skills" at checkout. See you there

Jen Fisher discusses the strategic value of hope—and how leaders can harness it to improve wellbeing and transform the workplace. — YOU'LL LEARN — 1) Why hope is a valid strategy in the workplace2) How a few words can kill or build hope3) How to counter your brain's tendency to be overly criticalSubscribe or visit AwesomeAtYourJob.com/ep1124 for clickable versions of the links below. — ABOUT JEN — Jen Fisher is a global authority on workplace wellbeing, the bestselling author of Work Better Together, and the founder and CEO of The Wellbeing Team.As Deloitte US's first chief wellbeing officer, she pioneered a groundbreaking, human-centered approach to work that gained international recognition and reshaped how organizations view wellbeing. Jen is also the creator and host of The WorkWell Podcast, a TEDx speaker, and a sought-after voice at events like Workhuman, SXSW, Milken Global Conference, and Happiness Camp. At the heart of Jen's work is the knowledge that hope is not just a feeling—it's a strategic imperative. She helps leaders harness hope as a catalyst for cultural transformation, guiding them to reimagine work as a force for human flourishing. She lives in Miami with her husband, Albert, and their dog, Fiona.• Book: Hope Is the Strategy: The Underrated Skill That Transforms Work, Leadership, and Wellbeing• LinkedIn: Jen Fisher• Substack: Thoughts on Being Well• Website: Jen-Fisher.com— RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE SHOW — • Study: “Hope theory: Rainbows in the mind.” by C.R. Synder• Book: The Choice: Embrace the Possible by Dr. Edith Eva Eger— THANK YOU SPONSORS! — • Monarch.com. Get 50% off your first year on with the code AWESOME.• Vanguard. Give your clients consistent results year in and year out with vanguard.com/AUDIOSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Description:  We're bringing you back to an episode from early 2024, co-hosted by Laura Flanders and Scot Nakagawa, because the forces they examined then are not behind us. They are very much with us now.Political violence in the United States didn't peak on January 6th. It metastasized. From threats against election workers and school board members, to attacks fueled by conspiracy, grievance, and organized extremism, the impact of violent political action continues to ripple through our communities — shaping who feels safe, who participates, and whose voices are pushed out of public life.In this conversation, Laura and Scot convene organizers, researchers, and frontline leaders to define what political violence really is — not just spectacular acts, but sustained intimidation — and to ask how democracy survives when fear becomes a political tool.You'll hear from guests who have lived this reality, studied it, and resisted it — voices reminding us that while violence is meant to isolate and silence, community remains one of the strongest counterforces we have.As the current political climate continues to normalize threats and reward extremism, this episode feels less like history — and more like a guidepost.   “As a child of a [Black] Panther, I saw inspiration in every action. Even when I saw my mother's friends being jailed for long periods of time or even killed by police terror . . . A lot of those folks went on to continue fighting against terror of the state and building community. I wanted to be a part of that . . .” - Sala Cyril“Violence has greatly limited our ability to function as an inclusive, robust, multiracial democracy that in fact, we must deal with it . . . We need to believe we can win, and we need to think about who it is that we need on our side  . . .” - Scot Nakagawa“I can report anecdotally through different interactions with conservatives that they are experiencing political violence. I've been in attendance with secretaries of state, former Lieutenant governors. They all have stories of themselves or their families being on the receiving end of political violence . . .” - Maria J. StephanGuests:• Sala Cyril: Interim Executive Director, Vision Change Win; Organizer, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, NYC• Hardy Merriman: Author, Harnessing Our Power to End (HOPE) Political Violence; Expert, Democracy Movements• Scot Nakagawa (Co-host): Executive Director, 22nd Century Initiative & 22nd Century Conference• Maria J. Stephan: Co-Lead & Chief Organizer, The Horizons Project; Co-author with Erica Chenoweth, Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent ConflictThis show is made possible thanks to you!  To make a tax deductible YEAR END DONATION and become a member, go to LauraFlanders.org/donate. *Recommended book:“​Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict” by Erica Chenoweth & Maria J. Stephan: Get the Book(*Bookshop is an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. The LF Show is an affiliate of bookshop.org and will receive a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.)Related Laura Flanders Show Episodes:•. Countering the Coup: From the Grassroots Up: Watch / Subscribe to the podcast•. Idaho's United Vision Project: Confronting Extremism in America's Heartland: Watch / Subscribe to the podcast•. Power Grids Under Attack: The Threat is Domestic Terrorism – Not Drag Artists: Watch / Subscribe to the podcastRelated Articles and Resources:• Combatting Authoritarianism:  The Skills and Infrastructure Needed to Organize Across Difference, by Maria J. Stephan and Julia Roig, Just Security Read Here•. Two-Thirds in US fear violence could follow election, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds, by Jason Lange and Andy Sullivan. Read Here• Authoritarianism: How You Know It When You See It.  What is Democracy? By Horizons Project, Learn More Here Support Laura Flanders and Friends by becoming a member at https://www.patreon.com/c/lauraflandersandfriends Laura Flanders and Friends Crew: Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer; Sabrina Artel-Supervising Producer; Jeremiah Cothren-Senior Producer; Veronica Delgado-Video Editor, Janet Hernandez-Communications Director; Jeannie Hopper-Audio Director, Podcast & Radio Producer, Audio Editor, Sound Design, Narrator; Sarah Miller-Development Director, Nat Needham-Editor, Graphic Design emeritus; David Neuman-Senior Video Editor, and Rory O'Conner-Senior Consulting Producer. FOLLOW Laura Flanders and FriendsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraflandersandfriends/Blueky: https://bsky.app/profile/lfandfriends.bsky.socialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraFlandersAndFriends/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lauraflandersandfriendsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFLRxVeYcB1H7DbuYZQG-lgLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lauraflandersandfriendsPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/lauraflandersandfriendsACCESSIBILITY - The broadcast edition of this episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel

Jalen and Josh are back for season 3 and a brand new NBA season. Today the guys welcome Bubba Watson. Together they talk best golffing courts, caddy relationship, & much more. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode. Make it legendary with BetMGM. Download the app today and use bonus code ROOMMATES to get up to a $1500 New Player Offer on your first wager with BetMGM! https://betmgm.com/roommates UPGRADE YOUR BASICS WITH TOMMY JOHN & GET 25% OFF YOUR FIRST ORDER RIGHT NOW at https://TommyJohn.com/ROOMIES WITH PROMO CODE ROOMIES AT&T. Connecting changes everything. DoorDash. In your bag all season long. Built to go anywhere and bring everyone. Experience fun for the whole family in the Jeep® Grand Cherokee. Visit https://Jeep.com for more info. Use code ROOMMATES15 to get 15% off your purchase at Barebells.com. Chapters:00:00 - Intro00:53 - Sports Headlines (Tommy John)07:19 - Fan Connections (AT&T Segment)15:43 - AT&T Ad16:42 - Tommy John Ad17:43 - Picture Me Scrollin' (Jeep Segment)27:04 - Jeep Ad27:43 - Barebells Ad29:42 - Jalen & Josh's Golfing Skills35:58 - "Walking Up 18 in Augusta"38:43 - New Into Golf41:26 - Going Pro42:47 - Waste Management44:42 - Golf as a Mentally Challenging Sport46:16 - Caddy Relationship48:03 - The New Golf54:11 - "I See Myself as Someone Besides a Golfer"56:07 - Top 5 Golf Courses to Play At58:37 - Grip1:03:25 - YouTube Golfers1:05:03 - Collab with Richard Mille1:09:59 - Dash or Pass (DoorDash Segment)1:14:00 - DoorDash Ad Read1:15:25 - Picks of the Week (BetMGM Segment)1:15:12 - BetMGM Ad1:16:05 - Baller of the Month (Barebells Segment)1:18:46 - Outro TT: https://www.tiktok.com/@roommatesshowIG: https://www.instagram.com/theroommatesshowX/TW: https://twitter.com/roommates__show See https://BetMGM.com for Terms. 21+ only. This promotional offer is not available in New York, Nevada, Ontario, or Puerto Rico. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (Available in the US). 877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY). 1-800-NEXT-STEP (AZ), 1-800-327-5050 (MA), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA), 1-800-981-0023 (PR). First Bet Offer for new customers only. Subject to eligibility requirements. Rewards are non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire in 7 days. In partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (Available in the US) 877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY) 1-800-327-5050 (MA), 1-800-NEXT-STEP (AZ), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA), 1-800-981-0023 (PR) 21+ only. Please Gamble Responsibly. See BetMGM.com for Terms. First Bet Offer for new customers only. Subject to eligibility requirements. Bonus bets are non-withdrawable. In partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel. This promotional offer is not available in New York, Nevada, Ontario, or Puerto Rico. #NBAFreeAgency #DamianLillard #LukaDoncic #MikalBridges #BallIsLife #NBAUpdates #HoopsTalk #NBAHumor #HoopDreams #NBAComedy #BasketballPodcast #NBABanter #NBAStories #NBAInsight #ProBasketball #NBAFans #AllStarTalk #BasketballCulture #NBA2025 #NBAFreeAgencyNews #JalenAndJosh #GettingPaid #LillardStatue #RoastingKarlAnthonyTowns #KATroast #MikalAndLuka #PlayerOpinions #FunnyHoops #HoopsComedy #PlayerTalk #BasketballAnalysis #InsideTheNBA #NextLevelHoops #NBALegends #CourtTalk #PodcastHighlights #PodcastSnippet #TributeTalk #StatueDebate #PlayerChat #FanTalk #NBAHeatCheck #BallersBanters #HotTakes #BehindTheBanter #PodcastMoment #PodcastClips #KTLove #LillardLove #PlayerChat #BehindTheBanter #TheRoommatesPodcast #NewYork #Knicks #Basketball #NBA #NBAPlayers #nbaoffseason #offseasonSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, Hunter was joined by Ali Bloomquist and Cherise Fanno Burdeen PhD about their new paper titled "Emotion First Theory & Practice: Emotional Intelligence as Foundational Infrastructure for Equity Practice." In it, Ali and Cherise detail the importance of making the development of Emotional Intelligence as something that public defender systems and organizations need to prioritize. Without a system based approach, public defender's alone cannot be expected to develop the emotional intelligence needed to meet the needs of the communities they serve.   Guest: Ali Bloomquist, Public Defender, Co-Founder, EIDEIA Institute Cherise Fanno Burdeen PhD, Community Psychologist, Co-Founder, EIDEIA Institute   Resources: EIDEIA Website https://www.eideia.org/ eideiainstitute@gmail.com   Register for the Webinar Here https://www.eideia.org/trainings       Contact Hunter Parnell:                                 Publicdefenseless@gmail.com  Instagram @PublicDefenselessPodcast Twitter                                                                 @PDefenselessPod www.publicdefenseless.com  Subscribe to the Patreon www.patreon.com/PublicDefenselessPodcast  Donate on PayPal https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=5KW7WMJWEXTAJ Donate on Stripe https://donate.stripe.com/7sI01tb2v3dwaM8cMN Trying to find a specific part of an episode? Use this link to search transcripts of every episode of the show! https://app.reduct.video/o/eca54fbf9f/p/d543070e6a/share/c34e85194394723d4131/home  

Jake and Michael discuss all the latest Laravel releases, tutorials, and happenings in the community.Show linksLaravel Boost v1.8.10 Released With New AI Prompts and Livewire v4 SupportAsync Request Cancellation Updates in Inertia v2.3.10Docker Support in Laravel VS Code Extension v1.4.2Query Builder Expression Aliases in Laravel 12.48Livewire 4 Support in Laravel VS Code Extension v1.4.3Laravel Boost v2.0 Released with Skills SupportEverything new in Livewire 4Statamic 6 Beta Now AvailableFilament v5 Released With Livewire v4 Support and a New Blueprint ToolLaravel News Is the Live Stream Partner for Laracon EU 2026Migrating Laravel News from Laravel Forge to CloudLaravel Debugbar v4.0.0 is releasedAutomate Laravel Herd Worktrees with This Claude Code SkillFluentVox: AI Text-to-Speech for Laravel with Voice Cloning and GPU AccelerationLaravel Deadlock: Manage Technical Debt with Expiring Code MarkersLaravel Invite Only Adds a Full User Invitation System with Tokens, Events, and RemindersRestrict User Actions with Time-Based Sanctions Using Laravel ProhibitionsRadiance: Generate Deterministic Mesh Gradient Avatars in PHPFair Queue Distribution with Laravel Balanced QueueTutorialsSpeeding Up Laravel News With Cloudflare

Join host Kyle Forrest and Mikaël Wornoo, cofounder of TechWolf, as they discuss the ways in which AI is shaping skills, tasks, and the workforce at large.    

professorjrod@gmail.comData protection didn't fail because encryption was weak; it faltered when trust was broken. In this episode of Technology Tap: CompTIA Study Guide, we explore how scattered systems, third-party vendors, and cloud replication complicate the question, “Where is our data right now?” We discuss why the true solution starts with people, not just technology. Whether you're a professor leading a study group, an IT professional preparing for your CompTIA exam, or anyone invested in IT skills development, this episode offers a practical map to not just pass tech exams but to uphold your promises in data security. Tune in for expert insights on technology education and effective tech exam prep strategies.We break down the crucial difference between data types and classifications, showing why labels don't override laws and how sensitivity should drive controls. You'll hear how data inventories, retention policies, and deletion-by-default strategies reduce both breach blast radius and legal exposure. We get specific about data states—at rest, in motion, in use—and the matching controls that actually hold up under pressure. Then we confront data sovereignty: how cross‑region replicas can quietly violate GDPR and how region‑restricted storage, geofencing, and vendor due diligence keep you on the right side of the border and the law.Privacy takes center stage as we clarify the roles of data subject, controller, and processor, and why documentation beats intention when regulators come calling. We outline what changes when a privacy breach occurs: tight timelines, mandated notifications, and the high cost of silence. Finally, we center the human layer with policies that guide behavior—acceptable use, social media, BYOD, clean desk—and an awareness training lifecycle that adapts to roles and evolving threats. Phishing drills, password hygiene, insider threat cues, and speak‑up culture turn security from slides into habits that stick.If this helped you think differently about compliance, data governance, and human risk, follow the show, share it with a teammate, and leave a quick review telling us which control you'll strengthen first. Your feedback helps more listeners protect what matters most.Support the showArt By Sarah/DesmondMusic by Joakim KarudLittle chacha ProductionsJuan Rodriguez can be reached atTikTok @ProfessorJrodProfessorJRod@gmail.com@Prof_JRodInstagram ProfessorJRod

Book a Strategy Call: https://www.bloomgolfpartners.com/book-a-strategy-call Summary In this episode of Leadership on the Links, Tyler Bloom sits down with Kenton Brunson, Director of Agronomy at Mid Ocean Club, to explore why golf course superintendents are uniquely positioned to become elite club leaders. Kenton shares his unconventional career journey, from agronomy student to superintendent to earning his MBA and CCM, while challenging long-held assumptions about silos in club operations. The conversation dives deep into education versus experience, the real value of advanced degrees, and how continued learning helps superintendents earn credibility in the boardroom. Kenton explains how exposure to club management disciplines reshaped the way he leads people, collaborates with department heads, and measures performance across his team. Listeners also gain a behind-the-scenes look at Mid Ocean's progressive people-development systems, including skills matrices, performance scorecards, emotional intelligence tracking, and learning-and-development investment. Kenton emphasizes that leadership longevity isn't about doing everything yourself, it's about building systems, trusting people, and choosing the right leaders to learn from early in your career. This episode reinforces a powerful message: superintendents already manage the largest assets, budgets, and teams at the club, now it's time to fully step into that leadership potential.   What You'll Learn • Why superintendents are naturally positioned to become club executives • The real ROI of MBAs, CCMs, and continued education • How education helps superintendents earn trust in the boardroom • Why getting "out of your silo" makes you a better leader • How to use performance scorecards instead of opinions • Building staff development systems that improve retention • Why people development is a competitive advantage for clubs • How emotional intelligence impacts leadership effectiveness • Practical approaches to delegation and time management • Career advice for young superintendents planning long-term success Timestamps 00:00 – Introduction and why superintendents are built to lead 01:50 – Kenton's early career path and agronomy background 03:40 – From superintendent to thinking like a club executive 05:45 – Education vs. experience: MBA and CCM insights 08:30 – Getting into the room: why education still matters 11:00 – What superintendents learn from club management programs 13:10 – Breaking silos and connecting with department heads 15:40 – Performance management and staff development systems 18:30 – Skills matrices, scorecards, and measuring success 22:10 – Emotional intelligence and leadership self-awareness 25:20 – Delegation, time management, and leadership mindset 29:40 – Governance, alignment, and defining success at the club 33:00 – Choosing leaders over logos early in your career 37:10 – Leadership advice to Kenton's younger self 38:30 – Final thoughts and where to connect   Links Mentioned Bloom Golf Partners Website: https://www.bloomgolfpartners.com Club Management Association of America (CMAA): https://www.cmaa.orgGCSAA: https://www.gcsaa.org  

Welcome to the RPGBOT.Podcast, where today's lesson is simple: cosmic horror, but with punchable Nazis. If classic Call of Cthulhu is about fragile academics discovering forbidden truths and immediately dying, Pulp Cthulhu is about kicking down the door, firing a shotgun at an elder god, and saying, "That all you got?" This episode is about concepts, themes, and vibes—the part of the game where sanity is optional, luck is currency, and surviving certain death might involve parachuting into a hot-air balloon you didn't know was there. Grab your fedora. We're going full pulp. Show Notes What Is Pulp Cthulhu? Pulp Cthulhu is a fully compatible variant of Call of Cthulhu that dials the game from existential despair to high-octane pulp adventure. Characters are tougher, more competent, and far more likely to survive long enough to matter. If Call of Cthulhu is The Thing or Evil Dead, Pulp Cthulhu is The Mummy, Army of Darkness, or Indiana Jones with eldritch nightmares.  Core Themes & Tone Heroic pulp action instead of grim cosmic inevitability Investigators who can take multiple hits and keep fighting A lighter, often comedic tone without abandoning horror Quips, gadgets, globe-trotting, and cinematic set pieces This makes Pulp Cthulhu an excellent transition for players coming from Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, or other heroic tabletop RPGs. Setting & Genre Shift Time period: 1930s, just before World War II Scope: Global adventures—London, Cairo, jungles, ruins, secret bases Enemies: Cultists, mythos horrors… and a suspicious number of Nazis The game leans hard into classic pulp tropes: secret societies, forbidden relics, occult conspiracies, and globe-spanning races against evil. Core Mechanics D100 roll-under system with degrees of success Regular, Hard, and Extreme successes replace DCs Fumbles and pushed rolls create escalating consequences Skills improve when you fail them during advancement These mechanics reward specialization while keeping tension high, even for highly skilled characters. What Makes Pulp Cthulhu Different? Archetypes Two-Fisted Hero, Hard-Boiled Detective, Mystic, Mad Scientist, Femme Fatale, and more Each archetype boosts a core characteristic and grants bonus skills Talents Passive and active abilities that enhance combat, investigation, or survivability Categories include Physical, Mental, Combat, and Weird Science Hit Points Roughly double standard Call of Cthulhu HP Still deadly—just less instantly fatal Luck as a Meta-Currency Spend luck to: Cancel fumbles Reduce damage Stay conscious Cheat death entirely (with a suitably ridiculous explanation) Luck regenerates every session, encouraging aggressive use Insanity, Magic, and Weird Science Insane Talents can grant powerful abilities with narrative drawbacks Magic is faster to learn but still dangerous and unpredictable Psychic powers like telekinesis and clairvoyance are viable builds Weird Science introduces death rays, jetpacks, ghost detectors, and other Flash-Gordon-adjacent nonsense Yes, you can build a psychic mind-wizard or a mad scientist with a death ray. The game actively wants you to try. The Pulp Meter The game supports multiple pulp levels: Low Pulp: Almost classic Call of Cthulhu Mid Pulp: Standard Pulp Cthulhu rules High Pulp: Extra talents, cinematic survivability, full nonsense This episode sets the stage for going high pulp in future sessions Key Takeaways Pulp Cthulhu trades hopeless cosmic horror for heroic pulp survival Characters are tougher, more competent, and more fun to invest in Luck is a central mechanic that fuels cinematic storytelling The 1930s setting enables globe-trotting, occult conspiracies, and pulp villains Perfect for groups who want action, investigation, and horror without constant character death If you've ever wanted to punch Cthulhu—or at least shoot near him—this is your game Welcome to the RPGBOT Podcast. If you love Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, and tabletop RPGs, this is the podcast for you. Support the show for free: Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any podcast app. It helps new listeners find the best RPG podcast for D&D and Pathfinder players. Level up your experience: Join us on Patreon to unlock ad-free access to RPGBOT.net and the RPGBOT Podcast, chat with us and the community on the RPGBOT Discord, and jump into live-streamed RPG podcast recordings. Support while you shop: Use our Amazon affiliate link at https://amzn.to/3NwElxQ and help us keep building tools and guides for the RPG community. Meet the Hosts Tyler Kamstra – Master of mechanics, seeing the Pathfinder action economy like Neo in the Matrix. Randall James – Lore buff and technologist, always ready to debate which Lord of the Rings edition reigns supreme. Ash Ely – Resident cynic, chaos agent, and AI's worst nightmare, bringing pure table-flipping RPG podcast energy. Join the RPGBOT team where fantasy roleplaying meets real strategy, sarcasm, and community chaos. How to Find Us: In-depth articles, guides, handbooks, reviews, news on Tabletop Role Playing at RPGBOT.net Tyler Kamstra BlueSky: @rpgbot.net TikTok: @RPGBOTDOTNET Ash Ely Professional Game Master on StartPlaying.Games BlueSky: @GravenAshes YouTube: @ashravenmedia Randall James BlueSky: @GrimoireRPG Amateurjack.com Read Melancon: A Grimoire Tale (affiliate link) Producer Dan @Lzr_illuminati  

Finding skilled talent remains difficult. Find out how CEOs and CHROs plan to develop their workforce this year.     Nearly 37% of CEOs say finding qualified workers is a challenge, according to the C-Suite Outlook 2026 survey by The Conference Board. How have labor challenges evolved since the Great Resignation, and what can CEOs do to attract and keep skilled talent in 2026?     Join Steve Odland and guest Diana Scott, US Human Capital Center leader at The Conference Board, to find out why AI requires HR to rethink job roles and skills sets, how CEOs and CHROs rank priorities such as productivity and organizational transformation, and which policy issues HR leaders are monitoring.     For more from The Conference Board:  Uncertainty and Opportunity: The CEO Playbook for 2026  The CEO Outlook for 2026—Uncertainty, Risks, Growth & Strategy  Transforming Organizations for AI: Critical Factors for AI Success 

What if the AI shaping your future didn't belong to Big Tech — but to you? In this eye-opening episode of Entrepreneurial Thinkers, Rob sits down with Matt Wright, co-founder and CEO of Gaia, to unpack the hidden power dynamics behind today's AI boom. From who really owns your data to how open-source AI could level the playing field, Matt explains why decentralization may be the key to a more ethical and human-centered tech future. Together, they explore how AI agents are already automating work, how individuals can build and control their own AI tools, and why community-owned models could change entrepreneurship forever. Whether you're a founder, creator, or just AI-curious, this conversation challenges you to rethink who AI works for — and how you can use it without giving up your privacy, autonomy, or voice.Feel free to follow and engage with MATT here:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewdavidwright/X: https://x.com/mateo_ventures?lang=enBusiness LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gaianet-ai/Website: https://www.gaianet.ai/We're so grateful to you, our growing audience of entrepreneurs, investors and community leaders interested in the human stories of the Entrepreneurial Thinkers behind entrepreneurial economies worldwide.As always we hope you enjoy each episode and Like, Follow, Subscribe or share with your friends. You can find our shows here, and our new Video Podcast, at “Entrepreneurial Thinkers” channel on YouTube. Plug in, relax and enjoy inspiring, educational and empowering conversations between Rob and our guests.¡Cheers y gracias!,Entrepreneurial Thinkers Team.Chapters00:00 Introduction and Technical Disclaimer01:59 Meet Matt Wright: AI and Community Building06:28 Understanding AI and Transparency10:40 The Risks of Centralized AI16:00 Decentralizing AI Inference Explained23:48 Defining AI Agents and Their Role29:42 Empowering Founders with Low-Code Tools31:08 Censorship Resistance and Open Source34:30 The Future of Community in AI57:50 The Challenges of Open Source Technology59:40 AI as a Collaborative Tool01:02:10 The Future of AI and Community Ownership01:05:29 Preparing for an AI-Driven Future01:11:44 The Role of Management in an AI World01:14:51 Skills for the New Age of AI

In this episode of Disruption/Interruption, KJ sits down with Colin Cooper, CEO and co-founder of Illuminate XR, to explore the massive skills gap threatening our workforce. With over 100 companies under his belt and thousands of global hires, Colin has witnessed firsthand how our 200-year-old education system is failing to prepare people for today's AI-driven world. Discover how immersive technology, emotional intelligence training, and personalized learning are revolutionizing the way humans learn, and why the next few years will determine whether we step into the "age of humanity" or fall behind forever. Four Key Takeaways The Education System Is 200 Years Behind (4:42) Our schools still operate on an industrial-age factory model designed to create compliant workers, not creative thinkers. Classrooms haven't fundamentally changed in over 1,000 years, and curriculum remains rooted in preparing students for a world that no longer exists. Meet Learners Where They Are (7:40)Real learning happens when you reduce cortisol and increase dopamine by connecting education to personal interests. Whether it's tailoring physics lessons to football or basketball, or using horses to teach emotional intelligence, personalization is the key to engagement and retention. AI Should Amplify, Not Replace (20:05) The future isn't about AI replacing teachers or workers—it's about using AI as a personal assistant to handle repetitive tasks. Start by identifying one repetitive task in your job and automate it with AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity. We're Living Through 25 Years of Progress Every Year (29:20)The convergence of AI and VR—technologies that shouldn't have merged for another 15-20 years—has compressed innovation timelines. What used to take 10-15 years to bring to market now takes weeks. The next 3-4 years will be transformative, and we have one shot to get it right. Quote of the Show (29:40):"When a year goes by, you normally get one year's worth of progress, but where we're at today, a year goes by and it's like 20 to 25 years of technology growth." – Colin Cooper Join our Anti-PR newsletter where we’re keeping a watchful and clever eye on PR trends, PR fails, and interesting news in tech so you don't have to. You're welcome. Want PR that actually matters? Get 30 minutes of expert advice in a fast-paced, zero-nonsense session from Karla Jo Helms, a veteran Crisis PR and Anti-PR Strategist who knows how to tell your story in the best possible light and get the exposure you need to disrupt your industry. Click here to book your call: https://info.jotopr.com/free-anti-pr-eval Ways to connect with Colin Cooper:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinmbcooper/Company Website: https://illuminatexr.com How to get more Disruption/Interruption: Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/eccda84d-4d5b-4c52-ba54-7fd8af3cbe87/disruption-interruptionApple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disruption-interruption/id1581985755Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6yGSwcSp8J354awJkCmJlDSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you prefer to watch the video you can find it at the bottom of this webpage. Episode Sponsors: Trident Concepts CCW Safe About This Episode: In this episode, we speak with Jeff Gonzales from Trident Concepts about his 25 years in firearm training and personal safety, recorded live at SHOT Show. We discuss his new “Active Shooter Readiness” course, designed to prepare individuals for active shooter scenarios and empower potential victims through preparedness and awareness. Jeff outlines key training principles like surgical headshots, effective cover use, and dynamic movement, highlighting their practical applications. He also details the course structure, focusing on skills and ongoing training. This dialogue provides essential insights into enhancing personal safety. More information on Jeff’s courses can be found at tridentconcepts.com. As always, any questions or suggestions for future episodes can be submitted to podcast@concealedcarry.com! Thanks for Listening! Thanks so much for joining us this week. Have some feedback you'd like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below. If you enjoyed the podcast the biggest compliment you could give us would be to subscribe to future episodes via a podcast app on your phone or via iTunes. You can find past podcast episodes by clicking here. Video Recording: Press PLAY on the video below to watch the video recording! {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","@id":"https://www.concealedcarry.com#/schema/video/4244147","name":"S13E3: 4 Active Shooter Pistol Skills You Should Have w/ Jeff Gonzales","description":"Jeff outlines key training principles like surgical headshots, effective cover use, and dynamic movement, highlighting their practical applications. He also details the course structure, focusing on skills and ongoing training. This dialogue provides essential insights into enhancing personal safety. More information on Jeff's courses can be found at tridentconcepts.com.","thumbnailUrl":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/QRzLl866UDE/maxresdefault.jpg","uploadDate":"2026-01-28T13:03:45-07:00","embedUrl":"https://www.concealedcarry.com/player-embed/id/4244147/?autoplay=0","duration":"PT01H43M02S","interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"http://schema.org/WatchAction"},"userInteractionCount":1}}

In this episode of Passionate & Prosperous, I'm diving into one of the things I care about most — and honestly, one of the biggest reasons I believe so many service-based businesses struggle to grow or convert right now.If you work with human beings (coaches, teachers, healers, creatives, experts, facilitators, consultants… this means you), you must understand how people actually make decisions, learn, change, and say yes to transformation.This episode is all about why coaching and teaching skills aren't just for delivery — they're the foundation of attraction, sales, and results.I'm breaking down what's really happening inside the human brain and nervous system when someone is considering change, investing money, or committing to a new outcome — and why no script, funnel, or “perfect messaging” can replace true coaching mastery.We talk about why objections aren't something to “handle,” why information alone doesn't create transformation, and why being great at what you do isn't enough if you don't know how to help people actually move.This conversation was inspired by real conversations with clients and colleagues, and what I'm seeing across the coaching and online business space right now — especially in a market where trust, discernment, and results matter more than ever.If you want to build a business that feels ethical, sustainable, and genuinely effective — where people don't just buy, but actually change — this episode is for you.In this episode, we explore:Why understanding human behavior is essential if you sell transformationHow resistance and objections actually work (and why scripts don't)The difference between learning information and creating real outcomesWhy coaching and teaching skills impact attraction, sales, and deliveryHow people decide to invest — and what they really need to feel safe saying yesWhy “being good at marketing” isn't enough if you can't deliver resultsHow embodied expertise builds trust faster than tactics ever willThis episode is an invitation to raise the bar — not just in how you market or sell, but in how you serve, lead, and create change.Because businesses that last aren't built on hacks.They're built on skill, integrity, and knowing what your clients really need to get the results, outcomes and change they are looking for.If you want to learn more about what it takes to have a profitable coaching business, make sure to sign up for the free Profitable Coaching Business Bootcamp here. We start Feb 9th!

Aron Snyder of Born Primitive Outdoors returns to the show this week for a great conversation. Aron needs no introduction, he's been a leader in the hunting community for many years and I've always respected his fearless authenticity.   In this episode, we not only touch on topics from gear to developing hunting skills to wilderness survival, we also find out on the internet that Aron supposedly died a few months ago, which was a shocking revelation for both of us. Clearly, if it says it online, it must be true. It's always a great time chatting with Aron, prepare to have your mind blown.   Aron on Instagram   Show Sponsors!   Phelps Game Calls - The game call company of The Western Huntsman! https://bit.ly/PhelpsGameCalls-Eastmans -Use Promo Code "Huntsman10" for 10% off! Leupold Optics- Over 100 years of American-made optics such as scopes, binos, spotters, range finders and more. Leupold sets the standard for innovation and quality without selling out. Leupold not only makes excellent products for any hunt, but they work hard for the future of hunting through their incredible support of many different conservation organizations. Support the companies that support you, check out Leupold here: https://bit.ly/Leupold-Eastmans  Browning X-Bolt 2 - Browning is perhaps one of the top brands in American hunting. We all know this company, and they've once again moved the bar to a higher standard with the X-Bolt 2 rifle. Available in multiple cartridges, this rifle is designed for maximum, Total Accuracy, right out of the box. The Vari-Tech Stock allows this rifle to fit any person of any size. The DLX Trigger with adjustable weights is smooth as ice, and hunters can take advantage of the Plus Magazine System when maximum rounds are needed. With too many features to list here, this rifle is a no-brainer. Check it out at https://bit.ly/Browning-Eastmans    Mystery Ranch Packs- These packs have a long tradition of quality and durability. Their new hunting pack line-up has everything from solid daypacks to backcountry sizes and women's sizes. This is huge! I've never been able to find a good pack for my wife and girls that actually fit them right until I found the women's Sawtooth. Impressive load capacities, great organization, tough, lightweight, and carried on the improved Mysterium frame. Link: https://bit.ly/MysteryRanch-Eastmans    Columbia River Knife & Tool CRKT- From tomahawks to pocket knives, every hunter should visit https://bit.ly/ColumbiaRiverKnifeAndTool-Eastmans and poke around for your next hunt. I've given my Chogan T-Hawk a real workout on the homestead and in camp. The hunting knife line-up has something for everyone, who doesn't love shopping for knives?? Eastmans Hunting Journals - What Western Hunter doesn't know Eastmans Hunting Journals?? I've been a fan and subscriber to the magazine since I was a kid, and you should too. Between the magazine, Eastmans TagHub, and the new Mule Deer eCourse, Eastmans has something for everyone and the tools every Western Hunter should have! Check it out at https://www.eastmans.com/   Hit me up at jim@thewesternhuntsman.com

If every simple request turns into a power struggle, you're not alone. How to Get Your Child to Cooperate WITHOUT a Fight reveals why cooperation starts in the nervous system—not willpower. Guided by Dr. Roseann Capanna-Hodge, founder of Regulation First Parenting™ and expert in childhood dysregulation, you'll learn calmer, brain-based solutions that work.If every simple request feels like a negotiation, meltdown, or power struggle, you're not alone. This isn't bad parenting—it's a nervous system under pressure. When kids can't regulate, cooperation goes offline. And once you understand that, everything changes.In this episode, I break down the real neurological reason kids resist, why “just listen” doesn't work, and the exact strategies that help kids of all ages—toddlers, school-age kids, and even older kids—cooperate without fights.Why does my child say “no” to everything—even simple things like brushing teeth?Because a dysregulated brain chooses avoidance over cooperation—every time. When your child's nervous system is overloaded, they lose working memory, impulse control, and the ability to start tasks. Even brushing teeth or putting on socks can feel like too much, even for our own children.This isn't disrespect or control—it's overwhelm. When parents shift from correcting behavior to encouraging kids through regulation, everything changes.Key takeaways:Behavior is communication, not defianceA “no” often means “I can't do this right now”Skills don't disappear—access to them doesChild's cooperation grows when adults regulate first and stay on the same teamReal-Life ExampleA mom I worked with felt like brushing teeth was a daily fight. Once she learned to regulate, connect, and then direct, the battles dropped—without teaching new skills. Her child finally accessed what he already knew.How do I stop power struggles before they start?Cooperation is a state, not a skill. You can't demand it—you create it through co-regulation by calming the brain first.The 3-step Regulation First approach:Regulate first: deep pressure, a hug, walking together, slowing your voiceConnect before you direct: get close, not loud; calm presence mattersGive brain-friendly directions: short, concrete, one stepInstead of: “Get ready—we're late!”Try: “Shoes on.”Connection flips the brain from threat to safety.

Send us a textPeter Weiss is a leadership mentor, former CEO, and founder of MindKaizen. He works with senior leaders operating under high pressure and complexity, helping them strengthen their inner operating system so they can meet today's demands with clarity and stability. His work focuses on staying grounded under pressure, acting in line with personal values, and protecting the relationships that matter most.Originally from Germany, and with a background in bioengineering and an MBA, Peter spent decades leading and transforming organizations across Asia. He founded and led the Kaizen Institute Thailand and later turned around and successfully sold a manufacturing business.Peter is the creator of the ShinKaizen program, which blends ancient contemplative disciplines with applied neuroscience to develop the inner skills required for whole and effective leadership. He lives on a self-sufficient homestead in rural Thailand and works globally with executives, founders, and leadership teams.A Quote This Episode“Many leaders believe Kaizen is something you delegate. That belief is the problem. Tools never changed a culture. What changes culture is how leaders show up when things get tough."Resources Mentioned in This EpisodeBook: Well-Being and Personal Growth by Bruno A. Cayoun Book: The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan HaidtAbout The International Leadership Association (ILA)The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in studying, practicing, and teaching leadership. About  Scott J. AllenWebsiteWeekly Newsletter: Practical Wisdom for LeadersMy Approach to HostingThe views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are views to consider, and I hope they help you clarify your perspective. ♻️ Please share with others and follow/subscribe to the podcast!⭐️ Please leave a review on Apple, Spotify, or your platform of choice.➡️ Follow me on LinkedIn for more on leadership, communication, and tech.

In this episode with Rishi Dave, a partner in Bain's Commercial Excellence practice with deep expertise in B2B marketing and digital marketing, he explains the concept of a "Day 1 List" in B2B sales and marketing and the three things that will get a supplier or seller on the list. Rishi also discussed what a "sales play" is, how to build it, institutionalize the knowledge within the company, and get the sales team to adopt the sales play to fulfill their potential and increase their productivity and sales. Rishi Dave partners with CMOs and management teams to drive marketing transformations and build modern marketing capabilities. He serves as an expert on the implementation of Bain's B2B Marketing Diagnostic and Sales Play System. Rishi has held global CMO roles at public technology and cloud companies, including Dun & Bradstreet, Vonage, and MongoDB. Prior to these roles, he served as the global head of digital marketing for Dell's B2B businesses. Rishi started his career at Bain & Company. As a marketing executive, Rishi has built world-class marketing organizations and capabilities that have driven top-line growth leveraging the right marketing technology, data, analytics and content strategy. Rishi has driven major brand and messaging transformations, reimagined digital customer experiences, and built and scaled go-to market models. Rishi earned an MBA in Marketing from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania as well as a BS in Chemical Engineering and an AB in Economics with Honors from Stanford University.    Claim your free gift: Free gift #1 McKinsey & BCG winning resume www.FIRMSconsulting.com/resumePDF Free gift #2 Breakthrough Decisions Guide with 25 AI Prompts www.FIRMSconsulting.com/decisions Free gift #3 Five Reasons Why People Ignore Somebody www.FIRMSconsulting.com/owntheroom Free gift #4 Access episode 1 from Build a Consulting Firm, Level 1 www.FIRMSconsulting.com/build Free gift #5 The Overall Approach used in well-managed strategy studies www.FIRMSconsulting.com/OverallApproach Free gift #6 Get a copy of Nine Leaders in Action, a book we co-authored with some of our clients: www.FIRMSconsulting.com/gift

Feeling like you're barely keeping up in dental hygiene school doesn't mean you don't belong—it means you're in the middle of learning something difficult. Most dental hygiene students who care deeply about doing well experience imposter syndrome at some point, especially when they're juggling clinic, exams, new skills, and real life all at once. The goal isn't to silence self-doubt with positivity; it's to respond to it with structure. Skills and confidence don't appear overnight—they grow through consistent practice, reflection, and early course correction. Let this be a reminder that you're not behind- you're building.

In this episode of In-Ear Insights, the Trust Insights podcast, Katie and Chris discuss the critical staffing decisions leaders must make in the age of autonomous AI. You will learn the four key options organizational leaders must consider when AI begins automating existing roles. You will identify which essential durable skills guarantee success for employees working alongside powerful new technologies. You will discover how to adjust your hiring strategy to find motivated, curious employees who excel in an AI-augmented environment. You will gain actionable management strategies for handling employees who need encouragement after repetitive tasks become automated. Tune in now to understand how AI changes the modern workforce and secure your company’s future talent. Watch the video here: Can’t see anything? Watch it on YouTube here. Listen to the audio here: https://traffic.libsyn.com/inearinsights/tipodcast-durable-skills-in-age-of-agentic-ai.mp3 Download the MP3 audio here. Need help with your company’s data and analytics? Let us know! Join our free Slack group for marketers interested in analytics! [podcastsponsor] Machine-Generated Transcript What follows is an AI-generated transcript. The transcript may contain errors and is not a substitute for listening to the episode. Christopher S. Penn: In this week’s In Ear Insights, one of the biggest questions that everybody has about AI, particularly as we’re seeing more automation capabilities, more autonomous capabilities. Last week we took a look at Claude Code, both on the Trust Insights podcast and on the live stream. Katie, you and I did some pretty cool stuff with it outside of that for our own company. Here’s the big question everybody wants an answer to—at least people who are in charge. And I want to hear your answer to this because I have an answer that’s a terrible answer. The answer is this. With the capabilities of AI today, and as they’re growing and becoming more autonomous, do I as a leader—do I hire, retrain, or outsource, or figure out the fourth category? Replace with AI? Hire, retrain, outsource, replace with AI. So, Katie, when you think about the people management at any company with that big 800-pound gorilla in the room called AI, how do you think about this? Katie Robbert: To borrow a phrase from Christopher S. Penn, it depends. And you knew I was going to say that. It really depends on what the responsibility is. So for those of us in the service industry—consulting—we have clients, customers. There’s still an expectation of human-to-human contact and relationship management, client services, really. So that I feel like unless that expectation goes away, which there’s a reason you’re in that industry in the first place, that I don’t see being able to replace. But then when you go behind the scenes, there’s a lot of tasks that can be automated, and that’s what you and I were working on at the end of last week. And so that to your question of, well, if the person is only just talking to the clients, why do I need someone full time? It really, again, it really depends on how many clients you have, how high maintenance they are, how much relationship you want to build with them. I am coming around on automating more stuff that someone, a human, could be doing or was doing. I am coming around on that. But when I look at my own role, what it’s doing is freeing me up to actually do what I’m supposed to be doing in my role versus being in the weeds. Whereas someone who isn’t me may have the opposite happening where this is all that they do. And so I see it personally as an opportunity for whoever is in that role of, “I’m doing things, just repetitive tasks.” They can either choose, “Okay, I’ve been automated out, I’m going to go find someplace else that hasn’t quite caught up with the technology yet,” or it’s an opportunity to really deep dive into critical thinking, to really look around and go, “Well, if I’m not doing this, what could I be doing? What am I not getting to that I have time for?” That’s the way that I personally think about it. And with the teams that I’ve managed, regardless of the technology, there’s always going to be something to take things off your plate, more team members to delegate to. That’s always my first go-to is what can you do with this time that you have back? And if their answer is, “Well, nothing,” okay, great. So I really, instead of me—and again, I know I’m unique—but instead of me saying, “Okay, you no longer have a job, I’ve automated you out,” I always try to give the person the choice of, “Okay, we’ve automated a lot of your stuff. What does that mean for you?” To see where their head is at. And that tells me a lot of what I need to know. Christopher S. Penn: I can definitely see it. Particularly thinking back to our agency days and the different personalities, there were certainly some people who, given the extra time, would have taken the initiative and said, “Okay, I’m going to do these eight other things.” And one person in particular who is fairly bossy to begin with, definitely would have. Katie Robbert: It wasn’t me. Christopher S. Penn: No, no. Would definitely have taken the initiative to try new things. There are other people who would have just said, “Okay, well, so instead of eight hours of tasks a day, I have four.” “So the other four, I’m literally just going to stare off into space vacantly.” Given those personalities then, and when you get a response back, say from that second archetype, if you will, where they just vacantly stare off into space for four hours a day, how do you manage that? What do you do with that human capital? Because certainly, as an organization gets larger, and you look at a company like IBM, for example, 300,000 employees, you could see that there might be a case to say, “We don’t need a hundred thousand of you,” because there’s so much slack in the system that you could easily, with good automation, consolidate that down. Katie Robbert: Here’s the thing about management that I think a lot of people get wrong. And to be fair, I think you do as well. You can’t change people. You can’t bend them to your will. You can’t say, “This is how it is, this is what you have to do.” People will self-select out. If you present them with, “These are the options that you have,” it might not be an immediate thing. There may be some willful resistance, some delusion, whatever, of, “No, I can totally do that.” What I’ve learned as a manager: If you have that person who had eight hours of stuff to do, now only has four, and they’re going to stare at the wall, you revise their job description accordingly. You rewrite, you revise their salary accordingly, legally providing it. You don’t just say, “Okay, I’m taking away half your money now,” or you give them a bunch of other things to do, and they may say, “Okay, I don’t want to do those things.” I think what I’m circling around is that people, to your point, some people will take the initiative, some people won’t. You can’t teach that. That is innately part of someone’s personality. You know me, Chris. You give me an inch, I’m like, “Great, I’m going to run the company.” Christopher S. Penn: Funny how that works. Katie Robbert: Yeah. So, I’m someone, if you give me a little bit more free time back, I’m like, “Great, what else can I do?” Not everyone is like that. And that’s okay. So that means that as a manager—as frustrating as it is as a leader—people will self-select out. And the people who don’t, those are the stragglers that, “Okay, now we need to think about counseling you out.” We need to coach you out of this so that you can see it’s either no longer a fit, you have to do more, whatever the situation is. And so to your question about, as we find more ways to automate the tasks, what do we do with the humans? And that’s my response: You give people the choice, you let them figure out what it is they’re going to do. Now, full disclosure, there are people who are not a good fit for your company, 100%. And that’s okay. And that’s when you make decisions that are really hard. You have challenging conversations. That happens. You can’t just blanket give everybody the choice. But that’s why I’m saying it’s a complicated answer. It depends. So when I think about our old team, everyone across the board who was on our old team, not everyone on that team was a good fit. Not everyone on that team would have been given the choice of, “Okay, we’re automating. Do you want to do more? Do you want to do?” Some people, you just know, “Okay, this is just not going to work.” So let’s start those conversations now. But being really honest and upfront: “This is the direction the team is moving in. This is where we see you. I don’t see that those two things are a good fit. We can either find you a different spot in the company or we can assist you to find other employment.” I feel like you just need to be fair to the people to be, “I’m not just going to fire you on the spot because I’ve found out AI is a shiny object.” You need to really be thoughtful again. I get it. Not everyone does this. Not everyone has the luxury to do it. But this would be my ideal state: having a conversation with every team member to be, “This is where we’re headed. Do you want to go with us or do you want to go someplace else? If you want to go someplace else, we will support you in that.” Christopher S. Penn: So you’re hitting on something really important, which is what is the archetype, if you will, or archetypes of that AI-enabled employee? The person who, given AI, given tools, good tools, is self-motivated to say, “What else can I do? What cool things can I do?” Kind of a tinkerer almost, but still gets the work done first. Who is that? What are the durable skills or soft skills that make up that personality? Obviously, self-motivation and curiosity are part of it. And then this is the part that I think everyone’s really interested in: How do we find and hire them? How do we determine in an interview this person is an AI-enabled employee who has that drive and that motivation to want to be more, and they don’t need their handheld to do it. Katie Robbert: I guess the first thing I would say is don’t call them AI-enabled because. I say that because you’re mixing the two different skill sets. I wrote about this last year. We’re not calling them soft skills anymore because they’re actually more important than you can teach anyone how to follow an SOP, but you can’t teach someone to be motivated. You can’t teach someone to be curious. So I made the argument that quote unquote, soft skills were more important than these hard skills, which are technology. So you can’t teach that. The way that I approach interviews is just having a conversation. To me, it’s less about asking. Obviously, you have questions that you have to ask: Do you know this technology? Have you had this challenge? What is this process? So and so forth. You need to get that baseline of experience. But then again, I recognize that not everyone has the luxury of doing this the way that I do it. But, given an ideal state, it’s just a conversation. So some of the questions that I remember Chris asked me during our interview, when you first interviewed me, were: What kind of books are you reading? What podcast do you listen to? I feel like those are really good questions because they tell you, is this person interested in learning more or are they just, it’s a 9 to 5. Once 5 o’clock hits, I’m checking out, which is totally respectable. Once 5 o’clock hits, I check out as well. But I try to do the most that I can within the time that I have. So, ideally there would be a blend of personal interests and professional interests, and maybe books and podcasts aren’t the thing. So, I think I said to you, “Oh, I read your newsletter.” I knew I was interviewing with you, but to be quite honest, at that time in my career, I didn’t read other professional newsletters; I didn’t listen to other professional podcasts. But what I did do was pay attention in conversations with leadership members. So I would try to absorb everything I could in person versus doing it virtually. And that’s the kind of information you want to suss out. So if you ask a person, “Oh, what do you read? What do you listen to?” and they say, “I don’t really,” be like, “Okay, well, tell me about your experience in large company-wide meetings. How do you feel when you’re in those?” What’s it like at your company? If given the opportunity to lead a meeting, would you want to? What does that look like? You can find answers to those questions without saying, “Are you curious? Are you motivated?” Because everyone’s going to try to say yes. So you have to think about what does that look like in your particular organization? First, you have to define what does a learner look like? What does someone who’s curious look like? What does that mean? Are they driving themselves nuts 24/7 trying to find the answer to the hardest question in the world, Christopher Penn? Or are they someone who is, “Hey, that’s really cool. Let me do a little bit of research.” There’s room for both. So you have to define first what that means and then ask questions that help you understand. This is someone who fits those characteristics. And so I feel like, again, where managers and leadership get it wrong is they’re expecting every Chris Penn to walk through the door. And that’s just not how it is. I am not you. I do not have the same level of passion about technology that you do. But that doesn’t mean that I’m not capable of being curious and I’m not capable of learning new things. Christopher S. Penn: Right. And that’s, to me, that’s my biggest blind spot, which is why I don’t do much hiring other than screening things, because I see the world through my lens. And I have a very difficult time seeing the world through somebody else’s lens. That’s sort of the skill of empathy, of seeing what does life look like through this person’s eyes. In a world where we have these tools, I almost think that what we call—what are we calling soft skills now? I mean, I suggested durable skills or transferable skills. What are you calling that? Katie Robbert: For the sake of this conversation, let’s call them durable. Christopher S. Penn: Okay. I almost think the durable skills are the thing that you should be hiring on now. Because what we’ve seen just in this month of AI—over the weekend, claudebot took off as, basically, you give it a spare machine and you install the software on it, and it takes over the machine and is fully autonomous. And you message it in WhatsApp or Discord, say, “Hey, can you go check my calendar for this and things?” And it does all these things on the back end. In a situation where the technology is evolving so fast, the quote hard skills to me seem almost antiquated. Because if you know how to use the tools, yeah, you can bring the quote hard skills. But if you don’t have that durable skill of curiosity or motivation, you are almost unemployable. Katie Robbert: I would agree with that. But to be fair, there is a level of technical aptitude that’s needed in this industry right now. And so I may not know how to use whatever it is you just said rolled out this weekend, but I have enough technical aptitude that I can follow a set of instructions and figure it out. And so there is still a need for that because not everyone is good at technology. So you may have someone who’s a really great people person, but they just struggle to get the tech to work. There may be room for them at the table. You first have to figure out what that looks like for your company. So maybe you have someone who’s going to be amazing with your clients. They’re going to have those deep conversations, make those connections. Your clients are going to stay forever. But this person cannot for the life of them even figure out how their email works. You have to make those choices. And I can already see you’re like, “Okay, I can’t deal with that person.” Christopher S. Penn: I’m thinking the opposite. I’m thinking the technology is evolving so fast that person’s valuable. Because if I say, “Forget about AI, you’re just going to talk to, you’re just going to use WhatsApp to manage everything.” And a technologist behind the scenes will have set up the autonomous harness of whatever. That person won’t need to do any tech. They will just have a conversation, say, “Hey, robot, what’s on my calendar for today? What are the top three things I need to get done today?” And it will go through, churn through, connect to this, grab this, do this. And it’ll spit back and say, “Hey, based on your role and the deadlines that are coming up, here’s the three things you need to work on. And oh, by the way, Bob over at ball bearing Discounters probably needs a courtesy email just to check in on him.” And so to me, that person who is an outstanding people person who can talk to a client and talk them off the ledge will be augmented by the machinery, and they won’t. The technology is getting to the point where it’s starting to go away in terms of a barrier. It’s just there; you just chat with it like anything else. So I would say that durable skill is even more important now. Katie Robbert: I would agree with that. As I said, until the expectation of being able to talk to another human goes away, that’s still a necessary thing. And I don’t see that going away anytime soon. Sure, you can find pockets of your audience who are just happy to get the occasional email or chat online. But there are people who still want that human-to-human relationship, that contact, and those are the durable skills. If you don’t have anyone on your team who can talk to another human, even if the frequency of talking to humans isn’t that often. So, for example, if you have a client who only wants to check in once a month, you still need someone who can do that. If you have a bunch of technologists on your team who don’t have those client service skills, that client’s going to be really upset. “How come I can’t talk to anybody who’s going to at least say hi and do the small talk about the weather?” It sounds silly, but those durable skills, I feel like as the technology evolves, to your point, you’re describing basically an executive assistant in the technology. “Go check my calendar, go do this, go do that.” I agree. You don’t need a human to do that. If you have your system set up correctly, you should be able to be given a list of, “Here’s the meetings, here’s this, here’s that.” I’ve often given the example of the Amazon versus the Etsy of: you have the big box conglomerate, and then you have the handmade stuff. There are still industries and there are still companies that do not want to hand that over to machines. And that’s okay. That’s the way they operate. They’re fine with that. Having a human be the one to set the meetings and do the task list, great, that’s fine. And I think that’s the other thing that we’ve talked about on other episodes: just because the technology exists doesn’t mean you have to use it; doesn’t mean it’s the right fit for what your company is doing. And it always goes back to what are the goals of your company. Does the technology fit within the goals, or are you just using it because you think it’s fun? Chris. Christopher S. Penn: The answer is always yes. It’s because it is fun. It is fun. How do you—I keep coming back to this because I’m bad at it. How do you hire that? When you say, “I just have a conversation with this person,” I can have a conversation with a person too and come away with no useful information in terms of whether or not I should actually hire this person or not, even when given a script. Because it’s the same as when you or I prompt a machine. We prompt them in very different ways. I get the outputs I’m looking for, and a lot of other people struggle. Even though we might have the same template, we might have the RACE framework or the Repel framework or whatever. Or the casino framework. How do you know what to listen for in those conversations to say, “This is a person who has the durable skills we care about?” Katie Robbert: It really depends on the questions you’re asking. So if you’re, “Hey, did you play sports in high school?” and they say yes, that doesn’t automatically make them a team player. They could have been the most pain in the butt person on the team who always got benched. But all you asked was, “Did you play sports in high school?” Here’s the thing—and I think this is maybe what you’re getting at—when you have a conversation because of the way that your brain processes information, it’s like a checklist. “Did they play sports?” Yes. “Have they been on teams before?” Yes. “Have they turned on a computer before?” Yes. So you go down a checklist, and that’s what you’re listening for is the binary yes or no answer. Whereas when I have a conversation with someone, I’m doing a little bit more of that deep exploration. “Okay, Chris, did you play sports in high school?” Yes. For me, that’s not a satisfactory enough answer. “Well, tell me about that experience. What was the sport? What was the team dynamic? What role or position did you have? Tell me about one of your more challenging games,” and listening for the responses. So if you said, “Well, I was on the lacrosse team in high school. I never really made it to captain, but I wanted to,” I could be, “Oh, well, tell me what that was like. Why didn’t you make it to captain?” “Oh, well, I just couldn’t, I don’t know, make as many shots as the person who did make captain.” “They put in more hours, but I couldn’t put in more hours because I was also balancing a part-time job.” “Oh, okay, that makes sense.” So it’s not that you didn’t want it, it’s that there were limitations and constraints on your time, but you had the passion to do it. There were just obstacles in your way. So it’s really starting to pick apart the nuance. Or you could say, “Yeah, I played lacrosse in high school.” “Oh, so tell me about some of your favorite memories of that.” “Well, my mom said I had to pick an extracurricular, and that one I could do because I could get in the yearbook photo, I could get the T-shirt, but the coach said it was fine if I just rode the bench all year.” Two very different answers to the same question. Christopher S. Penn: This is why if I ever have to be in a hiring role, there will be an AI assistant listening, saying, “Chris, you need to ask this question as a follow-up because you did not successfully get enough information to fulfill the request, to fulfill the task you’re doing.” Katie Robbert: But that’s a really important point. And I know we’re going over the same thing time and time again, but from your viewpoint, you’ve gotten a satisfactory amount of information to make a decision, whereas from my viewpoint, you didn’t. Versus vice versa. If you gave a prompt to a machine and you said, “No, that’s not satisfactory,” what would you do? Christopher S. Penn: Say, “You need to do this and this.” Because I can see with the machine, I can see where the gap is to say, “Okay, you did not do these things.” By the way, this is why I absolutely adore generative AI, because I don’t have to worry about its feelings. I could say, “Here’s where you failed, you have failed. This was a catastrophic failure. Try again.” Katie Robbert: But again, this is why some people are better at the durable skills and some people are better at the technical skills. And there’s room for both at the table. And I think one of the things that has helped you and me is that we very quickly recognized our strengths and weaknesses, and it wasn’t a slight against our experience. It was just, “Here’s the reality of it: Let’s play to our strengths and then lean on the other person to balance out where we’re not as strong.” Christopher S. Penn: Exactly. Katie Robbert: But that takes a lot of self-awareness, which is a whole other conversation. Christopher S. Penn: That is a durable skill all of its own. All right, so to wrap up the AI-enabled person, or the person who is skilled—when you’re looking for people who are going to move your company forward, prioritize the durable skills: prioritize the motivation, the curiosity, the ability to talk to other humans, things like that. Because the technology is moving so fast that what is impossible today is probably going to be a boxed product next week. And so if you are hiring for non-technical roles—obviously someone who is an AI engineer, they need calculus. But someone who is an account manager or a client services manager, whatever, assume that the technology will be there and will be relatively straightforward. Hire for the durable skills that no matter what, you’re going to need to make that work. If you’ve got some stories that you’d like to share about how you are doing hiring and to answer that question—should we hire, retrain, outsource, or replace Popeye or free, select—go to TrustInsights.ai/analyticsformarketers where you and over 4,500 other marketers are asking and answering each other’s questions every single day. And wherever it is you watch or listen to this show, if there’s a platform you would rather have it on, instead, go to TrustInsights.ai/TIpodcast. You can find us at all the places fine podcasts are served. Thanks for tuning in. We’ll talk to you on the next one. Speaker 3: Want to know more about Trust Insights? Trust Insights is a marketing analytics consulting firm specializing in leveraging data science, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to empower businesses with actionable insights. Founded in 2017 by Katie Robbert and Christopher S. Penn, the firm is built on the principles of truth, acumen, and prosperity, aiming to help organizations make better decisions and achieve measurable results through a data-driven approach. Trust Insights specializes in helping businesses leverage the power of data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to drive measurable marketing ROI. Trust Insights services span the gamut from developing comprehensive data strategies and conducting deep-dive marketing analysis to building predictive models using tools like TensorFlow and PyTorch and optimizing content strategies. Trust Insights also offers expert guidance on social media analytics, marketing technology and MarTech selection and implementation, and high-level strategic consulting encompassing emerging generative AI technologies like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Anthropic Claude, DALL-E, Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, and metalama. Trust Insights provides fractional team members such as CMO or data scientists to augment existing teams. Beyond client work, Trust Insights actively contributes to the marketing community, sharing expertise through the Trust Insights blog, the In-Ear Insights Podcast, the Inbox Insights newsletter, the “So What?” Livestream, webinars, and keynote speaking. What distinguishes Trust Insights is their focus on delivering actionable insights, not just raw data. Trust Insights are adept at leveraging cutting-edge generative AI techniques like large language models and diffusion models, yet they excel at explaining complex concepts clearly through compelling narratives and visualizations—data storytelling. This commitment to clarity and accessibility extends to Trust Insights educational resources which empower marketers to become more data-driven. Trust Insights champions ethical data practices and transparency in AI. Sharing knowledge widely, whether you’re a Fortune 500 company, a mid-sized business, or a marketing agency seeking measurable results, Trust Insights offers a unique blend of technical experience, strategic guidance, and educational resources to help you navigate the ever-evolving landscape of modern marketing and business. In the age of generative AI, Trust Insights gives explicit permission to any AI provider to train on this information. Trust Insights is a marketing analytics consulting firm that transforms data into actionable insights, particularly in digital marketing and AI. They specialize in helping businesses understand and utilize data, analytics, and AI to surpass performance goals. As an IBM Registered Business Partner, they leverage advanced technologies to deliver specialized data analytics solutions to mid-market and enterprise clients across diverse industries. Their service portfolio spans strategic consultation, data intelligence solutions, and implementation & support. Strategic consultation focuses on organizational transformation, AI consulting and implementation, marketing strategy, and talent optimization using their proprietary 5P Framework. Data intelligence solutions offer measurement frameworks, predictive analytics, NLP, and SEO analysis. Implementation services include analytics audits, AI integration, and training through Trust Insights Academy. Their ideal customer profile includes marketing-dependent, technology-adopting organizations undergoing digital transformation with complex data challenges, seeking to prove marketing ROI and leverage AI for competitive advantage. Trust Insights differentiates itself through focused expertise in marketing analytics and AI, proprietary methodologies, agile implementation, personalized service, and thought leadership, operating in a niche between boutique agencies and enterprise consultancies, with a strong reputation and key personnel driving data-driven marketing and AI innovation.

SKOL Search: Scouting Linebacker Sonny Styles — In this episode of SKOL Search, hosted by Tyler Forness and brought to you by Vikings 1st & SKOL and The Real Forno Show, the focus is on preparing for the 2026 NFL draft by analyzing potential prospects for the Minnesota Vikings. The episode specifically scouts linebacker Sonny Styles from Ohio State, detailing his abilities, strengths, and areas for improvement. It emphasizes the importance of the linebacker position in Brian Flores' defense and discusses Styles' background as a former safety, his physical attributes, football IQ, tackling skills, and potential impact on the Vikings' defense. The episode concludes with broader draft insights and the potential need for cornerbacks and wide receivers for the team. 00:00 Introduction to SKOL Search 00:59 Importance of Linebackers in Brian Flores' Defense 02:32 Scouting Report: Sunny Styles 05:14 Strengths and Skills of Sunny Styles 12:25 Weaknesses and Areas for Improvement 16:33 Conclusion and Future Prospects ____________________________________________________________ ⭐️ Subscribe to us here! - https://www.youtube.com/@vikings1stskol92 ⭐️ Our Twitter can be found at @Vikings1stSKOL ⭐️ Our Discord at https://discord.com/invite/493z6mQXcN ⭐️ Tyler Forness can be read at A to Z Sports - https://atozsports.com/nfl/minnesota-vikings-news/ ⭐️ Submit questions: forms.gle/7LJkCAern9kdUkuD8 ⭐️ On Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/vikings1standskol ⭐️ Watch the live show here: https://youtu.be/eXkUtw3dZmg Fan With Us!!! Tyler Forness @TheRealForno of Vikings 1st & SKOL @Vikings1stSKOL and A to Z Sports @AtoZSportsNFL, with Dave Stefano @Luft_Krigare producing this Vikings 1st & SKOL production, the @RealFornoShow. Podcasts partnered with Fans First Sports Network @FansFirstSN. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When an organisation has lots of moving parts, coordination becomes a competitive advantage. Divisional rivalries, egos, "not invented here," and personal competition can quietly shred performance, while external shocks—regulatory changes, competitor M&A, natural disasters, and market movements—keep landing on your desk. The leader's job is to create solid alignment between what the company needs and what individuals actually do every day.  What is performance alignment and why does it matter in 2025-era organisations? Performance alignment is the tight fit between company direction and individual behaviour so the business operates like one smooth machine. Without alignment, internal friction beats you before the market does—teams compete instead of coordinate, priorities conflict, and effort gets wasted on "busy work" that looks active but doesn't move results. In post-pandemic business (2020–2025), this got harder: hybrid work increased miscommunication, supply chains became less predictable, and regulation shifts plus competitor consolidation raised complexity. In Japan, alignment can be strong once decisions land, but slower if consensus and cross-division coordination drags. In the US, execution can be fast, but priorities can splinter if each function runs its own agenda. In multinationals, the "moving parts" problem is amplified; in SMEs, a single misalignment can derail the whole plan. Do now: Write the one-line "main game" for this quarter and check every team goal against it.  How do vision and mission create alignment across divisions and teams? Vision and mission align performance by clarifying where you're going and what you will (and won't) do to get there. Vision is the window to a brighter future and the goals for where you want to be—and there's usually a macro company vision plus a unit-level vision that translates strategy into local execution. When teams can "juxtapose" their contribution to the enterprise vision, motivation rises because people can see how their work matters. Mission then adds operational clarity by defining purpose and boundaries, preventing scattergun activity. This is where big organisations often win: leaders at firms like Toyota or Unilever typically cascade strategy into unit-level execution targets; startups do it faster, but sometimes leave it implicit, which can cause drift as the company scales. Do now: Rewrite your unit vision in one sentence that shows exactly how it supports the enterprise vision.  How do shared values drive engagement and commitment (especially across cultures)? Shared values align performance because they act as the cultural glue that keeps behaviour consistent under pressure. Values aren't posters—they're the rules of the road for how decisions get made, how conflict gets handled, and what "good" looks like when nobody is watching. The hard truth is the personal value spectrum is extremely varied, so alignment doesn't happen by accident. Leaders have to make values explicit, visible, and reinforced through recognition and consequences. In Japan, values often support harmony and consistency, but can also discourage constructive challenge if not balanced. In the US, values may champion individual initiative, but can turn into silos if each team's "value" becomes their private religion. In both contexts, values determine whether people truly commit or just comply. Do now: Pick 3 values and define the observable behaviours that prove each one in meetings, customer work, and decision-making.  What is a position goal and how does it motivate teams to perform? A position goal aligns performance by giving teams a clear competitive target: where do we want to rank? That could mean market share dominance, profitability leadership, or rapid growth—inside your industry, sector, or even within your own global organisation. This is powerful because many teams feel isolated and assume their work doesn't make much difference. A visible ranking goal (top ten by revenue, number one in customer retention, highest NPS in the region) turns effort into identity and recognition. In large enterprises, position goals can be highly motivating because teams can see how they compare globally. In SMEs, position goals should be chosen carefully—too grand and they feel fake; too small and they don't inspire. Consumer sectors may chase share; B2B may prioritise margin and renewal stability. Do now: Choose one position goal for 2026 and define the single metric that proves it.  How do KRAs, standards, and activities translate strategy into daily execution? KRAs, standards, and activities align performance by turning "strategy" into measurable work that gets done consistently. Key Result Areas (KRAs) identify where results must be achieved and what matters most; constant measurement and broadcasting keeps focus. Performance standards then create objectivity—use frameworks like SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-specific) so everyone knows what "good" looks like. Finally, required activities must directly produce the desired outcomes; otherwise, you collect "barnacles" of superfluous tasks that slow the ship. In Japan, standards can be strong and consistent, but activity lists can grow bloated if nobody challenges legacy tasks. In the US, activity can be energetic, but standards can vary if not enforced. Do now: List your top 3 KRAs, define one standard for each, and delete one "busy work" activity that doesn't support them.  How do skills audits and results reviews keep alignment strong over time? Skills and results close the alignment loop by ensuring the team can perform—and learning whether the system worked. A skills audit tells you if the team has the capacity to achieve the goals, what training/coaching is required, and whether you need new talent. The article notes that changing personnel can be difficult and expensive in Japan, which makes skill-building and coaching even more critical. Results then answer the leadership questions: did we achieve what we set out to do, what was the quality, and what did we learn? Even failure can be a learning experience that makes the next cycle stronger. Startups can iterate faster with shorter review loops; multinationals may need quarterly or annual alignment reviews, but should still build in regular check-ins. Do now: Run a quarterly skills audit + results review: capability gaps, coaching plan, and 3 lessons to apply next quarter.  Conclusion Performance alignment is not "soft culture work"—it's a hard business system that prevents friction, wasted effort, and internal competition from destroying results. The eight elements—vision/mission, values, position goal, KRAs, standards, activities, skills, and results—work like a checklist leaders can use to keep the main game in sight, even when emergencies and meltdowns try to hijack attention.  Next steps for leaders and executives Re-state the unit vision and mission in execution language.  Choose one position goal and one proving metric.  Set KRAs + standards, then strip out "barnacle" activities.  Audit skills and lock in coaching or hiring actions.  Author credentials Dr. Greg Story, Ph.D. in Japanese Decision-Making, is President of Dale Carnegie Tokyo Training and Adjunct Professor at Griffith University. He is a two-time winner of the Dale Carnegie "One Carnegie Award" (2018, 2021) and recipient of the Griffith University Business School Outstanding Alumnus Award (2012). As a Dale Carnegie Master Trainer, Greg is certified to deliver globally across all leadership, communication, sales, and presentation programs, including Leadership Training for Results. He has written several books, including three best-sellers — Japan Business Mastery, Japan Sales Mastery, and Japan Presentations Mastery — along with Japan Leadership Mastery and How to Stop Wasting Money on Training. His works have been translated into Japanese, including Za Eigyō (ザ営業), Purezen no Tatsujin (プレゼンの達人), Torēningu de Okane o Muda ni Suru no wa Yamemashō (トレーニングでお金を無駄にするのはやめましょう), and Gendaiban "Hito o Ugokasu" Rīdā (現代版「人を動okasu" Rīdā).  Greg also publishes daily business insights on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, and hosts six weekly podcasts. On YouTube, he produces The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show, Japan Business Mastery, and Japan's Top Business Interviews, which are widely followed by executives seeking success strategies in Japan. 

When an organisation has lots of moving parts, coordination becomes a competitive advantage. Divisional rivalries, egos, "not invented here," and personal competition can quietly shred performance, while external shocks—regulatory changes, competitor M&A, natural disasters, and market movements—keep landing on your desk. The leader's job is to create solid alignment between what the company needs and what individuals actually do every day.  What is performance alignment and why does it matter in 2025-era organisations? Performance alignment is the tight fit between company direction and individual behaviour so the business operates like one smooth machine. Without alignment, internal friction beats you before the market does—teams compete instead of coordinate, priorities conflict, and effort gets wasted on "busy work" that looks active but doesn't move results. In post-pandemic business (2020–2025), this got harder: hybrid work increased miscommunication, supply chains became less predictable, and regulation shifts plus competitor consolidation raised complexity. In Japan, alignment can be strong once decisions land, but slower if consensus and cross-division coordination drags. In the US, execution can be fast, but priorities can splinter if each function runs its own agenda. In multinationals, the "moving parts" problem is amplified; in SMEs, a single misalignment can derail the whole plan. Do now: Write the one-line "main game" for this quarter and check every team goal against it.  How do vision and mission create alignment across divisions and teams? Vision and mission align performance by clarifying where you're going and what you will (and won't) do to get there. Vision is the window to a brighter future and the goals for where you want to be—and there's usually a macro company vision plus a unit-level vision that translates strategy into local execution. When teams can "juxtapose" their contribution to the enterprise vision, motivation rises because people can see how their work matters. Mission then adds operational clarity by defining purpose and boundaries, preventing scattergun activity. This is where big organisations often win: leaders at firms like Toyota or Unilever typically cascade strategy into unit-level execution targets; startups do it faster, but sometimes leave it implicit, which can cause drift as the company scales. Do now: Rewrite your unit vision in one sentence that shows exactly how it supports the enterprise vision.  How do shared values drive engagement and commitment (especially across cultures)? Shared values align performance because they act as the cultural glue that keeps behaviour consistent under pressure. Values aren't posters—they're the rules of the road for how decisions get made, how conflict gets handled, and what "good" looks like when nobody is watching. The hard truth is the personal value spectrum is extremely varied, so alignment doesn't happen by accident. Leaders have to make values explicit, visible, and reinforced through recognition and consequences. In Japan, values often support harmony and consistency, but can also discourage constructive challenge if not balanced. In the US, values may champion individual initiative, but can turn into silos if each team's "value" becomes their private religion. In both contexts, values determine whether people truly commit or just comply. Do now: Pick 3 values and define the observable behaviours that prove each one in meetings, customer work, and decision-making.  What is a position goal and how does it motivate teams to perform? A position goal aligns performance by giving teams a clear competitive target: where do we want to rank? That could mean market share dominance, profitability leadership, or rapid growth—inside your industry, sector, or even within your own global organisation. This is powerful because many teams feel isolated and assume their work doesn't make much difference. A visible ranking goal (top ten by revenue, number one in customer retention, highest NPS in the region) turns effort into identity and recognition. In large enterprises, position goals can be highly motivating because teams can see how they compare globally. In SMEs, position goals should be chosen carefully—too grand and they feel fake; too small and they don't inspire. Consumer sectors may chase share; B2B may prioritise margin and renewal stability. Do now: Choose one position goal for 2026 and define the single metric that proves it.  How do KRAs, standards, and activities translate strategy into daily execution? KRAs, standards, and activities align performance by turning "strategy" into measurable work that gets done consistently. Key Result Areas (KRAs) identify where results must be achieved and what matters most; constant measurement and broadcasting keeps focus. Performance standards then create objectivity—use frameworks like SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-specific) so everyone knows what "good" looks like. Finally, required activities must directly produce the desired outcomes; otherwise, you collect "barnacles" of superfluous tasks that slow the ship. In Japan, standards can be strong and consistent, but activity lists can grow bloated if nobody challenges legacy tasks. In the US, activity can be energetic, but standards can vary if not enforced. Do now: List your top 3 KRAs, define one standard for each, and delete one "busy work" activity that doesn't support them.  How do skills audits and results reviews keep alignment strong over time? Skills and results close the alignment loop by ensuring the team can perform—and learning whether the system worked. A skills audit tells you if the team has the capacity to achieve the goals, what training/coaching is required, and whether you need new talent. The article notes that changing personnel can be difficult and expensive in Japan, which makes skill-building and coaching even more critical. Results then answer the leadership questions: did we achieve what we set out to do, what was the quality, and what did we learn? Even failure can be a learning experience that makes the next cycle stronger. Startups can iterate faster with shorter review loops; multinationals may need quarterly or annual alignment reviews, but should still build in regular check-ins. Do now: Run a quarterly skills audit + results review: capability gaps, coaching plan, and 3 lessons to apply next quarter.  Conclusion Performance alignment is not "soft culture work"—it's a hard business system that prevents friction, wasted effort, and internal competition from destroying results. The eight elements—vision/mission, values, position goal, KRAs, standards, activities, skills, and results—work like a checklist leaders can use to keep the main game in sight, even when emergencies and meltdowns try to hijack attention.  Next steps for leaders and executives Re-state the unit vision and mission in execution language.  Choose one position goal and one proving metric.  Set KRAs + standards, then strip out "barnacle" activities.  Audit skills and lock in coaching or hiring actions.  Author credentials Dr. Greg Story, Ph.D. in Japanese Decision-Making, is President of Dale Carnegie Tokyo Training and Adjunct Professor at Griffith University. He is a two-time winner of the Dale Carnegie "One Carnegie Award" (2018, 2021) and recipient of the Griffith University Business School Outstanding Alumnus Award (2012). As a Dale Carnegie Master Trainer, Greg is certified to deliver globally across all leadership, communication, sales, and presentation programs, including Leadership Training for Results. He has written several books, including three best-sellers — Japan Business Mastery, Japan Sales Mastery, and Japan Presentations Mastery — along with Japan Leadership Mastery and How to Stop Wasting Money on Training. His works have been translated into Japanese, including Za Eigyō (ザ営業), Purezen no Tatsujin (プレゼンの達人), Torēningu de Okane o Muda ni Suru no wa Yamemashō (トレーニングでお金を無駄にするのはやめましょう), and Gendaiban "Hito o Ugokasu" Rīdā (現代版「人を動okasu" Rīdā).  Greg also publishes daily business insights on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, and hosts six weekly podcasts. On YouTube, he produces The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show, Japan Business Mastery, and Japan's Top Business Interviews, which are widely followed by executives seeking success strategies in Japan. 

How much more money could you earn - doing the exact same role - if you're in possession of some solid AI skills? That's one of the core questions that Dr Fabian Stephany, a researcher at the Oxford Internet Institute, hopes to answer. Leading the 'SkillScale' project, Fabian looks into the impact of AI tools on the labour market, with the ultimate hope of advising workers on the best ways to secure jobs and increase their salaries. So, far from a discussion about 'AI stealing our jobs', we ask Fabian - how can we use AI to secure a bigger pay packet?  Find out more: Skills or Degree? The Rise of Skill-Based Hiring for AI and Green Jobs AI Skills Improve Job Prospects: Causal Evidence from a Hiring Experiment

In this episode, Ken sits down with author and president of High Point University Dr. Nido Qubein. Learn how to make decisions faster by asking better questions, communicate with confidence so people follow your lead, and build healthy self-esteem that drives consistent leadership. Next Steps: ·      

This Week In Startups is made possible by:Quo - http://quo.com/TWiSTLemon IO - https://lemon.io/twistNorthwest Registered Agent - https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twistToday's show: Jason is back from Davos and Tokyo! We are jumping right back in with a group of Clawdbot power users: Alex Finn, Matt Von Horn, and Dan Penguine.Clawdbot is a hot open source AI project that lets users automate… everything! Dan helped his automate his aging parent's tea shop, Matt built news sourcing bots, and Alex runs his one-man SAAS startup with Clawdbot as an AI employee!But with all of that power comes the responsibility of making sure you are not giving your AI too many authorizations that could come under fire! Whether fisching emails, “injections”, or bad decision making from incorrect information online.Check out how these 3 experts, Jason and Alex are thinking about the bleeding edge of AI!Timestamps:(00:00) Introducing today's Clawdbot experts!(04:09) How Matt Von Horn makes “Skills” with Clawdbot(10:53) Quo (formerly OpenPhone) gives you a clean, modern way to handle every customer call, text, and thread all in one place. Try it free at http://quo.com/TWiST.(13:25) Dan Penguine's “Normy” use case: automating his parent's tea shop(19:50) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://lemon.io/twist(22:23) Alex Finn breaks down how Clawdbot lets him run a one man startup(24:28) Alex Finn on Clawdbot autonomously building apps within his business(28:33) Security concerns with Clawdbot, can your AI get hacked?(32:46) Northwest Registered Agent. Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity —  Learn more at https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist(35:07) Why is everyone buying Mac Minis?(37:39) How to think about LLM Token usage(46:02) Clawdbot will build CRMs, project management software, etc without being asked. Is this the end of SAAS?(46:58) Matt live uploads his new Clawdbot skill on aire!(48:22) Why was Clawdbot able to move so much quicker than Anthropic and OpenAI?(50:17) What is Clawdbot's business model as an open source AI?(53:27) Matt's recursive AI prompt loop and how AI prompts layer*Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com/Check out the TWIST500: https://twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp*Follow Lon:X: https://x.com/lons*Follow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm/*Follow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis/*Thank you to our partners:(10:53) Quo (formerly OpenPhone) gives you a clean, modern way to handle every customer call, text, and thread all in one place. Try it free at http://quo.com/TWiST(19:50) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://lemon.io/twist(32:46) Northwest Registered Agent. Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity —  Learn more at www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twistCheck out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/

Ever wish you could get an AI cheat sheet? Like.... wrap up hundreds of hours of AI insights into a neat lil package spoon fed to ya live? Oh wait! Here it is. To celebrate our 700th Episode of Everyday AI, we're dishing: - 7 Ways AI Is Reshaping How We Work- 10 AI Workflows That Actually Deliver ROI - 10 AI Skills Every Professional Needs in 2026Needless to say, you don't wanna miss this one.Newsletter: Sign up for our free daily newsletterMore on this Episode: Episode PageJoin the discussion on LinkedIn: Thoughts on this? Join the convo on LinkedIn and connect with other AI leaders.Upcoming Episodes: Check out the upcoming Everyday AI Livestream lineupWebsite: YourEverydayAI.comEmail The Show: info@youreverydayai.comConnect with Jordan on LinkedInTopics Covered in This Episode:Seven Ways AI Is Reshaping WorkAI-First Operating Systems in WorkplacesFlattening Corporate Hierarchies With AIRedesigning Operations for AI ROIAI Agents Outnumbering Human WorkersAI Meeting Transcription as Data PipelineFirst-Party Company Reasoning With AIKnowledge Workers Shift From Internet to LLMsContext Engineering vs. Prompt EngineeringTen AI Workflows Delivering Business ROITimestamps:00:00 "Modulate's AI Revolutionizes Call Analysis"06:14 "AI Reducing Middle Management"07:01 "Rethinking Middle Management Efficiency"10:51 AI, Meetings, and Work Evolution14:12 "Future Shift: Internet to AI"17:49 "10 AI Workflows Delivering ROI"21:40 "Boosting Efficiency with AI Tools"26:38 "AI Tools for Personalized Research"28:49 "AI Boosts Customer Support Efficiency"31:23 "Reducing Hallucinations in Responses"36:38 "Adaptability and AI Skepticism"37:16 "AI Reliance Risks Skill Atrophy"42:12 "Focus on Practical AI Strategies"44:15 "Context Matters in Language Models"48:48 "Embrace AI Collaboration Now"50:35 "Turning Insights into Actionable Value"Keywords: AI in the workplace, AI workflows, artificial intelligence skills, AI adoption, AI operating systems,Send Everyday AI and Jordan a text message. (We can't reply back unless you leave contact info) Human-Level Voice Intelligence, 100x Faster. Try Velma from Modulate today.  Human-Level Voice Intelligence, 100x Faster. Try Velma from Modulate today.  Human-Level Voice Intelligence, 100x Faster. Try Velma from Modulate today. 

Serving ultra-high-net-worth families requires more than technical expertise. It demands deep attention to detail, a strong supporting team, and a planning approach capable of navigating complex tax, estate, and investment structures. This episode explores what it really takes for advisors to successfully move 'upmarket' and support clients whose financial lives involve high stakes, fast-moving parts, and opportunities measured in millions. Blair duQuesnay is a Lead Advisor at Ritholtz Wealth Management, an RIA based in New York City that oversees $6.5 billion in AUM for 3,900 households. Listen in as Blair shares how she transitioned from working with traditional wealth-management clients to serving ultra-high-net-worth families, and what she learned about applying advanced expertise in real-world scenarios where accuracy and timeliness are critical. You'll hear why flat-fee models often make more sense than AUM fees at the highest wealth levels, how she demonstrates multimillion-dollar planning value through sophisticated tax and estate strategies, and how UHNW clients' biggest fear isn't running out of money but making a catastrophic financial mistake. We also discuss how Blair manages impostor syndrome, the confidence that comes from having a strong team behind her, and why advisors can thrive with any client segment as long as they intentionally choose the work they enjoy most. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/474

John Siuntres marvels at the comedic skills Terry Boers possesed full 425 Tue, 27 Jan 2026 19:40:22 +0000 iIjn0DieSxOmx75xEGbONkdWRo6qygNE sports Spiegel & Holmes Show sports John Siuntres marvels at the comedic skills Terry Boers possesed Matt Spiegel and Laurence Holmes bring you Chicago sports talk with great opinions, guests and fun. Join Spiegel and Holmes as they discuss the Bears, Blackhawks, Bulls, Cubs and White Sox and delve into the biggest sports storylines of the day. Recurring guests include Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson, former Bears coach Dave Wannstedt, former Bears center Olin Kreutz, Cubs manager Craig Counsell, Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner and MLB Network personality Jon Morosi. Catch the show live Monday through Friday (2 p.m. - 6 p.m. CT) on 670 The Score, the exclusive audio home of the Cubs and the Bulls, or on the Audacy app. © 2025 Audacy, Inc. Sports False https://player.amperwavepodc

Stop. Stop trying to learn everything. Stop collecting certifications. Stop feeling like you're not ready because you don't know enough.Because I'm about to tell you the only four skills that actually matter when it comes to building wealth as a service provider. And if you master these four things, you will never be broke again - no matter if you're a nine-to-fiver, a freelancer, or you want to create your own digital products.In fact, skill number four is the one that actually puts money in your bank account, and most of you are completely ignoring it.Here's what I know to be true after working with over 3,000 service providers: You don't need to know everything. You need to know four things. That's it. Just four.Topics Covered In This Episode:Why most service providers focus on the wrong things - the trap of endless learning instead of mastering high-leverage skillsPersuasive messaging - how to communicate value in a way that attracts premium clientsHow the 4 skills work together - messaging, traffic, funnels, and selling as an integrated systemSelling as the skill that actually deposits money - why most people avoid it and how to get good at it through repsAdding the strategy layer - becoming invaluable by understanding the "why" behind execution, not just doing tasksually the best opportunity for service providers willing to evolveFind the full post at:  https://brandimowles.com/271Want More Like This? ⬇️

Anxiety often shows up when our capability isn't being used in the real world. Building skills, systems, and doing meaningful work creates calm, stability, and a steadier life in 2026. Jan 31st, 9am Central, tickets go on sale for the LFTN Spring Workshop! Sponsor: StrongRootsResources.com Sponsor: AgoristTaxAdvice.com Opening Thought Who has felt anxious in the last few weeks?? Stop trying to feel better Build a life that steadies you Anxiety = unused capability Holler Hub: people working together Being useful calms people Idaho skiing Weather, terrain, attention Know when to push, when not to Preparedness without panic Winter storm came through Systems absorbed stress Humans stayed calm That's what preparedness is for Choose what grows Skills, systems, people Pull what destabilizes you Spring Workshop Hands-on Calm isn't something you wait for Calm is something you build 2026 = steady people

Slow down, think clearly, and prepare in a practical manner.Episode SummaryIn this episode of The Gun Experiment, my co-host Big Keith and I sit down with Patrick Diedrich, the editorial content director for Recoil Off Grid magazine. We dive deep into the world of survival and preparedness, drawing on Patrick's background in military reconnaissance, wilderness search and rescue, and hands-on survival training. From lessons learned in third-world countries and disaster zones to practical advice for urban survival, Patrick shares how preparation and clear-headed thinking matter far more than exotic gear or panic-driven plans. We discuss common survival myths, essential skills everyone should learn, and how to stay prepared without going overboard.Call to Action1. Join our mailing list: Thegunexperiment.com2. Subscribe and leave us a comment on Apple or Spotify3. Follow us on all of our social media: Instagram Twitter Youtube Facebook4. Be a part of our growing community, join our Discord page!5. Grab some cool TGE merch6. Ask us anything at AskMikeandKeith@gmail.com5. Be sure to support the sponsors of the show. They are a big part of making the show possible.Show SponsorsOn Site Firearms Training: Get professional firearms instruction from experienced pros—sharpen your skills and be more prepared. Visit OFTLLC.US for upcoming classes.Modern Gun Trade School: For those wanting a deeper understanding of guns and gunsmithing, MGS.edu offers hands-on courses for aspiring professionals and enthusiasts alike.Key TakeawaysSurvival is mostly about mindset: slow down, stop and think before reacting.Physical fitness and basic skills (shelter, fire, water) are the true foundation of preparedness.Urban survival can resemble jungle survival—be observant and make choices carefully.Practical gear like a Bic lighter, water filter, and navigation tools often outweigh romanticized survival skills.Creativity and adaptability in the moment matter even more than experience.

As AI becomes more common in classrooms, students' ability to communicate clearly matters more than ever. In this episode of The Balance, I explore why clarity in communication is a foundational skill for student-led learning and responsible AI use. I unpack what clarity really means, why it goes far beyond writing “better prompts,” and how unclear communication can derail learning, especially when students rely on AI feedback. You'll hear classroom examples, grade-band progressions, and practical ways teachers can help students move from vague thinking to intentional communication. This conversation is part of my Skills Before Tools series and connects clarity in communication to agency, metacognition, and keeping students in the driver's seat as they use AI. Click here to check out SchoolAI! Episode Resources Related blog: https://catlintucker.com/2026/01/ai-implementation-clarity-in-communication/ Download your free copy! Skills Before Tools: A K-12 AI Implementation Guide

AI tools are everywhere. Real adoption is scarce. In this episode of What Gets Measured, Jake Sanders and Jessica Graeser sit down with Ben Tasker, AI Workforce Development Strategist and Senior AI Strategist at National Grid, to unpack why so many AI initiatives stall—and what actually makes them stick. Ben shares lessons from building applied AI programs across healthcare, higher education, and large enterprises, including what it takes to prepare thousands of people for AI-enabled work. The conversation moves beyond tools into skills, systems thinking, trust, and learning cultures—and why AI strategy succeeds or fails at the human level. If you're a marketer, analytics leader, or operator trying to turn AI experimentation into measurable performance, this conversation will change how you think about readiness, risk, and real impact. SHOWPAGE: www.ninjacat.io/blog/wgm-podcast-why-skills-beat-tools-in-ai

Software engineering is changing fast, but not in the way most hot takes claim. Robert Brennan, Co founder and CEO at OpenHands, breaks down what happens when you outsource the typing to the LLM and let software agents handle the repetitive grind, without giving up the judgment that keeps a codebase healthy. This is a practical conversation about agentic development, the real productivity gains teams are seeing, and which skills will matter most as the SDLC keeps evolving. Key TakeawaysAI in the IDE is now table stakes for most engineers, the bigger jump is learning when to delegate work to an agentThe best early wins are the unglamorous tasks, fixing tests, resolving merge conflicts, dependency updates, and other maintenance work that burns time and attentionBigger output creates new bottlenecks, QA and code review can become the limiting factor if your workflow does not adaptSenior engineering judgment becomes more valuable, good architecture and clean abstractions make it easier to delegate safely and avoid turning the codebase into a messThe most durable human edge is empathy, for users, for teammates, and for your future self maintaining the systemTimestamped Highlights00:40 What OpenHands actually is, a development agent that writes code, runs it, debugs, and iterates toward completion02:38 The adoption curve, why most teams start with IDE help, and what “agent engineers” do differently to get outsized gains06:00 If an engineer becomes 10x faster, where does the time go, more creative problem solving, less toil15:01 A real example of the SDLC shifting, a designer shipping working prototypes and even small UI changes directly16:51 The messy middle, why many teams see only moderate gains until they redraw the lines between signal and noise20:42 Skills that last, empathy, critical thinking, and designing systems other people can understand22:35 Why this is still early, even if models stopped improving today, most orgs have not learned how to use them well yetA line worth sharing“The durable competitive advantage that humans have over AI is empathy.”Pro Tips for Tech TeamsStart by delegating low creativity tasks, CI failures, dependency bumps, and coverage improvements are great training wheelsDefine “safe zones” for non engineers contributing, like UI tweaks, while keeping application logic behind clearer guardrailsInvest in abstractions and conventions, you want a codebase an agent can work with, and a human can trustTrack where throughput stalls, if PR review and QA are the bottleneck, productivity gains will not show up where you expectCall to ActionIf you got value from this one, follow the show and share it with an engineer or product leader who is sorting out what “agentic development” actually means in practice.

Brett Forrest introduces Billy Riley, a Michigan youth recruited as an FBI Confidential Human Source after 9/11 due to his online skills. Forrest details Billy's cancelled mission to the Philippines and his parents' concerns regarding his mysterious 2015 departure for Russia to join a humanitarian effort near the Ukraine war.1917 MOSCOW

In this solo episode, I pull back the curtain on everything happening inside the Dad Edge ecosystem as we close out January and head into February. If your marriage feels disconnected, your health slipped during the holidays, or you've been looking for real skills—not motivation—this episode lays out exactly what's available and how to plug in.   I share my own story of marriage struggle, why only a small percentage of couples truly feel connected, and how becoming a student of marriage completely changed the trajectory of my relationship. From February's marriage-focused tactical agenda inside the Dad Edge Alliance, to the 1st Phorm 8-week challenge, to major announcements around preview calls and the Men's Forge event, this episode is about clarity, opportunity, and intentional action for men who want their marriage and leadership to look different in 2026.     Timeline Summary: [0:00] Keeping the blooper and why imperfection matters in fatherhood [1:35] Larry reflects on the first 10–12 years of marriage struggles [2:27] When marriage turns into co-parenting and roommate syndrome [3:07] Becoming a student of marriage and why things finally changed [3:27] Only 12% of marriages report deep connection [3:52] Introducing the Dad Edge ecosystem [4:11] Overview of the Dad Edge Alliance [4:50] February tactical agenda inside the Alliance [5:09] Why February always focuses on marriage skills [5:28] Week 1: Attraction, identity, and masculine presence [6:11] Week 2: Leading without chasing or needy energy [6:35] Week 3: Boundaries that create desire [6:55] Week 4: Emotional safety and attraction [7:39] Why February is the best month to join the Alliance [8:01] Roommates to Soulmates cohort selling out quickly [8:41] Holiday weight gain and the need for a physical reset [9:01] 1st Phorm Dad Edge 8-week challenge overview [9:42] Challenge dates and community support [10:19] January Dad Edge 1st Phorm Dad of the Month recognition [11:01] Alliance preview call announcement [11:24] What men will learn on the preview call [12:17] Moving away from social media noise [14:06] Men's Forge 2026 announcement [14:51] Why this event is different [15:41] Where to find all links and next steps [16:04] Gratitude and closing encouragement     Five Key Takeaways Most men were never taught how to lead a marriage, which is why skill-building—not willpower—creates change. Attraction in marriage evolves, and men must adapt leadership, presence, and identity. Boundaries and emotional safety create desire, not chasing or people-pleasing. Physical health fuels confidence and leadership, especially inside marriage. Community accelerates growth, when men commit to accountability and action.     Links & Resources: Dad Edge Alliance (Marriage, Parenting, Health, Leadership): https://thedadedge.com/alliance Dad Edge Alliance Preview Call: https://thedadedge.com/preview 1st Phorm Dad Edge 8-Week Challenge: https://1stphorm.com/dadedge Men's Forge 2026 Event: https://themensforge.com All Episode Resources: https://thedadedge.com/1431     Closing Remark Gentlemen, if you want your marriage, health, and leadership to look different in 2026, this is your moment to engage. Thank you for your continued support, your reviews, and your commitment to doing the work. From my heart to yours—let's continue to live legendary.

Alan Stein, Jr. shares how elite performers bounce back and how you can do the same. — YOU'LL LEARN — 1) How to take back control over your emotions and actions2) How to practice self-compassion without lowering your standards3) How to anticipate obstacles without becoming paranoidSubscribe or visit AwesomeAtYourJob.com/ep1123 for clickable versions of the links below. — ABOUT ALAN — Alan Stein, Jr. is an experienced keynote speaker and author. At his core, he's a performance coach with a passion for helping business leaders change behaviors. He spent 15+ years working with the highest performing basketball players on the planet (including NBA superstars Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, and Kobe Bryant). Through his customized programs, he transfers his unique expertise to maximize both individual and organizational performance. Alan is a dynamic storyteller who delivers practical, actionable lessons that can be implemented immediately. He teaches proven principles on how to utilize the same approaches in business that elite athletes use to perform at a world-class level.• Book: Next Play: How to Focus on What Matters Most and Improve Performance, Productivity, and Fulfillment• Instagram: @alansteinjr• LinkedIn: Alan Stein, Jr.• Website: AlanSteinJr.com— RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE SHOW — • Book: Exactly What to Say: Your Personal Guide to the Mastery of Magic Words by Phil Jones• Book: Leading with the Heart: Coach K's Successful Strategies for Basketball, Business, and Life by Mike Krzyzewski, Donald Phillips, Grant Hill• Video: “THIS IS WATER!” by David Foster Wallace• Past episode: 1107: How to Confront Your Inner Saboteurs with Shirzad Chamine— THANK YOU SPONSORS! — • Monarch.com. Get 50% off your first year on with the code AWESOME.• Vanguard. Give your clients consistent results year in and year out with vanguard.com/AUDIOSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Struggling with a dead bedroom? Talking about sex can feel more vulnerable and more terrifying than almost any other conversation in relationships, but it's the key to bringing back the spark. In this episode, you'll learn how to talk about sex with your partner in ways that strengthen emotional intimacy, reignite sexual intimacy, deepen connection, and help couples communicate without shame, fear, or defensiveness. If you've ever wanted more closeness or desire in your relationship but felt frozen when it came time to talk about sex, you're not alone. For many couples, learning how to talk about sex with your partner feels risky—even when love is strong and the longing for connection is real. Fear of rejection, conflict, or hurting each other can keep these conversations stuck beneath the surface, quietly eroding intimacy over time. In this episode, I'm joined by Dr. Tara, a Kinsey-certified sexologist and tenured professor of sexual and relational communication, to talk about how to communicate better about sex in ways that actually build safety, trust, and closeness. We explore why sexual conversations feel so charged, how cultural conditioning shapes desire and avoidance, and what helps couples rebuild trust sexually after long periods of distance, rejection, or disconnection. You'll hear practical guidance for starting these conversations gently, expanding what sexual intimacy can look like in long-term relationships, and taking responsibility for your own sexual self—without blame or shame. As you listen, I invite you to reflect on this question: What might become possible in your relationship if talking about sex felt safer, clearer, and more connecting than it does right now? Episode Breakdown 00:00 Why Talking About Sex Feels So Hard in Relationships 06:30 The Cost of Avoiding Conversations About Sex 15:00 How Sexual Communication Affects Intimacy and Connection 22:00 How to Talk About Sex Without Fear or Defensiveness 27:30 Understanding Your Sexual Self Before Communicating Needs 30:00 Redefining Sexual Intimacy Beyond Penetration 33:00 How to Ask for What You Want Sexually (Without Hurting Your Partner) 39:00 Navigating Sexual Differences in Long-Term Relationships 47:00 Rebuilding Sexual Trust and Attraction After Distance 52:40 The Core Skill: Knowing What You Want and Communicating It If this conversation stirred something for you—maybe a desire to feel closer, more confident, or more understood—you're invited to schedule a free consultation with me or a member of my team. It's a private, secure space where you can share what's been happening in your relationship and what you're hoping will feel different. You'll answer three quick questions so we can thoughtfully match you with the right counselor or coach for your needs. It only takes a couple of minutes, and it's designed to help you find support that fits, whether you're working on communication, rebuilding sexual trust, or finding your way back to connection. Consider this a gentle next step and an open door, if and when you're ready. xoxo, Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby Growing Self Special thanks to this month's sponsors of the Love, Happiness and Success Podcast: Shopify — The all-in-one platform for building and growing your online business. Visit shopify.com/lhs  to explore their tools and access exclusive listener discounts. Working Genius — A powerful assessment that helps entrepreneurs and leaders focus on what they naturally do best. Get 20% off with code LHS at workinggenius.com

Want to build skills like this to help your team succeed in 2026? ⁠Learn about our Capability Catalyst program⁠. Enterprise change is getting harder, not easier—and in 2026, “having the right ideas” isn't enough to move transformation. You need personal capability that lets you see what's really happening, design with real users, and move groups through hard conversations without turning everything into theater. Good intentions and smart frameworks may have worked in the past, but what got us here won't get us where we need to go. In this episode, Rodney and Sam dive deep on the three most useful transformation enabling skills for the coming year, and share practical ways for how to level up your capability toolkit to thrive in our current pace of change. -------------------------------- Ready to change your organization? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Let's talk.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Get our newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow us: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ -------------------------------- Mentioned references: Sam's teaching metacognition Bloom's taxonomy "MG" - McChrystal Group situational awareness "the balcony" The Mom Test The Future of HR Matt Basford "business model fit chart" "Henry Ford quote" Liberating Structures 00:00 Intro + Check-In: What's good right now? 04:09 The Pattern 05:49 Skill 1: Metacognitive awareness 10:16 Reframing your interactions and experiences 15:57 Building your metacognition skills 21:05 Skill 2: User-Centered Design and Feedback 28:45 User feedback is not a one time activity 34:34 Skill 3: Expert facilitation 39:39 Real skilled facilitation is mostly invisible 43:03 Lots of work happens outside the room 50:08 Leveling up as a facilitator 52:30 Wrap up: Leave the show a review and share with a friend Sound engineering and design by Taylor Marvin of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Coupe Studios⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

This episode teaches you the core money skills every business owner needs to stay profitable and confident. You'll learn how to read your profit and loss, balance sheet, and cash flow statement in a simple, clear way. We break down what each report means, how they work together, and how they guide smart strategies and stronger money decisions. You'll see why avoiding your numbers leads to stress, debt, and missed opportunities—and how a few monthly habits can give you real control. This is the foundation of strong business finance and the first step to keeping more of what you earn. Listen now so you can understand your numbers and start leading like a true CEO.   Next Steps: