Podcasts about underperforming

The Red Sox struggles continue and the guys discuss how surprising it is that no one can produce on offense. Critics said they saw it coming but Jones and Keefe expected more from this team.

It is long overdue for the president to overhaul his cabinet. Underperforming ministers, including Transport Minister Nikpe Bukari and Housing Minister Gilbert Adjei, must be sacked without delay. — Akokoa fires

What would break first if you stopped answering calls, stopped checking email, and stepped out of the building for 30 days? John Gallagher sits down with Brian Gini, co-CEO of Collins Electric, to unpack a real transformation inside a multi-branch, family-owned electrical contracting business and the personal growth required to make it stick. Brian's path starts in the field and moves through project management, branch leadership, and ownership, and that credibility shapes how he thinks about trust, systems, and the next generation of leaders.We get into the practical catalyst behind the shift: building a sustainable leadership pipeline when “nobody gave us a playbook.” Brian explains why outside expertise mattered, how lean construction tools entered through a prefabrication quality problem, and what it took to move five branches from five different ways of working to a shared enterprise mindset. He's candid about the hardest barrier to continuous improvement: people staying locked into who they've always been, even when the business demands something new.Then we talk about the experiments that prove your culture is real. The Gini Wonka month-off test sends a serious message to employees and customers: we trust you, we've built guardrails, and the company can operate without the owners acting like heroes. Brian also shares a deceptively simple leadership word he keeps in sight every day: “appreciate,” and how that mindset helps stretch new leaders into big roles. We close with a grounded take on AI in construction: keep building the training and curriculum you know you need, and adopt AI only where it truly supports the strategy.

OpenAI's ad pilot is plagued with reporting hiccups and under-delivery issues. It's testing marketer's patience, but the fear of missing out on AI's next big platforms seems to outweigh their frustrations.

Episode 221: Justin Roethlingshoefer Final - The Executive's Guide to Holistic Leadership CapacityIn this inspiring health podcast, we explore the Holy Health Academy, a three-month program designed to foster spiritual growth. This Christian podcast highlights understanding your identity in God and interpreting your body's signals, like your heartbeat, as a form of divine communication. Discover how to embrace divine wellness and healing scriptures for a purposeful life.Discover how to align scripture and science for holy health and unlock your full leadership potential. In this powerful episode, Justin Roethlingshoefer, author of "Holy Health," reveals the profound connection between spiritual obedience and physical well-being, challenging executive leaders to move beyond performance-driven living to a life of abundant capacity.This masterclass dissects the critical corporate bottleneck of fragmented well-being, where leaders often compartmentalize faith and health. Justin provides a transformative framework for integrating mind, body, and spirit, enabling you to build sustainable rhythms that fuel your calling and prevent burnout, ultimately driving unparalleled team performance and executive resilience.

Join Matt Heckman (@Heckman_Matt115) of Pitcher List and Greg (@greghoogkamp) as they discuss the initial CBA proposals (and what it might mean as we move forward), news and notes around MLB and MiLB and have a strategy discussion about what to do with star players who have struggled to start the season. The guys highlight several players who were expected to carry dynasty rosters and what they think the best path forward might be.Players discussed: Cal Raleigh, Michael Busch, Vinnie Pasquantino, Matt McLain, Luke Keaschall, Matt Chapman, Manny Machado, Bo Bichette, Trea Turner, Steven Kwan, Jackson Merrill, Fernando Tatis Jr., Tyler Soderstrom, Eury Perez, Shane Baz, Robbie Ray, Zac Gallen, Mackenzie Gore, Devin Williams, David Bednar, Andres Munoz.

Bitcoin is getting smoked while stocks rip to all time highs, and investors are starting to panic. But history shows these moments have created the biggest Bitcoin opportunities of every cycle. This breakdown covers the real reason Bitcoin is lagging, the coming supply squeeze, and why long term holders are staying aggressively bullish. If you think Bitcoin is dead money, the data says otherwise.Click here to learn more about what's coming: https://news.simplybitcoin.com/launchSPONSORS✅ Ledn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.nmj1gs2i.com/9W598/9B9DM/?source_id=podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Simply Bitcoin clients get 0.25% off their first loanNeed liquidity without selling your Bitcoin? Ledn has been the trusted Bitcoin-backed lending platform for 6+ years. Access your BTC's value while HODLing.

What if the secret to scaling your business by 30X wasn't found in a spreadsheet, but in your own emotional awareness?In this episode, John Gallagher sits down with Randy Lyman, physicist, entrepreneur, and author of The Third Element. Randy shares his profound journey from a logic-driven, emotion-suppressing business owner to a leader who unlocked unprecedented success by embracing the emotional component of the human experience.

Kingdom impact in business is not a soft concept; it's a strategic imperative for executive leaders and any Christian entrepreneur seeking holistic profitability. In this insightful episode of The Uncommon Leader Podcast, host John Gallagher sits down with Shae Bynes, author of Grace Over Grind, to unpack how to build a truly God-led business through a powerful faith-based business connection. Shae shares her unique framework for "business meetings with God," highlighting how blending faith and business allows leaders to work with God, not just for God.Discover how to infuse kingdom impact in business into your leadership development and team management. Shae Bynes, a pioneer in the kingdom-driven entrepreneurship movement, reveals how high-performing corporate executives and CEOs can trade the hustle culture for divine enablement. If you want to scale your marketplace ministry and shift from a traditional corporate grind to a purpose-driven business, this leadership masterclass is for you.

Are you frustrated with stagnant growth despite having an experienced distributor?This episode uncovers the common misconceptions surrounding long-term distributor relationships and highlights how reliance on these partnerships can lead to hidden underperformance. You'll learn why it's essential to reassess your distribution strategy for optimal success.By listening, you'll discover:The key criteria for selecting effective distributors in your marketHow to evaluate if your current distributor is truly the right fitActionable steps to boost underperformance and increase market growthTune in to transform your medical device strategy and unlock growth potential.Book a 30min Healthcare Export Accelerator discovery callMessage me via DM on LinkedinThis podcast is for clinicians and solo founders feeling stuck in turning their medical devices into real businesses, with practical insight on go to market strategy, sales strategy, product launch, sales plans, business growth, exporting, selling internationally and how to scale up their international sales in MedTech.

Are you sabotaging your own portfolio? Most investors obsess over buying the right property, forgetting that real wealth is built after the deal is done. On The Smart Property Investment Show, hosts Phil Tarrant and Liam Garman are joined by Tim Harris, director of H & B Real Estate, to expose the overlooked role property managers play in long-term portfolio performance. Tarrant highlights that while brokers and buyers come and go, property managers are the ones who stay, often influencing results for decades. Harris reveals that poor property management quietly erodes returns through missed rent, bad tenants, and reactive maintenance, while strong systems and team structures can dramatically improve outcomes. The episode also challenges investors who chase low fees, warning that cutting costs on management often leads to bigger losses over time. With tighter market conditions and rising pressure on rents, your property manager isn't just a service – they're a key driver of whether your investment performs or falls behind. If you like this episode, show your support by rating us or leaving a review on Apple Podcasts and by following Smart Property Investment on social media: Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn. If you would like to get in touch with our team, email editor@smartpropertyinvestment.com.au for more insights, or hear your voice on the show by recording a question below.

Many leaders talk about their business being a ministry, but very few live it out. Today's guest, Darren Shearer, has developed a blueprint to help you do exactly that. As the author of "The Christ-Centered Company," Darren outlines 37 biblical business habits that transform how we handle marketing, HR, and accounting.From a life-changing moment at Barksdale Air Force Base to building a successful publishing house, Darren explains why God is interested in your spreadsheets just as much as your prayers. Tune in to learn how to bridge the gap between your Sunday faith and your Monday morning reality.Key Takeaways:➡️ The Base is the Ministry: How a word from God changed Darren's perspective on his military service and business.➡️ Strategic Influence: Why Jesus was the world's greatest marketer.➡️ Truth with Grace: Navigating the difficult waters of people management and accountability.Stop compartmentalizing your faith. It's time to build a thriving company that honors God and blesses the world.

Hour 4: Silver & Krueg revisit Zack Minasian's comments about the Giants' highest paid players struggling and what their slow starts mean for a 14-23 club. They're also joined by Michelle Smith, author of "Life's Work," a book about Tara VanDerveer's remarkable coaching career. Michelle shares her insights on Tara's impact on women's basketball, from building a legacy at Stanford to paving the way for the WNBA's growth. Smith explains how much she appreciates Vanderveer laying the groundwork for the Bay Area's excitement over the Valkyries and the future of women's sports.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 4: Silver & Krueg revisit Zack Minasian's comments about the Giants' highest paid players struggling and what their slow starts mean for a 14-23 club. They're also joined by Michelle Smith, author of "Life's Work," a book about Tara VanDerveer's remarkable coaching career. Michelle shares her insights on Tara's impact on women's basketball, from building a legacy at Stanford to paving the way for the WNBA's growth. Smith explains how much she appreciates Vanderveer laying the groundwork for the Bay Area's excitement over the Valkyries and the future of women's sports.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The R.E.A.L. Method to Build Unshakable Confidence with Simone Knego"Waiting until you feel ready is like waiting for IKEA instructions to actually make sense—it's just not going to happen."In this episode of The Uncommon Leader Podcast, John Gallagher sits down with USA Today bestselling author and speaker Simone Knego of @her_unshakeable_confidenceto to challenge the narrow story we've been sold about who "counts" as a leader. Leadership isn't just a corner office or a job title; it's what you choose at your own kitchen table when nobody is clapping.Simone peels back the curtain on the "messy unpublished" parts of her story, sharing how she transformed confidence from a personality trait into a trainable skill. From her journey to the summit of Kilimanjaro to the daily mindset work of setting boundaries, this conversation provides the practical tools needed to silence your inner critic and stop playing small.

Assia Georgieva and Teri West share their takeaways from Norwegian Cruise Line's (NCLH) earnings. Assia compares the company to its peers, including Royal Caribbean (RCL), and thinks they are facing various issues that make 2026 a transition year. Teri agrees, discussing “wave season” indicators and their new CEO. However, there are some tailwinds Norwegian can take advantage of.======== Schwab Network ========Empowering every investor and trader, every market day.Options involve risks and are not suitable for all investors. Before trading, read the Options Disclosure Document. http://bit.ly/2v9tH6DSubscribe to the Market Minute newsletter - https://schwabnetwork.com/subscribeDownload the iOS app - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/schwab-network/id1460719185Download the Amazon Fire Tv App - https://www.amazon.com/TD-Ameritrade-Network/dp/B07KRD76C7Watch on Sling - https://watch.sling.com/1/asset/191928615bd8d47686f94682aefaa007/watchWatch on Vizio - https://www.vizio.com/en/watchfreeplus-exploreWatch on DistroTV - https://www.distro.tv/live/schwab-network/Follow us on X – https://twitter.com/schwabnetworkFollow us on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/schwabnetworkFollow us on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/schwab-network/ About Schwab Network - https://schwabnetwork.com/about

Colleen Stanley | The ROI of a Mentorship Culture & Ending the "Phubbing" EpidemicHow much is "Phubbing" (Phone Snubbing) costing your organization's trust?Most leaders view mentoring as a "nice-to-have" that loses the battle against urgent deadlines. In this episode of the Uncommon Leader Podcast, Colleen Stanley (author of Be The Mentor Who Mattered) challenges that mindset, arguing that mentoring shouldn't be a formal program to manage, but a culture where "no one goes alone."Colleen shares her moving origin story of how community mentors stepped in during personal loss and offers a refreshing, accessible definition of mentorship—from "book mentors" to "moment mentors." We dive into the practical and the profound, covering:Culture vs. Program: Why a mentorship culture scales faster and drives higher ROI in retention and productivity.The "Fobbing" Epidemic: How pulling out your phone mid-conversation destroys trust and coaching opportunities.Creative Leadership: Lessons from "Sister Emma" on problem-solving and service.The Time Myth: Real-world ways to mentor during airport rides, workouts, or even a quick trip to Chipotle.The Power of Words: How five intentional words can dismantle self-limiting beliefs and change a career trajectory.Stop waiting for a formal initiative to start leading. Learn how to integrate small, repeatable actions into your day to build a legacy of growth.Ready to level up?✅ Subscribe for more leadership strategies.

“Stop fighting with the kids and start fighting for the kids.”That single sentence from a mentor redirected Robbie Slocumb's life decades ago. Today, as the CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of North Georgia, it serves as the north star for his leadership. In this episode of The Uncommon Leader Podcast, host John Gallagher sits down with Robbie to discuss his 30-year journey of youth advocacy and the mechanics of Generational Leadership.Robbie has proven that the most valuable commodity a leader possesses isn't a budget—it's time. We explore how he scaled a $300k local operation into a $3.3M regional powerhouse by prioritizing trust-based partnerships and a "River Mentality" of pouring knowledge back into his team.In This Episode, We Discuss:The Advocacy Mindset: Shifting from "fighting with" to "fighting for" your team, your community, and the next generation.Mentorship in the Digital Age: Why technology raises the stakes for presence, and why real relationships can never be replaced by AI or a screen.The 10X Growth Roadmap: How Robbie used strategic partnerships and radical trust to fuel a decade of scaling.Succession & Failure: Why true leaders must give their team the "right to fail" to help them grow and eventually outlast their tenure.The "Billboard" Message: Robbie's simple, two-word philosophy for a successful life and career.Key Takeaways for Leaders:Mentorship is about listening well and asking better questions. It's the art of talking with people instead of at them.Slow Down to Speed Up: Why you must bring people with you and give them real opportunities to lead.The Alan Story: A powerful moment involving a broken microphone, 500 people, and a "Youth of the Year" who found his voice—proving that consistent investment changes lives.Time vs. Money: A challenge to those wondering if their presence matters more than their checkbook.Legacy Defined: How faith, family, and a love for others create a foundation that keeps leaders grounded.

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Joe and Richie analyze the Phillies' recent struggles, specifically questioning if Rob Thompson is still the right voice for the current roster. They discuss Howie Roseman's recent press conference regarding Jalen Hurts' standing with the Eagles and the rumors surrounding an AJ Brown trade. Additionally, Sheil Kapadia joins the conversation to preview the NFL Draft and the state of the Sixers' postseason chances. 01:50 - Wilmer McLean History Story 06:44 - Phillies Rotation and Consistency Concerns 13:04 - Stott and Bohm Development Debate 19:15 - Howie Roseman Discusses Jalen Hurts 25:31 - AJ Brown Trade Rumors Analyzed 36:46 - Sixers Emotional Investment Scale 47:36 - AMA: Space Travel and Conspiracies 58:49 - Rob Thompson Management Criticism 01:19:01 - Diana Russini Resigns from Athletic 01:31:04 - Sheil Kapadia NFL Draft Analysis 01:42:28 - Roseman's Quarterback Quote Analysis 01:48:13 - Dan Vladar and Flyers Playoffs 01:58:01 - Dontaevion Wicks Trade Reactions 02:07:35 - NBA Tanking and Magic Matchup 02:22:13 - Breaking Down Russini Resignation Letter 02:32:53 - Joel Embiid Leadership Discussion 02:43:13 - Buster Olney on Media Ethics 02:58:36 - Phillies Clubhouse Chemistry Issues 03:04:50 - Orlando Magic Locker Room Turmoil

How do you identify complacency before it identifies you? In this episode of The Uncommon Leader, John Gallagher welcomes David Campbell, founder of Fourth Figure, for a deep dive into the psychology of transition and purpose.With over 33 years of experience in individual and organizational leadership, Dave shares the raw truth about his 2013 "hard luck story" and the moment he realized he was the problem. We explore the Purpose Factor—a lens for making decisions by design rather than fear—and the Law of Sacrifice required to move from "doing good" to becoming "uncommon."We talk with David Campbell about building Fourth Figure and spend his time coaching, speaking, and developing leaders. We dig into how complacency creeps in, how purpose can replace fear as a decision filter, and what real impact looks like over the long haul.  In this leadership masterclass, we cover:• transitioning from corporate leadership to entrepreneurship and why leaving well matters• spotting complacency in ourselves before it shows up in teams• building a virtuous cycle of continuous improvement through leadership development• using the Purpose Factor assessment to clarify fulfillment and guide decisions• deciding by default versus deciding by design when fear shows up• handling comfort traps like salary, benefits and health insurance without getting stuck• faith, meaning and the origin of the Fourth Figure name• training for longevity by focusing on foundational mobility and joint strength=====================================================

Hello and welcome to Episode 319 of the People Powered Business Podcast.Got someone on your team who just is not cutting it, but every time you think about dealing with it, you put it off for another day? Maybe you are hoping they will sort themselves out, maybe you are gathering more “evidence”, or maybe you are trying not to rock the boat. Either way, the issue rarely fixes itself, and the longer it drags on, the messier it gets.I keep seeing this with small business owners, and I get why. Managing underperformance is one of the hardest parts of leading a team, especially when your team is small, the person plays a big role, or there is a personal relationship involved. It is easy to avoid the conversation, overthink it, or soften things so much that nothing actually changes. But when we handle employee underperformance badly, we usually make it worse for everyone involved, including the rest of the team.In this episode, I unpack why so many business owners struggle to manage an underperforming employee and the common leadership styles that get in the way. I talk through the three real reasons performance issues happen in the first place: a skills gap, a motivation problem, or a cultural mismatch. That distinction matters more than most people realise, because the right solution depends entirely on the real cause. If you misdiagnose the problem, you will often apply the wrong fix, and that is when frustration, resentment and poor team culture start to build.I also walk you through what to do next if you have a problem employee on your team, including when to coach, when to re-engage, and when it is time to start planning an exit. This is a practical conversation for small business owners who want to handle performance management clearly, calmly and without making a hard situation even harder.In this episode we cover: Why small business owners often avoid dealing with underperformance until it becomes a bigger issue The common leadership habits that can make employee performance problems worse The three main causes of underperformance at work and how to spot the difference Why getting the diagnosis right is the key to fixing the issue properlyWhat to do next, whether the employee needs support, re-engagement or an exit planIf you want practical, no-nonsense advice on managing your team delivered straight to your inbox every week, head to https://www.peoplepoweredbusiness.com.au/join.Links & Resources:

We preview LSU baseball's weekend series against Ole Miss with WWL.com columnist Jeff Palermo. Will the Tigers get back on track after another tough mid-week loss?

Are you playing small because it's comfortable? In this episode of The Uncommon Leader Podcast, host John Gallagher sits down with Sean McCrorie, a leader in national health research, to discuss the transition from "internalizing" challenges to leading with national influence.Sean shares his raw journey—from overcoming childhood trauma and a 260lb weight loss journey to managing high-stakes research. We dive deep into why high-level leaders often stay stuck in the "One More Book" trap and how to start "buying the results" you want through executive coaching.What You'll Learn in This Episode:

Buyer personas are one of the core inputs into your growth marketing strategy — shaping your customer acquisition, creative, campaigns, and customer experience. But for many brands, those personas are incomplete. And when your buyer personas are incomplete, everything built on top of them underperforms — from your marketing campaigns to your conversion rates. If your marketing isn't performing at the level it should — the issue may not be your channels or your tactics. It may be your personas. Friction Finder Growth Audit - https://www.frictionlessgrowthlab.com/frictionfinder/ Frictionless Growth Roadmapping Session - https://www.frictionlessgrowthlab.com/roadmapping/

You can hit the goal and still feel like something is missing, and that gap is where leadership gets real. John Gallagher sits down with executive coach Mo Salami to unpack why exceptional results often come from not chasing results directly, and how “purpose-driven success” starts with identity, not pressure.We dig into Mo's three-part framework for high-performance leadership: mindset, skill set, and momentum. Instead of treating outcomes like tasks you dread, Mo pushes leaders to ask a tougher question: Who do I need to be to make this result normal? That identity-based approach doesn't just change personal habits; it reshapes team culture, raising the standard from “we should” to “this is who we are.” We also get practical about what derails high achievers most: inaction fueled by imposter syndrome and inconsistent action that collapses after setbacks.We go further into modern leadership challenges, including how AI can support your work as a second brain without replacing your judgment as the leader. Mo also breaks down why consistent 1% gains compound into exponential results over a year and why fulfillment, health, and long-term impact belong in the same conversation as revenue and performance.If you want a clearer leadership mindset, stronger execution, and success on your terms, press play. Subscribe, share this with a leader on your team, and leave a five-star review so more uncommon leaders can find the show.

How to Lead Through Constant Change Without Losing Your Best PeopleYour best people are being recruited right now. Not because they're unhappy, but because someone out there is persistent enough to keep calling until they say yes. If the only thing holding your team together is inertia, this episode is going to hit different.Our guest is Borja Cuan, of Four15 Digital, who has been on both sides of this leadership challenge.He joined a startup as employee #29, survived eight years of layoffs, mergers, and uncertainty, and built his own agency, Four15 Digital into a Google Premier Partner over two decades. What he shares in this conversation isn't theory. It's a tested philosophy for keeping teams aligned, motivated, and loyal when nothing around them is guaranteed.

Hour 2: The Giants' slow start has fans frustrated, and Silver & JD are here to break it down. Is the offense massively underperforming, or are we putting too much stock into how much certain bats should contribute? The conversation touches on the importance of player development, the need for accountability, and the challenges of building a winning team in the competitive MLB landscape.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 2: The Giants' slow start has fans frustrated, and Silver & JD are here to break it down. Is the offense massively underperforming, or are we putting too much stock into how much certain bats should contribute? The conversation touches on the importance of player development, the need for accountability, and the challenges of building a winning team in the competitive MLB landscape.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ambitious Australia report suggests how to fix Australia's broken R&D sector

We talk with Kristie Jones about how to build revenue resilience by choosing sales roles that match your strengths instead of forcing yourself into the wrong seat. We dig into the “hunter vs farmer” mindset, why coaching is a competitive edge, and how accountability and adaptability matter even more as AI changes work. 

For worldwide online contest programming with Adam, Ashley or the Elite Coaches please visit www.teamelitephysique.com Sign up for emails direct from Coach Adam for more tips, tricks, seminars and other happenings with Adam, Ashley and Team Elite Physique. https://teamelitephysique.us20.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=1cf84f806714bb284a1165b44&id=2a74ea95cd 10% off Muscle Egg www.muscleegg.com/teamelitephysique Video referenced in podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi4Dz95LShM

Kansas Softens Chiefs Bill, Plus Wild Planned Parenthood Overland Park Story Overlooked and More Spending on Underperforming Schools | 3-18-26See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A steady paycheck can feel like “wisdom” until you realize it is actually fear wearing a suit. That realization sits at the heart of my conversation with Kent Chevalier, the Pittsburgh Steelers team chaplain and the author of Do It Afraid, a book built for leaders who feel called to more but keep hesitating at the edge of the jump.• a childhood IOU note and how scarcity quietly shapes leadership decisions• why comfort, familiarity, and responsibility can smother purpose• the birds' nest story that clarified calling and provision• “What God initiates, He permeates, and why self-started plans drain us• LEAP and PRAY as a simple framework for big decisions• expressing fear without shame and why real men cry out to God• identity beyond performance and the pressure elite athletes carry• active waiting through spiritual disciplines instead of doomscrolling• delayed obedience as a form of disobedience and why Jesus is not a buffet lineKent takes us back to a childhood moment in western Pennsylvania that planted a scarcity story in his heart, then walks us forward into the very adult struggle of responsibility, comfort, and control. We talk about what holds people back from their God-given purpose, why familiarity can quietly erase a dream, and how God used an unexpected bird's nest on a patio to drive the message home: you are more valuable than the birds, and God can provide when you step out in faith. If you have ever felt stuck between obedience and “being practical,” this will hit home.We also dig into a simple, repeatable decision-making approach from Kent's work, including the LEAP framework and the discipline of active waiting. That leads to some of the most honest parts of the conversation: how high performers handle anxiety, why expressing fear is not weakness, and how identity gets tangled up with performance in the NFL and in everyday leadership. Kent shares lessons he has learned alongside Coach Mike Tomlin and Steelers players, plus a direct challenge about obedience: what God reveals is not meant to be negotiated.

How come the Bruins look like they have lost their rhythm after the Olympic break? Which players are the ones who are underperforming?

We trace Jake Plummer's path from NFL leadership to functional mushroom entrepreneurship, focusing on recovery, healthspan, and the discipline behind nature-first performance. He shares practical ways mushrooms support sleep, energy, and inflammation, and why meaningful dosing and education matter.• a fifth-grade playground moment defining inclusive leadership• the cost of playing through pain and rethinking recovery• hemp and cannabinoids as a gateway to functional mushrooms• the mushroom kingdom explained: functional, gourmet, psychedelic• quality extraction, real dosing, and daily rituals that work• the grind of mushroom farming and building a skilled team• Pat Tillman's influence: passion, action, and asking hard questions• healthspan over lifespan and consistent habits for longevity• Umbo's vision: research, access, and athlete-led impact• how to try Umbo and connect with JakeUse "uncommon 15" at checkout, and you can get a 15% discount to give it a shot

We walk through the Four Streams of Leadership—reservoir, downstream, upstream, and side stream—and show how leadership is a continuous flow. Reservoir is self-management: values, habits, and the reflection that keeps you steady under pressure. Downstream is team and operations: assembling roles, setting standards, and maintaining momentum. Upstream is partnering with your boss and senior leaders: aligning priorities and preventing strategic drift. Side stream is collaborating with peers: building shared commitments and removing cross-team friction. When each stream runs clean, you move faster with fewer surprises.• reframing the Peter Principle as unpreparedness• replacing stories with explanatory frameworks and exercises• defining the four streams: reservoir, downstream, upstream, side stream• building a culture that holds when we are absent• habits to fill the reservoir: reading, audiobooks, feedback loops• composing teams with visionaries, implementers, and closers• interviewing for role fit through consistent depth• timing process for discovery versus reliability• making disagreement and commitment possible with a clear why• further reading influences: Popper, Feynman, Deutsch• where to learn more and get the bookHiring and team design get specific through three vital roles: visionaries who define the problem and direction, implementers who build the thing, and closers who ship it. Too many visionaries means swirl; too few closers means value never lands. We share interviewing tactics that probe for consistent depth across envisioning, building, and finishing, so you can place people where they thrive. Then we tackle the third rail—process. Early on, heavy process kills discovery; after product-market fit, light process kills reliability. We map the why, when, what, and how of process so your team can innovate without chaos and deliver without drift. Along the way, we unpack “disagree and commit” the right way: explain the why, or you'll get “disagree and resent.”If you're ready to trade fables for frameworks and build a culture that acts the right way when you're not in the room, this conversation is your field guide. Subscribe, share with a manager who just took the leap, and leave a quick review to tell us which framework you'll try first.

How to Fix Your Underperforming B2B SaaS Funnel for Quick Revenue Wins In the fast-paced world of B2B SaaS, the ability to go to market, iterate on feedback, and close deals rapidly is the ultimate competitive advantage. Unfortunately, many sales and marketing teams find themselves stalled by underperforming funnels that drain resources without delivering measurable results. When growth plateaus, the challenge lies in transforming these stagnant pipelines into high-velocity growth engines without requiring massive capital or long timelines. So, how can B2B SaaS teams identify the hidden leaks in their customer journey and unlock quick-win revenue through a strategic, data-driven approach? That's why we're talking to April Syed (CEO of Aperture Codex), who shares her expertise on fixing an underperforming B2B SaaS funnel for quick revenue wins. During our conversation, April discussed the importance of leveraging data to pinpoint “quick wins,” such as streamlining sales processes and eliminating high-friction points in user onboarding. She explained how to fix “conversion killers” like messaging misalignment and highlighted the necessity of aligning marketing and sales efforts to ensure a seamless experience. April also advocated for a culture of continuous testing, using small, incremental experiments to de-risk major strategic shifts. She emphasized the value of regular customer journey mapping to maintain a predictable, sustainable, and highly efficient path to profitable growth. https://youtu.be/VeeFMznhCfw Topics discussed in episode: [07:24] Why your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) must be a “living, breathing” document reviewed quarterly, not a static file sitting in a deck. [11:24] The critical mistake of treating marketing as a cost center rather than a revenue driver, and how it leads to “vanity metrics” over actual sales. [13:53] Why you should focus on small, incremental tests to “de-risk” big spends before committing to expensive strategies like rebrands. [18:05] The 5-Point Conversion Diagnostic: A framework to analyze time-to-value, messaging alignment, behavioral triggers, follow-up timing, and pricing friction. [23:07] A real-world example of how “pricing friction” (forcing an annual upgrade) caused a loyal promoter to churn to a competitor. [27:24] How to audit your funnel for “Quick Win” revenue opportunities in under 30 days by analyzing where deals stall in the CRM. [35:27] Why no marketing asset is ever “final”, and why high-traffic landing pages should be in a state of constant A/B testing. Companies and links mentioned: Apryl Syed on LinkedIn  Aperture Codex  Superhuman Notion  Motion Transcript Christian Klepp, Apryl Syed Apryl Syed  00:00 Brand for instance, doesn’t work itself into any metric, but it makes every metric better across the board. Sometimes we’re chasing these metrics and like the attribution of where a particular deal came from, or how did they find out about us, and we’re not thinking about all of the things that are outside in the flywheel that are, you know, causing that person to, yes, eventually convert. But were there seven or eight other things that kind of they interacted with. Christian Klepp  00:26 In the world of B2B SaaS speed is the name of the game. Get to market, quickly collect feedback, quickly iterate quickly and close deals quickly. But what happens if your sales and marketing teams get stuck with underperforming funnels that don’t generate the results you need? How can teams turn these funnels into growth machines without massive spend or long timelines? Welcome to this episode of the B2B Marketers on a Mission podcast, and I’m your host, Christian Klepp, today, I’ll be talking with Apryl Syed, who will be answering this question. She’s the CEO of ApertureCodex who gives founders the strategy and the psychology needed to jump into fast revenue gains. Let’s dive in. Okay, and away we go. Apryl Syed, welcome to the show. Apryl Syed  01:12 Thank you so much, Christian. I’m so excited to be here. Christian Klepp  01:15 Glad to have you on the show. I think we had such a great pre interview conversation. I kept telling myself I should have hit record, and I talked to you the first time, right? But, you know, two times is a charm or three times. But anyways, this is the second time we’re talking. So I’m really looking forward to this conversation Apryl, because we’re going to touch on a topic today that I think is not just relevant to sales teams. It’s really important to marketing teams as well. So I’m going to keep the audience in suspense just a little while longer while I set up this first question. Right? So you’re on a mission to help B2B SaaS teams turn underperforming funnels into growth machines without massive spend or lengthy timelines, and for people that didn’t hear that the first time, I think everybody wants something like that, right, quick results without spending massively, right? So for this conversation, I’d like to focus on the following topic and just unpack it from there, right? So how can SaaS teams leverage a quick win revenue approach for better and more predictable growth. And I mean, come on Apryl, who the heck doesn’t want that, right? Who doesn’t want predictable growth, right? So I want to kick off this conversation with two questions, and I’m happy to repeat them. So first one is, where do you see many SaaS teams struggle with revenue growth? And the second question is, what are some of the key causes of this? Apryl Syed  02:44 It’s really great, by the way. As a side note, I got turned down for a podcast this week because they said I talked too much about quick wins, and they felt that it conflicted with their policy. I won’t mention the name, they’re an agency out there, but they were all about big spend, and they felt that I conflicted with that. And this exactly ties in. This is probably why the subject that I talk about so. Christian Klepp  03:13 Well, I’m sorry for them. Apryl Syed  03:15 Yeah, that’s okay. That’s okay. We don’t, we don’t match. You know, I’m not for everyone. Well, I think that, like SaaS teams don’t realize that they’ve got data. And within their data really, really lies some of the tweaks, opportunities and things like that that can make them extra revenue that they might not be looking at today. And I think, you know, perhaps it’s in tweaking their sales process. Maybe they don’t have a sales process misalignment between sales and marketing. Marketing is talking about one thing, sales is selling another thing, or could be marketing is marketing to one type of industry and user, and sales is saying that’s not the right user. It’s something completely different, that misalignment in itself causes revenue conflict, revenue opportunities. And you know, sometimes it’s spending on expensive tools before you’ve actually broken down some of those points in the funnel. Or could be tools that you’re getting a lot of data from, or they’re not doing anything with the data on a regular basis. So I think, you know, those are where I see some of those, like, struggle with revenue because of some of those issues and and then I think your second question was kind of like, well, how to, how do they kind of avoid some of those scenarios? Right? Christian Klepp  04:40 It was more about the the key causes, but you but, but you did talk about that already, right?   Apryl Syed  04:44 So, right, right? That definitely is there. Well, I think, you know, it’s also could be, you know, where they’re chasing certain metrics and focused in, and we had this conversation earlier. It’s like brand, for instance, doesn’t work at. Yourself into any metric, but it makes every metric better across the board. So sometimes we’re chasing these metrics and like the attribution of where a particular deal came from, or how did they find out about us, and we’re not thinking about all of the things that are outside in the flywheel that are, you know, causing that person to, yes, eventually convert. But were there seven or eight other things that kind of they interacted with before they got to that point? And we had to get them ready? So, you know, can definitely be about just chasing those metrics too much, which means you avoid doing things that don’t give you that instant metric. And I think that is a big challenge and pitfall that that teams can can certainly fall into. I think also the the challenge of treating marketing as a cost center and not letting them be in charge of all of those metrics down to the sale that happen. And that might sound weird to some folks, but I’ve certainly been in enough teams and enough experiences across you know my background that I’ve seen that sometimes you can make a change in marketing. It produces a lot of leads, but those leads aren’t qualifying and they’re not turning into revenue, and yet, if the metric is producing leads, well then marketing can walk away the end of the day and meet their metrics and jobs, but if the metric is revenue, then they’ve got to go all the way to that end cycle and see that it’s a qualified opportunity. That, of course, goes back to my original point that if sales and marketing aren’t in lock sync with each other, and they don’t have a good relationship and dynamic, then it ends up in finger pointing when things aren’t going wrong, instead of both teams coming together, being on the same page and figuring out what’s going to work. And that’s that’s really the key. Christian Klepp  07:03 Absolutely, absolutely. And I think you might have brought it up, and maybe I didn’t catch it, and if not, I apologize. But like, one of the things that I didn’t notice, too, is, like, this misalignment of who, who the who the ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) is, like the assumptions that both sides have and then somehow they just cannot meet in the middle. Apryl Syed  07:24 Well, I kind of brought it up just slight when I said that marketing might be marketing to one person, and sales is selling to another, but if we just want to double click, you know, on on that, that agreement around the ICP, the reason why it’s so important, and I think it’s hard for some SaaS companies, because there’s, there could be a lot of ICPs. And I kind of have this philosophy that with an ICP, people usually maybe do these personas, as I call them, one time, maybe at a, you know, a planning session or whatever, where they’re kicking off, you know, and kind of like planning who those are, and then they leave them. They sit in a deck somewhere. They’re never looked at again. They’re never revised. I like a more fluid method with personas. I like personas to kind of be active, living and breathing in something that’s reviewed on a quarterly basis, I think is a better cadence. And the reason being is, like, we want to see how many deals we’ve closed in that particular area, how many so we should be looking at the metrics right by persona. We should also look at the messaging by persona to see how that’s working. And we should, you know, look at our team and how that flow has gone through into the sales process by persona. And kind of looking at this lens, we may figure out that one persona is working really, really well, or two or three might be working really well. And maybe there’s two or three that aren’t working really well. We might want to flush those out or put them in, what I would say is like a vault or a holding pattern. They might come back later if something’s happened, and we might want to add different ones. And the reason why quarterly is important is because, if you are selling business to business, for instance, in that business environment, there are different things that might be happening in the world, you know, geographically, politically, that might be impacting a certain persona. And it’s important to also look at that lens on a quarterly basis and say, Okay, what’s the mindset of this particular persona? What are they dealing with? What are some of their issues? What are their pressures? What is their emotional state, and then how do we want to message into that emotional state during this time? How do we want to change and revise our messaging for what’s going on in their world right now, this quarter, right you can’t keep you can’t keep messaging the same and messaging constant needs to be looked at. I would say, on a regular basis, one to check and make sure it’s working. If it’s working, keep it working at some time. At some point, though, it might stop working, and it’s important to catch that as you see those numbers trailing off, as you see that change, and not wait until too long has passed and just double down on the same persona for the sake of really work, working with it, because it was the original plan. Christian Klepp  10:27 Yeah, absolutely, absolutely these, um, these personas are, and I believe that too, they it’s not something that that’s written in stone, and then you, you to use that archaic expression, just keep it on the shelf, and then it collects dust, right? Apryl Syed  10:40 Yeah Christian Klepp  10:41 It’s something that should be monitored, as you said, because certain certain companies are working in industries where, for example, government regulation impacts them. Apryl Syed  10:51 Yes. Christian Klepp  10:52 If government regulation changes, then that perhaps also influences the way they make decisions, or decide to work with external vendors and partners and so forth, right? Apryl Syed  11:05 Absolutely. Christian Klepp  11:07 You brought you brought up a few already in the past couple of minutes. I’m just, I just want to go back to pitfall. So one of them, I think, was chasing this, chasing metrics. Right? This, this habit of constantly chasing metrics. What are some of these other pitfalls that you’d say marketing teams should avoid them. What should they be doing instead? Apryl Syed  11:24 Well, I think, you know, another pitfall that I’ve seen is kind of launching a big rebrand and expecting, you know, or that could also be a plot, a platform overhaul, software overhaul, and expecting that that’s going to move the needle faster when you could test that type of messaging out in really small ways before you go and do that big rebrand. And I’m a big fan of those, like small tests, verify and then go big. Like I’m not I’m not saying don’t ever go big. What I’m saying is like, test and measure before you go into a big cut, a big, fresh rebrand, because it’s expensive, and you want those big, expensive expenditures to be a little bit more of a sure thing than a risky thing. So de risk the big spends, riskier moves. Do small, incremental tests and say, how could we test this out on a small scale. How could we test or rebrand out? How could we test a platform change out before we do that in a small way? So I think that’s another one. I talked about a cost center. Treating marketing as a cost center is another one. So I think those are, like my big, my big three, I would say, in terms of pitfalls. Christian Klepp  12:41 Yeah, fantastic, fantastic. You, you hit on something there with your with your third point. And I want to go to that, because that’s a topic that, um, that as a marketer, personally, it riles me up a little bit, but, like, you know, but, but we have to look at this as professionals too, and say, okay, you know what? In the world of B2B, that type of pushback is almost expected, right? Because I’m not sure what your experience has been. But I also work with a lot of companies that have done either little or no marketing before, so it’s, it’s to a certain extent, it’s like Terra Australis incognita. It’s uncharted territory. They are not sure what to expect. So it’s only, it’s only normal that they, that they view it with some kind of, I wouldn’t go so far as to say, suspicion, but yeah. Like, how do you know it’s gonna work, right? So over to you. Like, what’s your experience been? How do you deal with companies that view marketing with that kind of suspicion or or have these doubts, like, Is this even going to work for us? Right? How do you deal with that? Apryl Syed  13:53 Well, I mean, from my perspective, I think again, I go back to the small tests, small wins in those beginning, like, let’s get our sea legs before we go and launch some big strategy. And I think that’s, you know, a big divide between, you know, maybe myself and yourself and some other you know, marketing agencies and firms out there is, I would rather get small, incremental wins to start. I’m not against big strategies and big spends. I think they’re both needed, but when you’re kind of coming into a team that’s either had little to no success with marketing, because maybe they’ve had some bad experiences with agencies that haven’t delivered, or they’ve tried ads, or they’ve tried this thing and they kind of have that bad taste in their mouth, right? Or they just have not done anything at all, and perhaps they’ve, they’ve grown despite that. So they’re kind of like, Hey, I’ve seen success without doing this. So why? Why do I need this? So I think an educational approach is important, kind of giving the here’s the industry benchmarks, here’s what we should. See, here’s how we are going to test. Here’s a recommended way that we do small, incremental tests. And then I also think a really, really important piece is, if it’s a company that’s been around long enough is to dive into that data I have. I have a customer that I would say sits in this category. They’ve grown tremendously. They’ve had a very successful business, and they’ve never marketed before. And if I were to come in there with some big rebrand strategy, big moves, look at me like you’re crazy. We don’t need that. I mean, in all honesty, what are they looking for? They’re looking for incremental revenue gains. So how am I going to produce incremental revenue gains? I’m going to look at their data and see where there’s holes in gaps today, where, yes, marketing, but marketing is a very, very broad term. Marketing can be brands, marketing could be emails, marketing can be social media. Marketing can be customer advocacy, customer emails churn, you know, upgrading customers into other models. So when I say I look at data, I look at what their customers are doing, and what I get from that is, where is my ideal customer, because it’s going to show me in their base. So who might I want to go after and experiment with? First, those are going to be my biggest areas for opportunity of wins, where, with their existing customer base, can I sell something more or different for them to increase revenue in that way? I think that’s another big and then I look at where there may be failures across the process in their data. If it’s a SaaS company, let’s look at their free the trial, trial, you know, to paid, paid to churn, and look at those numbers and say, are they hitting industry standard for their industry? Can I improve any of these metrics? Let me go look at all of the various different things that are going to change these metrics. Where can I start to experiment to get incremental change? That’s how you give success to a team. And they start feeling like, Okay, we should invest more here. We should do more here, because it’s working. Now, let’s double down. Let’s triple down. Let’s do more, then you can go after those bigger strategies. Christian Klepp  17:26 Yep, yep, no, absolutely, absolutely, no. I’m glad, I’m glad you brought those up, because that’s a great segue into the next question, which I think you’re all too familiar with, right? So I think when we first talked, right in our previous conversation you were talking, you mentioned something called a five point conversion diagnostic, which uncovers, I think you refer to them as conversion killers, right? You can cover these conversion killers without expensive tools or massive product like changes or revamps, right? So if you could please walk us through this five point approach and how teams can leverage that. Apryl Syed  18:05 Now this is particularly for SaaS, that trial to onboarding experience and the time that I the thing that I look for the most in there is time to value. How long does it take for the customer to experience value is going to be indicative of how long their trial has to be with that onboarding experience, and are they legitimately going to get into the point of buying early, even because they can’t wait to utilize this tool or buying, of course, the moment that the trial, the trial the trial ends. That is all about time to value. The second is about messaging alignment. So does the promise that we give, if it’s a landing page, whatever that experience is that someone comes through to then get to that product, does the promise of what we’re giving them match what the experience is going to be in the software, and how long does it take again, from that time to value, for them to get to that matched experience of what we promised that will also be a predictor of so if we were, you know, on a scale from zero to 10, 10 being like matched, it perfectly, zero being not matching at all, we’d want to rate our company on that scale, and kind of see for the time to value and for the misalignment, where are we? Then I would kind of go after like behavioral triggers, and I would try to figure out what actions correlate with conversion. So I would look at everybody that’s converted, and I would say, what parts of the software did they touch right? Are they looking at, are they experiencing, which then would predict, like, if people do these five things and the solution, then we know that they’re going to convert. And you can use either, like a Pender or you know, products like that that give you some of that analysis and data. Or maybe it’s, you know, sitting in your CRM, but that would tell you and inform you about your messaging as well. Like, what should we be messaging about? These are the key things that people want out of this solution, and that’s going to inform your next piece, which is, I would look at the follow up timing, the sequencing. How frequently do we talk? I often, I’m a big superhuman fan, and I talk about superhumans onboarding experience, which I think is awesome. And of course, they get a little bit of a leg up because they are an email solution, so they see when you’re in the tool. But I have found that, like the timely messages and the trickling of features that they give you right when you’re ready to use that feature has been so well thought out. And if you have, if you have not experienced it, and you’re a SaaS product owner, Founder, CEO, I highly encourage you to go through their onboarding experience, because that, to me, is like the pinnacle, or one of the pinnacles of what you should want your users to experience, like these just great aha moments right when they’re ready to receive them as part of that trial period before conversion. That make sure that we’re just touching them at the right moments. And then the last piece that I look at is pricing and packaging friction. And here’s, this is, you know, this is something that’s changing an awful lot right now. SaaS is under pressure to maybe look at not seeds, but maybe it’s volume, but then volume is not great, because people can’t predict it, and certainly can’t budget appropriately for it. So there is all kinds of pricing friction happening right now that needs to be figured out, but understanding where people are dropping off and where in that you know, how many clicks do they need to do before they buy? What is that whole buying process like? What is the upgrading process like? Put it through the pressure test. See how many steps it is. Challenge yourself. If you can reduce the steps, make it easier. I’ll give you an example. I was a big, big user of the motion app for a really long time. I probably sold, let’s say, 10 to 20 of these to other people, because I was such a promoter and such a fan of motion, they changed something in their solution related to how many credits, and what happened is it stopped recording my meetings for me automatically, which meant didn’t go into my notes anymore. Didn’t automatically create my tasks for me. That’s a pretty big feature, and obviously I so I went to upgrade, and the upgrade didn’t allow for me to choose a monthly it only allowed me to upgrade to choose an annual. Christian Klepp  23:06 Why? Apryl Syed  23:07 Yeah, which did what to me as the user. I then went into the shopping mode, essentially, and I said, Now I’m going to go shop and look at, well, what other tools are out there that can do the same functionality. Because now, if I have to commit to an annual plan, so much changing in AI this year, I’m not sure if I can commit to an annual plan. It had nothing to do with the amount of dollar spent. It had everything to do with commitment. And here I was a promoter of their solution. I ended up canceling and I went with notion, because I realized that notion had added a significant number of AI features at a much lower price, which I know a lot of people complain about notion being expensive, and it isn’t as good of a user experience now that I’m using motion and yet notion. Yet, I’m still on notion, and I left motion app, which is probably better, because they put me through this experience. And I say that as an example not to and I don’t know if they fix that, but we make these decisions all the time, sitting from our lens, looking at what we want the outcome to be, and we don’t think through what that user experience is going to be, and we’re killing conversions, in some cases, by these little levers and moves that we make, and sometimes we don’t even realize that. So I really encourage, encourage founders, encourage, you know, everyone at the company go back through and look at these tiny little things that each one of them on the loan alone could be costing you revenue, costing you conversions along the pathway. Christian Klepp  24:53 Absolutely, absolutely. And we’re working with a client that’s that’s an that’s in tech right now, and the thing that we keep. Talking about is you gotta, you know, yes, of course you’re excited if you start developing more features and what have you right? But look at this through the lens of the user, right? I mean, I can totally relate to your to your situation. I mean, even things like for example, and this is probably like oversimplifying it. But the last update that Instagram did is driving me absolutely crazy. Like, why would you update something your interface that has already been working for the users, and now? Why do you update it so and completely change where the buttons are on the layout so people have to waste time looking for worse, the send button. I mean, you know, it’s just beyond me, right? Apryl Syed  25:45 Yeah, and it’s funny, and they actually, Instagram, for a long while, did a lot of user testing before they would roll out features, and did these limited, I didn’t see any of that necessarily. With this last rollout. Christian Klepp  25:58 No. Apryl Syed  25:59 Apple did a very similar, like their latest update introduced many phone changes in terms of prioritization of, you know, messaging and all that sort of stuff. And it’s like a common we’re finding commonality saying, like, Oh man, I hate this latest I don’t know how many people have said I hate this latest update, and it’s because it’s created too much friction in the process. We need enough friction, but not too much friction. And that balance, in itself, unfortunately, is like the most difficult thing to figure out. And if you’re not talking to your customers, if you’re not talking to people, you will never figure it out, because you’ll be making an assumption. Christian Klepp  26:38 Exactly, exactly. Okay, so we talked about this at the beginning of the conversation, but you mentioned something called a quick win revenue framework. And I know from what you were telling me that that was a little bit controversial to somebody else you spoke to. Apryl Syed  26:55 Yeah. Christian Klepp  26:56 But you know what we are, we are all embracing in the show. You know. Apryl Syed  27:00 Thank you. Christian Klepp  27:00 Not not judgmental. But in fact, the focus here is to help B2B Marketers. In your case, B2B SaaS Marketers to become better and to improve. So if we’re going to focus on this quick win revenue framework, where would you identify low hanging revenue opportunities in under 30 days. So talk to us about that. Apryl Syed  27:24 Yes, well, it sits at this crossroads between marketing and sales, right? And that’s why you’ve got to have such a tight friendship relationship with you know, your sales leaders and your customer success leaders. I think it has to be like such a great ecosystem. So first thing I would do is pull CRM data. I would look at where deals are stalling, you know, I would map the current funnel with actual numbers of where you have people. I would overlay that with like the industry and kind of like the marketing messaging that is created those those types of deals. And kind of look at that from the lens of, okay, here’s what we’re creating, and here’s what sales is able to close easily. Here’s what’s really lagging and taking a long time in the funnel. And it’s not to say that, like, longer is better than shorter, because, like, an enterprise deal takes longer to close than a SMB (Small and Medium-sized Business) deal. So the answer isn’t always that the SMB deal is better, but looking at that and saying, Is there anything here that is that is giving me an indicator of something I can improve on? Can improve on. So that would be, you know, number one, go through that audit, take a look at the data, see what you’ve been producing from a marketing standpoint so far, and then say, is there anything that we should be testing to do differently better? You know, what are your hypotheses that you want to go out and you want to prove with some AB testing, two look at conversion killers, right? That’s either messaging, follow up, timing or onboarding friction, some sort of friction in the process. Friction could be a form fill too it could be, you know, too heavy, too long of landing page, I would look at every single detail and way that people are coming in through the funnel and say, are we doing anything to kill conversion and sometimes, and I’ve experienced this with one brand that I’m working with, and we have an agency that’s also in there that’s doing some ad performance, and they’re getting industry well above industry standard rates. And I asked the agency, because I’m sitting in kind of like my fractional executive role, and I said, Tell me out of your entire client, raw. Stair. Where does this client sit? And they said, Oh, at the top, best performing client we have, you know what that signaled to me? They’re comfortable. They’re getting great results. They’re not trying to improve anything. They’re just trying to hold the fort down and just keep getting these great results because they think that’s a place of safety. Christian Klepp  30:23 Stop rocking the boat Apryl. Apryl Syed  30:26 I know, I know, but I look at that and say, You’re not trying hard enough. You’re not examining right and going through the funnel and looking for all the tweaks and looking for. Christian Klepp  30:36 What can it improve? Apryl Syed  30:37 Can it be improved? You’re not trying to do any of that. And in fact, I’m adding that to you. I’m adding those things. I’m asking for those things, just because I come from that space and saying, like, Hey, we should be pushing here. We should be pushing here. We should be they don’t want to push. And they’re slow, slow, slow to react. And what’s going to happen is it’s going to earn them a change out in agency, right? Because they’re not pushing. Now, unfortunately, what I think is, if that was happening, obviously was happening before I was involved this customer, they thought they’re getting, they’re getting, like, six to one on their spend. That’s fantastic. We should be happy, right? And I’m like, no, no, no, I’ve pushed, I have pushed that envelope before. I’ve seen, you know, 14% conversion on landing pages. I’ve seen 49% conversion on landing pages. When you get it really right, you should always be pushing and pushing and pushing that envelope. So really diagnose and look, are there friction killers in those processes, and where can you be improved? And it is not like, I’m getting results good enough, so let me stop. It’s not stop because that might be one of your levers to really, really get quick wins, because you could tweak something and then even tip the scale further. And who doesn’t want a big win like that? The other thing is, like, I think there’s I look at I look at email sequences and messaging. I look at every single message that we’re sending a customer through the process, through their buying journey. You know, for one client, I basically call it a customer journey map, which a lot of people don’t do anymore, but my journey map is from the moment that they hear about you, all the way through buying, how do we touch them? What do we touch? And then from buying through that sales cycle, what is that like? And the reason why I map that out is because when you do and you put the different sections, you can kind of say, well, this is the process today. What would we like that process to be? And you will find in every single one of these customer journey maps that I’ve done, five to 10 areas where you’re like, instantly know, you instantly know the experience you could be providing better. I did this for one client, and we uncovered, like, the review process for their terms and conditions. On average took like, 10 days with an average back and forth between their lawyers and our lawyers, maybe 15 times that is that a desired customer experience? No, that’s a friction creator, which could be a deal killer, could be a deal staller. So what does that desired experience look like? What should we aim to get to? How are we going to do that? What should we test first? That’s just an example of one that might be in there. So look at everything. Then it becomes, you know, build exactly what you think you’re going to test, go and launch and measure those tests. And you don’t need this to be six months, right? Depending on how much data you’re getting through, it might only take you two weeks of data. It might take you a week of data on these experiments and levers that you’re going through so figure out how long you need to run the experiment for. Run that experiment, measure those changes, and then either permanently implement the change or make changes right and refresh and do another test. Christian Klepp  34:24 Wow, that was quite the list. And I’m sure you’ve, you’ve had, like, as you, as you’ve mentioned, you’ve had pushback for, you know, some of this, for this process, because it’s it. It makes teams uncomfortable, right? But I think the point is, you know, everybody says, right, change is uncomfortable. Improvement is uncomfortable. Uncovering ways to make things better should make you feel uncomfortable, right? Apryl Syed  34:53 So true, so true. And I always, I always think like, if you’re uncomfortable and you’re feeling like. A maybe, I don’t know all the answers here. It’s a really good place to be, and that’s where real growth happens. That’s where real change happens. Christian Klepp  35:06 Yeah. So I did have one follow up question for you, Apryl, like, you know, based on this framework that you’ve just proposed, like, How often would you recommend? And I know it depends, but how often would you recommend teams to continuously monitor some of these, some of these attributes and these factors that you’ve that you’ve brought up in the past couple of minutes. Apryl Syed  35:27 Gosh, I think it is very dependent on the data that’s coming through. If you were experiencing problem in an area, deep dive in there and uncover it. Kind of do that audit and analysis and create some tests that you could run to improve it. But as a measure, the customer journey map, for example, for existence, I think that’s a living, breathing document. I think we should look at it quarterly. We should update it with the experiments and the learnings and the new things that we’ve implemented permanently so that we can track how that experience is going and make sure that it’s our desired experience that we’re putting out there. Because I think a lot of times stuff just happens and it’s not our desired experience, but we kind of think like, oh, well, this is the process, the way it has to be, or, you know, so and so said that it has to be three days. So it’s three days, and it’s like giving you a moment to step back and be like, Why could we do it different? Could we do it better? Could we do it in two days? I don’t know. Could we do it in one and, you know, so I think as often as that customer journey, when updates happen, put those updates in their document. It, look at it, say, like, what’s next on the list should always be improving. When you get to the point where you don’t have any more insights in there, and you think it’s oiled up in the best that you could possibly do it, bring some customers in, bring some customers in to look at it and get their opinion. Ask them about it. It’s a great point to now be in survey mode and ask some questions about where you might have conflicts internally, or where you just aren’t sure where to go. So I think that when it comes to like email sequences, and remind you know like those provide provides, messaging, emails, one thing landing pages, like, I think your landing page just should be in a constant AB turnaround. Every time you have five to 10,000 people hitting a landing page, you should be trying to tweak that message to see if you can make it better. Message, layout, colors, all of the kind of industry standards there, you should be constantly trying to tweak that. If you’re not using landing pages and you’re sending stuff to a page, you should try landing pages so it’s just the constant improvement of those email sequences kind of, kind of, I feel, I feel they should be similar. I feel like you’ve got to examine those on a pretty regular basis, maybe it’s monthly, and kind of determine which messages are you going to trade out. I’m doing a pretty big switch out right now for, you know, an SMB app that’s, you know, selling to other businesses. So it’s a B2B, SaaS company, and we are revising all of their messaging, going through every single one, but trying to create, like a very purposeful journey now where there hasn’t been necessarily one before. And what I just said to one of the leaders yesterday is like, this is version one of what will be probably 10 before we’re done with this iteration. Because every single time we see the data and see how people are moving through the flow, we’re going to we’re going to see that those things that we didn’t consider, there’s going to be broken pieces. Like, don’t be in a position of thinking that any of your marketing is final ever. That’s a good position to be in. It’s never final. I think about this for websites as well. Like people like, oh, we go through our big website refresh, we get the website done, and then now we don’t have to touch the website. Oh, you should be, like, touching the website all the time. Experiment with the messaging on the homepage. Like to think that you got the messaging right the first time. I wish, I wish, and I’ve been in this industry for more than 25 years, I wish, and I’m considered, considering, considered a messaging, you know, wizard. Sometimes, it sometimes takes five or six tries before you get that like, nailed one, and that’s because persona, you know, it’s like how the person is feeling. It’s the emotional draw, and it’s the features, the problem of the pain and all of that coming into one like, I wish, I wish there was an AI tool that could get that right. But it’s not, they’re not. Christian Klepp  40:00 I haven’t found one yet. Apryl Syed  40:01 Yeah. You know, it’s only through really, really overworking that message and seeing the data come in that you kind of like, finally get to maybe a place that’s good, and then guess what? Your persona changes or something happens to so. So don’t ever think of it as, oh, to set it and forget it, it. It should be like it. And there’s also, like, Don’t tweak it too fast that you don’t have enough data coming through. Like, that’s also, I can, I can see that being a message, but have enough data, review that data on a regular basis, make some changes, test it. It’s like little incremental tests and learn. So that’s going to be kind of like it’s either in that category, which is like, test and learn, test and learn, test and learn constantly tweaking, or a quarterly or an annual kind of review. Christian Klepp  40:54 Fantastic, fantastic. Apryl. This was such a great conversation. Thank you so much for your time and for sharing your expertise and experience with the listeners. Um, please. Quick introduction to yourself and how folks out there can get in touch with you. Apryl Syed  41:07 Well, my company is Apeture Codex. Best way to get in touch with me is just Apryl Syed at LinkedIn. That’s where I’m most active, is on LinkedIn, and you can book an appointment with me right off of my LinkedIn. And so that’s like the best, best way to find me out there. Christian Klepp  41:27 Fantastic, fantastic. And we’ll be sure to drop those links in the show notes once the episode goes live. So Apryl, once again, thanks so much for your time. Take care, stay safe and talk to you soon. Apryl Syed  41:38 All right. Thank you so much, Christian. Christian Klepp  41:40 Okay, Bye, for now. Apryl Syed  41:41 Bye.

Most advice says work harder and keep trying. We put that to the test and reveal why so many smart teams still miss: they average their confidence across steps instead of multiplying their true odds. With award-winning strategy consultant and author Kyle Austin Young, we break down a simple, rigorous way to change results by changing probability—without needing a PhD or a spreadsheet marathon.We start by exposing the averaging trap and building a clean success diagram: a left-to-right map of every step that must go right to hit your goal. Then we estimate the likelihood of each step, multiply to reveal real odds, and hunt for the failure modes stealing your probability. Kyle calls it “think negative” thinking: not doom and gloom, but a disciplined scan for what could go wrong—glitches, delays, weak offers, misreads—so you can de-risk them in advance. You'll hear how he used this method to land a leadership job at 21 by neutralizing age bias, shifting interviews to future-focused plans, and mirroring team language drawn from their favorite books.Inside this episode, we cover:➡️ The 34% Trap: Why most leaders mathematically overestimate their chance of success and how to fix it.➡️ The "Beard & Book" Strategy: How Kyle probability-hacked his way into a Director role at age 21.➡️ Think Negative: Why identifying "failure modes" is the ultimate creative tool for CEOs.➡️ Tuition Costs: How to view high-stakes mistakes as the price of your leadership education.➡️ The Revenge Tour: Lessons in humility and strategic adjustment from trout fishing.We dig into a nonprofit case where donations fell off a cliff. Agencies tried fresh stories, but a success diagram pointed somewhere less glamorous: a deliverability glitch that blocked a major inbox provider. Fixing the pipe beat rewriting the message. From there, we explore Hail Mary diagrams for stalled goals, when to pause versus quit, and how to stack smaller wins—bylines, relationships, proof—so big moves become high-odds plays. Along the way, Kyle's stories about resilience, iteration, and the math behind confidence will give you tools to raise your odds in hiring, product launches, fundraising, and personal goals like marathon training.If you're ready to stop guessing, map your steps, and steal probability back from failure, this conversation gives you the playbook. Subscribe, share with a friend who bets on big goals, and leave a quick review to help more uncommon leaders find the show.Thanks for listening in to the Uncommon Leader Podcast. Please take just a minute to share this podcast with that someone you know that you thought of when you heard this episode. One of the most valuable things you can do is to rate the podcast and leave a review. You can do that on Apple podcasts, or rate the podcast on Spotify or any other platform you listen. Did you know that many of the things that I discuss on the Uncommon Leader Podcast are subjects that I coach other leaders and organizations ? If you would be interested in having me discuss 1:1 or group coaching with you, or know someone who is looking to move from Underperforming to Uncommon in their business or life, I would love to chat with you. Click this link to set up a FREE CALL to discuss how coaching might benefit you and your team) Until next time, Go and Grow Champions!!Connect with me

Should I Fire An Underperforming Law Firm Employee U.S. law firm owner doing $300k–$2M/year? Get a free Law Firm Profit & Tax Checkup where I review your books and tax setup and highlight a few ways similar firms are keeping more of what they earn. Book your checkup here: https://bigbirdaccounting.com

Most solar asset owners still manage performance data the same way they did 10 years ago. Dan Leary, founder of Denowatts, says that needs to change. In this episode, recorded live at RE+ Northeast in Boston, Tim Montague sits down with Leary and Doug Macmillan of Portside Systems to explore energy accounting, a method for identifying exactly where solar production losses occur and what owners and operators should do about them. Denowatts is collaborating with Sandia National Laboratories to build what Leary calls "GAAP for solar," a common standard for reporting and benchmarking solar asset performance. If you manage solar assets or invest in solar projects, this conversation explains how better data practices lead to more predictable returns.EPISODE HIGHLIGHTSDan Leary explains that most solar operators still manage data the way they did a decade ago, despite significant advances in monitoring and analysis tools. Denowatts built a smarter weather station (the Deno) and a real-time analytics platform to close that gap.Denowatts breaks down solar production losses into four categories: climate-related issues, modeling errors, external factors beyond anyone's control, and problems within the commercial boundary that owners and operators are able to fix. This framework gives asset managers clear direction on where to focus recovery efforts.Doug Macmillan explains Portside's role as the system integrator for the Denowatts platform on distributed generation sites. Portside handles design, equipment fabrication, delivery, and commissioning, working from their UL 508 panel shop.This episode is for solar asset managers, project developers, EPCs, and clean energy investors who want more from their performance data. With Denowatts and Sandia Labs working toward a common reporting standard, the solar industry is moving closer to the kind of financial transparency that attracts long-term capital. If you own or operate solar assets, the time to modernize your data strategy is now.Connect with Dan Leary and Doug MacmillanDan Leary Denowatts Doug Macmillan Portside Systems Support the showConnect with Tim Clean Power Hour Clean Power Hour on YouTubeTim on TwitterTim on LinkedIn Email tim@cleanpowerhour.com Review Clean Power Hour on Apple PodcastsThe Clean Power Hour is produced by the Clean Power Consulting Group and created by Tim Montague. Contact us by email: CleanPowerHour@gmail.com Corporate sponsors who share our mission to speed the energy transition are invited to check out https://www.cleanpowerhour.com/support/The Clean Power Hour is brought to you by CPS America, maker of North America's number one 3-phase string inverter, with over 6GW shipped in the US. With a focus on commercial and utility-scale solar and energy storage, the company partners with customers to provide unparalleled performance and service. The CPS America product lineup includes 3-phase string inverters from 25kW to 275kW, exceptional data communication and controls, and energy storage solutions designed for seamless integration with CPS America systems. Learn more at www.chintpowersystems.com

Rizz might be the word of the year, but what if the real power behind it is as old as leadership itself? We sit down with Mylan Miller, author of The Charisma Craft, to unpack why charisma isn't a mysterious spark you're born with—it's a learnable practice that blends confidence with kindness to create two-way human connection. From the psychology of competence and warmth to the tiny physical cues that change how you're perceived, we map charisma from slang to strategy.Mylan takes us inside the high-octane world of sports and entertainment to show how deals are actually won: not by pressure in the boardroom, but by curiosity over dinners, market walks, and shared stories. You'll hear how reading the room across cultures, asking better questions, and remembering what matters to people can transform a pitch into a partnership. We dig into barriers like self-doubt and fragile self-trust, then counter them with simple, repeatable tools: the ENT method for eye contact and listening, and the WTF reset for grounded posture. These habits don't just look good on camera—they build trust you can renew.We also wrestle with authenticity in the age of AI. What's real connection versus performative oversharing? How do you stay human when templates and prompts are everywhere? Mylan's take is clear: technology can suggest words, but only you can sense the unsaid, calibrate tone, and turn a moment into momentum. Along the way, we explore leadership archetypes, celebrate models like Serena Williams for warrior-level authenticity, and reframe charisma as service, not spotlight.If you're ready to upgrade your presence, close smarter deals, and lead in a way people actually feel, hit play. Then subscribe, share this with a friend who leads, and leave a quick review to tell us which tool you'll practice first.

Stress doesn't have to hijack your leadership. Executive coach Tracy Gazelle joins us to unpack the neuroscience of staying grounded when the stakes are high and the room heats up. We explore how clarity isn't something you chase; it's what emerges when the mental noise settles and you choose not to engage the inner critic that sounds so convincing in tough moments.Tracy breaks down her Calm Clarity Operating System into three practical pillars: sleep physiology, mind literacy, and lived experience. We get tactical about 90‑minute sleep cycles, why waking at 3:30 a.m. often means you're between cycles, and how to fall back asleep by refusing the “thought hooks” that try to wake your brain. You'll hear actionable routines for better evenings—no blue light, consistent wind‑downs, and smarter choices around food and alcohol—and a simple morning cadence that protects creative thinking before the day scatters your focus.• clarity as a natural state when the mind quiets• inner critic as optional noise, not identity• labeling emotions to shift out of fight or flight• body cues as early alerts to pause and breathe• Calm Clarity OS: sleep, mind, lived experience• 90‑minute sleep cycles and consistent wake times• falling back asleep without engaging thoughts• evening routines: light, screens, food, alcohol• morning creativity time for instinctive decisions• practical stories of leaders gaining calm authorityFrom boardroom triggers to body cues, we map exactly how to catch fight or flight before it takes over. Labeling emotions in real time moves processing from survival centers to the prefrontal cortex, restoring reason without draining your passion. Tracy shares a standout client story of a hospital leader who transformed a “bulldog” reputation into calm authority, improved relationships at home, and earned consideration for a CEO role. We also touch on reading habits, Taoist wisdom, and how to build a personal routine that actually fits your life rather than someone else's template.If you want sharper decisions, steadier meetings, and more energy for the people who matter most, this conversation gives you a blueprint. Subscribe, share this episode with a leader who needs calm more than caffeine, and leave a review to help others find the show. What's the first habit you'll test tonight?

"You know, at the core of Working Genius, what it does is it allows us to avoid guilt and judgment—guilt about ourselves and judgment of others." That's Patrick Lencioni, bestselling author and organizational health expert, talking about his breakthrough Working Genius productivity framework on the Sales Gravy podcast. If you're leading a sales team, this explains why high performers thrive in some roles and burn out in others. Right now, you probably have high performers who are miserable, rockstars who've lost their spark, and top reps who suddenly can't hit quota. And you're wondering—did you hire wrong, did someone lose their edge, or do you need to have “the conversation”? What if the problem isn't the person at all?  The Real Reason Your Best People Are Struggling Not all work is created equal, and your sales reps aren't wired to do all of it. Lencioni stumbled on this insight while reflecting on himself. He'd show up to work loving his job and the people he worked with, yet swing from energized to frustrated without understanding why.  His colleague asked, “Why are you like that?” Over a few hours, Lencioni and his team pinpointed six distinct types of work. Depending on which type you're doing, you're either energized or drained. Five years later, over 1.5 million people have taken the Working Genius assessment. Why? Most organizations force talented people into work that drains them, then blame them when they struggle. Most sales leaders hire a closer for their ability to seal deals, then wonder why they can't prospect. They promote a quota-crusher into management, then watch them implode under administrative responsibilities. Or move an account manager into new business development and act shocked when performance tanks. The talent was there all along, but their positioning was wrong. Six Types of Work—and Why Most People Only Excel at Two Patrick Lencioni identified six distinct types of work that exist in every organization: Wonder (W): Spotting opportunities, asking big-picture questions Invention (I): Creating new solutions, processes, or systems Discernment (D): Evaluating ideas, figuring out what will work Galvanizing (G): Rallying the team, getting people moving Enablement (E): Supporting others, clearing obstacles, making things happen Tenacity (T): Following through, finishing tasks, closing deals Here's what matters: most people are strong in two, competent in two, and are drained by the remaining two. And there are no good or bad geniuses. Your closer with natural Tenacity isn't more valuable than your strategic thinker with Wonder and Discernment. Your rep who rallies the team (Galvanizing) isn't better than the one who quietly enables everyone behind the scenes. Different geniuses are valuable in different ways. The goal is to build a team where all six are represented, and people work in their areas of strength. Force someone into work that drains them, and sales team performance tanks. Leave them in their genius zones, and energy and results skyrocket. Stop Judging Your People (And Yourself) You've probably got a rep right now who frustrates you. Maybe they're brilliant in client meetings but terrible at following up. Maybe they generate incredible account strategies, but can't stand the daily grind of outbound prospecting. Maybe they close deals but never update the CRM. Your first instinct is to judge them. "They're not coachable." "They don't care about the details." "They're lazy." Working Genius removes that judgment. It shows you that their struggle isn't about character—it's about wiring. A rep isn't bad at follow-up because they don't care. They're bad at it because Tenacity isn't their genius. A rep isn't a bad team player because they don't remove obstacles for others. Enablement isn't their strength. And here's the part most sales leaders miss: you need to stop judging yourself, too. You feel guilty that you hate certain parts of your job. You think you should be better at forecasting, or administrative work, or whatever drains you. But guilt about your own limitations makes you harder on your team. When you accept that you're not built to excel at everything, you can extend that same grace to others. You stop punishing people for being human and start positioning them for success. Start With Self-Reflection Which activities give you energy? Which leave you drained? I'll be honest about my own wake-up call. I travel over 300 nights a year, giving keynotes and working with clients. Last summer, I got to the point where I thought I was going to have a mental breakdown. Days stacked with short calls, client check-ins, alignment meetings, and podcasts. I was furious when I got to the office, and furious when I left because those days completely destroy my brain. I'm a wonderer and a thinker. I need space to ideate. Without that time, I can't function. So I implemented a new rule: no more than two meetings per day. I understood my working genius and restructured my time. Once you see your own patterns, look at your team. Track what lights people up and what slows them down. Patterns emerge quickly. How to Apply Working Genius to Your Sales Team We had a team member at Sales Gravy who was noticeably unhappy. Not complaining out loud, just clearly not thriving. When we looked at what the job required versus their working genius profile, the answer was obvious. We had them doing work completely opposite of their natural abilities. Once we restructured their role to align with their strengths, everything changed. Here's how you can apply it: Pair complementary geniuses. Big-picture thinkers need execution-focused partners. Strategic planners need implementers. Someone strong in Wonder and Invention but weak in Tenacity needs to work with someone who loves finishing and closing. Restructure roles around natural strengths. Don't force people into weaknesses. Reassign or support tasks that drain them.  Be intentional with promotions. Top performers don't automatically make good managers. Your best individual contributor may hate administrative work. Your best manager may dislike strategic planning. Know what fits before making moves. Have your team take the assessment. Get everyone's working genius profile. Put it at their workstation. Use it in real-time during team meetings when you're trying to figure out why something isn't working. We do this at Sales Gravy, and it's transformed how we work together.  The Bottom Line Your sales team isn't broken, but your understanding of how they work might be. When you force talented people into roles that clash with their natural strengths, you get frustration, underperformance, and attrition. Then you blame the person and start hiring again.  Everyone has areas of frustration. Everyone faces work they aren't naturally good at. Working Genius doesn't let people avoid the draining tasks—but it helps you understand why some work feels impossible, build teams that complement each other, and stop punishing your people for being human. Stop judging that rep who struggles with CRM updates. Stop feeling guilty that you hate certain parts of your job. Start positioning people where their natural abilities can shine. Over 1.5 million people have discovered their working genius. Most of them wish they'd found it sooner. Visit workinggenius.com and take the assessment. Use coupon code GRAVY for 20% off. 

“You know, at the core of Working Genius, what it does is it allows us to avoid guilt and judgment—guilt about ourselves and judgment of others.” That's Patrick Lencioni, bestselling author and organizational health expert, talking about his breakthrough Working Genius productivity framework on the Sales Gravy podcast. If you're leading a sales team, this explains why high performers thrive in some roles and burn out in others. Right now, you probably have high performers who are miserable, rockstars who've lost their spark, and top reps who suddenly can't hit quota. And you're wondering—did you hire wrong, did someone lose their edge, or do you need to have “the conversation”? What if the problem isn't the person at all?  The Real Reason Your Best People Are Struggling Not all work is created equal, and your sales reps aren't wired to do all of it. Lencioni stumbled on this insight while reflecting on himself. He'd show up to work loving his job and the people he worked with, yet swing from energized to frustrated without understanding why.  His colleague asked, “Why are you like that?” Over a few hours, Lencioni and his team pinpointed six distinct types of work. Depending on which type you're doing, you're either energized or drained. Five years later, over 1.5 million people have taken the Working Genius assessment. Why? Most organizations force talented people into work that drains them, then blame them when they struggle. Most sales leaders hire a closer for their ability to seal deals, then wonder why they can't prospect. They promote a quota-crusher into management, then watch them implode under administrative responsibilities. Or move an account manager into new business development and act shocked when performance tanks. The talent was there all along, but their positioning was wrong. Six Types of Work—and Why Most People Only Excel at Two Patrick Lencioni identified six distinct types of work that exist in every organization: Wonder (W): Spotting opportunities, asking big-picture questions Invention (I): Creating new solutions, processes, or systems Discernment (D): Evaluating ideas, figuring out what will work Galvanizing (G): Rallying the team, getting people moving Enablement (E): Supporting others, clearing obstacles, making things happen Tenacity (T): Following through, finishing tasks, closing deals Here’s what matters: most people are strong in two, competent in two, and are drained by the remaining two. And there are no good or bad geniuses. Your closer with natural Tenacity isn’t more valuable than your strategic thinker with Wonder and Discernment. Your rep who rallies the team (Galvanizing) isn’t better than the one who quietly enables everyone behind the scenes. Different geniuses are valuable in different ways. The goal is to build a team where all six are represented, and people work in their areas of strength. Force someone into work that drains them, and sales team performance tanks. Leave them in their genius zones, and energy and results skyrocket. Stop Judging Your People (And Yourself) You’ve probably got a rep right now who frustrates you. Maybe they’re brilliant in client meetings but terrible at following up. Maybe they generate incredible account strategies, but can’t stand the daily grind of outbound prospecting. Maybe they close deals but never update the CRM. Your first instinct is to judge them. “They’re not coachable.” “They don’t care about the details.” “They’re lazy.” Working Genius removes that judgment. It shows you that their struggle isn’t about character—it’s about wiring. A rep isn't bad at follow-up because they don’t care. They’re bad at it because Tenacity isn’t their genius. A rep isn't a bad team player because they don't remove obstacles for others. Enablement isn't their strength. And here’s the part most sales leaders miss: you need to stop judging yourself, too. You feel guilty that you hate certain parts of your job. You think you should be better at forecasting, or administrative work, or whatever drains you. But guilt about your own limitations makes you harder on your team. When you accept that you’re not built to excel at everything, you can extend that same grace to others. You stop punishing people for being human and start positioning them for success. Start With Self-Reflection Which activities give you energy? Which leave you drained? I’ll be honest about my own wake-up call. I travel over 300 nights a year, giving keynotes and working with clients. Last summer, I got to the point where I thought I was going to have a mental breakdown. Days stacked with short calls, client check-ins, alignment meetings, and podcasts. I was furious when I got to the office, and furious when I left because those days completely destroy my brain. I’m a wonderer and a thinker. I need space to ideate. Without that time, I can’t function. So I implemented a new rule: no more than two meetings per day. I understood my working genius and restructured my time. Once you see your own patterns, look at your team. Track what lights people up and what slows them down. Patterns emerge quickly. How to Apply Working Genius to Your Sales Team We had a team member at Sales Gravy who was noticeably unhappy. Not complaining out loud, just clearly not thriving. When we looked at what the job required versus their working genius profile, the answer was obvious. We had them doing work completely opposite of their natural abilities. Once we restructured their role to align with their strengths, everything changed. Here's how you can apply it: Pair complementary geniuses. Big-picture thinkers need execution-focused partners. Strategic planners need implementers. Someone strong in Wonder and Invention but weak in Tenacity needs to work with someone who loves finishing and closing. Restructure roles around natural strengths. Don't force people into weaknesses. Reassign or support tasks that drain them.  Be intentional with promotions. Top performers don’t automatically make good managers. Your best individual contributor may hate administrative work. Your best manager may dislike strategic planning. Know what fits before making moves. Have your team take the assessment. Get everyone’s working genius profile. Put it at their workstation. Use it in real-time during team meetings when you’re trying to figure out why something isn’t working. We do this at Sales Gravy, and it’s transformed how we work together.  The Bottom Line Your sales team isn't broken, but your understanding of how they work might be. When you force talented people into roles that clash with their natural strengths, you get frustration, underperformance, and attrition. Then you blame the person and start hiring again.  Everyone has areas of frustration. Everyone faces work they aren't naturally good at. Working Genius doesn't let people avoid the draining tasks—but it helps you understand why some work feels impossible, build teams that complement each other, and stop punishing your people for being human. Stop judging that rep who struggles with CRM updates. Stop feeling guilty that you hate certain parts of your job. Start positioning people where their natural abilities can shine. Over 1.5 million people have discovered their working genius. Most of them wish they’d found it sooner. Visit workinggenius.com and take the assessment. Use coupon code GRAVY for 20% off. 

Dave answers listeners questions that spark great conversation around what to do when your team underperforms, what posting consistent content has done for Dave's image and what leadership red flags to look out for both personally and professionally.

Banged up offensive line? Underperforming star skill players? A quarterback who failed to lift his team? The 2025 edition of the Philadelphia Eagles checked all those boxes on offense. Sure, you could make a scapegoat out of the first-time offensive coordinator, but placing the blame squarely at the feet of Kevin Patullo would misrepresent the extent of the Eagles' problems. The Athletic's Michael Silver recently wrote an article about the Eagles' offensive woes, and, in a conversation with The Philadelphia Inquirer's Jeff McLane, framed these issues in the context of the franchise's ongoing search for Patullo's replacement. 00:00 Why is the Eagles' offensive coordinator search taking so long? 13:27 Factors that prompted Mike McDaniel and Brian Daboll to pass on Eagles 19:00 The Jalen Hurts effect 28:45 The national media perspective on Hurts 32:37 Could Jeff Stoutland's responsibilities be changing? unCovering the Birds is a production of The Philadelphia Inquirer and KYW Newsradio Original Podcasts. Look for new episodes throughout the offseason, including breaking news updates and reactions. And here's a link to Mike Silver's article: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6976115/2026/01/16/eagles-offense-jalen-hurts-nick-sirianni-aj-brown/

If delegating feels risky and holding on feels exhausting, this episode will hit home. On the podcast this week, I'm joined by Coach K and Meredith Berg, an EOS Implementer, to talk about the real reason running your firm feels so damn heavy — and what ACTUALLY fixes it.

SHOW 12-22-25 THE SHOW BEGINS WITH DOUBTS ABOUT FUTURE NAVY. 1941 HICKAM FIELD 1. Restoring Naval Autonomy: Arguments for Separating the Navy from DoD. Tom Modly argues the Navy is an "underperforming asset" within the Defense Department's corporate structure, similar to how Fiat Chrysler successfully spun off Ferrari. He suggests the Navy needs independence to address critical shipbuilding deficits and better protect global commerce and vulnerable undersea cables from adversaries. 2. Future Fleets: Decentralizing Firepower to Counter Chinese Growth. Tom Modly warns that China's shipbuilding capacity vastly outpaces the US, requiring a shift toward distributed forces rather than expensive, concentrated platforms. He advocates for a reinvigorated, independent Department of the Navy to foster the creativity needed to address asymmetric threats like Houthi attacks on high-value assets. 3. British Weakness: The Failure to Challenge Beijing Over Jimmy Lai. Mark Simon predicts Prime Minister Starmer will fail to secure Jimmy Lai's release because the UK mistakenly views China as an economic savior. He notes the UK's diminished military and economic leverage leads to a submissive diplomatic stance, despite China'sdeclining ability to offer investment. 4. Enforcing Sanctions: Interdicting the Shadow Fleet to Squeeze China. Victoria Coates details the Trump administration's enforcement of a "Monroe Doctrine" corollary, using naval power to seize tankers carrying Venezuelan oil to China. This strategy exposes China's lack of maritime projection and energy vulnerability, as Beijingcannot legally contest the seizures of illicit shadow fleet vessels. 5. Symbolic Strikes: US and Jordan Target Resurgent ISIS in Syria. Following an attack on US personnel, the US and Jordan conducted airstrikes against ISIS strongholds, likely with Syrian regime consultation. Ahmed Sharawi questions the efficacy of striking desert warehouses when ISIS cells have moved into urban areas, suggesting the strikes were primarily symbolic domestic messaging. 6. Failure to Disarm: Hezbollah's Persistence and UNIFIL's Inefficacy. David Daoud reports that the Lebanesegovernment is failing to disarm Hezbollah south of the Litani River, merely evicting them from abandoned sites. He argues UNIFIL is an ineffective tripwire, as Hezbollah continues to rebuild infrastructure and receive funding right under international observers' noses. 7. Global Jihad: The Distinct Threats of the Brotherhood and ISIS. Edmund Fitton-Brown contrasts the Muslim Brotherhood's long-term infiltration of Western institutions with ISIS's violent, reckless approach. He warns that ISISremains viable, with recent facilitated attacks in Australia indicating a resurgence in capability beyond simple "inspired" violence. 8. The Forever War: Jihadist Patience vs. American Cycles. Bill Roggio argues the US has failed to defeat jihadist ideology or funding, allowing groups like Al-Qaeda to persist in Afghanistan and Africa. He warns that adversaries view American withdrawals as proof of untrustworthiness, exploiting the US tendency to fight short-term wars against enemies planning for decades. 9. The Professional: Von Steuben's Transformation of the Continental Army. Richard Bell introduces Baron von Steuben as a desperate, unemployed Prussian officer who professionalized the ragtag Continental Army at Valley Forge. Washington's hiring of foreign experts like Steuben demonstrated a strategic willingness to utilize global talent to ensure the revolution's survival. 10. Privateers and Prison Ships: The Unsung Cost of Maritime Independence. Richard Bell highlights the crucial role of privateers like William Russell, who raided British shipping when the Continental Navy was weak. Captured privateers faced horrific conditions in British "black hole" facilities like Mill Prison and the deadly prison ship Jersey in New York Harbor, where mortality rates reached 50%. 11. Caught in the Crossfire: Indigenous Struggles in the Revolutionary War. Molly Brant, a Mohawk leader, allied with the British to stop settler encroachment but became a refugee when the British failed to protect Indigenous lands. Post-war, white Americans constructed myths portraying themselves as blameless victims while ignoring their own Indigenous allies and British betrayals regarding land rights. 12. The Irish Dimension: Revolutionary Hopes and Brutal Repression. The Irish viewed the American Revolutionas a signal that the British Empire was vulnerable, sparking the failed 1798 Irish rebellion. While the British suppressed Irish independence brutally under Cornwallis, Irish immigrants and Scots-Irish settlers like Andrew Jackson fervently supported the Continental Army against the Crown. 13. Assessing Battlefield Realities: Russian Deceit and Ukrainian Counterattacks. John Hardie analyzes the "culture of deceit" within the Russian military, exemplified by false claims of capturing Kupyansk while Ukraine actually counterattacked. This systemic lying leads to overconfidence in Putin's strategy, though Ukraine also faces challenges with commanders hesitating to report lost positions to avoid forced counterattacks. 14. Shifts in Latin America: Brazilian Elections and Venezuelan Hope. Ernesto Araujo and Alejandro Peña Esclusapredict a 2026 battle between socialist accommodation and freedom-oriented transformation in Brazil, highlighted by Flavio Bolsonaro's candidacy against Lula. Meanwhile, Peña Esclusa anticipates Venezuela's liberation and a broader regional shift toward the right following leftist defeats in Ecuador, Argentina, and Chile. 15. Trump's Security Strategy: Homeland Defense Lacks Global Clarity. John Yoo praises the strategy's focus on homeland defense and the Western Hemisphere, reviving a corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. However, he criticizes the failure to explicitly name China as an adversary or define clear goals for defending allies in Asia and Europe against great power rivals. 16. Alienating Allies: The Strategic Cost of Attacking European Partners. John Yoo argues that imposing tariffs and attacking democratic European allies undermines the coalition needed to counter China and Russia. He asserts that democracies are the most reliable partners for protecting American security and values, making cooperation essential despite resource constraints and political disagreements.

1. Restoring Naval Autonomy: Arguments for Separating the Navy from DoD. Tom Modly argues the Navy is an "underperforming asset" within the Defense Department's corporate structure, similar to how Fiat Chrysler successfully spun off Ferrari. He suggests the Navy needs independence to address critical shipbuilding deficits and better protect global commerce and vulnerable undersea cables from adversaries. 1898 DEWEY'S FLAGSHIP OLYMPIA