Episode 180: 3 Moves to Succeed as a Generalist at Work
Over half of us identify as generalists and most workplaces still aren’t built for us. Siobhán O’Riordan, founder of Big Sea Strategies and author of Reframe, joins Ashish Kothari to make the case that in a world changing faster than any playbook, the “ubiquitous and yet unseen” generalist is exactly the talent leaders need. She […]
Episode 179: 54% of Veterans Can’t Get Hired. Talent isn’t the Issue.
Every year, 200,000 veterans leave the military and more than half can’t get hired. But this isn’t just a veteran story. It’s a story about everyone whose talent the system was never built to see. AETHEON co-founders Marie Gill and Gina Jeneroux join Ashish Kothari to unpack one powerful idea: we don’t have a talent […]
Episode 178: People First Strategy that Increases Retention and Unlocks Higher Performance | Rohit Bassi
Most companies treat employee retention as an HR problem. The data from hundreds of P&Ls says it’s a leadership problem and the companies that figure that out first are the ones that consistently outperform. Rohit Bassi, McKinsey veteran, private equity operator, and author of People Priority, introduces a framework that is changing how business leaders […]
Episode 177: Tackle High Attrition and Win with the Good Jobs System | Professor Zeynep Ton, MIT
Most companies treat labor as a cost to be minimized. Zeynep Ton has spent two decades proving that’s the most expensive mistake a business can make. Zeynep is a professor at MIT Sloan, founder of the Good Jobs Institute, and author of The Case for Good Jobs. Her research across retail, hospitality, and service industries […]
Episode 176: High Performance Starts with Self-Compassion | Dr. Kristin Neff
What if the quality that we’ve been told will weaken us – self-compassion – is actually the key to wellbeing, and higher performance? In this episode, Dr. Kristin Neff, the pioneering researcher who first defined and measured self-compassion, challenges one of the most persistent myths in high-performance culture: that being hard on yourself makes you […]
Episode 175: Feedback: The Big “F Word”—Mastering the Science of Growth with Dr. Brodie Riordan
Feedback is something we often crave yet simultaneously fear. In this episode, host Ashish Kothari sits down with Dr. Brodie Riordan, an industrial-organizational psychologist and author of Feedback Fundamentals and Evidence-Based Practices. Brodie pulls back the curtain on the academic research surrounding feedback to provide a practical, “chewed up” version that anyone can use. They […]
Episode 174: Mindfulness as the Ultimate Leadership Skill: Mastering the FLOW Framework with Pauline Leung
In this enlightening episode, host Ashish Kothari welcomes Pauline Leung, a former senior leader at L’Oreal turned high-performance coach and holistic health practitioner. Pauline shares her dramatic “wake-up call”—a motorbike accident in Vietnam—that shifted her from an overachieving, “victim-mindset” executive to a mindful leader. They demystify mindfulness, moving it away from “just meditation” to a […]
Episode 173: Redefining Success: From Hustle to Flourishing with Meghan French Dunbar
In this inspiring episode, host Ashish Kothari sits down with Meghan French Dunbar, a “business anthropologist,” entrepreneur, and author of This Isn’t Working. Meghan shares her powerful “metamorphosis” journey—from a high-achieving CEO burnt out by age 34 to a leader who centers flourishing as the primary driver of success. They explore why the current model […]
Episode 172: Why the Most Powerful Leader in the Room Is Also the Most Present| Sophie Maclaren
The most powerful leader in the room isn’t always the smartest—often, it’s the one who is most present. In this episode, Ashish Kothari is joined by Sophie MacLaren, a leadership consultant and mindfulness expert at Oxford University’s Saïd Business School. They dive deep into why mindfulness is far more than just meditation, exploring how a […]
Episode 171: Beyond the Robotic Mask: How “Generator” Leaders Fuel High Performance with Dr. Katina Sawyer
Are you a leader who drains energy or one who generates it? In this episode, Ashish Kothari sits down with Dr. Katina Sawyer, co-author of Leading for Wellness, to redefine what it means to be a “Generator” leader. They explore how to bridge the gap between high performance and human-centric wellness by shedding the “robotic […]