Never before have we seen 5 generations of workers at work at the same time.  Almost like a tradition, the previous generation has always bemoaned the newest one as lazy, spoiled, and in general, not as good as they were “back in the day.” Naturally, this can cause quite a lot of friction in a workplace and in the age of social media and 24/7 news cycles, it seems like there’s always some new beef between Millennials and Gen Z’ers, and those that came before. But today’s guest, Val Grubb, believes there’s strength to be found in these differences. Val is the founder of Val Grubb & Associates, a coaching and consultancy agency that works with companies such as Siemens, Cathay Bank, Best Buy, and hundreds more. Prior to founding VG&A, Val served as the Vice President of Strategic Operations at NBC Universal, where she oversaw business development opportunities and spearheaded on-air quality initiatives for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Val played a seminal role in the 1999 formation of Oxygen Media and its subsequent success, which led to the company’s purchase by NBC Universal in 2007. It’s safe to say that Val knows how to lead a team to great success and in her book “Clash of the Generations: Managing the New Workplace Reality,” Val goes into detail about how leaning into and embracing differences between the generations can lead to a greater performing team. This is another episode you’re not going to want to miss, so with that…let’s bring it in!

To the dissatisfaction of a lot of leaders out there, there’s no definitive, cookie cutter way to manage and get the best out of people.  But to Dr. Fergus Connolly, that's actually a good thing. And he should know a thing or two about developing people: he’s been the performance coach for franchises across all sorts of pro sports, like the Boston Bruins, the Carolina Panthers, Liverpool FC, The Australian Football League, and the Welsh National Team Munster Rugby. He’s also consulted for companies and military special forces group around the world and authored dozens of books on the subject of coaching like The Process: The Methodology, Philosophy & Principles of Coaching Winning Teams, Game Changer: The Art of Sports Science, and 59 Lessons: Working with the World's Greatest Coaches, Athletes, & Special Forces. Fergus shared some of his keen insights with us and how traditionally thought of “challenges” are actually strengths that coaches need to unlock for their people, so they can flourish as individuals to make a high performing team. If you want to build a high-performing team, this is an episode you’re not going to want to miss.  So, with that…let’s bring it in!

The restaurant and hospitality industry is one of the leading sources of jobs not just in America, but across the globe. What an individual learns working in a kitchen, front of house, behind a bar, or in support of a restaurant can serve as lifelong skills to develop across industries. Chef Brandon Edwin Chrostowski knows this better than most people, not just because he’s made a career for himself in the restaurant industry, but he’s made it his goal to give as many people as possible a career in the space alongside him, with Edwins Leadership & Restaurant Institute. At eighteen years old Chef Brandon received a ‘break’ from a judge who gave him a year of probation instead of a ten year prison sentence. After his probation, he studied under Detroit Chef George Kalergis, and worked his way to the Culinary Institute of America in New York. Upon graduating from the CIA, Chef Brandon worked in renowned kitchens around the world like Charlie Trotters, Lucas Carton, and Le Cirque. Then in 2007, Chef Brandon founded Edwins Leadership & Restaurant Institute, which trains people returning from court involvement in the culinary arts, empower them with a passion for hospitality management, and prepare students for a successful transition home. The Impact of Edwins was so great, it was the subject of the 2017 Oscar nominated documentary Knife Skills. So far hundreds of folks have passed through the 6 month program at Edwins, and graduates have held a 95% employment rate with less than 1% recidivism into the court system. In addition, Edwins has expanded to include a butcher shop, bakery, a sister restaurant location, and with a full blown housing complex and campus. If it’s not already obvious why we wanted to talk with Chef Brandon already, we wanted to sit down with him to discuss what it takes to build a winning culture, the importance of giving everyone the support and opportunity to work, and the power of food, restaurants, and treating everyone with respect and dignity. This is definitely an episode you’re not going to want to miss, so with that…let’s bring it in!

Navigating the restaurant industry can be tough for workers involved in it.  From constantly changing schedules, demanding, and unruly customers, even A.I. and robots beginning to disrupt the space, restaurant workers are contending with a lot these days. The last thing they need is an organization using their own wages to lobby against increases to the minimum wage, which is exactly what’s happening through the ServSafe certification. Talmon Smith is an Economic Reporter for The New York Times, a Harvard Institute of Politics National Campaign Ambassador, and a former fellow at the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy. Much of Talmon’s work focuses on labor issues regarding wages, corruption, and racial politics. Alongside previous guest David Fahrenthold, Talmon co-authored the article  “How Restaurant Workers Pay for Lobbying to Keep Their Wages Low,” that delves into how the National Restaurant Association (NRA), the largest foodservice trade association in the world, utilizes the fifteen dollar fee from required ServSafe courses to fund their own lobbying efforts. We wanted to get Talmon’s perspective on what was most surprising about putting together the article, the legal intricacies of how the NRA set up such a system, and the “benefits” of ServSafe, and if it really helps workers. In a time when restaurant workers, once lauded as essential workers, are now increasingly under pressure to do more with less, this is another episode you’re not going to want to miss.  So, with that…let’s bring it in!

With a culinary career spanning over six decades, Chef Ken Hom, CBE is a legend in the restaurant space.  Starting at his family's restaurant, Chef Ken has helped build restaurants from Bangkok to Rio de Janeiro, and is credited with championing traditional Chinese cuisine around the world. He’s developed his own line of Chinese cuisine cookware, which has become one of the highest-selling cookware brands in the world. Chef Ken’s been host to a number of cooking shows on the BBC and has authored over 40 books, the most recent “My Stir-fried Life” is his first autobiographical book. On top of the mountain of books, TV shows, and restaurants he’s worked on, Chef Ken is a revered private chef for celebrities and dignitaries all over the world, and was called to create a dish for the coronation of the new King Charles II. From working in a small family run kitchen, to a sprawling hotel kitchen in Brazil, no matter where in the world he is Chef Ken knows how to lead a team. His secret? Mentoring and caring. In a time when workers are filled with anxiety, job instability, automation and A.I. and having to do more with less, Chef Ken has learned to operate Michelin Star winning restaurants with a people first mindset, a practice something managers everywhere can learn from. So, with that…let’s bring it in!

Winning is hard.  Whether it’s coming in first place in a race or making it to the end of a marathon, winning takes a lot of effort. In an age of Instagram life coaches, TikTok motivation accounts, “Alpha” and “Winner” influencers, there are a lot of external forces that can make you feel that the path to winning is one dimensional, “have it or you don’t” situation. Dr. Jeff Brown is here to change that.  Dr. Jeff Brown is the Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the Psychologist for the Boston Marathon Medical Team (and a first responder during the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombings), as well as a member of Runner’s World magazine’s Scientific Advisory Board, where he’s taken a scientific approach to understanding how to win. Co-authoring the book “The Winner’s Brain: 8 Strategies Great Minds Use to Achieve Success,” Dr. Brown traveled across the world to hear the stories of some of the greatest high performers in the world, from musician B.B. King and Olympian Kerri Strung, to FBI agents, fighter pilots, and even high-altitude window washers. Dr. Brown believes that everyone is capable of achieving a winner’s brain, because it’s a skill that you can train your mind to adopt. Empowering your people to be able to adopt a winner's brain is critical for any manager creating a high performance working environment.  And plus, who doesn’t want a few more wins in their life?  This is definitely another episode you’re not going to want to miss, so with that…let’s bring it in!

It’s episode 100!  For hitting such an incredible milestone, we decided to bring in a guest that works in one of the most high pressure fields in the world; a place where mentorship, teamwork, process-oriented hard work, and demands of the highest quality are needed: the professional kitchen. Chef Nick Wallace is Mississippi born and raised and with a lifelong passion for cooking instilled in him from his grandmothers, he knows a thing or two about creating a tight knit and highly effective team to get a job done. After working in various local kitchens throughout his teens, Chef Nick joined the Marriott Hotels culinary team at 20 years old, and within a year was promoted to executive chef, a position he occupied for ten years. He went on to found Nick Wallace Culinary, opening two locations in Jackson, MI as well as appearing on high profile cooking shows such as Comfort Nation, Cutthroat Kitchen, Chopped, winning Season 34, and Top Chef. On top of obsessing over great food, Chef Nick also prioritizes giving back to his community, founding Creativity Kitchen to develop healthier lunches for Jackson schools, as well as partnerships with the American Cancer Society and co-chairing Share the Gulf, Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi. With the restaurant and hospitality space still the largest source of employment across the US, Chef Nick's experience building a hardworking and compassionate team that impacts his community is a story we can all take value from, during a time when workers are feeling disconnected and abandoned more than ever. Thanks to everyone who’s stuck with us for these past 100 episodes. This is another episode you’re not going to want to miss, so with that…let’s bring it in!

Between remote work, quiet hiring, quiet firing, forced back into office, gig work, A.I., automation, and so much more, the workforce is in a challenging position today. Workers are sandwiched between anxiety towards an unsure future and strict performance reviews saying ‘do better!’ of the past. Sadly, what workers lack support in, is focusing on the present. Luckily, Tom Sterner is here to change that. Tom Sterner is the Founder and CEO of the Practicing Mind Institute, and author of books “The Practicing Mind: The Practicing Mind,” “It’s Just a Thought: Emotional Freedom Through Deliberate Thinking,” and “Fully Engaged: Using the Practicing Mind in Daily Life.” Tom is a leading expert in the field of Present Moment Functioning and coaches some of the world's top business leaders, organizations, athletes, and performers in this technique he’s dedicated the past few decades of his life studying. Rooted in millennia old philosophy and backed by decades of neuroscientific research, Tom’s work in the field of Present Moment Functioning is critical for leaders to understand. At a time when the workforce is particularly vulnerable, leaders need to understand how to support their workers, in order to get them performing at their best. This is another podcast you’re definitely not going to want to miss, so with that…let’s bring it in!

Sanjay Sarma, MIT professor and former VP of Open Learning, discusses the flaws in modern education and the importance of learning in the workforce. Topics include the need for a redesigned education system, the power of failure and curiosity in learning, the lack of defined education options in the job market, and the changing landscape of work and learning.

Talent is a good thing…right? In today’s episode, we’re joined by professor, PhD, coach, author, scientist, Joe Baker. Joe is a Professor at York University whose work focuses on studying human development, looking at psychosocial and environmental factors, to see how the best athletes in the world achieve peak performance. Joe’s work has led him to advise dozens of high-profile athletic organizations, including the Texas Rangers, the Canadian Paralympic Committee, and Wheelchair Rugby Canada. We wanted to sit down with Joe to discuss his research on ‘talent development’ and how in many environments, in sports or in the workforce, ‘talent,’ as we traditionally think about it, can actually do more harm than good for your people. This one’s a really interesting episode, one you’re not going to want to miss, so with that…let’s bring it in!