Transform Your Workplace

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Aug 2026

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The "Transform Your Workplace" podcast, renowned as a top-rated HR and leadership podcast, covers into all aspects necessary for creating an outstanding workplace. It features a diverse lineup of industry experts, authors, speakers, HR professionals, and entrepreneurs worldwide who share their insights and big ideas for organizational transformation. Every week, the podcast explores a fresh topic, encompassing various subjects such as human resources, effective communication, cultural development, personal and business growth, leadership, and the latest workplace trends, such as A.I.

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September 8, 2026Episode 61338 min

Being the Smartest Person in the Room Is Ruining Your Team with Heather Graves-Ramsey

Most managers have one move in a hard conversation. They tell people what to do. It works until it doesn't, and when it stops working, most of us just tell harder. Executive coach Heather Graves-Ramsey lays out three kinds of leadership conversations. Managing and mentoring both push. Coaching pulls. The difference is whether you walk in with the answer or walk in believing the person across from you can find it. She explains why the pulling conversation is so hard to learn, why it can feel like you're not doing your job, and why the manager who gets the least credit is often doing the most good. Host, Brandon Laws, pushes on the obvious question. If anyone can get an answer in seconds from AI, what is a leader for? Heather's case is that the value is not in having answers. It is in the intuitive read, the follow-up nobody else would ask, and seeing something in a person they can't yet see in themselves. You'll also hear her POWER model for preparing a conversation you're dreading, the three levels of listening, a trick for getting your own head out of the room, and a short list of questions to try with your team this week. Plus the story of the 11-year-old client who hissed at her for three sessions, and what finally broke through. About our guest Heather Graves-Ramsey is an executive coach and leadership development trainer and the owner of Coach to Brilliance, based in the Portland, Oregon area. She is a Professional Certified Coach through the International Coaching Federation and trained through the Coaches Training Institute, with a background that spans business, counseling, and education, including time as a school-based mental health counselor. She works with individuals and teams on communication, retention, and leadership impact, and she is active in community leadership in Lake Oswego. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Intro and a word from Xenium HR 02:00 Why managing and mentoring both push, and coaching pulls 05:08 Why most leaders don't know which conversation to have 06:25 Watching a leader push when the moment calls for a pull 07:55 How problem solvers learn to ask instead of answer 10:20 Why leaders still matter when AI has all the answers 13:30 How to get better at asking powerful questions 16:12 Why new leaders can't hear their own intuition 17:45 How to quiet your own head and stay present 21:15 Why silence after a question is a good sign 22:50 Naming what isn't being said in the room 24:45 The 11-year-old who hissed 26:45 The POWER model for preparing a hard conversation 34:25 Questions to try with your team this week 36:20 Closing and where to find Heather Resources from this episode Powerful one-on-one questions [Download] Levels of Listening [Download] A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST Podcast: Transform Your Workplace, sponsored by Xenium HR Host: Brandon Laws In Brandon's own words: "The Transform Your Workplace podcast is your go-to source for the latest workplace trends, big ideas, and time-tested methods straight from the mouths of industry experts and respected thought-leaders." About Xenium HR Xenium HR is on a mission to transform workplaces by providing expert outsourced HR and payroll services for small and medium-sized businesses. With a people-first approach, Xenium helps organizations create thriving work environments where employees feel valued and supported. From navigating compliance to enhancing workplace culture, Xenium offers tailored solutions that empower growth and simplify HR. Whether managing employee relations, payroll processing, or implementing impactful training programs, Xenium is the trusted partner businesses rely on to elevate their workplace experience. Discover how Xenium can transform your workplace: Learn more Connect with Heather Graves-Ramsey: LinkedIn Website Coach to Brilliance on LinkedIn Connect with Brandon Laws: LinkedIn Instagram About Connect with Xenium HR: Website LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube

September 1, 2026Episode 61238 min

Why Half of Us Feel Lonely and What Actually Fixes It

More than half of adults say they feel lonely. Among young men, 27 percent say they do not have a friend at all. Dr. Tracy Brower has spent her career studying what work does to people, and her new book is about what happens when the relationships go missing. This conversation starts with the research and then turns practical. Tracy explains how convenience removed the small interactions that used to hold us together, how many close friends a person can realistically keep up with, and what it takes to build a friendship as an adult when nobody is assigning you a locker anymore. Brandon and Tracy also get into AI. Specifically, where the line sits between using it to save yourself some typing and handing over the parts of the job that carry trust. Tracy's distinction between cognitive offloading and cognitive surrender is worth the listen on its own. For leaders, the last stretch is the most useful. Tracy argues that the best team bonding does not come from the escape room or the pasta making class. It comes from groups doing hard work together, which means connection is something you can build into how the work is structured rather than something you schedule. About our guest Dr. Tracy Brower is a sociologist and the vice president of workplace insights at Steelcase. She is a senior contributor at Forbes and a contributor to Fast Company and Newsweek. She is the author of Critical Connections: Build Relationships and Harness the Power of Community in Work and Life , along with The Secrets to Happiness at Work and Bring Work to Life by Bringing Life to Work. Tracy holds a PhD in sociology, a master of management in organizational culture, and a master of corporate real estate with a workplace specialization. This is not her first time on the show. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Why Brandon opens with his own friendship habits 01:35 Why connection needed its own book 03:10 Why loneliness is on an upward trend worldwide 04:55 How removing friction from daily life also removed the people 05:50 Why young men are the group struggling most 07:15 How to build a friendship when the job is remote 09:00 What close friendship does to physical and mental health 10:10 Why the youngest workers have the hardest time 12:20 Where AI crosses from cognitive offloading into cognitive surrender 15:40 How to use AI without losing your own voice 17:30 Whether the social media backlash is real 21:20 Why self-awareness comes before better relationships 23:05 What it actually takes to make a friend as an adult 25:35 How many close friends a person can realistically keep 29:10 How to start a conversation when the mixer terrifies you 33:00 Why work is where most people make their more diverse friends 34:45 What leaders can do to build connection into the work itself 37:30 Where to find Tracy and the book A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST Podcast: Transform Your Workplace, sponsored by Xenium HR Host: Brandon Laws In Brandon's own words: "The Transform Your Workplace podcast is your go-to source for the latest workplace trends, big ideas, and time-tested methods straight from the mouths of industry experts and respected thought-leaders." About Xenium HR Xenium HR is on a mission to transform workplaces by providing expert outsourced HR and payroll services for small and medium-sized businesses. With a people-first approach, Xenium helps organizations create thriving work environments where employees feel valued and supported. From navigating compliance to enhancing workplace culture, Xenium offers tailored solutions that empower growth and simplify HR. Whether managing employee relations, payroll processing, or implementing impactful training programs, Xenium is the trusted partner businesses rely on to elevate their workplace experience. Discover how Xenium can transform your workplace: Learn more Connect with Tracy Brower: LinkedIn Website Connect with Brandon Laws: LinkedIn Instagram About Connect with Xenium HR: Website LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube

August 25, 2026Episode 61148 min

How We Could Instead of Why We Can't with Alex Dorr

Every leader has run the meeting where the team can list twenty reasons something won't work and zero ideas for how it could. Alex Dorr has a name for what's happening in that room, and a five step process for getting out of it. Alex is the CEO of Reality-Based Leadership and the author of How We Could, out September 22, 2026. In this conversation with Brandon Laws, he walks through the Call to Greatness framework: validate the experience, clean up the thinking, find your part in the mess, know your role in the solution, then take next right action. He opens with a day in New York with a group of regional retail directors who were stuck on a decision they didn't like, and the moment one of them looked at a whiteboard full of constraints and said, "I can see it." The conversation gets practical fast. Alex explains why he thinks empathy has been weaponized at work and how it stalls teams before they reach action. He draws the line between empathy and sympathy with an emergency room story that will stick with you. He makes the case that your most expensive employee might be your best performer, the one who has started judging everyone falling behind. And he breaks down three roles most people confuse: decision maker, consultant, and good person to be informed. His take on that last one is worth the listen on its own. If you lead people at a small or mid-sized company and you're tired of the same circular conversations, this one gives you something to use in your next one-on-one. About our guest Alex Dorr is the CEO of Reality-Based Leadership, where he works with leaders around the world on ditching drama, building alignment, and coaching teams to next right action. He is the author of How We Could: The Framework to Lead Without Drama, Build Alignment, and Call Teams to Greatness, launching September 22, 2026, and the host of the Reality-Based Leadership Podcast. He holds the Certified Speaking Professional designation and a master's in international business from the University of Derby in England. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Welcome and what this episode covers 02:10 Why a room full of retail directors went silent 08:15 How making constraints visual changes the conversation 09:50 Why leaders should spend less time motivating people 12:45 The five steps of the Call to Greatness framework 16:45 What loving people up actually looks like day to day 20:40 Why empathy gets weaponized at work 24:30 How a trip to the ER changed the way Alex solves problems 28:10 Why your best performer might be your most expensive one 31:00 Decision maker, consultant, or good person to be informed 39:20 Why asking teams to think outside the box backfires 44:00 What to keep in mind when you screw this up A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST Podcast: Transform Your Workplace, sponsored by Xenium HR Host: Brandon Laws In Brandon's own words: "The Transform Your Workplace podcast is your go-to source for the latest workplace trends, big ideas, and time-tested methods straight from the mouths of industry experts and respected thought-leaders." About Xenium HR Xenium HR is on a mission to transform workplaces by providing expert outsourced HR and payroll services for small and medium-sized businesses. With a people-first approach, Xenium helps organizations create thriving work environments where employees feel valued and supported. From navigating compliance to enhancing workplace culture, Xenium offers tailored solutions that empower growth and simplify HR. Whether managing employee relations, payroll processing, or implementing impactful training programs, Xenium is the trusted partner businesses rely on to elevate their workplace experience. Discover how Xenium can transform your workplace: Learn more Connect with Alex Dorr: Website LinkedIn How We Could Connect with Brandon Laws: LinkedIn Instagram About Connect with Xenium HR: Website LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube

August 18, 2026Episode 61035 min

What Is Actually Behind Your Inability to Delegate with Susan Drumm

Most leaders who cannot delegate assume it is a process problem. Susan Drumm has studied both sides of it, and her answer is that the skill gap is real but it is rarely the whole story. Underneath it is usually a belief you have been carrying since long before you managed anyone. Susan has spent two decades coaching C-suite executives, and her work centers on pattern recognition and pattern disruption. In this conversation she explains how she spots those patterns in a leadership team, why leaders resist looking at them, and what it takes to change one in the moment. She shares the story of a leader whose habit of sugarcoating feedback traced back to being the middle child nobody paid attention to, and what shifted once he could name it. She makes a direct case that staying in pretense with your team destroys trust rather than protecting it. She walks through her four steps for catching a pattern and shifting it, explains why she uses the Enneagram over DISC or MBTI, and gets into the neuroscience of how music speeds up new habit formation. Worth your time if you manage people and keep running into the same problem in different clothing. About our guest Susan Drumm is a CEO advisor, executive coach, and the USA Today bestselling author of The Leader's Playlist. She founded Meritage Leadership 20 years ago, where she and her team work with senior leaders and executive teams on pattern recognition, team performance, and leadership development. Her background is unusual for the field. She holds degrees from Harvard Law School and Carnegie Mellon University, plus a master's in acting from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Before starting her own firm, she worked as a consultant at the Boston Consulting Group and later at NBC. She describes herself as an Enneagram type seven, which she says explains her habit of pulling unrelated disciplines together. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Intro and sponsor 02:00 How Susan finds patterns in an executive team 04:05 Why the old playlist starts in childhood 06:05 Why this work goes better with playfulness 07:15 How sugarcoating feedback wrecked one leader's results 08:50 Why the pattern traced back to being the middle child 09:50 Why staying in pretense destroys trust 10:45 How to tell if a pattern is helping or hurting you 11:40 Harvard Law to acting school and why it all connects 17:20 What the neuroscience says about music and the brain 19:00 How to pick music that actually shifts your state 20:45 The four steps to catch a pattern and change it 23:40 Why Susan uses the Enneagram over DISC or MBTI 27:15 Where to start if you want to do this work 28:30 Why leaders who cannot delegate end up burned out 31:20 How leaders should be approaching AI right now 34:00 A first step if you feel stuck and cannot name why A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST Podcast: Transform Your Workplace, sponsored by Xenium HR Host: Brandon Laws In Brandon's own words: "The Transform Your Workplace podcast is your go-to source for the latest workplace trends, big ideas, and time-tested methods straight from the mouths of industry experts and respected thought-leaders." About Xenium HR Xenium HR is on a mission to transform workplaces by providing expert outsourced HR and payroll services for small and medium-sized businesses. With a people-first approach, Xenium helps organizations create thriving work environments where employees feel valued and supported. From navigating compliance to enhancing workplace culture, Xenium offers tailored solutions that empower growth and simplify HR. Whether managing employee relations, payroll processing, or implementing impactful training programs, Xenium is the trusted partner businesses rely on to elevate their workplace experience. Discover how Xenium can transform your workplace: Learn more Resources mentioned: The Leader's Playlist Free leadership quiz Enneagram Applied Meritage Leadership Connect with Susan Drumm: Website LinkedIn Facebook X YouTube Connect with Brandon Laws: LinkedIn Instagram About Connect with Xenium HR: Website LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube

August 11, 2026Episode 60935 min

Why Your Labels Are Your Limits with Nir Eyal

Most managers already know what good management looks like. Give real feedback. Delegate. Have the hard conversation. Knowing it has never been the problem. Nir Eyal spent years asking why people who have the right answer still don't act on it. His conclusion is that the gap is not motivation or discipline. It's belief. And beliefs are harder to spot than habits, because from the inside they feel like facts. In this conversation, Nir walks through what a belief actually is, why confirmation bias quietly hardens a manager's read on an employee until it stops being reviewable, and what to do when you find yourself already dreading a conversation that hasn't happened yet. He also makes a blunt case against two labels a lot of leaders wear comfortably: imposter syndrome and perfectionist. The practical takeaways here are small and usable. Look for where you're suffering instead of hunting for the belief directly. Keep a reality log when your read on your own performance has gone lopsided. And pay attention to whatever words follow "I am." About our guest Nir Eyal is the author of Hooked, Indistractable, and Beyond Belief: The Science-Backed Way to Stop Limiting Yourself and Achieve Breakthrough Results, an instant New York Times bestseller written with Julie Li. He is a former lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and his work has appeared in The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, and Time. He writes about behavior, focus, and belief at NirAndFar.com . Nir is offering listeners a free 5-Minute Belief Change Guide at nirandfar.com/beyond-belief-live . TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Why managers know what to do and still don't do it 02:00 Why readers kept telling Nir his last book didn't work for them 06:00 Why the best advice becomes wasted breath without belief 07:15 The difference between a fact, a faith, and a belief 08:50 Why your conscious mind only gets 50 bits of what's in front of you 11:00 How a manager's opinion of an employee hardens into fact 13:30 Why you can see everyone's limiting beliefs except your own 15:15 Don't look for the belief. Look for where you're suffering. 17:45 The flowers Nir sent his mom and what he learned from the phone call 20:15 How a reality log corrects a belief about your own performance 23:00 What happens to Thursday's hard conversation when you decide Tuesday it will go badly 25:50 Why your labels are your limits 28:00 Why Nir says imposter syndrome isn't real 30:00 Same sweaty palms, different belief 32:20 Where to start if you want to test one belief this week A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST Podcast: Transform Your Workplace, sponsored by Xenium HR Host: Brandon Laws In Brandon's own words: "The Transform Your Workplace podcast is your go-to source for the latest workplace trends, big ideas, and time-tested methods straight from the mouths of industry experts and respected thought-leaders." About Xenium HR Xenium HR is on a mission to transform workplaces by providing expert outsourced HR and payroll services for small and medium-sized businesses. With a people-first approach, Xenium helps organizations create thriving work environments where employees feel valued and supported. From navigating compliance to enhancing workplace culture, Xenium offers tailored solutions that empower growth and simplify HR. Whether managing employee relations, payroll processing, or implementing impactful training programs, Xenium is the trusted partner businesses rely on to elevate their workplace experience. Discover how Xenium can transform your workplace: Learn more Connect with Nir Eyal: Website LinkedIn Instagram Beyond Belief Free Belief Change Guide Connect with Brandon Laws: LinkedIn Instagram About Connect with Xenium HR: Website LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube

August 4, 2026Episode 57538 min

Unpacking the 2026 Human Capital Trends Report with David Mallon

Deloitte's David Mallon on the Culture Debt AI Is Building Most organizations are treating AI like the last big tech rollout. Buy the licenses, run some training, expect results. The data says that approach is backfiring. David Mallon leads the research behind Deloitte's Global Human Capital Trends report, now in its 15th year. In this conversation, he explains why 59% of organizations taking a tech-first approach to AI are 1.6 times more likely to miss the return, and what changes when you redesign the work instead of layering tools on top of it. Brandon and David get into the human side of the shift. Work slop and what it means for developing people when entry-level roles disappear. Culture debt, and the 80% of leaders and workers who suspect their teammates are using AI to look more productive. Decision rights, and why accountability breaks down when nobody can trace a choice back to a person. And the question sitting underneath all of it: who actually owns work. There is a practical throughline here for small and mid-sized companies. You do not need a transformation budget to start. You need to think in capabilities, build friction back in where people need to practice, and say out loud what counts as good work now. About our guest David Mallon is a managing director at Deloitte Consulting LLP and head of research and chief futurist for Human Capital in the US. He has more than 25 years of experience in human capital and has been a contributor to Deloitte's Global Human Capital Trends study since its inception. He leads Insights2Action, Deloitte's Human Capital decision intelligence capability, and is a former head of research for Bersin. He co-hosts the Capital H podcast and speaks widely on organization design, culture, HR strategy, and learning. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Welcome and what this episode covers 01:45 Why 2026 is the year leaders can no longer sit on the fence 04:15 The tech-first trap and why AI is not the last tech wave 05:40 What a human-centric approach looks like in practice 07:25 Hardwiring and softwiring when you design human and AI work 08:40 The telecom example, 5% versus 30%, and the lesson for smaller companies 10:50 How to bring an entire organization along on new tools 13:00 Fabrication, embellished profiles, and verification in hiring 15:15 Work slop, the experience gap, and building friction back in 17:30 Decision rights, machine autonomy, and where accountability lives 19:15 Culture debt and what suspicion does to a team over time 21:30 Isolating what the human actually brings to the work 22:35 A history teacher's assignment as a model for verification 24:45 The orchestration gap and what is getting in the way 27:15 Who owns work, and the trio organizations will need 29:40 Have organizational functions outlived their function 31:45 The biggest change workers felt this past year 33:25 Decisions that echo and the one message for every leader 35:20 What David wants people to take away and act on A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST Podcast: Transform Your Workplace, sponsored by Xenium HR Host: Brandon Laws In Brandon's own words: "The Transform Your Workplace podcast is your go-to source for the latest workplace trends, big ideas, and time-tested methods straight from the mouths of industry experts and respected thought-leaders." About Xenium HR Xenium HR is on a mission to transform workplaces by providing expert outsourced HR and payroll services for small and medium-sized businesses. With a people-first approach, Xenium helps organizations create thriving work environments where employees feel valued and supported. From navigating compliance to enhancing workplace culture, Xenium offers tailored solutions that empower growth and simplify HR. Whether managing employee relations, payroll processing, or implementing impactful training programs, Xenium is the trusted partner businesses rely on to elevate their workplace experience. Discover how Xenium can transform your workplace: Learn more Resource mentioned: 2026 Global Human Capital Trends report Connect with David Mallon: LinkedIn X Deloitte profile Connect with Brandon Laws: LinkedIn Instagram About Connect with Xenium HR: Website LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube

July 28, 2026Episode 60739 min

Why Your Sunday Night Mood Is Not Lying to You with Amy Leneker

How you feel on Sunday night tells you something real about your relationship with work. Amy Leneker, the author of Cheers to Monday , calls it one of the most honest assessments we have, and she would know. Seven weeks into medical leave after a panic attack, she sat in a doctor's office, got handed a questionnaire, and could not answer a question about what she did for fun. In this conversation, Amy walks through what she learned from that unraveling and the research that followed. She explains the difference between the stress that helps you perform and the stress that wears you down, and why leaders and their teams so often talk past each other on exactly that point. She shares the zero-to-10 question that opens up a conversation about stress without putting anyone on the spot, her three-step See, Sort, Solve method, and how to separate what you can control from what you cannot. There is a lot in here you can use this week if you lead people. Including one calendar trick involving a standing Friday appointment with Dr. Green. About our guest Amy Leneker is the founder and CEO of the Center for Joyful Work and the author of Cheers to Monday: The Surprisingly Simple Method to Lead and Live with Less Stress and More Joy, published by Wiley in 2026. The book debuted as the number one bestselling business book on the USA Today list. Amy spent more than two decades in leadership, including ten years in the C-suite, before burnout forced a different path. She has studied leadership at Yale, neuroscience at the NeuroLeadership Institute, and stress resilience at Harvard Medical School. She leads an annual national workforce study on stress and joy at work, has trained more than 100,000 people, and hosts the Less Stress, More Joy podcast. She and her family live in the Pacific Northwest. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Intro and sponsor 02:10 The question in a doctor's office she could not answer 05:05 The signs she ignored for years 05:55 Why your Sunday night mood is honest data 07:10 Turning her own burnout into a literature review 09:35 Eustress and distress, and why leaders and teams talk past each other 11:40 The check engine light and the cost of waiting 13:20 See, sort, solve 15:25 The stress ruler and the zero to 10 question 19:40 Stress and joy are both contagious 20:45 Values that leave you out will burn you out 24:10 Sorting what you can control from what you cannot 26:45 Why the people quickest to offer help are the slowest to ask for it 28:50 Cancel a meeting 30:20 The Dr. Green calendar story 32:35 What leaders get wrong in uncertain moments 34:45 Stress thrives in isolation A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST Podcast : Transform Your Workplace, sponsored by Xenium HR Host : Brandon Laws In Brandon's own words: "The Transform Your Workplace podcast is your go-to source for the latest workplace trends, big ideas, and time-tested methods straight from the mouths of industry experts and respected thought-leaders." About Xenium HR Xenium HR is on a mission to transform workplaces by providing expert outsourced HR and payroll services for small and medium-sized businesses. With a people-first approach, Xenium helps organizations create thriving work environments where employees feel valued and supported. From navigating compliance to enhancing workplace culture, Xenium offers tailored solutions that empower growth and simplify HR. Whether managing employee relations, payroll processing, or implementing impactful training programs, Xenium is the trusted partner businesses rely on to elevate their workplace experience. Discover how Xenium can transform your workplace: Learn more Mentioned in this episode: Xenium HR Leadership Cohorts Connect with Amy Leneker: Website LinkedIn Cheers to Monday Connect with Brandon Laws: LinkedIn Instagram About Connect with Xenium HR: Website LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube

July 21, 2026Episode 60647 min

The Space Between Communicating and Being Understood with Lee Caraher

You wrote the announcement, rehearsed it, sent it, and a week later the questions rolled in anyway. In this episode, communication strategist Lee Caraher explains why most workplace communication fails on delivery, not message, and what to do about it. She shares a practical three-send formula for making any announcement stick, a protocol for deciding which messages belong in email, Slack, or a meeting, and a test for knowing whether your message actually landed. Silence and nodding, it turns out, are the clearest signs it didn't. Lee also makes the case for retiring the feedback sandwich for good and shows how to remove the ambiguity that quietly creates conflict, starting with how you assign a deadline. About our guest Lee Caraher is the founder and CEO of Double Forte, a national public relations and digital media agency based in San Francisco. A communication strategist known for practical solutions to big problems, she is the author of Millennials and Management and The Boomerang Principle. This is her third appearance on the show. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Intro and a word from Xenium HR Compensation Services 02:00 Why communication fails on delivery, not message 05:30 The three-send formula for big announcements 08:00 Building a receptacle for questions 10:30 Mixed messages and the four parts of delivery 13:00 Yes-people and why leaders need truth-tellers 14:30 Using AI tools to critique your own delivery 16:00 Reading the room and adapting your style 20:45 Which messages belong in which channel 25:00 The case for a weekly leader email 25:45 Nodding heads mean they didn't get it 34:00 Crisis, apologies, and losing control of the narrative 38:20 What a real deadline includes 43:30 Throw away the feedback sandwich A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST Podcast: Transform Your Workplace, sponsored by Xenium HR Host: Brandon Laws In Brandon's own words: "The Transform Your Workplace podcast is your go-to source for the latest workplace trends, big ideas, and time-tested methods straight from the mouths of industry experts and respected thought-leaders." About Xenium HR Xenium HR is on a mission to transform workplaces by providing expert outsourced HR and payroll services for small and medium-sized businesses. With a people-first approach, Xenium helps organizations create thriving work environments where employees feel valued and supported. From navigating compliance to enhancing workplace culture, Xenium offers tailored solutions that empower growth and simplify HR. Whether managing employee relations, payroll processing, or implementing impactful training programs, Xenium is the trusted partner businesses rely on to elevate their workplace experience. Discover how Xenium can transform your workplace: Learn more Connect with Lee Caraher: Website LinkedIn Connect with Brandon Laws: LinkedIn Instagram About Connect with Xenium HR: Website LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube

July 14, 2026Episode 60541 min

What Being Always On Is Costing You with Justin Hai

Stress has become so normal at work that plenty of people wear it like a badge. Justin Hai wants that to change. He is the co-founder and CEO of Rebalance Health and the author of Stress Nation, and he studies what our always-on habits do to our stress, our sleep, and our health. Justin breaks down cortisol, the hormone he calls the body's alarm system, and explains why it gets stuck in the on position when we never put the phone down. He makes the case that sleep is the first thing to protect, not the last, and that most of the shortcuts people reach for are treating symptoms instead of the cause. Brandon and Justin also get practical. You will hear simple changes you can make with your phone, your evening routine, and your schedule to feel more like yourself again. They talk through why in-person connection lowers stress, the real difference between stress and anxiety, and why running your work life on four hours of sleep is a decision you would never make behind the wheel. If stress has become a badge of honor on your team, this one is worth sharing with them. About our guest Justin Hai is the co-founder and CEO of Rebalance Health, a company focused on cortisol and hormone health backed by clinical research. He is the author of Stress Nation: Escape the Technology Trap, Eliminate Stress, and Reclaim Rest, published by Wiley. Before Rebalance, he co-founded Alastin Skincare and GLO Pharmaceuticals. He holds a degree in industrial design from RISD and an MBA from Pepperdine. His work centers on how modern technology disrupts cortisol, sleep, and overall health, and what people can do to get back into balance. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Intro and sponsor 01:35 Why stress belongs on a workplace podcast 02:20 How your devices are making you sick 04:40 Cortisol, your body's alarm system 07:20 Why protecting your sleep comes first 09:15 What throws your cortisol out of balance 11:30 Your phone as a trigger and the trap of social media 14:40 The real cost of being always on 16:45 Practical habits to reset your phone and routine 19:40 Why in-person connection beats a screen 23:00 Stress versus anxiety 24:45 In-person versus remote work 27:10 JOMO and the power of being present 30:10 Would you run your life on four hours of sleep 32:40 Tracking stress and what your body already knows 36:30 Simple tips for better rest 38:35 Finding hope, and where to find Justin A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST Podcast: Transform Your Workplace, sponsored by Xenium HR Host: Brandon Laws In Brandon's own words: "The Transform Your Workplace podcast is your go-to source for the latest workplace trends, big ideas, and time-tested methods straight from the mouths of industry experts and respected thought-leaders." About Xenium HR Xenium HR is on a mission to transform workplaces by providing expert outsourced HR and payroll services for small and medium-sized businesses. With a people-first approach, Xenium helps organizations create thriving work environments where employees feel valued and supported. From navigating compliance to enhancing workplace culture, Xenium offers tailored solutions that empower growth and simplify HR. Whether managing employee relations, payroll processing, or implementing impactful training programs, Xenium is the trusted partner businesses rely on to elevate their workplace experience. Discover how Xenium can transform your workplace: Learn more Connect with Justin Hai: LinkedIn Instagram Website Connect with Brandon Laws: LinkedIn Instagram About Connect with Xenium HR: Website LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube

July 10, 2026Episode 60433 min

Why Knowing Your Blind Spots Is Not Enough with Cam Yenokida

Most leaders think self-awareness means understanding their patterns. Cam Yenokida sees where that falls short. The executive coach and founder of Achieve Excellence explains why intellectual self-awareness alone never changes anything, and what it takes to turn insight into new behavior. Cam and Brandon get into the quiet reality of senior leadership, where the higher you climb, the less room you have to think out loud. They talk about what actually makes a leader coachable, why assessments are a starting point and not an answer, and how a simple look at your calendar can reveal where your attention is really going. Cam spent 20 years in corporate leadership before starting his own practice. He shares the turnover problem that became a defining moment, the two-year onboarding approach behind it, and what separates leaders who are good from those who become excellent. About our guest Cam Yenokida is an executive coach and the founder of Achieve Excellence, based in Lake Oswego, Oregon. He spent more than 20 years in corporate leadership before starting his own practice, and he has facilitated over 200 leadership and team development workshops. Cam coaches leaders at every level, from solo entrepreneurs to senior executives, using a systematic approach built around diagnostics, planning, implementation, and follow-up. His focus is on helping leaders move from understanding their patterns to actually changing how they show up. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Welcome and why pay is a quiet driver of turnover 01:00 Meet Cam Yenokida 02:00 The patterns that pulled Cam toward developing leaders 04:00 The turnover problem that became a defining moment 05:00 Why onboarding should last two years, not 90 days 09:00 Leaving a 20 year career to start Achieve Excellence 11:00 The identity shift of becoming the brand 14:00 The blind spot of self-awareness that stays intellectual 16:00 Turning awareness into real behavior change 18:00 Why senior leaders lose room to think out loud 20:00 Helping teams say what usually goes unsaid 22:00 Assessments as a starting point, not an answer 24:00 The three signs of a coachable leader 27:00 Leading with clarity and auditing your calendar 31:00 What moves a leader from great to excellent A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST Podcast : Transform Your Workplace, sponsored by Xenium HR Host : Brandon Laws In Brandon's own words: "The Transform Your Workplace podcast is your go-to source for the latest workplace trends, big ideas, and time-tested methods straight from the mouths of industry experts and respected thought-leaders." About Xenium HR Xenium HR is on a mission to transform workplaces by providing expert outsourced HR and payroll services for small and medium-sized businesses. With a people-first approach, Xenium helps organizations create thriving work environments where employees feel valued and supported. From navigating compliance to enhancing workplace culture, Xenium offers tailored solutions that empower growth and simplify HR. Whether managing employee relations, payroll processing, or implementing impactful training programs, Xenium is the trusted partner businesses rely on to elevate their workplace experience. Discover how Xenium can transform your workplace: Learn more Connect with Cam Yenokida: Website LinkedIn Connect with Brandon Laws: LinkedIn Instagram About Connect with Xenium HR: Website LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube