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Welcome to The Lift, the show about leadership, growth, and getting what we want. On The Lift, we pull up to see the bigger picture from accomplished leaders who know how to get things done in a rapidly changing world. Host Ben Brooks dives deep into a relevant leadership topic each episode and connects the dots to leave you with powerful distinctions that you can use as a leader.
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- 4 days ago37 min
Replay: How Michael Miller uses meditation to reduce stress and gain time
“Running is my meditation.” Michael Miller hears this a lot. His response: “Knitting is my rock climbing.” If you've been telling yourself exercise counts as meditation, this is the episode that gently, convincingly, changes your mind.Topic Highlights– The three types of meditation and why the one most leaders try is the hardest and least effective– How a 20-minute practice twice a day can actually give you more time back, not less– The difference between being a net giver and a net taker (and why it starts with your nervous system, not your calendar)– Why Vedic meditation was specifically designed for people with jobs, families, and actual responsibilitiesGuest BioMichael Miller is the founder of New York Meditation Center and London Meditation Centre, a Vedic meditation teacher with nearly 10,000 students worldwide, and the person who taught Ben to meditate 15 years ago.Episode Links:New York Meditation CenterLondon Meditation CentreVedic MeditationMeditation for Busy Leaders: How Michael Miller Uses Vedic Practice to Reduce Stress and Gain TimeConnect with Us:theliftpod.comLet’s stay in touchSubscribe to The LiftFind Ben online: LinkedIn | InstagramSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
- 1 weeks ago36 min
Replay: Helen Tupper on “squiggly careers,” vulnerability and why learning IS the job
Most senior leaders got to where they are by being the expert. But Helen Tupper has research showing that the moment you start thinking of yourself as an expert is the exact moment you stop growing. If you've been coasting on competence, or are quietly terrified of being a beginner again, this episode is for you.Topic Highlights– How expertise quietly kills curiosity, and what to do before it happens to you– Why the career ladder is a limiting model for both individuals and organizations– The “mistake moments” team practice that makes vulnerability a daily habit– The “What? So what? Now what?” reflection loop that turns any meeting into a learning engineGuest BioHelen Tupper is the CEO of Amazing If, an award-winning company with a mission to make squiggly careers better for everyone. She is the co-author of The Squiggly Career and Learn Like a Lobster. Episode Links:Amazing IfLearn Like a LobsterThe Squiggly CareerValues InstituteLead Like a Learner: Helen Tupper on “Squiggly Careers” and the Power of VulnerabilityConnect with Us:theliftpod.comLet’s stay in touchSubscribe to The LiftFind Ben online: LinkedIn | InstagramSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
- 2 weeks ago35 min
Replay: Margaret Andrews on managing yourself to better lead others
Ask almost any leader if they're self-aware and most will say yes. But research shows only 15% actually are. That gap – between who we think we are and how others experience us – is where most leadership development needs to start. Unfortunately, it almost never does.Margaret Andrews, who has spent two decades teaching this at Harvard, is here to help close the gap.Topic Highlights– Why the best boss you ever had probably wasn't (always) the smartest person in the room – Six questions that reveal more about your leadership than any 360 assessment will– The difference between changing your personality (you can't) and changing your behavior (you absolutely can)– Why “if you want to change how people think, you have to change how they feel” is the most underused insight in leadership developmentGuest BioMargaret Andrews is a Harvard executive education professor, founder of The MYLO Center, and author of Manage Yourself to Lead Others.Episode Links:Manage Yourself to Lead OthersThe MYLO CenterManaging yourself first: Margaret Andrews on self-awareness and leadershipConnect with Us:theliftpod.comLet’s stay in touchSubscribe to The LiftFind Ben online: LinkedIn | InstagramSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
- 3 weeks ago36 min
How to fire people properly - Part 2: The logistics of letting someone go with James Bryton and Dr. Dennis Davis
“You're not a good fit.” “The company's going in a different direction.”Every manager thinks these phrases are legally safe. But according to attorney James Bryton, they're basically an engraved invitation to a lawsuit. And a lot could be avoided if leaders took a different approach to letting people go.This is part two of our two-part series about letting people go with empathy and dignity.Topic Highlights:– The “middle lane” of firing and why it's where most separations actually belong– Why “not a good fit” is one of the most legally dangerous things you can say in a termination meeting– The thoughtful approach to choreography for letting someone go– Why how a termination ends matters more than almost everything that preceded itGuest Bio:Dr. Dennis Davis is a clinical psychologist and national training director at Ogletree Deakins. James Bryton is Of Counsel at Littler Mendelson, the world's largest employment law firm, and a former civil rights litigator.Episode Links:How to fire people properly - Part 1: When waiting too long goes wrongConnect with Us:theliftpod.comLet’s stay in touchSubscribe to The LiftFind Ben online: LinkedIn | InstagramSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
- Jun 30, 202638 min
How to fire people properly - Part 1: When waiting too long goes wrong with Dr. Dennis Davis
Most leaders know when someone isn't working out, for months – sometimes years. So why does it take so many of them so long to do anything about it? Dr. Dennis Davis has a theory, and it has a lot more to do with the manager than the employee.This is part one of our two-part series about letting people go with empathy and dignity. Topic Highlights:– The real cost of the “performing-at-35%-is-better-than-zero” rationalization – Why the "myth of niceness" is actually the least kind thing a manager can do for an underperformer– The skill/will matrix: a simple diagnostic tool for knowing whether you have a performance problem, a motivation problem, or a fit problem– How PIPs are too often used incorrectly, and what doing so says about your organization's integrity– Why employee success is ultimately contingent on your leadership styleGuest Bio:Dr. Dennis Davis is a clinical psychologist and national expert in conflict resolution at Ogletree Deakins, a multinational law firm specializing in labor and employment law.Episode Links:Ogletree DeakinsFull ArticleConnect with Us:theliftpod.comLet’s stay in touchSubscribe to The LiftFind Ben online: LinkedIn | InstagramSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
- Jun 23, 202633 min
Radical engagement: Adam Kahane on working with generals and guerrillas to make change from the inside
How do you work with people you genuinely can't stand? Not someone who rubs you the wrong way in a meeting. Someone on the opposite side of your moral compass. Adam Kahane has spent 35 years finding that answer in some of the most intractable conflicts in modern history. His conclusion? You don't blow the system up. You find the cracks.Topic Highlights:– The simple tool for moving from blame to agency in any stuck situation– What calling someone your "enemy" can actually cost you– What apartheid learnings say about how systems change from the inside– Why civility and self-regulation are the most strategic leadership skills you'll ever build– The Leonard Cohen framework that might be Adam’s best leadership adviceGuest Bio:Adam Kahane is the co-founder of Reos Partners, a conflict resolution facilitator who has worked in over 50 countries, and a member of the Order of Canada. Episode Links:Reos PartnersEveryday Habits for Transforming SystemsCollaborating with the EnemyStanford Social Innovation Review: "Working With Cracks"Connect with Us:theliftpod.comLet’s stay in touchSubscribe to The LiftSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
- Jun 16, 202640 min
The power of building coalitions: Kathryn Wylde on bringing billionaires and union bosses together
What's the fastest way to kill any chance of actually moving the needle on a big, complex project? According to longtime NYC power broker Kathryn Wylde, it's defensiveness. Kathryn knows this because she spent 50 years dragging billionaires, union bosses, and city officials into the same room and getting them to agree on the best way forward. And she’s here to share how she did it.Topic Highlights:– The power of a specific ask and why most change efforts fail– How to reframe a problem so that the people who resist it become its biggest advocates– Why defensiveness, not disagreement, is the real roadblock, and the one move that eliminates it faster than any argument– The million dollar leadership advice she gave to Zohran Mamdani – The Amazon HQ2 cautionary taleGuest Bio:Kathryn Wylde is the former President and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, and the woman the city’s most powerful people call when they need to actually get something done in NYC.Episode Links:Partnership for New York CityKathryn Wylde, Connector of New York’s Powerful, Is RetiringConnect with Us:theliftpod.comLet’s stay in touchSubscribe to The LiftFind Ben online: LinkedIn | InstagramSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
- Jun 9, 202636 min
Friendship at work: Tom Rath on the most underused tool in leadership
People with a best friend at work are *seven times* more likely to be engaged in their jobs. Yet most leaders spend zero budget, zero strategy, and zero intentional effort on workplace friendships. Tom Rath has done the research to understand the power of friendship at work, and how leaders can better foster it. Topic Highlights:– Why Gallup's employee engagement prompt "I have a best friend at work" is its most predictive– The exact number of close relationships we actually need, despite high-achievers chronically under-building this number– Why Tom thinks his book about work friendships is his worst seller– The psychological barrier that’s creating a friendship recession for men in midlife – The "one coffee pot in the office" approach to designing workplaces that create connectionGuest Bio:Tom Rath is a workplace researcher, author, and one of the most widely-read voices on human wellbeing of the last two decades, with over 10 million books sold worldwide.Episode Links:Books by Tom RathThe Start-Up of You by Reid Hoffman True North by Bill George & Peter SimsLittle Bets by Peter Sims Connect with Us:theliftpod.comLet’s stay in touchSubscribe to The LiftFind Ben online: LinkedIn | InstagramSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
About The Lift
Welcome to The Lift, the show about leadership, growth, and getting what we want. On The Lift, we pull up to see the bigger picture from accomplished leaders who know how to get things done in a rapidly changing world. Host Ben Brooks dives deep into a relevant leadership topic each episode and connects the dots to leave you with powerful distinctions that you can use as a leader.
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