Category Archives: Career

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The Science of Predicting and Changing Human Behavior – Episode 562 (M02)

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It’s time to unveil our second (of twelve) books we’re featuring in 2025. That’s right. In case you’re late to the party, Read to Lead has moved from a weekly show to a monthly show. That means only a dozen books will get the spotlight this year.

The next book in our line-up is Mindmasters: The Data-Driven Science of Predicting and Changing Human Behavior by Sandra Matz. What’s it all about? Let’s dive in.

There are more pieces of digital data than there are stars in the universe, says Sandra. This data helps us monitor our planet, decipher our genetic code, and take a deep dive into our psychology.

As algorithms become increasingly adept at accessing the human mind, they also become more and more powerful at controlling it, enticing us to buy a certain product or vote for a certain political candidate. Some of us say this technological trend is no big deal. Others consider it one of the greatest threats to humanity. But what if the truth is more nuanced and mind-bending than that?

In Mindmasters, Sandra, a Columbia Business School professor, reveals in fascinating detail how big data offers insights into the most intimate aspects of our psyches and how these insights empower an external influence over the choices we make. This can be creepy, manipulative, and downright harmful, with scandals like that of British consulting firm Cambridge Analytica being merely the tip of the iceberg.

Yet big data also holds enormous potential to help us live healthier, happier lives—for example, by improving our mental health, encouraging better financial decisions, or enabling us to break out of our echo chambers.

With passion and clear-eyed precision, Sandra shows us how to manage psychological targeting and redesign the data game.

Mindmasters is a riveting look at what our digital footprints reveal about us, how they’re being used—for good and for ill—and how we can gain power over the data that defines us.

I hope you’ll click the play button below to learn more about Sandra and her new book.

Join in on our chat below

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Closing the Courage Gap with Margie Warrell – Episode 561 (M01)

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This episode marks the launch of our new release schedule. Just 12 books are being featured this year, and the first of those 12 comes from an author who has made three previous appearances on the show.

Her name is Dr. Margie Warrell. She isn’t just a bestselling author—she’s a globally respected speaker, coach, and advocate for courageous action.

Her newest book is called The Courage Gap: 5 Steps to Braver Action, and I’m thrilled you’re about to hear her wisdom on how to tackle self-doubt, take more meaningful risks, and step boldly into the life you’ve always imagined.

Margie’s perspective on living bravely couldn’t be more timely, and I know you’re going to walk away from this episode feeling challenged and inspired to close your own courage gap.

Do you sometimes hold back when you know you need to speak up or step forward?

Fear creates the gap. Courage closes it.

Margie’s powerful guide cuts through the hype to connect the ‘why’ of courage to the ‘how’ of courage.

Drawing on cutting-edge research woven together with stories that compel head and heart, The Courage Gap will help you bridge the think/do gap between what you’ve been doing and what you can do; between where you are and where you want to be—in your career, relationships, leadership, and life.

Distilling theory and hard-won wisdom spanning from Margie’s childhood in rural Australia to her decades of living around the world and coaching ‘insecure overachievers’ in Fortune 500 organizations, Margie shares a powerful 5-step roadmap to reprogram the self-protective patterns of thought and behavior that sabotage success to bring your bravest self to your biggest challenges and boldest vision.

At a time when courage seems in short supply, in a culture continually stoking insecurity and anxiety, this book will transform your deepest fears into a catalyst for your highest growth and the greatest good.

Applying the five steps will:

  • Ignite passion and unlock the potential fear holds dormant
  • Rewrite the scripts that have kept you stuck, stressed, and living too safely
  • Reset your ‘nervous’ system and embody courage in critical moments
  • Transform discomfort as a cue to step forward and expand your bandwidth for bold action
  • Reset your relationship to failure and make peace with the part of you that wimps out

For leaders, The Courage Gap provides a guide to operationalize and scale the courage mindset across your team and organization to deepen trust, dismantle silos, foster innovation, accelerate learning, and unleash collective courage toward a more secure and rewarding future.

I hope you’ll click the play button below to learn more about Margie and her new book.

Join in on our chat below

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560: Game-Changing Reads: 11 Books Every Leader Needs – Part 2

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In this two part, year-ending series, I unpack the eleven book that should be a part of every leader’s library. If there are any books on this list you haven’t yet made time for, I suggest you carve out time in 2025 for each of them.

In last week’s episode, I covered books #11 through #6. This week, I walk through the top #5.

In that there are 11 books on the list, you can dedicate a month to each, giving yourself a bit of extra time to get through the last of them as the holidays get under way in November and December.

You have two ways to engage with this week’s content. You can simply scroll down and read through the list. Or, if you prefer, click the play button below and allow me to present them to you.

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556: 9 Steps for Making Progress in Your Career with Michael B. Horn and Bob Moesta

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Every single year, an estimated 1 billion people switch jobs worldwide. A lucky few stumble into the role of their dreams, but hundreds of millions are disappointed.

What if, when looking for a job, you could make more informed choices to better select the opportunity you seize? What if the power to move along your career paths lies with you, as opposed to hiring managers or the market?

According to the “Jobs to Be Done” theory of product design—customers don’t simply buy products; they recruit them to do specific jobs that solve a problem. 

Job Moves adopts this model to view jobs as positions we “hire” to help us make progress in our lives and careers.

Based on research conducted with over a thousand professionals at all stages of their careers, Ethan Bernstein, Michael B. Horn, and Bob Moesta find that this notion bears out no matter your age, stage, or trajectory.

Key to this new, universal approach is understanding our priorities at the specific moment when we make each move. This team has created a process to help individuals identify the current circumstances driving them to look for new opportunities, the experiences they hope to gain in a new job, what tradeoffs they’ll gladly make in return, and how to learn-before-switching if a new job will deliver.

The result encourages job seekers to look beyond a title or company for a more holistic view and ask not what you can do in a job, but what a potential job can do for you.

Full of useful activities and tools, Job Moves offers the timeless framework of our generation to help anyone create a career that will be happier and more fulfilling.

I hope you’ll click the play button below to learn more about Ethan, Michael, Bob and their work. For a summary, just keep scrolling.

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555: Lead with Your Values to Advance Your Career with the Wharton School’s G. Richard Shell (an Encore Presentation of Episode 381)

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I am extremely fond of today’s special guest for a lot of reasons, not the least of which he has the distinction of being one of my first ten guests ever.

richard shell

G. Richard Shell first visited the show in episode #008 way back in August of 2013, almost 8 years ago.

We talked about his, then, new book Springboard. Today, we’re diving into his latest book called The Conscience Code: Lead with Your Values, Advance Your Career.

It’s driven by dramatic, real-world examples from Richard’s classroom, today’s headlines, and classic cases of corporate wrong-doing. The book shows you how to create values-based workplaces where everyone can thrive.

Richard wrote the book, he says, to point to a better path; one that recognizes that conflicts are coming, learns to spot them, then follows a research-based, step-by-step approach for resolving them skillfully.

By committing to the Code, you can replace regret with long-term career success as a leader of conscience.

I hope you’ll click the play button below to learn more about Richard and his work. For a summary, just keep scrolling.

Join in on our chat below

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