Career Blast in a Half

Most senior leaders don’t get underpaid because they lack talent. They get underpaid because they negotiate after their leverage has already peaked. In this episode, I sit down with Kathryn Valentine, one of my favorite leaders in the negotiation space to unpack how compensation power is actually won and why so many high performers realize it too late. Kathryn is the CEO of Worthmore Strategies an...

Most people think effort compounds automatically. Do enough. Try long enough. Eventually, it works. This episode challenges that belief. Execution Without Leverage is about what happens when productivity becomes camouflage. When being busy replaces being effective. Nick Laudano spent 30+ years building a successful tech career. An acquisition ended it overnight. What followed was a year of discipl...

Episode Title: This Shit Works. But Only If You Stop Lying to Yourself I Julie Brown Most Executives don’t fail because they lack talent. They fail because they avoid slow, unglamorous behaviors that don’t reward the ego immediately but compound relentlessly over time. Julie Brown, author of “This Shit Works” dismantles the biggest lies professionals tell themselves about networking, visibility, a...

This week, we're framing the executive job search through a sales lens. I sat down with my friend and sales trainer Carlos M. Garcia to unpack why most executives stall. It's not because of the market, but because they refuse to see the job search as a sales process. Sales isn’t persuasion. It’s decision friction removal. The same skill that closes deals is the skill that earns trust, momentum, an...

Being easy to work with sounds like praise. For many women, it’s actually the beginning of a ceiling. In this episode, Julia Korn unpacks the hidden cost of being agreeable, likable, and low-friction at work, and why those traits so often cap women’s power, visibility, and earnings. We talk about the moment “working hard and keeping your head down” stops working. The subtle signals that tell you y...

While you're preparing for your 2026 big move, decision makers are running a new calculation.   Not "is this person qualified?" But "will this hire move the needle in 12 months?"   The 2026 bounce-back didn't happen.  The market shifted instead.   In this episode, I break down: → Why 2025's playbook is now a liability → The shift from headcount to precision hiring → What boards are really measurin...

The resume has been broken for 200 years. AI just made it worse. I sat down with Matt Alder—25 years in talent acquisition, 11 years hosting The Recruiting Future Podcast. He didn't sugarcoat it. Here's what we unpacked: Resumes and interviews are the 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 effective way to predict job performance (science says so) Only 20% of companies are using AI strategically—the rest are just automating bias...

Most executives think a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) is a lifeline. It’s actually a tombstone. They believe if they just work harder, hit the impossible metrics, and play nice, they can turn the ship around. But here’s the cold reality: A PIP isn't designed for your improvement. It’s a paper trail designed for your termination. It’s a paid interview period—and the clock is ticking.   Why thi...

Do you believe that to be a badass, you also have to be the "B-word"—that you cannot be effective and liked at the same time? Many leaders chase power, thinking it comes from controlling resources—like holding the "car keys" to get what they want. But power and status are not the same thing; power is what you control, but status is how much you are respected. And in the long run, resources follow...

Forget preparing better answers. The fastest way to stand out in interviews, networking, and executive conversations isn’t what you say — it’s what you ask. Most professionals rely on generic questions. And then wonder why they’re forgettable. In this episode, Brenden Kumarasamy — founder of MasterTalk — breaks down the 100, 200, and 300-level question framework and explains why the quality of you...

Most C-suite executives resist group coaching. They think it's beneath them. That they need one-on-one attention. That the cool kids don't do groups. But here's what they're missing: The executives landing fastest aren't going it alone - they're in rooms with other sharp leaders who push them, connect them, and amplify their momentum. Group coaching isn't about splitting attention. It's about mult...

The old idea of “networking” is collecting connections, going wide, showing up everywhere is dead. Everyone is visible. Everyone is accessible. And when everyone blends in, no one stands out. What the market rewards now isn’t reach. It’s resonance. The tight, intentional circles where trust moves faster than volume and where opportunity spreads long before the job posting ever appears. If you’ve b...

Forget the old playbook. The linear career ladder — degree, loyalty, promotions, retirement — is gone for good. Today’s market doesn’t reward tenure, job titles, or waiting your turn. It rewards adaptability, strategic width, and leaders who can go deep without staying narrow. If you’re still measuring success by promotions instead of progress, you’re playing a game that no longer exists.   The re...

Forget the idea that your résumé is doing the talking. It isn’t. And in 2025, the market isn’t hiring the most qualified — it’s hiring the most inevitable. Everyone is polished. Everyone is credible. Everyone is strategic. But only a fraction are legible — and that’s who gets fast-tracked.   Cost of invisibility: Six to twelve months of lost compensation, stalled opportunities, and being quietly p...

Forget “closing the gap.” It’s widening — for the first time since the 1960s. And if you’re waiting for the system to fix it, you’ll be waiting forever. Because as Cindy Gallop says: no one’s coming to save us.   Cost of waiting: Every underpaid year compounds the gap — not just in salary, but in wealth, opportunity, and ownership. This episode isn’t about leaning in. It’s about taking over. Cindy...

Let’s be honest — the call hits harder than you think it will. One moment, you’re leading teams and driving outcomes. The next, your screen goes blank, and so does your sense of identity. But here’s the truth no one tells you: the hardest part of a layoff isn’t the job loss. It’s the identity freefall that follows.   And if you don’t pause long enough to process it, you’ll start reacting — applyin...

Let’s get one thing straight: happiness isn’t the “perk” at the end of success. It’s the precondition for it. Jessica Weiss — Happiness Expert, corporate strategist, and author of Happiness Works: The Science of Thriving at Work — dismantles the myth that happiness is soft, fluffy, or found in a corner office. Spoiler: it’s measurable, trainable, and completely within your control. Jessica spent 1...

Forget being the unshakeable parent. Your kids don’t need perfection — they need to see recovery in real time. Because when layoffs hit, routines collapse, or rejection stings… your response becomes their blueprint for resilience. Every career setback is a parenting masterclass — if you let it be. Cost of silence: a generation that confuses failure with danger. Cost of honesty: courage passed down...

2025 was the year of playing not to lose. 2026 belongs to the ones willing to break the system.   Safe is the new stuck. If you’re still polishing your résumé, chasing recruiters, or applying like it’s 2015, you’re invisible.   This isn’t motivation—it’s a warning. The market no longer rewards experience; it rewards relevance.   Inside:   The lies you’re still buying: “Keep applying.” “Keep tweaki...

Loyalty used to earn you a pension. Now it earns you a pink slip. Nick Passarelli has protected billion-dollar companies from risk—and realized the biggest one was believing loyalty still mattered. From Wall Street to crypto to fintech, he’s watched good people blindsided for playing by outdated rules. This isn’t about layoffs. It’s about liberation. Stop renting your security from a company that...

Executives over 40 are polishing themselves into irrelevance. New résumé formats. AI-ing to death, noodling over every tweak and keyword hack. Titles that don’t matter.  All distractions. And none of it wins interview momentum or the offer Here’s the only question that does knowing this: “What urgent and expensive problem do you have the unfair advantage to solve?” That’s not theory—it’s survival...

Being “Qualified” Won’t Get You Hired I Gina Riley This week, Gina Riley isn’t pulling any punches – teasing out the highlights of her new book,  Qualified Isn’t Enough. We leave nothing behind, cracking open with the truths most executives don’t want to hear—but need to: Why résumés are an illusion – receipts, not strategies. The blind spots that sabotage even the best pedigrees. Why thought lead...

My Severance Is Running Out. Now What? Three Moves That Matter. Most people treat severance like a parachute. Safe. Cushioned. Time to drift. Wrong. Severance isn’t a parachute—it’s a timer. And when it hits zero, panic sets in, options shrink, and desperation takes over. This episode is about flipping that script. Turning panic into power with three moves that matter: Stop polishing, start positi...

The Truth About PE Jobs: High Stakes, Hidden Rules, and Hard Lessons I Kit Lisle Private equity looks glamorous—fast money, big titles, big exits. But the glossy promise hides a brutal truth: most execs flame out before they ever cash out. Step into a PE-backed role and three things hit you at once: Culture shock. The rules change overnight. Acronyms fly. Resources vanish. The stamp. Survive a dea...

Why Say Thank You Anyway? I Steve Dalton,  Author of The Job Closer & 2 Hour Job Search   Most thank-you notes are nothing more than polite spam. They’re sent on autopilot, on reflex. That’s why they’re forgettable. But what if your thank you’s worked as a strategy not a formality… Even better, as he fastest way to turn a stranger into an advocate, to be referred, and re-invited? Steve Dalton—...