CEO Daily Brief with Dr. Jessica Kriegel

In today's episode, Jessica discusses her takeaways from the Sacramento Business Journal's Inclusivity in Business Awards Ceremony: Plenty of leaders still believe in DEI on principle and from ROI, but the political consequences are causing people to stay quiet. Diversity in thought at the leadership level drives results--no matter what it's called. Data is powerful and stories affect people; toge...

In today's episode: Enrollment in trade schools is going up; American culture is growing more accepting of the trades as a career path. As CEOs are trying to predict the ever-changing future, so are young people entering the job market. The trades are safe from AI in the short term, but we still need long-term solutions to handle the future landscape of work. Culture Leaders Daily is a daily, five...

In today's episode: Boeing's culture has seen a turnaround. The key to success has been an emphasis on feedback. Focused feedback starts with positive feedback that recognizes someone for demonstrating the cultural belief you're trying to shift toward, and highlighting how it contributes to results. Then, shift to constructive feedback, starting with "here's how you might demonstrate that belief e...

In today's episode: The magic of growth and adaptability lies in people skills; building the right team for the current situation. Leaders need to surround themselves with people who want to be on the same journey with them. Everyone wants to grow their company, but not everyone wants to do the work it takes to grow successfully. Culture Leaders Daily is a daily, five-minute podcast for CEOs where...

In today's episode: Fortune's latest report shows increasing CEO pessimism. The threat of tariffs will always be present under President Trump; uncertainty is now the name of the game. Leaders and companies need to develop the muscle of being adaptive. Surrender is key; focus on what you can control. CEO Daily Brief is a daily, five-minute podcast for CEOs where we dissect the week's biggest news,...

In today's episode: Values and culture can coexist. Values are a non-negotiable about who we are; culture is about sustained behavioral change. Cultural beliefs don't have to stay forever; they can respond to changing situations, while values are permanent. Leaders need to amplify the beliefs that do lead to results; provide specific feedback that highlights the cultural belief that you want to se...

In today's episode from the This Week in Culture newsletter: Alignment is a perishable asset; in this fast-paced business world, that shelf life is shorter than ever. Some signs of misalignment: constant reprioritizing, conflicting KPIs across departments, and the "meeting after the meeting." Alignment requires consistent effort: weekly check-ins, scoreboards, and recognizing behaviors that aligne...

In today's episode: In the social media age, companies no longer have a firewall between their public image and their internal workings. A company's brand is an external manifestation of its culture. Messy branding--like we're seeing with HBO--is a sign of trouble within a company's culture. CEO Daily Brief is a daily, five-minute podcast for CEOs where we dissect the week's biggest news, unpack h...

In today's episode featuring John Frehse's mother, Dale... We learn that friend of the show (and birthday boy!) John Frehse has no deep, dark secrets from his childhood. He was--and is--a creative, conscientious leader who cares for people who are often forgotten. CEO Daily Brief is a daily, five-minute podcast for CEOs where we dissect the week's biggest news, unpack hot-button workplace trends,...

In today's episode: Proactivity at work has many benefits; it increases meaning, engagement, and change. But that proactivity has a real cognitive cost. Change produces fatigue. Leaders need to build that cost into their thinking. Build in more breaks, schedule proactive time, and make it safe to experiment. CEO Daily Brief is a daily, five-minute podcast for CEOs where we dissect the week's bigge...

In today's episode: Increasingly, employees are opting out of the management leadership track. And it's not because they're lazy. Some people have been the victims of bad leadership; they've seen leaders be inauthentic or too controlling, and they're choosing to put their energy elsewhere. The rise of AI has caused companies to cut middle management and decentralize leadership, but accountability...

In today's episode, we explore three levels of corporate messages regarding AI-based changes within the company: The inauthentic message from Duolingo's leadership is a great example of what not to do--a muddled message about replacing people with AI while also claiming to be people-first. Shopify's CEO took a hardcore approach, committing to AI and expecting every level of the business to adopt t...

In today's episode: ABM's Raul Valentin focuses on the value of fairness and equal opportunity. Consistency in policy across all levels of an organization allows everyone an opportunity to excel. At the same time, fairness can be subjective. There's no one-size-fits-all answer for any policy problem. Culture Leaders Daily is a daily, five-minute podcast for CEOs where we dissect the week's biggest...

In today's episode, we get some lessons on succession planning from the Catholic Church: In these permanently uncertain times, stability is a leadership asset. The Vatican's well-defined system provides a smooth transition. Culture outlasts charisma. An organization's belief systems need to be codified if they're going to survive. There's safety in consensus. Consensus leadership has its pros and...

In today's episode: Workers and businesses alike tend to think they're entitled to more than they actually are from each other. In an era of deteriorating trust, the reality is that nobody should expect more than what's stipulated by laws and contracts. To get what they want, all parties need to create experiences that shape the beliefs of their negotiating partners. In other words, excellence pro...

In today's episode: Investment banking has a culture of long hours and pushing people to the brink; a recent article noted that Baird has a norm of 110-hour work weeks. Ultimately, people know the demands of what they're signing up for in these fields; it's a huge amount of money with high stakes. Not everyone has the privilege to make decisions about money versus work-life balance and other perso...

In today's episode from the This Week in Culture Newsletter: Jessica reflects on "Destructive Generation: Second Thoughts on the Sixties" by David Horowitz and Peter Collier. The book discusses how both men's ideologies shifted radically throughout their lives--and the experiences that led to those changes. Beliefs aren't changed by rousing speeches and debates; they're changed by experiences and...

In today's episode: Google is changing compensation to reward high performers; but metrics for judging "high performance" are always subjective. Calibration sessions can help, but they can also reveal some ugly biases. John and Jessica discuss how group evaluations can feel like a tribunal and quickly become unhelpful. CEO Daily Brief is a daily, five-minute podcast for CEOs where we dissect the w...

In today's episode: The April jobs report was solid; but it may not capture much of the fallout from President Trump's tariffs. In times of big change, companies don't necessarily start with layoffs; they'll begin by holding hiring and adjusting strategy. Culture Partners research shows that an important factor in success is the ability to adapt quickly. It's important for leaders to surrender wha...

In today's episode: Brand and culture are fundamentally intertwined. Connecting people to a brand's big-picture purpose can both serve a mission and drive results. For Denny's, the purpose is to feed people--body, mind, and soul. The company can use those three criteria to make business decisions with a clear direction. Culture Leaders Daily is a daily, five-minute podcast for CEOs where we dissec...

In today's episode: A NYT opinion piece by essayist David Wallace-Wells talks about how world leaders are "surrendering" to climate change by accepting defeat before the battle is over. By contrast, a good leader surrenders the illusion of control while taking accountability for everything within their control. In the case of the climate, there's still plenty that leaders can do to make a differen...

In today's episode: The world is changing too fast for discrete change management "efforts" to succeed. Change is a constant. Change is about the "skill, will, and hill" -- knowledge, employee desire, and the external roadblocks that stand in the way. Executives grossly overestimate change willingness in employees, as compared to middle managers. Change fatigue is a persistent problem. Clarity, al...

In today's episode: Kelli Valade, CEO of Denny's, explains her philosophy that a leader's most important job is to make people feel seen. Her early experiences in the restaurant industry exposed her to a second family who invested in her welfare; she also found restaurants are a place where people come to be seen. Later in her career, a small gesture of connection from Kelli's team allowed her to...

In today's episode: A new executive order basically revokes the disparate impact theory: discrimination is only judged on intentions, not outcomes. The legal liability for discrimination is going down, but that may not change the cultural and societal consequences that come from removing DEI and other programs. Ultimately, this will be a test of strategy and leadership: in the absence of a legal t...

In today's episode: Jessica argues the hype around last week's Blue Origin space flight is privilege masquerading as feminism. John doesn't disagree, but says we have bigger fish to fry regardless, between the economy and geopolitics. CEO Daily Brief is a daily, five-minute podcast for CEOs where we dissect the week's biggest news, unpack hot-button workplace trends, and bring you exclusive interv...