CEO Daily Brief with Dr. Jessica Kriegel

In today's episode: We've seen the upheavals for federal workers in the last few weeks, including the "fork in the road" email offering a buyout. Anecdotally, people don't seem to be taking the offer, but there's still plenty of disruption, strategic shifting, and realignment to scrub mentions of DEI. How are federal workers on the ground handling these developments? We'd love to hear from them. C...

In today's episode: Whatever we do regularly, our brains get better at. That includes things like anxiety, avoidance, and pessimism--but also mindsets of growth, optimism, and self-improvement. Negativity and fear can be attractive mindsets, but they only lead to worse results. Sometimes, the answer is to act your way into better thinking, rather than the other way around. Culture Leaders Daily is...

In today's episode: From the AI Action Summit in Paris, it's clear that governments are moving from Fear to FOMO when it comes to AI. Leaders are now interested in getting employees onboard with adopting a digital transformation. The official line is that AI won't replace jobs and will result in higher wages--but so far, we've mostly seen layoffs. Culture Leaders Daily is a daily, five-minute podc...

In today's episode from Merit Street: It's still not clear who will be the AI superpower in the future, but the US is certainly in the running. The winners of the AI race will be the people who get their people onboard--which means the biggest task is shifting minds, not just developing technology. Culture Leaders Daily is a daily, five-minute podcast for CEOs where we dissect the week's biggest n...

In today's episode: Leaders are good at setting goals, but companies need employee buy-in at a fundamental culture level in order to make big changes, like adapting to AI. Pick three goals to focus on, then tell employees, out loud, the mindset you'd like them to have. Employees should know: if they aren't thinking about how to adapt AI into their job, their bosses certainly are. Good leaders will...

In today's episode: The bipartisan State of the Nation Report reveals that America is wealthy, but unhappy. We're doing great in terms of productivity and economic output, but terrible in terms of depression, substance abuse, polarization, trust in government, labor force participation and more. For CEOs, that means a precarious balance. If the social metrics keep getting worse, there will come a...

In today's episode: Jessica recently spoke at a company that has a pretty non-inspirational mission. But employees across the board raved about the company culture. By implementing the same techniques that Culture Leaders emphasizes, the company earned long-term employees who love the work. A strong culture can make any company one that people want to work for. Culture Leaders Daily is a daily, fi...

In today's episode: Workday has another announcement: a big layoff is coming. This as the company is reported to have exceeded its Q4 forecast. These employees aren't being directly replaced by agentic AI; instead, their labor costs will go toward other departments like the ones working on AI projects. In a few years, those jobs might be gone, too. This all comes America is leading the world in ec...

In today's episode: Across the political spectrum, people are outraged. To be effective, outrage needs to be channeled into accountability. The four steps to accountability are: See It, Own It, Solve It, Do It. Identify the problem, focusing on the part in your control, find a solution, and implement it. Leaders need to take accountability and lead their teams into adopting the same mindset. Cultu...

Jim McCann, Founder and CEO of 1-800-FLOWERS, shares his story as an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and thought leader who turned a single flower shop into a multi-billion dollar enterprise. In this conversation, Jim discusses the importance of community connections in business, and his efforts to adapt his business to the age of AI, and the lessons he learned while writing his self-help book, Lode...

In today's episode: Just like some companies were born digital-native, there will be companies that are born AI-native. Older companies need to do the legwork to keep up. Each AI model will have its own strengths. unique strengths and weaknesses. Jim McCann of 1-800-FLOWERS says businesses should find AI-building partners whose models most suit their needs. Culture Leaders Daily is a daily, five-m...

In today's episode: Beliefs lead to actions, which produce results. Skip the "action trap" and focus on getting teams into an adaptive mindset, rather than micromanaging actions. When Oracle made its shift to cloud-based computing, it demanded a mindset shift. They were no longer making short-term hardware sales to IT departments, but selling long-term cloud applications to HR, sales, and finance....

In today's episode: Fear is having faith in something you don't want to happen. Beliefs drive actions, which create results. A mindset based in fear-based beliefs will end with fear-based results. Choosing faith--in yourself, in colleagues, in leadership--allows you to pour effort into positive beliefs, which are more likely to produce the results you're hoping for. Culture Leaders Daily is a dail...

In today's episode: The CEO of Workday says AI agents will soon be built into their technology. When Sarah Franklin of Lattice said this six months ago, there was massive blowback. Now, not so much. Culture doesn't go down without a fight. There was always going to be pushback against changes at this scale, but agentic AI is being increasingly normalized. Culture Leaders Daily is a daily, five-min...

In today's episode: A company has only two options: culture or control. Smaller, in-person companies can get away with culture and values being shared by osmosis. Larger, remote companies need to be more deliberate to achieve the culture they want. Thrive Market documents its values and how they are operationalized at every level of the business. Culture Leaders Daily is a daily, five-minute podca...

In today's episode: Diverse skillsets united behind a shared mission can be a powerful force for success. For Thrive Market's founders, that shared purpose helped them weather dozens of rejections in early seed rounds. They succeeded by partnering with a large number of influencers instead of a few VCs. Culture Leaders Daily is a daily, five-minute podcast for CEOs where we dissect the week's bigg...

In today's episode from Jessica's appearance on Studio Sacramento: Return-to-office mandates are largely caused by employers who want to manage activity, not outcomes. The people most harmed by these mandates are employees who are already struggling to pay for child care, elder care, transportation, and more. To protect yourself from AI-related job losses, it pays to be a change embracer. Learn wh...

In today's episode: A lot of companies had record-breaking December numbers, now that the election uncertainty is finally over. Since economic policy take around 2 years to manifest, we'll still be seeing the effects of the Biden economy for the next year or two. New uncertainties will emerge from the policies and disruptions that a Trump administration is likely to bring. Culture Leaders Daily is...

In today's episode: Employees that believe in a company's mission will go the extra mile. Many applicants--especially younger ones--self-select for companies that align with their values. For Thrive Market, personal examples and references are key steps hiring employees who fit. Culture Leaders Daily is a daily, five-minute podcast for CEOs where we dissect the week's biggest news, unpack hot-butt...

In today's episode from Jessica's appearance on Studio Sacramento: Jessica doesn't want "loyal" employees. She wants employees who are excited about the work, doing interesting things, and believe they're getting paid fairly. If one of those things isn't true, loyalty might lead someone to stay in a position that doesn't meet their needs. That leads to resentment, burnout, and a lose-lose for ever...

Nick Green, Co-Founder and CEO of Thrive Market, shares how the drive to make healthier eating more accessible has shaped the company from the very beginning; from operationalizing its core values to hiring talent whose purpose aligns with the mission. He explains how mission-driven thinking includes setting long-term sustainability goals, finding “non-zero-sum” ways to make an impact, and sharing...

In today's episode: In asking how to balance mission with profits, avoid a binary "yes" or "no." What can be done now? What can be achieved a few years down the line? Some opportunities are non-zero sum; they can achieve mission goals while driving business growth (or just avoiding business harm) Telling stories about the company's efforts to achieve its mission goals can inspire loyalty in custom...

In today's episode: Start with results by making a plan. Choose goals that are meaningful, measurable, and memorable. But we can only control the effort we put into our work, not the final outcome. When it's time to check in, focus on progress, not perfection. By measure success by effort, people feel free to strive higher. Success and failure stay completely within their control. Culture Leaders...

In today's episode, Jessica discusses John Burn-Murdoch's story in the Financial Times: The relationship recession is going global It's not just declining birth rates; fewer people are getting into relationships at all. Those changing demographics change business. Customer-first businesses need to adjust their products to include more solo households and non-traditional structures. Social media ha...

In today's episode: Profit can be combined with purpose. Cisco's Guy Diedrich holds to the phrase, "If we do good, we'll do well." When an outside event impacts a company, it filters through the company's core values and result in some behavior. As long as those values hold firm, a company's behavior remains predictable and consistent. Culture Leaders Daily is a daily, five-minute podcast for CEOs...