Leader's Lens

The first 14 days at a company are critical. Find out what Professor of business psychology, Michael Steiner, has to say about how new hires can make the most out of their first 14 days at work. Michael and Jacob discuss the tangible steps you can take to set yourself up for success at a new company and then delve into some of the biggest mistakes leaders make to impact trust. Why is consistency t...

What’s one of the most impactful things you can do to advance your career now?   Jacob sits down with Kurtis Hanni to discuss why data makes the business world go round and how you can leverage those numbers to power your career forward.  As a CFO and consultant who helps business leaders to maximize profitability through increased financial literacy, Kurtis shares his top tips for how listeners c...

In this live virtual event, Jacob talks with fellow podcaster and Conscious Living Facilitator Sukun Chopra about what emotional intelligence is and how it can help reframe the way you think about social conflict.  Why is emotional intelligence important to building great leaders? And how can we use it to stop approaching situations from an egocentric point of view so that we can start paving the...

This week’s pod is talking about all things feedback with two incredible thought leaders in the sales development and HR space, Gabrielle “GB” Blackwell and Hebba Youssef.  GB, Hebba, and Jacob are getting into the nitty gritty about the biggest mistakes managers make when giving feedback and how to counteract it— like feedback that’s not actionable, assuming your employees think exactly like you...

This week Jacob’s chatting with Jasper Pollock, a fractional COO, about Standard Operation Procedures. You'll learn what they are, why they're important, and what tools you can use to create one for your team. Find out how creating a Standard Operating Procedure can set clear expectations for your team and help standardize your company’s systems and processes. Grab Jasper’s SOP template here: http...

In this live virtual event, Jacob speaks with Amy Pechacek, President of the leadership consulting firm, Alpstra, about the intricacies of developing leaders in a remote workplace.   How can leaders better prepare themselves for the challenges of remote work? Jacob and Amy tackle a wide variety of topics, including the importance of trusting your employees, utilizing assertive communication, and b...

In this live virtual event, Jacob sits down with Workweek’s own Director of Education, Ashely Artrip, to discuss the role that effective communication plays in the role of the leader and the employee experience.  They discuss the reasons why so many employees view effective communication as an essential leadership quality, yet so many leaders still fail to provide the level of communication needed...

What does a LinkedIn influencer/writer of an incredible sales newsletter have to say about the importance of a great team development plan?    Gabrielle Blackwell discusses how a killer team coaching plan can increase employee retention rates, encourage a more positive work environment, and stimulate the development of future leaders. She and Jacob also chat about how standardizing core competenci...

Workplace bias is inevitable— so what can we do to disrupt the everyday biases inherent to the workplace?     Just Work cofounders Kim Scott and Trier Bryant stop by the studio to chat with Jacob about the importance of recognizing your own biases, finding impactful ways to measure diversity and success, and the initiatives and strategies that can help overcome diversity challenges.    Plus, which...

How does a scrappy freelancer who turned a $300 company into a million-dollar business choose to make a meaningful impact in the community around her?    Answer: She creates a safe space to help other entrepreneurs make mistakes and ask those technical business questions they may not even know to ask.    Meet Ellen Yin, founder of Cubicle to CEO, who’s coaching others to scale their business with...

As a manager, how do you tow the thin red line between coming off as a cold-hearted jerk and being a complete pushover?   In this live virtual event, Jacob chats with Electric Senior Director of Growth, Seth Steinman, about the concept of radical candor. What is it, and how can it lay the foundation for a more collaborative, receptive, and empathetic workplace?   Then, Jacob and Seth field questio...

Can you name the three most common mistakes founders make when scaling their startup?   Julia MacDonald can, and she’s here to discuss the reasons why startups fail when it’s time to scale.    As the Director of Growth at Darkroom, working for 9-figure brands like Crate&Barrel and Olipop, Julia has seen her fair share of scaling mistakes and is here to dissect some of the most egregious ones....

Why is developing your team’s strengths a leadership priority? One word: Engagement, Jacob is joined by Ashley Artrip, Founder of Mission Collaborative and Head of Education at Workweek to discuss how leaders can maximize team potential. In this episode, recorded as a virtual event, Jacob and Ashley discuss why working with your strengths leads to greater engagement, which lifts productivity, how...

How can you fix a deeply flawed system? Answering this question and more is Hebba Youssef. Hebba is Chief People Officer at Workweek and a fellow creator.  Jacob and Hebba dive into talking about how managers can overcome bias by hiring for complimentary, not matching, skills, why your culture might not be as strong as you think, and some of the common mistakes new managers and founders can avoid...

How do you grow leaders effectively? With a coach who’s used to putting himself on the front line. Meet Matt Wilhelmsen, who has been coaching business leaders in management systems and process scalability for over a decade. Jacob and Matt dive into conversation in this virtual event, discussing why the most successful leaders are often the ones not looking for perfection, how to think about repea...

How do you get the best from a team of one versus a team of one thousand and one? Find out from one of the best leaders out there. Drew Williams is COO at ConGenius, the software platform for general contractors. He’s led teams all the way from startup to globally remote and is ready to open his leadership playbook. Jacob and Drew talk principles versus tactics, why people follow people, and a foo...

Jacob is kicking off Season 1 with a VIP guest. Erica Schneider is Head of Content at Grizzle.io, the agency helping B2B and SaaS surpass their demand generation goals by creating content marketing and SEO programs that excel. Jacob and Erica dive into conversation at this virtual event discussing why communication is key to getting shit done, the frameworks leaders need to communicate effectively...

Great leaders aren’t born great, they’re honed in the fire of failure, ambition, and experience. This is Leader’s Lens, the podcast for leaders battling to scale their leadership, who find themselves constantly fighting fires, and who need the support of a like-minded community. Hosted by Jacob Espinoza, the Fortune 500 leadership consultant turned Non-Profit Director, Leaders’s Lens injects a doe...