People Business w/ O'Brien McMahon

O'Brien McMahon
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  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Every business is in some way a “people business” with success or failure often coming down to how leaders manage the people dynamics of their organization. People Business is a weekly podcast focused on what it takes to build and lead a successful, profitable business by navigating the human element.

  1. FEB 10

    Slaying Emotional Vampires w/ Daniel Ratner

    Daniel Ratner is a relationship coach, speaker, and author helping people build healthier connections by recognizing draining patterns and setting stronger boundaries. He is the author of three books, including Emotional Vampires, teaching readers how to protect their happiness from toxic people.  Mentioned on the Show Coach Dan Ratner’s website: https://coachratner.com/Connect with Coach Ratner on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/coach-ratner-45b4678a/Check out Coach Ratner’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thecoachratnerpodcastCoach Ratner on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thecoachratnerpodcastTimestamps (00:00:00) Coach Daniel Ratner sits down with O'Brien McMahon of People Business (00:03:43) What is an "emotional vampire"? (00:07:22) What are some of the red flags for narcissists? (00:08:53) How do we set the right boundaries with manipulative people in the workplace? (00:11:21) How do we protect ourselves against narcissists who love bomb people? (00:12:51) Wisdom about assessing if someone treats people well (or poorly) (00:19:50) Drama Queens and people who play the victim card (00:21:20) Is there a good way to snap people out of the victim mindset? (00:23:43) How do we find that balance between helping people change and knowing when to move on? (00:25:17) How do we build self-esteem in ourselves so it's easier to look at painful truths? (00:28:42) What kinds of activities help people build esteem outside of relationships and work? (00:36:25) What are things introverts can do to still bring positive energy into meetings? (00:41:50) Anything we didn't hit that would be important or any final message?

    46 min

  2. JAN 27

    How Small Businesses Compete & Win w/ Sri Kaza

    Sri Kaza is a business leader and small business advocate with a career spanning corporate strategy, entrepreneurial ventures, and dedicated support for small businesses. He is the author of Unconvention: A Small Business Strategy Guide. Mentioned on the Show Visit Sri’s website: https://sri-kaza.com/Connect with Sri on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/srikazaGet Sri’s book, Unconventional: https://a.co/d/d9swnpBO’Brien and Sri discussed the book The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek: https://a.co/d/iDTdkFG (start with this book, not this one) Timestamps (00:00:00) Sri Kaza joins People Business with O'Brien McMahon (00:02:22) Could you connect your McKinsey background to writing a book on small business strategy? (00:10:36) What's the minimum threshold for making something unique in positioning? (00:12:09) Understanding lifestyle businesses vs. scalable businesses (00:19:50) Simon Sinek's The Infinite Game (00:22:29) How do small businesses with a deeper purpose make trade-offs between business and purpose? (00:28:35) What is meant by customer “intimacy” or customer proximity? (00:38:31) How can a business owner assess their own performance and sharpen your gut? (00:40:31) What are some effective self-reflection practices? (00:45:52) What are the best ways you've seen organizations scale purpose, proximity, and position while keeping the essence of those principles? (00:52:02) Final thoughts from Sri Kaza

    53 min

  3. JAN 13

    The Customer Experience Mindset w/ Mark Fithian

    Mark Fithian is the cofounder of WideOpen, a consultancy that helps organizations achieve sustainable growth through strategic customer experience. Mark’s expertise in CX is informed by more than thirty years of work across industries, partnering with leading brands such as Providence, SAP, PayPal, Optum, IBM, BMW, the American Cancer Society, and Microsoft. Before founding WideOpen, he held leadership roles on both the client and agency sides, as well as in strategic consultancies. Mentioned on the Show Read Mark’s profile on the WideOpen website: https://www.thisiswideopen.com/our-teamConnect with Mark on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markfithian/Get Mark’s book, The CX Imperative: https://a.co/d/316xGzXO’Brien and Mark discussed the book Good Strategy, Bad Strategy by Richard Rumelt: https://a.co/d/9GSTIfN Timestamps (00:00:00) Welcome to People Business with O'Brien McMahon (00:01:45) What is the difference between customer experience and user experience? (00:02:22) And how did you get into this work in the first place?  (00:07:24) What is the purpose of business?  (00:08:35) Why do businesses struggle with customer experience?  (00:11:24) "The Great Distancing": what it is and why it hurts customer experience (00:13:44) What makes good incentives in customer experience?  (00:15:15) How does a business know when they are doing CX well? (00:20:08) How does executive leadership get involved in good CX? (00:32:49) Who should be responsible for customer experience? (00:40:41) Mark's 5 Pillars of Customer Experience (00:44:19) What does strategy mean to you?  (00:55:21) How to get started with customer experience and how to contact Mark Fithian.

    49 min

  4. 12/17/2025

    Taking Control of Our Health w/ Brock Anderson & Tracy Awe from Function Health

    Brock Anderson and Tracy Awe are Directors of Enterprise and Strategic Partnerships with Function Health, a biometric data company helping individuals and groups take control of their health data to live longer, healthier, more productive lives.  Mentioned on the Show Listen to Dr. Mark Hyman on the Huberman Lab podcast: https://www.hubermanlab.com/episode/how-to-improve-your-vitality-heal-from-disease-dr-mark-hymanLearn more about Function Health and their approach to testing and longevity: https://www.functionhealth.com/Review the study conducted by the Integrated Benefits Institute on Economic Impact of Early Disease Detection: https://www.ibiweb.org/resources/economic-impact-of-early-disease-detectionO’Brien gave a shout-out for Peter Attia’s book, Outlive. Available on Amazon here: https://a.co/d/5nSm1XnBrock Anderson on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brock-anderson-16196Tracy Awe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracyaweTimestamps (00:00:00) – Tracy Awe and Brock Anderson join O’Brien McMahon on People Business (00:02:38) – What is Function Health? What is Function Health’s approach to preventative health? (00:10:20) – When should people start preventative health analysis and biometric screening? (00:15:19) – How can companies encourage people to think more long-term about their health? (00:18:48) – Do doctors welcome data from these types of screenings? How can Function members have constructive conversations with their doctors?  (00:31:22) The 5 Types of Medical Consumers: segments of employees and how they use medical benefits. Population health management in practice. (00:38:21) – How does diet and exercise fit into the Function Health approach? How does Function Health support lifestyle change? (00:44:53) The Process: how many blood draws are needed? (00:44:59) Costs: what are the costs associated with bringing Function Health to employees? (00:49:16) What shifts are seen in the business clients of Function Health? Does the conversation about health shift as prevention gets a spotlight? (00:50:33) What ‘add-ons’ does Function Health offer in addition to the core blood panel?

    57 min

  5. 12/02/2025

    System Swap w/ Karl Staib

    This is a fun crossover episode with Karl Staib, host of the Systemic Leader podcast and systems consultant through a company of the same name. In this episode, shared across both platforms, we discuss systems thinking and how we have each built and evolved systems to help us navigate work and life.  Mentioned on the Show Learn more about Karl and his Systematic Leader framework: https://systematicleader.co/Connect with Karl Staib on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlstaibListen to the Systematic Leader podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/systematic-leader/id1535499918Timestamps (00:00:00) — People Business x Systematic Leadership podcast crossover: O’Brien McMahon with Karl Staib (00:02:00) — What is systems thinking? How do you define it? (00:08:15) — “Leaking”: How do you identify the biggest problem in your process? (00:12:45) — What are some best practices in creating a customer journey map? (00:14:27) — Client retention: what systems help keep things fresh for existing clients? (00:17:49) — How do you handle feedback and resistance to change in organizations? (00:23:31) — How humans are more motivated by status than we might think (00:33:14) — How to turn employee appreciation into a system (00:36:33) — When should something be cut out of a system? (00:42:19) — Examples of systems that might surprise people (00:52:54) — Final thoughts and how to contact Karl and Systematic Leader

    56 min

  6. 11/18/2025

    Hiring Workers with Criminal Records w/ Shawn Bushway

    Shawn Bushway has a PhD in economics and public policy from the Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon University and has spent his career in criminology, where he has been recognized as a Distinguished Scholar for the Division of Corrections and Sentencing and a Fellow of the American Society of Criminology. He has published two books and over 100 peer-reviewed articles in journals. Mentioned on the Show Learn more about the Bushway Opportunity Score: https://www.bushwayopportunityscore.com/Connect with Shawn on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawn-d-bushway-91a1494aTimestamps (00:00:00) — Shawn Bushway joins O'Brien McMahon on People Business. (00:03:12) — What’s the origin story for how you got into criminology? (00:05:41) — As a culture in the US, how have our beliefs around crime and criminals changed over time? (00:08:49) — Do foreign countries have other sentiments about criminals?  (00:12:49) — What are the misconceptions and what is the reality around recidivism? (00:26:47) — Which factors should you look for in recidivism? (00:35:38) — What about white collar crime? Is there a higher risk to hiring someone to a white collar job who has committed a white collar crime? (00:43:30) — The Bushway Opportunity Score: helping employers make solid decisions in hiring (00:45:31) — What factors can be considered for offenders in the hiring process?  (00:49:55) — Once these people get hired, are they materially the same as every other employee, or are there differences—maybe positive or negative? (00:56:12) — Closing thoughts and encouragements

    58 min

  7. 11/11/2025

    No More Goal Setting w/ Radhika Dutt

    Radhika Dutt draws on 25 years of experience across industries, continents, and sizes of organizations to write, speak, and consult on innovation and change. Her experience has taught her that goal-setting systems often produce the opposite of what they promise: short-termism, performance theater, and cultures that prioritize looking good over doing good work. In this conversation, she offers an alternative. Mentioned on the Show Get Radhika’s free toolkit to help you switch to puzzle-solving in your business: https://www.radicalproduct.com/toolkit/#OHLToolkitConnect with Radhika Dutt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/radhika-duttLearn more about Radhika Dutt on her website: https://rdutt.com/Timestamps (00:00:00) - Welcoming Radhika Dutt to People Business  (00:03:02) – What is the history of goal setting? (00:06:15) – Is the problem OKRs or SMART goals or goal setting in general? (00:22:02) – Why doesn’t traditional goal-setting work? (00:24:42) – How do institutional incentives fit into your new framework? (00:29:16) – If goal setting doesn’t work, what does?  (00:34:12) – How frequently do leaders need to review and work on this new framework? (00:36:22) – What about goals for individuals? Does goal setting work for people’s individual goals? (00:37:11) – How does puzzle-solving work in a service-related business? (00:40:09) – Do traditional metrics have any role in the puzzle-solving framework? (00:49:39) – How sustainable is using puzzle-solving over traditional goals? (00:53:51) – Using vision statements in the process of solving puzzles in business (00:55:08) – What are the drawbacks of using a puzzle-solving approach over traditional goal setting? (00:57:28) – Get Radhika’s free toolkit to develop the puzzle-solving approach for your business

    1h 1m

  8. 10/21/2025

    Telling Better Stories w/ Neal Foard

    Neal Foard spent more than 25 years in advertising and marketing, creating award-winning campaigns for global power brands like Budweiser, Lexus, and Nokia. Most recently, Neal has gained a following on social media for his inspirational videos about the kindness of everyday people. Mentioned on the Show Learn more about Neal Foard at his website: https://www.nealfoard.com/The "Gen Z" video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiz6-pIYfaEConnect with Neal on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neal-foardNeal’s storytelling course is Storyfire, find it here: https://www.storyfire.net/Timestamps (00:00) - Meet Neal Foard on this week's People Business (03:16) - How did you begin telling stories on social media?  (05:07) - How did you become so good at storytelling? (10:04) - What is your process for capturing stories? (21:07) - How can professionals use storytelling in everyday work situations? (32:34) - How do humor and vocabulary work in storytelling? (48:47) - The one thing.  (56:34) - How do stories enhance business presentations?

    1h 13m
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Every business is in some way a “people business” with success or failure often coming down to how leaders manage the people dynamics of their organization. People Business is a weekly podcast focused on what it takes to build and lead a successful, profitable business by navigating the human element.

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