The Lift with Ben Brooks

Ben Brooks
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Ben Brooks (PILOT) on The Lift: real conversations about leadership, growth, and getting what you want at work. On The Lift, we pull up to see the bigger picture from accomplished leaders who know how to get things done in a rapidly changing world. Host Ben Brooks dives deep into a relevant leadership topic each episode and connects the dots to leave you with powerful distinctions that you can use as a leader.

  1. 5d ago

    Replay: Margaret Andrews on managing yourself to better lead others

    Ask almost any leader if they're self-aware and most will say yes. But research shows only 15% actually are. That gap – between who we think we are and how others experience us – is where most leadership development needs to start.  Unfortunately, it almost never does. Margaret Andrews, who has spent two decades teaching this at Harvard, is here to help close the gap. Topic Highlights – Why the best boss you ever had probably wasn't (always) the smartest person in the room  – Six questions that reveal more about your leadership than any 360 assessment will – The difference between changing your personality (you can't) and changing your behavior (you absolutely can) – Why “if you want to change how people think, you have to change how they feel” is the most underused insight in leadership development Guest Bio Margaret Andrews is a Harvard executive education professor, founder of The MYLO Center, and author of Manage Yourself to Lead Others. Episode Links: Manage Yourself to Lead Others The MYLO Center Managing yourself first: Margaret Andrews on self-awareness and leadership Connect with Us: theliftpod.com Let’s stay in touch Subscribe to The Lift Find Ben online: LinkedIn | Instagram See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

  2. Jul 7

    How to fire people properly - Part 2: The logistics of letting someone go with James Bryton and Dr. Dennis Davis

    “You're not a good fit.”  “The company's going in a different direction.” Every manager thinks these phrases are legally safe. But according to attorney James Bryton, they're basically an engraved invitation to a lawsuit. And a lot could be avoided if leaders took a different approach to letting people go. This is part two of our two-part series about letting people go with empathy and dignity. Topic Highlights: – The “middle lane” of firing and why it's where most separations actually belong – Why “not a good fit” is one of the most legally dangerous things you can say in a termination meeting – The thoughtful approach to choreography for letting someone go – Why how a termination ends matters more than almost everything that preceded it Guest Bio: Dr. Dennis Davis is a clinical psychologist and national training director at Ogletree Deakins. James Bryton is Of Counsel at Littler Mendelson, the world's largest employment law firm, and a former civil rights litigator. Episode Links: How to fire people properly - Part 1: When waiting too long goes wrong Connect with Us: theliftpod.com Let’s stay in touch Subscribe to The Lift Find Ben online: LinkedIn | Instagram See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

  3. Jun 30

    How to fire people properly - Part 1: When waiting too long goes wrong with Dr. Dennis Davis

    Most leaders know when someone isn't working out, for months – sometimes years. So why does it take so many of them so long to do anything about it? Dr. Dennis Davis has a theory, and it has a lot more to do with the manager than the employee. This is part one of our two-part series about letting people go with empathy and dignity.  Topic Highlights: – The real cost of the “performing-at-35%-is-better-than-zero” rationalization  – Why the "myth of niceness" is actually the least kind thing a manager can do for an underperformer – The skill/will matrix: a simple diagnostic tool for knowing whether you have a performance problem, a motivation problem, or a fit problem – How PIPs are too often used incorrectly, and what doing so says about your organization's integrity – Why employee success is ultimately contingent on your leadership style Guest Bio: Dr. Dennis Davis is a clinical psychologist and national expert in conflict resolution at Ogletree Deakins, a multinational law firm specializing in labor and employment law. Episode Links: Ogletree Deakins Full Article Connect with Us: theliftpod.com Let’s stay in touch Subscribe to The Lift Find Ben online: LinkedIn | Instagram See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

  4. Jun 23

    Radical engagement: Adam Kahane on working with generals and guerrillas to make change from the inside

    How do you work with people you genuinely can't stand? Not someone who rubs you the wrong way in a meeting. Someone on the opposite side of your moral compass. Adam Kahane has spent 35 years finding that answer in some of the most intractable conflicts in modern history. His conclusion? You don't blow the system up. You find the cracks. Topic Highlights: – The simple tool for moving from blame to agency in any stuck situation – What calling someone your "enemy" can actually cost you – What apartheid learnings say about how systems change from the inside – Why civility and self-regulation are the most strategic leadership skills you'll ever build – The Leonard Cohen framework that might be Adam’s best leadership advice Guest Bio: Adam Kahane is the co-founder of Reos Partners, a conflict resolution facilitator who has worked in over 50 countries, and a member of the Order of Canada.  Episode Links: Reos Partners Everyday Habits for Transforming Systems Collaborating with the Enemy Stanford Social Innovation Review: "Working With Cracks" Connect with Us: theliftpod.com Let’s stay in touch Subscribe to The Lift See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

  5. Jun 16

    The power of building coalitions: Kathryn Wylde on bringing billionaires and union bosses together

    What's the fastest way to kill any chance of actually moving the needle on a big, complex project? According to longtime NYC power broker Kathryn Wylde, it's defensiveness.  Kathryn knows this because she spent 50 years dragging billionaires, union bosses, and city officials into the same room and getting them to agree on the best way forward. And she’s here to share how she did it. Topic Highlights: – The power of a specific ask and why most change efforts fail – How to reframe a problem so that the people who resist it become its biggest advocates – Why defensiveness, not disagreement, is the real roadblock, and the one move that eliminates it faster than any argument – The million dollar leadership advice she gave to Zohran Mamdani  – The Amazon HQ2 cautionary tale Guest Bio: Kathryn Wylde is the former President and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, and the woman the city’s most powerful people call when they need to actually get something done in NYC. Episode Links: Partnership for New York City Kathryn Wylde, Connector of New York’s Powerful, Is Retiring Full Article Connect with Us: theliftpod.com Let’s stay in touch Subscribe to The Lift Find Ben online: LinkedIn | Instagram See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

  6. Jun 9

    Friendship at work: Tom Rath on the most underused tool in leadership

    People with a best friend at work are *seven times* more likely to be engaged in their jobs. Yet most leaders spend zero budget, zero strategy, and zero intentional effort on workplace friendships.  Tom Rath has done the research to understand the power of friendship at work, and how leaders can better foster it.  Topic Highlights: – Why Gallup's employee engagement prompt "I have a best friend at work" is its most predictive – The exact number of close relationships we actually need, despite high-achievers chronically under-building this number – Why Tom thinks his book about work friendships is his worst seller – The psychological barrier that’s creating a friendship recession for men in midlife – The "one coffee pot in the office" approach to designing workplaces that create connection Guest Bio: Tom Rath is a workplace researcher, author, and one of the most widely-read voices on human wellbeing of the last two decades, with over 10 million books sold worldwide. Episode Links: Books by Tom Rath The Start-Up of You by Reid Hoffman  True North by Bill George & Peter Sims Little Bets by Peter Sims  Full Article Connect with Us: theliftpod.com Let’s stay in touch Subscribe to The Lift Find Ben online: LinkedIn | Instagram See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

  7. Jun 2

    Raising the temperature on leadership: The power of third spaces with Therme’s Adam Tanaka

    Here’s a scorching hot take: modern workplaces make it nearly impossible for employees to forge real connections. But according to third space culture expert Adam Tanaka, it’s not the connections themselves that are impossible – it’s the space where they’re (not) happening in. So we took this episode into a wood-fired Finnish sauna pop-up on the Brooklyn waterfront to test his theory.  Topic Highlights: – The power of physical space design to create real human connection  – The case for wellness as infrastructure, not luxury – What the "dinner party rule of six" tells us about why most meetings and offsites fail – The analog advantage: why real human experience offers an exponential premium in an AI-saturated world Guest Bio: Adam Tanaka is the COO of Therme Group US, a global wellness infrastructure company. Adam holds a PhD in urban planning. Episode Links: Therme Group Culture of Bathing (Substack) Building a park in the sky (Robbie Hammond’s TED Talk) Full Article Connect with Us: theliftpod.com Let’s stay in touch Subscribe to The Lift Find Ben online: LinkedIn | Instagram See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

  8. May 26

    From the playroom to the boardroom: What leaders can learn from children's play with tonies’ CXO Ginny McCormick

    No one loves a genuine truth bomb more than kids – unfiltered, no social contract, no concern for how it will land. Ginny McCormick has spent her career figuring out what that kind of radical honesty, and the play that produces it, can teach the rest of us. Turns out the principles that work in the playroom work just as well in the boardroom. We just forgot them somewhere along the way. Topic Highlights: – Why "clarity always wins over complexity" – The "first pancake" ritual: a team practice for normalizing failure that actually works – Why structured gamification at work is inauthentic and what real play actually looks like in an adult environment – What children's unfiltered feedback reveals about the feedback loops most organizations are missing – The one parenting skill that every leader should be stealing right now Guest Bio: Ginny McCormick is the Chief Experience Officer (CXO) at tonies, a screen-free children's audio platform operating in over 100 markets globally. She is a veteran of Disney, Mattel, and Hasbro. Episode Links: tonies Play by Stuart Brown Full Article Connect with Us: theliftpod.com Let’s stay in touch Subscribe to The Lift Find Ben online: LinkedIn | Instagram See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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About

Ben Brooks (PILOT) on The Lift: real conversations about leadership, growth, and getting what you want at work. On The Lift, we pull up to see the bigger picture from accomplished leaders who know how to get things done in a rapidly changing world. Host Ben Brooks dives deep into a relevant leadership topic each episode and connects the dots to leave you with powerful distinctions that you can use as a leader.

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