Lead the Team (Top 2% of Podcasts)

Would you panic? Keval Hutheesing, CEO of Cygnet.One, was 25 when he suddenly became responsible for 900 people—in the middle of a crisis. No playbook. No certainty. And hundreds of people counting on his decisions. Most people think leadership in moments like that is about having the "right" answers. That’s the mistake. As Keval told me: “I didn’t have all the information… but I had our core goals and vision.” This raises a few uncomfortable questions for leaders in a crisis: - What do you do when you have to make an important decision with incomplete—or bad—data? - What if hesitating is higher risk than making the wrong call? - When the pressure is on what actually guides your decisions? Amateurs panic. Great leaders create direction. That’s how his team stayed aligned, customers stayed supported, and eventually they achieved success and became even stronger. What’s helps you stay calm under pressure?-----Connect with the Host, #1 bestselling author Ben FanningSpeaking and Training inquiresSubscribe to my Youtube channelLinkedInInstagramTwitter

Getting AI WrongArun Varadarajan, Chief Commercial Officer at Ascendion, reframed how I think about why so many AI initiatives are failing.“90% of projects fail because people don’t spend enough time defining the problem.”Not because the technology failed or the team wasn’t smart enough.It's because leaders started building BEFORE they got clear on what actually needed to change.So what looked like AI progress was really just motion without transformation.And once leaders DO identify the real problem, many still don’t move boldly enough to create meaningful change.They get stuck in pilots.Experiments.Incremental improvements.But never challenge the “untouchable” systems and ways of working that have existed for years.And when that happens, the real transformational impact of AI never materializes.The organization just falls further behind while thinking it’s making progress.Arun shares with us the leadership conviction and organizational courage to get AI right.Where do you think most organizations are still getting AI wrong?-----Connect with the Host, #1 bestselling author Ben FanningSpeaking and Training inquiresSubscribe to my Youtube channelLinkedInInstagramTwitter

The Scaling MistakeHightouch CRO, Josh Kanagy, showed me how companies scaling fastest right now are creating their biggest future leadership problem.Companies are obsessed with scaling:• systems• process• AI• automationYes, those things matter.BUT there’s a real danger when leaders start believing scaling the system automatically scales the company.Josh learned that the hard way in a humbling quarterly business review early in his career.Because systems don’t build judgment, create confidence, or develop leaders ready for the next level.People do.The best scaling companies aren’t just building better systems.They’re building people who can rise with the company.THE BEST SCALE PEOPLE.In this conversation Josh also shares:• The humbling QBR that changed how he leads.• Why great sales leaders think like community builders.• The AI battle most executives don’t realize they’re fighting.And once you hear where Josh learned that philosophy… it changes how you think about leadership.Are we scaling our systems faster than we’re scaling our people?-----Connect with the Host, #1 bestselling author Ben FanningSpeaking and Training inquiresSubscribe to my Youtube channelLinkedInInstagramTwitter

Do you know BRUCE?Andy Freed, Chairman of Virtual, Inc. has seen Bruce Springsteen nearly 100 times, and was so inspired by what he saw that he wrote a book about it.......Lead Like The Boss: The Bruce Springsteen Framework to Elevating Your LeadershipWhat Andy took from those shows completely changed how he leads.For instance at the end of every show, Bruce walks to the back of the stage……and personally acknowledges every single band member.For about 10 seconds each, he makes them feel like the most important person in the world.Andy saw that and thought:"Isn’t that the job of a leader?"But it raises bigger questions…Why can a rock concert hold attention for 3 hours…while an executive loses the room in 3 minutes?When did leadership become about slides…instead of connection?Most leaders are focused on:what they need to saywhat they need to get donewhat they need to presentBruce is focused on:what the audience feelshow the moment landshow people walk awayThat’s the difference.I’ve been in rooms where the strategy was right……but the leader lost the room in 60 seconds.And I’ve seen the opposite—where the message wasn’t perfect……but the leader had people leaning in, locked in, all the way through.That’s not an accident.That’s intentional.So here’s the real question:Are you trying to be heard…or are you trying to make people feel something?-----Connect with the Host, #1 bestselling author Ben FanningSpeaking and Training inquiresSubscribe to my Youtube channelLinkedInInstagramTwitter

Why Leave Success?monday.com CRO Case George once got career advice he never expected.After decades at IBM a close mentor looked at him and said: “I’ll deny it if you tell anybody… but I think you should leave.”It was unexpected but that advice changed everything for Case.He went on to help scale billion-dollar revenue organizations and now leads global revenue at monday.com, a platform used by 200,000+ organizations worldwide.You'll also discover:• Why great mentors sometimes push you out of comfort• The strategy that grew monday.com into a $1.5B+ company• What happens when your response times drop from 24 hours to 2 minutes?----He shared with me that you don’t fully appreciate what you’ve learned… until you’re forced to use it somewhere new.Do you believe ambitious leaders leave successful companies earlier to grow faster,or can they do it where they are?-----Connect with the Host, #1 bestselling author Ben FanningSpeaking and Training inquiresSubscribe to my Youtube channelLinkedInInstagramTwitter

They Said Don’t.Andrew Brandman, COO of DailyPay and a former leader at the New York Stock Exchange, knows risk takingWhen he decided to join the NYSE back in the day, everyone told him he was making a mistake.“Everyone was saying to me, don’t do it!.”He did it anyway.That decision didn’t just work out — it actually put him at the center of transforming a 200+ year old institution and reshaped the trajectory of his entire career.But it wasn’t just the risk.It was why he took it.He saw a mission big enough to matter.A chance to impact not just a company…but the people behind it — the ones whose lives are affected by every decision.It's a call to action for leaders at every level...- How often are we evaluating opportunities based on comfort… instead of impact?- What if the best career decisions don’t feel safe at all?- What if consensus is actually a warning sign?And how do you know when to ignore smart people… and trust your instincts anyway?-----Connect with the Host, #1 bestselling author Ben FanningSpeaking and Training inquiresSubscribe to my Youtube channelLinkedInInstagramTwitter

Fastest Tech Adoption in History.Zoom COO Aparna Bawa was right in the middle of it...helping lead the company as the entire world moved onto one platform in a matter of weeks.For work.For school.Even for final goodbyes.I sat down with Aparna to understand what leadership actually looked like in that moment.One decision changed it all...They turned Zoom on for K–12 schools across the U.S.—for free.No perfect information.No time to overanalyze.Just a call that had to be made.And as she put it:“Never once thinking about whether it’s a great opportunity for Zoom…it was about the obligation to help people get that human connection.”That’s leadership.Not certainty, but responsibility.And when things did break (because of course they did), her mindset was just as clear:“You cannot blame the customer. You have to own it, fix it, and move forward with humility.”If you’re leading through pressure right now, making decisions without all the answers...this conversation is worth your time.And if someone came to mind while reading this… send it to them.Because this a powerful of example of leading team in the uncertainty..-----Connect with the Host, #1 bestselling author Ben FanningSpeaking and Training inquiresSubscribe to my Youtube channelLinkedInInstagramTwitter