People Business is a weekly podcast exploring human nature in the workplace. Every business is in some way a "people business" and it's often how we manage these dynamics that leads to long-term success or failure.
Latest Episodes
How Work Gets Done (and Evolving it for AI) w/ David Dean
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- People Skills
- People Strategy
- Personal Growth
- Uncategorized
Creating Companies Where People Thrive w/ Charlie Judy
Charlie Judy is the Chief People Officer at Intelligent Medical Objects (IMO). He leads a collaborative effort to manage a culture and employee experience that attracts, connects, and advances a world-class workforce. Charlie has over 26 years of experience as an HR executive with some of the world’s most prominent professional services firms, including Baker Tilly, Navigant, and […]
The Hierarchy of Employee Needs w/ O’Brien McMahon
This special episode was previously aired on the Gut + Science Podcast in 2021. In it, host Nikki Lewallen interviews our own O’Brien McMahon on The Hierarchy of Employee Needs and his perspective on what employers can do to meet the needs of their people. In the conversation, O’Brien outlines a basic framework and gives examples of how employers […]
Reducing Friction w/ Loran Nordgren
Loran Nordgren is the first repeat guest here on People Business. In this conversation, he talks about his book, The Human Element, and the framework he and his co-author have built for helping people reduce the friction that new ideas face when brought to life in the real world. Loran is one part behavioral scientist, one part […]
Building Your CORE w/ Chet Scott
Chet Scott is the founder of Built to Lead, a band of coaches that believes creating sustainable high-performance teams is not only possible but also worthy of the effort. Together they awaken, challenge, and transform a few individuals, teams, and leaders. In this conversation, he explains the basic tenets of his work and shares a foundational exercise […]
Design Thinking w/ Nicole Dessain
Nicole Dessain is the Founder and Chief Employee Experience Designer at Talent.Imperative Inc, an employee experience design company. During her 19-year career in human resources, Nicole discovered design thinking while collaborating on a client project. She became a student of the method and got certified by IDEO U and LUMA Institute and is now a SESP Lecturer […]
The Future of Work w/ Claire Haidar
Claire Haidar is CEO and Founder of WNDYR and Pattyrn, two companies focused on shaping the world of work. Through AI-driven data analysis of how and where teams work, Pattyrn is transforming organizations to work in ways that were inconceivable a mere few years ago. Claire has dedicated her career to rebuilding the workplace and reshaping the future of […]
Perform at Your Best w/ Dr. Erik Korem
Dr. Erik Korem is a High-Performance pioneer that introduced sports science and athlete tracking technologies to collegiate and professional (NFL) football. He has worked with the National Football League, Power-5 NCAA programs, gold-medal Olympians, Nike, and the United States Department of Defense. Erik is an expert in sleep and stress resilience, and he is the Founder […]
Negotiate Better Outcomes w/ Derek Gaunt
Derek Gaunt is a lecturer, author of Ego, Authority, Failure©, and trainer with 29 years of law enforcement experience, 20 of which as a team member, leader, and then commander of hostage negotiations teams in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. As a member of the Black Swan Group, he is a negotiation trainer and personal coach. Derek has […]
- All Episodes
- People Skills
- People Strategy
- Personal Growth
- Uncategorized
How Work Gets Done (and Evolving it for AI) w/ David Dean
David Dean is an author, speaker, and business AI realist who explores how artificial intelligence reshapes work, judgment, and accountability in organizations. Rather than focusing on AI capabilities, he examines the human elements that remain essential: how people navigate uncertainty, where accountability lies when AI assists decisions, and what holds organizations together when technology accelerates […]
Self-Funding w/ Spencer Smith
Spencer Smith is a Senior Vice President at Pareto Health, a leading employee benefit group captive manager that helps midsize employers reduce health insurance costs and volatility. He is also the host of Self-Funded with Spencer, a podcast focused on self-funded employee benefits plans and the complex healthcare ecosystem. Mentioned on the Show Learn more about […]
Dignity Bridges the Gap w/ Dr. Donna Hicks
Dr. Donna Hicks is an Associate at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University and the former Deputy Director of the Program on International Conflict Analysis and Resolution (PICAR). She facilitated dialogues in numerous unofficial diplomatic efforts in the Middle East, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Colombia, Cuba, Libya and Syria. She has taught courses […]
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/srikaza Get Sri’s book, Unconventional: https://a.co/d/d9swnpB O’Brien and Sri discussed the […]
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, […]
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-hyman Learn more about Function Health […]
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 […]
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 […]

