Direct Application with Matt Harrington

In the Season 1 finale of Direct Application, host Matt Harrington sits down with Dr. David Yeager, bestselling author of 10–25: The Science of Motivating Young People, for a timely and practical conversation on leadership, motivation, and the future of work.

Dr. Yeager’s research challenges one of the most common — and costly — assumptions in organizations today: that young people ages 10 to 25 are inherently immature or incompetent. Instead, he reframes adolescence and early adulthood as a distinct developmental window where status, respect, belonging, and purpose are the primary drivers of engagement and performance.

ABOUT OUR GUEST:

Dr. David Yeager, PhD is a developmental and social psychologist, bestselling author, and professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. He co-founded the Texas Behavioral Science and Policy Institute and is widely recognized for his cutting-edge research on adolescent development, motivation, and belief systems.

Before his research career, Dr. Yeager was a middle school teacher and basketball coach, experiences that deeply inform his scientific work and practical lens on learning and leadership.

Dr. Yeager’s scholarship spans randomized field experiments and developmental science aimed at understanding how social-cognitive processes shape motivation, engagement, resilience, and achievement during transitional phases such as the shift to high school and college. His work has been published in leading academic journals and featured in major outlets including The New York Times Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Scientific American, The Guardian, and The Atlantic.

He is the author of the bestselling book 10–25: The Science of Motivating Young People, which draws from decades of research — including collaborations with renowned scholars like Carol Dweck and Angela Duckworth — and offers evidence-based frameworks for motivating, supporting, and leading young people in schools, workplaces, and communities.

Dr. Yeager holds a PhD and MA from Stanford University and a BA and MEd from the University of Notre Dame. His work challenges outdated assumptions about youth competence and reframes how leaders of all kinds can tap into universal human drives for status, respect, and belonging to unlock potential across generations.

IN THIS EPISODE

Together, Matt and David explore how leaders, managers, and organizations can apply these insights directly in the workplace — without lowering standards or sacrificing results:

• Why the ages 10–25 represent a critical developmental phase that impacts today’s workforce

• How status and respect function as universal currencies of motivation across generations

• What the Mentor Mindset looks like in real-world organizations — from corporate teams to frontline work

• Why traditional “command and control” management backfires with young talent

• How small shifts in communication and feedback can reduce turnover and increase performance

• What leaders can do differently as they prepare for the next generation of workers and leaders

This conversation is packed with research-backed insights, real examples, and clear takeaways for executives, managers, HR professionals, educators, coaches, and anyone leading across generations.

As we close out Season 1, this episode invites leaders to rethink how they motivate, develop, and retain young talent — and how doing so can build stronger cultures, better performance, and more sustainable leadership for the future.

🎧 Available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more
🌐 Learn more at www.HarringtonBrands.com

CONNECT WITH DAVID YEAGER

The Book: 10 to 25 - The Science of Motivating Young People: A Groundbreaking Approach to Leading the Next Generation—And Making Your Own Life Easier

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-yeager-3713905/

University: https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/psychology/faculty/yeagerdshttps://liberalarts.utexas.edu/psychology/faculty/yeagerds

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Bennett Maxwell is a serial entrepreneur whose journey defies the traditional career playbook. Raised in Utah as one of nine siblings in a single-parent household, Bennett learned the art of sales and grit at a young age - knocking doors, selling products, and hustling long before he ever founded a company.

After a two-year Mormon mission in Mexico, Bennett returned home, briefly pursued pre-med, then dropped out to follow his passion for communication and sales. From pest control, AT&T, and smart-home systems to solar, he built his career across multiple industries - eventually co-founding and selling a solar company in his early twenties.

In 2021, he purchased a tiny, delivery-only cookie shop called Dirty Dough, and within three years helped scale the brand to 450+ franchises sold and 100+ locations opened. Along the way, he sparked a very public “cookie war” that drew national attention and only fueled the brand’s momentum.

Dirty Dough was later acquired by Craveworthy Brands, where Bennett now helps franchisees grow scalable models across multiple high-potential concepts.

Behind the scenes, Bennett also transformed his life physically —losing 120+ pounds, restructuring his mindset, and building his own version of sustainability through what he calls the 20-hour work week grind. His approach blends Eastern philosophy, resilience practices, and radical transparency - making his leadership philosophy as unconventional as his entrepreneurial path.

IN THIS EPISODE

Matt and Bennett dive into a fast-paced, energizing conversation about:

• Learning before earning: Why Bennett intentionally changed industries every year in his 20s
• Radical transparency: Including sharing near-bankruptcy stories publicly
• Hiring & firing: Choosing the right leaders—and recovering from choosing the wrong ones
• Advisory boards & mentorship: Why leaders need people smarter than them
• Resilience & mindset: How failure shaped him more than success
• Health & leadership: Losing 120 pounds, quieting the mind, and why physical health fuels business success
• The 20-hour work week: What it actually looks like—and why he believes most work can be automated
• Reinvention: How to pivot again and again without burning out
• What’s next: The future of franchising, CPG, and Craveworthy Brands

CONNECT WITH BENNETT MAXWELL

Website: https://dirtydoughcookies.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bennett.maxwell/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bennettmaxwell/
Craveworthy Brands: https://craveworthybrands.com/

CONNECT WITH MATT / HARRINGTON BRANDS

Website: https://www.HarringtonBrands.com
Direct Application Podcast Page: https://www.harringtonbrands.com/directapplication
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/harringtonbrands
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattharrington802

Direct Application is where leadership theory meets real-life practice. Host Matt Harrington brings on CEOs, founders, creatives, and change agents to unpack the strategies, failures, habits, and breakthroughs that leaders can apply directly to their own work.

In this episode, Matt Harrington breaks down why team meetings are the true playing field of high-performance teams. Drawing from his experience on a state-championship football team, Matt explores how real excellence doesn’t happen in theory — it happens when the team is on the field, working together, making decisions, and holding each other accountable.Whether you lead a small nonprofit, a corporate team, or a growing department, this episode will help you rethink how you structure, run, and maximize the power of your team meetings.In This Episode, You’ll Learn:🏈 Why meetings are the “playing field” where team performance is made—or lost🧱 How structure drives performance, including agendas, roles, and time-bound outcomes🤝 Why accountability belongs to everyone, not just the leader🔄 The power of rotating roles to build ownership, engagement, and effectiveness📉 Why teams are 30–33% more productive when they adopt true teaming modelsDirect Application Questions to Take Into Your Week:- Did your last team meeting start on time and stay focused on outcomes (not just updates)?- Are roles—note taker, facilitator, process observer—being rotated to build accountability?- What one change can you make this week to improve the effectiveness of your next team meeting?You can dive deeper into this topic by reading the companion post: Why Your Team Meetings Aren’t Working - and What High-Performing Teams Do Differently, available now over on our website: https://www.harringtonbrands.com/theblog/2025/10/26/why-your-team-meetings-arent-working-and-what-high-performing-teams-do-differently🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube👍 Like • ❤️ Heart • 🔁 Share • ✔️ Subscribe for more leadership content that’s practical and immediately applicable.

In this Direct Application episode, host Matt Harrington explores what it means to build leadership health the same way we build physical fitness.

As Matt approaches his 40th birthday and begins training with a personal coach, he draws key parallels between strength training and leadership training — emphasizing that real growth isn’t achieved through one-off workshops or occasional retreats, but through daily, disciplined practice.

Matt challenges listeners to rethink their approach to leadership growth:
💪 What’s your leadership “diet”? (What you’re reading, watching, and learning)
🧠 How are you training your mental and emotional muscles for the task of leading others?
🩺 When was the last time you took a leadership health assessment?

Whether you’re a seasoned executive or an emerging leader, this episode will inspire you to craft a sustainable, holistic leadership fitness plan — one that includes coaching, reflection, and continuous learning.

🎧 Listen to Episode 18: Leadership Health Assessment on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.

In this episode of Direct Application, host Matt Harrington breaks down one of the most practical frameworks for high-performance teamwork: the Help/Hinder list — a simple, powerful first agreement that sets the foundation for trust, accountability, and inclusive excellence.

Drawing from his blog “Help or Hinder: The First Agreement of Every Great Team” and decades of facilitation experience, Matt explores how to structure teams for success, not just assemble them.

If your team’s charter defines the “why” and “what,” then this episode dives into the how: the everyday behaviors, agreements, and cultural norms that turn a group of people into a true team. Matt breaks down how simple, shared protocols like a Help/Hinder List can transform meetings, improve accountability, and create environments where every voice is valued.

🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or watch on YouTube

👉 Based on the blog: Help or Hinder: The First Agreement of Every Great Team

In this reflective episode, Matt looks back on his early experiences learning about teamwork alongside his late mother and mentor, Deborah Mackin, a leader in building high-performance, team-based cultures.Matt shares how Deb often began her work with Fortune 500 companies by trying to convince them not to implement teams (the opposite of why they called on her). Her reasoning was straightforward: “The biggest thing about teaming, and the reason I’m trying to convince you not to do it, is because it requires full commitment from leadership to truly change the culture.”This episode explores why teaming isn’t a short-term solution but a sustained practice that depends on consistent leadership behavior. Matt outlines what real leadership commitment looks like—clarifying purpose, investing in people, modeling collaboration, and recognizing progress along the way.Also check out this post by Matt: https://www.harringtonbrands.com/theblog/2025/9/29/leaderships-long-game-why-top-commitment-is-the-bedrock-of-high-performance-teams

An Interview with Cat O’Shaughnessy Coffrin on Direct Application with Matt Harrington

What does it really mean to be authentic at work - without oversharing, burning out, or losing your leadership credibility?

In this episode of Direct Application, host Matt Harrington sits down with Cat O’Shaughnessy Coffrin — executive communications strategist, founder of CaptivatingCo. She has partnered with global brands like Bayer, Starbucks, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce - guiding executives, founders, and C-suites through brand positioning, internal comms, and leadership storytelling.

She’s also a published thought leader, with bylines or features in Fast Company, Business Insider, The Business Journals, Medium, and more —where she unpacks the human side of leadership, communication, and culture.

Together, they explore:

• How to lead with honesty without oversharing
• The risks and rewards of personal storytelling in professional spaces
• Why Millennials' search for purpose has sometimes led to self-exploitation
• How Gen Z is shifting the authenticity conversation- The balance between personal brand and company identity
• What it means to show up authentically on a Monday morning—especially when the stakes are high

Cat shares her journey of building a consulting business while navigating divorce, grief, and reinvention - and how radical honesty on LinkedIn helped her grow her audience from 5,000 to 17,000 in under a year.

Whether you're a CEO, team lead, HR professional, or rising talent, this conversation unpacks how to own your voice without losing your seat at the table.

📝 Resources mentioned in the show: https://www.captivatingco.com/tipsandtools/free-resources-writing-prompts-amp-writing-calendar

🎧 Available on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your leadership content.

#AuthenticityAtWork #LeadershipPodcast #CatCofflin #ExecutiveCommunications #PersonalBrand #DirectApplication #FearlessLeadership #LinkedInGrowth #AuthenticLeadership #MillennialLeadership #GenZWorkplace

In this quick episode, I add to a recent post I did on speed versus momentum.

Speed gets you started, but momentum keeps you going. Discover how to show early wins, sustain long-term results, and lead your team with clarity and purpose in a world obsessed with moving fast.

5 Questions we should be asking our teams is this speed or momentum:

1). What’s driving this push? Are we responding to the tyranny of the urgent (stakeholder optics, deadlines, short-term pressures), or are we aligned with our long-term strategic vision?

2). Are we showing progress or just movement? Can we point to small wins that build toward the larger goal, or are we just moving fast without creating sustainable traction?

3). Do we have the energy to sustain this pace? If conditions shift tomorrow, can our team continue at this level—or are we sprinting in a way that risks burnout and breakdown?

4). Is communication keeping up with our actions? Are we telling the story of progress—helping people feel the momentum—or are we moving so fast that clarity and connection are getting lost?

5). What does success look like in six months? In six years? Does our current approach position us to win just the quarter, or are we building momentum that will still matter in the long run?

Also read my previous post: https://www.harringtonbrands.com/theblog/2025/9/20/speed-momentum-and-the-20-mile-march

Conflict in teams isn’t something to fear—it’s a sign of growth. In this episode, Matt Harrington unpacks Bruce Tuckman’s famous storming stage of team development and explains why conflict is not only natural but necessary. Healthy disagreement signals that a team is maturing, moving beyond surface-level cooperation, and learning to navigate real challenges together.

Matt also explores how innovation depends on conflict. True creativity comes from diverse perspectives, differing opinions, and even controversial ideas clashing to spark new solutions. Without conflict, teams risk settling into groupthink and missing opportunities for breakthrough innovation.

Whether you lead a workplace team, manage volunteers, or collaborate across sectors, this episode will help you reframe conflict as a catalyst for trust, growth, and high performance.

Ever tried putting together a baby crib (or any piece of furniture) without the instructions? Frustrating, confusing, and usually ending with extra screws left over. That’s exactly what it feels like when we ask our teams to perform without clear guidelines, purpose, and structure.

In this episode of Direct Application, Matt Harrington dives deeper into the concept of the Team Charter - the roadmap that keeps teams aligned, accountable, and moving toward high performance. Matt explains why teams get stuck in confusion and conflict, and how a well-crafted charter clarifies mission, roles, decision-making, and expectations.

If you’re leading a board, committee, project team, or organization, this episode will give you practical insight into how to design a framework for trust, accountability, and results.