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Why do we struggle with conflict even when we know it's important? In today's polarized and high-stakes workplace, leaders are more afraid than ever to say the wrong thing or engage in tough conversations. But avoiding conflict doesn't protect relationships, it slowly breaks them. In this episode, Bob Bordone, Senior Fellow at Harvard Law School, shares why conflict isn't something to fear, but something to practice and turn into a tool for connection. You'll learn how to build conflict resilience by recognizing your default conflict style (fight, flight, freeze, fawn, or fester), why avoidance is the "slow kill" of meaningful relationships, and how to approach disagreement with assertiveness and empathy. We also tackle how to know when to engage in conflict and when to let it go, handling workplace tension and generational differences, why most workplaces misunderstand psychological safety, and why grace—not censorship—is the antidote to cancel culture. This episode will show you why discomfort isn't something to run from and give you the mindset and tools to handle conflict with more clarity, confidence, and care.

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The way we manage people today is built on ideas from over 100 years ago—ideas designed for factory floors, not modern workplaces. Management was originally created to enforce control, standardize behavior, and ensure compliance. Engagement, empowerment, and innovation? None of those were part of the equation. And yet, many organizations still operate with that outdated playbook, whether they admit it or not. In today's Leadership Spark, I break down how the roots of management are still shaping the way we lead today, and why that must change. From the rigid philosophies of Frederick Taylor and Henry Fayol to the mindless "yes sir" culture revealed in David Marquet's story as a submarine captain, we explore the dangers of blind obedience, outdated control models, and transactional leadership. You'll also hear how even the words we use, such as manager, employee, and work still reflect an antiquated, dehumanizing view of the workplace. Things are changing, and if you want to lead the future, better start rejecting the "slave driver and cog" model now and build cultures based on trust, empowerment, and shared responsibility.

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Many students graduate high school today without having read a book cover to cover. Many students struggle to learn to read at all. How did this happen? Listen as educator and author Doug Lemov talks with EconTalk's Russ Roberts about the failed fads in reading education, the mistaken emphasis on vocabulary as a skill, and the importance of background knowledge for thinking and reading comprehension. Lemov and Roberts also discuss their love of difficult-to-read authors, the power of reading in groups, the value of keeping a reading journal, and how even basketball can be more enjoyable when we have the right terminology.

What if your success as a leader, parent, or partner depends less on IQ — and more on emotional intelligence?

On today’s episode, we sit down with Dr. Travis Bradberry — best-selling author and one of the world’s leading voices on emotional intelligence (EQ). With over 5 million books sold, including his latest The New Emotional Intelligence, Dr. Bradberry has spent decades studying how EQ shapes performance, relationships, and well-being.

In this conversation, we explore what emotional intelligence looks like in action: how it shows up in leadership under pressure, how it impacts the quality of your relationships, and what happens when it’s missing.

You’ll learn:

• Why EQ often outperforms IQ and technical skills as a predictor of success
• How to recognize blind spots that undermine relationships and performance
• What leaders with high EQ do differently when stakes are high
• Strategies for cultivating self-awareness and self-regulation
• Why EQ is central to living a “great life”

Tune in to hear Dr. Bradberry share practical strategies for building EQ in the modern world — and why doing so can unlock deeper trust, resilience, and clarity in every part of your life. 

Links & Resources

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Listen to a special episode from Where AI Works, a podcast hosted by Wharton faculty, sponsored by Accenture. The show dives into how artificial intelligence is transforming the way we live and work, with real-world stories and insights from leaders across industries.

In this episode, Wharton professor Serguei Netessine is joined by Tereza Nemessanyi, worldwide director of private equity and venture capital partnerships at Microsoft. Together, they discuss how companies are experimenting with AI to unlock value, why the biggest opportunities lie in high “cost-to-serve” pain points, and why rapid iteration is essential to success in this evolving space.

🎧 Search Where AI Works in your podcast app to discover more episodes, or click this link to follow along: Listen to more episodes

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What product management principles can be applied in an enterprise setting where teams implement a purchased SaaS tool rather than building their own?

The podcast discusses the role of product management in organizations that implement purchased software rather than building it. Melissa Perri emphasizes that product managers still need to evaluate whether the tools solve the right problems, customize them for their needs, and ensure they align with business goals. She encourages teams to practice good product management principles, regardless of whether they own the tools, and to communicate the importance of these practices to leadership.

Episode resources:

Check out Monday dev: http://monday.com/dev

Get a Angel Squad Guest pass: https://go.angelsquad.co/melissa

Check all the podcast episodes here: https://www.produxlabs.com/product-thinking

Du har helt sikkert hørt om MUS. Müske har du ogsü hørt om GRUS, altsü GruppeUdviklingsSamtale. Men vil du have selvledende teams, sü skal du have TUS!

Vi har besøg af to agile coaches fra Sydbank, Lena Thomsen Lind og Kristina Stuhr Jørgensen. De to har nemlig stüet i spidsen for at udvikle konceptet bag TUS.

Det hele startede med, at de spurgte sig selv: “Hvordan får man udviklingen ud i teamsene?” For når vi har individuelle udviklingssamtaler og individuelle mål, så bliver det lidt opad bakke at udvikle sig sammen som team.

Resultatet er blevet et forløb med büde fÌlles workshops og individuelle refleksioner. Lena og Kristina fortÌller, hvordan de faciliterer et TUS-forløb - og hvordan de har lÌrt og tilpasset undervejs.

Med denne episode kan du altsü gøre dem kunsten efter. Du skal blot bruge en produktvision, noget spindelvÌv, en ordentlig bunke post-its og en relativt crazy kompetence-matrix.

👱 Det Vigtigste Først: https://rasmusgothgen.dk/podcast-page

LINKS:

Here's the thing about agile transformations: they almost never work the way they're supposed to. Teams end up more siloed than before, chasing tickets instead of solving actual problems. Klaus Breyer has seen this pattern everywhere, and he's figured out some ways to break it.

Klaus runs product and technology at Edding—yeah, the pen company—but his background is anything but traditional. He learned team coordination by managing 40-person World of Warcraft raids, ran a few startups, and now applies those lessons to building software at a 150-year-old German manufacturer. It's an unusual path that gives him a different perspective on how teams actually work together.

We talked about Shape Up methodology, but honestly, the more interesting stuff was about changing how teams think about their work. Klaus has some pretty specific ideas about when teams are ready to ditch ticket systems entirely, how to spot the early warning signs of assembly-line thinking, and why most agile implementations fail at the mindset level.

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Also, Edding is doing some wild stuff with technology—like building a driver license verification system using invisible conductive ink that smartphones can read. Who knew pen companies were this technical?

What we covered:

[00:51] Klaus's background and how Edding ended up doing serious tech

Quotes worth remembering:

"Almost all teams out there have silos. You can have silos in the smallest teams. You can have silos with three or four people if they are thinking about the work in the wrong way." [11:15]

"One of the biggest signs is when you need to do tradeoffs because the time is running out. And then if you do tradeoffs because the time is running out, most of the times the tradeoffs are then done or led by the engineers because we don't have time to complete this feature." [13:22]