What if the world's greatest opportunities aren't found in polished systems, but in the messy, broken ones everyone else avoids?

In this episode of Power & Impact, I sit down with Jeff Sprecher, founder and CEO of Intercontinental Exchange, which is the company behind the New York Stock Exchange. Jeff's approach is simple: find what's complex and overlooked, and make it clearer, more efficient, and more trustworthy. That mindset led him to take on the New York Stock Exchange when it had fallen out of favor and rebuild it into one of the most powerful financial and data networks in the world.

We talk about how to recognize opportunity in chaos, how technology can simplify even the most complicated systems, and what that looks like across industries. We also explore the impact of AI on jobs and the shifting path from education to work. Jeff is candid about the disruption ahead, but optimistic about where it leads.

This is a conversation about how to think in a changing world — and where to look when the next opportunity isn't obvious.

What can we learn about leadership from someone as unconventional — and as consequential — as Donald Trump?

In this week's Power & Impact, I sit down with a good friend of mine, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, and his colleague Steven Tian to discuss their new book, Trump's Ten Commandments: Strategic Lessons from the Trump Leadership Toolbox. Jeff leads the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute at the Yale School of Management, where Steven serves as director of research.

Jeff has spent decades studying leadership at the highest levels, and what I've long respected about his work is that it's grounded in curiosity and academic rigor. When I asked why he chose to take this on, his answer was straightforward: You can't understand leadership by studying only the leaders you admire.

In the book, Jeff and Steven draw on years of research, CEO forums, and conversations with more than 50 insiders — from family members to senior advisers — to better understand how President Trump operates.

What they've identified are 10 tools in Trump's leadership toolbox. They're the patterns he returns to when making decisions, commanding attention, and exercising influence. The goal of the book is to step back and examine how power is exercised. It's particularly important given the president's impact on politics, business, and culture.

Whether you agree with Trump or not, understanding how his style of leadership works can be valuable. I think you'll find my conversation with Jeff and Steven thoughtful, balanced, and worth your time

As artificial intelligence spreads across industries, entire categories of work are beginning to change — and some roles are disappearing faster than expected.

In this week's Power & Impact, I spoke with Jo McKinney of the Board of Innovation, a firm that works with companies on emerging technologies. She shared a piece of advice she's been giving to people trying to navigate this uncertain moment:

Instead of focusing only on which AI tools to learn, re-imagine your profession from scratch. If your field — marketing, law, finance, or something else — were created today with AI already part of the system, how would it work? What tasks would disappear? What would humans do better? What new capabilities might suddenly become possible?

In other words, don't just ask how AI can help you do the same job faster. Ask how the entire job might be reimagined. That shift in thinking may turn out to be one of the most valuable skills anyone can develop in the years ahead.

Jo shared several other ideas about how people and companies can prepare for what's coming next. If you're thinking about how AI might affect your own career, I hope you'll take a few minutes to listen to the full Power & Impact conversation.

In this week's Power & Impact, I sat down with venture capitalist Maria Palma. I was struck by the range of her journey — from growing up in Wisconsin to Harvard Business School, leadership training at GE, and startup work across the globe. Today, she invests in some of the most promising AI-driven companies.

While many frame AI as a tool for efficiency, Maria sees a bigger opportunity: entirely new capabilities, businesses, and creative frontiers. She's already watching children use AI to launch projects — even small businesses — offering a glimpse of how dramatically the next generation may reshape the world.

We also discussed what she looks for in founders: independent thinking, comfort with ambiguity, and "resource magnetism" — the ability to attract talent and momentum. The best builders, she believes, feel driven to create whether or not anyone is watching.

Our conversation covered leadership, entrepreneurship, robotics, education, and the future of work. If you're curious where technology — and opportunity — are heading, this episode is worth your time.

In this week's Power & Impact, I sat down with venture capitalist Maria Palma. I was struck by the range of her journey — from growing up in Wisconsin to Harvard Business School, leadership training at GE, and startup work across the globe. Today, she invests in some of the most promising AI-driven companies.

While many frame AI as a tool for efficiency, Maria sees a bigger opportunity: entirely new capabilities, businesses, and creative frontiers. She's already watching children use AI to launch projects — even small businesses — offering a glimpse of how dramatically the next generation may reshape the world.

We also discussed what she looks for in founders: independent thinking, comfort with ambiguity, and "resource magnetism" — the ability to attract talent and momentum. The best builders, she believes, feel driven to create whether or not anyone is watching.

Our conversation covered leadership, entrepreneurship, robotics, education, and the future of work. If you're curious where technology — and opportunity — are heading, this episode is worth your time.

Some of the most meaningful decisions we make are about how we give — our time, our resources, and our attention — and the example we set in the process.

In this week's episode of Power & Impact, I sit down with George Corton, founder of First Philanthropy, to talk about what thoughtful generosity looks like today. We discuss why giving in America has long been rooted in personal values and family traditions, and how the most effective philanthropy begins with clarity about what matters most.

George shares what he's seeing as new wealth flows into cities like Miami and how the traditions shaped by leaders such as Carnegie and Rockefeller continue to influence modern giving. We also explore practical questions: how families can organize their philanthropy, involve the next generation, and use tools like AI to support research while keeping human judgment at the center.

AI is changing how we create.

In this week's episode of Power & Impact, I sit down with Elley Cheng, CEO and co-founder of Useful Arts, to examine what happens to creativity when intelligence becomes programmable. Trained as an engineer, Elley now focuses on advancing creative rights in a world where generative AI is built on the work of artists, writers, and musicians.

We discuss how intelligence reflects the systems behind it, shaping whose work is elevated and how value is assigned. As AI shifts from assisting creators to generating content at scale, the stakes center on authorship, ownership, and the future of creative labor.

Co-hosted by my Worth Media Group colleague Eva Crouse, this conversation looks past the tools to the larger responsibility we carry: to protect human originality and ensure creativity remains grounded in human judgment and intention in an AI-native world.

Markets move in cycles. Companies endure — or they don't — based on the decisions leaders make when conditions are uncertain.

In this episode of Power & Impact, I sit down with Marc Cooper, CEO of Solomon Partners, to talk about what the current M&A environment is teaching us about durability. Beneath the headlines about slower deal flow and shifting valuations, there's a more important story unfolding: private equity portfolios aging, capital waiting for clarity, and management teams deciding whether to hold, sell, or reinvest for the long term.

Marc shares what he's seeing across the market — from renewed activity in larger transactions to the early "green shoots" in the middle market. We discuss the pressure facing funds that expanded during the zero-interest-rate years, the reality of price discovery, and why 2026 may bring a steady return of movement rather than a dramatic surge.

After five decades in business, I've learned that lasting firms are built on discipline, perspective, and the willingness to act when the moment calls for it — even when the answers aren't perfectly clear.

This week's episode of Power & Impact is a wide-ranging conversation with Perry Ellis International CEO Oscar Feldenkreis about immigration, entrepreneurship, family legacy, and how businesses adapt across generations.

During our conversation, Oscar draws on his Cuban-American roots and a family history shaped by displacement and resilience to reflect on how that background continues to inform his definition of success, leadership, and responsibility.

He traces the evolution of his business — from early efforts to serve the Hispanic consumer with culturally specific shirts like guayaberas, to building and re-positioning globally recognized brands such as Perry Ellis. Along the way, Oscar shares candid lessons from navigating public markets, activist investors, the decision to take the company private, and the importance of long-term institutional knowledge at the board level.

Our conversation also explores how technology and AI are reshaping the apparel industry and why philanthropy remains inseparable from the Feldenkreis family's values. Woven throughout is a clear message about humility, hard work, and stewardship: building something that lasts means honoring the past while staying willing to change.

In this week's Power & Impact, I sit down with Kelly Williamson, a senior leader at the global advisory firm APCO to talk about what actually sustains a career and a company when the world keeps rewriting the rules.

Kelly shares her path from intern to executive at APCO, and why trust and relationships have mattered more than any five-year plan. We talk about leading through uncertainty, navigating AI and geopolitical change, and why empathy, values, and critical thinking are no longer soft now essential leadership skills but soft ones.

The discussion spans the future of work, the disappearance of traditional entry-level roles, and what young people need to learn now for jobs that don't yet exist. Kelly explains how organizations make decisions under pressure, why trust has to be built before a crisis hits, and how leaders who stay grounded in values are better equipped to guide teams through disruption.

If you're leading a team, hiring talent, or rethinking what a "career path" even looks like today, this conversation offers clarity and a reminder that in a fast-moving world, relationships still matter most.