In the season two opener of How They Lead, West Peak's co-founders return to unpack the biggest shifts in leadership, people performance, and business since their last series. 

From launching West Peak US, the epidemic of disengaged employees, geopolitical turmoil, AI disruption, and generational divides, this candid episode sets the tone for the future of high-performance leadership.

Key Takeaways

• Leadership must evolve to address rising attrition, disengagement, and post-pandemic workforce expectations.
• Quiet coasting has overtaken quiet quitting as a major issue. Underperformers doing just enough without being held accountable.
• Toxic top performers can be as damaging as disengaged team members if not managed.
• AI integration is here, from AI board seats to team structures involving digital agents.
• Cultural clarity is critical. Values and behavioral expectations must be explicit and consistently upheld.
• Leadership training is no longer optional. The cost of inaction is steep, with replacement costs reaching 2.5–3x base salary.
• West Peak US is live, with events now happening in Austin, New York, and LA.
• Employee-Owned Trusts and scaling startups are actively investing in leadership development.
• Success requires performance AND psychological safety, not one or the other.

Soundbites

• "Your mood equals their mood."
• "Quiet quitting is now quiet coasting."
• "No one joins a company wanting to be an asshole. We create them when we don't hold people to account."
• "You have to put your own oxygen mask on first. Leaders need development too."
• "The cost of replacing someone is now 2.5 to 3x base salary."
• "Culture eats strategy for breakfast, but most businesses still aren't serving culture at all."
• "You can’t challenge performance if you haven’t made your values explicit."
• "Mark Zuckerberg is offering OpenAI engineers $100 million salaries. Good luck competing without culture."

Chapters

00:00 Introduction

01:03 Leadership Landscape Update

02:04 Expansion into the US Market

06:13 Business Growth Breakfasts

09:22 Shifts in Business Performance

12:39 The Impact of Attrition Rates

16:09 Navigating Toxicity and Performance

20:50 Establishing Values for Accountability

22:12 Psychological Safety in Leadership

27:04 Generational Workforce Dynamics

30:38 The Role of AI in Leadership

31:47 Cost of Developing Leaders vs. Attrition Costs

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