Transform Your Workplace

How you feel on Sunday night tells you something real about your relationship with work. Amy Leneker, the author of Cheers to Monday, calls it one of the most honest assessments we have, and she would know. Seven weeks into medical leave after a panic attack, she sat in a doctor's office, got handed a questionnaire, and could not answer a question about what she did for fun.

In this conversation, Amy walks through what she learned from that unraveling and the research that followed. She explains the difference between the stress that helps you perform and the stress that wears you down, and why leaders and their teams so often talk past each other on exactly that point. She shares the zero-to-10 question that opens up a conversation about stress without putting anyone on the spot, her three-step See, Sort, Solve method, and how to separate what you can control from what you cannot.

There is a lot in here you can use this week if you lead people. Including one calendar trick involving a standing Friday appointment with Dr. Green.

About our guest

Amy Leneker is the founder and CEO of the Center for Joyful Work and the author of Cheers to Monday: The Surprisingly Simple Method to Lead and Live with Less Stress and More Joy, published by Wiley in 2026. The book debuted as the number one bestselling business book on the USA Today list. Amy spent more than two decades in leadership, including ten years in the C-suite, before burnout forced a different path. She has studied leadership at Yale, neuroscience at the NeuroLeadership Institute, and stress resilience at Harvard Medical School. She leads an annual national workforce study on stress and joy at work, has trained more than 100,000 people, and hosts the Less Stress, More Joy podcast. She and her family live in the Pacific Northwest.

TIMESTAMPS

• 00:00 Intro and sponsor
• 02:10 The question in a doctor's office she could not answer
• 05:05 The signs she ignored for years
• 05:55 Why your Sunday night mood is honest data
• 07:10 Turning her own burnout into a literature review
• 09:35 Eustress and distress, and why leaders and teams talk past each other
• 11:40 The check engine light and the cost of waiting
• 13:20 See, sort, solve
• 15:25 The stress ruler and the zero to 10 question
• 19:40 Stress and joy are both contagious
• 20:45 Values that leave you out will burn you out
• 24:10 Sorting what you can control from what you cannot
• 26:45 Why the people quickest to offer help are the slowest to ask for it
• 28:50 Cancel a meeting
• 30:20 The Dr. Green calendar story
• 32:35 What leaders get wrong in uncertain moments
• 34:45 Stress thrives in isolation

A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST Podcast: Transform Your Workplace, sponsored by Xenium HR Host: Brandon Laws

In Brandon's own words: "The Transform Your Workplace podcast is your go-to source for the latest workplace trends, big ideas, and time-tested methods straight from the mouths of industry experts and respected thought-leaders."

About Xenium HR Xenium HR is on a mission to transform workplaces by providing expert outsourced HR and payroll services for small and medium-sized businesses. With a people-first approach, Xenium helps organizations create thriving work environments where employees feel valued and supported. From navigating compliance to enhancing workplace culture, Xenium offers tailored solutions that empower growth and simplify HR. Whether managing employee relations, payroll processing, or implementing impactful training programs, Xenium is the trusted partner businesses rely on to elevate their workplace experience. Discover how Xenium can transform your workplace: Learn more

Mentioned in this episode: Xenium HR Leadership Cohorts

Connect with Amy Leneker: Website LinkedIn Cheers to Monday

Connect with Brandon Laws: LinkedIn Instagram About

Connect with Xenium HR: Website LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube

You wrote the announcement, rehearsed it, sent it, and a week later the questions rolled in anyway. In this episode, communication strategist Lee Caraher explains why most workplace communication fails on delivery, not message, and what to do about it. She shares a practical three-send formula for making any announcement stick, a protocol for deciding which messages belong in email, Slack, or a meeting, and a test for knowing whether your message actually landed. Silence and nodding, it turns out, are the clearest signs it didn't. Lee also makes the case for retiring the feedback sandwich for good and shows how to remove the ambiguity that quietly creates conflict, starting with how you assign a deadline.

About our guest Lee Caraher is the founder and CEO of Double Forte, a national public relations and digital media agency based in San Francisco. A communication strategist known for practical solutions to big problems, she is the author of Millennials and Management and The Boomerang Principle. This is her third appearance on the show.

TIMESTAMPS

• 00:00 Intro and a word from Xenium HR Compensation Services
• 02:00 Why communication fails on delivery, not message
• 05:30 The three-send formula for big announcements
• 08:00 Building a receptacle for questions
• 10:30 Mixed messages and the four parts of delivery
• 13:00 Yes-people and why leaders need truth-tellers
• 14:30 Using AI tools to critique your own delivery
• 16:00 Reading the room and adapting your style
• 20:45 Which messages belong in which channel
• 25:00 The case for a weekly leader email
• 25:45 Nodding heads mean they didn't get it
• 34:00 Crisis, apologies, and losing control of the narrative
• 38:20 What a real deadline includes
• 43:30 Throw away the feedback sandwich

A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST Podcast: Transform Your Workplace, sponsored by Xenium HR Host: Brandon Laws

In Brandon's own words: "The Transform Your Workplace podcast is your go-to source for the latest workplace trends, big ideas, and time-tested methods straight from the mouths of industry experts and respected thought-leaders."

About Xenium HR Xenium HR is on a mission to transform workplaces by providing expert outsourced HR and payroll services for small and medium-sized businesses. With a people-first approach, Xenium helps organizations create thriving work environments where employees feel valued and supported. From navigating compliance to enhancing workplace culture, Xenium offers tailored solutions that empower growth and simplify HR. Whether managing employee relations, payroll processing, or implementing impactful training programs, Xenium is the trusted partner businesses rely on to elevate their workplace experience. Discover how Xenium can transform your workplace: Learn more

Connect with Lee Caraher: Website LinkedIn

Connect with Brandon Laws: LinkedIn Instagram About

Connect with Xenium HR: Website LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube

Stress has become so normal at work that plenty of people wear it like a badge. Justin Hai wants that to change. He is the co-founder and CEO of Rebalance Health and the author of Stress Nation, and he studies what our always-on habits do to our stress, our sleep, and our health.

Justin breaks down cortisol, the hormone he calls the body's alarm system, and explains why it gets stuck in the on position when we never put the phone down. He makes the case that sleep is the first thing to protect, not the last, and that most of the shortcuts people reach for are treating symptoms instead of the cause.

Brandon and Justin also get practical. You will hear simple changes you can make with your phone, your evening routine, and your schedule to feel more like yourself again. They talk through why in-person connection lowers stress, the real difference between stress and anxiety, and why running your work life on four hours of sleep is a decision you would never make behind the wheel.

If stress has become a badge of honor on your team, this one is worth sharing with them.

About our guest Justin Hai is the co-founder and CEO of Rebalance Health, a company focused on cortisol and hormone health backed by clinical research. He is the author of Stress Nation: Escape the Technology Trap, Eliminate Stress, and Reclaim Rest, published by Wiley. Before Rebalance, he co-founded Alastin Skincare and GLO Pharmaceuticals. He holds a degree in industrial design from RISD and an MBA from Pepperdine. His work centers on how modern technology disrupts cortisol, sleep, and overall health, and what people can do to get back into balance.

TIMESTAMPS

• 00:00 Intro and sponsor
• 01:35 Why stress belongs on a workplace podcast
• 02:20 How your devices are making you sick
• 04:40 Cortisol, your body's alarm system
• 07:20 Why protecting your sleep comes first
• 09:15 What throws your cortisol out of balance
• 11:30 Your phone as a trigger and the trap of social media
• 14:40 The real cost of being always on
• 16:45 Practical habits to reset your phone and routine
• 19:40 Why in-person connection beats a screen
• 23:00 Stress versus anxiety
• 24:45 In-person versus remote work
• 27:10 JOMO and the power of being present
• 30:10 Would you run your life on four hours of sleep
• 32:40 Tracking stress and what your body already knows
• 36:30 Simple tips for better rest
• 38:35 Finding hope, and where to find Justin

A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST Podcast: Transform Your Workplace, sponsored by Xenium HR Host: Brandon Laws In Brandon's own words: "The Transform Your Workplace podcast is your go-to source for the latest workplace trends, big ideas, and time-tested methods straight from the mouths of industry experts and respected thought-leaders."

About Xenium HR Xenium HR is on a mission to transform workplaces by providing expert outsourced HR and payroll services for small and medium-sized businesses. With a people-first approach, Xenium helps organizations create thriving work environments where employees feel valued and supported. From navigating compliance to enhancing workplace culture, Xenium offers tailored solutions that empower growth and simplify HR. Whether managing employee relations, payroll processing, or implementing impactful training programs, Xenium is the trusted partner businesses rely on to elevate their workplace experience. Discover how Xenium can transform your workplace: Learn more

Connect with Justin Hai: LinkedIn Instagram Website

Connect with Brandon Laws: LinkedIn Instagram About

Connect with Xenium HR: Website LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube

Most leaders think self-awareness means understanding their patterns. Cam Yenokida sees where that falls short. The executive coach and founder of Achieve Excellence explains why intellectual self-awareness alone never changes anything, and what it takes to turn insight into new behavior.

Cam and Brandon get into the quiet reality of senior leadership, where the higher you climb, the less room you have to think out loud. They talk about what actually makes a leader coachable, why assessments are a starting point and not an answer, and how a simple look at your calendar can reveal where your attention is really going.

Cam spent 20 years in corporate leadership before starting his own practice. He shares the turnover problem that became a defining moment, the two-year onboarding approach behind it, and what separates leaders who are good from those who become excellent.

About our guest

Cam Yenokida is an executive coach and the founder of Achieve Excellence, based in Lake Oswego, Oregon. He spent more than 20 years in corporate leadership before starting his own practice, and he has facilitated over 200 leadership and team development workshops. Cam coaches leaders at every level, from solo entrepreneurs to senior executives, using a systematic approach built around diagnostics, planning, implementation, and follow-up. His focus is on helping leaders move from understanding their patterns to actually changing how they show up.

TIMESTAMPS

• 00:00 Welcome and why pay is a quiet driver of turnover
• 01:00 Meet Cam Yenokida
• 02:00 The patterns that pulled Cam toward developing leaders
• 04:00 The turnover problem that became a defining moment
• 05:00 Why onboarding should last two years, not 90 days
• 09:00 Leaving a 20 year career to start Achieve Excellence
• 11:00 The identity shift of becoming the brand
• 14:00 The blind spot of self-awareness that stays intellectual
• 16:00 Turning awareness into real behavior change
• 18:00 Why senior leaders lose room to think out loud
• 20:00 Helping teams say what usually goes unsaid
• 22:00 Assessments as a starting point, not an answer
• 24:00 The three signs of a coachable leader
• 27:00 Leading with clarity and auditing your calendar
• 31:00 What moves a leader from great to excellent

A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST Podcast: Transform Your Workplace, sponsored by Xenium HR Host: Brandon Laws In Brandon's own words: "The Transform Your Workplace podcast is your go-to source for the latest workplace trends, big ideas, and time-tested methods straight from the mouths of industry experts and respected thought-leaders."

About Xenium HR Xenium HR is on a mission to transform workplaces by providing expert outsourced HR and payroll services for small and medium-sized businesses. With a people-first approach, Xenium helps organizations create thriving work environments where employees feel valued and supported. From navigating compliance to enhancing workplace culture, Xenium offers tailored solutions that empower growth and simplify HR. Whether managing employee relations, payroll processing, or implementing impactful training programs, Xenium is the trusted partner businesses rely on to elevate their workplace experience. Discover how Xenium can transform your workplace: Learn more

Connect with Cam Yenokida: Website LinkedIn

Connect with Brandon Laws: LinkedIn Instagram About

Connect with Xenium HR: Website LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube

Most leaders treat their technology problems as technology problems. Richard Tarity has spent 26 years watching companies prove otherwise.

In this episode, Brandon Laws talks with Richard, the founder of truCX and author of The Intelligence Within, about why how an organization decides matters more than the tools it buys. They get into how slow discovery quietly kills good projects, why sitting on the sidelines costs more than picking the wrong tool, and how some teams gather more insight in one week than others do in ten months.

Richard shares real stories, including a healthcare company that spent ten months on discovery and still watched the project fall apart, and a utility company that rebuilt its customer operation in weeks after a major storm. Along the way, he walks through a four-step framework for making faster decisions without cutting corners.

If you have ever sat through a long, careful process and wondered why it still led nowhere, this conversation will give you a clearer way to think about the choices facing your team.

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Richard Tarity is the founder and CEO of truCX, a discovery platform that helps organizations align, plan, and decide faster when they choose new technology. He has spent 26 years in customer experience and technology, guiding companies through business transformations and seeing firsthand where those efforts succeed and where they stall. He is the author of The Intelligence Within, written for leaders who are tired of slow discovery cycles and want a clearer, faster way to make big decisions.

TIMESTAMPS

• 00:00 Welcome and the book behind the conversation
• 00:10 Technology isn't the bottleneck, deciding is
• 03:08 The illusion of progress and a discovery that failed
• 06:27 The paradox of choice and getting yourself right first
• 08:15 The bigger AI risk, wrong tool or no move at all
• 11:58 Why slow discovery only looks like due diligence
• 15:05 Netflix, Blockbuster, and the price of hesitation
• 17:29 A four-step framework for faster discovery
• 21:37 Blame or structure, what alignment problems really signal
• 24:46 Continuous improvement and tapping tribal knowledge
• 27:56 A utility company's turnaround after the storms
• 32:36 Take the future, what to do this week
• 34:07 Where to find Richard and the book

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• The Intelligence Within by Richard Tarity (Amazon): https://www.amazon.com/Intelligence-Within-Organizations-Breaking-Complex/dp/B0FCCV53C7
• The Intelligence Within on Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Intelligence-Within-Audiobook/B0FRNG1ZN7
• truCX: https://trucx.net
• Richard Tarity: https://richardtarity.com

A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST

Podcast: Transform Your Workplace, sponsored by Xenium HR Host: Brandon Laws

In Brandon's own words: "The Transform Your Workplace podcast is your go-to source for the latest workplace trends, big ideas, and time-tested methods straight from the mouths of industry experts and respected thought-leaders."

About Xenium HR Xenium HR is on a mission to transform workplaces by providing expert outsourced HR and payroll services for small and medium-sized businesses. With a people-first approach, Xenium helps organizations create thriving work environments where employees feel valued and supported. From navigating compliance to enhancing workplace culture, Xenium offers tailored solutions that empower growth and simplify HR. Whether managing employee relations, payroll processing, or implementing impactful training programs, Xenium is the trusted partner businesses rely on to elevate their workplace experience. Discover how Xenium can transform your workplace: https://www.xeniumhr.com/

Connect with Richard Tarity:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rtarity/
• Website: https://richardtarity.com
• truCX: https://trucx.net

Connect with Brandon Laws:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lawsbrandon
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawsbrandon
• About: https://xeniumhr.com/about-xenium/meet-the-team/brandon-laws

Connect with Xenium HR:

• Website: https://xeniumhr.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/xenium-hr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/XeniumHR
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/XeniumHR
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xeniumhr
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/XeniumHR

#TransformYourWorkplace #Leadership #DecisionMaking #DigitalTransformation #CustomerExperience #ArtificialIntelligence #ChangeManagement #BusinessStrategy #Podcast

The job market feels broken to a lot of people right now. Bonnie Dilber has a different read on it. As Senior Manager of Talent Acquisition at Zapier, she looks at hiring data for fun, and she says the problem is not that the jobs disappeared. It is that more people are competing for a pool of roles that has stayed flat, while plenty of work in trades, healthcare, and education goes unfilled.

In this conversation, Bonnie and Brandon Laws get honest about what is actually happening in hiring. They cover the myths job seekers still believe, why AI-written resumes are making recruiters work harder, and how Zapier is using agentic AI interviews and automation across its process. Bonnie also shares direct advice for anyone stuck in a long search, including why your self-assessment is probably off and where the real opportunities are.

If you hire people or are looking for your next role, this one is worth your time.

About our guest

Bonnie Dilber is the Senior Manager of Talent Acquisition at Zapier, where she leads recruiting for the company's business and go-to-market teams. She started her career in education through Teach For America, spent 4 years in the classroom, and moved into teacher development before making the jump to tech recruiting. Today, she is one of the most followed recruiting voices on LinkedIn, and she writes a newsletter for job seekers called Landed.

TIMESTAMPS

• 00:00 Intro
• 02:00 From the classroom to tech recruiting
• 04:00 Why she left education for Zapier
• 07:00 Building a following on LinkedIn
• 09:00 The biggest myth about applicant tracking systems
• 11:00 What the job market actually looks like
• 16:00 AI resumes, fraud, and verifying real candidates
• 18:30 Honest advice for a long job search
• 23:00 How AI is helping Zapier hire
• 30:00 Hiring for roles that may not exist in a year
• 36:00 AI and equity
• 41:00 How to vet new HR technology
• 43:00 Where to find Bonnie

Resources mentioned: Landed BrightHire Zapier What People Want from Work survey

A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST

Podcast: Transform Your Workplace, sponsored by Xenium HR Host: Brandon Laws In Brandon's own words: "The Transform Your Workplace podcast is your go-to source for the latest workplace trends, big ideas, and time-tested methods straight from the mouths of industry experts and respected thought-leaders."

About Xenium HR

Xenium HR is on a mission to transform workplaces by providing expert outsourced HR and payroll services for small and medium-sized businesses. With a people-first approach, Xenium helps organizations create thriving work environments where employees feel valued and supported. From navigating compliance to enhancing workplace culture, Xenium offers tailored solutions that empower growth and simplify HR. Whether managing employee relations, payroll processing, or implementing impactful training programs, Xenium is the trusted partner businesses rely on to elevate their workplace experience. Discover how Xenium can transform your workplace: Learn more

Connect with Bonnie Dilber: LinkedIn Instagram TikTok Newsletter

Connect with Brandon Laws: LinkedIn Instagram About

Connect with Xenium HR: Website LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube

What does it mean to truly see your employees? In this episode, Brandon Laws sits down with Zhou Fang, founder of Intersectional Group LLC, to explore how an intersectional lens can transform the way leaders support their teams. Zhou draws on her experience as an immigrant, multilingual professional, and DEI consultant to unpack what most organizations get wrong about inclusion, how to hold people accountable with warmth and compassion, and why your people are your most important business decision. Whether you're leading a team of five or five hundred, this conversation will challenge you to do better and give you the tools to start!

Key Timestamps

00:02 Welcome and introduction of Zhou Fang, founder of Intersectional Group LLC

00:33 How Zhou's immigrant experience, coming to the U.S. in 2010, shaped her perspective on the workplace

01:04 "Don't make us feel like an alien": What immigrant workers need from employers

02:12 Defining intersectionality and why it matters for leaders and business owners

04:16 How an intersectional lens helps turn workplace problems into opportunities

07:13 How Zhou developed her intersectional lens through lived experience in the U.S. workforce, not in the classroom

09:51 What good and bad employer experiences taught Zhou about what workplaces should look like

11:40 What most leaders miss when supporting employees on visas or non-citizens

14:32 How to start the intersectionality conversation inside your organization

16:34 The most common misunderstanding organizations make when beginning DEI work

18:34 Why deprioritizing people is a harmful business decision

20:16 Practical, low-cost steps small organizations can take to support their teams

22:06 Balancing warmth and accountability: why they are not opposites

24:52 The difference between empathy and sympathy, and why it matters for leadership

28:16 What Xenium HR does internally to build curiosity and belonging across teams

29:38 How company retreats and shared experiences build connection in remote and hybrid environments

31:12 Topics and conversations happening on Zhou's podcast, The Intersection

34:09 What Zhou is hearing across the HR landscape right now: burnout, mental wellbeing, and the need for flexible policy

36:28 Where to find Zhou and her upcoming April event in Portland

A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST

Podcast: Transform Your Workplace, sponsored by Xenium HR Host: Brandon Laws In Brandon's own words: "The Transform Your Workplace podcast is your go-to source for the latest workplace trends, big ideas, and time-tested methods straight from the mouths of industry experts and respected thought-leaders."

About Xenium HR Xenium HR is on a mission to transform workplaces by providing expert outsourced HR and payroll services for small and medium-sized businesses. With a people-first approach, Xenium helps organizations create thriving work environments where employees feel valued and supported. From navigating compliance to enhancing workplace culture, Xenium offers tailored solutions that empower growth and simplify HR. Whether managing employee relations, payroll processing, or implementing impactful training programs, Xenium is the trusted partner businesses rely on to elevate their workplace experience. Discover how Xenium can transform your workplace: Learn more

Connect with Brandon Laws: LinkedIn Instagram About

Connect with Xenium HR: Website LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube

What separates a leader people want to follow from one they're quietly escaping? Mark Miller, longtime Chick-fil-A executive and co-author of the bestselling book The Secret: What Great Leaders Know and Do, joins Brandon Laws to unpack the timeless leadership framework he helped develop over 25 years of research. With more than 700,000 copies sold and now in its fourth edition, The Secret has reached leaders in 32 languages because it's built on something most leadership books skip entirely: the character beneath the skills.

In this conversation, Mark walks through the SERVE framework, a behaviorally grounded model built on five fundamentals: See the future, Engage and develop others, Reinvent continuously, Value results and relationships, and Embody the heart of a leader. He and Brandon dig into why character is the overlooked "turbocharger" of effective leadership, how most leaders learn by trial and error (and why that fails them), and why the best leaders never stop reinventing themselves.

Whether you're a seasoned executive or a new leader trying to find your footing, this episode is packed with practical, proven insight you won't want to miss.

KEY TIMESTAMPS

[00:00:00] Introducing Mark Miller and The Secret [00:01:00] Why The Secret has sold 700,000+ copies and resonated globally across 32 languages [00:02:00] The iceberg model: why character (90%) matters more than skills (10%) [00:05:00] How new leaders typically learn (trial and error) and why organizations fail them [00:06:00] The key question every leader must ask: "Am I self-serving or a serving leader?" [00:07:00] The origin of the SERVE framework at Chick-fil-A [00:11:00] Breaking down all five fundamentals of SERVE [00:12:00] S: See the future and how to make vision and values stick beyond the wall [00:15:00] The storytelling habit that amplifies culture and gets people to take the vision seriously [00:18:00] E: Engage and develop others, starting with who you hire [00:20:00] Fitting vs. fixing people: how to know when someone needs development vs. a different seat [00:22:00] R: Reinvent continuously and why change is the price of progress [00:23:00] What Mark is personally reinventing right now (even after 13 books) [00:25:00] V: Value results and relationships and why you can't pick one [00:29:00] E: Embody a leader's heart and what a "heart transplant" actually looks like [00:31:00] Heart habits you can cultivate and why willingness is everything [00:33:00] The ministry of presence: why just showing up matters more than what you say [00:34:00] The one habit Mark says is "first among equals": thinking others first [00:36:00] Mark's closing challenge: Don't wait. Start today.

A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST

Podcast: Transform Your Workplace, sponsored by Xenium HR Host: Brandon Laws In Brandon's own words: "The Transform Your Workplace podcast is your go-to source for the latest workplace trends, big ideas, and time-tested methods straight from the mouths of industry experts and respected thought-leaders."

About Xenium HR Xenium HR is on a mission to transform workplaces by providing expert outsourced HR and payroll services for small and medium-sized businesses. With a people-first approach, Xenium helps organizations create thriving work environments where employees feel valued and supported. From navigating compliance to enhancing workplace culture, Xenium offers tailored solutions that empower growth and simplify HR. Whether managing employee relations, payroll processing, or implementing impactful training programs, Xenium is the trusted partner businesses rely on to elevate their workplace experience. Discover how Xenium can transform your workplace: Learn more

Connect with Brandon Laws: LinkedIn Instagram About

Connect with Xenium HR: Website LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube

What if the problem was never the student, but the system? In this episode, Brandon Laws sits down with Beven Byrnes, Executive Director of Bridges Middle School in Portland, Oregon, the only school in Oregon exclusively serving neurodivergent students. Beven shares how Bridges is flipping the script on traditional education through relationship-based teaching, sensory-aware classrooms, and a deep commitment to belonging. But the conversation doesn't stop at the classroom door. Beven connects the dots between what neurodivergent students need to thrive and what employers are still getting wrong. If you're a business leader, HR professional, or anyone who believes every person deserves a place where they can do their best work, this episode will challenge how you think about talent, culture, and what it really means to build an inclusive workplace.

KEY TIMESTAMPS

00:02 Welcome and introduction to Beven Byrnes and Bridges Middle School 00:44 Why traditional school systems fail neurodivergent students 01:50 The power of relationship-based teaching and small class sizes 02:23 Preparing students for the workforce and the gap employers still need to close 03:39 Compliance vs. belonging: Why the model has to change 05:48 Real examples of meeting students where they are, including advanced algebra with a calculator 07:15 What belonging actually looks like and why it unlocks learning 09:34 The role of language in shifting from a deficit to an asset-based approach 10:24 Neurodivergent brains and AI: A blessing, a challenge, or both? 12:12 Project-based learning and why multiple pathways for demonstrating knowledge matter 14:22 Sensory-aware classrooms and how physical environment shapes engagement 16:34 Movement breaks, reset time, and the small changes that make a big difference 17:30 How Bridges rebuilds confidence in students who've been told they don't fit 19:15 Where students go after Bridges and what success looks like long term 22:02 Self-advocacy as a core life skill for the classroom and the workplace 24:19 What neurodivergent employees bring to teams that employers often overlook 25:38 Why inclusive workplaces benefit every employee, not just neurodivergent ones 27:48 Practical steps business leaders can take to better support neurodivergent employees 30:27 Why language matters and how HR professionals can lead lasting change

A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST

Podcast: Transform Your Workplace, sponsored by Xenium HR Host: Brandon Laws In Brandon's own words: "The Transform Your Workplace podcast is your go-to source for the latest workplace trends, big ideas, and time-tested methods straight from the mouths of industry experts and respected thought-leaders."

About Xenium HR Xenium HR is on a mission to transform workplaces by providing expert outsourced HR and payroll services for small and medium-sized businesses. With a people-first approach, Xenium helps organizations create thriving work environments where employees feel valued and supported. From navigating compliance to enhancing workplace culture, Xenium offers tailored solutions that empower growth and simplify HR. Whether managing employee relations, payroll processing, or implementing impactful training programs, Xenium is the trusted partner businesses rely on to elevate their workplace experience. Discover how Xenium can transform your workplace: Learn more

Connect with Brandon Laws: LinkedIn Instagram About

Connect with Xenium HR: Website LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube

If 82% of people lack a time management system and the average worker spends half their day on low-value tasks, what's the real cost of doing nothing about it? In this episode, Brandon Laws sits down with bestselling author Peter Economy, who has written over 140 books, to dig into his latest release, Wait, You Need a Win? The Essential Guide to Time Management, Productivity, and Powerful Habits That Get Things Done. From the neuroscience behind habit formation to the Rocks, Pebbles, and Sand framework, Peter shares practical, immediately actionable strategies for anyone who has ever ended the day wondering where the time went. If you've been meaning to get more intentional about how you work and live, this conversation is your sign.

Key Timestamps:

[00:01] Welcome Back, Peter Economy Brandon introduces return guest Peter Economy and his latest book on time management and productivity.

[00:54] Why 82% of People Still Don't Have a System Peter explains why most people avoid time management and how ingrained habits keep us stuck in low-value routines.

[02:17] The Real Cost of Poor Time Management Research shows the average employee loses about 500 hours per year to unproductive work. Peter breaks down what that means for individuals, teams, and organizations.

[03:24] Phones, Interruptions, and the 23-Minute Rule The average person picks up their phone 96 times a day, and a single interruption costs over 23 minutes of refocus time. The numbers are hard to argue with.

[07:03] The Paradox of Time We think we have all the time in the world. Peter explains why that illusion is one of the biggest obstacles to getting anything meaningful done.

[08:26] Working from Home Like You Mean It Remote and hybrid workers face a unique challenge: the people around them don't always see them as "really working." Peter shares how to establish non-negotiable work boundaries at home.

[10:50] Designing Habits Using Neuroscience New habits mean new brain pathways. Peter walks through how to intentionally build routines that actually stick, starting small and building over time.

[13:18] The Right Way to Use a To-Do List More tasks do not mean more productivity. Peter makes the case for limiting your daily list to three to five high-priority goals and why that constraint is a feature, not a limitation.

[16:03] David Allen's Getting Things Done Framework Peter explains the five-step GTD methodology (capture, clarify, organize, reflect, engage) and why it remains one of the most effective systems for managing commitments.

[17:46] Why "No" Is a Time Management Strategy People-pleasing has deep roots, and learning to say no is harder than it sounds. Peter shares how taking on one too many projects changed his approach for good.

[21:21] Protecting Your Calendar from Meetings You Don't Need Research suggests around 76% of meetings are ineffective. Peter offers a framework for protecting your time by declining meetings that don't warrant your presence.

[23:05] The Rocks, Pebbles, and Sand Framework One of the most visual concepts in the book: why tackling your biggest priorities first is the only way to make sure they actually get done.

[25:14] Rest as a Productivity Tool Powering through is overrated. Peter makes the case for taking real breaks, getting outside, and prioritizing sleep as essential parts of a high-performance routine.

[27:17] Using AI to Save Time From Otter AI for meeting transcription and action items to organizing project files in Claude, Peter and Brandon trade practical tips for using AI tools to reclaim hours in your week.

[31:01] Is It Your System, or Is It Your Work? Peter closes with the most important question: if you're chronically unproductive, the problem might not be your framework. It might be that you're not doing work you actually care about.

A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST

Podcast: Transform Your Workplace, sponsored by Xenium HR Host: Brandon Laws In Brandon's own words: "The Transform Your Workplace podcast is your go-to source for the latest workplace trends, big ideas, and time-tested methods straight from the mouths of industry experts and respected thought-leaders."

About Xenium HR Xenium HR is on a mission to transform workplaces by providing expert outsourced HR and payroll services for small and medium-sized businesses. With a people-first approach, Xenium helps organizations create thriving work environments where employees feel valued and supported. From navigating compliance to enhancing workplace culture, Xenium offers tailored solutions that empower growth and simplify HR. Whether managing employee relations, payroll processing, or implementing impactful training programs, Xenium is the trusted partner businesses rely on to elevate their workplace experience. Discover how Xenium can transform your workplace: Learn more

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