Top Voice Podcast with Michael J. López

Michael welcomes Rahul Garg, a physician-turned-healthcare operator and COO of American Molecular Imaging, to discuss how medicine is changing for clinicians and patients. Rahul traces his path from family and emergency medicine to an MBA, hospital management, M&A, consulting, reinsurance innovation, and investing in health tech, and explains why broader systemic impact and lifestyle considerations drove his transition. They unpack shifting physician demographics, with many clinicians nearing retirement, and generational differences in motivation—from titles to money to time as the new currency. Rahul contrasts emergency medicine’s clear boundaries with family medicine’s ongoing workload, discusses healthcare consolidation and the need for physicians to understand the business of healthcare, and explores how GenAI is reshaping patient expectations and making communication and psychology increasingly essential skills for doctors.

Timestamps:
00:24 Welcome
01:26 Rahul Garg Background
04:23 Physician Demographics Shift
06:17 Lifestyle Over Titles
08:22 Grind and Career Debt
09:36 Family vs Emergency Medicine
12:34 Why Rahul Left Practice
17:29 Impact Beyond the Clinic
18:33 Admins and System Barriers
21:54 Consolidation and Private Equity
23:33 Physician Career Paths Today
27:42 New Patient Expectations and AI
31:26 Why Be a Doctor Now
33:48 Mindsets for Modern Clinicians
36:12 Closing Question and Wrap Up

Connect with Rahul:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-rahul-garg/

Michael welcomes leadership and executive coach Katie O’Brien Ceccarini, founder of Endurance Management Coaching and author of the award-winning book Fearless Feedback, to discuss why feedback is hard and how to do it without losing the relationship. Katie shares her path from early education to Yelp and Opendoor, where she trained managers to handle difficult conversations, and introduces her framework: mindset, relationship, and delivery. They cover tactics like swapping the word “feedback” for “information,” building trust through relationship kickoff and reinvestment conversations, naming which “hat” you’re wearing with close colleagues, and clarifying the purpose of a conversation (instance, pattern, or role fit). For receiving feedback, Katie offers “thank, own, ask,” stresses communication preferences, and notes not all feedback must be implemented.

Timestamps:
00:24 Welcome
02:53 Why Feedback Feels Hard
04:02 Rejection and Identity
06:04 Early Manager Lessons
09:03 Fearless Feedback Framework
10:52 Mindset and Language Shifts
17:11 Close Relationships at Work
21:16 Delivery Purpose Instance Pattern Fit
24:08 Receiving Feedback Well
27:19 Not All Feedback Is Gold
31:28 Relationship Kickoff Conversation
35:27 Key Takeaways and Where to Find
38:31 Closing Question Leadership Story
41:04 Final Thanks

Connect with Katie:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-ceccarini/
https://www.enduranceboss.com

Michael hosts Brad Kapellas, Site Vice President at Entergy’s Grand Gulf Nuclear Station, for a discussion on nuclear plant operations and the practical science of organizational change. Brad explains the industry’s highly regulated, procedure-driven 24/7 environment, the two-year operating cycle, and the high-stakes refuel outage window, where every offline day can cost roughly $1M in lost generation. He argues culture matters beyond compliance because ownership and vigilance prevent problems, and he describes shifting Grand Gulf’s recovery approach by removing non-value-added oversight, empowering decision-making at the lowest level, and focusing on a few behavior changes sustained over 18–24 months. They recount achieving a 28-day outage with strong safety and performance results, discuss later backsliding when fundamentals were assumed ingrained, and share leadership lessons centered on curiosity, constraints, experimentation, and building capability that endures beyond any one leader.

Timestamps:
00:24 Welcome
01:05 Inside Nuclear Operations
04:16 Maintenance and Outage Cycle
06:49 Site VP Leadership Role
08:20 Why Culture Beats Compliance
10:20 Removing Bottlenecks Faster
12:36 Too Much Oversight Trap
15:04 Trust and Empowerment Story
19:09 Refuel Outage Turnaround
24:04 Cost of Downtime Metrics
26:21 Cutting Plans Doing Less
27:47 Behavior Shifts Framework
29:33 Outage Reality Check
31:06 Five Behavior Shifts
32:41 Sustaining Culture Change
35:55 When Momentum Slips
37:12 Change Is A Capability
37:58 Leadership Staying Power
41:44 Reliability Turnaround Story
45:52 Leadership Lessons Learned
52:50 Irrational Decision Question
54:52 Final Thanks

Connect with Brad:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brad-kapellas-08265835b/

Michael's National Workforce Study on Change Management: https://www.michaeljlopez.coach/research

Michael welcomes journalist and creator Natalie Campisi to the Top Voice Podcast to discuss reinventing yourself mid-career after repeated industry upheavals. Natalie traces her path from traditional newsrooms and the Associated Press through a pivot into marketing, then back to financial journalism at Bankrate and Forbes before being laid off in 2025 amid widespread media cuts. She explains how today’s moment differs from 2008 due to changing news consumption, SEO’s decline, AI-driven distrust, and the growing value of trusted human personalities. Natalie shares the Gen X “identity crisis” of job loss, redefining success, and choosing independence by building a YouTube channel, pursuing filmmaking, and learning AI tools for production. They discuss perfectionism, making mistakes, networking, asking for help, and practical advice for experienced professionals navigating career pivots.

Timestamps:
00:24 Welcome
01:27 Natalie Career Origins
04:27 Layoffs and AI Shift
08:08 What Changed Now
11:21 Identity and Success
15:12 Building YouTube Path
18:45 Embrace Mistakes
23:54 Skills and Networking
27:51 Asking for Help
32:20 Next Steps Ahead
34:23 Key Takeaways
37:45 Mentorship Belief Shift
39:13 Where to Follow
39:43 Closing

Connect with Natalie:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nataliecampisi/
https://www.youtube.com/@NatalieCampisi

Michael interviews Mark Cuban about disrupting U.S. healthcare through transparency and direct contracting. Cuban explains how CostPlusDrugs.com sells thousands of medications with disclosed costs and a 15% markup, and how CostPlusWellness.com publishes open-source direct contracts employers can use to contract with providers. He outlines how employer-sponsored and self-insured plans work, why big insurers and PBMs create opacity through networks, denials, spread pricing, and gag clauses, and why direct contracting can lower costs while improving provider yields. Cuban describes a step-by-step approach for employers: avoid long renewals, use AI to review contracts, add carve-outs based on claims spending, and consider independent TPAs. He details PBM pushback, brand-drug rebate dynamics, and argues that using AI and contract transparency can squeeze out middlemen over time.

Timestamps:
00:24 Intro
00:49 Mark Cuban Joins
01:20 Cost Plus Drugs Explained
03:43 Why Healthcare Is Opaque
06:25 Self Insurance Basics
09:02 Direct Contracting Pitch
14:29 Gag Clauses And Games
16:40 How Wellness Works
19:09 Switching Steps With AI
25:14 Denials And Real Stories
30:14 Pushback From PBMs
32:05 Brand Drug Pricing Breakdown
34:54 Making Drugs Affordable
35:37 PBM Threats Explained
37:24 Cost Plus Transparency Model
38:42 Culture Versus Ethics
40:07 Expose The Contracts
42:14 Contract Terrorism
42:50 Why AI Changes Everything
44:32 Employers Must Own It
47:46 Future Without Middlemen
49:09 Education Next To Disrupt
52:47 Using AI For Advocacy
56:09 Practical Advice and Closing

Follow Mark:
https://markcubancompanies.com
https://www.costplusdrugs.com
https://costpluswellness.com

Michael interviews Patrick Cates, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs at USC, Marshall School of Business, about the turbulent “new normal” facing higher education amid political pressures, international student compliance shifts, financial strain, layoffs, leadership turnover, and rapid AI-driven change. Cates argues AI is primarily a culture-change issue, noting universities’ slow, brittle structures—like the 1–2 year peer-review lifecycle—are colliding with the speed of AI. He explains why blanket AI policies often fail in distributed power environments and highlights change via respected faculty examples, including Marshall’s early AI pedagogy paper. Reflecting on USC’s post-2018 culture transformation, he emphasizes operationalizing shared values, measuring culture through people-centered indicators, and prioritizing strong, kind leadership, psychological safety, and adaptability as foundations for higher ed’s future.

Timestamps:
00:24 Welcome
01:27 Meet Patrick Cates
02:48 Higher Ed Turbulence
05:15 Resistance to Change
06:41 Perfect Storm Pressures
10:18 AI as Culture Change
13:59 How Universities Adapt
18:00 USC Culture Journey
20:30 Making Values Real
29:49 Measuring Culture Health
34:56 Culture Over AI
37:04 Psychological Safety
40:27 Key Takeaways
43:09 Walk Up Song
44:18 Where to Connect
44:55 Closing

Connect with Patrick:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickcates/

Michael's National Workforce Study on Change Management: https://www.michaeljlopez.coach/research

Michael welcomes Naphtali Bryant, managing principal consultant at RAC Leadership and former US Marine and chief people officer, to discuss the “curse of competence” and how leaders become bottlenecks by continuing to solve, edit, and rescue instead of building team capability. Naphtali explains that promotions often reward past competence, but leadership requires shifting from having answers to developing others, using the question “Whose growth does this moment belong to?” They cover how dependence shrinks ownership and initiative, why “my team needs to step up” can mean the leader must step back, and practical tactics like restraint, better questions, and telling hard truths. They also discuss culture, leadership inflection points, AI’s impact on leadership value, and when staying an individual contributor may be the best path.

Timestamps:
00:24 Welcome
01:10 Meet Naphtali Bryant
02:39 Marine Corps to Tech Journey
05:38 Defining the Curse
08:45 Whose Growth Is It
11:05 Ego and Restraint
13:10 Inflection Points Mirror
16:03 How Leaders Get Stuck
19:22 Culture and Echo
23:32 Top Down to AI Shift
25:54 AI Changes Leadership Value
28:15 IC vs Leader Path
31:06 Key Takeaways and Closing

Connect with Naphtali:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/naphtalibryant/
https://racleadership.com

Michael's National Workforce Study on Change Management: https://www.michaeljlopez.coach/research

Michael hosts Aditi Joshi, an emergency medicine physician turned digital health leader, to discuss the evolution and adoption challenges of telemedicine and broader healthcare technology. Aditi recounts entering telemedicine in 2013, scaling programs through the pandemic, and now consulting on digital health adoption and scaling. They cover why patients generally like telehealth, why many health tech startups fail due to slow health-system implementation and clinician behavior change, and how required usage plus department-level ownership helped scale telemedicine at Jefferson. They also discuss AI in healthcare, distinguishing administrative “back-end” uses from clinical “front-end” advice, and why confidence, trust, and messaging affect adoption. Aditi shares her book, “Telehealth Success,” and key takeaways on implementation strategy and understanding end users.

Timestamps:
00:24 Welcome and Setup
01:24 Aditi's Telehealth Journey
02:46 Telemedicine Then to Now
04:56 What Patients Really Want
07:07 Why Health Tech Fails
10:40 Clinician Adoption Barriers
16:34 Scaling Across Hospitals
21:02 AI Hype vs Reality
27:19 AI Telehealth Agents
29:01 Book and Consulting Work
31:37 Cost Savings and Incentives
34:00 Key Takeaways and Closing

Connect with Aditi:
https://draditiujoshi.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-aditi-joshi/

Aditis book:
https://a.co/d/08473ukY

Michael's National Workforce Study on Change Management: https://www.michaeljlopez.coach/research

Michael interviews Doug Milliken, former Clorox VP of Marketing and now partner at Kremer & Milliken, a consultancy focused on helping large companies understand and evolve organizational culture to improve performance. Milliken argues culture—defined as behavior and how work gets done—is a primary driver of operating profit and a capability leaders can intentionally manage. He discusses driving change as an “outsider-insider,” a Clorox decision-making initiative where teams discovered faster, Agile-like approaches by gaining agency and clarifying what decision-makers actually needed, and his experience leading Clorox’s digital transformation by building psychological safety, achieving zero attrition, record engagement, and 3x expected financial returns. They also explore rising change fatigue from overlapping transformations (including AI) and efforts to build teams’ capacity to absorb change.

Timestamps:
00:24 Welcome and Guest Intro
01:27 Career and Culture Focus
04:11 Outsider Insider Change Agent
07:13 Decision Making Transformation Story
13:29 Culture as Capital Capability
18:10 Winning Over Skeptical Leaders
22:19 Digital Transformation Culture Proof
27:08 Change Fatigue in the AI Era
34:08 Key Takeaways on Culture
36:47 Hardest Career Pivot Lesson
40:31 Where to Find Doug and Closing

Connect with Doug:
https://creamerandmilliken.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/doug-milliken-3798a01/

Michael's National Workforce Study on Change Management: https://www.michaeljlopez.coach/research

Michael interviews keynote speaker and USA Today bestselling author Simone Knego about her new book, Real Confidence, and why confidence is built like a skill rather than something you’re born with. Simone shares her journey as a mom of six, becoming a grandmother, and a pivotal 2015 decision to climb Mount Kilimanjaro that helped her reframe self-doubt and capability. She explains her REAL method—Respect yourself, Embrace your failures, Ask yourself what you want, and Live without limits—plus a practical “control-alt-delete” reset to change unhelpful thoughts and habits. They discuss high achievers’ confidence gaps, dropping “just” from self-talk, psychological safety and connection at work, and how leaders can use AI without losing human culture.

Timestamps:

00:24 Welcome and Guest Intro
01:23 Simone Journey and Book
03:29 Kilimanjaro Confidence Shift
06:12 Reframing Self Worth
06:54 The Confidence Gap
08:35 REAL Method Overview
09:17 Respect Yourself First
10:40 Embrace Failure to Grow
13:01 Ask What You Want
17:20 Living Without Limits
18:47 Control Alt Delete Method
20:08 Rewrite Your Inner Story
21:35 Thrive At Work Teams
24:17 Imposter Syndrome Promotions
27:06 Drop The Just Rule
29:38 Three Confidence Takeaways
31:23 AI And Company Culture
33:18 AI Confidence Risks
34:43 Where To Find Simone
35:14 Final Thanks And Wrap

Connect with Simone:
https://simoneknego.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/simoneknego/

Michael hosts a special panel episode of the Top Voice Podcast with Zensai leaders Nina Carøe (Chief Human Success Officer), Robin Daniels (Chief Business Officer, repeat guest), and CEO Rasmus Holst to discuss their book The Human Success Playbook and the future of the human-AI experience at work. They explain why Zensai positions itself around “human success” rather than traditional HR, focusing on building high-performance teams through learning, performance, and engagement, and introducing a Human Success Score to give executives a shared language. The conversation covers constant change since COVID, disengagement trends, treating AI as a tool and potential “team member,” and the need for clarity to avoid chaos. They contrast old hierarchical structures with a value-stream “diamond,” emphasize simple values (“human” and “success”), and share practical leadership advice, ending with where to find the book on Amazon and connect via LinkedIn and zensai.com.

Timestamps:
00:24 Welcome and First Panel
01:25 Meet the Guests
03:55 What Zensai Does
05:30 Why Human Success Now
07:06 From HR to Human Success
09:45 Inside the Human Success Playbook
12:11 CEO View No Map for AI
15:40 Chief Human Success Officer
20:33 Culture AI and Clarity
25:36 Hard Choices and Governance
26:17 Hard Cuts vs People
26:58 Why Teams Win
28:43 Rethinking Value Creation
30:15 Map Not GPS Leadership
31:47 From Hierarchy to Diamond
33:48 Values Human and Success
36:58 Why a Leadership Fable
40:38 One Action This Week
42:34 Sensei Future Vision
45:00 Unlearning for AI
47:15 Where to Find the Book
47:50 Closing Thanks and Wrap

Connect with Zensai panel:
https://zensai.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rasmusholst/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ninaelisabethcaroe/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/robingdaniels/

Michael's National Workforce Study on Change Management:
https://www.michaeljlopez.coach/research

Michael talks with labor economist Sania Khan about interim findings from their joint research on AI pilots and why many are stalling. Sania shares her background from the White House, Capitol Hill, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics to serving as chief economist at a unicorn AI company, and explains why leaders must consider workforce strategy as AI transforms tasks across industries. They discuss common failures such as whiplash directives, unclear “why,” token-cost surprises, data access and compliance constraints, and a bifurcated tool experience between leaders and employees. They also cover entry-level hiring slowdowns, workforce opt-outs, rising entrepreneurship, and the need to measure outcomes beyond cost savings. Key takeaways include redesigning workflows, choosing better KPIs, and involving workers early to build trust and adoption.

Timestamps:
00:24 Welcome and Setup
01:10 Meet Sania Khan
03:12 AI and Jobs Outlook
06:13 Research Collaboration
08:10 Early Pilot Findings
10:21 Data Access Roadblocks
13:08 Entry Level Pipeline
15:57 Hiring Slowdown and Entrepreneurship
18:21 Measuring AI Value
23:31 AI as a Culture Mirror
27:02 Three Takeaways for Leaders
30:42 Closing

Connect with Sania:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sania-khan1/
https://www.inflectionpointstrategy.co

Michael talks with Cherian Koshy about his book Neurogiving and how neuroscience and behavioral science explain generosity and decision-making. Koshy, a longtime nonprofit professional, says the goal isn’t to manufacture generosity but to create conditions that make giving easier, emphasizing choice architecture, identity, belonging, emotion, and trust. He explains why metrics and “the business case” often fail, describing decision “gates” such as affective reasoning, identity alignment, and the identifiable individual effect, and argues that logic comes last. They discuss how nonprofits and companies should resequence outreach to prioritize relationship and trust-building, why transactional “pitch-first” approaches backfire, and how AI-driven growth tactics can burn trust and retention.

Timestamps:
00:24 Welcome
01:08 Meet Cherian Koshy
01:37 Why Neurogiving Exists
03:11 Early Fundraising Lessons
07:47 Innate Altruism Explained
13:07 Why Metrics Fail
19:33 Resequencing Trust First
25:47 AI and Trust Cliff
29:30 Key Takeaways on Generosity
35:06 Closing

Connect with Cherian:
https://www.cheriankoshy.com
https://www.labnotes.neurogivingbook.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cheriankoshy/

Michael interviews keynote speaker and seven-time author Charlene Li about her new book and 12-week program focused on leading AI through leadership and strategy rather than technology explanations. Li and co-author Katia Welsh outline a playbook that starts with existing business strategy and builds an AI roadmap to create value over a rolling 18-month horizon, updating quarterly while keeping strategy “in ink” and tactics “in pencil.” They discuss why organizations overthink AI strategy but under-execute, the need to make AI use safe and expected, provide time to practice, and have leaders model usage to reduce stigma. Li describes leaders’ “AI hesitation gap” between FOMO and fear, emphasizes AI fluency through practice, and frames value creation as engagement, productivity, and reinvention supported by governance and coordinated enterprise efforts.

Timestamps:
00:24 Welcome
01:30 Book Focus Leading AI
02:48 Why a Strategic Playbook
04:10 No AI Strategy Needed
06:32 Rolling 18 Month Roadmap
09:17 Why Execution Stalls
11:56 Employee Fears and Trust
13:52 Leadership FOMO vs FOGI
16:58 Build AI Fluency Fast
19:13 Tools Access and Practicality
22:17 Training AI With Context
24:08 12 Week Sprint Foundations
27:09 Efficiency to Reinvention
30:22 Three Key Takeaways
32:11 Career Inflection Point Story
33:48 Closing

Connect with Charlene:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleneli/
https://charleneli.com

On the Top Voice podcast Shawn Gregoire shares his journey from homelessness in Houston after dropping out of Rutgers to finding stability through 14.5 years in the Air Force, teaching himself coding in 2021, and later completing an executive MBA at Brown University and IE Business School. After leaving the service in 2023, moving to the DC area, and taking a Department of the Navy role, Shawn is laid off during probationary employee cuts when veterans are no longer exempt, prompting him to found Capstone Tech. He explains how his company builds products to support people navigating a fragmented workforce—starting nonprofits, switching industries, or launching businesses—and how experiences in South Africa shaped his focus on expanding access to opportunity. Shawn discusses redefining security as doing meaningful work while prioritizing family and health.

Timestamps:
00:24 Welcome
01:16 Shawn Background Overview
02:54 Early Life and Loss
04:20 Homeless in Houston
06:30 Mindset in Survival Mode
09:31 Federal Layoff Shock
12:15 Turning Layoff Into Purpose
14:31 What Capstone Tech Builds
16:11 South Africa Entrepreneur Lesson
22:37 Leadership Through Vulnerability
25:05 Redefining Security and Family
28:35 Advice for Big Leaps
32:24 Closing

Connect with Shawn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawn-gregoire/
https://capstoneworkforce.com
https://www.capstonetech.co

Michael interviews Ehsan Ehtesad, organizational psychologist and co-founder/CEO of Mia Science, about building healthy, high-performance teams by focusing on recharging rather than constant intensity. Drawing on nearly 400 interviews with CEOs, surgeons, and champions, Ehsan contrasts time management with energy management and argues that effective recovery comes from doing the opposite of what drains you at work. They discuss sustaining excellence as a marathon, resting along the way, using rhythms of focus and recovery, and leaders’ responsibility to create supportive cultures where people can communicate low energy without judgment. Ehsan shares metaphors about charging batteries and leaders as thermostats, and recommends writing a personal recharging plan on good days for use on bad days.

Timestamps:

00:24 Welcome
01:12 Meet Ehsan Ehtesad
02:18 Why Workplaces Matter
04:01 400 Interviews Insights
05:34 Energy Over Time
06:46 Opposite Recharge Rule
08:57 Redefining Productivity
09:50 Marathon Pace and Cycles
12:30 Rest on the Way
14:16 Team Energy Language
17:53 Support Not Judgment
23:51 Rituals and Thermostat
28:53 Intentional Culture Systems
30:22 Personal Recharge Plan
32:13 Funeral Message Question
34:11 Where to Follow Ehsan
35:07 Closing

Connect with Ehsan:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ehsanetezad/
https://ehsanetezad.com
https://www.youtube.com/@EhsanEtezad
https://www.instagram.com/ehsanetezad/
https://x.com/EhsanEtezad

Michael's National Workforce Study on Change Management:
https://www.michaeljlopez.coach/research

Michael interviews Dennis Yu, joined by AI builder engineer Leo Pohlmann, about Google’s recent move to AI results first instead of the traditional “10 blue links,” a shift Dennis says is the biggest in 25 years and has caused many SEO experts to report major traffic losses. Dennis argues the fundamentals of visibility still matter—expertise, credibility, stories, and real experiences—while warning against chasing hype and generating “AI slop,” especially as networks adopt AI content fingerprinting. He recommends creating evidence-based, unedited original content (like podcasts and real videos), repurposing it with AI tools, and using small paid distribution (“social postage,” e.g., dollar-a-day boosts) to amplify proven winners tied to business outcomes. They also discuss AI’s impact on jobs, emphasizing that AI-enabled A players will outcompete B players, and Dennis shares his “learning curve vs earning curve” career turning point while Leo describes meeting Dennis as a life-changing moment.

Timestamps:
00:24 Intro
03:16 Dennis Yu Background
06:40 Ignore The Hype
08:09 Real World Advantage
12:01 Fight AI Slop
14:06 Repurpose Real Proof
17:12 Enough Content Question
17:58 Quality Beats Quantity
20:42 Boost The Winners
22:15 Ads Versus Selling
22:40 Pay for Distribution
23:29 Story Clips Strategy
25:52 Consistency Builds Trust
27:24 Publish Skill Files
28:54 Agents Will Shop
30:55 AI and Job Shifts
32:14 Multiply Your Impact
34:04 Direction Over Horsepower
36:37 Sliding Doors Stories
39:32 Where to Find Dennis
40:33 Closing

Connect with Dennis:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dennisyu/
https://dennisyu.com/

Michael's National Workforce Study on Change Management:
https://www.michaeljlopez.coach/research

Michael speaks with Jennifer Dulski, founder and CEO of Rising Team, about the hidden costs of untrained teams and how leadership development can be improved. Dulski shares her background across nonprofit work, teaching, and leadership roles at Yahoo, Google, Facebook, and change.org, plus lessons from being a rowing coxswain. They discuss why traditional training often fails to translate into behavior change, the downsides of a “common denominator” approach, and how AI can enable personalized growth plans aligned with company principles while preserving human connection. They cover impacts of weak leadership—unclear expectations, rework, low morale, quiet quitting, attrition—and the value of shared struggle, honesty, trust, and consistent team investment, citing measurable ROI improvements from regular team-building.

Timestamps:
00:24 Welcome and Setup
01:28 Meet Jennifer Dulski
02:56 Sports Teams Lessons
05:26 Why Training Fails
08:57 Personalized Growth With AI
10:44 AI and Human Strengths
14:40 Hidden Costs of Bad Teams
17:59 Shared Struggle and Honesty
21:27 Trust and The 10 Percent
25:38 Building Foundations Early
27:51 Proving ROI of Training
30:13 Leadership Breakthrough Story
32:11 Three Key Takeaways
35:30 Closing

Connect with Jennifer:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jdulski/
https://risingteam.com
https://www.purposefulbook.com

Michael's National Workforce Study on Change Management:
https://www.michaeljlopez.coach/research

Michael welcomes Erin Albert, Chief of Pharmacy Relations, Network and Professional Affairs at Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs, to explain why U.S. drug pricing is so opaque and how transparency can lower costs. Albert shares how she joined the company after publishing LinkedIn price comparisons sparked by imatinib pricing, and describes her background as a pharmacist and attorney. She breaks down how pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) evolved from claims processing into powerful middlemen, driving costs through rebates tied to formulary placement and “spread” pricing, especially on generics. The conversation covers vertical integration, state policy efforts, employer incentives that favor bundled solutions, pharmacy closures and “pharmacy deserts,” and why education should include “following the money.” Albert outlines Cost Plus’s cost-plus math, fair dispensing fees, and options for consumers via CostPlusDrugs.com, TeamCubanCard.com, and CostPlusWellness.com, urging patients to shop cash prices versus insurance copays.

Timestamps:
00:24 Welcome and Setup
01:31 Erin Albert Origin Story
04:49 How Pharmacy Pricing Works
08:28 Transparency and PBM Tactics
11:09 Policy and Vertical Integration
16:47 Building a Fair Pharmacy Network
20:40 Education and Medical Benefit Markups
24:05 Pharmacists as Clinicians
27:58 Trends and Sustainable Pricing
29:35 How Consumers Take Power Back
31:29 Key Takeaways and Resources
33:38 Closing

Connect with Erin:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinalbert/
https://linktr.ee/erinalbert
https://www.markcubancostplusdrugcompany.com
https://www.costplusdrugs.com

Michael interviews Brian Elliott, CEO of Work Forward and former Google and Slack executive, about AI and the future of work through a human-centered lens. Elliott explains how his Future Forum research on workplace flexibility evolved into AI-focused advising, arguing that technology and policies are tools and the real work is alignment, culture, and motivating diverse teams. They discuss research showing most leaders say AI speeds work but few can prove ROI, often due to output over outcomes, poor goal alignment, and “AI work slop.” Elliott shares examples from Zapier, Guild, and Anthropic using outcome scorecards, training, leadership participation, and pathways for roles. They warn against performance-review metrics tied to AI usage and emphasize team-based learning, empathy, time for training, and listening to employees.

Timestamps:
00:24 Welcome and Setup
01:23 Meet Brian Elliott
02:07 From Remote to AI
03:44 Culture Over Tools
05:24 AI ROI and Alignment
07:56 Approach Goals and Pathways
11:09 Engagement and Meta Backlash
13:45 Gen X Leadership Moment
17:18 Practical Catch Up Tactics
19:23 Performance Reviews Trap
22:15 Expertise Identity and Judgment
25:50 Empathy Time and Training
29:50 Future of Transformation
32:17 Key Takeaways and Wrap
34:08 Closing

Connect with Brian:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/belliott/
https://theworkforward.substack.com
https://www.workforward.com

Michael's National Workforce Study on Change Management:
https://www.michaeljlopez.coach/research