Empathy at work isn’t just understanding how someone feels. It’s what you do next. Claude Silver joins Micaela Mathre to explore how leaders turn care into everyday behavior; from giving clearer feedback to noticing when someone on the team has gone quiet. Drawing on her journey to becoming Chief Heart Officer at VaynerMedia, Claude shares why manager training should give people something they can use immediately, how emotional fluency helps leaders navigate difficult moments, and why consist...
How do you get honest feedback when people may be reluctant to give it? In this episode of The LeaderLab, Dr. Dossier Harps joins Micaela Mathre to explore Pulling for Feedback: asking deliberate, specific questions instead of waiting for someone else to speak up. They discuss why critical feedback can trigger defensiveness, how hierarchy shapes what leaders hear, and why asking is only part of the skill. How a manager responds can determine whether someone feels safe being honest again. The ...
AI can accelerate insight, sharpen thinking, and remove friction from how work gets done. But it cannot replace the trust, reflection, feedback, and human connection that help people grow. In this episode of The Leader Lab, Megan Wheeler, Director of People Development at Articulate, joins Micaela Mathre to explore what leadership development needs to look like in an increasingly remote and AI-enabled workplace. Drawing on nearly two decades of experience in organizational psychology, facilit...
How do you create a culture where learning becomes part of the way people work? In this episode of The Leader Lab, Patrick Choquette, Director of Learning & Development at The Obama Foundation, shares lessons from a career spanning public service, education, international development, and leadership development. From teaching in Ghana as a Peace Corps volunteer to leading learning programs across global teams and mission-driven organizations, Patrick explores what it takes to create envir...
What makes feedback useful instead of just emotional? In this Skills Spotlight episode of The Leader Lab, Kathy Pearce, Facilitator at LifeLabs Learning, joins host Micaela Mathre to unpack the Playing Cards Method™, one of LifeLabs’ most memorable frameworks for turning blurry feedback into clear, actionable communication. Using the four suits in a deck of cards, Kathy explains how Hearts and Clubs represent vague praise and criticism, while Diamonds and Spades point to the specific be...