The Kestryl Edge

I met Jen Benford in the comments section of Substack. We've recorded together twice now, and both times it was belly laughs and digging into the hard stuff in work, life, and what it means to grow.We recorded this one dressed as cops. Deputy Dan and Lieutenant Jen. (If you're a first responder, know that I appreciate what you do.) We police our own emotions all the time: what's right, what's proper, what's decent. Take a page out of Jen's book. Show up as you. Reach for your badge not to police the emotions but to investigate, dig a little deeper, and follow the clues.Jen spent 15 years in HR and talent acquisition before betting on herself. Now she runs Benford Talent Alchemy, writes Divergent Talent Alchemist on Substack, and hosts The Rewriters Room. We get into the fawn response (the fourth one after fight, flight, and freeze) and what people pleasing looks like at work: saying yes to everything until "you have nothing left for yourself." Jen reads her list of leadership pet peeves on air: false urgency, "charming in public, but cruel in private," moving the goalposts, hoarding information, praising overwork, and handing someone a project with no direction just to see what happens. Her philosophy is the opposite: "give people the tools and then get out of the way. Hire people smarter than you." Plus why her logo is a phoenix, rising from the ashes, and why careers are ecosystems, not ladders.Shout out to all my fawn responders. Jen's take: "We will police that. 'Cause no more fawning."FIND JENSubstack: @benfordtalentalchemy, Divergent Talent Alchemist (benfordtalentalchemy.substack.com)Website: benfordtalentalchemy.comCommunity: The Rewriters Room on Skool (skool.com/the-rewriters-room)FIND DANThe Updraft, free weekly leadership essays and interviews: dankorus.com/joinKestryl Edge, leadership and emotional intelligence training for leaders who want to grow: kestryledge.comSOURCES AND FURTHER READING (as shown on screen)BYU vs. New Mexico, Mountain West women's soccer tournament semifinal, November 5, 2009Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972Shadow work, based on Carl Jung's concept of the shadowArnsten, A. F. T. (2009). Stress signalling pathways that impair prefrontal cortex structure and function. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10(6), 410-422.Walker, P. (2003). Codependency, Trauma and the Fawn Response.Walker, P. (2013). Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving.Robbins, M., with Robbins, S. (2024). The Let Them Theory.The Rewriters Room's Inner Compass calls, led by leadership coach Stefanie Hingley

Sven Brodmerkel got a PhD in political science, fell into a German ad agency by accident, worked his way from account management to copywriting, and has spent almost twenty years teaching advertising in Australia. This was his first podcast ever.We get into why ads get older people wrong, whether you can actually teach (or grade) creativity, what AI means for a school system that AI is built to ace, beginner's mind versus empathy, the one creative habit worth training, how to run a brainstorm that works, and why every leader needs someone who can tell them the truth without getting punished for it.His advice to CEOs: find a court jester.

Most career advice assumes a straight line. Paul Austin-Menear has never had one. He started a consulting business at 23, sold it, watched his next startup fail for being years too early, got laid off twice, and landed a decade-long job by mailing 200 letters.Paul Austin-Menear, founder of Six Catalysts, joins Dan Korus on The Kestryl Edge Podcast. After a decade in marketing, commerce and operations at a Toronto consumer tech startup, Paul now helps growing businesses ($5M to $100M) fix operations, marketing, HR and finance before they hit the potholes. He also co-hosts Roast the Post with Jennifer Houle.In this episode:Leaving small-town Ontario for opportunityWhy a history degree's soft skills matter more in the AI eraEngaging fairly with ideas you disagree withCoaching a parliamentary candidate at 23The QR code startup that was too early, and what failure does to a partnershipBuilding trust with business partners: expectations, reciprocity, and not screwing each otherWhy "self-censor and get along" is outdated advice for leading younger teams"Do what others aren't": the 200-letter job searchBurnout, and building a solo practice for small businessesAdvice for first-timers, new managers, and the C-suiteResources mentionedMikhail Gorbachev, Perestroika: New Thinking for Our Country and the World (1987)Connect with PaulSix Catalysts: 6catalysts.caThe Journey, Paul's Substack: 6catalysts.substack.comRoast the Post: roastthepost.show and roastthepost.substack.comCo-host Jennifer Houle, Uncompliant: uncompliant.substack.comConnect with Dan and Kestryl EdgeJoin The Updraft and the weekly live leadership Q&A: dankorus.com/p/joinKestryl Edge leadership workshops: www.kestryledge.com/servicesBook a 20-minute fit call: www.kestryledge.com/contactFact checkConversations run on memory, so here's a quick Dan-Fact-Check so folks know we value honesty in our media. We totally underestimated our Canadian driving distances. It's more like two-thirds of Canadians live within 100 km of the US border, not 90%. An Ontario three-year BA is a full bachelor's degree. The ease-of-starting-a-business ranking was the World Bank's (Canada 3rd, 2020), not the OECD's. Google Docs and Sheets launched in 2006. The credit crisis broke in August 2007; Lehman failed in September 2008. The ad figures fit cost per click, not CPM. Full sources to all claims are in the episode post on The Updraft.Music:"That Corner In Harlem" and "Orange Cap," licensed through Soundstripe.Code: FGA3KJINKZAAQVEV, E5DX6GR2OLQJXHKU#leadership #careerchange #entrepreneurship #smallbusiness #hiring #management #kestryledge

When people are scared, they stop thinking. Their brains shift into survival mode, and the prefrontal cortex you hired them for goes quiet.Patricio Cuesta, founder of Thinkquan2m, joins Dan Korus on The Kestryl Edge Podcast to break down the neuroscience of psychological safety and why fear is the most expensive thing a leader can bring to work. Patricio spent decades as a corporate executive across Latin America and the United States, often as the person sent in to turn things around. Today he coaches executives through a neuroscience lens and teaches post-graduate engineering students at the University of Central Florida.In this episode:"You're paying for their prefrontal cortex, not their body": why fear wastes the talent you pay forFinding out he's neurodivergent at 50, and the engineering mindset that carried himLeading a turnaround in Brazil by visiting every distributor in their own languageFrom windsurf instructor back to engineering schoolSteering a global consumer brand through the pandemicKilling initiatives that don't move the needle to protect your team's focusPsychological safety as an ecosystem for success, and what Google's Project Aristotle foundWriting an instruction manual for your own brainLearning from imperfect leadersAdvice for new hires, mid-career managers, and executivesResources mentionedGoogle re:Work, Project Aristotle and team effectiveness: https://rework.withgoogle.com/intl/en/guides/understand-team-effectivenessLiz Wiseman, Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter (2010)John C. Maxwell, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of LeadershipConnect with PatricioThinkquan2m: https://thinkquan2m.com. Patricio also shares his work on LinkedIn and Substack.Connect with Dan and Kestryl EdgeJoin The Updraft and the weekly live leadership Q&A: https://dankorus.com/p/joinKestryl Edge leadership workshops: https://www.kestryledge.com/servicesBook a 20-minute fit call: https://www.kestryledge.com/contactMusic:"That Corner In Harlem" and "Orange Cap," licensed through Soundstripe.Code: S0EIFCTI0HGDQRFC, WKHQIH2WECJ0SP9D#leadership #psychologicalsafety #neuroscience #neurodiversity #management #executiveleadership #teamperformance #kestryledge

How do you go from starting a nonprofit with no house, no office, and a meeting at Applebee's to leading an organization that has backed New Mexico small businesses for nearly four decades? Lindsey Kay, CEO of WESST, joins Dan Korus on The Kestryl Edge Podcast to talk nonprofit leadership, small business support, and what it really takes to lead with your team instead of in front of it.Lindsey spent 14 years building Paws and Stripes, a program pairing rescue dogs with veterans living with PTSD and brain injuries, before stepping in to lead WESST, a women's business center and community lender serving small businesses across New Mexico. She brings a social worker's lens to business advising, ethics, and leadership.In this episode:How a rescue dog named Sarge sparked a 14-year service dog program for veteransWhy you should always ask the question: QPR and suicide preventionVeterans are people first: there's always an "and"Building a nonprofit is building a business, and why your mistakes pave the waySmall business advice: start focused, test your idea, then stay agileEthics in business advising and why good advisors work with clients, not for themWhy women's business centers and small business support matter to New Mexico's economyPsychological safety: a team where you can't tell who the CEO isAdvice for your first day at work, for middle managers, and for senior leadersIf you or someone you know is struggling In the US, call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: https://988lifeline.org Veterans Crisis Line (dial 988, then press 1): https://www.veteranscrisisline.net The Trevor Project for LGBTQ+ young people: https://www.thetrevorproject.orgResources mentioned QPR Institute (Question, Persuade, Refer suicide prevention training): https://qprinstitute.com Assistance Dogs International, find an accredited member: https://assistancedogsinternational.org/main/looking-for-an-assistance-dog/ Paws and Stripes (service dogs for veterans in New Mexico): https://www.pawsandstripes.org SBA Women's Business Centers: https://www.sba.gov/local-assistance/resource-partners/womens-business-centersConnect with Lindsey and WESST WESST: https://www.wesst.org Connect with Dan and Kestryl Edge Join The Updraft and the weekly live leadership Q&A: https://dankorus.com/p/join Kestryl Edge leadership workshops: https://www.kestryledge.com/services Book a 20-minute fit call: https://www.kestryledge.com/contact #leadership #smallbusiness #nonprofitleadership #newmexico #womeninbusiness #veterans #suicideprevention #psychologicalsafety #kestrylsessions