In this episode of the L&P Podcast, I speak with Michael Sweeney, Chief Strategy Officer at RallyBright and founder of SaberCoaching, about his career enhancing the capacity and performance of individuals, teams, and organizations. Formerly VP of Digital Learning at Bain & Company, Mike has over two decades of experience in operations management, L&D, learning design, leadership development, coaching, and technology training.

A lifelong learner himself, Mike enjoys finding ways to help others perform better and master their crafts. Mike holds a Masters in Organizational Psychology from William James College and is a Co-Active Training Institute (CTI) coach. Outside of work, Mike enjoys reading, running marathons, coaching athletes, playing with his dog, and being the best dad he can be for his three teenage daughters. Mike currently lives and works in Boston, Massachusetts.

In our conversation, we hit on a wide range of topics, including:

• The critical role of culture, values, and behaviors in organizational effectiveness


• The difference between peak performance and high performance


• The neuroscience of learning and skill development


• After-action reviews (AARs)


• Leadership and leadership development


• Coaching and feedback


• Motivation vs. inspiration


• Recruiting sponsors to drive organizational change


• And a whole lot more!

Mentioned in the conversation:

• 6:28 - Values-Based Leadership


• 7:28 - Deliberate vs. Evolutionary/Emergent Strategy


• 8:18 - Values: Espoused vs. Enacted/In-Use


• 8:30 - Bain Values and Operating Principles


• 8:52 - Definition of culture


• 13:00 - Operationalizing values


• 14:02 - Edgar Schein on culture


• 14:59 - Humble Inquiry


• 17:42 - Stephen Covey's The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People


• 20:11 - Peak vs. High Performance


• 21:05 - Learning in the brain


• 23:11 - Unlearning


• 23:52 - The P/PC Balance


• 24:58 - Atomic Habits


• 24:59 - The Power of Habit


• 25:56 - After-Action Review


• 26:36 - Teams that Work


• 28:30 - Agile retrospective


• 28:45 - Lean manufacturing


• 30:06 - John Maxwell's Leadership Law #2 - Leadership as influence


• 31:07 - Maxwell's Leadership Law #1 - Law of the Lid


• 32:12 - Feedback Model - Situation, Behavior, Impact


• 34:13 - Tim Ferriss on Learning to Learn


• 42:39 - Tim Gallwey's The Inner Game of Tennis


• 44:12 - Building High-Performing Teams course


• 48:29 - The Losada Ratio


• 48:55 - Designing the Coach-Client Alliance


• 50:25 - Alfie Kohn on the Downsides of Punishment


• 51:22 - Positive Intelligence


• 53:58 - Radical Candor


• 1:05:00 - The Sponsorship Spine


• 1:07:15 - John Kotter's Leading Change


• 1:07:45 - John Kotter's The Heart of Change


• 1:09:45 - Spaced repetition


• 1:11:30 - Learning moments of truth


• 1:16:23 - Outlive by Peter Attia


• 1:20:06 - CTI Fundamentals

Connect with Mike:

• Michael Sweeney


• Saber Coaching


• Rally Bright