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Want proof that coaching works beyond a feel-good survey? We dig into the neuroscience of immersion—how the brain’s one-second signals of attention plus emotion predict what people remember and do next—and translate it into a practical playbook for coaches and leaders. With Professor Paul Zak, we unpack why joy is the byproduct of investing energy, not avoiding stress, and how the right level of challenge drives durable behavior change.

We share field-tested stories that show immersion’s “contagion” effect in action, from luxury retail associates whose engagement predicted purchases to healthcare teams that improved patient care by empowering nurses within clear boundaries. You’ll hear why opening hot sets stakes, how human-scale stories outperform abstract models, and what happens when leaders delegate for real. The result is deviation you can learn from—some mistakes, yes, but also the positive deviations that become innovations when you recognize and codify them.

Measurement ties it together. We talk about simple, wearable-driven ways to see which moments land, spot weekly energy dead zones (like that dreaded Thursday meeting), and design sessions that stick. Four levers matter: start with stakes, tell vivid stories, keep moderate pressure through participation, and end with one concrete action. Over time, those choices raise the number of daily “key moments,” a leading indicator of joy, energy, and follow-through that spreads from executives to teams and even into family life.

If you’re ready to coach for thriving, not just insight, this conversation gives you the science, the tactics, and a free tool to start today. Subscribe for more brain-savvy coaching insights, share this with a leader who needs it, and leave a review to tell us the next challenge you want us to tackle.

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Joy isn’t a perk. It’s a competitive advantage. We sit down with executive and team coach Michelle Chambers to unpack how collective joy fuels psychological safety, deeper alignment, and reliable results—even when teams are under pressure. If “joy at work” sounds woo-woo, Michelle’s stories and tools will change your mind fast.

We start by spotting the early signs that joy has gone missing: flat energy, thin trust, and conversations that feel purely transactional. From there, Michelle draws a clear line between short-lived happiness and durable, collective joy grounded in purpose, belonging, and contribution. You’ll hear how a CFO put joy into a hospital’s strategic plan and why that bold move improved resilience and collaboration across departments.

Michelle shares practical rituals you can use this week: build a wall of pride to surface progress, end meetings with appreciation circles, and revisit the team’s purpose to re-center focus when the stakes rise. A powerful case study tracks a nonprofit team through leadership turnover, audit failures, the pandemic, and even ransomware—then shows how consistent practices rebuilt trust and momentum. For one-on-one coaches and leaders, we connect the dots to systemic impact: model joy visibly, make it measurable, and protect space for it in the cadence of work.

If you care about team performance, culture change, leadership development, and psychological safety, this conversation will give you actionable steps and language to make joy part of how you operate. Subscribe, share with a colleague who shapes team culture, and leave a review to tell us which ritual you’ll try first.

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What happens when an AI coach is judged by the same yardstick as a human? We invited executive coach and researcher Jonathan Passmore and AI coaching innovator Rebecca Rutschmann to unpack their new study benchmarking an AI coach against ICF Core Competencies—and the results upend assumptions. The machine reliably demonstrated ACC-level performance and crossed more than half of the PCC markers, especially in crisp summarizing and steady open questioning. That said, we draw a clear line between competence at the basics and the deep, sustained presence required for identity, values, and ethically nuanced conversations.

Across the hour, we explore where AI coaching shines—24/7 availability, structured reflection, accountability loops—and where it still stumbles: longer arcs, emotional complexity, and the tendency to praise rather than challenge. Rebecca argues capabilities are leaping forward with better prompting frameworks, onboarding, and conversational design, pointing to recent builds that reach deeper reflective work. Jonathan counters that human strengths remain decisive: relational humor, embodied presence, lived experience, and ethical maturity that can hold discomfort without defaulting to platitudes. We converge on a future of hybrid models that use AI for pre-work, micro-coaching, and late-night clarity, while reserving human time for complexity and transformation.

We also face the economics. With a surging supply of coaches and falling fees for transactional work, differentiation becomes urgent. If AI can do the basics well, human coaches must elevate to PCC-level craft as a baseline, specialize with domain and identity expertise, and design client journeys that blend AI tools without diluting trust. Finally, we call for new standards: if AI is an orange to the human apple, we need AI-specific metrics for safety, continuity, bias, escalation, and outcome transparency—so clients know what they’re choosing.

Curious where to start? We share practical steps for AI literacy and fluency, plus communities and programs that help you experiment safely and ethically. Subscribe, share this conversation with a colleague who’s on the fence, and leave a review with your take: partner, threat, or both?

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