Less Doing: Optimize, Automate, Outsource: Product

In this week's episode we're talking about team productivity and how to win back time in your business using the right tools. Nick interviews Joshua Zerkel, the head of Global Engagement Marketing at Asana.  Joshua has dedicated his professional life to helping individuals and businesses use technology to enhance workflow, communication, and information and time management—all with the goal of becoming more productive, effective, and spending time on what’s important to them. He leads Asana’s network of productivity-oriented customers and community partners to create meaningful relationships that extend beyond the walls of Asana HQ. Nick and Joshua are both passionate about helping teams collaborate more efficiently. At Leverage, we help our clients with operating more efficiently and setting companies up with the best tools for their business needs. Our preferred tool for work management is Asana because you can literally manage all work across an entire organization in Asana. 

Jenny Blake is an author, podcaster, and keynote speaker who loves helping business owners move from friction to flow through smarter systems, powered by Delightfully Tiny Teams. Her third book, Free Time: Lose The Busywork, Love Your Business, launches March 22, 2022. Jenny’s previous book, Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One, won the Axiom award for best business book in the careers category in 2016. Licensing clients for her Pivot Programs include Google and CHANEL. Jenny hosts two podcasts with over one million downloads combined: Free Time for Heart-Based Business Owners, and Pivot with Jenny Blake to help others navigate change. After working at a Silicon Valley startup, then at Google for five years in coaching and career development, Jenny moved to New York City in 2011 to launch her own business. She loves yoga and buys too many books. Learn more and take the Free Time quiz at ItsFreeTime.com.

Justin Donald is a master of low-risk cash flow investing whose strategies and principles for investing to earn passive income have helped thousands of people "create wealth without creating a job." In the span of 21 months, and before his 37th birthday, Justin’s investments drove enough passive income for both he and his wife Jennifer to leave their jobs. Following his simple investment system and 10 Commandments of Lifestyle Investing, Justin negotiated deals with over 100 companies, multiplied his net worth to over eight figures, and maintained a family-centric lifestyle in less than 2 years.   In this episode, Nick and Justin talk about Justin's principles and strategies for investing to earn passive income. As a former high frequency trader, Nick has some thoughts on this! But while Nick created algorithms behind a computer screen, Justin sees investing very differently. To Justin, it's not just an opportunity to put more money in the bank, it's an opportunity to impact the bigger picture of someone's life.

Ted Blosser is the CEO of Workramp, a training platform that helps empower employees to reach their full potential at work. He's on the podcast this week to tell his story of how he went from selling software to founding his own company and disrupting the entire enterprise training platform industry. In this episode, Nick and Ted discuss life as an entrepreneur and how Ted came up with the idea for Workramp. Ted explains his viewpoints on frameworks in business, how to communicate effectively in a remote environment, and which tools are actually worth implementing in your business. He also provides tips on how to improve company culture and how to retain excellent employees by teaching them new skills and putting an emphasis on learning within your organization.

Biohackers rejoice! Matt Gallant is on the Leverage Podcast today to discuss how he's been optimizing his mind, body, and those of his clients since 2004 with everything from supplements to sleep technologies and digestive enzymes. If you're interested in learning some new techniques to improve your sleep, feel better, optimize your brain and live longer, Matt is your guy. In this episode, Nick and Matt discuss Matt's story from bodybuilding to working with pro athletes to starting his own supplement company. While Matt started out focusing on optimizing his physical body, he later discovered the benefits of optimizing his mind, and how the two go hand-in-hand. Over the years, he's tested hundreds of technologies, methodologies, and techniques for body and mind optimization—many of which you'll hear him explain in this episode. Listen in for tips on better sleep, supercharging your brain, beating jet lag, and a few key supplements everyone should be taking.

Dave Woodward is a world-class marketing expert, the CEO of Clickfunnels, and a stage 4 brain cancer survivor. Earlier this year, Dave was told he had a month to live—yet he's on the podcast today, cancer-free and on his way to a full recovery. Thanks to his neverending optimism, world-class doctors, and a strict health regimen Dave was able to beat cancer in just three months and get back to running one of the most successful funnel builders in the world. In this episode, Nick and Dave discuss Dave's history with cancer—from diagnosis to becoming cancer free—and how it has affected his outlook on life. Dave explains some of the health tricks he used to help his body overcome cancer and how they can also help people in their everyday lives. Nick and Dave then get into business talk, discussing some of the new features coming to Clickfunnels, what is and isn't working in digital marketing right now, and how to build meaningful relationships with your customers through the right communication channels.

We're going back into the archives to one of our most popular episodes of all time, Chris Voss! Chris is the author of the best-selling book Never Split the Difference, a book that covers some of the highly-effective negotiation tactics and strategies Chris learned during his 24 years as an FBI hostage negotiator and lead international kidnapping negotiator. If you've never heard this episode, you do not want to miss it—and if you have, you'll probably want to listen to it again! As lead hostage negotiator for the FBI, when an American citizen was kidnapped in any part of the world, it was his responsibility to create a strategy to get them out—and then go after the bad guys. In this episode, you'll hear some of his best stories from his days in the FBI and learn how he used simple questions, techniques, and mindset tricks to navigate the tense and dangerous waters of international hostage situations. But Chris also explains how the same tactics he used to get people out of life-threatening situations can be used in business and everyday life—to help you get what you want without compromising.

We're going back into the archives to one of our most popular episodes of all time, Chris Voss! Chris is the author of the best-selling book Never Split the Difference, a book that covers some of the highly-effective negotiation tactics and strategies Chris learned during his 24 years as an FBI hostage negotiator and lead international kidnapping negotiator. If you've never heard this episode, you do not want to miss it—and if you have, you'll probably want to listen to it again! As lead hostage negotiator for the FBI, when an American citizen was kidnapped in any part of the world, it was his responsibility to create a strategy to get them out—and then go after the bad guys. In this episode, you'll hear some of his best stories from his days in the FBI and learn how he used simple questions, techniques, and mindset tricks to navigate the tense and dangerous waters of international hostage situations. But Chris also explains how the same tactics he used to get people out of life-threatening situations can be used in business and everyday life—to help you get what you want without compromising.

Elliot Roe is a hypnotherapist and mindset optimization coach who has worked with everyone from Olympic medalists to Hollywood actors, CEOs and Wall Street traders—and today, he joins Nick on the podcast to discuss how he makes it all happen. After getting his start working with professional poker players, he has helped his clients generate hundreds of millions of dollars by shifting their mindsets, correcting negative behaviors, eliminating fears, and breaking through mental roadblocks. In this episode, Nick and Elliot discuss some of the commonalities that Elliot has seen with entrepreneurs, CEOs, and athletes that hold many of them back. The reality is that many of these people know what they should be doing, but there is something preventing them from actually doing it. (Sound familiar?) Elliot goes on to share a few of his best tips to help people in these situations as well as some fascinating stories and insights from the 10,000+ hypnotherapy sessions he has done over the years with successful entrepreneurs, celebrities, and athletes.

Elliot Roe is a hypnotherapist and mindset optimization coach who has worked with everyone from Olympic medalists to Hollywood actors, CEOs and Wall Street traders—and today, he joins Nick on the podcast to discuss how he makes it all happen. After getting his start working with professional poker players, he has helped his clients generate hundreds of millions of dollars by shifting their mindsets, correcting negative behaviors, eliminating fears, and breaking through mental roadblocks. In this episode, Nick and Elliot discuss some of the commonalities that Elliot has seen with entrepreneurs, CEOs, and athletes that hold many of them back. The reality is that many of these people know what they should be doing, but there is something preventing them from actually doing it. (Sound familiar?) Elliot goes on to share a few of his best tips to help people in these situations as well as some fascinating stories and insights from the 10,000+ hypnotherapy sessions he has done over the years with successful entrepreneurs, celebrities, and athletes.

Psychiatrist, executive coach, podcast host and 9-time bestselling author Dr. Mark Goulston is back on the podcast for part 2 of his conversation with Nick! If you haven't listened to part 1, be sure to go back and check it out here. Today, Nick and Mark continue their conversation around what it means to be a productive and successful business leader, going deeper on what they talked about in part one as well as introducing a number of new topics. In this episode, Nick and Mark discuss why people like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk are not just leaders, but visionaries—and how they got that way. Mark also provides a simple framework for how managers can develop great working relationships with their employees while also navigating tough conversations with them. But it's not all relegated to business owners and managers! Mark also dishes out some amazing advice for employees to have the best possible performance review with their boss while at the same time uncovering the next steps to advancing their career. And, to top it all off, Mark tells us why he believes "self-discipline" is a terrible concept. Listen to the episode to find out why.

Psychiatrist, executive coach, podcast host and 9-time bestselling author Dr. Mark Goulston shares advice for navigating the challenging interpersonal & intrapersonal situations to which every single human can relate. His signature strategies--like surgical empathy and assertive vulnerability--provide an invaluable road map to becoming a better leader, listener and communicator in everyday life. In addition to being a former UCLA professor of psychiatry and FBI/police hostage negotiation trainer, Dr. Mark Goulston hosts the "My Wakeup Call" podcast, he's a keynote speaker, and he is the author or co/author of nine books, including "Just Listen," which has been translated into 28 languages and became the top book on listening in the world. Mark is also a Marshall Goldsmith 100 Coaches executive coach and a Founding Member of the Newsweek Expert Forum. Using a process he coined and developed called “Surgical Empathy”, Mark works with clients to help them break free from counterproductive habits and behaviors while integrating new productive alternatives that enable them to fulfill their potential. Dr. Mark Goulston has hundreds of small techniques that entrepreneurs and business leaders can use to have more productive interactions, get positive results out of the people around them, and build a better culture, both at home and at work. Most recently, Dr. Goulston partnered with Jason Reid on a series called "Own the Mental Health of Your Child," that they are presenting globally through YPO and EO. Check out the full show notes at https://getleverage.com/podcast/91

Named the Top Startup Coach in the World at the Thinkers50/Marshall Goldsmith Global Coaches Awards in London, Alisa Cohn has been coaching startup founders to grow into world-class CEOs for nearly 20 years. Her new book, “From Start-up to Grown-Up”, shares Alisa’s knowledge & experience from working with executives at companies like Etsy, Venmo, and DraftKings & coaching them to become the influential leaders they are today. Check out the full show notes at https://getleverage.com/podcast/90

Organizational psychologist Dr. Benjamin Hardy is on the podcast this week to discuss his upcoming book, The Gap and The Gain: The High Achievers' Guide to Happiness, Confidence, and Success, that he's co-authored with Dan Sullivan, the founder of Strategic Coach and world's #1 entrepreneurial coach. In The Gap and The Gain, Ben and Dan explain why most entrepreneurs and highly ambitious people are unhappy—and how to solve it. Check out the full show notes at https://getleverage.com/podcast/89  

Richard Craib is on the podcast this week to discuss how he and his company are building the last hedge fund—Numerai. Richard has found that virtually all hedge funds today are continuously duplicating research and strategies. This lack of originality leads to less than stellar performance, and makes it difficult for new funds with original ideas to emerge. Numerai is built to solve this problem, as it's the first hedge fund to source original stock market signals, built from any data set from anyone in the world with zero barriers.    Richard Craib is the Founder and CEO of Numerai, based in San Francisco. Craib graduated Cornell University with a BA in Mathematics in 2012 with a focus in abstract algebra. He has also taken classes at UC Berkeley, Stanford and the University of Cape Town. Before starting Numerai, Craib was a quant at an asset management firm with $15 billion in assets under management in Cape Town, South Africa, where he built a global equity long-only fund powered by machine learning.   Check out the full show notes at https://getleverage.com/podcast/88

Jody Williamson is on the podcast this week to discuss the art and psychology of sales. He is on a mission to help high-level salespeople separate themselves from the sleazy "used car salesman" stereotype by listening more, talking less, and helping their prospects discover the sale for themselves. With over 25 years of experience and having worked with companies of all sizes and across all industries, Jody has discovered that the traditional sales model simply doesn't work—and he's here to explain the new one that does. Jody Williamson is a best-selling author of "The Contrarian Salesperson," sales and management thought leader, keynote speaker and leader for sales training and consulting engagements. His key areas of focus are sales leadership, strategy and client satisfaction. Jody and his team at Sandler Training - Chicago & Northbrook are dedicated to working with business owners, principals, sales managers, salespeople, non-selling professionals, and customer service professionals to give them the behaviors, attitudes and techniques to reach their full potential. Check out the full show notes at https://getleverage.com/podcast/87  

Dr. Ed Hoffman is on the podcast this week to discuss how teams and organizations can improve their performance through knowledge, process, and project management. As the former Chief Knowledge Officer for NASA, Ed understands the importance of storing and organizing knowledge for organizations—and he's here to show us all how to improve it in our own companies. Listen in to learn how you can implement some of the same techniques NASA uses to complete projects and send people into outer space. Dr. Ed Hoffman is the former Chief Knowledge Officer for NASA, CEO of Knowledge Strategies, Senior Advisor to the Project Management Institute, and Senior Lecturer at Columbia University's Information and Knowledge Strategy Program. Prior to his role as Chief Knowledge Officer, he was the founding director of the NASA Academy of Program/Project and Engineering Leadership. During his time in this role, the Academy was the top-rated project management academy in the world. Check out the full show notes at https://getleverage.com/podcast/86

This week on the podcast, Nick is chatting with Kary Oberbrunner, the author of Unhackable and founder of Igniting Souls Publishing Agency. Just like Nick, Kary is obsessed with helping people become more productive—the only difference is that Kary takes a slightly different approach, by making people unhackable. If you've ever been set up to be productive only to find that you didn't get nearly as much done as you were hoping, it's not your fault. Your mind and body have been hacked! (And Kary can help.) Kary Oberbrunner, CEO of Igniting Souls, is an author, coach, and speaker who helps individuals and organizations clarify who they are, why they're here, and where they're going so they can become souls on fire, experience unhackability, and share their message with the world. As a child and young adult, Kary overcame a paralyzing speech disorder and an addiction to self-injury. In the past twenty years, he’s ignited over one million people with his content. He lives in Ohio with his wife, Kelly, and three children. Check out the full show notes at https://getleverage.com/podcast/85

This week, Nick sits down with Amir Salihefendić of Doist to discuss his companies, Todoist and Twist. Todoist is one of the most popular digital to-do list apps on the market today, and Twist is an internal communication tool similar to Slack and Microsoft Teams. After building one of the most successful to-do list tools in history, it\'s no surprise that Amir has a lot of thoughts around productivity—and he shares them in this episode! Nick and Amir discuss the role of tools in business and life, how to create a system for productivity that works for you, and the future of Todoist.\r\n  \r\n Amir Salihefendić is the Founder and CEO of Doist, which houses Todoist—a digital to-do list app—and Twist—an asynchronous communication tool. Born in Bosnia, he grew up in Denmark, started his business in Chile and now lives in Barcelona with his family. Doist is completely remote, with colleagues spread across 30 countries.\r\n View the full show notes at: https://www.getleverage.com/podcast/84\r\n

Have you ever wanted to work with the likes of Sir Elton John, Elon Musk, take a submarine down to the Titanic or perhaps close museums in Florence for a private dinner party, and then have Andre Bocelli serenade while you eat your pasta? Steve Sims has done all that for his clients and more—and he's on this episode of the Leverage Podcast to chat with Nick about his life and the lessons he's learned along the way. Steve Sims is an entrepreneur, speaker, author who is known by many as "The Real Life Wizard of Oz." A former bricklayer and bouncer-turned-entrepreneur, he uses a unique mindset and blend of skills to create once-in-a-lifetime experiences for his billionaire clients. He is the author of Bluefishing: The Art of Making Things Happen; founder of Sim Distillery, a high-level coaching program for entrepreneurs looking to make their way into influential circles; and founder of Speakeasy, a reverse-engineered mastermind group where event speakers are chosen based on the questions attendees want answered. View the full show notes at: https://www.getleverage.com/podcast/83