Why do companies spend billions on leadership development only to see engagement scores tank and top talent quit? The answer often lies in the "blind spots" of the human mind. In this episode of the Growth Hacking Culture podcast, we sit down with Sébastien Page, a leader in quantitative finance and author of The Psychology of Leadership.

Sébastien shares how his own journey through high-stakes stress led him to the world of behavioral and sports psychology. We discuss why the most effective leadership doesn't start with managing your team, but with managing your own brain. From distinguishing between luck and skill to understanding the "Roger Federer mindset," this conversation provides a science-based roadmap for anyone looking to improve their management of individuals, teams, and themselves.

Key topics include:

• Self-Management: Why the journey to better leadership starts with changing your brain, not just your team.

• Luck vs. Skill: How to distinguish between talent and randomness in high-stakes decision-making.

• The Feedback Loop: Strategies to reduce the stress response during performance reviews.

• Goal-Induced Blindness: Avoiding the ethical pitfalls and "metrics obsession" that can tank organizational culture.

• The Psychology of Leadership: Timeless Principles to Improve Your Management of Individuals, Teams, and Yourself by Sébastien Page

• Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts by Annie Duke

• Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

• Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink

• 3:54 – Sebastien's journey from quantitative finance to sports psychology

• 8:12 – The Dr. Daniel Zimmert story: Why losing can be your "best match"

• 17:18 – The Roger Federer 54% rule for handling professional losses

• 21:50 – The Luck vs. Skill trap in leadership decision-making

• 26:22 – Handling "Black Swans" and building organizational resilience

• 31:15 – The "Feedback Fallacy" and the biology of the stress response

• 35:50 – Why asking for feedback is 50% less stressful than receiving it

• 40:24 – Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic motivation: Moving beyond "Carrot and Stick"

• 45:08 – Goal-Induced Blindness: Lessons from Volkswagen and Wells Fargo

• 49:40 – The Harvard Study: Why relationships are the ultimate indicator of success

• 51:10 – The foundation of leadership: Why sleep and ethics matter most

• About the book: The Psychology of Leadership

• LinkedIn: Sebastien Page

Read about the upcoming Ivan Palomino's book THE VINTAGE UPGRADE (the science of staying relevant in a world obsessed with youth)

We’ve all heard the "hustle harder" mantra, but the numbers tell a different story. Right now, workplace disengagement is a global crisis, costing businesses an estimated $9 trillion in lost productivity. In this episode of the Growth Hacking Culture Podcast, we’re getting real about what it actually takes to lead without running yourself—or your team—into the ground.

Our guest, Hanna Bauer, author of Hustle with a Heart, brings a perspective on resilience that you won’t find in a standard management textbook. After surviving a terminal heart disease diagnosis, Hanna discovered that resilience isn't a personality trait; it’s a systemic outcome built through intentional habits and a supportive environment.

If you’ve ever felt that burnout is just the price of success, this conversation is for you. Hanna breaks down why "running on fumes" makes you a liability rather than a high-impact leader, and how to use her 52 mini-shifts to transform your leadership from the inside out.

In this episode, we explore:

• The ROI of Humanity: Why employee engagement isn't just a "nice-to-have," but a multi-trillion dollar financial lever.

• The HEART Framework: Breaking down the five pillars—Hope, Empowerment, Accountability, Results, and Trust.

• Resilience as a Network: Why leading in isolation is a recipe for failure and how to build a support structure that lasts.

• The "Arrhythmia" of Business: How a relentless hustle culture creates chaos in your systems and kills long-term innovation.

• The BEAT Method: A simple, 4-step daily practice (Believe, Engage, Act, Transform) to keep your leadership aligned.

This isn’t just about working less; it’s about leading with a clarity that burns away complexity and empowers everyone around you to show up as their best selves.

- Book: Hustle with HEART: 52 Mini-Shifts to Maximize your Impact (available on Amazon: https://a.co/d/dDeK4mD )

- Her website: https://heartnomics.com/

- LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/bauerhanna

• 00:00 – The $9 trillion leadership crisis: Why disengagement is a financial catastrophe.

• 04:42 – Moving past the grind: Why resilience isn't just "pushing through."

• 06:30 – Leading with HEART: Building trust and empowerment in your culture.

• 11:55 – The Bridge Analogy: Why you can't be resilient on your own.

• 14:20 – The mandatory recovery: Why restoration is as important as the "sprint."

• 17:35 – Organizational Arrhythmia: Spotting the signs of a broken culture.

• 23:45 – The invisible waste: Identifying the cost of human potential being left on the table.

• 28:10 – The ROI of "Soft Skills": Why resilience is the hardest skill to master.

• 33:20 – Psychological Safety: The secret ingredient for innovation that actually works.

• 38:55 – Mastering the BEAT: Aligning your internal beliefs with your external execution.

• 42:15 – Cutting the noise: How clarity of mission prevents leader burnout.

• 46:30 – Starting Tomorrow: One small shift to change your leadership trajectory.

Why do 75% to 95% of business improvement projects fail to last beyond two years?

In this episode, we are tearing down the broken systems that hold businesses back. We are joined by George Pesansky, Operational Excellence Expert and author of Superperformance, to discuss the "massive leaky bucket problem" costing organizations billions.

George argues that most leaders are trapped in a "glass half-empty" mindset—constantly firefighting and obsessing over lagging indicators like profit, rather than mastering the leading behaviors that actually create value. We explore how to shift from the role of a manager to an "Operations Coach" and how to design a culture built for consistency.

Key topics discussed in this episode:

• The Utility Factor: Why clarity on "what, how, and why" is the true driver of value.

• Overcoming Negativity Bias: How to stop fixating on what's wrong and start scaling what's going right.

• The Golden Hour: A mental model for replicating your team’s peak flow states rather than just demanding better scores.

• The "Ugly Baby" Method: How to foster true collaboration through high assertiveness and honest feedback.

• The Success Formula: Why a perfect technical solution fails if "Acceptance" is low (Success = Quality x Acceptance).

• Escaping the Prison of Expectations: How to avoid the burnout that comes from the fear of over-delivery.

Join us to learn how to stop judging your team solely on the scoreboard and start coaching them toward their full potential.

Guest: George Pesansky, Author of Superperformance: 8 Strategies to Reach Full Potential for Yourself, Your Team, and Your Organization