What if the metrics you’re chasing — the downloads, the likes, the impressions — are quietly steering your business in the wrong direction?

In this episode of the Balancing Act podcast, Andy speaks with Tom Schwab — founder and CEO of Interview Valet and author of Podcast Guest Profits. A U.S. Naval Academy graduate and engineer who found his way into marketing, Tom brings a systems mindset to one deceptively simple question — what are you actually optimizing for? — and to the conversations that actually grow a business, from why most podcasts die in their first ten episodes to what it takes for a leader to step out from behind the brand in an AI-driven world.

Along the way, Tom makes the case that the more technology we gain, the more human we become — and that we may all be just one conversation away from the relationship that changes everything.

Tune in to episode 249 to hear Tom’s two mentorship moments — one for the young engineer worried their degree boxed them in, one for the CEO afraid to build a public voice — and his lightning-round reminder that relationships are the one currency inflation has never touched.

AndrewTemte.com

What if the conversations your team isn’t having are costing you more than the ones it is?

In this episode of the Balancing Act podcast, Andy speaks with Gustavo Razzetti — culture change instigator, CEO of Fearless Culture, and bestselling author of Remote, Not Distant, Stretch for Change, and his new book Forward Talk: The Bold New Method For Getting Teams Unstuck.

Gustavo introduces the concept of conversational debt — the compound cost of the conversations teams avoid — and unpacks the three destructive patterns that keep teams trapped: avoidance, blame, and groupthink. He explains why the corporate obsession with psychological safety has become a bandage for deeper issues, and why getting unstuck isn’t about better meetings — it’s about better conversations.

Tune in to episode 248 to hear Gustavo’s rocket-booster moment about a CEO who chose to trust his team before taking the client’s side, two mentorship moments — one for the CHRO investing in change capabilities, one for the CEO who just wants his teams to "get along" — and his closing reflection on the pointlessness paradox that quietly drains team performance.

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What if the corruption of great companies isn’t an ethics problem at all — but a design problem?

In this episode of the Balancing Act podcast, Andy speaks with Eric Ries — creator of the Lean Startup methodology, and New York Times bestselling author of The Lean Startup and The Startup Way. His new book, Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad and How Great Companies Stay Great, argues that corporate corruption is not primarily ethical — it is structural — and offers a practical blueprint for organizations that can grow, prosper, and endure without losing their soul.

Eric revisits the Lean Startup methodology fifteen years after its publication — what’s changed, what’s been distorted, and how he thinks about the MVP, the pivot, and the build-measure-learn loop today.

Tune in to episode 247 to hear Eric’s rocket-booster moment, his mentorship moment for the chief product officer trying to adopt Lean Startup at scale, and his closing reflection on equanimity as one of the most underrated attributes of the entrepreneurial journey.

AndrewTemte.com