#101 – Celebrating Bright Spots in Leadership | 52 Life Lessons – Lesson 20
Most leaders are trained problem detectors. They see the missed deadline, the typo, and the metric that moved the wrong way, and rarely mention the hundreds of things their people do well each day. In episode 20 of the 52 Life Lessons series, host Tim Borys makes the case that this imbalance quietly costs teams their confidence, their creativity, and sometimes their best people.
Drawing on his own experience as an athlete, coach, parent, and business owner, along with research on feedback, gratitude, and the positive deviance approach used in rural Vietnam, Tim lays out a practical framework: See it, Say it, Scale it. His closing challenge is simple and immediate. Within the next twenty-four hours, catch one person doing excellent work, and tell them specifically what you noticed. Done consistently, that is how standards rise without anyone feeling lowered.
#100 – AI, Leadership & the Future of Work (with Kai, Danijel, Shashi & Hoda)
To mark 100 episodes, the Working Well Podcast did something new: a live recording in front of an audience, with a full panel instead of a single guest. Host Tim Borys brought together four entrepreneurs — spanning healthcare tech, renewable energy, retail, and marketing — for an unfiltered conversation about what AI is actually doing to business, leadership, and the broader economy.
The conversation moves well past tool adoption into genuinely contested territory: who captures the value of AI-driven productivity gains, whether small businesses have a real structural advantage over big enterprise, and — in a candid, unscripted audience Q&A — whether AI is accelerating a K-shaped economy that concentrates wealth further at the top. It’s a fitting way to mark a milestone: less a victory lap, more an honest look at the questions the next 100 episodes will need to keep asking.
#099 – Additive vs. Reductive Leadership | 52 Life Lessons – Lesson 19
Most leadership advice focuses on decisiveness, authority, and control the traits that look impressive from the outside. In episode 19 of the 52 Life Lesson series, host Tim makes the case for a different measure entirely: whether your leadership adds capacity to the people around you, or slowly reduces it.
Drawing on a candid story about a policy failure early in his own business, along with Paul O’Neill’s transformation of Alcoa and Amy Edmondson’s research on psychological safety, Tim shows why the most sustainable leadership holds high standards while building trust and why the true test of any leader isn’t how many people follow them in the room, but how well those people lead when they’re not.
098 – AI, Human Thinking, and the Future of Work (with Alex Gris)
AI is getting faster and more capable by the week — but that doesn’t automatically make our work better, our thinking sharper, or our organizations healthier. In this episode, host Tim Borys talks with Alex Gris, a senior engineering leader at Google and former CTO, about the gap between individual AI productivity gains and genuine organizational value.
Alex offers a grounded, technically credible perspective on why so many AI initiatives stall: deployed narrowly instead of across full workflows, unchecked “AI slop” quietly overloading a team’s most capable people, and a growing tendency to outsource judgment that should stay firmly human. The conversation lands on a reassuring, practical note — AI transformation isn’t a fundamentally new problem. It’s change management, systems thinking, and leadership fundamentals, applied to a faster-moving technology than we’ve seen before.
#097 – Invest Your Time Wisely | 52 Life Lessons – Lesson 18
Most conversations about time management focus on calendars and to-do lists. In episode 18 of the 52 Life Lesson series, host Tim makes the case that the real issue isn’t how much time we have it’s how much attention we bring to it. Drawing on research into mind-wandering, phone visibility, and psychological detachment from work, Tim shares his own candid history of being physically present but mentally elsewhere with his family, and the leadership lessons that followed.
The episode moves from personal reflection to practical framework, closing with three simple investments presence, recovery, and experiences that leaders and high performers can apply immediately. As Tim puts it: there are no refunds, no exchanges, and no do-overs on time. The only real choice is how wisely we invest it.
#096 – It Starts With Joy: Why Human-Centered Leadership Is the Future of Work (with Sheryl Raphael Whitaker)
Leadership expert and author Sheryl Raphael Whitaker joins Tim Borys to explore a topic rarely discussed in executive circles: joy. Drawing on more than 30 years of leadership experience, Sheryl explains why joy is not a soft concept but a strategic leadership advantage that drives engagement, trust, innovation, and performance.
The conversation examines the hidden costs of fear-based leadership, the growing challenge of burnout and disengagement, and why the future of work requires leaders to become more human—not less. From leadership transformation and organizational culture to AI and sustainable performance, this episode offers practical insights for leaders seeking to build healthier teams and stronger businesses.
This conversation challenges outdated ideas about productivity and offers a new perspective on what it means to build workplaces where people and businesses can thrive.
#095 – Upgrade Your Self-Talk | 52 Life Lessons – Lesson 17
In Lesson 17 of the 52 Life Lessons series, Tim Borys explores the power of self-talk and the internal dialogue that shapes how we lead, perform, and experience life. Through personal stories, psychology, and practical tools, he explains how recognizing outdated mental patterns can help us build a healthier, more intentional inner voice.
Through personal stories, research-backed insights, and practical leadership lessons, Tim explains how adopting a mastery mindset can improve performance, resilience, creativity, and fulfillment. This episode is a valuable listen for leaders, professionals, and anyone seeking to replace self-judgment with curiosity and sustainable growth.
#094 – The Science of Happiness at Work, Leadership, Wellbeing & Human Connection (with Daniela Jines)
In this episode of the Working Well Podcast, Daniela Jines explores the science behind happiness at work and how leaders can create healthier, more connected organizations. From neuroscience and workplace culture to AI and human connection, Daniela explains why the future of work depends on balancing performance with wellbeing.
This conversation challenges outdated ideas about productivity and offers a new perspective on what it means to build workplaces where people and businesses can thrive.
#093 – Mastery Mindset Over Perfectionism | 52 Life Lessons – Lesson 16
In Lesson 16 of the 52 Life Lessons series, Tim Borys explores the powerful distinction between mastery and perfectionism. While perfectionism often disguises itself as high standards, it is frequently rooted in fear, self-protection, and a fixed mindset. Mastery, by contrast, is a lifelong commitment to learning, growth, and continuous improvement.
Through personal stories, research-backed insights, and practical leadership lessons, Tim explains how adopting a mastery mindset can improve performance, resilience, creativity, and fulfillment. This episode is a valuable listen for leaders, professionals, and anyone seeking to replace self-judgment with curiosity and sustainable growth.
#092 – Retention, Leadership, and Building High-Performance Workplace Cultures (with Michael Gomez)
In this episode of the Working Well Podcast, Tim Borys sits down with HR executive Michael to explore what actually drives employee retention, organizational stability, and high-performance workplace culture.
Drawing from extensive experience across large-scale organizations and multi-unit restaurant operations, Michael explains why retention is ultimately a leadership challenge not simply an HR metric. The conversation dives into servant leadership, employee development, AI-powered hiring systems, performance management, and the operational systems that help organizations reduce turnover while improving customer experience and profitability.
This episode is packed with practical insights for executives, HR professionals, and leaders looking to build healthier cultures, stronger teams, and more sustainable long-term growth.
This conversation challenges outdated ideas about productivity and offers a new perspective on what it means to build workplaces where people and businesses can thrive.