The Leaders Lab presents The Playbook with Ken Eslick

In this episode of The Playbook Podcast, Ken Eslick and Onika Kwatsha welcome back executive coach and performance expert Rich Waterman to explore one of the most fundamental forces in human behavior: Identity.
 
Many leaders and high achievers struggle to achieve their goals not because of a lack of skill or strategy, but because their internal narrative directly contradicts what they are trying to build. Drawing from their extensive backgrounds in executive coaching and Tony Robbins' organization, Ken and Rich unpack the incredible power behind the words "I am" and how your core self-concept shapes your daily performance, leadership style, and long-term success.
 
💡 Key Takeaways
The Power of "I Am": Whatever follows "I am" represents what you hold as absolute truth about yourself. If your goal conflicts with your core identity, you will subconsciously find ways to sabotage your success.
Beware the "Conspiracy of Mediocrity": Societal norms often teach us to play small or bond over shared failures rather than boldly stating our strengths. Recognizing your true capabilities isn't arrogance; it's clarity.
Cross-Mapping Strengths: You can upgrade weak identity areas by "cross-mapping" belief patterns and capabilities from areas of your life where you already excel (e.g., applying public speaking confidence to networking).
Confronting the Wake-Up Call: Reality checks—such as facing an unexpected physical or professional hurdle—force you to interface with your true identity and decide whether to accept drift or demand better.
The Four Quadrants of Identity: Use Rich's framework—Love, Hate, Achievements, and Zone of Genius—to audit your current self-narrative and align daily actions with your innate strengths.
 
⏱️ Timestamps
00:00 – Introduction: Why Identity and the Words "I Am" Matter
02:00 – Defining "I Am": How Self-Belief Dictates Results and Sabotage
04:00 – The "Conspiracy of Mediocrity": Downplaying Success for Social Connection
07:15 – How Identity is Formed and Changing It via Cross-Mapping
10:30 – Personal Blueprints vs. External Goals: Why Ambition Fails Without Belief
12:15 – Leadership Traps: Imposing External Identity Standards on Teams
16:00 – The Danger of Lying to Yourself vs. True Identity Evolution
20:30 – Wake-Up Calls: Ken’s 5K Story and Turning Frustration Into Action
24:00 – The Four Quadrants Exercise: Love, Hate, Achievements, and Zone of Genius
26:30 – Action Step: Auditing Your Wheel of Life to Reset Identity
 
🤝 Connect with the Guest & Hosts
Rich Waterman’s Website: https richwaterman.com
Rich Waterman on LinkedIn: https linkedin.com/in/richwaterman
Ken Eslick on LinkedIn: https linkedin.com/in/keneslick
The Leaders Lab Website: https theleaderslab.co
At The Leaders Lab, we help organizations improve hiring, leadership, communication, and team performance by understanding the human behaviors and belief systems that drive success. From behavioral assessments and executive coaching to hiring strategy and culture development, we help companies make smarter people decisions with greater clarity and confidence.
 
🤝 Work with Us: https calendly.com/theleaderslab/meeting
 
#Leadership #Identity #Mindset #ExecutiveCoaching #PeakPerformance #TheLeadersLab #RichWaterman #KenEslick
 

In this episode of The Playbook Podcast, Ken Eslick and Onika Kwatsha are rejoined by executive coach and performance expert Rich Waterman to unpack State, Story, and Strategy - the foundational framework for peak execution.
Many leaders believe they have a strategy problem when, in reality, they have a state problem. Even the most flawless business plan will fail if executed from a poor emotional state or supported by self-sabotaging narrative loops. Drawing from their shared background in Tony Robbins’ organization, Ken and Rich break down how to self-regulate emotional states when working remotely, leverage physical and auditory triggers to alter your mindset, and use the "state-first" sequence to drive high-performance results across your team.
💡 Key Takeaways
State Precedes Execution: A great strategy cannot overcome a depleted or reactive emotional state. High performance begins with managing your internal state, which unlocks supportive stories and enables clear execution.
Shift Mindset via the Triad: You can deliberately alter a poor emotional state by adjusting your physiology (movement and breathing), focus, and internal or external language.
Design "Catalyst Behaviors": Establish structured morning and evening routines—using music, brisk movement, or strategic prep work—to set a baseline emotional state before tackling demanding tasks like cold calling.
Lead with Empathy and Intuition: Leaders should actively monitor non-verbal physical and vocal cues in team members (such as slouched posture or changes in tone) to proactively support them before performance drops.
Own Your Outcomes: Blaming external circumstances or poor tools temporarily protects the ego, but taking full ownership of your state, story, and strategy gives you total control to change your results.
Timestamps
00:00 – Introduction: Strategy Problem vs. State Problem
02:00 – Explaining the Triad: Why Emotional State Dictates Execution
04:45 – Self-Regulation for Remote Leaders: Controlling Your Mindset Alone
06:00 – Changing Your Triad: Leveraging Physiology, Focus, and Language
07:30 – Building an Emotional Playbook for Difficult Tasks
09:30 – Aligning Daily Schedules with Peak Energy Windows
11:30 – Catalyst Behaviors: Using Morning/Evening Routines and Prep Work
14:00 – The Feedback Loop: How Strategy and State Reinforce Each Other
15:30 – Identifying State Shifts and Non-Verbal Cues in Team Members
18:00 – Physicality Tricks: Resetting Your Body Like an Athlete
20:30 – Case Study: How One Feedback Session Triggered Three Unique State Responses
23:30 – The Power of Ownership: Overcoming the Victim Mindset
Connect with the Guest & Hosts
Rich Waterman’s Website: https://richwaterman.com/
Rich Waterman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richwaterman/
Ken Eslick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keneslick/
The Leaders Lab Website: https://theleaderslab.co
At The Leaders Lab, we help organizations improve hiring, leadership, communication, and team performance by understanding the human behaviors and belief systems that drive success. From behavioral assessments and executive coaching to hiring strategy and culture development, we help companies make smarter people decisions with greater clarity and confidence.
🤝 Work with Us: https://calendly.com/theleaderslab/meeting
#Leadership #LeadershipDevelopment #StateStoryStrategy #RichWaterman #ExecutiveCoaching #PeakPerformance #WorkplaceCulture #TheLeadersLab
 

In this episode of The Playbook Podcast, Ken Eslick and Onika Kwatsha dive into the critical differences between leadership and management, exploring why exceptional managers don't always become great leaders and how spending time on the wrong activities holds businesses back.
Management focuses on operations, execution, administration, and dotting the i's and crossing the t's, while leadership focuses on vision, motivation, and forward-thinking. Ken and Onika break down real-world business responsibilities—like running payroll, designing compensation plans, and hiring—to help leaders audit their calendars, delegate effectively, and transition from fixing day-to-day problems to driving long-term strategic growth.
The conversation explores:
The core differences between operational management and visionary leadership
Why our brains naturally gravitate toward administrative tasks to avoid tough leadership moments
How to audit your calendar and protect time for high-impact leadership activities
Breaking down everyday business responsibilities: payroll, compensation philosophy, and hiring
The art of delegation and avoiding the trap of managing without clear metrics
Applying the "trust but verify" principle to empower your team
How rising through the ranks changes your problem-solving responsibilities
The power of radical self-honesty in tracking your time and energy
Timestamps
00:00 – Introduction: Leadership vs. Management
01:15 – Defining the differences: Operations and execution vs. vision and motivation
03:00 – Balancing administrative duties with visionary leadership
04:30 – Game time: Is running payroll management or leadership?
05:40 – Creating a compensation philosophy and delivering change
06:45 – Hiring: Why it's a mix of operational management and ultimate leadership ownership
08:30 – Why brains hide behind admin tasks to avoid hard leadership choices
10:20 – Calendar audits and designing intentional time blocks
13:00 – Delegating effectively: Moving from supervisor to CEO mindset
15:10 – The "trust but verify" framework and establishing clear scoreboards
18:00 – Practical steps for radical self-honesty and weekly calendar audits
Connect with Ken and The Leaders Lab
Ken on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keneslick/
The Leaders Lab Website: https://theleaderslab.co
At The Leaders Lab, we help organizations improve hiring, leadership, communication, and team performance by understanding the human behaviors and belief systems that drive success. From behavioral assessments and leadership coaching to hiring strategy and culture development, we help companies make smarter people decisions with greater clarity and confidence.
Connect with us here to get started: https://calendly.com/theleaderslab/meeting
#Leadership #Management #LeadershipDevelopment #BusinessGrowth #Delegation #TimeManagement #ExecutiveCoaching #TheLeadersLab
 

In this episode of The Playbook Podcast, Ken Eslick and Onika Kwatsha are joined by performance expert and executive coach Rich Waterman to explore the critical concept of Emotional Fitness.
The trio discusses how top-tier leadership isn't just about technical expertise or strategies - it's about the quality of decisions made under extreme pressure. Drawing from his background as a former investment banker and Senior Trainer for Tony Robbins, Rich shares how emotional fitness enables leaders to pause, deliberately choose their emotional state, and lead with unshakeable clarity rather than reacting out of ego or stress. From managing unpredictable top performers to identifying self-awareness during the hiring process, this conversation serves as a masterclass in building emotional resilience and maintaining a high-performing culture.
💡 Key Takeaways
Emotional Fitness is Proactive, Not Reactive: True emotional fitness isn't about suppressing feelings or always being happy; it's about navigating between emotions intentionally and choosing useful states rather than making decisions from ego or survival mode.
Harness the "Power of the Pause": Placing a deliberate pause between stimulus and response breaks the reactive cycle, preventing collateral damage and allowing leaders to act as the "adult in the room".
Culture Trumps Short-Term Performance: Tolerating emotionally volatile "star performers" creates a panic-multiplying effect that damages overall team morale and disrupts organizational culture long-term.
Emotionally Prepare for High-Stakes Conversations: Mental preparation—role-playing potential reactions and setting your emotional posture before difficult meetings—prevents getting rattled under heat.
Screen for Self-Awareness in Hiring: Evaluate candidates through situational questions about past failures, detractors, and personal blind spots to identify genuine self-awareness and emotional maturity over polished resumes.
Timestamps:
00:00 – Introduction: Defining Emotional Fitness & Decisive Leadership
01:10 – What Emotional Fitness Really Means: Navigating vs. Suppressing Emotions
03:20 – The Power of the Pause: Moving from Reactive to Proactive Leadership
04:15 – Emotional Sobriety: Becoming the Adult in the Room
07:00 – Preparing for High-Stakes Conversations Without Over-Planning
10:00 – Mental Toughness: Shifting from Defensiveness to Unshakeable Calm
12:00 – Managing Unpredictable Moods and the "Panic Multiplying Effect"
14:50 – High Performers with Bad Attitudes: Protecting Long-Term Culture over Short-Term Gains
20:30 – How to Screen for Emotional Fitness in Job Interviews
22:40 – The Power of Vulnerability and Admitting Human Imperfection
25:30 – Addressing Cultural Issues Early Before They Compound
Connect with the Guest & Hosts
Rich Waterman on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/richwaterman
Rich Waterman Website: richwaterman.com
Ken Eslick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keneslick/
The Leaders Lab Website: https://theleaderslab.co/
At The Leaders Lab, we help organizations improve hiring, leadership, communication, and team performance by understanding the human behaviors and belief systems that drive success. From behavioral assessments and executive coaching to hiring strategy and culture development, we help companies make smarter people decisions with greater clarity and confidence.
🤝 Work with Us: https://calendly.com/theleaderslab/meeting
#Leadership #LeadershipDevelopment #EmotionalFitness #RichWaterman #ExecutiveCoaching #WorkplaceCulture #Management #TheLeadersLab
 

In this episode of The Playbook Podcast, Ken Eslick and Onika Kwatsha break down one of the simplest yet most impactful leadership tools for evaluating talent and measuring organizational health: The Team GPA.
Adapted from Jack Welch’s classic A, B, and C player framework at General Electric, Ken shares how turning talent assessment into an actionable scorecard creates an instant read on team performance. Rather than using the model to cut employees, Ken explains how to leverage it to obsess over development, elevate B players into A players, handle low performers with clear expectations, and drive bottom-line business metrics like sales, profit, and retention. This episode is a practical masterclass in building a high-performing team culture where expectations are clear, growth is supported, and leadership operates with a clean conscience.
The conversation explores:
The origins of the A, B, and C player framework and its modern adaptation
How to score your team and why a 3.0+ GPA is the target for high performance
Why small shifts in your Team GPA create massive jumps in sales, profit, and morale
The critical difference between cultural misalignment vs. performance lag
How to address C players with candor, support, and clear expectations
Why leaders accidentally ignore A players—and how to fix it
Using A players to mentor the impressionable middle 70% (B players)
Managing activity (leading indicators) vs. results (lagging indicators)
Timestamps
00:00 – Introduction: What is the Team GPA?
01:10 – The origins of the A, B, C framework (Jack Welch & General Electric)
02:10 – Defining the breakdown: 20% A Players, 70% B Players, 10% C Players
03:20 – Scaling leadership: How the scorecard creates instant visibility across locations
04:15 – How increasing your Team GPA drives sales, profit, and retention
05:30 – Defining A, B, and C players: Measuring performance vs. attitude
06:40 – How to handle C players: Cultural fit vs. training & skill gaps
08:15 – When and how to gracefully part ways with underperforming team members
09:50 – The danger of ignoring your top performers (A Players)
11:20 – Sibling dynamic parallel: Why high performers rebel without attention
12:40 – Practical steps to improve your collective Team GPA
13:50 – Focusing on leading indicators (activities) over lagging indicators (results)
15:30 – How to leverage A players to mentor and elevate B players
Free Resource: Team GPA Calculator Spreadsheet
Ken mentioned creating a template during the episode, and we’ve built one for you!
📊 Access the Team GPA Spreadsheet Template Here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1H6KEBIr4CP-wMfV9SBJ8usfv8rpuTiDMWZJi6tCEHHA/edit?gid=0#gid=0
How to use it: Make a copy of the sheet (File > Make a copy), enter your direct reports along the left side, and input their corresponding letter grade (A=4, B=3, C=2). The spreadsheet will automatically calculate your overall Team GPA and track shifts over time.
Getting Started:
Make a copy of this template and save it to your own workspace.
Rename the copy for your team.
Remove anyone who currently has access to the copied version.
You can then add your own team members.
Important: If you add or remove team members, you’ll also need to update the formula in the Team GPA section so it includes the correct rows for your team.
Need help interpreting your results or creating an action plan for your team? Contact Ken directly at ken@theleaderslab.co for guidance.
Connect with Ken and The Leaders Lab
Ken on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keneslick/
The Leaders Lab Website: https://theleaderslab.co
At The Leaders Lab, we help organizations improve hiring, leadership, communication, and team performance by understanding the human behaviors and belief systems that drive success. From behavioral assessments and leadership coaching to hiring strategy and culture development, we help companies make smarter people decisions with greater clarity and confidence.
Connect with us here to get started: https://calendly.com/theleaderslab/meeting
#Leadership #Management #LeadershipDevelopment #TeamPerformance #WorkplaceCulture #TalentManagement #ExecutiveCoaching #TheLeadersLab
 

AI Isn't Replacing You. Someone Using AI Might with Andy Storch
In this episode of The Playbook Podcast, Ken Eslick and Andy Storch unpack a critical reality in today's corporate landscape: AI isn't replacing you, but someone using AI might.
At its core, this episode challenges the fear and overwhelm that many founders, executives, and team leaders face when looking at rapid technology adoption. True AI fluency isn't about becoming a programmer or an algorithm researcher; it’s about a fundamental shift in perspective. Instead of treating tools like Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini as basic question-and-answer search machines, elite leaders leverage them as strategic "thought partners" to scale their decision-making, optimize client deliverables, and drive team accountability.
Ken and Andy unpack practical, real-world workflows that remove repetitive bottlenecks from an executive's desk. They explore what happens when leaders shift from ignoring AI to leaning directly into its potential - and how to strike the perfect balance between human-centric empathy and technological efficiency.
In this episode:
How viewing AI as an elite thought partner reframes executive decision-making
Why AI fluency will become a mandatory requirement for corporate leaders within the next three to five years
Moving past basic prompts to utilize custom GPTs and Gems with enduring memory
Confronting the fear, Gen Z backlash, and environmental debates surrounding modern data usage
Practical coaching use cases: preparing for difficult conversations and roleplaying radical candor
Next-level automation: how to link AI agents directly into your CRM, Notion, and calendars
Streamlining client deliverables and presentations seamlessly through tools like Gamma
The danger of over-reliance: maintaining a "human-in-the-loop" approach to preserve genuine connection
Timestamps:
00:00 — Why the question is no longer whether AI is coming
05:14 — Treating AI as a book-smart, junior strategic partner
09:26 — Custom GPTs, Gems, and Projects with enduring memory
12:52 — Addressing the fear, societal anxiety, and the Gen Z backlash
18:31 — Utilizing AI coaching for in-the-moment management challenges
24:54 — Designing automated morning briefings using calendars, email, and CRMs
34:30 — Compressing 80-page candidate tests into beautiful 7-page client presentations
42:37 — Overcoming writer's block for daunting corporate performance reviews
47:27 — AI use cases for modern job seekers and recruiters
54:52 — Five golden rules for everyday AI integration
Connect with Ken & The Leaders Lab:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keneslick/
Website: https://theleaderslab.co
Want to strengthen leadership, communication, and team performance?
If you’re a founder, executive, or team leader, an AI-fluent mindset is often the difference between operational breakdown and competitive breakthrough. We help organizations build stronger teams through leadership clarity, accountability, human-centric communication, and better hiring decisions.
📅 Book a meeting with The Leaders Lab:
https://calendly.com/theleaderslab/meeting
#AI #Leadership #LeadershipDevelopment #WorkplaceCulture #Management #TeamBuilding #ExecutiveStrategy #BusinessAutomation #ThePlaybookPodcast
 

In this episode of The Playbook Podcast, Ken Eslick and Onika Kwatsha unpack a powerful leadership mindset shift: the 90-Day Challenge - a principle inspired by a lesson Ken learned from Tony Robbins.
At its core, this episode challenges one of the most common breakdown points in leadership, business, and relationships: scorekeeping. Most relationships don’t fail suddenly. They degrade slowly. Not through one big moment - but through repeated small fractures: unmet expectations, lack of communication, growing resentment, and a shift from contribution to transaction.The same energy people bring in the beginning - high engagement, ownership, and effort - naturally fades over time. And when it does, leaders often slip into a dangerous mindset:
“I’ve done my part — now it’s their turn.”
That’s where trust starts to erode.
The 90-Day Challenge becomes a reset: a commitment to show up fully again, without tracking, without tallying, and without waiting for reciprocity. In this episode, Ken and Onika explore what happens when leaders remove scorekeeping from their teams, relationships, and careers - and what becomes possible when they don’t.
In this episode:
The 90-Day Challenge and why it reframes leadership behavior
Why scorekeeping quietly destroys trust and culture
The “honeymoon phase” in teams and relationships
How disengagement actually starts
Early warning signs most leaders ignore
The danger of unspoken expectations
Why some relationships still need to end — but should end with integrity
How to evaluate relationships after your best 90 days, not your worst moment
Timestamps00:00 — Why relationships rarely fail overnight01:20 — The honeymoon phase in work and life01:40 — Introducing the 90-Day Challenge03:20 — Why effort fades over time05:25 — When relationships become transactional07:20 — Some relationships should end09:20 — Early signs of disengagement10:55 — The danger of unspoken expectations11:15 — Leadership accountability and communication12:00 — A leadership failure that reshaped perspective13:15 — Integrity when relationships end14:45 — Why waiting for 90 days is often too late15:50 — Knowing when to move on16:20 — Why you shouldn’t announce the challenge17:10 — Evaluating after your best 90 days
Connect with Ken & The Leaders LabLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keneslick/Website: https://theleaderslab.co
Want to strengthen leadership, communication, and team performance?If you’re a founder, executive, or team leader, the 90-Day Challenge mindset is often the difference between breakdown and breakthrough.
We help organizations build stronger teams through leadership clarity, accountability, communication, and better hiring decisions.
📅 Book a meeting with The Leaders Lab:https://calendly.com/theleaderslab/meeting
#Leadership #LeadershipDevelopment #WorkplaceCulture #EmployeeEngagement #Management #TeamBuilding #90DayChallenge #ThePlaybookPodcast

In this episode of The Playbook Podcast, Ken Eslick and Onika Kwatsha explore how the stories we repeatedly tell ourselves about people, experiences, and the world quietly shape nearly every area of our lives.
Most people believe they see reality objectively. But in truth, our minds constantly filter experiences through beliefs formed by past interactions, emotional experiences, and personal assumptions. One difficult boss, bad relationship, failed hire, betrayal, or disappointment can slowly evolve into a “global belief” that begins shaping how we lead, hire, communicate, trust, love, and make decisions.
Ken unpacks how these invisible mental frameworks influence everything from workplace culture and leadership to relationships, confidence, personal growth, and self-image.
The conversation explores:
Why the brain naturally fixates on negative experiences
How confirmation bias reinforces limiting beliefs
The danger of turning isolated experiences into absolute truths
How global beliefs quietly affect hiring and leadership decisions
Why trust and emotional safety matter in leadership
The hidden damage caused by labels and assumptions
How limiting self-beliefs shape identity and behavior
Why one simple word — “yet” — can completely change your mindset
This episode is a powerful reminder that experiences are meant to inform us, not imprison us.
Timestamps
 00:00 – How experiences become global beliefs 01:20 – Why beliefs shape behavior and decision-making 02:20 – Tony Robbins’ influence on understanding global beliefs 03:40 – Why the brain focuses on negative experiences 04:30 – Safety, certainty, and the psychology of belief formation 05:20 – How global beliefs affect the workplace 06:00 – The hiring bias problem 07:20 – Why division grows when people stop seeking understanding 08:40 – Rebuilding trust after negative experiences 10:25 – Why trust is built slowly over time 11:00 – Confirmation bias and the brain’s need to be right 12:40 – How people unconsciously reinforce their own beliefs 14:00 – The danger of assumptions in hiring and relationships 15:20 – Diversity of thought and perspective in successful teams 16:20 – The limiting stories people repeat to themselves 18:00 – Why the word “yet” is so powerful 19:00 – Ken’s vision board story and subconscious transformation 21:30 – Practical ways to challenge limiting beliefs 23:15 – Why experiences should inform you, not define you
Connect with Ken and The Leaders Lab
Ken on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keneslick/
The Leaders Lab: theleaderslab.co
At The Leaders Lab, we help organizations improve hiring, leadership, communication, and team performance by understanding the human behaviors and belief systems that drive success. From behavioral assessments and leadership coaching to hiring strategy and culture development, we help companies make smarter people decisions with greater clarity and confidence.
Connect with us here to get started: https://calendly.com/theleaderslab/meeting
#Leadership #Mindset #LeadershipDevelopment #PersonalGrowth #WorkplaceCulture #EmotionalIntelligence #Communication #SelfAwareness
 

In this episode of The Playbook, Ken Eslick and Onika Kwatsha dive into one of the most overlooked drivers of human behavior and performance: identity.
Most people believe their success is determined by goals, discipline, motivation, or talent. But Ken argues that over time, people almost always act in alignment with who they believe they are.
Whether it’s leadership, business, finances, health, confidence, or relationships, identity quietly shapes the behaviors that ultimately determine our results.
The conversation explores:
Why people self-sabotage even after achieving success
How limiting beliefs reinforce underperformance
Why temporary motivation rarely creates lasting change
The connection between identity and leadership performance
How KPI-driven cultures fail without identity alignment
Why people often return to old habits and old results
The danger of labels we place on ourselves and others
How consistent action gradually reshapes identity over time
Ken also shares practical ways leaders, employees, and individuals can shift from chasing short-term goals to building identities capable of sustaining long-term success.
This episode is a powerful reminder that your life, career, and leadership will eventually move in the direction of the person you believe you are.
Timestamps
00:00 – Why identity matters more than goals01:10 – The connection between self-image and behavior02:00 – Ken’s personal realization about identity and performance03:10 – Why people lose success after achieving it04:10 – Why the brain resists positive change05:20 – The power of repetitive self-talk06:00 – Why identity shifts must happen gradually06:45 – The idea of multiple identities across life and work07:40 – Leadership, KPIs, and identity-driven performance09:15 – Why goals alone don’t create lasting transformation11:15 – Event-based motivation vs identity-based change13:00 – Why responsibility and purpose create leverage14:20 – The role of fear, leverage, and compelling futures15:35 – The labels we assign ourselves and others17:10 – Practical ways to reshape identity through action18:20 – Why identity is more powerful than motivation
Connect with Ken and The Leaders Lab
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keneslick/
The Leaders Lab: theleaderslab.co
Ready to Build Stronger Leaders and Higher-Performing Teams?
At The Leaders Lab, we help organizations improve performance by focusing on the behaviors, mindset, and leadership identities that drive long-term success. From leadership coaching and hiring strategy to behavioral alignment and culture development, we help companies build teams that consistently perform at a higher level.
Connect with us here to get started:
👉 https://calendly.com/theleaderslab/meeting
#Leadership #LeadershipDevelopment #Mindset #PersonalDevelopment #LeadershipMindset #BusinessLeadership #GrowthMindset

Tired of the "guessing game" that comes with traditional hiring?. We’ve all been there - you meet a candidate who looks perfect on paper, nails the interview with a sharp suit and a great smile (hello, Halo Effect!), but then struggles to perform two months in.
In this episode, Ken Eslick and Onika Kwatsha dive deep into how to move past surface-level impressions by using advanced behavioral assessments - like DISC, Motivators, and Cognitive insights - to map a candidate's natural "wiring" directly to your job description. Learn how to use AI to digest massive 80-page reports into actionable blueprints that reveal exactly where a candidate will thrive and where they’ll need to stretch.
In this episode, we discuss:
Why "gut feel" isn't enough and how to combat hiring biases.
The difference between a developed skillset and a natural behavioral trait (and why it matters for long-term happiness).
How to turn assessment "gaps" into surgical, targeted interview questions.
Why a 91% match is often the highest score you'll ever see.
Ken’s personal "radical self-awareness" moment regarding his own DISC profile.
Timestamps
[00:00:29] – Building on Team Compass: Moving from team mapping to individual job fit.
[00:03:00] – The "Halo Effect": How biases regarding appearance and resumes lead to bad hires.
[00:04:57] – Using AI as a Tool: How to digest 80-page reports without losing the "human connection".
[00:06:40] – The Hunter Profile: Why your best salesperson might be terrible at paperwork (and how to interview for it).
[00:09:50] – Scoring Job Fit: What a score in the 70s vs. the 50s actually tells you.
[00:17:35] – The Risk of Mismatch: Why a "skillful" candidate might still go "crazy" in the wrong role.
[00:20:30] – The Win-Win-Win: Why recruitment should be about more than just sending a CV.
Connect with Ken and The Leaders Lab:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keneslick/
The Leaders Lab by Ken Eslick: https://www.theleaderslab.co/
Ready to Level Up Your Hiring Process?
We’re passionate about helping leaders take the guesswork out of building their teams. Whether you want to learn how to build these AI tools yourself or you'd rather have us handle the heavy lifting to ensure your next hire is a perfect behavioral fit, let's talk.
Connect with us here to get started:
👉 https://calendly.com/theleaderslab/meeting
#Hiring #BehavioralAssessments #DISC #Leadership #Recruitment #AIinHiring #TheLeadersLab #SelfAwareness