Jermaine Ee on Scaling an AI-Powered Startup, Designing for the 70%, and Not Getting to Choose Your Founder Story

Navid Ladha on Why Low Pay Is a Leadership Problem, Finding Hidden Remote Roles, and the Future of Social Impact

Navid Ladha (linkedin.com/in/navidladha/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/navidladha/], onpurposecareers.org [https://onpurposecareers.org/]), founder of OnPurpose Careers, joins host Dan Freehling (contempusleadership.com [https://www.contempusleadership.com/]) to challenge the notion that purpose-driven work has to come with lower pay. Navid and Dan discuss why underpaying social impact staff creates wealth inequity that disconnects organizations from the communities they serve (02:53) and walk through what job seekers, board members, and executive leaders can each do to shift this (04:10). Navid shares his take on what AI-driven workforce changes may mean for the social sector (08:44) and the policy levers that could bring more people into this work (12:09). Navid and Dan talk about the growing demand for strategic fundraisers and the case for nonprofits to define an "end game" rather than operate in perpetuity (24:32). Navid identifies the highest-paying, most active subsectors right now (27:38) and Dan describes what he calls the "new social sector" (33:58). Both push back on greenwashing and performative social impact branding (37:09). On remote work, Navid shares findings from running the OnPurpose Careers job board (46:00). He also walks through how he sources hidden roles through his network and how jobseekers can train their LinkedIn algorithm to surface real opportunities (48:59). Recommended Reading: "Sparked [https://bookshop.org/p/books/sparked-discover-your-unique-imprint-for-work-that-makes-you-come-alive-jonathan-fields/15713075]" by Jonathan Fields, "Be Ready When the Luck Happens [https://bookshop.org/p/books/be-ready-when-the-luck-happens-a-memoir-ina-garten/21212711]" by Ina Garten, and "This Is Marketing [https://bookshop.org/p/books/this-is-marketing-you-can-t-be-seen-until-you-learn-to-see-seth-godin/12083742]" by Seth Godin. Show notes at forwardlookingleadership.com [https://forwardlookingleadership.com/].

Logan Yonavjak on Making Smarter People Decisions, Assessing Leader Readiness With AI, and Why Coachability Beats Pedigree Every Time

Logan Yonavjak (founderready.io [https://founderready.io/]), Co-Founder and CEO of Founder Readiness Institute, joins host Dan Freehling (contempusleadership.com [https://www.contempusleadership.com/]) to discuss how AI-powered assessment is giving investors, enterprises, and leaders a new window into leadership capacity. Logan explains the concept of vertical development and why it is the theoretical underpinning of Founder Readiness Institute’s work (00:08:35), addresses concerns about AI bias and shares how it can counter traditional human biases, and discusses what she learned from taking her own assessment (00:29:17). Logan makes the case for coachability as the most essential leadership construct (00:27:08) and explains why human leaders in an AI-augmented world will need to hold increasingly more complexity (00:32:42). Recommended Reading: "$100M Leads [https://bookshop.org/p/books/100m-leads-how-to-get-strangers-to-want-to-buy-your-stuff-alex-hormozi/1f16f42d4b73a7d8]" by Alex Hormozi. Show notes at forwardlookingleadership.com [https://forwardlookingleadership.com/].

Eirik Gislason on Hard-Won Negotiation Lessons from NYC Real Estate, Outmaneuvering Hard Bargainers, and Getting Paid What You Deserve

Eirik Gislason (archwaypartnersinc.com [https://archwaypartnersinc.com/]), founder of Archway Partners Coaching, leader of the Excelsior Team at Brown Harris Stevens, and host of the Shear Line: Negotiation Mastery podcast, joins host Dan Freehling (contempusleadership.com [https://www.contempusleadership.com/]) to discuss how to get more of what you want without bullying, hard bargaining, or leaving value on the table. Eirik explains why hiring the meanest broker backfires and what strength in negotiation actually looks like (00:42), how collaborative negotiators grow the pie in a real estate deal rather than splitting it (06:05), and the upside and hidden downside of “Minnesota nice” (12:03). He walks through how to prepare for a negotiation with a Trump-style hard bargainer, including anchoring, BATNAs, and process before substance (15:47). Eirik also shares takeaways from the Harvard Law School negotiation program (41:20), unpacks the five most common negotiation mistakes (47:42), and breaks down the four decision-maker types (53:23). Recommended reading: “Getting to Yes [https://a.co/d/0aVjkrYu]” by Roger Fisher and William Ury, “Getting to Yes with Yourself [https://a.co/d/0c9OChZp]” by William Ury, “Think Again [https://a.co/d/0fOPaIOC]” by Adam Grant, “Never Split the Difference [https://a.co/d/03mkXwo5]” by Chris Voss, and “Negotiating the Impossible [https://a.co/d/0ifm0cFZ]” by Deepak Malhotra. Show notes at forwardlookingleadership.com [https://forwardlookingleadership.com].

Jermaine Ee on Scaling an AI-Powered Startup, Designing for the 70%, and Not Getting to Choose Your Founder Story

Jermaine Ee, founder of Heirlight (heirlight.com [https://heirlight.com/en]), an AI-powered estate planning app, joins host Dan Freehling (contempusleadership.com [https://contempusleadership.com]) to discuss what it takes to make one of life's most avoided conversations easier. Jermaine shares how a dinner with his parents about retirement planted the seed for Heirlight (02:37) and how the app uses guided AI conversation rather than a laundry list of assets to build an estate plan around the user (04:53). He also describes his deliberate choice to stay bootstrapped and away from the venture treadmill (15:35), the mentality required to run a product-driven startup (21:38), and how losing his mother gave his mission a clarity he didn't ask for but can't ignore (22:56). Recommended reading: “Essentialism [https://a.co/d/001O2HPa]” by Greg McKeown, “Die with Zero [https://a.co/d/02hNK2NS]” by Bill Perkins, and “Predictably Irrational [https://a.co/d/0dMxZII4]” by Dan Ariely. Show notes at forwardlookingleadership.com [https://forwardlookingleadership.com].

Ang Richard on Coaching Gen Z, Becoming a LinkedIn Top Voice, and Reimagining the Campus-to-Career Playbook

Ang Richard (angrichard.com [https://www.angrichard.com/], linkedin.com/in/angela-richard/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-richard/]), a Gen Z career coach, TEDx speaker, LinkedIn Top Voice, and PhD candidate in higher education, joins host Dan Freehling (contempusleadership.com [https://contempusleadership.com]) to examine how Gen Z is navigating a rapidly changing world of work. Angela reflects on shares guidance for early career professionals on handling criticism and staying grounded in impact rather than online noise (03:35). She explores how generational differences in communication styles and values, especially around feedback, work-life balance, and career development, are often misinterpreted as deficiencies rather than differences (06:56). Angela also discusses the current labor market and its disproportionate impact on early career professionals, emphasizing the importance of realistic, data-informed coaching that acknowledges structural barriers alongside individual agency (13:22). The conversation also covers Angela’s approach to LinkedIn as a space for authentic thought leadership, where sharing failures and uncertainty builds trust and community rather than personal branding polish (21:44). Angela shares insights from her doctoral research on the school-to-work transition, sense of belonging, and intersectionality, as well as her work examining how federal workforce policy connects unevenly to community colleges across states (32:07). Recommended reading: “The Privileged Poor [https://a.co/d/6ldETcz]” and “Class Dismissed [https://a.co/d/by1Z17w]” by Anthony Abraham Jack, “The Unspoken Rules [https://a.co/d/5vm40M7]” by Gorick Ng, “Careers by the People [https://a.co/d/jficRqx]” by Mike Wysocki. Show notes at forwardlookingleadership.com [https://forwardlookingleadership.com].