Lessons From a Year of Letting AI Do Everything

Dr. Becky’s Framework for Leading Through Hard Moments

You can't lead a team through a hard moment if you can't manage yourself first. That's the core of Dr. Becky Kennedy's work. The clinical psychologist and founder of Good Inside built a global movement teaching parents how to navigate the hardest moments with their kids. It turns out those same skills are exactly what the modern workplace needs. This week, Dr. Becky joins Jessi in the studio to translate her parenting playbook for managers, leaders, and anyone who's ever had to deliver hard news, hold a line they didn't fully believe in, or hold it together when someone on their team fell apart.  In this episode, Jessi and Dr. Becky discuss: * Why conviction matters more than confidence, and how to tell if you actually have it before walking into a hard meeting * The AVP method (acknowledge, validate, permit) for regulating your own emotions before they spill into the room * Why self-regulation isn't a two-minute fix, and what Dr. Becky calls "the road to reactivity" * How to separate behavior from identity when giving feedback, and why conflating the two is what makes hard conversations go wrong * Why sturdiness is the key to managing a team through uncertainty and layoffs * The sentence structure to use when you don't have all the answers but still need to show up as a leader * Why empathy requires boundaries, and a tennis court visualization that keeps other people's feelings on their side of the net * What anger is actually telling you, and how to use it productively instead of letting it drive the conversation * Why Dr. Becky is skeptical of the feedback sandwich, and a feedback method to use instead * A simple question managers can ask every week to make upward feedback feel safe and specific This conversation was originally recorded live and broadcast to LinkedIn Premium members. Premium members can watch the extended version here [https://www.linkedin.com/events/makeemotionsyourleadershipadvan7445515140579549184/theater/]. Follow Dr. Becky Kennedy [https://www.linkedin.com/in/drbecky/] and Jessi Hempel [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessihempel/] on LinkedIn.

The FBI Hostage Negotiator's Guide to Getting What You Want at Work

Most of us think of negotiation as something reserved for high-stakes boardrooms—or even hostage situations. But Christopher Voss [https://www.linkedin.com/in/christophervoss/], former FBI lead hostage negotiator and bestselling author of Never Split the Difference, says negotiation is everywhere: in salary talks, in team meetings, even in conversations with your kids.  In this episode from the Hello Monday archives, Jessi Hempel [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessihempel/] sits down with Chris to explore how we can all become better negotiators by focusing on empathy, collaboration, and trust. Drawing on decades of experience, Chris shares practical tools you can use to move conversations forward—whether you’re asking for a raise, dealing with a difficult boss, or navigating conflict at home. Chris and Jessi discuss: * Why negotiation is really about collaboration and long-term relationships * How to shift from seeking control to building influence * The power of labeling emotions to build trust and lower defenses * Why “no” is often more powerful than “yes” * How to recognize when a negotiation is over—or when it’s time to walk away * Strategies to reframe salary conversations and show your value This episode was recorded live in-studio. For an extended, behind-the-scenes version, watch on LinkedIn Premium [https://www.linkedin.com/posts/linkedin-news_want-to-walk-into-your-next-negotiation-with-activity-7330318611670032384-kHl1?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAADCGmHYBpAfEov-rAtDaJbRy0XIfo-vYc6k].

The AARP CEO's Playbook for Staying Competitive After 50

We tend to talk about AI and the future of work as a young person's game. Dr. Myechia Minter-Jordan, CEO of AARP, is here to challenge that notion. A physician turned healthcare executive turned nonprofit leader, she joins Jessi in the studio to talk about ageism, AI, and what it means to not just stay relevant, but to move ahead, in the second half of a working life.  In this episode, Jessi and Dr. Minter-Jordan discuss: * How the fifty-plus workforce is upskilling faster than other generations * How to reframe experience as an asset in a job search, and why soft skills are having a moment * The move Dr. Minter-Jordan made that surprised everyone: going back to business school in her thirties, while practicing medicine * Why mentorship is one of the most powerful tools an older worker has for demonstrating value, and why stepping back from it is a mistake * How Dr. Minter-Jordan got her current job as CEO of AARP * What the trillion-dollar caregiving economy means for employers, and why the policies aren't keeping up * How to approach AI without feeling overwhelmed: start small, stay consistent, and focus on what's relevant to your field * Whether you should de-age your résumé * How to be strategic about timing a career pivot, especially when you have real responsibilities * What Dr. Minter-Jordan would tell a thirty-five-year-old building a career for the long arc This episode was originally recorded live and broadcast to LinkedIn Premium members. Premium members can watch the extended version here [https://www.linkedin.com/events/7462626252978343936?viewAsMember=true]. Follow Dr. Myechia Minter-Jordan [https://www.linkedin.com/in/myechia/] and Jessi Hempel [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessihempel/] on LinkedIn.

Why Nobody Feels Financially Secure Anymore

“It’s not your fault.” This is the message Alissa Quart has spent over a decade trying to get people to believe when it comes to economic hardship. Right now, it feels harder than ever to embrace. Alissa Quart is the executive director of the Economic Hardship Reporting Project [https://economichardship.org/], the nonprofit Barbara Ehrenreich built after writing her groundbreaking exposé Nickel and Dimed. A journalist herself, Alissa is the author of seven books, including Squeezed: Why Our Families Can’t Afford America [https://www.harpercollins.com/products/squeezed-alissa-quart?variant=32117924986914] and Bootstrapped: Liberating Ourselves from the American Dream [https://www.harpercollins.com/products/bootstrapped-alissa-quart?variant=40517189599266]. She's spent over a decade reporting on class, caregiving, and economic precarity. In this episode, Jessi and Alissa discuss: * Why "insecurity" is a more honest and unifying framework than "affordability," and how it builds solidarity across class lines * The data behind it: 52% of US families are now financially insecure by one measure, and nearly half of workers lack confidence they could find a job they'd want * "Apocalyptic insecurity": the new framework Alissa and economist Lynn Parramore developed to describe how employers use AI dread to manipulate workers * The Frederick Taylor parallel: how AI is repeating the logic of scientific management, a century later * "AI brain fry": the exhaustion of performing enthusiasm for AI at work while feeling something very different about it personally * Why losing the narrative of generational progress is its own kind of psychological injury * The AI dividend, universal basic income, and what a modern New Deal could look like * Why naming the problem matters: how failing to recognize insecurity as systemic — rather than personal failure — can curdle into self-blame and even disordered coping * What Alissa tells her own daughter about finding agency in an uncertain future Follow Alissa Quart [https://www.linkedin.com/in/alissa-quart-0a817a126/] and Jessi Hempel [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessihempel/] on LinkedIn.

Most Companies Are Built to Fail Their Mission. Here's the Fix.

We've built an economy that rewards destroying value. Eric Ries wants to know how we got here, and whether we can build our way out. Eric wrote The Lean Startup in 2011 and helped define a generation of entrepreneurs. Since then, he's watched promising, mission-driven companies get hollowed out, and he thinks he knows exactly why. His new book, Incorruptible: How Good Companies Go Bad and How Great Companies Stay Great [https://www.incorruptible.co/], is his attempt to name what's happening, explain how we got here, and lay out a blueprint for building something better.  In this episode, Jessi and Eric discuss: * What Eric calls "financial gravity": the systemic force that pulls organizations away from their mission and toward extraction * Why shareholder primacy isn't ancient law; it's a 1980s invention that was never voted on by anyone * The private equity problem: how you can taste the cost-cutting in your food when private equity buys your favorite restaurant * Why today's best practices are actually value-destroying, and what the data says about the alternative * The Public Benefit Corporation filing: a two-page form that could change what your company is legally obligated to do * Why "it's always too early until it's too late," and how founders miss their window to protect their mission * The AI layoff glee: why Eric thinks companies racing to replace people with robots is slow-motion suicide * How to find opportunity in this moment, even if you've been laid off, and why trust is the most underrated asset in business today Follow Eric Ries [https://www.linkedin.com/in/eries/] and Jessi Hempel [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessihempel/] on LinkedIn.