Dr. Sharon Livingston, best-selling author, speaker, and thought leader in qualitative research and career psychology, joins us to unpack how power and influence have evolved in the modern workplace. With over 30 years of experience interviewing more than 64,000 people---including executives at Fortune 100 companies---Dr. Livingston brings an unparalleled understanding of human behavior at work. Her latest book, Power Dynamics: How to Master the Hidden Forces That Shape Your Career, explores how relationships, not résumés, increasingly drive success.

In our conversation, we trace the shift from the "company-as-family" era to today's fluid, network-driven workplace---where visibility, empathy, and adaptability matter more than tenure. Dr. Livingston reveals how remote work and AI are rewriting the rules of influence and shares practical ways to build authentic relationships in a hybrid world. Her insights remind us that confidence isn't just spoken---it's embodied in how we listen, pause, and connect. Above all, she urges us to see this uncertain time not as a threat, but as an opportunity to reinvent how we thrive together.

The Biggest Helping: Today's Most Important Takeaway

Things are changing, and the most important thing is to stay flexible. Allow yourself to evolve in ways that are good for you and for those around you---seeing life as a shared adventure makes it a win-win for everyone.

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Thank you for joining us on The Daily Helping with Dr. Shuster. Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube to download more food for the brain, knowledge from the experts, and tools to win at life.

Resources:

Read Power Dynamics: How to Master the Hidden Forces That Shape Your Career by Dr. Sharon Livingston

Visit Dr. Livingston's website

Visit Dr. Livingston's Substack: careerpowerdynamics.substack.com

Produced by NOVA

Claude Silver, the world’s first Chief Heart Officer at VaynerX, joins us to share how leading with empathy transforms teams and culture. Partnering with Gary Vaynerchuk for 11+ years, Claude has scaled “the honey empire”—kindness first, results second—and now distills her approach in her new book, Be Yourself at Work, out tomorrow.

We explore Claude’s journey from struggling student to 93 days in the wilderness, where a guide’s challenge—“get another song in your head”—helped her shift from external to internal locus of control. That moment became the cornerstone of her people-first leadership. Claude later built teams across VaynerX and reimagined hiring from “culture fit” to “culture addition,” even removing degree requirements to widen the door for talent.

Her book guides us through three arcs: know yourself (“You are the CEO of you”), know how you show up on teams (radiator or drain), and lead culture every day—with practical tools like a personal roadmap and her L.I.E. exercise to tackle impostor syndrome. It’s a pragmatic playbook for bringing more humanity, tenderness, and emotional intelligence to work—one intentional choice at a time.

The Biggest Helping: Today’s Most Important Takeaway

Remember everyone is carrying something—and most people’s intentions are good. Lead with that assumption.

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Thank you for joining us on The Daily Helping with Dr. Shuster. Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube to download more food for the brain, knowledge from the experts, and tools to win at life.

Produced by NOVA

Corporal Todd Nicely of the U.S. Marine Corps is one of the few modern veterans to survive catastrophic blast injuries that cost him both hands and both legs. Six months into his second deployment, an IED changed his life on March 26, 2010. Todd lets us in on what came next—first the grit of rehab fueled by a mission mindset, then the hard truth that life after the hospital brought isolation, grief he hadn’t processed, and a suicide attempt in 2016. What ultimately turned him around was a question he encountered at Focus Marines Foundation: “You knew what you were willing to die for—do you know what you’re willing to live for?”

Today, Todd is a mentor with Focus Marines and a devoted husband and father who’s learned to build structure, set boundaries, and ask for help. We explore how living for yourself first equips you to serve others, why purpose must be rebuilt—not remembered—and how paying it forward restores dignity. A forthcoming book will share more of his story, and donations to Focus Marines (focusmarines.org) help put other veterans in that lifesaving seat.

The Biggest Helping: Today’s Most Important Takeaway

Never give up—and always pay it forward. When we focus on doing good for others, the good in our own lives grows and the darkness loses its hold.

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Thank you for joining us on The Daily Helping with Dr. Shuster. Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube to download more food for the brain, knowledge from the experts, and tools to win at life.

Resources:

• Focus Marines Foundation
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/todd-nicely

Produced by NOVA