This episode is sponsored by Deel.

Hire, manage and pay, anyone, anywhere: https://www.deel.com/nickdayhr/

In this episode of @thehrldpodcast Nick Day is joined by Dr. Thom Mayer, emergency physician, crisis leader, NFL Players Association Medical Director, and bestselling author of Leadership Is Worthless But Leading Is Priceless. Having led through 9/11 at the Pentagon, the national anthrax response, and medical training on the ground in Ukraine, Dr. Mayer brings a career forged under the highest pressure imaginable to challenge everything we think we know about what it means to lead.

Nick and Dr. Mayer explore why the concept of leadership has become dangerously hollow, why every person on your team is already a leader whether you treat them that way or not, and why innovation never moves at the speed of genius but always at the speed of trust. They unpack the critical difference between bravery, courage, and tenacity, why making failure your fuel is the foundation of elite performance, how victim mentality disappears the moment people own their agency, and why calling someone a future leader is one of the most toxic things you can say. They also examine how AI is being dangerously misused as a substitute for leadership wisdom and why luck is really just a discipline meeting opportunity.

In a world where trust is eroding, burnout is rising, and pressure is relentless, this episode makes the case that the leader you have been looking for has been there all along and it is you.

A must-listen for HR leaders, L&D professionals, and anyone ready to stop talking about leadership and start actually leading.

Enjoyed this? Check out our sister podcast @thepayrollpodcast for more great content!

Dr. Thom Mayer's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thom-mayer-md-40342024/

Nick Day's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickday/

Find your ideal candidate with our job vacancy system: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/919cf6b9ea

Sign up to the HR L&D Newsletter: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/23e7b153e7

Stay tuned for the next episode of the HR L&D Podcast, brought to you by Nick Day, CEO at JGA Recruitment, landing soon!

Timestamps:

(00:01) Why Leadership Is Worthless But Leading Is Priceless

(02:09) Everyone Is Already a Leader, Not a Future One

(05:15) The We Suite vs The C Suite, Empowerment Over Hierarchy

(08:10) Vulnerability, Authenticity and Making Failure Your Fuel

(15:23) Leadership as Identity vs Leadership as Behavior

(18:12) Leading Through 9/11, the NFL and Ukraine

(22:36) Bravery, Courage and Tenacity, Three Very Different Things

(28:44) Can AI Close the Leadership Gap or Is It Widening It

(39:00) The Book and Why It Is Not Just Another Leadership Book

(43:06) Luck, Discipline and Saying Yes to the Invitation

(46:11) Limiting Beliefs and How They Hold Leaders Back

(50:24) How to Sustain Leadership Performance and Connect with Dr. Thom Mayer

In this special Enter The Vault episode of ‪@thehrldpodcast, we unlock the HR L&D vault, a curated collection of the most powerful insights, lessons, and truths shared by the brightest minds shaping the future of work.

You'll hear game-changing perspectives on trust-based leadership, skills-based hiring, imposter syndrome, fear in the workplace, building high-trust cultures, HR as a strategic function, and what it truly takes to move from command and control to trust and inspire.

From practical advice on rebuilding lost trust and professionalising HR, to deeply human lessons on vulnerability, failure, calmness under pressure, and original thinking, this episode captures the mindset shifts that separate reactive HR from truly transformational people leadership.

If you're an HR professional, CHRO, L&D leader, talent strategist, people manager, or founder navigating culture change, leadership development, and the evolving world of work, this episode is packed with timeless insights you can apply immediately.

Subscribe for more conversations redefining HR, leadership, and the future of work.

Nick Day's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickday/

Find your ideal candidate with our job vacancy system: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/919cf6b9ea

Sign up to the HR L&D Newsletter: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/23e7b153e7

Enjoyed this? Check out our sister podcast ‪@thepayrollpodcast for more great content!

Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction: Welcome to the HR L&D Vault

(00:48) Everyone Is Making It Up: Imposter Syndrome at Every Level

(03:53) The One Quality Every Great Leader Has: Calm Is Strength

(07:08)Take More Risks: The Career Advice You Needed Earlier

(08:28) Skills-Based Hiring and Walking Away from CVs

(10:11) Why You Should Hire an HR Leader Sooner Than You Think

(14:36) Trust Can Be Lost But It Can Be Rebuilt Through Behaviour

(17:19) Trust and Inspire: The Leadership Model for the Modern World

(21:50) Inspiration Is the New Engagement Frontier

(31:06) How Fear Is Silently Sabotaging Your Leadership

(34:06) Failure Is Not the Opposite of Success, It Is Part of It

This episode is sponsored by Deel.

Hire, manage and pay – anyone, anywhere: https://www.deel.com/nickdayhr/

In this episode of @thehrldpodcast Nick Day is joined by Jackie Dube, Chief People Officer at The Predictive Index, with over two decades of experience helping organizations unlock performance through behavioral science and talent optimization. Grounding her work in a simple but powerful belief, that happy, aligned people do better work and live better lives, Jackie brings both the science and the human heart to one of the most pressing challenges facing workplaces today.

Jackie brings a rare blend of behavioral expertise and people leadership into the world of HR and organizational performance. Together, Nick and Jackie explore why so many employees, despite better tools, more flexibility, and greater leadership investment than ever before, still feel a deep sense of emptiness at work, and what leaders can actually do about it.

This conversation unpacks what it truly means to align people with their work from the inside out. Nick and Jackie discuss why engagement and meaning are not the same thing, how the four behavioral drives of dominance, extraversion, patience, and formality determine what energizes or drains each employee, and why the same task can be deeply motivating for one person and completely demotivating for another. They explore how hiring for speed quietly erodes culture, why interpersonal conflicts at work are almost always behavioral mismatches rather than personality clashes, and how leaders can use the three whys technique to reconnect people to organizational purpose.

They also cover the four forces of engagement, the role of pulse surveys in detecting disengagement early, and how AI adoption is creating a new wave of workforce fear that behavioral science is uniquely equipped to address. The discussion highlights PI's J-curve framework for navigating change, why transparency around AI matters more than most leaders realize, and how understanding what drives each individual is the foundation of a truly high-performing team.

In a world shaped by remote work, rapid AI adoption, and growing disconnection, this episode examines why behavioral science may be the most practical and powerful tool HR and L&D professionals have in 2026 to restore meaning, motivation, and performance across their organizations.

A must-listen for HR leaders, L&D professionals, and anyone ready to stop guessing what their people need and start building workplaces where people are genuinely wired to thrive.

Enjoyed this? Check out our sister podcast @thepayrollpodcast for more great content!

Connect with Jackie Dube & The Predictive Index:

Predictive Index: https://www.predictiveindex.com

Predictive Index behavioural science insights: https://www.predictiveindex.com/blog/

Jackie Dube's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackie-dube/

Nick Day's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickday/

Find your ideal candidate with our job vacancy system: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/919cf6b9ea

Sign up to the HR L&D Newsletter: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/23e7b153e7

Stay tuned for the next episode of the HR L&D Podcast, brought to you by Nick Day, CEO at JGA Recruitment, landing soon!

Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction: Why Work Feels Empty in the Modern Workplace

(01:40) Meet Jackie Dube, Chief People Officer at The Predictive Index

(02:28) Jackie's Origin Story, From Family Therapy to HR

(05:30) How Behavioral Science First Clicked for Jackie

(08:33) What Is Driving the Emptiness at Work Today

(12:44) How Organizations Unintentionally Drain Meaning from Work

(14:39) Early Warning Signs of Disengagement and How to Spot Them

(16:22) The Four Behavioral Drives and How They Shape the Way We Work

(20:13) How Behavioral Differences Create Motivation or Demotivation

(22:52) Why Engagement and Meaning Are Not the Same Thing

(27:31) AI Adoption, Workforce Fear and the J-Curve Framework

(36:01) How The Predictive Index Helps Organizations Build Meaning and Performance