For this episode, let's revisit one of Strategy Skills classics, where we discuss when a consultant must dissent and how it should be done.

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Rachelle Robinett, founder of Pharmakon Supernatural and educator in holistic health, offers a clear, science-aware framework for supporting energy, focus, and stress regulation, without defaulting to pharmaceuticals or overstimulation. In this episode, she explores how plant-based medicine, nutrition, and daily practices can be woven into practical, long-term routines that support resilience and cognitive clarity.

Robinett challenges the assumption that performance must rely on synthetic energy or end in burnout. Drawing from her work at the intersection of herbalism and evidence-based wellness, she shares actionable strategies for optimizing physiological readiness through balance, not intensity.

“I’m really interested in how we can live well without needing to biohack or rely on pharmaceuticals or stimulants or even supplementation all the time.”

Key insights from the conversation include:

Stimulants Borrow, Not Create Energy

Robinett explains that caffeine and similar compounds don’t give us energy; they “just turn off the signals of fatigue.” Instead, she emphasizes rhythm management, aligning with circadian patterns and energy cycles:

“You don’t have to be on all the time. And if we try to be, the crash will always come.”

Herbs Should Be Matched to Mechanism, Not Trend

She encourages listeners to move beyond marketing labels like “adaptogen,” noting that compounds like rhodiola (stimulating) and reishi (sedating) serve very different roles.

“Match your plants to your goals... It’s kind of like caffeine; if you don’t need it, don’t take it.”

Sugar Is Energizing, But Often Disruptive

Robinett discusses how sugar can be paired with fiber, fat, or protein to reduce its volatility:

“Sugar is biologically energizing… but we tend to use it in ways that give us a spike and then a crash.”

Daily Practices Outperform Sporadic Interventions

Light exposure, meal timing, and breathwork help regulate the autonomic nervous system more effectively than isolated hacks:

“What we do daily matters more than what we do occasionally… so many people don’t understand how profoundly their breathing patterns are affecting their state.”

Recovery Is an Active Recalibration

Robinett distinguishes between activities that feel restful and those that actually reset the stress response system:

“Sometimes the things we think are relaxing are not—Netflix, alcohol, even yoga. True recovery is shifting the nervous system.”

This conversation reframes wellness not as indulgence or optimization, but as physiological literacy—a disciplined, systems-level approach to mental clarity and endurance. For professionals seeking alternatives to overstimulation, Robinett offers a sustainable path toward long-term resilience and regulated energy.

Get Rachelle’s book here: https://shorturl.at/q7TDb

Naturally: The Herbalist's Guide to Health and Transformation

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Overall Approach Used in Well-Managed Strategy Studies free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/OverallApproach

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Vanessa Druskat, organizational psychologist and professor at the University of New Hampshire, discusses team emotional intelligence (EI) as a predictor of sustained performance. Building on her foundational work with Daniel Goleman, Druskat focuses not on individual EQ, but on the group-level norms and practices that distinguish effective teams, particularly in complex, high-stakes environments.

Druskat identifies three core team norms essential to cultivating group EI: mutual trust, constructive expression of emotions, and norms that support individual and group self-awareness. These are not “soft” ideals; they function as operational levers for managing conflict, decision-making quality, and adaptability.

Key takeaways include:

High-performing teams are not those without conflict, but those with processes for metabolizing conflict. Druskat emphasizes the role of emotional expression norms in allowing task-related disagreement while mitigating interpersonal friction.

Leaders significantly influence team EI by modeling openness and emotional competence, but sustained performance requires that these behaviors be embedded in team norms, not reliant on individual charisma or authority.

Team emotional intelligence predicts effectiveness beyond technical competence, especially when teams must adapt to ambiguity, pressure, or interdependence. Druskat cites multiple studies where team EI predicted performance outcomes more reliably than IQ or experience.

Psychological safety is necessary but not sufficient. Teams with high EI create an environment where members not only feel safe but are also expected to monitor and manage the group’s emotional climate.

Organizations often undermine team EI unintentionally, through forced competition, misaligned incentives, or ignoring the emotional fallout of change. Druskat suggests that senior leaders regularly audit not just team outcomes, but the emotional processes behind them.

This episode reframes emotional intelligence not as a personal trait but as an institutional capability with measurable consequences for execution, resilience, and organizational learning. The discussion is particularly relevant for senior professionals seeking to institutionalize performance through culture rather than control.

Get Vanessa’s book here: https://shorturl.at/u5KOs

The Emotionally Intelligent Team: Building Collaborative Groups that Outperform the Rest

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Overall Approach Used in Well-Managed Strategy Studies free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/OverallApproach

McKinsey & BCG winning resume free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/resumepdf

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