Today Kory shares the lessons from taking her leadership team offsite and deliberately putting them into an unfamiliar environment - a horse ranch. Jon and Kory explore why pattern disruption can help teams break old habits, the difference between a group of strong individual contributors and a genuinely connected team, and why getting outside your comfort zone can reveal how you really work together.

They also discuss the language of connection, learning to ask for help, why pressure isn't always the answer, and how to turn an offsite from a memorable experience into lasting behavioural change. Because however busy your team feels, sometimes stepping away from the work is exactly what helps you do the work better.

Links

• G.O.A.T. Wisdom Book
• EQ2 Horse Ranch Leadership Offsite

Timestamps

00:00 - Start

00:37 - Why Kory takes her team offsite

03:01 - Why you need to transform your team

04:14 - The power of pattern disruption

07:13 - Individual contributors vs working as a team

11:20 - Going out of your comfort zone

13:40 - The language of connection

18:21 - Learning how to ask for help

23:44 - The power is not in the pressure, it’s in the release

25:40 - How Kory is implementing the lessons in the team

27:03 - You’re too busy to not do this

Today, Jon and Kory open up their personal leadership toolbox, sharing the mental models and frameworks they rely on to make better decisions, communicate more effectively, and build high-performing teams.

From understanding your audience before creating content to aligning teams around a clear vision, raising the bar through belief and repetition, and creating dedicated thinking time, these are the practical tools that have shaped their careers. They also discuss why spending time with people smarter than you is one of the fastest ways to grow, and finish with the one framework that underpins everything else.

Timestamps

00:00 - Start
01:11 - Tools for your toolbox (in work and life)
01:57 - Framework 1: A.B.C. (Audience Before Content)
07:43 - Framework 2: A.B.C. (Always Be Curious)
09:14 - Framework 3: V.A.E. (Vision, Alignment, Execution)
13:43 - Framework 4: Raising the B.A.R. (Belief, Attention, Repetition)
18:08 - Bonus tool: spend time with people smarter than you
18:36 - Framework 5: 3, 5, 7, 9
22:31 - Framework 6: T Time!
26:43 - The framework to rule all frameworks

Today Jon and Kory explore the leadership habits that keep successful organisations moving forward. Drawing on research, personal experience and examples from some of the world's best businesses, they discuss why the strongest leaders surround themselves with people who will tell them the truth, stay relentlessly close to their customers, and never shy away from difficult conversations.

Timestamps

00:00 - Start
00:56 - How to stay grounded when you’re successful
02:52 - Does success drive complacency?
04:14 - What the data says about successful companies
06:07 - You need people that are prepared to tell you the truth
09:25 - Why you need to have the tough conversations
12:45 - Spend time with your customer
15:07 - The power of saying no
17:42 - Working with the right people
23:06 - Define your organisation
25:22 - Play to win

For decades, marketers have relied on the traditional 4 Ps: Product, Price, Place and Promotion. But as the role of the CMO has evolved, so too have the skills needed to succeed as leaders.

Today, Jon and Kory introduce a new framework for modern marketing leadership, inspired by research Jon conducted with TikTok. Rather than focusing on the marketing mix, these five Ps focus on what today's leaders need to excel inside their organisations: People, Planning, Persuasion and Performance. (Plus a bonus P that isn't a P - Storytelling.)

Timestamps

00:00 - Start
00:48 - A new set of marketing Ps
04:38 - P1 - People
08:05 - P2 - Planning
14:57 - P3 - Persuasion
23:52 - P4 - Performance
28:55 - P5 - Storytelling

Launching a brand is one of the hardest things you can do. Today, Jon and Kory break down the principles they've learned from building brands, products and podcasts from the ground up.

They explore the three ingredients every successful launch needs: a crystal-clear value proposition, surrounding yourself with exceptional people, and the persistence to keep going when progress feels slow. Along the way, they discuss why we're often too close to our own ideas, how constraints can become a competitive advantage, and why the best launches rarely happen by accident.

Timestamps
00:00 - Start
00:48 - How hard is it to build a brand from scratch?
02:52 - The 3 things that need to be true for a succesful launch
03:24 - Having a clear value prop
10:55 - Are we too close to our own proposition?
15:02 - Surround yourself with greatness
20:50 - Persistence
23:59 - The power of constraint

Fresh from Jon Evans' Cannes Lions talk, this episode explores why surprise is one of the most powerful tools in leadership. Drawing on behavioural science, neuroscience and real-world campaigns, Jon and Kory unpack how unexpected moments capture attention, create stronger memories and help brands stand out in an increasingly predictable world.

Putting their marketing hat on, they look at examples such as Tubi's headline-grabbing Super Bowl campaign and e.l.f.'s unconventional product launch strategy. Along the way, they explain the science of Reward Prediction Error, discuss how to sell bold ideas inside large organisations, and reveal why partnerships can become a powerful source of unexpected creativity.

Watch the new e.l.f. haircare advert:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uk2KmRlx7eA

Timestamps

00:00 - Start
01:38 - The origin story of Uncensored CMO
04:03 - Why surprise is the antidote to dull
05:23 - The data behind the power of surprise
07:52 - Tubi’s example of using the power of surprise
09:58 - Understanding Reward Prediction Error
13:09 - Surprising the judges at Cannes Lions
15:45 - Selling big ideas into the boardroom
17:47 - e.l.f.’s surprising approach to their new hair product launch
20:29 - The power of partnerships to be surprising
22:23 - Baking surprise into your culture
25:41 - Why you need to keep delivering new surprises

Jon and Kory explore the three qualities they believe define great leadership. From building genuine proximity with your team to being fully present in the moments that matter and communicating with clarity, they break down a simple leadership framework that can be applied whether you're leading a global organisation or your first team.

Timestamps

00:00 - Start
01:53 - Presence as a leader
03:31 - The 3 pillars of great leadership
03:52 - Pillar 1: Proximity
11:47 - Pillar 2: Presence
18:41 - Pillar 3: Clarity of Communication
28:26 - BCG on leadership

Tarang Amin, CEO of e.l.f. Beauty, joins Jon and Kory for a special live episode of Uncensored Renegades to discuss the leadership philosophy behind one of the most remarkable growth stories in consumer brands.

Under Tarang's leadership, e.l.f. has delivered 29 consecutive quarters of growth while building a culture centred on ownership, transparency and long-term thinking. In this conversation, Tarang and Kory share why every employee became a shareholder, how the company balances ambitious growth with a people-first culture, and the leadership habits that have helped e.l.f. scale at an extraordinary pace.

The trio also discuss Kory's journey to becoming CMO of e.l.f., managing healthy conflict at the executive level, the rationale behind e.l.f.'s acquisition of Rhode, and why communication remains one of the CEO's most important responsibilities.

Timestamps

00:00 - Start
02:27 - How Tarang and Kory met
06:30 - How Kory got the job at e.l.f.
07:26 - Why e.l.f. made everyone in the compary shareholders
10:48 - The challenges of offering everyone equity
12:35 - How do you get 29 quarters of growth sustainably
16:46 - Why Tarang writes a personal newsletter
21:28 - How to handle conflict at the c-suite level
27:53 - Why e.l.f. aquired Rhode