How To Build Habits That Don't Break Under Pressure ft. CHRISTOPH merrill
Release Date: 06/17/2026
How To Build Habits That Don't Break Under Pressure ft. CHRISTOPH merrill
Uncommon Leadership
Do your daily routines dissolve the moment pressure hits? If so, you aren't failing. And you definitely aren't broken. You just haven't had the chance to test your habits under duress. In this episode of the Uncommon Leadership Podcast, I sit down with CHRISTOPH merrill, The Habit Freak, to dismantle mainstream advice on habit formation. CHRISTOPH shares his take on why habits formed in perfect conditions often act more like hobbies, and why a leader’s true responsibility is to apply just enough pressure to build their team’s resilience without breaking their spirit. ...
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How to Lead When Your Brain Wants to Go Into Survival Mode? ft. Mitch Weisburgh
Uncommon Leadership
Most leaders believe they are being rational. But when you only see two options, that is not a choice — it is a paradox. And it is one of the clearest signs your survival brain has taken over. In this episode of the Uncommon Leadership Podcast, I sit down with Mitch Weisburgh, author of MindShifting: Stop Your Brain from Sabotaging Your Happiness and Success, to unpack why even experienced leaders keep getting stuck in reactive patterns — and what it actually takes to shift out of them. We get into the neuroscience behind the five limbic mode reactions, how to...
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Military Leadership Skills Every CEO Needs Today ft. Chris Hallberg
Uncommon Leadership
Leadership doesn't have to be confusing, but it does need to be precise. If you’ve heard of EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) but aren't sure how to make it work in the real world, this episode is exactly what you need. On today's episode, I'm joined by Chris Hallberg, better known as the Business Sergeant. From the high-pressure environments of the military and law enforcement to the boardroom, Chris’s journey is anything but traditional. In his signature style, Chris explores how the very principles that keep people safe in the field serve as the ultimate keys...
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Why Did He Leave Hollywood After Die Hard 5? ft. Steven Puri
Uncommon Leadership
Why would a senior Hollywood executive walk away from massive franchises like Die Hard, Wolverine, and Transformers to help leaders and executives unlock their flow states? In this episode of the Uncommon Leadership Podcast, join me, Michael Hunter, as we unpack the fascinating career pivot of Steven Puri. As a former 20th Century Fox and DreamWorks executive turned tech founder, Steven takes us inside the exact moment everything shifted—and why he decided to walk away from creating global blockbusters to study the neuroscience of the flow state. His story brings light...
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AI Won’t Replace You...But It Will Change You. ft. Ross Smith
Uncommon Leadership
What happens when AI starts doing the things we once believed made us valuable? In this episode of the Uncommon Leadership Podcast, I, Michael Hunter of Uncommon Teams, sit down with Ross Smith from Microsoft to explore a question most conversations about AI miss entirely: What does it mean to stay human in this unpredictable age of AI? Tune in to find out: How to use AI as a strategic sparring partner to debug your own ideas/arguments? Why authenticity, emotional intelligence, and human judgment matter more than ever when building an innovative team... Why your job title should...
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Debugging the Leader: A Framework for Internal Alignment ft. Jon Bach
Uncommon Leadership
You’ve spent your career mastering the technical. You know how to debug a system, optimize a workflow, and drive efficiency with data. But as you move higher into leadership, you realize your most reliable tools, logic and evidence, often fail when applied to the most complex system of all: the human one. In this milestone 100th episode of Uncommon Leadership, Michael Hunter and Jon Bach step away from standard people management advice to investigate the person behind the leader. Together they explore: What happens when you start paying attention—not just to systems, but...
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Why Team Problems Aren’t What They Seem ft. Todd Hanson
Uncommon Leadership
Are you constantly putting out fires but feeling like your team still isn't moving forward? This might be happening because you might be solving the wrong problem. In this episode of the Uncommon Leadership Podcast, I, Michael Hunter sits down with Todd Hanson, founder & inventor of Compass Carts. In this episode, Todd shares his incredible journey from corporate banking to building a hardware company and the counterintuitive leadership lessons he learned along the way. Whether you are managing a massive corporate department or a small team of external contractors, Todd...
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3 Questions Leaders Should Ask Before Shipping Code ft. Radhika Dutt
Uncommon Leadership
Why are so many tech startups struggling even after hitting their quarterly goals? In this episode, I, Michael Hunter, invite Radhika Dutt, an MIT alum and the author of Radical Product Thinking, to the Uncommon Leadership Podcast. Together, we debunk the classic Silicon Valley mantra: Build→Test → Learn →Scale The problem with the traditional goal-setting approach is that it often pulls teams away from the vision and legacy for which the business was originally built. To help lean startups make the difficult trade-offs between the things that keep the...
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Discovery to Innovation: A Physicist's Leadership Manual ft. Garrick Villaume
Uncommon Leadership
Are you expecting predictable outcomes in a non-deterministic world? When you are a tech leader, your instinct is to rely on systems and logic to drive results. But when an organizational change stalls, your team resists a new direction, or you find yourself exhausted by constant pivots—logic alone won't bridge the gap. In fact, ignoring the fundamental physics of human systems is one of the most expensive operational mistakes a company can make. In this episode of the Uncommon Leadership Podcast, I, Michael Hunter, sit down with Dr. Garrick Villaume. With a Ph.D....
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Stop Trying to Solve Human Problems with Spreadsheets ft. Melissa Franks
Uncommon Leadership
Are you trying to solve human problems with spreadsheets and logic? When you are an analytical leader in the tech space, your instinct is to rely on data. But when a project stalls, a client becomes contentious, or your top performers start disengaging—no amount of logic or data will fix the friction. In fact, ignoring the squishy emotional reality of your team is one of the most expensive operational mistakes a company can make. In this episode of the Uncommon Leadership Podcast, I, Michael Hunter, sit down with Melissa Franks—Founder of On Call COO. As someone who...
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- Why your team's true culture is only revealed when the pressure is on.
- How to use Tiny Experiments to practice failing safely and eliminate the fear of failure.
- Why removing obstacles is actually more effective than forcing a new path.
- How to reframe high-stakes pressure as a valuable data-collection tool instead of a threat.