The forge of Unicorns - by Michele Brissoni

• 🎙️ EP61 - The Hidden CEO Hiring Trap: Why Only 1 in 4,000 Make It

  Are you prepared for the real risks of CEO succession, or any other CXO hiring? In this episode of Forge of Unicorns, investor and behavioral screening expert Ron Ondechek reveals the hidden traps that boardrooms, PE/VC firms, and founders face every time a new CEO is chosen. Every time a new leader joins your organization. The risks connected with casual HR hiring by pedigree and resume.🔑 What you’ll learn:Why over 4,000 CEO candidates fail each year—and what makes the “1” stand outThe behavioral engineering secrets behind real-world leadership transitionsThe emotional trauma and cultural risks every succession and new hire triggers (but most leaders ignore)How the Unicorns’ Ecosystem and Stanford-inspired frameworks are rewriting culture and due diligence for elite organizationsWhy “hiring for resume” is building a graveyard of mediocrity in the digital ageWhy the majority of your leadership notch your organization down, rather than upPower Quote:“We look for people who can earn respect on the field. Not just executives with the right pedigree.”Timestamps & Deep Dives:0:00 – Intro: The trillion-dollar problem of CEO succession4:54 – What is CEO succession?11:53 – The 4,000-to-1 filter: inside Ron’s CEO selection process18:20 – Emotional trauma, founder psychology, and hidden risks25:57 – How the right leader powers cultural putting their skin in the game 30:35 – The risks of onboarding people with a canonical HR department35:28 – The power of social interactions41:20 – Culture in the software industry is fluctuating too rapidly50:44 – Software industry oxymoron. Ron’s warning: how to avoid the next hiring disaster58:33 – Final thoughtsDon’t miss:🎥 XP 2024 conference and related 🧪 Experience Report on the SW Craftsmanship Dojo®🎥 IAD 2024 conference: building a culture of SW Craftsmanship🎥 IT Revolution ETLS 2024: in the heart of the SW Craftsmanship Dojo®For more insights, subscribe to my other digital resources:📰 Forge of Unicorns Newsletter on LinkedIn🥋 SW Craftsmanship Dojo🦄 Unicorns Ecosystem 🌱Subscribe for more brutally honest conversations on digital leadership, culture, and what it really takes to build a unicorn in today’s world.And don’t forget to join the Forge of Unicorns newsletter for your weekly deep dive!#CEO #SuccessionPlanning #BehavioralEngineering #ForgeOfUnicorns #PrivateEquity #Leadership #CultureFit #Stanford #UnicornsEcosystem #ExecutiveSearch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• 🎙️ EP60 - AI first is dead! 💀 Klarna, Babylon, Forward… Who’s Next? The Pattern Behind AI Failures

  🕯️ The Torch 🔥 AI-First Leaders Dropped: Purpose---Klarna. Babylon. Forward.Three companies. Three massive AI-first bets.All failed.Why? They scaled tech. They injected the market hype: #AIBut, they forgot to align humans in their AI-driven organization!In this episode of Forge of Unicorns, VC and unicorn builder Pedro Lopez Sela joins Mike to expose the deeper reason behind these collapses… and the blueprint that could have prevented them.🚫 This isn’t about tools, frameworks, or automation.🎯 It’s about purpose. Behavior. And the human operating system every elite company needs.Tune in — and find out what your board might be ignoring right now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• 🎙️ EP59 - OKR – The Agile Resurrector 🧬

  Agile is collapsing under its own market weight.Drowned in certifications, fake agility coaches, and checkbox processes.The purpose? Forgotten.The manifesto? Commercialized.The results? Burnout, silos, disengagement.It’s not a transformation.It’s a crime scene.💥 But what if we could resurrect Agile from the wreckage?Not with another framework.Not with another Jira template.But with OKRs — the real ones.👉 Not dashboards.👉 Not vanity metrics.👉 But behavioral scaffolding — rewiring the way people think, act, and build.In this episode, John Cowan (NextWave VC) unpacks how OKRs, when rooted in engineering mastery, XP discipline, and behavioral science, can become a true operating system for cultural evolution.And that’s where the Unicorns’ Ecosystem takes over:🔁 Key Results designed to shift behavior🧠 Key Behavior Indicators that map cultural friction🥋 Software Craftsmanship Dojo to encode technical excellence💡 Egoless collaboration as a team operating norm“Agile only works when you layer OKRs on top.”– John CowanThe Agile you were promised isn’t dead.It’s waiting to be rebuilt — one virtuous behavior at a time.👇 Full drop inside.---🚨 GET STARTED - SW Craftsmanship Dojo Assessment🧪 Want to know how your team scores against elite development?Take the Craftsmanship Dojo Assessment and get your org benchmark.If your score is low, your entire org is one vibe-coded sprint away from irrelevance.Don’t wait for the layoffs.Start evolving today.👉 https://swcraftsmanshipdojo.com/#get-started Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• 🎙️ EP58 - You Don’t Even Know What Good Looks Like. That’s Why Your Company is Stuck!

  They think they’re doing software right. But they’ve never seen real excellence.That’s the leadership trap and why companies stall, lose talent, and drift into mediocrity.In this honest conversation with unicorn builder Alexander Steeb, we expose the hidden dysfunctions behind underperforming IT teams, blind leadership, and the cost of hype-driven decisions.👉 Why most organizations don’t know what good looks like👉 How “walking assets” leave silently when excellence is missing👉 Why founders need coaching more than capital👉 And what PE firms must fix before trying to scaleThis one’s for CEOs, investors, and board members tired of “transformation” and ready for real evolution.🎧 Listen now and find out if your team is truly building toward excellence. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• 🎙️ EP57 - When Excellence Isn’t Optional: How Healthcare Mastery Exposes IT’s Compliance Illusion

  Compliance isn’t excellence.And in today’s IT world, that illusion is costing millions — and lives.In this powerful episode, Michele Brissoni (Creator of the Unicorns’ Ecosystem and SW Craftsmanship Dojo®) is joined by Ute Mercker (Investment Director @IBB Ventures) to uncover a brutal but critical truth:✅ In healthcare, regulations protect human lives.👨🏻‍⚕️ But it’s doctors’ mastery, ethics, and relentless practice that actually save them.✅ In IT and software-driven organizations, leadership often hides behind compliance.🏥 But without behavioral excellence, they’re building risk — not resilience.✅ Compliance might keep you out of court.⚰️ But only mastery, like in a surgery room, will keep you alive in business.⸻Topics we explore in this conversation:• Why compliance isn’t enough to ensure excellence in modern industries• The dangers of “false safety” in software development and leadership• The awakening IT leadership must face to survive AI disruption• How behavioral engineering builds unbreakable organizations• How to upskill your org to the socio-technical excellence of healthcare⸻🎯 Awakening Week ThemeIf you lead a tech team, a company, or a portfolio…Now is the time to evolve. Compliance is just the starting block.Neuroscience-driven coaching is your real safeguard.🥋 Join the SW Craftsmanship Dojo® and elevate your software organization to elite standards:🌐 https://swcraftsmanshipdojo.com/#get-started📊 Request a non-binding Organizational Assessment to benchmark your company against true behavioral excellence.⸻🦄 Subscribe to The Forge of Unicorns for weekly insights in behavioral engineering, leadership, and transformation:https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/the-forge-of-unicorns-7184097792242458624/🎥 Join the Deep Dive and explore the full narrative on LinkedIn.⸻🔖 Hashtags:#Leadership #Technology #Healthcare #BehavioralEngineering #PrivateEquity #SoftwareDevelopment #venturecapital #healthcare #podcast #elite #transformation Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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