AILKEMY

"Think Further. Build Smarter. Lead Human."

After an intensive skunkworks and R&D phase, we launched AILKEMY for select client engagements. AILKEMY is a strategic intelligence consultancy that transforms information chaos into measurable alpha generation for investment professionals and leaders navigating AI transformation.

We help fund managers and executives generate measurable alpha by turning information chaos into decision-ready insights. We deliver private, board-ready intelligence that turns noise into decisive action. Confidential by default. It is either useful or it's not. We guarantee.

My Role as Co-Founder:
Product Management: Collaborated on the "Insight Engine", synthesis features, and verification methods across end-user needs.

Client Delivery: Lead MVP Insight Report pilots and the activation session that turns findings into actionable intelligence for our clients.

Go-to-Market: Built branding, sales, messaging, and narrative for executives, hedge funds, PE, VC, and large private investors.

Growth: Structured performance-aligned economics with zero long-term lock-in. Planned and launched campaigns to scale AILKEMY.

Why Clients Choose AILKEMY:
Hedge funds and multi-strategy platforms. Private equity and venture firms. Corporate strategy leaders and product teams. Large private investors and family offices.

✔️ Synthesis over summary: We reveal connections that change the decision.
✔️ Speed to signal: Time kills good ideas. We deliver while timing still pays.
✔️ Tailored intelligence: Built from first principles for your exact context.
✔️ Trusted foresight: Evidence-based and scenario-aware.
✔️ Founder accountability: You work directly with the founding team.

Signal mapping. Competitive and narrative intelligence. Scenario planning. Orthogonal validation. Regime awareness. Decision framing. Board-ready storytelling. Founder-led discovery and activation. The goal is simple: reduce decision latency and increase the quality of action.

Co-Founder, AILKEMY

Kaperider.com

About Kaperider Publishing, LLC

At Kaperider Publishing, we specialize in creating impactful books that inspire, educate, and empower readers across diverse topics, including technology, artificial intelligence, marketing, mental health, fitness, and more. Our mission is to bridge the gap between ambitious ideas and actionable outcomes, helping authors craft content that resonates with audiences and drives meaningful change.

Founded by Daniel Stouffer, a seasoned leader with over 20 years of experience in strategy, innovation, and digital transformation, Kaperider Publishing offers a unique blend of expertise, creativity, and results-oriented execution. From initial research and topic development to book outlining, authoring, and strategic marketing campaigns, we guide authors through every step of the publishing process to ensure their ideas reach the right audience.

At Kaperider, we believe that great books start with great strategies. That’s why we focus on:

🌟 Comprehensive Support: From concept to launch, we provide the tools, resources, and expertise to help authors succeed.

🌟 Actionable Insights: We simplify complex topics, transforming them into accessible, engaging content for real-world impact.

🌟 Strategic Marketing: Our tailored campaigns connect authors with readers, ensuring their work makes an impact in a competitive market.

What sets us apart is our commitment to excellence and community. Inspired by his role as a professional firefighter in Minneapolis, MN, Daniel Stouffer brings a team-first, mission-driven ethos to Kaperider Publishing. This unique perspective informs our collaborative approach, emphasizing trust, resilience, and the power of clear communication.

Whether you’re an experienced thought leader or a first-time author, Kaperider Publishing is here to help you bring your vision to life. Together, we’ll create books that inform, inspire, and leave a lasting legacy.

Author w/ Book & Newsletter Publishing

Winnebago

I'm in the middle of helping to steer a significant digital transformation initiative at Winnebago Outdoors. We're upgrading the ERP system to a new platform consisting of Microsoft D365, Salesforce, and the Teamcenter systems.

The Release Train Engineer (RTE) role is collaborative, involving deep engagement with the Agile Release Train (ART), a composite of agile teams working in concert to achieve a shared objective. Here's a closer look at what an RTE does day to day:

✔️ Navigating Complexity: An RTE acts as the captain of the ship in turbulent digital waters, guiding the ART through planning, execution, and delivery. This involves facilitating Program Increment (PI) planning sessions, a critical event where the roadmap for the next phase is charted, risks are assessed, and strategies are devised.

✔️ Fostering Synergy: One of the greatest strengths of an RTE lies in its ability to foster collaboration among diverse teams and stakeholders. This role ensures alignment across various functions, encouraging transparency and communication. The RTE serves as a bridge between strategic goals and tactical execution, ensuring everyone moves in unison towards common objectives.

✔️ Driving Value Delivery: At the heart of SAFe is the relentless focus on delivering value to customers. An RTE ensures that every element of the ART contributes to this goal, optimizing flows, removing impediments, and managing risks. This consistent drive towards efficiency and effectiveness culminates in accelerated time-to-market and enhanced product quality.

The presence of an RTE within a transformation initiative brings several advantages. These include improved coordination across teams, enhanced clarity and focus on business objectives, streamlined processes, and a significant uplift in the morale and productivity of agile teams. Essentially, an RTE turns chaos into clarity, complexity into simplicity, and plans into action.

Digital Transformation Manager

Fyndr Group

Get Your New Talent Found Faster with Fyndr.org
--------------------------------------------------------
Fyndr.org's mission is to create a more efficient, scalable, zero-cost process for hiring managers and candidates "to fynd each other", by leveraging AI technology to job search at scale.

At Fyndr.org, we help renewable energy, recycling, energy storage, and Green or Clean Tech companies find the perfect job candidate for their open positions; not just in terms of skills and qualifications, but also in personality, culture, and world outlook.

Our AI driven solutions support hiring managers and job seekers every step of the way — by connecting those hiring directly with those looking for opportunities. Job seekers are recommended by someone that knows them personally. 

Because finding your “next fyndr” isn’t just about credentials, it’s about creating opportunities for everyone involved to thrive with the resources, introductions, and opportunities to grow an awesome team.

Note: Fyndr.org is a concept, product, website, and marketing campaign created by Daniel Stouffer, as a case study to demonstrate his talents AND to help with his job search.

https://fyndr.org/about

Program & Product Manager, Owner

reThink-Solar

In 2007, a spark ignited my love for solar, fueling a drive toward a renewable future, one community at a time. Born from a desire to make solar energy accessible and affordable to all, we embarked on a quest to redefine the solar engagement. 

Starting with solar leasing in 2007, then residential sales, to commercial contracts, and now to Community Solar for all.

It's been an exhilarating ride, flavored with challenges, triumphs, and countless learning moments. Today, reThink Solar stands as a beacon for change, guiding individuals and businesses toward a brighter, more sustainable tomorrow. One that can be totally without costs or expense when you have the key ingredients.

reThink Solar's Mission

At the core of reThink Solar pulses a steadfast mission - to weave the benefits of solar energy into the fabric of everyday life. We dream of a world where everyone, regardless of whether they own or rent their home, can tap into the power of the sun.

Our mission is simple yet bold: connect our customers to local community solar farms, ensuring a minimum of 5% savings on their electric bills annually for up to two decades. Now, with our services extending across numerous states in the USA, that dream is becoming a reality. 

At reThink Solar, we believe that everyone should have access to clean and affordable energy, regardless of whether they own their home or business. That's why our community solar model is designed to connect with renters, homeowners, and small businesses alike.

The power of the sun is for everyone — because reThink Solar believes that change, like sunlight and all renewable energy, should be universal and unbound. There's no simpler path to saving on your electric bill while championing renewable energy.

https://rethink-solar.com

Renewable Energy Advisor, reThink Solar

SunPower Corporation

Coordinated prioritization, roadmap planning, product backlog management, and product team execution for $36M portfolio of related programs. Managed 9 product delivery teams, total of 50 members, engaging internal and external stakeholders and cross-functional teams to create energy storage solutions and renewable energy digital platform capabilities.

* Added 25K more customers to mobile app by developing and launching complex digital features.

* Managed 5 concurrent projects, from defining scope and allocating resources to mitigating risks, consistently delivering project plans, resource allocations, and prioritized backlogs.

* Reduced time-to-market for new SKUs from 6 months to 3 weeks by implementing new and improved new product introduction process (NPI).

What truly sets me apart is my tenacious passion, drive, and motivation. I don't back down when things get tough, even when it seems like everything is on fire. I learned this fearless attitude from my experience in the fire service. When faced with challenges, I don't run away – I run towards them. I bring this mindset to everything I do.

If you're looking for a Technical Program Manager who can navigate the complexities of your projects with confidence, deliver exceptional results, and bring a fiery passion to the table, then look no further. I'm a servant leader when it comes to agile product delivery processes, lean UX, and implementing business agility. I am ready to take on the challenge.

Technical Program Manager (storage solutions)

Elevance Health

Orchestrated product delivery timelines to achieve budget and delivery goals. Managed backlog for 25 user experience designers. Leader behind the scenes organizing and prioritizing projects with stakeholders across 7 different strategic objectives aligned to quarterly product plans. Crafted sprint plans outlining goals, tactics, schedules, risks, and resource allocation for 300+ digital products group.

* Wrote project charter and obtained team resources across 6 business units, built recurring 4-week cycles of “Plan, Do, & Measure” iterative planning cycles, resulting in formation of new business intelligence (BI) analytics team.

* Improved team throughput 11%, providing program support and direction for 5 to 7 scrum teams, clearing obstacles to ensure initiatives were delivered, meeting stakeholder requirements.

* Collaborated with procurement to improve supply chain operations for internal and vendor-maintained products, reducing onboarding of new technology into IT organizations from more than 4 months to less than 6 weeks.

But beyond all the technicalities, I am a firm believer in agile product delivery, lean UX, and embracing business agility at scale. In this fast-paced digital age, it's crucial to be able to adapt quickly to market changes and seize emerging opportunities with innovative, digitally-enabled solutions. 

That's why I leveraged lean and agile product development practices to continuously deliver top-notch products that truly impressed.

Strong advocate of agile product delivery, lean UX, and implementing business agility at scale. Support the ability to compete and thrive in the digital age by quickly responding to market changes and emerging opportunities with innovative, digitally-enabled business solutions. Leveraged lean and agile product development practices to continually deliver innovative, high-quality products (https://www.scaledagile.com).

Digital Program Manager (portfolio strategy)

Ideation, Product Management, and Strategic Thinking -- I have a proven record of managing process driven teams, as well as complex software products and web application development projects, both standard and extremely agile. 

I’ve been a contributor and leader of physical and virtual teams across many projects. I represent the user experience across the organization by breaking down the user needs, strategic vision, and delivery into achievable outcomes that drive user value.

I know exactly what it takes to drive the business, rally the engagement of diverse teams, and effectively manage programs. I’m really a Swiss Army knife relating to program management.

I help manage the user experience resources within the agile product and development processes within Anthem Healthcare. This role requires a cross-discipline approach to understanding process, workflow, and communications. I live "working in the grey" to help development, product, and user experience teams deliver valued product to the Anthem members.

Product Teams Manager (user experience)

Geostella

Executed product strategy, planned and managed road map for Solar SaaS engineering teams. Uncovered customer pain points and industry trends. Led cross-functional teams across 55-person start-up to create solar energy platform. Managed bi-weekly feature releases to drive growth and keeping ahead of the competition.

* Delivered innovative products, expanding market user adoption in first 6 months, by developing and executing revised product roadmap, aligned to company goals and customer needs, increasing leads generated 23% and PV system installations 1.1K.

* Developed and executed product roadmap, aligning with company goals and customer needs, reducing the 500+ backlog items to 75 actionable features

* Implemented agile product development methods, resulting in a 4 capability teams focused on core product lines which created 2 week release windows

* Collaborated with sales & marketing, product engineering, and field operations teams to develop effective roll-out strategies that minimized inventory costs

Geostellar pioneered big-data geomatics to make solar energy accessible, affordable and plentiful. The company is the recipient of numerous awards, including selection as an IHS Energy Innovation Pioneer, the Global Cleantech100, the Global Cleantech Cluster Association's Best of Solar, and the Always On Going Green Global 2000.

Director Product Management (field operations)

Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc.

User Experience Design with Mentoring of Agile Teams

Led user and client meetings, collected and analyze product data to determine product feasibility. Created personas, task scenarios, and navigation & solution hierarchies. Helped wireframe and prototype product with various levels of field study and usability testing to ensure ease of use.

* Launched 3 internationalized websites by placing end user in focus during entire design process.

* Co-developed new hybrid approach for agile project delivery across 8 scrum teams, reducing backlogged features 35% and team churn, and delivering more user-friendly solution.

* Decreased slack time between feature start by developers 3 days due to better requirements definition

* Wireframed and prototype the product with various levels of field study or usability testing to ensure ease of use and feasibility.

* Worked with design teams and developers to successfully launch a new partner website.

* Invented user-centered design processes and methodologies that worked within the corporate environment.

User Experience Manager with focus on wireframes, user experience, and mentoring agile teams. Examples of websites where I was the UX Lead include https://www.ameriprise.com/ and https://www.columbiathreadneedleus.com/.

Manager User Experience (product delivery)

Verisae | an Accruent company

Drove platform capabilities guided by roadmap aligned with company goals and customer needs. Conducted market research, identifying gaps in market and helped UX / UI designers better understand how research, feature value, and engineering effort connected.

* Increased market share 20% by conducting thorough market research and competitor analysis to identify opportunities for product innovation.

* Collaborated with key stakeholders, customers, and cross-functional product teams to iterate product and establish tracking metrics, improving user satisfaction ratings 30%.

* Developed and executed public relations plan with industry experts at Gartner, Forrester, and others resulting in several magazine publications and placement of Verisae in the top quadrant of energy and sustainability SaaS platforms.

As an Information Architect then promoted to Digital Product Manager, IOT Energy Management, I help design how to make the right content and features available to the right people at the right time. 

My role involved the development of content systems and product features that help users find and manage asset, energy, and environmental data and access insights through business intelligence more successfully across the Accruent IoT SaaS platform.

Verisae is a provider of technology (...purchased by Accruent) and services for big retailers, manufacturers and other complex organizations. They do one thing better than anyone else. They  help our clients manage energy, maintenance, GHG emissions, and environmental performance through a single set of closely related technologies, connected devices, and IoT innovation.

Lead Digital Product Manager (energy IoT & SaaS)

The Ground Beneath Leadership Is Shifting

If you’ve ever felt the pressure to lead through uncertainty without a map, welcome. This is where we draw the new ones. AI isn’t knocking politely at the door. It’s rewiring how teams operate, how decisions get made, and how value is created.

Old playbooks don’t bend. They break. And the burden of clarity? It’s falling squarely on you.

If you’re the one responsible for making sense of chaos for integrating new tech, managing team emotions, aligning systems, and staying strategic without burning out, then AILKEMY was built with you in mind.

You’re not a passive observer of change. You’re the one others look to when everything changes. 

AILKEMY exists to help you build that kind of organization. We don’t hype tools. We train humans to lead through disruption.

Why Read AILKEMY? 

AI won’t replace you. But teams who master human–AI collaboration will. This isn’t about man versus machine. It’s about hybrid orchestration, the art of blending automation with empathy, speed with systems thinking, and clarity with courage.

Who Reads AILKEMY? 

AILKEMY is written for the most accountable people in the room—those who don’t have the luxury of waiting for certainty. Whether you lead others, build products, run a team, or want to stay relevant, it helps you lead with clarity, not chaos.

Why I Publish AILKEMY?

I’m Daniel Stouffer. I’m an author of dozens of nonfiction books, a systems thinker, a firefighter, and a futurist. I’ve helped leaders navigate disruption for two decades, not from a theory lab, but from the front lines of change: in startups, classrooms, fire stations, and boardrooms.

I write AILKEMY because I’ve lived the pressure of needing answers when the playbook no longer works. I know what it feels like to be the one people look to in moments of uncertainty. 

This newsletter, and the “Insights-as-a-Service (AIS) we’re launching, is my way of offering a lifeline of clarity, one issue at a time.

https://news.ailkemy.com

Daniel Stouffer

The Real Story Behind Amazon’s Massive Job Cuts

Amazon’s CEO Andy Jassy didn’t hide the reason. He told employees that “AI adoption and improved productivity” would lead to job reductions. Translation: AI agents are doing work humans used to do — faster, cheaper, and without vacation days.

This isn’t new…

AILKEMY Co-Founder, Author, and GenAI Marketer. ╰(*°▽°*)╯ “Think Further. Build Smarter. Lead Human.”

Open article: How Amazon’s 30,000 Layoffs Signal the End of Traditional Corporate Work by medium.com

How Amazon’s 30,000 Layoffs Signal the End of Traditional Corporate Work

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗜𝗴𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗔𝗜? 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗠𝗮𝘆 𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗨𝗽 𝗧𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁

AI isn’t a “𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱” anymore. 

It’s already shaping how teams make 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘀, 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀, and 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲. 

The leaders who understand this aren’t waiting for perfect timing; they’re adapting now.

And here’s the quiet tension most leaders feel but rarely say out loud:

What if the biggest threat to your organization isn’t AI… but staying locked into the same leadership style you used before it arrived?

That’s where 𝗔𝗜 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 steps in. Not as another loud, overhyped tech book, but as a simple, clear guide to help you lead with confidence in a world that’s moving faster every day. 

It’s built for leaders who want to stay 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁, 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀, and 𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 through change without fear or confusion.

𝗕𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗶𝘁𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳, 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲.

https://lnkd.in/gFWwfjUn?

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 “𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗳𝘂𝗹” 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿?

We rarely talk about this on LinkedIn… but many top performers are driven not by passion, but by old survival instincts. 

You learn to excel because slowing down once felt unsafe. 

You smile because showing struggle wasn’t an option. 

You lead because being strong was the only role you ever knew.

And on the outside? You look unstoppable. On the inside? You’re exhausted from carrying a past your mind has outgrown… but your nervous system hasn’t.

This is where 𝗘𝗠𝗗𝗥 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗽𝘆 becomes life-changing. It doesn’t force you to relive trauma, it helps your brain finally process it. The panic quiets. The perfectionism softens. Rest stops feel dangerous.

If you’ve ever wondered, “𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗼 𝗜 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀?”, the answer might not be mindset. It might be memory.

Real growth isn’t performing strength. It’s finally feeling safe enough to stop pretending.

https://surl.li/senksy

#EMDRTherapy #Traumahealing

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗜𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗬𝗼𝘂, 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗡𝗼𝘄

You’ve walked through fire.

You’ve sat in therapy with a trembling voice.

You’ve journaled the memories you once tried to outrun.

You’ve meditated long enough to meet both the storm and the silence inside you.

So why does doubt still whisper, “𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗜 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲?”

𝗕𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝘆.

Your life isn’t defined by what happened to you,  it’s defined by the choices you make now.

What you think, commit to, and step into next determines whether you keep surviving… or finally start living.

https://lnkd.in/gCKdXbiD

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗺𝗮 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘃𝗼𝗿𝘀: 

We look unbreakable in the daylight… yet it’s the quiet moments, hotel rooms, late evenings, and long drives where everything starts to slip.

𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗹𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝗼.

That slow unraveling that doesn’t look dramatic from the outside but feels like your mind is picking a lock from within.

𝗡𝗼 𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗺𝘀. 𝗡𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀. 

Just a familiar pull toward the old escape route.

But what if the problem isn’t that you’re weak…what if your toolkit was simply never designed for the life you’re living now?

That question sits at the heart of 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆, the newest playbook in the Beyond Survival series, built not for the broken, but for the brilliantly functioning humans who are still carrying survival wiring.

𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗲. 𝗜𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆.

https://lnkd.in/gGG3pCdh

The question lingers in the air like static…

If AI can give all the answers, why do they still need us?

AI doesn’t steal your value. It revealed it.

Open article: Why AI Taking Your Old Job Makes You More Valuable Than Ever by kaperider.com

Why AI Taking Your Old Job Makes You More Valuable Than Ever

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺? 𝗬𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝘁?

Every expert knows this feeling.

Your wisdom is deep. Your story is powerful. Your impact is real.

But the book inside you?

It sits quietly in the background while you run the show, clients, operations, fires to put out, deadlines to meet. “𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗮𝘆” becomes a graveyard for brilliant ideas.

You don’t need more time.
You don’t need to become a writer.

You just need the right system that turns your knowledge into a scalable author business without you writing a single word.

That’s exactly what we built at 𝗚𝗵𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀.

If you’re ready to turn your expertise into authority, revenue, and a platform that works even when you’re not,  your book doesn’t have to wait anymore👇

Open article: How Ghostpartners Turns Your Wisdom Into A Scalable Business Without You Writing by articles.kaperider.com

How Ghostpartners Turns Your Wisdom Into A Scalable Business Without You Writing

𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗮 𝗽𝗶𝗲𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗹𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲… 𝘆𝗲𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄?

It hits all the right points, clear, concise, and persuasive.

But something’s off. Something human is missing. That spark that says this is real, this is lived, this is uniquely mine… It’s gone.

𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗜 promises speed, efficiency, and scale.
It can produce entire articles, emails, or marketing copy in seconds.

But at what cost?

Too often, it smooths over the quirks, the emotional inflections, the rhythm of your language, the imperfections that secretly make your writing magnetic.

And in a world where anyone can generate content in seconds,
𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰.

Open article: When AI Writes, Who Speaks? How Generative AI Threatens Your Voice (And How to Reclaim It) by articles.kaperider.com

When AI Writes, Who Speaks? How Generative AI Threatens Your Voice (And How to Reclaim It)

𝗕𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘁… 𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁?

If you’re a small business owner, you know the drill:

You’re the 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻, the 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿, the 𝗛𝗥 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, the operations team…and somehow still the one making dinner at 8 PM.

It’s not entrepreneurship. It’s exhaustion dressed as productivity.

And then people say, “𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗔𝗜!” As if that magically solves the overwhelm.

𝗔𝗜 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱𝗺𝗮𝗽 𝗶𝘀.

Small businesses don’t need another shiny trend.

They need clarity.
They need simplicity.
They need tools that remove pressure, not add more to your plate.

𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸𝘆 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀, 𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘀𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲-𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀? 𝗢𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗮 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱?

https://lnkd.in/gPeDVJfu?

If the world moves this fast, why are we still following yesterday’s maps?

𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗶𝘁. 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗶𝘁.

And deep down, you know the truth:  𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗶𝘅𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻 𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲.

We need to teach young people how to 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸, 𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁, and 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀, not memorize solutions that might already be outdated.

What’s one way you’re helping your students, or your team, navigate a world that keeps changing?

Open article: Teach Self-Directed Orchestrators, Not Dependents by articles.kaperider.com

Teach Self-Directed Orchestrators, Not Dependents

We were told we could have it all: a 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐫, a 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬, and a home that looked like a 𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝.

And for a while, we did.

Until the quiet moments started to feel unbearable.

You know the feeling, that anxious buzz beneath your skin, even when everything looks fine. You meet deadlines, remember the snacks, send the emails, show up with a smile… and still collapse at night, wondering why peace feels like something you’ll “earn” later.

It’s not you.

It’s the hustle.

Open article: Success Feels Like Survival: Why Moms Are Ditching the Hustle Habit for Inner Calm by rb.gy

Success Feels Like Survival: Why Moms Are Ditching the Hustle Habit for Inner Calm

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞.

You didn’t fight your way to sobriety to survive it, did you?

You came this far to feel alive again, to wake up without the 𝐧𝐨𝐢𝐬𝐞, the 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐞, and the ache of pretending you’re “𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞.” 

But if you’ve ever caught yourself white-knuckling through stress, biting back cravings, or wondering why peace still feels out of reach… maybe it’s time to ask a more complicated question:

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧’𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠?

Open article: You’re Not Broken, You’re Wired: The Neuroscience of True Sobriety by articles.kaperider.com

You’re Not Broken, You’re Wired: The Neuroscience of True Sobriety

𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗥𝗠 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴?

Your CRM isn’t a graveyard. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝗴𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲. But only if you know how to listen.

Most leaders secretly assume the worst: 

Unqualified leads. 
Deals that never moved. 
Prospects who ghosted. 
Follow-ups that die somewhere between “𝗰𝗶𝗿𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸” and “𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻.”

We label these things as failures. 
We move on. 
We rebuild the pipeline from scratch. 
And we burn more money in the process. 

But what if those “𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀” aren’t dead at all? 

What if they’re patterns?
Signals.
Unclaimed revenue you already earned… but never collected?

This is where 𝗔𝗜-𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 (𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗢𝗽𝘀) flips the script.

Your business isn’t underperforming, your visibility is.

It’s time to illuminate what’s been sitting in your CRM all along.

https://lnkd.in/gFPgUn-4

𝗧𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗦𝗶𝘅-𝗙𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀! 

If you’re a 𝗻𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿, you’ve probably spent years polishing expertise, gathering stories, and collecting insights you know could help people. 

Yet your book still isn’t finished… or it’s published but not producing the clients, revenue, or impact you hoped for.

Here’s the truth most authors never hear:
𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺.

This book isn’t about chasing algorithms, pleasing gatekeepers, or throwing your manuscript into the void, hoping something magical happens.

𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲.

Open article: The Secret Every Six-Figure Author Knows (But You’ve Been Trained to Ignore) by articles.kaperider.com

The Secret Every Six-Figure Author Knows (But You’ve Been Trained to Ignore)

The latest essay in my 42 Essays Project is live: “When I Die?” 

It begins in a quiet room and ends with a posture you can live by. Evidence beyond the story. Practice beside philosophy. 

If you want a steady way to face endings and love better now, grab the complimentary copy and let’s talk about it.

https://lnkd.in/gEYTnUX7

A Field Guide for the Last Breath and Every Day Before It We measure a life in small sounds: the click of a defibrillator cart cooling in the hall, th

Open article: When I Die? by Daniel Stouffer • 3 min read

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗺𝘀 “𝗯𝘂𝘀𝘆,” 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝘀… 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗰𝗸?

Ever wondered why remote work feels 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 and 𝘀𝘂𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 at the same time?

Why is your team technically “𝗼𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲” yet somehow always behind?

Why does your workday stretch across time zones like a rubber band ready to snap?

"𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸. 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸."

It revealed meetings masquerading as clarity. 
Urgency pretending to be progress. 
Teams running on fragments of attention instead of real flow.

If that hits a little too close to home… it should.

Welcome to 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀, the playbook for leaders who want momentum without burnout. Because work shouldn’t feel like you’re sprinting in sand ⬇️

https://lnkd.in/gaTZQNAh

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐣𝐨𝐛𝐬 𝐠𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐀𝐈 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦?

Remember your first job?
The shaky start. The kind manager. The lessons that shaped your career.

Now imagine that moment… no longer exists.

Because today, the first rung of the career ladder is gone.
AI agents now do what interns, assistants, and entry-level hires once did.

𝐍𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝. 𝐍𝐨 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐬. 𝐍𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰.

If AI takes the first job, how do humans still begin?

We built hiring systems on “experience required.” But what happens when no one gets a chance to earn experience in the first place?

Read more in 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐋𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐫 at Amazon.

👉 https://lnkd.in/gQ5hWBft?

#BrokenLadder #FutureOfWork #ArtificialIntelligence

Remember your first job? 

That shaky start. The manager who showed you the ropes. The small mistakes that taught you big lessons.

Now imagine if that moment, that first chance, no longer existed.

Because in today’s world, it’s disappearing.

Open article: Broken Ladder: Rebuilding Human Beginnings in the Age of AI by danielstouffer.medium.com

Broken Ladder: Rebuilding Human Beginnings in the Age of AI

Another 3 a.m. zinger - Am I alone?

Let me name the first terror clearly. No one can live inside the full movement of your mind. Your thoughts, memories, and sensations are yours. Even the people who love you most cannot climb inside and steer. That privacy is real.

It's all good news once we learn how to hold it without fear.

Aloneness is not a defect. 

It is the space that lets just ‘being’ be truly meaningful...

https://lnkd.in/gK7nEZPv

A Field Guide to First-Person Terror At three in the morning, the ceiling turns into a sky without stars. The room feels bigger than your chest. You l

Open article: Am I Alone? by Daniel Stouffer • 2 min read

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐞’𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧.

Generative AI has collapsed the 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭, and 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲. Campaigns that once required endless approvals now go live in just days. Teams that once required an entire floor of desks now operate with precision, one strategist and one AI system at a time.

But here’s the question leaders can’t ignore:

𝐈𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭…
𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐮𝐩?
𝐎𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤?

𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐀𝐈 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 isn’t just a guide. It’s a wake-up call. And for leaders bold enough to listen, it’s also a blueprint.

Open article: The Future of Marketing Is Faster Than You. Here’s How to Catch Up. by surl.li

The Future of Marketing Is Faster Than You. Here’s How to Catch Up.

NexusPoint Project Management L.L.C.

We help service-driven organisations strengthen leadership pipelines and improve operational consistency through Strategy Days, leadership development and practical coaching.

We partner with HR and L&D leaders across MENA and Asia, with deep experience in hospitality.

Focus areas:
✅ Leadership presence under pressure
✅ Delegation without losing control
✅ Accountability and feedback in multicultural teams
✅  Communication that builds trust and clarity

Learning is designed to fit busy operations: practical, applied and sustainable. We also facilitate Executive Team Strategy Days to agree must-win priorities, align leaders across functions and set a 90-day execution plan.

Co-Founder & Principal

Jeff Ross GmbH

Workshops and coaching for service-driven SMEs across Switzerland and Europe.

Our focus:
✅ ‘Starting up successfully’ workshops for aspiring wellness, beauty, spa and hospitality founders: clarify your offer, build a business plan and map your first 90 days.

✅ Leadership workshops and coaching for owners and founders
Designed for the scale-up stage: hiring first employees, onboarding a team and learning to lead.
Practical modules include:
• From founder to people leader
• Onboarding playbooks and first-90-days plans
• Delegation without losing control
• Feedback, accountability and simple performance rhythms
• Communication across levels and cultures

✅ Succession planning and mid-level development
Identify successors, prepare supervisors for promotion and stabilise day-to-day performance.

Our approach:
Short, practical sessions with follow-on coaching so progress sticks.
Our primary market is Switzerland and Europe. For MENA & Asia programmes, see NexusPoint (Dubai).

Owner

Tetr College of Business

Sharing leadership and team development insights with business students and early-career professionals preparing for entrepreneurship & management roles.

Ambassador & visiting Expert

Batgroup

Led the integration of a well-established service brand into a new group structure while maintaining client trust and team culture.

Key outcomes:
✅ Aligned legacy operations with new systems and metrics
✅ Guided branch leaders through structural and role changes
✅ Strengthened sales performance through clearer accountability

This experience deepened my ability to balance people, systems, and results during transition.

General Manager PFA (Putzfrauenagentur)

Finnish Chamber for Impact Partnerships (FC4IP)

Advised leadership teams in mission-driven organisations on leading growth without losing cultural alignment.

Facilitated strategic planning, leadership identity work, and cross-border collaboration.

Primary Consultant

InnoPark Suisse SA

Selected for a leadership development program focused on entrepreneurship and project execution in evolving markets.

Completed certifications and applied learning in:
✅ Project Management (IPMA Level D)
✅ Communication, agile leadership, and digital business models
✅ Clean tech market expansion strategy for EU entry

This experience broadened my strategic toolkit and strengthened my ability to coach across industries and roles.

Leadership & Career Development Program Participant

Apple

Led large, diverse teams in a high-performance, customer-focused environment.
Coached new managers through their leadership transitions and built teams grounded in trust and accountability.

Key achievements:
✅ Developed internal talent into senior leadership roles
✅ Maintained operational consistency through major transitions
✅ Built engaged, reliable teams under high pressure

Apple taught me how to build leadership capacity while delivering results — a lesson I now share with my clients.

Retail Leader

Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts

Directed resort and city operations with multinational teams, balancing owner expectations with service excellence.

Highlights:

✅ Built leadership depth within operational teams
✅ Improved team engagement and guest satisfaction
✅ Led organizational change with clarity and care

Hotel Manager & General Manager

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

Held multiple management roles leading to opening Hotel Manager at a flagship St. Regis property.
Learned to lead through complexity, scale, and cultural diversity — the foundation of my current coaching approach.

Highlights:
✅ Opened a luxury resort in Bali and led full post-launch operations.
✅ Led the operational integration of a Le Royal Méridien property in the UAE after the brand's aquisition.
✅ Drove Six Sigma initiatives to improve service flow and guest satisfaction at 2 luxury properties in Spain.

Progressive Leadership Roles

Various Hospitality companies

Built hands-on leadership experience in luxury hospitality across, Europe, the US, the Middle East and Asia.
Learned how service excellence and people development connect — a principle that drives all my coaching today.

Earlier roles

Change Leadership, General Manager PFA @ Batgroup & Member of the Board @ Putzfrauenagentur

Leadership isn’t about volume.
It’s about clarity, confidence and direction when the pressure is on.

I partner with HR leaders, GMs and Executive Teams across MENA & Asia to strengthen leadership capability from the ground up. My work sits where strategy, people and day-to-day execution meet in service-driven organisations.

Most performance issues in hospitality, retail and education aren’t about effort.
They come from three gaps:

❌ Leaders promoted before they’re ready to lead
❌ Executive Teams pulling in different directions
❌ No clear pipeline or succession to stabilise performance

So my work covers both sides of the leadership equation:

Strategy & alignment for senior teams
Facilitated Strategy Days that help GMs and Executive Teams:
✅ Agree a small set of must-win priorities
✅ Translate those into a 90-day execution plan
✅ Build the clarity and focus teams need to perform
✅ Name the leadership behaviours that sustain results

Leadership development for emerging & mid-level managers
Practical, human-centred programmes that build the skills to lead through others, communicate with clarity and coach across cultures.

Coaching & capability building
1:1 and group coaching, Train-the-Trainer, and tailored L&D that strengthen the pipeline and reduce turnover.

Across 25+ years with Apple Retail, Swissôtel, St. Regis and service organisations in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, one truth holds: engagement and commercial performance rise when leaders at every level know where they’re going and how to bring their people with them.

If you’re building your leadership pipeline or want stronger alignment at the top, I’m happy to explore how we can work together.

📞 Book a call: https://jeffross.as.me/

Jeff Ross

Top sellers stall when asked to lead.
Coach ICs now with lean prompts.

❌ Over-index on product expertise.
✅ Balance with coaching, listening, inclusive leadership.

❌ Feedback as annual event.
✅ Weekly 10–15 minute coaching conversations using SBI+.

❌ “Be more proactive.”
✅ Decision logs that capture judgment under pressure.

Fallout → Brilliant sellers, poor team leaders.
Fix → Clear thresholds: delegate during a peak, lead a small recovery.

Because inclusion drives voice, we hard-wire “invite the quieter voice” into stand-ups and handovers.
Outcome: candidates who already lift others.

To see the manager-as-coach prompts we use, message me and I’ll send the guide.

Helping hospitality and service brands align strategy, strengthen pipelines and deliver consistent performance | Strategy Days, L&D and coaching | MENA and Asia

Top sellers stall when asked to lead

Your manager gap began two promotions ago.
Build a leadership pipeline with this 90-day path.

❌ Cut layers, expect senior leaders to plug the gap.
✅ Grow capable first-line leaders who stabilise shifts.

❌ Promote on technical mastery alone.
✅ Promote on observed coaching, safety, and service recovery.

❌ Hope people “figure it out”.
✅ Give ICs a 90-day roadmap with on-shift experiments.

Fallout → Directionless teams, inconsistent standards, supervisor burnout.
Fix → Skill sprints: trust, influence, feedback, delegation, conflict, recovery.

Because development must fit rota reality, each rep is 2–15 minutes and logged. Managers coach, not carry.

Outcome: a bench of calm coordinators who can run briefings tomorrow.

If you want the playbook that underpins this, comment “Playbook” and I’ll send it.

Your 'missing managers' problem

If complaints spike, you’re too late.
Preload micro-leadership with this plan.

❌ Wait for complaints to spike, then book workshops.
✅ Build micro-leadership before the badge.

❌ Abstract competencies no one can see.
✅ Observable thresholds: run a 10-minute huddle, deliver SBI+ feedback.

❌ Annual talent reviews with thin evidence.
✅ Decision logs, peer feedback, capstone stories you can trust.

Fallout → Firefighting culture.
Fix → 70% on-the-job stretch with manager-as-coach prompts.

Because psychological safety predicts team effectiveness, we teach “Thank, Ask, Normalise” on live shifts.
Result: steadier service, earlier escalations, fewer near-misses.

If you’d like our L&D framework that powers this, send a note and we’ll walk you through it.

Stop training managers after the damage shows up

Strategy won’t save a shaky front line.
Six shift sprints make service dependable.

❌ Promotion-first, training-later creates “accidental managers”.
✅ Prepare high-potentials on shift before the title.

❌ One-off workshops.
✅ 70-20-10, with bite-size reps inside real service windows.

❌ Theory-first decks no one opens.
✅ Micro scripts, logs, and stand-ups people actually use.

Fallout → Missed standards, erratic guest recovery, churn.
Fix → Six 1–2 week sprints that build trust, coaching, delegation.

Because first-line leaders shape up to 70% of engagement, the cost of waiting is visible in your NPS and absence line.

Results you can expect: ready-now candidates who already run huddles, coach peers, and surface issues early.

If you’re building a 2025 pipeline in customer-centric operations, message me to discuss your sites’ needs.

JSESSIONID

li_at

Front-line managers have more impact than strategy has.

On paper, many service organisations look stable: good brand, decent demand, solid product.

Underneath, everything depends on a tiny group of managers holding the whole thing together.

When one leaves, the cost is bigger than a vacancy:
❌ Productivity dips while others “cover”
❌ Standards slip just enough for guests to feel it
❌ Confidence drops and people start looking elsewhere
❌ Recruitment turns reactive and costly
❌ Revenue opportunities are missed as priorities keep changing hands

That isn’t just a people risk. It’s a financial risk.
Gallup’s lesson is consistent: people don’t leave in the abstract. They leave environments where managers are overwhelmed and under-supported.

If you have no pipeline, then:
❌ Every promotion is a gamble
❌ Every resignation is a small crisis
❌ Every strategy is more fragile than it looks

Succession planning isn’t a corporate luxury.

It’s basic risk management for any hotel, school, clinic, or service business that runs on human performance.

Prepare people before you desperately need them.

Middle managers stuck between messages.
Give them crisp, consistent signals.

Executive teams in hotels and service businesses work hard.
The problem is not the effort you put in.
It is direction.

When the senior team is misaligned, you see it everywhere:
 ❌ Leaders pulling in different directions
 ❌ Conflicting signals about this quarter’s priorities
 ❌ Departments optimising for their own metrics
 ❌ Middle managers stuck between messages
 ❌ Frontline teams guessing where to put their energy

Engagement drops not because people don’t care, but because they stop trusting the signals.
 Then the financial impact lands fast:
 ❌ Turnover in key roles
 ❌ Slower response to market moves
 ❌ Lost revenue through inconsistency
 ❌ More firefighting, less improvement

Across hotels, retail, and services, one thing has been consistent:
 When the top team aligns on a handful of must-win priorities, everything beneath has a chance to stabilise.
 
Clarity at the top creates confidence in the middle.
 Confidence in the middle unlocks energy on the front line.
 That’s where guests, customers, students, and patients feel the difference.

Engagement is about seeing the direction clearly, and leaders walking it together.

If your top team’s priorities aren’t aligned, let’s pressure-test them together. Book a complimentary 30-minute call and I’ll outline a focused alignment sprint you can run immediately.

Training often dies at the lunch rush.
Use on-shift cues that stick at peak.

❌ E-learning that dies at peak.
✅ Two-line prompts managers can use at 12:30.

❌ One-size modules.
✅ Sector examples: queue flow, top-10 stockouts, tour-bus arrivals.

❌ “Forever” changes.
✅ Bounded experiments: next 30 minutes, this service period.

Fallout → Skills don’t transfer to the floor.
Fix → On-shift practice with buddy circles and manager check-ins.

Because we measure behaviour, not attendance, leading indicators move first: briefings run, feedback given, conflicts de-escalated.

If you want a copy of the 90-day Emerging Leader Sprint, reply “90 days” and I’ll share it.

Training that survives the lunch rush

Those weekly updates feel busy, not better.
Swap noise for direction in one day.

Hospitality, retail, service teams: you’ll recognise this pattern.

❌ Operational updates, staffing gaps, guest feedback, budget variances, firefighting.
Important. Necessary.
But not the work that aligns a leadership team.

✅ The work that does:
What are the 3–5 priorities for the next 90 days?
Where are we misaligned without noticing?
What do our people need us to clarify?
Which capabilities are missing to execute consistently?

When leaders make room for this, everything steadies:
Engagement holds. Turnover eases.
Middle managers stop guessing.
The frontline gets a clearer signal.
Customer experience becomes consistent.
Financial performance gets less erratic.

Boundary → Because: alignment doesn’t happen between agenda items, it happens when leaders pause, sit together, and focus on direction, not just today’s noise.

The most underrated tool isn’t coaching or training.
It’s one uninterrupted day to think, decide, and commit together.

Give your team that day. Twice a year. Then hold the line.

Managers who make every call don’t raise standards.
They raise dependence.

It feels like quality control; it is control, full stop.

Fallout:
 ❌ Bottlenecks and a silent escalation tax.
 ❌ People stop thinking and feel mistrusted.
 ❌ You burn out.

Better, and grounded in EQ:
 ✅ Decide your non-negotiables: safety, legal, brand promise, budget.
 ✅ Make decision rights explicit: what I decide, what you decide, what we consult on.
 ✅ Delegate by judgement, not task: move from “tell” to “agree” to “you run it”.
 ✅ Set a small failure budget and run quick after-action reviews.
 ✅ Use emotional intelligence in the moment: name your trigger, ask “what risk am I protecting?”, switch from answers to coaching questions, and back their call in public.

If you never let go, you will never grow leaders. Only followers.

Which decision will you hand over this week and never take back?

#leadership #leadershipdevelopment #emotionalintelligence #EQ

Your best future leads aren’t practicing.
Weekly pressure reps surface them fast.

❌ Talent spotting in annual reviews only.
✅ Weekly reps where ICs run moments that matter.

❌ “Shadow when it’s quiet.”
✅ Shadow at pressure points, harvest three copy-worthy behaviours.

❌ Vague “step up more”.
✅ Mini-campaigns with a metric, stakeholder map, and short retro.

Fallout → Quiet high-potentials stay unseen.
Fix → Simple artefacts that show the work and de-risk first promotions.

Because consistency beats heroics, we build habits: Focus 3, check-clarify-close, micro-recoveries with guests.
You’ll see who is already leading, not just hoping.

If you’re building a middle-management pipeline for 2026, DM me and let’s scope it for your context.

Leadership potential isn’t invisible, it’s unpractised

🇦🇪 On UAE National Day, we celebrate vision.
But it is our leaders who will decide whether we reach it.

The UAE Vision 2030 and the Fifty Economic Plan are bold:
a highly productive, talent-rich, service-driven economy that can compete with the best in the world.

That future runs through our workplaces - especially hospitality, retail, tourism and service businesses.

But the latest Gallup data for MENA tells a different story:
• Only 14% of employees are engaged
• 24% are actively disengaged
• 46% are looking for another job
• Daily stress is at 48% - among the highest globally

No country can deliver its full economic vision with a workforce that is exhausted and unstable.

And yet, this is not a vision problem.
It is a leadership problem - particularly in the middle management layer:

The managers who open and close the stores.
Who run the shifts.
Who approve the holidays.
Who coach (or do not coach) their people.
Who turn strategy slides into daily reality.

If that layer is overwhelmed, untrained or purely task-focused, we will not get the engagement, service quality and retention that Vision 2030 assumes.

The good news?
This is fixable - and the ROI is significant.

When we:

✅ Help strong individual contributors transition into people-centred leaders
✅ Build psychologically safe, engaged teams
✅ Create a feedback and learning culture instead of fear and firefighting

…everything else starts to move:
guest experience, team stability, internal promotion, and ultimately financial performance.

That is the Leadership Value Chain™ - and it is where I am focusing my work here in the UAE.

On this National Day, instead of more slogans, I invite you to a simple reflection:

👉 If you lead people in the UAE, what is one small behaviour you could strengthen in 2026 to make your team a place where talent wants to stay, grow and contribute?

Because every time a manager chooses to listen, coach, give fair feedback, or protect their people from unnecessary chaos, we take a small but real step towards the future this country is aiming for.

Here is to a vision that lives not just in strategy documents, but in the daily leadership our teams experience.

Happy UAE National Day 🇦🇪


Photo by Milan Kiro on pexels.

South Asia is 26% engaged, yet anger runs high.
People care, but many feel unheard.

Passion without psychological safety becomes burnout.
You won’t fix that with perks or posters.

EQ turns it around:
empathy → recognition that lands, not generic praise
self-awareness → fewer reactive decisions
coaching conversations → belonging over busywork

❌ “We’re engaged, so we’re fine.”
✅ “We’re engaged, so we must protect it.”

Boundary → Because: recognition is weekly and specific, because effort seen becomes effort repeated.

Make it practical: manager office hours, structured 1:1s, and a simple “recognise-then-redirect” script for tough moments.
Healthy engagement is the goal, not just high engagement.
It starts with emotionally intelligent managers who make safety a habit.

South Asia's Paradox

Promotions without support drain teams.
Start support before numbers slip.

We all know the pattern:
Strong individual contributor gets promoted.
Same expectations, bigger scope, little support.
They try to carry the team by working harder.
Communication wobbles.
The team quietly disengages.
Performance and guest experience follow.

On a spreadsheet, it looks like:
❌ Rising turnover and sick days
❌ Inconsistent guest/client feedback
❌ Lumpy sales and service metrics

In real life, it’s a human who was never taught how to:
✅ Have difficult conversations
✅ Give clear, fair feedback
✅ Delegate without guilt
✅ Set boundaries and protect their energy

Invest early, before they burn out or burn bridges.
The results are predictable:
✅ Teams stabilise
✅ Engagement stops swinging
✅ Financials get less lumpy and more reliable

Emerging leaders aren’t a “nice” group to develop.
They’re the infrastructure of future performance.

If this pattern is biting in your teams, book a complimentary 25-minute advisory call and we’ll map the first three fixes for your emerging leaders.

Only 14% engaged in MENA, the lowest worldwide.
Stress 48% and anger 31% tell the story.

This isn’t about “lazy employees.”
It’s about managers under pressure, hierarchy, and cross-cultural demands without human-centred tools.

❌ More control, tighter rules, tougher talk.
✅ More connection, clearer expectations, consistent follow-through.

EQ is clarity when the heat rises.
Cultural agility is respect in motion.

Fallout → Fix: when managers default to command, people hide problems; when managers default to curiosity, problems surface early.

If engagement starts with managers, prepare them to lead people, not just processes.
Start with 1:1s that build trust, not status reports.
Close the loop on recognition and feedback, every week.
Hold standards while holding humanity.

Preparation beats pressure. Train for it.

The MENA reality check

Where manager EQ is thin, engagement drops fastest.
We still promote for technical mastery, then hope for people skills.

When self-regulation is low, stress spikes; when empathy is missing, turnover follows.
Flattened layers haven’t helped. Many firms cut managers, then wonder why teams feel directionless.

Fallout → Fix: fewer managers → confusion and reactivity; equip remaining managers with EQ, coaching and feedback skills, then rebuild clarity.

Teach managers to:
give hard feedback without breaking trust
adapt tone across cultures and contexts
stay steady when pressure bites

❌ Treat EQ as “soft.”
✅ Treat EQ as the system upgrade that keeps teams steady.

Start inside, then roll out the skills.

The EQ gap that sinks engagement

The Gallup report has been stuck in my head for weeks.
We keep talking about engagement like it lives in HR.
It doesn’t.
It lives in the P&L.

In service businesses, low engagement shows up as:
❌ Turnover in the teams you can’t afford to lose
❌ Basics slipping, complaints rising
❌ Supervisors firefighting instead of coaching
❌ Sales and ops pulling against each other
❌ Mid-level leaders burning out quietly

None of that is “soft.”
All of it is expensive.

In hotels and other service organisations, you feel disengagement in:
❌ Overtime and replacement costs
❌ Guest scores and online reviews
❌ Missed up-/cross-sell and retention
❌ Managers checking out months before they resign

✅ Here’s the truth we skip: engagement is a leadership issue long before it’s an HR metric.

When leaders at every level know what matters, why it matters, and how to bring people along, engagement becomes a commercial advantage, not a slide in a report.

Treat it as a financial lever, not an annual survey.

Curiosity outperforms command across every culture I’ve worked in.
This is human leadership, translated locally.

I hear it a lot: “Hierarchy here is different.”
True. Context always matters.

But the basics travel.
Mutual respect. Tolerance. Support. Collaboration.

❌ “Tough talk” as a badge of leadership.
Fallout: teams play hide-and-seek, learning stalls, risk rises.
✅ Curiosity with clarity.
Fix: issues surface early, standards hold, progress compounds.

I’ve led teams across Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
What changed: language, rituals, power distance.
What didn’t: people respond to being seen, heard and guided.

Boundary → Because: adapt delivery to the culture, because dignity and fairness are non-negotiable everywhere.

Leaders don’t have to choose between results and humanity.
Apply the same human principles, translate the wrapper, and performance follows.

Curiosity beats command every single time, anywhere.

Southeast Asia is 26% engaged, 8% actively disengaged.
Lowest global stress at 25%.

That doesn’t happen by luck.
Relationships precede results. Harmony, respect and recognition show up daily.

Add managerial clarity and you get trust that compounds:
clear expectations before tasks start
micro-feedback during the work
recognition tied to behaviours, not personalities

❌ Care without clarity drifts.
✅ Clarity without care hardens.
The win is care + clarity, every week.

Cultural agility in action means blending relational norms with modern performance systems.

Leaders elsewhere don’t need to copy culture; they can copy the cadence:
set expectations Monday, check progress midweek, recognise and reset Friday.
Borrow the rhythm. Improve your results.

Why South East Asia leads

Low engagement tracks messy first-line rhythm.
Lock a cadence with ready agendas and scripts.

❌ Inconsistent huddles, unclear roles, shifting priorities mid-shift.
✅ Standard stand-up agenda and visible task allocation.

❌ Silence around small errors.
✅ Normalise learning: one error shared, one fix each week.

❌ Escalate every friction.
✅ Peer scripts for simple performance and tone issues.

Fallout → Rumour, rework, repeat complaints.
Fix → Six sprints that turn “nice ICs” into dependable coordinators.

Because managers can’t design from scratch, we include templates, scripts, and a promotion-readiness rubric mapped to competencies.

If you want help to implement this across sites, let’s talk about your pipeline goals and constraints.

Low engagement tracks messy first-line rhythm

Not a talent crisis, but a connection crisis at work.
When managers disengage, teams follow.

The fix isn’t another dashboard.
It’s a leadership reset built on three habits:

1. Listen before you lead. Diagnose, then decide.
2. Clarify meaning before direction. Why anchors the what.
3. Recognise effort before judging outcomes. Fuel the behaviour you want.

Boundary → Because: no recognition inflation, just specific, timely acknowledgements tied to standards.

Managers sit at the crossroads of cultural, generational and digital shifts.
Equip them to hold both care and accountability.

Human-centred leadership isn’t a philosophy. It’s the engagement strategy for multicultural teams.

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The Battle

Daniel Stouffer

Jeff Ross

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The Battle

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Jeff Ross

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Daniel Stouffer's LinkedIn Performance

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Performance ScoreDaniel Stouffer's LinkedIn Performance