Kendra J.

Your senior leaders are talking, your middle managers are translating. 
No one's sure they're saying the same thing.

You and 2,000+ leaders I've worked with closely know this challenge well. 

The problem I've identified over the past 8 years often isn't capability. It's that senior leaders and middle managers are speaking different languages.

That gap is where I work.

I help organizations:
→ Close the communication disconnect between senior leaders and the people executing their vision
→ Turn "great doers" into managers who actually lead instead of just doing harder work
→ Build a shared operating language so teams stop working past each other

Fifteen years ago, I was that struggling leader. An IC promoted for performance, handed a team, and given no formal training on how to actually lead them. 

Great at execution, drowning in leadership, too proud to ask for help.

Seven years ago, I founded The Venned Group to solve the problem no one was naming.

How we work:

S.P.A.R.K. Method™ → Diagnostic-first development that meets your people where they actually are
Targeted Workshops → Communication, collaboration, and trust-building across levels
Executive Partnership → Senior team alignment because the disconnect starts at the top

The best time to close the gap is before it costs you your best people.

Send me a DM and let's talk.

Founder

The Venned Group specializes in cultivating the next generation of leadership. Through high-touch, cohort-based training programs, we partner with senior leaders to develop their mid-level counterparts. Our unique approach ensures that tomorrow's leaders are equipped with the necessary skills to effectively guide their teams, influence peers, and communicate seamlessly with top-tier executives.

What sets The Venned Group apart is our laser focus on personalized cohort-based training. Unlike generic, one-size-fits-all programs, we understand that each organization has its unique DNA. Our programs and workshops are adaptable, ensuring that your leadership challenges are addressed head-on, resulting in sustainable growth and improved organizational dynamics.

Head of Programmatic Media at Google | Speaker | Board Director | Startup Advisor

Ben Wise is a sales and marketing leader currently leading the programmatic business at Google Canada. Ben partners with the biggest agencies and brands across Canada to help build the future of media.

Ben is the co-founder of Captivate, helping you improve your skills of persuasion and communication by leveraging psychology and behavioural science. In addition to the monthly newsletter, Ben is a regular speaker at industry events, conferences and corporate trainings.

Ben is active in the community where he serves on the board of directors of the Daily Bread Food Bank, mentors young professionals in media and tech, and advises multiple early stage startups on sales and growth. 

If you are interested in working with Ben or looking to book him for a speaking or training engagement, please connect.

Ben Wise

Nobody hates change.

They hate 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 change. 

When you announce a new initiative, your team isn't calculating what they might gain. 

They're cataloguing everything they might lose:
➡️ Status
➡️ Routine
➡️ Perceived competence
➡️ Familiar relationships

This is loss aversion in action. The brain weights potential losses roughly twice as heavily as equivalent gains. Your well-designed change programme starts the race at a significant deficit before you've said a word.

Most change initiatives don't die from resistance. They die from a loss-aversion calculation that leadership never knew was happening.

👉 Before your next all-hands, ask one question: what is this change asking people to give up?

What's the most underestimated loss you've seen trigger resistance to change?

Millions watched the State of the Union this week.

Ignoring the politics (I know, not a small ask), big speeches are a great chance to study the psychology of communications. 

Content aside (again, a big ask), the speech was trying to systematically influence the audience with powerful psychological principles, the same ones that determine the outcome of your pitches, negotiations, and presentations.

👉 Here are four techniques that were shaping perception in real time:

1️⃣ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐨: When the Olympic gold-medal U.S. hockey team was introduced, your brain transferred those positive "winner" feelings to the speaker. That's the Association Principle. Brands pay millions for celebrity endorsements for exactly this reason. (As a Canadian still reeling from this loss, it had the opposite impact...alas, I'm not the intended audience)

2️⃣ 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐀𝐛𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭: The story of a mother saving $5,000 in taxes sticks in your memory far more than GDP growth rates. One emotional, concrete story beats 100 data points. Your brain prioritises what's vivid over what's comprehensive (the availability heuristic doing its thing).

3️⃣ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞: Framing the situation as "the turnaround for the ages" after inheriting a "nation in crisis" amplifies perceived improvement. Whether the baseline was accurate matters less than the psychological anchor it creates.

4️⃣ 𝐈𝐧-𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩/𝐎𝐮𝐭-𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠: Binary choices like "protect American citizens, not illegal aliens" force your brain to pick a side, triggering tribal instincts that bypass rational analysis.

These aren't political tactics. They're influence principles that work in boardrooms, sales calls, and leadership communications.

The question isn't whether to use them. It's how you and where to deploy them to make your communications more persusive.

What did you notice in the SOTU? (on the communications, not the politics)

That colleague who always says "living the dream"? Your brain secretly loves them.

Weird, right? Turns out, our lazy brains rely (maybe a little too much) on repetition. The more we see something (or someone), the more we trust it. No logic required. Just exposure.

As you probably know, I'm a total nerd about this stuff, so I wrote a whole newsletter on the 𝐅𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞 and how it quietly closes deals, builds brands, and makes you unforgettable without being annoying.

👉 Spoiler: going viral is overrated. Going steady? That's where the magic happens.

Read the full breakdown in the latest issue of Captivate - https://lnkd.in/gUjcuRSf.

What brand kept showing up until you finally caved and loved them?

A few months ago we had the pleasure of speaking at SocialPacific. While we were there, we sat down with Rachel Thexton to record this podcast, nerding out pretty hard about the art and science of behaviour.

👉 Check it out: https://lnkd.in/ggCVT2Tz

Most founders are burning budget on 12 different marketing channels and wondering why nothing's working. 🤷‍♂️ 

👉 Here's the framework I give every startup I advise – and it's almost embarrassingly simple:

𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 → 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 → 𝐍𝐞𝐰

That's it. That's the strategy.

➡️ 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞: Double down on what's already working. Positive ROI on one channel? Pour gas on that fire until it's tapped out. Most founders move on too early.

➡️ 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫: Got channels showing promise but mediocre returns? Optimize before you abandon. Test better creative. Refine targeting. Tweak the offer.

➡️ 𝐍𝐞𝐰: Only explore new channels after you've exhausted More and Better. Yes, really.

I know it's tempting to chase every shiny trend or throw spaghetti at the wall. But that's how you waste 6 months and $50K with nothing to show for it.

The unsexy truth? Most successful companies scaled on 1-2 optimized channels. Not 12 half-baked experiments.

What's your most underutilized "More" opportunity right now?

I love process, but if you’re too rigid, you’ll hurt your business.

We recently built a new course on Kajabi. I went to upgrade our plan to get some extra features and accidentally chose the annual option instead of monthly.

Yes, it was my mistake (although one could argue the formatting of the offer was a bit misleading). Within 1 minute, I contacted support to swap it.

Even after escalating, their support said they were totally unable to refund the initial payment and make the swap. (They did offer to credit us the amount, and then bill us from there. Which makes absolutely no sense for the customer).

But, since we were in our first 30 days, we still had the option to cancel for a full refund. 

So, instead of swapping us to a monthly plan and keeping us as customers (which is still pretty expensive) we completely cancelled for a full refund. 

We immediately signed up with Thinkific (their direct competitor) and had the course live on their platform within an hour. 

I’m sure the process and rules made sense to someone at Kajabi when they created them, but the experience it creates is costing them customers.

For everyone out there that manages support policies (or anything customer facing), please train your team well enough that you can trust them to exert some basic judgment. I promise it will lead to a better customer experience and more sales for your brand.

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The Battle

Kendra J.

Ben Wise

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Engagements

Likes

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);}Ben Wise's LinkedIn Performance

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