🎙️ In this episode, I sit down with Jonathan B. Smith, entrepreneur, author, and co-founder and CEO of Optimize for Growth (O4G), for a dynamic conversation about team health, tactical negotiation, and leading through AI-driven change.

Jonathan scaled his own business from $500K to $15 million in five years as an Inc. 500 COO, and has since guided more than 150 high-growth companies through over 1,500 strategy sessions as an expert EOS implementer. He now also trains leaders in tactical empathy and negotiation alongside the Black Swan Group, and lives by the mantra ”results matter.”

At its core, this conversation is about the discipline of testing before you commit, whether that's a hard conversation, a negotiation, or a new AI tool, and having the courage to take the bigger swing once you know it works.

We explore: 🎯 Why ”execution is worshiped” over theory when it comes to actually scaling a business 🤝 Team health as 70% of what makes EOS work, and the two things that make or break it 🗣️ Tactical empathy and the three types of ”yes” (counterfeit, confirmation, and commitment) 🌱 The most common roadblocks growing companies face: people, profit, and process 🤖 Treating AI as a thought partner and ”exoskeleton” without losing human creativity 🔥 Why leaders should fire bullets before they fire cannonballs when taking risk

Follow and explore more of Jonathan's work: 📲 LinkedIn: Jonathan B. Smith (Stay Curious JBS) 🌐 Website: staycuriousjbs.com 📚 Book: Fight Less, Win More, available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble

If there's one takeaway from this conversation, it's this: test the waters with bullets before you commit to the cannonball.

🎧 Podcast produced by Riti Suresh.