What can 36 combat missions teach you about judgment, trust, and leading boldly?

In this gripping episode, host Damon Lembi sits down with retired Navy SEAL, CEO, and bestselling author Marty Strong to unpack the real lessons of leadership from the battlefield to the boardroom. Marty reveals the mindset and frameworks forged under pressure—from never being a “single point of failure” to the three-step process for creative, resilient leadership. Whether you’re running a small project or motivating an entire organization, this episode delivers practical tools to help you train, adapt, and inspire at a higher level.

Discover why great teams out-innovate their competition, how mission-driven leadership outperforms metrics-chasing, and what to do when your strategy—and your ego—get stuck in the mud. Marty also shares powerful stories from his SEAL days and breaks down how to reignite creativity in yourself and your team, long after childhood.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• The difference between “leading for mission” and “leading for metrics” (and why it matters)
• Marty’s three-part framework for bold, creative leadership—including intellectual humility, curiosity, and applied creativity
• How SEALs build trust, adaptability, and cross-trained teams to avoid a single point of failure
• Why businesses lose creativity as they scale—and how to bring it back
• The #1 lesson Marty learned when everything went wrong on a mission (and how it changed his leadership forever)
• Tools for driving buy-in, team empathy, and loyalty—no matter the stakes

Timestamps:

00:00 – Marty’s “single point of failure” lesson and opening thoughts on leadership

01:18 – What the Navy SEALs taught Marty about always being prepared

03:10 – Marty’s backstory and path to the SEALs

07:00 – The reality of leading high-performing, high-intelligence teams

08:52 – Trust, judgment, and adaptability in special ops

11:27 – Marty’s “work the problem” mud mission and lessons in humility

21:53 – Translating military leadership to the business world

25:34 – Building bench strength, team loyalty, and cross-functional empathy

29:46 – Marty’s books: Be Nimble, Be Visionary, Be Different

34:05 – Why companies (and adults) lose creativity over time

39:19 – The three-step framework: humility, curiosity, creativity

42:43 – How to drive more curiosity and openness in teams

46:27 – The difference between business as usual and true vision

53:36 – What keeps Marty learning and leading at the highest level

56:20 – Marty's speaking, writing, and fiction for the SEAL Veterans Foundation

57:47 – Where to connect with Marty online

58:11 – Show close and Damon’s call to “stay curious, keep learning”

About Marty Strong

Marty Strong is a retired Navy SEAL with 20 years of combat leadership—and a track record as a CEO, entrepreneur, and bestselling author. After leading 36+ special operations missions and teams in high-stakes environments, Marty transitioned into the business world, buying and selling companies and coaching leaders across industries. He’s the author of a leadership trilogy (Be Nimble, Be Visionary, Be Different) and donates all proceeds from his fiction books to the SEAL Veterans Foundation. Marty speaks and consults on leadership, culture, and bold thinking for audiences nationwide.

Resources & Mentions:

• Marty’s website:

Everyone’s talking about AI—but few are actually using it well.

In this episode, Damon Lembi sits down with Thiago Da Costa, AI visionary and founder of Datagrid, to unpack the real impact AI is having on work today. From replacing repetitive tasks to redesigning how companies hire, execute, and scale—Thiago shares how forward-thinking leaders can harness AI to reclaim time, unlock efficiency, and build the future of work.

From building physics engines for movies like Avatar to selling his startup to Autodesk and now leading Datagrid, Thiago offers both technical insight and human wisdom for anyone navigating the AI revolution.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

- Why Thiago says AI is underhyped—and what most leaders are missing

- The shift from hiring humans to hiring intelligent agents

- How AI is changing product, content, customer success, and hiring

- Why “agent architects” will be the next critical role inside every company

- What great AI implementation looks like at non-tech companies

- How to use AI as your “auto-complete for thinking”

- What to look for in talent in the age of AI

- How leaders can free up 5+ hours a day through agentic design

- Why grit and energy beat credentials in AI-native hiring

- What the world could look like by 2035—and how to start now

Timestamps:

00:00 – Why every junior is now a senior with AI

01:30 – AI is underhyped: usage is far behind potential

03:00 – Infrastructure gaps: what’s holding mass adoption back

04:00 – Voice, video, and the next interface shift

06:00 – Replacing work with intelligence: what it means

07:30 – Thiago’s origin: Brazil, physics, and Avatar

09:00 – Starting a company and learning the hard way

10:30 – The one person who believed in him

12:00 – Building a CAD platform in the browser

14:00 – What it felt like to be acquired by Autodesk

16:00 – Driving cloud transformation inside a legacy org

18:00 – What inefficiency really looks like at scale

20:00 – How Datagrid replaces repetitive ops with agents

22:00 – Why "agent architect" is the next must-hire

24:00 – Grit + curiosity = your most valuable employee

26:00 – Why small teams can now outpace the giants

28:00 – Where leaders should start with AI today

30:00 – Content, SEO, and how to really use LLMs

32:00 – Real example: AI agent handling shipping and tracking

34:00 – The three-year vision: free up 5+ hours/day

36:00 – What the world could look like in 2035

38:00 – One lesson for every founder: aim higher

40:00 – Damon’s challenge: share this with a future founder

About Thiago:

Thiago Da Costa is a serial entrepreneur, product visionary, and AI futurist. After launching and selling his first startup to Autodesk—where he helped lead the company’s transition to the cloud—Thiago founded Datagrid, an AI platform that turns operational work into intelligent agents. A self-taught technologist with a background in physics and computer graphics, Thiago is pioneering the future of work—where software doesn't just support humans, it works like one.

Resources & Mentions:

Thiago Da Costa on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thiagocosta2/

Datagrid: Intelligent Agents for Work: https://www.datagrid.com

Delegate to Scale Your Impact – Learnit Course: https://www.learnit.com/courses/delegate-to-scale-your-impact

Podcast Episode with...

What if your most powerful communication tool wasn’t your voice—but your silence?

In this episode, Damon Lembi sits down with mindfulness teacher and bestselling author Cynthia Kane to explore her game-changing approach to communication. From avoiding difficult conversations to managing high-stakes interactions at work, Cynthia reveals how the ability to pause—mentally, physically, and emotionally—can completely transform the way we lead, collaborate, and connect.

Drawing from her book The Pause Principle and her signature SOFTEN Method, Cynthia shares a practical playbook for more grounded, intentional, and effective communication—starting with yourself.

• Why silence—not speaking—is the foundation of great communication
• How the body reacts during tough conversations and what to do about it
• The SOFTEN Method: 6 tools to calm down and show up intentionally
• Why most communication breakdowns start with the stories we tell ourselves
• How to unlearn the communication habits you inherited
• What mindful leaders do to create space, safety, and clarity
• A practice you can use between back-to-back meetings to reset
• How one conversation Cynthia avoided for 13 years changed everything
• What leaders need to know about tension, trust, and team dynamics
• How to go from reacting to responding—especially under pressure

Timestamps:

00:00 – The moment before you speak is where leadership begins

01:30 – Can people really change how they communicate? Yes.

03:00 – Two types of people: aware of communication struggles—and unaware

04:00 – Damon's take: poor communication quietly stalls careers

05:30 – Cynthia’s story: 13 years avoiding one key conversation

07:30 – Fear, survival, and the ripple effect of not speaking up

09:00 – Meditation and Buddhism: Cynthia’s unexpected entry point

11:00 – From Right Speech to real-world practice

13:00 – Why “in the moment” strategies matter most

14:30 – Introducing the SOFTEN Method

16:00 – Sensation: tuning into your body before your words

18:00 – Owning discomfort and calming your nervous system

20:00 – The subtle power of tactile strategies (no one will notice)

22:00 – Can one person change the tone of a conversation? Yes.

24:00 – Tactile tools for leaders: finger tapping, grounding, pressure points

26:00 – Rewriting your inner voice to change how you lead

28:00 – Team case study: how communication training shifted dynamics

30:00 – Why leaders must do the work—not just their teams

32:00 – Meditation for communicators (even if you “suck” at it)

34:00 – The real practice: noticing, returning, and being kind

36:00 – Resetting after a tough conversation so you’re fully present

38:00 – Communication in sales: when excitement gets in the way

40:00 – Slow down. One person can shift the whole vibe

42:00 – Why human connection and adaptability matter more than ever

44:00 – Cynthia’s hope: thriving relationships and better day-to-days

45:00 – Final takeaway: Attention follows intention. Practice is the path.

• Cynthia’s book: The Pause Principle – https://a.co/d/eprOdpC
• Cynthia’s book: How to Communicate Like a Buddhist – https://a.co/d/8hBUvXB
• Cynthia Kane’s website – https://www.cynthiakane.com
• Learnit course: Delegate to Scale Your Impact –