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Most leaders shut down ideas without realizing it. A "yeah but" in a meeting. A quick correction before someone finishes. The team quietly learns to stop bringing anything new. Will Dennis runs Unscripted Productions, an applied improv studio that trains Fortune 500s, hospitals, and schools on the fix. It comes back to two words. Yes, and.

In this episode, Will and BJ unpack why "yes, and" is the most underrated leadership tool out there. What Nick Sirianni was secretly doing all Super Bowl run. Why one company tests emerging leaders on whether they hold the spotlight or stand in it. And the hardest line to sit with: a leader's real job is to work themselves out of one.

Topics discussed:

00:00 - Why we're talking about improv, not AI

02:00 - Improv as the safest place to fail

05:00 - How "yes, and" turns down the heat in any room

14:18 - What Nick Sirianni was secretly doing all season

19:03 - The hidden test for who actually gets into the leadership program

24:23 - The most powerful sentence you can hear in a locker room

24:47 - A leader's real job is to work themselves out of one

29:24 - A boardroom hack any leader can steal tomorrow

34:27 - Rapid fire: books, the word sonder, and dinner with Adam Grant

38:55 - Why improv is not the thing you think it is

Connect with Will Dennis:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/williamjdennis/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unscriptedproductions
Website: https://www.unscriptedproductions.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/unscriptedprod

Connect with BJ Kraemer:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bj-kraemer-9a0855b/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bj_kraemer/
Website: https://mcfaglobal.com/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4bcvcAw0rigwymZCwZgfgN?si=45fc1e07c82742ee
Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-blueprints/id1561090224

This episode was produced by Podcast Boutique: https://www.podcastboutique.com