In this episode, Eric and Jeff hang out with Perry Maughmer—a returning guest and one of their all-time favorite people—for an honest, practical (and sometimes funny) discussion about what it really means to grow as a person and a leader.

What’s Inside This Episode?

Perry’s New Book: Why He Wrote It for Himself - Perry tells us all about his newest book, The Recurrence Effect. But get this—he wrote it for himself first, doesn't care if it sells, and purposely didn’t jam it with easy answers. His goal? Help you realize you have what you need already inside, even if that means sitting with the messy stuff and more ambiguity than you’re used to.
Why Copying Someone Else's Life Hacks Never Works - Ever get sucked into those “guaranteed” success frameworks online? Perry has zero time for that. He explains that just because a system or trick worked for one person doesn’t mean it’ll fit you. It’s like wearing someone else’s custom suit—a weird fit at best!
Leadership: It's a Doing Thing, Not a Title - There’s a super cool take here—Perry doesn’t think “leader” should be a title. It should be about what you do, not who you are. The best leaders care about people, not KPIs. Results follow from that—not the other way around!
How Companies Get People Development Wrong - Why do so many places take their top performer and make them a manager? Spoiler: it almost never works out how they hope. There’s some real talk about how real people development takes YEARS of intentional change. No overnight hacks here.
Curiosity vs. Judgment (and Why Saying "I Don’t Know" Rocks) - Perry drops wisdom about choosing curiosity over judgment at work. Admitting you don’t know everything actually makes you a better teammate and leader. Seriously—being curious opens up so many more possibilities.
AI Is Eating Up Technical Skills—Now What? - Worried robots are taking your job? Perry says the real winners will be people who love to learn, not just people with mad technical skills. The key is staying adaptable and being comfortable with change and surprise.
The Real Treasure is Inside - All the themes circle back to one core idea: stop forever searching for solutions outside yourself. Take ownership, look inward (even if it’s scary), and realize you have what you need to keep growing and leading. It’s not a quick fix, but it’s more real.

Real Moments & Laughs

Kicking off with some Bigfoot and Canadian toque jokes
Honest opinions about why editing a book is “horrendous” and marketing can feel fake
Why company learning should be voluntary and nobody should get dinged for “opting out”

Featured Book:

The Recurrence Effect by Perry Maughmer – Find it on Amazon and wherever you get your books.

Get More from Perry:

Podcast (he’s starting it up again—no set routine, just genuine thoughts when he has them)
Substack newsletter: “Inside the Return”

Perry Maughmer is a facilitator, writer, and practitioner, but the center of his work is closer to home. Alongside his wife, Lisa, he actively shapes a life they don’t want to retire from, treating their relationship, choices, and daily rhythms as the primary place where the work is lived, not discussed.

He is the author of The Recurrence Effect, which explores how individuals and teams evolve through a rhythm of Explore, Experiment, Evaluate, and Edit. Rather than offering answers, Perry creates space for people to engage their own experience and develop the ability to choose and return to what matters.

Join the Conversation!

Had any “aha!” moments? Ever felt like you were supposed to have life all figured out—when you really just needed some new questions? We want to hear from you:

Have you ever chased outside answers when you maybe needed to look inside?
How are you handling all the changes with tech and work?

In each episode, Jeff and Eric will talk about what emotional intelligence, or understanding your emotions, can do for you in your daily and work life. For more information, contact Eric or Jeff at info@spiritofeq.com or visit their website, Spirit of EQ.

You can follow The Spirit of EQ Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Android, or on your favorite podcast player.

New episodes are available on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays every month!

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Spirit of EQ

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Thanks for listening to Spirit of EQ

This podcast was created to be a tool to primarily help you to discover and grow your EQ. Science and our own lived experiences confirm that the better we are at managing our emotions, the better we're going to be at making decisions. Which leads to a better life. And that's something we all want. We're glad that you've taken the time today to listen. We hope that something you hear will lead to a breakthrough. We'd really appreciate a review on your podcast platform. Please leave some comments about what you heard today, as well as follow and subscribe to the podcast. That way, you won't miss a single episode as we continue this journey.