Mike Smith founded Huddle Advisory, a human capital consulting firm, after 25 years as a sports and entertainment executive at the NFL, NBC, and Deloitte.  We discuss: The value of a great boss at the early stage of one’s career [02:22] All the little things that people do in order to create big success at scale [03:34] Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable [08:06] The muscles that atrophy after spending 25 years in corporate [10:27] Why it’s essential to recognize the value of realistic optimism in the face of expected obstacles [12:57] The unsurprising amount of creativity that comes in the middle of a workout [17:06] How to deal with the constant drive to be productive [19:44] The umbrella of always learning [22:04]

Mike’s background centers around leading organizational service functions: Human Resources, Finance, Technology, and Administration. After multiple Finance leadership roles, he made a mid-career transition to Human Capital because of his passion for engaging people to drive business performance. Having served as both a CHRO and a CFO, he has a unique lens to view business and talent strategy alignment. Learn more about Mike at https://huddleadvisory.com/ (https://huddleadvisory.com/) and https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-p-smith/ (LinkedIn).