E1B2 the Podcast with Anthony Vaughan

From the parking lot of a Planet Fitness to the core of how revenue actually gets made, AJ makes the case that “alignment” is no longer a soft, HR-friendly concept — it is the true operating system of performance in 2026.In this candid, off-the-cuff episode, he unpacks why culture isn’t your onboarding deck, your values poster, or your careers page — it’s how decisions get made under pressure, how managers lead through uncertainty, and how safe people feel telling the truth before the numbers break.AJ argues that the real risk in most organizations isn’t the C-suite — it’s a confused middle 60% that quietly drags execution, slows pipeline, and erodes trust. He connects this to his own lived experience as an entrepreneur who has had to “make payroll before there was payroll,” and why that reality gives him a visceral lens on culture, accountability, and human behavior.This is not a theory episode. It’s a reminder that your daily micro-behaviors, decision models, and alignment (or lack thereof) are either compo

Most organizations don’t fail because of talent gaps, bad hires, or weak execution. They fail because they scale on top of misalignment.In this episode, Anthony Vaughan introduces the Alignment Audit—a simple but uncomfortable diagnostic every leadership team should run before hiring, investing, or chasing growth targets in 2026.This conversation breaks down why revenue volatility, product confusion, and go-to-market breakdowns almost always trace back to cultural and decision-making misalignment, not process or performance issues. From board pressure and investor distortion at the top, to unclear decision ownership and behavioral friction on the ground, misalignment quietly drains momentum long before dashboards turn red.You’ll hear why leadership teams must stop panicking over lagging revenue and start asking the harder question: Are we actually aligned? And why, honestly, third-party-facilitated conversations—before scale—are often the difference between sustainable growth and expensive failure.If your org

After a short pause, I return to The Business of Alignment to share what has become clear about leadership, performance, and the future of work.As organizations face tighter budgets, higher turnover, and growing complexity, one variable is quietly separating high-performing teams from everyone else: alignment. Not engagement scores. Not productivity tools. Real alignment between leaders, teams, incentives, and behavior.In this episode, I reflect on what I’ve learned from working with CHROs, founders, and operators across the market — and why the next chapter of this podcast will focus less on trends and more on what actually moves people, teams, and financial outcomes forward.I will also preview an upcoming conversation with Keith Ferrazzi, whose work on trust, behavior, and human performance represents the thinking today’s HR leaders need if they want to build organizations that not only survive but also compound.This is a reset for the show.And a sharper lens on what modern leadership really requires.

This episode returns to a core leadership question many organizations avoid:Do we actually understand the people who work here?In a distributed, multi-generational, and economically uneven workforce, alignment no longer comes from policies, averages, or broad engagement initiatives. It comes from leaders who can reverse engineer the employee of one—and scale that understanding responsibly.This conversation examines how geography, financial reality, life stage, and exposure shape employee expectations around pay, benefits, leadership, and work design. In today’s remote environment, those differences coexist inside the same organization, often without acknowledgment.We explore:Why most employee listening strategies fail to inform real decisionsHow fragmented alignment shows up as anxiety, friction, and slowed executionWhat accountability looks like when people feel seen and supportedHow autonomy, trust, and modern tools enable innovation at every levelThe leadership behaviors required to scale individualized un

Everyone’s walking into 2026 swinging for the fences—revenue targets, scale plans, product launches, board expectations. But almost nobody is stopping to ask the single question that determines if any of it actually works: Are we aligned enough to survive our own goals?This episode breaks down the concept of an Alignment Audit—not as a buzzword, but as a diagnostic system. We dig into why organizations consistently miss targets not because the strategy is wrong, but because the relationships, behaviors, hiring logic, capital preservation mindset, and execution rhythms are misaligned across levels. From ICs to board members. From CROs to the most recent new hire.We walk through the hard truth:Lofty goals without alignment are a financial liability, not ambition.Mishiring cycles aren’t just “bad fits”—they’re capital leaks.Revenue isn’t just math—it’s behavioral infrastructure.Output readiness isn’t just process—it’s culture in motion.If Q1 2026 is make-or-break for your org, this episode argues there’s nothing

In this episode of The Business of Alignment, AJ records live—driving, thinking, and telling the truth that most leaders avoid.Organizations are moving faster than ever. AI, constant output pressure, endless meetings, board demands, and nonstop execution have created a dangerous gap: almost no one is actually thinking strategically anymore.Not the middle managers.Not individual contributors.And, surprisingly, not always the C-suite either.AJ breaks down why modern companies are operationally busy but strategically fragile—and why relying on the CEO, CFO, or COO alone to “own strategy” is no longer enough. When everyone is reacting, firefighting, and chasing velocity, alignment quietly collapses.His answer? A bold one:By 2026, every serious organization should have a dedicated Strategy Office—a cross-functional team embedded across product, sales, HR, marketing, and partnerships. Not to create decks. Not to chase buzzwords. But to think, unblock, pressure-test, bridge gaps, and ensure the business is actually

Moving from individual contributor to leader isn’t about authority, confidence, or even strategy. It’s about alignment — and most leaders underestimate how brutal, complex, and consequential that shift really is.In this episode of The Business of Alignment, AJ breaks down what actually changes when you stop leading yourself and start leading others. Not just direct reports — but energy, trust, decision velocity, partner relationships, board confidence, brand perception, and long-term outcomes you may never immediately see.This is a candid, unfiltered look at leadership reality:• Why one missed conversation can unravel years of trust• How lack of transparency creates hesitation, attrition, and stalled decision-making• What it really means to “peer around the corner” as a leader• Why alignment is not a soft skill — it’s a risk management disciplineFor CEOs, CHROs, CFOs, COOs, and senior leaders navigating scale, complexity, and pressure in 2025 and beyond, this episode introduces a practical mental framework to

In this raw, early-morning drive episode of The Business of Alignment, AJ steps back into the mic after an unusually long eight-day pause — and explains exactly why the time away sharpened his perspective. What starts as a spontaneous 6:21 AM reflection turns into one of the most candid breakdowns of organizational psychology, business rhythm, and HR leadership he’s delivered in years.AJ unpacks the uncomfortable truth sitting right in front of us in 2026: organizations are still fundamentally misaligned, still underutilizing HR, and still missing the ROI behind true psychological safety and cross-functional clarity. He draws from the vantage point only he has — operating inside a global company, advising executives, running partnerships, sitting across countless HR leaders, and leading one of the most influential alignment-focused podcasts in the world.This episode explores:• Why selling, building, budgeting, and scaling without alignment is now a direct financial liability• The invisible “psychological safe

Companies don’t lose because of poor strategy; they lose because of poor context. AJ shares a blunt message for executives: your employees already know what will make your strategies succeed or fail. In this episode, he challenges leaders to stop operating in a vacuum and start operationalizing employee intelligence into decisions about product, pricing, hiring, sales, and partnerships. When organizations elevate employee context to the boardroom, alignment becomes inevitable and performance becomes predictable.

True leadership isn’t a hypothesis. It’s not a deck, a model, or a clever philosophy. Leadership is the courage to take real action that drives behavior change — top to bottom, across every workflow, every role, every moment of truth with customers.When leaders move from theorizing to actually doing, alignment becomes the natural byproduct. People know where the organization is rowing. They understand how their work ties to revenue, to customers, to each other — and to a sense of personal pride and contribution. That clarity eliminates “busy work,” accelerates innovation, and builds a culture of shared accountability.This episode breaks down the operational mechanics of leadership as action:How behavior change scales when leaders set the standardWhy alignment requires friction — and fixing it is the fun workWhat happens when every team member knows their lane and their freedomHow real leadership eliminates stall-outs and ignites creativityWhen you make action the expectation of leadership — from the executive

In this episode, AJ breaks down a hard truth most companies never tell their L&D leaders: you’re sitting on one of the most strategically powerful levers in the business, and most organizations aren’t using it. Instead of building shiny internal marketplaces and content libraries that collect dust, AJ argues that L&D should anchor itself to the company’s most urgent, high-stakes moments—product launches, sales stalls, partnership experiments, cross-functional tension—and build learning systems that directly change behavior, speed, and outcomes.Through a candid, energized reflection on human behavior, alignment, and the operational realities leaders are facing, AJ lays out why L&D must become a strategic operator instead of a content factory. When L&D aligns its programs to the real problems product, sales, and marketing leaders are wrestling with, the function can finally quantify its impact, influence decisions, and meaningfully change business performance.A sharp, forward-leaning perspective

In this episode of The Business of Alignment, Anthony “AJ” Vaughan, founder of The E1B2 Collective, unpacks one of the most overlooked truths inside enterprise organizations: the widening gap between strategic ambition and workforce capability. Drawing from real-world research and executive behavior theory, AJ explores why many CEOs and CHROs privately admit they’re unsure their teams possess the skills needed to deliver on the company’s next big growth vision.He challenges Learning & Development leaders to evolve beyond programs and slide decks toward true behavioral change — equipping sales and operational leaders to coach, adapt, and scale alignment in real time. Through candid examples, AJ outlines how modern L&D functions can become the central nervous system of organizational readiness, embedding learning at the managerial level and transforming capability gaps into competitive advantage.A must-listen for executives, HR innovators, and leadership coaches who understand that growth isn’t just abo

After nearly a thousand episodes and years of impact, The E1B2 Collective Podcast evolves into its next chapter — The Business of Alignment. Hosted by Anthony “AJ” Vaughan, this series explores how alignment — between leaders, employees, culture, and strategy — is the real engine of business performance.AJ reflects on the podcast’s journey, how it shaped his life and career, and why alignment has become the central truth behind “Employee First, Business Second.” From CHROs to revenue leaders, from startups to global enterprises, this show dives into the daily pursuit of harmony between people and performance, how timing, communication, leadership modeling, and organizational design shape outcomes.This isn’t a rebrand; it’s a maturation. A deeper, rawer conversation about how culture drives execution and how alignment transforms businesses, careers, and lives.

Most organizations don’t fail because leaders lack vision — they fail because decision-making can’t keep pace with reality. The Alignment Intelligence Podcast explores how accountability, clarity of direction, and distributed decision authority actually scale inside complex enterprises. We challenge the old dogma that AI can’t support strategic alignment — and instead show how AI expands leadership context, improves the quality of decisions, and gets entire organizations rowing in the same direction. This is where self-management principles meet real-world execution. For leaders who know alignment isn’t a buzzword — it’s the operating system that drives growth.

In today’s workplace, courage isn’t a personality trait — it’s a performance requirement.In this episode, Anthony “AJ” Vaughan sits down with Donna Hundley, the powerhouse behind People Pulse Ventures, to unpack the truth about building organizations that don’t just attract top talent — they deserve them. Because recruitment, alignment, and retention collapse the moment leaders avoid the hard decisions that culture demands.Donna has spent her career transforming workplaces into high-trust environments where expectations are clear, leaders are accountable, and people feel safe enough to give their best. Together, we dig into:The recruiting promises that come back to biteHow courage protects culture when power causes harmWhat alignment really looks like in the messy middleWhy empathy is a retention strategy, not a perkLeadership behaviors that turn “employer brand” into lived experienceThis is a bold conversation for leaders tired of optics and ready for outcomes. If you influence hiring, culture, or performanc

n this episode, AJ Vaughan breaks down a truth too many leaders overlook — change doesn’t stick without learning. He explores why leadership and L&D can no longer operate in silos and why real organizational growth depends on building “learning architecture” into the very piping of the business. From daily rituals and microlearning loops to co-elevating teams and fearless feedback, AJ reveals how companies can move from change management to change enablement. If your org still treats L&D as a department instead of a system, this one’s going to challenge your entire operating model.

In this reflective episode, Anthony “AJ” Vaughan challenges leaders to reimagine how work is designed, executed, and aligned with human potential. Drawing inspiration from Dr. Benjamin Hardy’s principle of “expanding the mind and condensing the timeline,” AJ explores how organizations can stretch their strategic imagination—thinking in $100M possibilities instead of $10M habits—while restructuring the systems, people, and emotional infrastructure needed to make it real.He breaks down how leaders can:Redeploy capital, talent, and capability with empathy and precisionRedesign operating systems to serve both business goals and human fulfillmentAlign financial ambition with cultural and emotional ROICreate new pathways for scale through honest self-assessment and workforce reinventionThis is not just a talk about growth—it’s a challenge to every CEO, CHRO, and COO to rebuild their organization around truth, timing, and human alignment.

In this special episode, AJ turns the E1B2 Collective lens inward to ask a bold question: What if you could scale a company from $10M to $100M in ten years using only HR and people systems as your primary lever? Drawing insights from over 1,000 podcast episodes, dozens of guest appearances, and years of field research with top CHROs and operators, AJ breaks down how founder rewiring, talent architecture, and culture operating systems can outpace finance and product as true growth engines. From hiring for delta—not pedigree—to treating HR as a revenue function, this is a masterclass in building sustainable, human-centered scale. Thoughtful, strategic, and brutally honest—this is the playbook for leaders who believe people are the ultimate growth strategy.

In this Culture Over Quota episode, Anthony “AJ” Vaughan calls out the outdated hiring playbook still running inside too many $50M–$200M organizations — the one obsessed with pedigree, past wins, and Rolodexes.AJ argues that in an AI-driven world where tactical knowledge can be learned in hours, what separates true leaders from legacy players isn’t who they know or where they’ve been — it’s their human capacity: adaptability, emotional resilience, and relentless curiosity.He unpacks why companies keep flatlining despite “star hires,” how emotional fatigue is the silent killer of innovation, and what it means to design recruiting systems that detect bite down energy — the grit to evolve, not just the resume to impress.If you’re still hiring for yesterday’s connections instead of tomorrow’s capability, this episode is your wake-up call.

Welcome to Culture Over Quota — a new segment within The E1B2 Collective Podcast hosted by Anthony “AJ” Vaughan. In this series, AJ merges two worlds that rarely speak the same language: HR and Revenue. Drawing from his journey as a founder, CHRO, CRO, and builder of multiple HR tech ventures, AJ unpacks what it truly means to scale businesses without burning out people, teams, or purpose.This isn’t another “hit your number” sales show — it’s a raw and forward-thinking exploration of how culture, leadership, and human psychology shape every quota you chase. AJ delves into the real tensions between founders and VCs, CHROs and CROs, sellers and buyers, and reveals how companies that prioritize people over profit actually win bigger, faster, and longer.Expect candid stories, lived lessons, and deep dives into the future of HR tech, sales culture, and organizational design — all anchored in one belief:If you build culture first, the quota takes care of itself.