This week on the GeekWire Podcast: Executive coach and former Microsoft leader Sabina Nawaz talks about her book, You’re the Boss: Become the Manager You Want to Be (and Others Need) — and why she believes pressure, not power, is what truly corrupts leaders.

We discuss the thinning layer of middle management, how AI tools are changing the landscape, and why many younger workers no longer aspire to lead. Sabina shares actionable strategies from the book, including Micro Habits, the power of Blank Space, and how managers can stop micromanaging and start serving as the “container, not the content.”

She also reflects on her time advising Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer — including a memorable moment involving an umlaut — and explains why getting promoted might be the riskiest moment in your career.

Topics Covered:

• Why pressure is more dangerous than power
• Managing when the middle layer disappears
• The double-edged sword of AI-powered management
• Tools: Micro Habits, the Yes List, Blank Space
• Communication fault lines and “sage speak”
• Leadership lessons from Gates and Ballmer
• How to lead without burning out

With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop; edited by Curt Milton.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the GeekWire Podcast, our guest is Hanson Hosein — an Emmy Award-winning journalist, filmmaker, and communication strategist who has spent his career making sense of the world in times of change.

His latest project is American Dignity, a short documentary that follows the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement from Seattle to Selma to Washington D.C., and considers what those lessons mean for America today.

He started out as an NBC News correspondent, reporting from conflict zones in the Middle East and the Balkans. Later, he founded the Communication Leadership program at the University of Washington and became an early voice for digital storytelling, using technology to find new ways of reaching audiences.

We visit his self-contained studio on the former site of a chicken coop, and talk about how he made this film as a one-person operation, what he learned along the way, and where he thinks media is headed. We also dig into how AI is changing the creative process and what it takes to tell meaningful stories in this new world.

With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop. Edited by Curt Milton.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the GeekWire Podcast, we discuss how AI is transforming our local tech giants, changing the fundamental nature of work, and blurring the lines between human and machine.

We dive into the memo that has Amazon employees either signing up for AI training or updating their resumes; unpack why you're answering emails at 10 p.m.; and explain how one of us ended up quizzing his dentist's office assistant (or was it an AI chatbot?) about whether he or she (or it?) was human. Then we ask the new Alexa+ what it (she?) thinks about the exchange.

Related stories

• Andy Jassy’s long game: Amazon’s reinvention enters its 5th phase as AI upends the workforce
• Amazon CEO: AI will shrink corporate workforce in coming years
• The ‘infinite workday’ is here — and Microsoft says AI will make it worse if we’re not careful

With GeekWire co-founders Todd Bishop and John Cook.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.