Team Lab

About Team Lab

Team Lab: Reimagining the Way We Work—a podcast dedicated to exploring the power of teams, the science and art of collaboration, and the magic of thriving relationships at work. Hosted by Angela Migliaccio and Cori Caldwell, who've spent years coaching and empowering leaders across the tech industry and beyond, Team Lab invites you to rethink teams—not as hierarchical machines, but as vibrant, living ecosystems. Each episode features relatable conversations, honest insights, and practical wisdom from pioneering leaders, systemic team coaches, and innovative changemakers. We'll uncover how successful teams build trust, foster alignment, navigate complexity, and unlock creativity. We even weave in listener submitted challenges and provide practical advice on how to move forward. Whether you're a team leader, team member, coach, or facilitator, you'll walk away inspired and equipped with fresh perspectives on teamwork and collaboration. **SUBMIT YOUR 'STICKY' TEAM DYNAMIC CHALLENGES HERE for a chance to hear us unpack it on one of our future episodes: https://form.typeform.com/to/SxbDaK2n **

Publisher

Angela Migliaccio and Cori Caldwell

Category

business

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

17 Apr 2025

Latest episode

6 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

27 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   6 Oct 2026

   Why It's Time to Shift from People Leader to Team Coach

   What if the friction on your team has nothing to do with personalities? What's the real difference between a team full of talented people and a team with genuine collective intelligence? How does a leader coach a team when they're also carrying a full individual workload? In this episode of Team Lab, Angela puts Cori Caldwell in the guest seat to explore the leader as team coach. Cori brings her experience as a former people leader, individual and team coach to the middle managers who sit inside highly matrixed tech organizations, absorbing ambiguity from every direction while keeping their teams moving. Most leaders learn to coach one person at a time — schedule the 1-on-1, develop the individual, and support them in meeting their goals, repeat. That model breaks down the moment a leader realizes that there’s a bigger impact to be had once they can tap into the collective intelligence of not only their team, but that of their stakeholders across the organization. In this solo episode, Angela and Cori unpack what it actually means to coach a team who are a critical part of a larger system, not simply a collection of individuals. They cover the shift from an individual to collective intelligence, why a clash between two people often points to a potentially larger issue in the system, the reality of coaching while still carrying a full project load, and the clear signals that tell a leader it's time to bring in outside support. You’ll leave with a few simple practices you can implement with your team this week. Key Takeaways Look at the system around the individuals. Recurring problems such as duplicated work, exclusion from strategic meetings, and finger pointing point to how the work is connected across the organization. Coach the relationship. When two people clash, bring in the other team members and ask what the wider system is calling the team to solve collectively. Start outside-in. Learn what stakeholders and partner teams need from you, align on shared KPIs, then bring that clarity to your team so everyone moves in the same direction. Have the hard conversation. Ask the stakeholder who causes your team the most dread, "How can we partner better together?" One conversation can reset the relationship. Check your hub and spoke. Look at how communication and decisions flow on your team. Does everything route through you, or do people talk to each other to decide? Build short reflection habits. Run a 15-minute after action review at the end of a project or launch, and add a pre-reflection before a big meeting. Know when to call in an outside coach. Signals include being too close or implicated, a team that does not see you as objective, a pattern that repeats despite your efforts, and a team that keeps falling back on you for every answer. Point your 20% at the highest leverage. With limited bandwidth, focus on purpose, clarity, and the team's relationship with each other and with key stakeholders. Resources Take the Team Doctor assessment (https://team-doctor-interactive.replit.app/) (8 questions, mapped to the eight foundations of healthy teams) Center for Creative Leadership stat on new-manager training, via Wharton Executive Education (https://executiveeducation.wharton.upenn.edu/thought-leadership/wharton-at-work/2024/09/new-leaders-need-training/) "7 Habits of Healthy Teams" self-check infographic (https://www.distinctiveteams.com/s/7_Signals-of_Healthy_Teams_infographic-1.pdf) Related episode: Navigating Polarities (https://open.spotify.com/episode/3JhwJPvZhEHqimybQVSiWb?si=rK65YSXUT1WM31Nx_kRP0A) (on repeating patterns and structural tension) Book a discovery call with Distinctive Teams (https://www.distinctiveteams.com/book) About Team Lab Team Lab explores the power of teams, the science and art of collaboration, and the magic of thriving relationships at work. Hosted by Angela Migliaccio and Cori Caldwell, this podcast brings you inspiring stories and insights to help you build trust, foster alignment, and unlock creativity in your teams.Follow us on LinkedIn and subscribe/follow to never miss an episode!

2. 

   15 Sept 2026

   Surrender to Lead: Dr. Jessica Kriegel on the Belief SHIFT Every Leader Needs To Consider Right Now

   How do you identify the one belief that's blocking a team's results? Why do departments typically compete instead of collaborate, and what breaks the pattern? Dr. Jessica Kriegel joins Team Lab to unpack these questions and we dig into the central paradox of her book Surrender to Lead: that letting go of control is what actually produces it. She explains how the very human pattern of controlling outcomes to avoid discomfort shows up in how leaders manage their teams. She also covers the steps to dissolving the department rivalry (SILOS!) that shows up in nearly every organization. Our conversation moves through her SHIFT model for decision-making and a live walkthrough of how beliefs (not actions) are the real lever leaders can pull. Jessica shares that a leader's REAL JOB is designing the experiences that move a team toward the belief that drives the result. Dr. Jessica Kriegel is a change activation expert at Culture Partners and the #1 USA Today best-selling author of Surrender to Lead, co-written with Culture Partners CEO Joe Terry. Her previous book, Unfairly Labeled, challenged the conventional wisdom on generational stereotypes in the workplace. A regular contributor to CNN, CNBC, and Fox Business, Kriegel researches how leaders can trade command-and-control management for results that actually last. She also publishes This Week in Culture on LinkedIn and co-hosts The CEO Daily Brief, a five-minute daily podcast briefing executives on what they need to know. Resources & Links Books: Surrender to Lead (surrendertolead.com) | Unfairly Labeled (https://a.co/d/0atsJe4A) Culture Partners — culturepartners.com (https://culturepartners.com) Jessica Kriegel — jessicakriegel.com (https://jessicakriegel.com) This Week in Culture newsletter (https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7033780643364839424) — LinkedIn The CEO Daily Brief podcast (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ceo-daily-brief-with-dr-jessica-kriegel/id1725350421)

3. 

   1 Sept 2026

   Fit and Friction: The Hidden Architecture Behind Every High-Performing Team

   What if the biggest risk to your organization is an under-architected relationship? How do you know if a promising hire will create productive friction or destructive friction? And what does it actually take to be the person in the room who tells a leader the truth they don't want to hear? In this episode of TeamLab, we sit down with Rachael Goldfarb (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachael-goldfarb) and Suzi Coul (https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzicoul), co-founders of The Coul & Gold Group (https://www.coulandgold.com), to unpack the concept of organizational "architecture" — the underlying operating styles and relational dynamics that most companies never diagnose until something breaks. Rachael and Suzi bring decades of experience advising heads of state, White House officials, and corporate leaders, and they've built two diagnostic tools: the Leadership Operating Profile and the Chief of Staff Readiness Assessment to expose gaps in what standard interview questions might miss. We dig into their "fit and friction" framework, why hiring is fundamentally a relationship decision rather than a person decision, the nine functions that define a real chief of staff role, and why the chief of staff seat may be one of the most important (and most misunderstood) roles in the modern organization. --- Big Questions We Explore - What does it mean to say an organization is "under-architected"? - Why is friction between two people not automatically a bad sign? - How can leaders get the benefits of "fit and friction" data without waiting for something to go wrong first? - Is there a specific "wiring" that makes someone built for high-stakes, high-trust roles like chief of staff? - Why is the chief of staff best positioned when they’re sitting below the CEO but above the rest of the C-suite? - What early warning signs tell a chief of staff they've started drinking the Kool-Aid? - Why does the chief of staff role skew so heavily female, and is that starting to change? --- Actionable Takeaways - Hire for the relationship, not just the person. Every new hire brings their own operating style and relational dynamics into the existing system, so it’s imperative to evaluate the potential fit, not just the resume. - Use data to navigate friction, not avoid it. Knowing how a colleague communicates under pressure won't eliminate friction, but it helps you recognize it for what it is instead of taking it personally. - Set a "how to disagree" agreement early. Ask directly: how does this person want to be challenged — publicly, privately, in writing? Establishing this early prevents bigger blowups later. - Watch for the "removing the names" test. When making a decision about people, try stripping out names and personalities and ask what the organization actually needs first — then map people onto it. - Protect the rollout. How a chief of staff (or any critical new hire!) is introduced to the team can make or break the role's effectiveness. Position the announcement for success the first time. --- About Our Guests Rachael Goldfarb and Suzi Coul are the co-founders of The Coul & Gold Group, where they advise senior leaders, executive teams, and chiefs of staff across government, corporate, and startup environments. Rachael brings experience from the White House and the Clinton administration; Suzi has advised heads of state and Parliament. Together they developed the Leadership Operating Profile and the "fit and friction" assessment, along with the Chief of Staff Readiness Assessment — diagnostic tools designed to surface the relational dynamics and blind spots that traditional hiring and org design overlook. They also publish a biweekly briefing on leadership and organizational dynamics. --- Resources - Connect with Rachael Goldfarb and Suzi Coul: [coulandgold.com](https://coulandgold.com) - Chief of Staff framework (nine functions): coulandgold.com/cos-framework - Subscribe to their biweekly briefing at coulandgold.com - Contact: info@coulandgold.com -- Follow us on LinkedIn and subscribe/follow to never miss an episode!

Who has been a guest on Team Lab

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Suzanne Sitrin
• Karen Ferris
• Matt Tabor
• Stefan Morales
• Chris Hutchinson

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

4 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 44 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

76

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

32

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Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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