How to Make a Leader

How to Make a Leader brings you the ideas and voices shaping the future of leadership. Host Hannah Beaver sits down with bold thinkers, builders, and changemakers across learning and leadership development to explore how great leaders are developed, through smart design, real-world experience, and the moments that matter. These are candid, curiosity-driven conversations crafted for L&D and leadership development professionals who want fresh insight, sharper thinking, and a smarter way to build leaders who thrive. Brought to you by Big Think+.

How to Make a Leader is a business podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 0 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts How to Make a Leader, a business show with 0 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #26

  A live performance approach to leadership

  Aug 13, 202632 min

  Leadership isn’t just something we learn. It’s something we step into, often in moments we don’t get to rehearse. Sharifa Austin is a Senior Director, People Development & Organizational Effectiveness at Universal Music Group. She approaches leadership as something to be designed, built for the moments that matter most. This approach has been shaped inside a global business where leadership is tested in real time. Her work reframes leadership through a performance lens: not as something to perfect, but something to prepare for with intention. In this episode, Sharifa shares her intentional leadership design framework: Soundcheck, Spotlight, Setlist, Showtime. Leaders, she'll tell you, aren't just soloists. They're conductors, shaping how others come in, align, and deliver. This episode was captured in front of a live audience, with audience Q&A included. About Sharifa Austin: Sharifa Austin is the Senior Director, People Development & Organizational Effectiveness at Universal Music Group. She is a leadership strategist known for designing innovative, business-aligned development experiences across some of the world’s most iconic music labels—including Interscope, Capitol, Def Jam, Republic, and Motown. At Universal Music Group, she has built and scaled a global leadership ecosystem that is reshaping how leaders grow, influence, and perform in high-pressure creative environments. Trusted by senior executives for her insight and strategic clarity, Sharifa blends cultural fluency with cutting-edge program design. She holds a Bachelor of Arts with Specialization in Marketing from California State University Los Angeles and is a recognized as a thought partner in redefining leadership and people strategy for the next era of work. Connect with Sharifa on Linkedin .

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  Episode #25

  How to make EQ the foundation of your leadership system

  Jul 10, 202626 min

  AI has flattened the information gap. Knowledge is no longer the differentiator. So what separates great leaders? Emotional intelligence: judgment, presence, the ability to read a room and know when to pause. Successful teams are building a system where EQ behaviors are a part of the organization's DNA. Ash Panjwani has spent her career building leadership systems grounded in EQ at companies like Twilio, VMware, OneTrust, and Procore. In this episode, she explains why EQ can't be bolted on as another training program, and how to hardwire it into the decisions that already shape your organization: who you hire, who you promote, how you give feedback, how you hold leaders accountable. Things to listen for: (06:09) Leadership starts with behavior, not programs (10:41) Clear expectations and shared language for growth (19:08) Accountability in onboarding, promotions, and reviews (07:03) Moving from programs to behavior-driven systems (16:46) Emotional intelligence in the age of AI (18:14) Developing judgment, trust, and situational awareness (11:44) Coaching and feedback strategies for leaders (17:15) Standing out as a leader in an AI-augmented world (21:35) Designing programs that reflect real work contexts (23:39) Takeaways for L&D and people teams About Ash Panjwani: Ash Panjwani is the founder of wrkhappy, where she builds performance and leadership infrastructure for scaling tech companies. Before launching wrkhappy, she spent over a decade designing leadership and performance systems inside Twilio, VMware, OneTrust, and most recently Procore, where she led talent development. Ash is an I/O psychologist by training and an operator by practice, and writes regularly on what it takes to develop leaders in the AI era. Connect with Ash on LinkedIn . Learn more about wrkhappy .

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  Episode #24

  How to develop leaders in a distributed, AI-augmented world

  May 28, 202629 minS0

  <p>Your managers are leading people they've never met in person, on teams that include both humans and AI agents. Most leadership programs weren't built for that.</p><p>Kameko Leung has built leadership development programs at Zillow, Michael Page, and now Pinterest, and she knows what it takes to develop leaders for that reality. She breaks down what distributed leadership requires: the operating systems, trust-building practices, and program design that make it work.</p><p><br></p><p>Things to listen for:<br>(01:47) Developing leadership in a distributed environment<br>(03:28) Adapting leadership programs for remote teams<br>(08:11) Building trust...

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  Episode #23

  Build a system of learning (not just one-off programs)

  Apr 30, 202627 minS0

  <p>T. Rowe Price doesn't do one-off training programs. They engineer leadership.</p><p>Ryan Smith leads Global Leadership and Career Development at T. Rowe Price, where he's spent nearly four years building a company-wide learning system that reaches leaders at every level, from the C-suite to frontline associates. The foundation: a belief that everyone, regardless of title, has the capacity to lead.</p><p>He shares how they built their leadership academies, why co-creation was non-negotiable at every level, foolproof tactics to get buy-in from the C-suite, and how they turn a learning event into lasting behavior change.</p><...

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  Episode #22

  Quick question: What can L&D learn from the marketing team?

  Apr 9, 20265 minS0

  <p>We’re back with a Quick Question: one big question, one expert answer, in five minutes. </p><p><br>Mike Taylor explains why learning teams often underestimate the role of attention, and how ideas from cognitive and marketing psychology can improve the way training is designed. He shares six simple attention triggers that make learning more relevant, tangible and memorable, and shows how L&D teams can move from one-off courses to campaign-style learning.</p><p>About Mike: </p><p><br></p><p>With over two decades of experience as a learning consultant, Mike has been a driving force behi...

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