The Leadership Podcast

We interview great leaders, review the books they read, and speak with highly influential authors who study them.

The Leadership Podcast is a business podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 0 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Unknown Host hosts The Leadership Podcast, a business show with 0 episodes published.

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  Episode #531

  TLP531: Tribalism, Belonging, and the Leader's Role

  Sep 30, 202632 min

  Humans have always formed tribes. At work, those tribes emerge around far more than shared goals. They form around who we trust, where we feel we belong, what we believe, and what we stand to gain or lose. Those workplace tribes can strengthen an organization or quietly work against it. Jim Vaselopulos and Jan Rutherford examine what leaders can do to shape the conditions that influence behavior, looking beyond individual performance to the environment, incentives, and norms people respond to. They also explore four ways leaders affect the people and systems around them: subtraction, division, addition, and multiplication. That same environment determines whether people speak up, take risks, and challenge one another, or stay quiet out of fear. Jim and Jan explore psychological safety, the tension between developing people and getting mission-critical work done, and why leadership requires continually balancing priorities that are often in conflict. Ultimately, much of it comes back to belonging. Where people feel they belong shapes whom they trust, what they are willing to say, how they behave, and what they are willing to do for the group. Find episode 531 on The Leadership Podcast, on YouTube @theleadershippodcast, or wherever you get your podcasts! Key Moments - Why tribalism hasn't disappeared, even as the reasons for belonging have changed - How culture and incentives shape the behavior leaders see - Creating a tribe without creating an "us vs. them" culture - What high school can teach us about tribalism - The four approaches to leadership: subtraction, division, addition, and multiplication - What Morgan Housel's Same as Ever says about human behavior - Why fear is such a powerful force in organizations - What psychological safety looks like in practice - The tension between developing people and doing the work that matters most - Why leadership is a continuing journey of balance - The value of having someone who can challenge your thinking - Why belonging can be more powerful than truth The Leadership Podcast is sponsored by W.S. Darley & Company. Founded in 1908, Darley remains a family owned and operated business, providing the highest quality equipment solutions to our country's warfighters and firefighters. Learn more at darley.com and darleydefense.com Memorable Quotes "Leadership by subtraction is, in a sense, bullying." "Leadership by division is, for us to thrive, you have to lose." "Leadership by addition is, how do we bring everybody together?" "Leadership by multiplication is, how do I create the next set of leaders?" "Fear is probably the biggest emotion that we have to deal with in the work world." "People don't want the truth, they want to belong." "The art of leadership, not just the science." "Leadership is the constant ability to balance competing priorities, competing needs, competing interests." Explore the full archive at www.theleadershippodcast.com or wherever you get your podcasts! These are the books mentioned in this episode Same as Ever by Morgan Housel Influenced from Above by Brian Ahern Resources Mentioned The Leadership Podcast | theleadershippodcast.com Sponsored by | www.darley.com Rafti Advisors. LLC | www.raftiadvisors.com Self-Reliant Leadership. LLC | selfreliantleadership.com

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  Episode #530

  TLP530: Leadership Lessons from Building the Apple Store with Ron Johnson

  Sep 23, 202644 min

  Ron Johnson is the creator of the Apple Store, a sought-after speaker, board member, and the author of Shop Different: How Retail Revealed Apple's Genius. He spent much of his career in retail, including leadership roles at Target, Apple, and J.C. Penney. Ron discusses the thinking behind the Apple Store and what he learned working alongside Steve Jobs. One of the most revealing moments came when the team was six months into designing the first store and realized the concept was all wrong. Jobs agreed to start over, even though it meant delaying the launch. The conversation explores what that experience taught Ron about vision, intuition, and the willingness to rethink an idea when circumstances change. He also reflects on his experience at J.C. Penney, where he moved too quickly, relied too heavily on his own conviction, and did not bring the team along. Throughout the conversation, Ron returns to a theme that runs through his career: bold leadership requires conviction, but it also requires the humility to listen, adapt, and recognize when a better path has appeared. Key Moments The three-hour conversation with Steve Jobs that defined the Apple Store vision How Ron learned to lead through big ideas instead of constant direction Why the first Apple Store had to be completely rethought The courage to hit rewind after six months of work Why Apple designed its stores like a five-star hotel What J.C. Penney taught Ron about compromising on a vision Why intuition matters, and why sometimes you need to count to ten What happens when nobody pushes back on the leader Why kindness is different from being nice How kindness creates an environment where people can do their best Bringing your best and most authentic self to work The Leadership Podcast is sponsored by W.S. Darley & Company. Founded in 1908, Darley remains a family owned and operated business, providing the highest quality equipment solutions to our country's warfighters and firefighters. Learn more at darley.com and darleydefense.com Memorable Quotes "You gotta bring people along, listen really attentively to other people's ideas." "The highest form of kindness is telling the truth." "Kindness is a choice you make at work." "Kindness enables people to be their best because they're working in an environment of love and not fear." "If you get one chance in life, bring your best self to work every day." "Don't just do things because you think that's what people would expect you to do." "I've always done well by pursuing what I intuitively believe is the right way to solve a problem and not relying on what others do." Explore the full archive at www.theleadershippodcast.com or wherever you get your podcasts! These are the books mentioned in this episode Shop Different: How Retail Revealed Apple's Genius by Ron Johnson Excellence Wins by Horst Schulze Resources Mentioned The Leadership Podcast | theleadershippodcast.com Sponsored by | www.darley.com Rafti Advisors. LLC | www.raftiadvisors.com Self-Reliant Leadership. LLC | selfreliantleadership.com Website | www.ronjohnsonshopsdifferent.com LinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/in/shopdifferent

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  Episode #529

  TLP529: How Steve Jobs Learned to Lead with Geoffrey Cain

  Sep 16, 202638 min

  Geoffrey Cain is an award-winning investigative journalist and bestselling author. A former correspondent for The Economist and TIME, he has spent more than 15 years covering technology, geopolitics, and global business. His latest book is "Steve Jobs in Exile." Geoffrey explores the lesser-known years after Steve Jobs was pushed out of Apple, and how that period changed the way he approached leadership. Jobs had the vision and creativity, but he had to learn how to connect those ideas with people, markets, and the realities of building a business. The conversation examines why leaders need people who will disagree with them, what Jobs learned from Pixar and NeXT, and why infrastructure and trust matter as much as vision. Geoffrey also discusses the role of adversity in developing leaders, and what the emerging AI revolution might teach us about navigating uncertainty and limits. At the center of the conversation is a simple leadership lesson: knowing when to stay the course is important, but so is recognizing when the path needs to change. Find episode 529 on The Leadership Podcast, on YouTube @theleadershippodcast, or wherever you get your podcasts! Key Moments [04:47] What Steve Jobs' wilderness years revealed about leadership [08:25] The difference between having a vision and building a business [09:09] Why the original Macintosh was a commercial failure [12:00] What Jobs learned about solving real customer problems [13:30] Knowing when to stay the course and when to change direction [14:28] Why leaders need people who will disagree with them [19:05] The value of cross-directional thinking [20:32] What Pixar and NeXT taught Jobs about trust and boundaries [23:14] Why infrastructure matters as much as vision [26:06] How adversity shapes leaders [29:28] The opportunities and risks of AI [34:57] Working within limits without losing the vision The Leadership Podcast is sponsored by W.S. Darley & Company. Founded in 1908, Darley remains a family owned and operated business, providing the highest quality equipment solutions to our country's warfighters and firefighters. Learn more at darley.com and darleydefense.com Memorable Quotes "If you find yourself agreeing with yourself too much, that's the red flag right there." "You need to select people who are willing to push back on you and push back hard." "The risk and the shadow of that ambition and that passion is that it's hard to see when something isn't going to work." "Build it and they will come is no way to run a business when there are investors on the line." "Leadership is not just about the leader. Leadership is about the people who you're leading." "There's a huge difference between a leader who never has to go through those hard times and the one who does have to face it." "That's not failure, that's learning. That's learning where the wall is." "If there's a wall in front of you, look around the corner. Maybe there's another door somewhere." "Sometimes a vision just turns out not to be all that. And that's when it's time to think different and try something new." Explore the full archive at www.theleadershippodcast.com or wherever you get your podcasts! These are the books mentioned in this episode Steve Jobs in Exile by Geoffrey Cain Samsung: The Perfect Police State by Geoffrey Cain Resources Mentioned The Leadership Podcast | theleadershippodcast.com Sponsored by | www.darley.com Rafti Advisors. LLC | www.raftiadvisors.com Self-Reliant Leadership. LLC | selfreliantleadership.com Website | www.geoffreycain.net LinkedIn |www.linkedin.com/in/gcain X | @geoffrey_cain

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  Episode #528

  TLP528: The Beliefs That Shape Success with Shawn Achor

  Sep 9, 20261h 5m

  Shawn Achor is one of the world's leading experts on the connection between happiness and success. His research on mindset has appeared in Harvard Business Review, his TED Talk has been viewed more than 25 million times, and he is the New York Times bestselling author of The Happiness Advantage and Big Potential. His latest book is The Power of Beliefs: How Strengthening Seven Core Beliefs Predicts Greater Success and a Better Life. Shawn explores how our beliefs shape not only how we experience the present, but what happens next. He explains why positive statements alone often fail to create change—and how pairing a belief with evidence and an "if-then" qualifier can turn it into something actionable. He walks through seven core beliefs, including that our behavior matters, we matter, we are not alone, our work is meaningful, and there is something to be grateful for. The conversation also explores FOMO, social connection, team cohesion, burnout, and the negative expectations leaders can unintentionally create. Shawn explains how reframing stress as meaningful can change its effects and why the beliefs circulating within a team can influence both well-being and performance. Throughout, Shawn returns to a central idea: beliefs are not simply reflections of our circumstances; they can help shape what becomes possible. He offers practical ways leaders can strengthen productive beliefs in themselves and in the people around them. Key Moments Why positive belief statements don't always move people forward How "if then" statements connect belief to action The four forces working against our beliefs The seven core beliefs Shawn wants people to strengthen Why "my behavior doesn't matter" and "I'm alone" are so damaging Why social connection predicts happiness and success Why people need to pursue solutions with one another How doing something together cut burnout in half Why FOMO is connected to fantasy What social cohesion has to do with performance How leaders can unintentionally create nocebos Why finding meaning in stress changes its effects Why success doesn't guarantee happiness The Leadership Podcast is sponsored by W.S. Darley & Company. Founded in 1908, Darley remains a family owned and operated business, providing the highest quality equipment solutions to our country's warfighters and firefighters. Learn more at darley.com and darleydefense.com Memorable Quotes "If the brain is positive, outcomes improve dramatically." "The beliefs we hold can predict what happens next in our lives." "When you believe your behavior doesn't matter, you stop moving forward." "When you believe you're alone, you stop believing your actions will work." "We often compare our real lives to fantasies we create about other people's lives." "Doing positive things together can reduce burnout and improve outcomes." "You can change the effects of stress by changing what you believe the stress means." "Success doesn't guarantee happiness. A positive brain leads to better outcomes." "We can strengthen the belief that we matter by looking for evidence that we do." Explore the full archive at www.theleadershippodcast.com or wherever you get your podcasts! These are the books mentioned in this episode The Power of Beliefs by Shawn Achor The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor Big Potential by Shawn Achor Influence by Robert Cialdini Resources Mentioned The Leadership Podcast | theleadershippodcast.com Sponsored by | www.darley.com Rafti Advisors. LLC | www.raftiadvisors.com Self-Reliant Leadership. LLC | selfreliantleadership.com Website | www.shawnachor.com LinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/in/shawnachor Instagram | www.instagram.com/shawnachor Facebook | www.facebook.com/shawnachor TED | www.ted.com/speakers/shawn_achor

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  Episode #527

  TLP 527: The Intelligence Trap: Why Smart Leaders Make Bad Decisions

  Sep 2, 202644 min

  David Robson is an award-winning science writer and author of The Intelligence Trap, The Expectation Effect, and The Laws of Connection. His work has appeared in the BBC, New Scientist, and The Guardian, and has been translated into more than 15 languages. David explores why intelligence and expertise don't always protect leaders from bad judgment. He explains how the "curse of expertise" can create overconfidence, why good leaders actively look for evidence that challenges their assumptions, and why leadership requires skills beyond professional expertise. He also examines how expectations shape performance, how leaders can unintentionally undermine others, and why warmth, competence, and vulnerability are essential to trust and influence. Throughout the conversation, David offers practical ways to question assumptions, strengthen relationships, and make better decisions. The Leadership Podcast is sponsored by W.S. Darley & Company. Founded in 1908, Darley remains a family owned and operated business, providing the highest quality equipment solutions to our country's warfighters and firefighters. Learn more at darley.com and darleydefense.com Memorable Quotes "Listen to your intuitions. But then interrogate that as if it's just another piece of data." "When you've reached such a high level of expertise, you can actually become far too overconfident in your judgment." "Becoming a leader requires learning a completely different skill set." "Stress is debilitating or stress is energizing. You get to choose your mindset." "Showing vulnerability is actually a great way of demonstrating warmth and competence." "The beautiful mess effect: when leaders admit to mistakes, followers' loyalty actually increases." "We overestimate how clear our message is. You have to check that you're both singing from the same songbook." "Express genuine curiosity explicitly. It's incredibly disarming and reduces polarization." "Being self-critical is counterproductive. It clouds your thinking and damages your health." Resources Mentioned The Leadership Podcast | theleadershippodcast.com Sponsored by | www.darley.com Rafti Advisors. LLC | www.raftiadvisors.com Self-Reliant Leadership. LLC | selfreliantleadership.com Website | www.davidrobson.me 60-Second Psychology | davidarobson.substack.com LinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/in/david-robson-5761791b X | @d_a_robson

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