How to Make a Leader

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. 

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.

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.

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.

Things to listen for:
(01:47) Developing leadership in a distributed environment
(03:28) Adapting leadership programs for remote teams
(08:11) Building trust and collaboration in virtual teams
(10:59) Developing leadership instincts in remote environments
(13:50) Integrating AI into leadership training and development
(16:54) Using AI to improve feedback and manager training
(18:55) Coaching circles and peer-led leadership development
(21:15) The evolving role of managers in an AI-augmented world
(24:14) What strong AI leadership actually looks like
(25:40) How AI is changing learning and development roles
(27:47) Leadership advice for building trust in virtual teams

About Kameko Leung:

Kameko Leung manages Leadership Development programming for Pinterest and is the Founder of Bloom Mindset Consulting. With over 10 years of experience in learning and development, Kameko has experience providing the right developmental opportunities for leaders at each transition stage of their career journey - from aspiring manager to executive. With a special focus on leading and managing remotely, Kameko has worked with teams across tech, education, recruitment, engineering, sales, and non-profit to support leaders to evolve their practices and strategies for today's work environment. Kameko is a CPTD credential holder and actively involved in the talent development community.

Connect with Kameko on LinkedIn and check out her dog treat company: The Seattle Barkery. 

T. Rowe Price doesn't do one-off training programs. They engineer leadership.

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.

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.

Things to listen for:
(00:00) Introducing Ryan Smith
(01:13) The “everyone is a leader” mantra
(02:39) The difference between leaders and managers
(05:51) Why systems of learning became a priority
(09:33) Defining a system of learning
(10:28) Leadership academies and behavior frameworks
(12:27) Insights from the Executive Leadership Academy
(13:37) Building manager capability
(15:16) Building communities of practice
(17:10) Driving adoption and executive buy-in
(19:56) Connecting learning systems to organizational metrics
(23:02) Measuring engagement and performance
(24:30) First steps for leadership development strategy
(25:53) Best leadership advice Ryan has received

About Ryan Smith:
Ryan Smith is the Head of Global Leadership and Career Development at T. Rowe Price, where he focuses on career mobility and building scalable leadership systems that develop leaders at every level of the organization.

Before joining T. Rowe Price, Ryan spent 15 years at Truist, leading leadership and professional development for more than 45,000 employees. His work centers on creating equitable access to leadership development and aligning learning with real business outcomes.

Connect with Ryan on LinkedIn. 

We’re back with a Quick Question: one big question, one expert answer, in five minutes. 

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.

About Mike: 

With over two decades of experience as a learning consultant, Mike has been a driving force behind transformative instructional design and organizational performance. He is a Learning Consultant at Nationwide, a faculty member in Franklin University's Graduate Instructional Design and Technology program, and co-author of the book, Think Like a Marketer, Train Like an L&D Pro. His work bridges the gap between academic theory and real-world practice, equipping future learning professionals with the skills to excel in today's dynamic landscape. 

Connect with Mike here. Check out his book and his newsletter. 

Building a manager development program from scratch is hard. But scaling it is harder.

Sarah Bright leads Learning & Development at Darktrace. She built a tiered manager development program from scratch, training 75% of all managers across 20 learning cohorts in two years.

She shares how her team designed a program that adapts to a fast-moving business, the core competencies that define great managers, and how to measure the real impact of leadership development.

Things to listen for:
(00:00) Welcome to How to Make A Leader
(01:13) Building the L&D function from scratch
(02:33) Getting buy-in for manager development
(03:49) The first version of Darktrace’s manager program
(05:10) Tiered manager development curriculum
(06:39) Core competencies for developing leaders
(08:31) Measuring the success of L&D initiatives
(12:20) Creating a thriving manager community
(15:26) What's next for L&D at Darktrace
(19:19) One piece of leadership advice

About Sarah Bright:

Sarah Bright is the Head of Learning and Development at Darktrace, where she leads global initiatives that support more than 2,500 employees, including scalable learning pathways, clear career progression frameworks and manager development programmes. She started at Darktrace as a Sales Operations Analyst, where identifying trends and patterns contributed to her evidence-based approach to people development.  

This analytical mindset influences how she creates systems that help people feel clearer, more engaged, and able to progress in their careers. Sarah is passionate about combining data, storytelling, and emerging learning technologies to create development experiences that empower employees to grow with confidence and purpose.

Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn. Learn more about Darktrace.

Introducing Quick Questions: one big question, one expert answer, in five minutes.

Giving constructive feedback is uncomfortable for most leaders. Amy Gallo is a best-selling author and contributing editor at Harvard Business Review who has written extensively about communication, conflict, and feedback. She explains why intention matters just as much as wording, and shares a straightforward framework that makes difficult conversations feel more grounded and productive. She also explains how L&D teams can help leaders practice feedback before the stakes are high.

About Amy: 

Amy Gallo is a workplace expert who writes and speaks about effective communication, interpersonal dynamics, gender, difficult conversations, and feedback. She is the best-selling author of Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone (Even Difficult People) and the HBR Guide to Dealing with Conflict, as well as hundreds of articles for Harvard Business Review. 

https://www.amyegallo.com/ 

Jonny Thomson isn’t an L&D professional. He’s someone who’s spent years figuring out how to earn learners’ attention. 

After teaching philosophy in Oxford, Jonny shifted to short-form educational content, building an audience of over two million people across social platforms. He’s spent years capturing attention, encouraging curiosity, and making learning content that resonates with his audience and followers of Mini Philosophy. 

In this conversation, he talks about microlearning as less of a format, and more of an activation tool. A tool that can capture attention and curiosity, and points learners toward deeper exploration.

If you’re responsible for designing, enabling, or influencing learning at scale, this episode will provide practical ways to use microlearning more deliberately.

Things to listen for:
(00:00) Introducing Jonny Thomson
(03:04) How to capture attention in 90 seconds
(05:31) Why learning remains human
(06:56) How to make microlearning feel natural and not forced
(07:49) Everyday moments that create authentic learning
(08:19) Three things to make microlearning succeed
(12:15) The three virtues of a successful leader

About Jonny Thomson:
Jonny Thomson taught philosophy in Oxford for more than a decade before turning to writing full-time. He’s a columnist at Big Think and is the award-winning, bestselling author of three books that have been translated into 22 languages.

Jonny is also the founder of Mini Philosophy, a social network of around two million curious, intelligent minds. He's known all over the world for making philosophy accessible, relatable, and fun.

To learn more about Jonny, check out Mini Philosophy on Substack or Instagram.

YouTube Content ID: MV0ZLFAMVUI3WWRB

Most leadership development programs look good on paper but fall short in practice. Leaders often miss the real support, core skills, and clear metrics they need to succeed.

Over the last few months, Lavinia Mehedințu, co-founder of Offbeat, spoke with over 150 L&D professionals to understand what’s working, what’s not, and how people feel about leadership development heading into 2026.

In this episode, she breaks down the findings and shares five recommendations for improving your leadership development programs. Her insights focus on what leaders truly need: practical support, clearer measures of success, and more opportunities to learn from one another.

You’ll learn:

• What’s missing from our leadership development programs 
• Program cocreation and the “IKEA effect”
• The most effective learning modality (hint: it’s peer learning)
• How to measure leadership performance with confidence

Things to listen for:
(00:00) Introducing Lavinia Mehedințu
(01:17) What 158 L&D professionals revealed about the state of leadership development
(03:52) Clear performance metrics: the challenge
(07:42) The gaps in how leaders use AI
(10:54) Creating systems that support collaboration
(13:32) Co‑creation and the ‘IKEA effect’
(18:11) Why peer learning remains a powerful tool
(20:13) How delivery and communication shape adoption
(25:03) A simple first step for measuring leadership performance
(29:06) Where L&D teams should focus next year
(30:50) Leadership advice and book recommendations

To learn more about Lavinia, check out her LinkedIn and Offbeat’s website. Check out their upcoming conference, Offbeat Fest in London in May 2026. 

Want to learn more about getting Big Think+ for your business? Schedule a call with us at https://www2.bigthink.com/request-a-demo-big-think-plus 

About Lavinia Mehedintu:

Lavinia Mehedintu has been designing learning experiences and career development programs for the past 11 years both in the corporate world and in higher education. As a Co-Founder and Learning Architect at Offbeat, she’s applying adult learning principles so that learning & people professionals can connect, collaborate, and grow. She’s passionate about social learning, behavior change, and technology and constantly puts in the work to bring these three together to drive innovation in the learning & development space.

Content ID: MV0ZLFAMVUI3WWRB

Every great learning culture starts with one thing: a clear philosophy of how people grow. 

Dwayne Britton has spent his career shaping culture and capability at Apple, Lululemon, Adidas, Zalando, and On. Across each, he’s learned that lasting impact comes when learning is guided by philosophy, not just programming.

In this episode, Dwayne shares how L&D teams can redefine their role from content creators to cultural amplifiers, by building a learning philosophy that connects business strategy, brand identity, and human growth.

You’ll learn:

• The difference between a learning culture and a learning philosophy
• How a learning philosophy positions L&D as a strategic partner
• The SPARK framework Dwayne used at On to connect learning to culture
• How to align brand, business, and learning goals 
• How to identify your organization’s learning beliefs

Things to listen for:

(00:00) Introducing Dwayne Britton

(02:19) Dwayne’s path from musical theater to L&D

(04:36) What defines a learning culture vs. philosophy

(06:47) Three realms every L&D program should serve

(10:03) The question that defines your learning philosophy

(12:20) The SPARK method for scaling learning

(15:06) How to get leadership buy-in for new L&D initiatives

(19:36) Advice for L&D teams to increase cultural impact

To learn more about Dwayne, check out his LinkedIn, his website, and his musical background. 

Want to learn more about getting Big Think+ for your business? Schedule a call with us at https://www2.bigthink.com/request-a-demo-big-think-plus

About Dwayne Britton:
Dwayne Britton brings 15+ years at the intersection of learning, culture and brand. He’s shaped programs at Apple, Adidas, Zalando and Lululemon, and led Global Learning & Development at On. Through his Berlin-based consultancy, DAY|WON, Dwayne provides fractional L&D leadership for startups, scale-ups and internal teams, with a focus on brand-led onboarding, culture building and collaboration. He partners with leaders to design clear, practical programs and workshops that align teams, clarify decisions and build momentum.Dwayne also serves as an L&D Strategic Advisor to Manageable, a UK startup helping managers build the confidence and habits to lead well.