The first chapter of my new book, The Power of Employee Well-Being is titled Know Thyself—and for good reason. I’ve long believed that the most important work a leader can do begins inward, with deeply understanding who you are, how you show up, and the patterns that shape your behavior. That’s exactly what Margaret Andrews explores in Manage Yourself to Lead Others.

Leadership, she argues, isn’t about talent, technical skill, or even hard work alone. Those things matter, but they aren’t enough. Sustainable, effective leadership starts with self-awareness—the willingness to examine the experiences, influences, and assumptions that shape your decisions and relationships. It’s the foundation that allows you to manage yourself, work effectively with your team, navigate your relationship with your boss, and make better choices under pressure.

Margaret draws on decades of experience teaching executives at Harvard to show how this self-understanding translates into practical leadership. In the book, she invites readers to reflect on the leader they are now, the leader they want to become, and the gaps that stand in the way. She explores the blind spots that derail leaders, the relational skills that often outweigh technical ability, and the ways composure and authenticity separate the most capable leaders from the rest.

In our conversation, we discuss why interpersonal skills continue to be undervalued in leadership development, how leaders can begin the work of self-assessment today, and the subtle ways self-awareness transforms how we influence, support, and collaborate with others.

Whether you’ve just taken on a leadership role or have been leading for decades, this episode is a reminder that the work of leadership is never just outward. It starts with curiosity, honesty, and the real courage to confront what you may not yet fully see about yourself. Margaret’s insights offer a roadmap to that work—and a simple but powerful challenge: to lead others, first understand yourself.

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Mark Thompson is widely recognized as the world’s #1 CEO coach, bringing more than 30 years of experience preparing top executives and boards — from global corporations to fast-growing startups — to step confidently into their next leadership roles.

As founding Chairman of the Chief Executive Alliance and former Chief Experience Officer at Charles Schwab Corporation, he has guided leaders through high-stakes challenges, career transitions, and moments that define organizational success. Few guests bring the depth of operating experience, boardroom insight, and leadership wisdom that Mark does, making this conversation a rare opportunity for any leader seeking to grow.

High performance alone is not enough to secure the promotion you deserve — and Mark knows it. He helps leaders prepare in ways they often don’t realize matter: building the confidence of decision-makers, developing influence without self-promotion, uncovering blind spots, and cultivating leadership agility. In this discussion, he shares practical strategies to navigate these subtleties so leaders are ready when opportunity knocks.

We also explore lessons from his new book, CEO Ready: What You Need to Know to Earn the Job and Keep the Job, which offers an actionable roadmap for leaders at every level. Whether you aspire to the corner office or want to lead more effectively today, Mark’s insights reveal the often-overlooked factors that determine who rises and who stalls — and how to position yourself to succeed.

Mark goes deeper into the human side of leadership, showing how emotions, relationships, and self-awareness shape career growth and organizational impact. He offers guidance on building trust, earning respect, creating cultures where people feel seen and motivated, and addressing challenges like impostor syndrome before they derail your progress.

Finally, Mark shares lessons few leaders ever get the chance to hear directly from someone with his experience: how to reinvent yourself proactively, stay agile, and elevate your leadership so you’re not only prepared for promotion but also ready to excel once you get there. This is a conversation packed with rare insight, practical strategies, and wisdom you can apply immediately — one you’ll want to listen to all the way through.

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Have you ever noticed how many people — even highly successful leaders — live in constant overdrive? They’re productive, disciplined, and always “on,” but inside, they’re exhausted.

That’s survival mode — and according to Jon Rosemberg, author of A Guide to Thriving: The Science Behind Breaking Old Patterns, Reclaiming Your Agency, and Finding Meaning, it’s where far too many of us spend our days.

In our conversation with Jon, he shows that survival mode isn’t just about burnout — it’s about a deeper disconnection from calm, choice, and purpose. We get stuck reacting to life instead of truly living it. While it can look like high performance on the outside, it quietly erodes creativity, well-being, and authentic leadership.

In this conversation, Jon explains:

Jon also introduces his highly adoptable “AIR model” — Awareness, Inquiry, and Reframing — a set of tools to help you move from autopilot to intention, from surviving to thriving. We discuss this at length.

At its core, thriving isn’t about having easy days. It’s about learning to meet challenges with grounded confidence, to respond rather than react, and to cultivate environments where people can flourish.

If you’ve ever felt like you’re running on autopilot — or want to help your team move beyond stress and into sustainable performance — this episode offers both insight and hope.

 Listen now to learn how to shift from surviving to thriving — in your leadership, and in your life.

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Why Do Smart, Capable Leaders So Often Get In Their Own Way?

Muriel M. Wilkins — executive coach, host of the Harvard Business Review podcast Coaching Real Leaders, and author of the brilliant new book Leadership Unblocked: Break Through the Beliefs That Limit Your Potential — has spent her career helping senior leaders uncover the invisible beliefs that quietly sabotage their effectiveness.

In this episode, Muriel joins me to explore what she calls hidden blockers — seven deeply ingrained mindsets that cause leaders to overcontrol, overwork, or second-guess themselves. These blockers sound deceptively simple — “I need to be involved in every detail,” “I need it done now, no matter what,” “I know I’m right,” and “I don’t belong here” — but they drive some of the most common leadership breakdowns we see today.

Muriel shares how her own leadership struggles early in her career — and one pivotal question from her partner, “Did you ever think maybe the problem is you?” — led her to uncover the truth that changed everything: the biggest obstacles to our leadership rarely come from others; they come from within ourselves.

Together, we dive into:

If you’ve ever wondered why you keep repeating the same patterns — or why leading sometimes feels harder than it should — this conversation will help you see what’s really been standing in your way.

Muriel’s insights are both deeply human and immediately actionable. You’ll walk away seeing leadership — and yourself — through a whole new lens, with practical tools to unstick the hidden beliefs that have been holding you back.

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The core message of Colin M. Fisher’s new book, The Collective Edge: Unlocking the Secret Power of Groups, is simple but profound: we dramatically overestimate the role of individuals in success and underestimate the extraordinary power of groups. History celebrates “great men” like Edison, Jobs, and Musk, but the truth is that real breakthroughs nearly always come from teams—groups that learn how to cooperate effectively, stick together, and build upon one another’s strengths.

Too often, workplace managers mirror this cultural bias becoming infatuated with star performers. They lavish praise and resources on individuals, hoping one person’s brilliance will carry the whole. But as Colin makes clear, the true competitive advantage lies in developing cohesive, resilient teams. A star may dazzle for a while, but groups that collaborate well produce enduring results—driving innovation, loyalty, and resilience that no single person can deliver on their own.

Colin argues that our obsession with individual genius has left workplaces fractured and often mismanaged. And when leaders cling to fear-based tactics—believing pressure and intimidation will push people to perform—they undermine the very conditions groups need to excel. Negative experiences weigh five times more heavily on the human brain than positive ones. They consume energy, erode trust, and ensure people take fewer risks. Fear creates compliance, at best, but never the creativity, loyalty, or innovation required for long-term success.

Our conversation zeroed in on what makes groups thrive. Loyalty, belonging, and well-being aren’t “soft” ideas (as our podcast audience knows very well); they are competitive advantages. Teams that stay together outperform those plagued by turnover. Organizations that invest in caring for people not only attract and retain talent but also become more adaptable in times of disruption. Colin’s research powerfully confirms what many of us already know: well-being is not separate from performance—it’s the fuel that allows groups to commit fully, collaborate deeply, and sustain high achievement over time.

Colin’s research also reveals that truly effective cooperation requires more than just hitting goals—it demands that members feel satisfied enough to remain personally committed. That’s why enduring teams, like the Rolling Stones, last for decades: they balance performance with the relational glue that keeps people engaged.

We also explored some of Colin’s most compelling insights for leaders not previously heard with past guests. In a world increasingly divided and polarized, Colin’s work is a reminder that our greatest strength comes not from going it alone, or idolizing lone stars, but from rediscovering the collective edge—unlocking the trust, creativity, resilience, and well-being that only groups can deliver.

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Klaus Kleinfeld has lived one of the most extraordinary leadership journeys of our time. He’s the only executive ever to serve as CEO of two Fortune 500 giants on different continents—Siemens in Germany and Alcoa in the U.S.—and he’s advised presidents and global leaders around the world.

What struck me most in speaking with Klaus isn’t just the scope of his career—it’s what he believes makes leadership truly sustainable. His new book, Leading to Thrive: Mastering Strategies for Sustainable Success in Business and Life, places enormous emphasis on what he calls the “Inner Game.” Unlike most leadership books written by CEOs, Klaus argues that the foundation of thriving organizations begins not with strategy or financial goals, but with the well-being of leaders themselves.

By “Inner Game,” he means building and renewing energy across four dimensions—physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. He challenges the widely held belief that business success must come first, and that well-being can only follow later. To Klaus, that logic is upside down. Ignoring one’s inner life, he says, inevitably leads to burnout, stress, broken relationships, and declining performance. The healthier and more energized we are, the more sustainable our leadership becomes—and the more we elevate the people around us.

In our conversation, we explore how Klaus personally integrated these practices while leading global corporations, and how his philosophy flowed through his organizations. We also talk about the unusual influences behind his leadership—drawing inspiration from timeless wisdom traditions and even the philosophy of memento mori (“remember you must die”) as a reminder to live and lead with perspective.

One of the most powerful themes in our discussion is Klaus’s conviction that love belongs in leadership. He writes that “few energy forces are as potent and transformative as love”—and we talk about how he expressed that through kindness, care, and support for his teams at Siemens and Alcoa.

This is a rare conversation with a major CEO who openly believes that leadership must be rooted in well-being—not only for ourselves, but for our employees. Klaus Kleinfeld shows us that thriving leaders create thriving organizations.

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Laurie Santos is one of the world’s leading voices on the science of happiness and well-being. She’s a psychology professor at Yale University, where her course Psychology and the Good Life became the most popular class in Yale’s 300-year history. So many students enrolled that the university had to move it to a concert hall to accommodate the crowds. Building on that success, Laurie created the online version—The Science of Well-Being—which has now been taken by millions worldwide, making her one of the most influential teachers on happiness anywhere.

But Laurie’s work reaches far beyond the classroom. She hosts The Happiness Lab podcast, downloaded tens of millions of times, where she translates the latest scientific discoveries about human flourishing into insights anyone can use. Her ability to take rigorous research—whether from psychology, behavioral science, or neuroscience—and make it deeply practical is what has made her a global thought leader.

What she’s uncovered challenges some of our most deeply held assumptions. Laurie shows that the things we chase—money, promotions, material success—aren’t nearly as powerful as we think. Instead, small intentional practices like gratitude, social connection, exercise, and sleep have profound effects on our happiness and resilience. These findings are not just personally transformative; they have enormous implications for leaders and workplaces.

At a time when stress, burnout, and disconnection are at record highs, Laurie’s research is a wake-up call. She helps leaders see the blind spots that keep employees from thriving, and she offers evidence-based strategies for creating cultures of well-being that fuel both human and organizational performance. Her insights cut through outdated engagement metrics and show what really makes people flourish at work and in life.

This is a remarkable and powerfully insightful conversation that no leader, manager, or professional should miss. Laurie brings both the science and the practical wisdom to help us understand what truly drives human happiness—and why supporting employee well-being is one of the most important investments any organization can make.

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For the second half of this podcast season, we’ve been focused on employee well-being—why it matters, how to foster it, and what happens when leaders fail to take it seriously. Our new guest, Amy Gilliland, shows what it looks like when a CEO makes well-being a true priority, not a mere slogan.

Amy is president of General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT), a $9 billion global technology enterprise with 28,000 employees. Under her leadership, GDIT has achieved four straight years of revenue growth, a 27% increase in operating earnings, and a record $15.4 billion in contract awards in 2024. What makes her stand out isn’t only the results, but how she’s achieved them.

Amy believes compassion and performance go hand in hand. She has been a visible advocate for employee well-being and mental health, launching GDIT’s groundbreaking “How Are You, Really?” campaign in 2021. This initiative opened conversations about mental health, reduced stigma, and ensured people know support is available.

I’ve had the privilege of visiting and speaking at GDIT headquarters outside of Washington D.C., and seeing Amy in action. She’s the real deal, which is why I invited her on the show. In our conversation, we cover:

Her leadership journey from the Naval Academy and Navy service to president of GDIT.

The philosophy guiding her leadership of nearly 30,000 employees.

Why companies must move beyond surveys and perks to embed mental, emotional, and social well-being into culture.

How she’s overcome resistance, educated her team, and built practices that support employees while driving results.

The ways she captures employee voices to evolve wellness initiatives.

Too often, CEOs treat well-being as a nice-to-have while pushing employees to meet goals at any cost. Amy has shown that when leaders make well-being essential to performance, the results are transformative.

Amy delivers a compelling call for leaders everywhere—HR professionals, managers, and executives—to take meaningful action. Her message: when organizations invest in the health of their people, everyone wins.

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That’s the groundbreaking case made by Dr. Angela Jackson, Harvard University professor and New York Times bestselling author of The Win-Win Workplace: How Thriving Employees Drive Bottom-Line Success.

Angela’s journey is remarkable. After losing her mother at age four, she was raised by grandparents who grew up in the Jim Crow South and never advanced beyond sixth grade. Nonetheless, their resilience and determination gave Angela the foundation to earn a PhD, teach at Harvard, and become a leading voice for creating workplaces where people truly flourish.

Drawing on research from over 1,200 organizations—from global giants like Walmart to small manufacturers—Angela demonstrates how the old zero-sum model of “wages for labor” is breaking down. In its place, she shows how win-win cultures—where employee well-being is prioritized alongside company performance—deliver superior results.

In our conversation, Angela shares truly actionable strategies leaders can use right now: transforming manager mindsets, investing in overlooked employees, listening with intention, and boldly reshaping benefits so all workers feel valued. Her message is clear: the future of work is already shifting toward more humane, caring organizations—and leaders must be ready to meet the moment.

A wonderfully inspiring conversation that proves the future of work is fully aligned with the longstanding themes of our show!

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Nick Foster, former head of design at Google X — the “moonshot factory” — and author of Could, Should, Might, Don’t: How We Think About the Future, joins us to discuss his stunning conclusion that human beings are terrible at predicting the future, calling most forecasts “mostly nonsense.”

For leaders, this insight is absolutely essential: we’re constantly asked to make or evaluate predictions that shape strategies, investments, and organizational futures. Foster’s book provides a vital framework to assess these pitches, helping leaders navigate the uncertainty of forecasts (whether making them or receiving them) with clarity and skepticism, avoiding costly missteps.

Foster outlines four mindsets—Could, Should, Might, Don’t—that define how people generally pitch future outcomes. Each carries strengths but also huge traps that can derail effective decision-making:

The “Could” mindset fuels bold visions, like Theranos’ claim of running hundreds of blood tests from a single drop. But unchecked optimism can obscure feasibility, leading to failures that leaders, swayed by hype, might miss.

The “Should” mindset, as seen in Blockbuster’s focus on in-store rentals, aligns with identity but can blind leaders to disruptive shifts like streaming.

The “Might” mindset relies on data, as Sears did before missing e-commerce, yet past trends can mislead when predicting new realities.

The “Don’t” mindset, like Kodak’s resistance to digital photography, protects strengths but risks stagnation.

Through stories from his career at Google, Dyson, and beyond, Foster reveals how these mindsets manifest in boardrooms and why they often fail. He equips leaders with tools to spot red flags—over-optimism in “Could” pitches, rigidity in “Should” arguments, outdated data in “Might” forecasts, or fear-driven “Don’t” resistance. Drawing from his time at Google’s X lab, where he asked “dumb questions” to unpack emerging tech, Foster urges non-technical leaders to embrace curiosity to challenge predictions without being swayed by charisma or budgets.

Foster’s key takeaway? Leaders must approach predictions—whether their own or others’—with rigorous skepticism, using his framework to test ideas while staying open to change. Leaders must learn to challenge all predictions when tasked with making high-stakes decisions or evaluating pitches that could shape their organization’s future. This episode explores how to navigate uncertainty, avoid flawed forecasts, and make smarter choices in a prediction-obsessed world, offering a clear-eyed guide for leaders steering businesses or personal goals.

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