Perfectionism can get mistakenly glorified as a commitment to quality. Todd Greider has spent years coaching leaders through the fear response that sits underneath it.

In this conversation, Todd and David work through the patterns that cause leaders to stall decisions, block releases, and stay behind the scenes longer than serves them or their teams. Todd draws on his own experience as a recovering perfectionist and the frameworks he uses daily with clients who are still living it.

Leadership reluctance tends to start exactly where Todd describes, with a fear of imperfect outcomes. The frameworks he shares in this episode are designed to help leaders move through that without dropping their standards in the process.

Key Themes Covered:

➟ The "ship at 70%" framework in practice and how to build guardrails so good enough doesn't lower the bar

➟ How the brain's safety bias keeps leaders comfortable and organizations stuck.

➟ The ability to make calculated, informed decisions when everything around you is a mess, without letting what you cannot control define how you move forward. 

➟ Task hoarding: the first trap founders fall into when they start leading others.

➟ The difference between capacity, interest, and motivation, and why leaders routinely confuse them.

➟ The one question to end every one-on-one that builds more trust than most leadership frameworks.

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About Todd Greider

Todd Greider is the founder of AEG Performance Coaching and a leadership development professional who works with founders, executives, and emerging leaders to tackle the mindset patterns that quietly limit effectiveness, including perfectionism, avoidance, and fear-based decision-making. His approach is practical and grounded, helping leaders move from overthinking to action without sacrificing standards or team trust. Todd is particularly sought after for his work on executive presence and helping leaders balance decisiveness with empathy in high-pressure environments.

🌐 To stay up to date with all of Todd’s work, head over to: https://www.aegperformancecoaching.com/ 

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About the Host

David Kent is the host of The Lead Smarter Podcast, where he has honest, grounded conversations with leaders shaping the future of work, leadership, and organizational growth.

🔗 Follow David on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-james-kent/

The instinct to step in, solve the problem, and move the team forward is exactly what made you a great individual contributor. It's also what keeps many leaders stuck.

In this conversation, Katie Anderson and David explore what it really means to make the shift from doing to leading, and why most leaders underestimate how hard that shift actually is. Katie draws on her work with Toyota's learning culture, her own experience as a leader and coach, and the simple yet demanding framework she developed: a leader's role is to set the direction, create the conditions for people to succeed, and develop themselves. That's it. But unpacking each of those three things reveals a set of habits most of us have never been asked to examine.

This is a practical, honest conversation, not a motivational talk. Katie shares specific tools for navigating the coaching-versus-execution decision in real time, how to quantify the cost of "just getting it done," and why building learning into your processes is one of the highest-ROI decisions a leader or business owner can make.

Key Themes Covered

• The doer trap and why it doesn't come from a bad place, it comes from wanting to help. 
• Why the "telling habit" exists in leaders regardless of whether they know the technical work.
• The difference between urgent execution and developmental coaching, and how to know which mode to be in. 
• Toyota's plan-do-study-adjust cycle and what Western organizations consistently skip. 
• How to frame organizational improvement as a hypothesis so that reflection has a natural home in your process. 
• Why a people-first, then process, then results sequence produce more durable outcomes.
• How to quantify waste and rework to build the business case for a learning culture. 
• The growing pains moment every business hits when the leader's way of operating hasn't kept pace with the business's scale.

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About Katie Anderson:

Katie Anderson is a global leadership consultant, keynote speaker, and award-winning author who helps leaders elevate people, align with purpose, and build cultures of continuous learning that drive innovation and sustainable performance. Katie is the author of the Shingo Award-winning international bestseller Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn and host of the transformational leadership podcast Chain of Learning®.

A Stanford graduate and Fulbright Scholar, she has lived and worked across seven countries, including 18 months in Japan learning from Toyota leaders. Katie has inspired tens of thousands of leaders across 20+ countries to lead with intention, develop capability, and create cultures where both people and performance flourish.

📘 Katie’s resources and book can be found here: 

https://kbjanderson.com/speaker-resources/

🌐 To stay up to date with all of Katie’s work, head over to: 

https://kbjanderson.com/

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About the Host:

David Kent is the host of The Lead Smarter Podcast, where he has honest, grounded conversations with leaders shaping the future of work, leadership, and organizational growth.

🎧 LISTEN ON THE WEBSITE: https://leadsmarterpod.com/

🔗 Follow David on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-james-kent/

Most leaders think their title gives them influence. It doesn’t.

In this episode of Lead Smarter, leadership consultant Wesley Dove shares the lessons he learned early in his career when he was tasked with implementing change in a manufacturing facility — while having zero authority.

He had to convince people who had been doing their jobs longer than he’d been alive to change the way they worked. What followed was a masterclass in influence, culture, and leadership.

In this conversation, you’ll learn:

• Leading without authority

• Why most companies fail to live their values

• The leadership mistake causing massive turnover

• Why authority works… until you leave the room

• The leadership approach that actually drives performance

If you're responsible for people, culture, or results — this conversation will change how you lead.

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About Wesley Dove

Wesley Dove is a leadership consultant, Certified Human Behavior Consultant, and DISC specialist with more than two decades of experience helping organizations strengthen communication, engagement, and culture through his Emerging Leader Development and Leading at the Next Level programs. He is also a multi-time Amazon #1 bestselling author who works with teams to reduce conflict, improve retention, and increase productivity by developing stronger leaders.

📘 If you want to read Wesley's books, head to: https://www.dove-development.net/publications

🎙️ Learn more from Wesley's Leading At The Next Level Community: https://www.dove-development.net/latnl-community

🌐 To stay up to date with all of Wesley's work, head over to: https://www.dove-development.net/

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About the Host

David Kent is the host of The Lead Smarter Podcast, where he has honest, grounded conversations with leaders shaping the future of work, leadership, and organizational growth.

🎧 LISTEN ON THE WEBSITE: https://leadsmarterpod.com/

🔗 Follow David on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-james-kent/

leadership,leadership podcast,leadership development,influence without authority,leadership mindset,company culture,leadership skills,management advice,leadership lessons,david kent,wesley dove

Expectations sound reasonable.

But they create an imbalance.

In this episode, Andrew D. Wittman breaks down why expectations often fail teams and how agreements transform accountability.

Andrew shares lessons from military leadership, federal service, and decades of resilience training to explain:

• Why expectations create takers
• How agreements create shared ownership
• Why predictability builds trust
• How leaders must master identity before leading others
• The difference between tactical and strategic resilience

This is a conversation about discipline, clarity, and building teams that perform under pressure.

If you’re serious about leading smarter, this one’s worth your time.

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About Andrew Wittman:

Andrew D. Wittman, PhD, is the creator of Inner Armor: Perpetual Resilience™, a mental resilience system originally developed for the U.S. Marine Corps and now used by leaders and high-stakes teams across industries. A Marine infantry combat veteran, former police officer and federal agent, and security expert who has protected global political and business figures, Andrew has trained elite military units and coached executives operating under pressure. He is the author of seven books on performance, identity, and resilience, and has been featured in major outlets including Forbes, Inc., and The Wall Street Journal. His work focuses on helping individuals lead themselves with clarity, teams perform under stress, and organizations build resilience before challenges arise.

📘 Andrew’s resources and books can be found here: https://getwarriortough.com/store/

🎙️ Learn more from Andrew’s keynote events and articles: https://getwarriortough.com/media/

🌐 To stay up to date with all of Andrew’s work, head over to: https://getwarriortough.com/

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About the Host:

David Kent is the host of The Lead Smarter Podcast, where he has honest, grounded conversations with leaders shaping the future of work, leadership, and organizational growth.

🎧 LISTEN ON THE WEBSITE: https://leadsmarterpod.com/

🔗 Follow David on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-james-kent/

Most leaders believe multitasking makes them more productive.

Research suggests the opposite.

In this episode of Lead Smarter, David Kent speaks with leadership strategist Michael de Lisser about the hidden performance costs of multitasking — and why focus, communication, and self-awareness are the real leadership accelerators.

Michael has coached over 500 senior leaders and designed leadership programs for organizations across industries. His work focuses on helping executives strengthen emotional intelligence, communication habits, and leadership effectiveness.

In this conversation, we discuss:

• Why multitasking reduces focus and memory

• The communication skills executives often neglect

• The “Leadership Core Four” that drives performance

• How ego and blind spots slow leadership growth

• Practical ways leaders can retrain their habits

If you lead teams or organizations in a world of constant distraction, this episode will challenge how you think about focus and leadership.

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About Michael de Lisser:

Michael de Lisser is a leadership strategist with more than 25 years of experience designing leadership development programs and coaching senior executives across industries, including healthcare, technology, manufacturing, and government. He has created over 100 custom leadership programs and coached more than 500 leaders, helping them strengthen emotional intelligence, communication skills, and leadership effectiveness. Michael is the co-founder of de Lisser Leadership Consulting and the author of Leadership Accelerators, a book focused on practical communication skills that drive stronger leadership and results.

📘 If you want to read Michael's book, Leadership Accelerators, head to: https://bit.ly/LeadershipAccelerators

🎙️ Learn more from Michael's other featured podcasts: https://www.youtube.com/@UCoqVV5QCKzadJNEIP85WsGQ 

🌐 To stay up to date with all of Michael's work, head over to: https://www.delisserconsulting.com/

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About the Host

David Kent is the host of The Lead Smarter Podcast, where he has honest, grounded conversations with leaders shaping the future of work, leadership, and organizational growth.

🎧 LISTEN ON THE WEBSITE: https://leadsmarterpod.com/

🔗 Follow David on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-james-kent/

How do you lead a team you can’t see? In this episode of Lead Smarter, David Kent sits down with best-selling author and executive coach Corinna Hagen to debunk the myths of remote management. Corinna shares why many leaders struggle with the "busy-trap" and how to transition from an individual contributor to a high-impact leader through the art of delegation.

In this episode, you’ll learn:
- The "Leadership without Authority" concept and why respect is earned, not assigned.
- How to use AI (like ChatGPT) as a training tool for better delegation and prompt engineering.
- The importance of self-awareness in building clarity and making confident decisions.
- Why over-communication is the essential infrastructure for remote teams.

About Corinna Hagen:
Corinna is the founder of Zaradigm and an award-winning coach who has worked with hundreds of leaders at firms like Microsoft and Airbnb to master high-stakes communication.

About the Host
David Kent is the host of The Lead Smarter Podcast, where he has honest, grounded conversations with leaders shaping the future of work, leadership, and organizational growth.

🎧 LISTEN ON THE WEBSITE: https://leadsmarterpod.com/
🔗 Follow David on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-james-kent/

Leadership gaps don’t usually appear overnight.
They form slowly, through burnout, early exits, and systems that promote people faster than they’re prepared to lead.

In this episode of the Lead Smarter Podcast, I sit down with Kate Anderson Foley, Founder & CEO of a private education and leadership consultancy, to unpack what’s really happening behind today’s leadership void — and why it’s showing up across every sector, not just education.

Kate brings a rare perspective shaped by work at the district, state, and national policy level, combined with deep experience coaching senior leaders who are navigating volatility, political pressure, and rapid organizational change.

We talk candidly about:
- Why experienced leaders are leaving earlier than expected
- The hidden pressure placed on emerging leaders who are promoted too fast
- How COVID accelerated leadership gaps instead of creating them
- The difference between culture and climate — and why leaders confuse the two
- What agile leadership actually means (and what it doesn’t)
- Why psychological safety isn’t “soft,” and why trust can’t be mandated
- How coaching supports leaders without turning into control or correction
- What organizations get wrong about developing and retaining leaders

This conversation isn’t theoretical.
It’s grounded in real systems, real people, and the consequences leaders rarely see until it’s too late.

If you’re leading a team, stepping into leadership sooner than expected, or responsible for developing leaders inside your organization, this episode will give you language, clarity, and perspective you can actually use.

00:00 – Why leadership gaps are growing
03:40 – COVID, burnout, and early exits
07:15 – Emerging leaders promoted too fast
11:10 – Why leadership becomes lonely at the top
14:45 – What agile leadership really means
18:30 – Culture vs climate (and why leaders confuse them)
23:00 – Psychological safety and trust in real organizations
28:10 – Coaching leaders without creating dependency
33:20 – Why feedback often fails new leaders
37:50 – Leading closer to the “street level”
41:40 – Investing in leaders before they burn out
44:10 – Kate’s advice to leaders navigating uncertainty

About the Host
David Kent is the host of The Lead Smarter Podcast, where he has honest, grounded conversations with leaders shaping the future of work, leadership, and organizational growth.

🎧 LISTEN ON THE WEBSITE: https://leadsmarterpod.com/
🔗 Follow David on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-james-kent/

Scaling a business isn’t just about better systems, more capital, or faster growth.
At a certain point, it requires the founder to evolve.

In this episode of The Lead Smarter Podcast, host David Kent sits down with Matt Racz, founder of Founders That Scale, to unpack one of the most difficult and least discussed phases of business growth: the transition from scrappy startup to scalable company.

Matt draws from his own experience as a founder and advisor to explain why many businesses stall or collapse just after product–market fit, and why the real constraint is often leadership, not strategy.

This conversation explores what it actually means to “build a company” rather than just a product, and how founders can step out of survival mode without losing momentum, culture, or purpose.

I
n this episode, we cover:

• Why what got you early traction won’t sustain growth
 • How founders unintentionally become the bottleneck
 • The difference between being a builder and becoming an executive leader
 • Why slowing down can be the most strategic move forward
 • How culture and values function as real business infrastructure
 • What it takes to scale without burning out your people or yourself

If you’re a founder navigating growth, complexity, or leadership strain, this episode offers clarity, perspective, and practical insight.

About the Guest

Matt Racz is the founder of Founders That Scale, where he works with traction-stage founders and leadership teams to help them institutionalize their businesses, strengthen leadership capacity, and scale sustainably.

Website: https://foundersatscale.com

LinkedIn: Matthew Racz

About the Host

David Kent is the host of The Lead Smarter Podcast, where he has honest, grounded conversations with leaders shaping the future of work, leadership, and organizational growth.

Most people don’t become leaders because they were trained to lead —
 they become leaders because they were good at the job. And as Kelly Hirn explains, that’s exactly where everything starts to break. 

In this episode of the Lead Smarter Podcast, David Kent sits down with leadership coach Kelly Hirn, who has spent 20+ years developing leaders across industries — from insurance and construction to education and sales.

Together they unpack:

• Why the traditional path to leadership is fundamentally flawed
Many leaders rise through performance, not leadership readiness, leading to micromanagement and burnout. 

• The “cheat code” entrepreneurs have — and the trap they fall into
Entrepreneurs often understand the vision… yet struggle to communicate it or trust others to carry it out. 

• Why middle managers are the most critical (and overlooked) leaders
This layer influences up, down, and sideways — and can make or break organizational alignment. 

• How to lead without knowing how to do the work
Kelly shares how not knowing her team’s technical tasks forced her to adopt curiosity, empowerment, and trust — a leadership advantage she still teaches today. 

• How to influence “old-school” leaders
Kelly gives real-life examples of coaching leaders who were stuck in outdated top-down norms — and how small wins + objective demonstration can create meaningful change. 

• Why curiosity is the most underrated leadership skill
The fastest way to build trust is to stop assuming—and start asking. 

Later in the episode, Kelly reveals the top books she recommends for new and established leaders, including:
 Strengths Based Leadership, Start With Why, and How to Win Friends and Influence People — a book she has read at least four times. 

Kelly also shares details about her 6-month coaching program and her “Lead With Confidence Challenge” designed for emerging leaders.

If you’re an entrepreneur, a new manager, or a leader stepping into bigger responsibility… this conversation will shift the way you lead.

How do you scale a law firm in an industry built on risk-avoidance?
In this episode, David Kent sits down with Margaret, award-winning consultant and strategic advisor to law firms, to unpack the leadership challenges leaders face inside the legal industry — from culture and change management to time tracking, operational bottlenecks, and the rise of AI.

With decades of experience working in firms and now with firms, Margaret shares:

• Why law firms resist change more than other industries
• The three SOPs every growing firm needs: billing, client onboarding, and new-hire onboarding
• How to manage underperformance without harming culture
• The #1 habit that successful hybrid teams share
• Why most managing partners unintentionally become the bottleneck
• How to track non-billable time realistically
• What AI adoption actually looks like inside firms (and why some are banning it entirely)
• Her most important advice for any new managing partner on day one

Margaret also reveals the biggest lessons she’d tell her younger self, the leadership books she recommends ("Buy Back Your Time"), and what she’s building next inside her consultancy.

If you lead a team — legal or not — this conversation will change how you think about time, people, and scaling.