Leadership Development News

A teenage grandson, watching a night of news about fallen executives, a disgraced pastor and a convicted politician, turned to his grandfather and asked whether he led that way. That question became Keith Wyche's new book. He tells us why results without people never last, how a set of golf clubs left beside his car tested his integrity, how he helped Walmart associates see themselves in the move to e-commerce, and how a mini stroke taught him to serve from a full cup.

Keith R. Wyche is a corporate executive, board director, author and keynote speaker. He started out at IBM and AT&T, ran U.S. operations for a division of the mailing and shipping company Pitney Bowes, and was then recruited by the grocery company Supervalu to lead two of its chains, first as president of Cub Foods and later of Acme Markets. In 2015 he joined Walmart, where he helped lead its e-commerce transformation until he retired in 2024. He sits on the board of Brink's, the security and cash management company, and his latest book is Uncommon Leadership: A Blueprint for Restoring Integrity, Trust, and People-Centered Leadership.

Chapters:

• (00:00) - Welcome and Keith Wyche's new book

Trust and the Crisis of Grievance - https://www.edelman.com/trust/2025/trust-barometer

Nurses Continue to Lead in Honesty and Ethics Ratings - https://news.gallup.com/poll/700736/nurses-continue-lead-honesty-ethics-ratings.aspx

U.S. Employee Engagement Below 30% for First Time in 15 Years - https://www.gallup.com/workplace/716117/employee-engagement-below-30-first-time-years.aspx

CEO pay increased in 2024 and is now 281 times that of the typical worker - https://www.epi.org/?p=311707

Keith Wych on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithwyche/

Leadership Development News is a Podcasts That Matter production: https://podcaststhatmatter.org 

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 In remembrance of Bob Chapman, and to honor his legacy, we are sharing our conversation with him again. Bob led Barry-Wehmiller for fifty years. He took over the struggling St. Louis supplier of brewing equipment in 1975, after his father's death, and grew it into a global business of about 12,000 team members spanning industrial and packaging automation, professional services and life sciences technology. Around 2000, a series of realizations moved him from traditional management to what he called truly human leadership, the subject of Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family, the Wall Street Journal bestseller he wrote with Raj Sisodia, revised and expanded for its tenth anniversary in 2025. With his wife, Cynthia, he founded the Chapman Foundation for Caring Communities, which brings listening training to communities.

Referenced in this episode:

What Self-Awareness Really Is (and How to Cultivate It) - https://hbr.org/2018/01/what-self-awareness-really-is-and-how-to-cultivate-it 

Truly Human Leadership at Barry-Wehmiller - https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=51683 

New Research: The Emotional Pandemic Is Still Raging - https://www.6seconds.org/2023/10/03/new-research-the-emotional-pandemic/ 

Business Roundtable Redefines the Purpose of a Corporation to Promote 'An Economy That Serves All Americans' - https://www.businessroundtable.org/business-roundtable-redefines-the-purpose-of-a-corporation-to-promote-an-economy-that-serves-all-americans/ 

Gallup's Q12 Employee Engagement Survey - https://www.gallup.com/workplace/356063/gallup-q12-employee-engagement-survey.aspx 

Bob Chapman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-chapman-89b936b8/ 

More about Barry-Wehmiller: https://www.barrywehmiller.com/outreach 

Leadership Development News is a Podcasts That Matter production: https://podcaststhatmatter.org 

Need support for your own podcast? Reach out: https://podcastsmatter.com

Under constant stress, most of us run on autopilot, and on autopilot even capable leaders slide toward average. The thoughts that do the most harm are the ones that never leave our heads, where fear, worst-case thinking and self-doubt drain the energy we need to think clearly, stay curious and connect with others. Getting those thoughts out into the open, with a coach, a therapist or a good friend, is often where change begins.

In this episode, without a guest, we share the coaching tools we use most in turbulent times. FIEND, for thoughts that stay fearful, irrational, exaggerated, negative and dark, becomes GLITTER once those thoughts are on the table: goal-focused, in the light, insightful, transactional, transformational, empowering and realistic. VIVID gives leaders and their teams a shared language for what someone needs from a conversation, whether to vent, share information, seek validation, ideate or get direction, so a leader stops handing out direction nobody asked for. Along the way, we look at how rarely we are as self-aware as we believe, how power can mute empathy, what coaching returns to an organization, and why a fresh bottle of water can open a hard conversation.

Chapters:

Referenced in this episode:

Survey on the most common stress emotions in the United States, January 2021 - https://www.apa.org/monitor/2021/04/numbers-national-crisis 

Global survey of daily worry, stress, sadness, anger and pain - https://www.gallup.com/analytics/349280/gallup-global-emotions-report.aspx 

Tasha Eurich on how rare self-awareness is - https://hbr.org/2018/01/what-self-awareness-really-is-and-how-to-cultivate-it 

Study on how power changes the way the brain responds to others - https://experts.mcmaster.ca/scholarly-works/1429894 

Client study on the return companies see from coaching, 2009 - https://www.europeanceo.com/business-and-management/first-class-coaches/ 

Leadership Development News is a Podcasts That Matter production: https://podcaststhatmatter.org 

Need support for your own podcast? Reach out: https://podcastsmatter.com

Many accomplished leaders reach a point where success stops meaning anything. The stories leaders live by were useful once, but they run their course, and no protocol, framework, or morning routine can fix one that has stopped working. In a time when a chatbot tends to agree with everything we say, the way forward is to welcome a different view, make the best decision we can without certainty, and take responsibility for it.

Federico Malatesta is the founder of FM Transformational Coaching and the author of They Are Lying to You: The Self-Help Delusion. He grew up in Rome and spent fifteen years in global energy, rising to chief investment officer, or CIO, of a $40 billion portfolio, before leaving to study why success stops meaning anything. He now coaches senior executives from a working horse ranch in Texas, drawing on narrative theory, neuroscience, and contemporary psychoanalytic thought. He writes regularly on identity, leadership transitions, and narrative collapse, and his newsletter is Almost Everything Is Context.

Chapters:

• (00:00) - Welcome and the unreliable narrator

Referenced in this episode:

Tasha Eurich on how rare self-awareness is - https://hbr.org/2018/01/what-self-awareness-really-is-and-how-to-cultivate-it 

Federico Malatesta on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/federicomalatesta/ 

More about FM Transformational Coaching: https://federicomalatesta.com/about/ 

Leadership Development News is a Podcasts That Matter production: https://podcaststhatmatter.org 

Many leaders believe work leaves no time for love or kindness, only for results. Yet the Apple Store became one of the most respected retailers in the world by serving people rather than selling to them, earning customers one at a time. In an age of AI, when common answers are a quick query away, the edge belongs to leaders who slow down and listen to their own inner voice.

Ron Johnson is the creator of the Apple Store, a sought-after speaker and board member, and the author, with Zander Nethercutt, of Shop Different: How Retail Revealed Apple's Genius. A Stanford alumnus and Harvard Business School graduate, he was a merchant leader at Target, where his collaboration with architect Michael Graves brought good design to everyday shoppers. Steve Jobs hired him in 2000 to create Apple's stores, which he built on a service philosophy rooted in love and kindness, values he traces to growing up outside Minneapolis. He later served as CEO of JCPenney and founded Enjoy, the first mobile retail store.

Chapters:

• (00:00) - Welcome and introduction

Leadership Development News is a Podcasts That Matter production: https://podcaststhatmatter.org

Need support for your own podcast? Reach out: https://podcastsmatter.com

Every leader carries fears and insecurities they've learned to hide. Over time, those hidden struggles build invisible walls—walls that shape how we lead, how we relate, and how others experience us. What we think are strengths are often just sophisticated defense mechanisms.

Tyler Dickerhoof is a leadership mentor, entrepreneur, host of the Impact Driven Leader community, and USA Today best-selling author of The Things We Hide. With 25-plus years of experience and more than $750 million in business sales generated, he knows the real pressures leaders carry. A Cornell graduate, Tyler once measured his worth by achievement, often at the cost of relationships. Through personal growth and entrepreneurship, he faced the hidden insecurities driving his leadership. Now he helps leaders slow down, face what's really driving them, and lead with greater authenticity, clarity, and impact. 

Today we have more intense emotions and a sense of overwhelm, causing all of us stress. Leaders are dealing with so much more than they have in the past. A study on stress in America tells us that 47% of people are experiencing Anxiety, 44% are sad, 39% are angry, while 75% of us feel we could use more emotional support. For much of that support, they are turning to their leaders, who now need more counseling and coaching skills. What are they and we to do with this abundance of emotions and feelings?

Drs. Greenberg and Nadler will take a deeper look at how you manage these feelings. In our Emotional Brilliance book, we presented a model of dealing with them called NAME. Notice and Name, Accept, Manage, and Express. We will look at the M for Manage: managing your thoughts and actions, which will help regulate these feelings. What is causing the most stress today, according to a recent American Psychological Association study, is: 

Inflation (e.g., gas prices, energy bills, grocery costs): 87% Supply chain issues: 81% Global uncertainty: 81% Potential retaliation from Russia (e.g., cyberattacks, nuclear threats): 80% Russian invasion of Ukraine: 80% 

For more leadership tools and information on Dr. Relly Nadler go to https://drrellynadler.com

In our fast-paced, high-tech, ever-evolving world the speed of change, decision-making is getting faster, the level of competition fiercer, and adversity, ambiguity are striking harder than ever. As this is the current and future state of our world, it is imperative that people stay level-headed and focused to effectively function at optimal capacity. The ability to be that stabilizing influence in a world of constant disruption can provide a true competitive advantage and determine the long-term success of any individual and company. This topic provides insights on facing, overcoming, and learning from obstacles, while also realizing that failure, change, and adversity can be leveraged as positive catalysts for growth…and to not only help you survive in the face of adversity but to thrive in it. Steve Gavatorta, the owner of the Steve Gavatorta Group, specializes in empowering individuals and organizations in exceeding performance goals. Steve has coached and trained thousands of high performers from small businesses on the move to Fortune 500 companies.

 Dr. Dave Rabin, MD, PhD is a senior research scientist on faculty at The Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC), the Executive Director of The Board of Medicine, and the co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of Apollo Neuroscience. His research focuses on understanding the mechanisms of action of psychedelic drugs and developing evidence-based guidelines for unregulated medicines and therapies that have proven effectiveness. 

 His upcoming book A Simple Guide to Being Alive (June 2026) is a science-backed manual for anyone who's ever felt overwhelmed by the modern world, exploring themes of burnout and navigating hard times through humor and often-overlooked practical steps to a saner life. He has been studying the impact of chronic stress in humans for 20 years with a focus on non-invasive therapies for treatment-resistant illnesses. His primary research on MDMA-assisted therapy for severe PTSD indicates that trauma can be reversed at the epigenetic level, offering hope of a cure. 

 He received his MD in medicine and PhD in neuroscience from Albany Medical College and specialized in psychiatry with a distinction in research at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic.

 For more information, please visit https://www.drdave.io/Email: [email protected]

 For more information about Dr. Relly Nadler to to https://drrellynadler.com

Dr. Steven Stein is a world-renowned clinical psychologist, entrepreneur, and expert in emotional intelligence, hardiness, and human behavior. As Founder and Executive Chair of Multi-Health Systems (MHS), he has spent more than four decades helping leaders and organizations better understand what drives performance, teamwork, and success. Beyond his work with organizations around the world, Dr. Stein is known as the psychologist behind dozens of reality television productions, where he has helped assess and support contestants while gaining unique insights into leadership, relationships, conflict, and group dynamics.

 For more information, please visit https://mhs.com/about-us/Email: [email protected]

 For more information about Dr Relly Nadler go to https://drrellynadler.com