First episode. Here we go.

This one's about the gap between being a boss and being a leader — and why most of us, myself included, have been the wrong one at some point without realising it.

I talk about where our management style actually comes from (spoiler: usually the boss we hated ten years ago, or a parent), why accountability is the hardest skill nobody teaches you, and what the research actually says about toxic workers, psychological safety, and the cost of bad management.

Some of the stuff I get into:

• Why 89% of new hires fail — and it's almost never about skills
• The Alan Mulally story at Ford and the red slide that changed everything
• What Google's Project Aristotle found out about high-performing teams
• The Harvard study that put a number on what a toxic employee actually costs you
• Satya Nadella, Doug Conant, and the quiet power of humility
• The Ted Lasso line that sums up the whole episode in five words

If you've ever been given a title and quietly wondered whether you deserve it — this one's for you.

Pull up a chair. Grab a coffee. Let's get into it.

Research & references mentioned in this episode:

Leadership IQ — Why New Hires Fail: https://www.leadershipiq.com/blogs/leadershipiq/35354241-why-new-hires-fail-emotional-intelligence-vs-skills

Gallup — State of the American Manager: https://www.gallup.com/services/182138/state-american-manager.aspx

Gallup — Onboarding & Retention: https://www.gallup.com/workplace/235121/why-onboarding-experience-key-retention.aspx

Harvard Business School — Toxic Workers study (Housman & Minor): https://www.hbs.edu/ris/Publication Files/16-057_d45c0b4f-fa19-49de-8f1b-4b12fe054fea.pdf

NPR — Coverage of the Toxic Workers study: https://www.npr.org/2015/12/16/460024322/harvard-business-school-study-highlights-costs-of-toxic-workers

Google re:Work — Project Aristotle: https://rework.withgoogle.com/intl/en/guides/understand-team-effectiveness

Alan Mulally at Ford — Harvard Business School case: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=59955

Satya Nadella & Microsoft's growth mindset — Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomvanderark/2018/04/18/hit-refresh-how-a-growth-mindset-culture-tripled-microsofts-value/

Doug Conant — 30,000 handwritten notes (Forbes): https://www.forbes.com/sites/rodgerdeanduncan/2018/04/06/close-encounters-leadership-and-handwritten-notes/

Gallup — Cost of poor mental health at work ($47.6B): https://www.gallup.com/workplace/404174/economic-cost-poor-employee-mental-health.aspx

Bandura's Social Learning Theory — Simply Psychology: https://www.simplypsychology.org/bandura.html

Simon Sinek — Leaders Eat Last / Circle of Safety: https://simonsinek.com/stories/the-circle-of-safety

Amy Edmondson — The Fearless Organization: https://fearlessorganizationscan.com/the-fearless-organization