Podcasts

Using over 1.5 million assessments from leaders worldwide, renowned psychometrician Dr. Joseph Folkman and leadership legend Dr. Jack Zenger are here to settle the debates and let the data speak for itself. Each week they analyze different leadership traits, trends, and what it really takes to get to the 90th percentile. These short episodes feature compelling stories, research, and actions that leaders can take to improve.

Episode 184: Coaching is Connection First— Why Presence Outperforms Advice

Published: March, 2026

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More Podcasts

Episode 183: The Gossip Trap— One Leadership Habit That Quietly Destroys Trust

Podcasts — March 10, 2026

Episode 182: Does Leadership Development Actually Pay Off? The ROI Leaders Can’t Ignore

Podcasts — February 25, 2026

Episode 181: Highlights from The Leadership Skills Report 2026

Podcasts — February 04, 2026

Episode 180: The Generational Trust Myth—Why Behavior Beats Age Every Time

Podcasts — January 21, 2026

Episode 179: Strategic Expertise vs. Emotional Intelligence—Which Drives Leadership Success?

Podcasts — January 07, 2026

Episode 178: The Hidden Truth About Gender and Leadership Ratings

Podcasts — November 19, 2025

Episode 177: Why Strengths-Based Development Outperforms Traditional Methods

Podcasts — October 29, 2025

Episode 176: Jotun Case Study in Extraordinary Leadership

Podcasts — October 14, 2025

Episode 175: 7 Key Leadership Behaviors of the Most Effective Decision Makers

Podcasts — October 08, 2025

Episode 174: Making Development Popular with Desert Financial Credit Union

Podcasts — September 24, 2025

Episode 173: The Surprising Way Leadership Behaviors Go Viral at Work

Podcasts — September 17, 2025

Episode 172

Episode 172: Why Psychological Safety Matters More Than Ever

Podcasts — September 10, 2025

Bonus Episode– Susan David, Emotional Agility

Podcasts — September 03, 2025

Episode 171: Memorable Leadership—10 Behaviors That Make Leaders Unforgettable

Podcasts — August 20, 2025

Episode 170: AI, Speed, and the Future of Thoughtful Work

Podcasts — July 30, 2025

Episode 169: 10 Leadership Behaviors That Set Great Teams Apart

Podcasts — July 16, 2025

Episode 168: Well-Being Is a Business Strategy—Leadership Lessons from Druva

Podcasts — July 09, 2025

Episode 167: Flexible, Focused, and Future-Ready—L&D at Wright Service Corp.

Podcasts — June 25, 2025

Episode 166: Can AI Be Your Coach? The Promise and Peril of AI in Leadership Development

Podcasts — June 18, 2025

Case for team development

Episode 165: Stop Training Leaders Alone—The Case for Team Development

Podcasts — June 10, 2025

Episode 164: Control vs. Influence—What Today’s Leader’s Get Wrong

Podcasts — May 21, 2025

90th Percentile Podcast Employee Recognition

Episode 89: Employee Recognition– Improving the Substance and Delivery

Podcasts — May 14, 2025

Episode 163: Staying the Course—Why Core Leadership Skills Still Matter

Podcasts — May 07, 2025

Episode 162: Building Resilient Leaders: Lessons from Core & Main

Podcasts — April 30, 2025

Episode 161: Then and Now—How the Pandemic Boosted Leadership Effectiveness

Podcasts — April 23, 2025

Episode 160: Using Neuroscience to Make Feedback Work with David Rock

Podcasts — April 09, 2025

Episode 159: Is One Leadership Style Better Than Others?

Podcasts — March 26, 2025

Episode 158: 5 Ways to Build a High-Performance Team

Podcasts — March 19, 2025

Episode 157: Team Trust at BJ’s Wholesale Club with Scott Schmadeke

Podcasts — March 12, 2025

Episode 7: The Enigma of Positive and Negative Feedback

Podcasts — February 19, 2025

Episode 156: What To Do When The Boss Gives You Baseless Feedback

Podcasts — February 12, 2025

Episode 155: The 7 Minor Leadership Behaviors That Actually Determine Your Success

Podcasts — February 05, 2025

Episode 154: Is Learning and Development Being Demoted?

Podcasts — January 22, 2025

Episode 153: Finding Joy as a Leader (Even on the Hard Days)

Podcasts — January 15, 2025

Episode 152: How Much Does Passion Influence Performance?

Podcasts — January 06, 2025

Zenger Folkman Holiday Message 2024

Podcasts — December 23, 2024

Episode 151: 3 Ways to Help Employees Love Their Jobs

Podcasts — December 11, 2024

Episode 50 - The Unexpected Strengths of Each Generation of Leaders

Episode 150: The Unexpected Strengths of Each Generation of Leaders

Podcasts — November 27, 2024

Empathy and Drive

Episode 149: Building Empathy and Drive at the Same Time

Podcasts — November 19, 2024

Episode 148: The Real Key to Employee Engagement—Leadership Over Location

Podcasts — November 06, 2024

Listening and Trust

Episode 147: Listening—An Essential Tool for Building Trust

Podcasts — October 30, 2024

Episode 146: Quality And Quantity Are Not Trade-offs—How Some Leaders Are Choosing Both

Podcasts — October 23, 2024

Podcast Career Decades

Episode 145: What You Should Know About Coachability Through Career Decades

Podcasts — October 09, 2024

Employee and Customer Satisfaction Chain

Episode 144: Connecting The Manager, Employee, and Customer Satisfaction Chain

Podcasts — October 02, 2024

leadership and AI

Episode 143: Are You Surviving or Thriving With AI?

Podcasts — September 24, 2024

Episode 109: Transforming Leadership Development—Are We Missing The Main Thing?

Podcasts — September 17, 2024

Episode 142: Trust and Resolving Conflict in the Workplace—Key Behaviors for Leaders

Podcasts — September 11, 2024

90th Percentile Karen Dillon Micro-stresses

Episode 76: Identifying and Managing Micro-stressors

Podcasts — July 30, 2024

Episode 141: Can Honest Leaders Rebuild Integrity?

Podcasts — July 17, 2024

Episode 140: The Three Key Ingredients for Sustainable Leadership Excellence

Podcasts — July 10, 2024

Episode 67: The Skills Leaders Need at Every Level

Podcasts — July 03, 2024

Episode 51: 9 Habits That Lead to Terrible Decisions

Podcasts — June 26, 2024

Episode 139: 6 Components that Differentiate the Best 360-Degree Assessments

Podcasts — June 19, 2024

Episode 138: Taking Responsibility Is The Highest Mark Of Great Leaders

Podcasts — June 12, 2024

Episode 137: Building Trust—The Balance of Information and Involvement

Podcasts — June 05, 2024

Episode 136: The Coachability Advantage—Transforming Leaders into Catalysts for Change

Podcasts — May 08, 2024

Episode 135: Flipping Feedback Upside Down

Podcasts — April 24, 2024

Episode 134: Humble Leadership and the 7 Signs of Arrogance

Podcasts — March 27, 2024

Episode 133: Connecting Through Coaching—Authenticity, AI, and Transformation

Podcasts — March 13, 2024

Hyrbid Work

Episode 132: Hybrid Work— Understanding The Leadership Advantages in Both Zones

Podcasts — February 29, 2024

Episode 131: Executive Presence Has New Rules

Podcasts — February 15, 2024

Adaptable leader

Episode 130: Thriving in Transition—The Keys to Adaptive Leadership

Podcasts — January 17, 2024

Leadership Profession

Episode 129: Why Leadership Should Be Treated Like a Profession

Podcasts — January 10, 2024

2023 Holiday Message from Jack and Joe

Podcasts — December 20, 2023

Trust and Relationships Podcast

Episode 128: The Pinnacle Pillar of Trust—Building Relationships

Podcasts — December 13, 2023

Consistency in leadership

Episode 127: The Constant Pillar of Trust— Consistency

Podcasts — December 05, 2023

Expertise Trifecta of Trust Podcast

Episode 126: The Hidden Pillar of Trust—Expertise

Podcasts — November 21, 2023

Managing Remote Workers

Episode 125: People Focus vs. Task Focus—Managing Remote Workers

Podcasts — November 08, 2023

Leaders who Champion change

Episode 124: How Modern Leaders Champion Change

Podcasts — November 01, 2023

Episode 123: The Leadership Tent—Balancing Specialization and Generalism

Podcasts — October 23, 2023

Episode 122: Why Middle Managers are So Unhappy

Podcasts — October 18, 2023

Episode 121: Unlocking Leadership Potential with Strength Builders

Podcasts — October 11, 2023

Mirrors of Leadership 90th Percentile

Episode 120: The Mirrors of Leadership that Lead to Change

Podcasts — September 26, 2023

Episode 119: 10 Fatal Flaws That Derail Leaders

Podcasts — September 20, 2023

Episode 118: What Separates Great HR Leaders from the Rest

Podcasts — September 13, 2023

Builds relationships

Episode 117: Your Boss Should Care More About Your Relationship Building Skills

Podcasts — September 06, 2023

Episode 116: The Meeting Manifesto: How to End Wasteful Meetings

Podcasts — August 22, 2023

Episode 115: Are We More Productive When We Have More Time Off?

Podcasts — July 26, 2023

Episode 114: 7 Ways to Make Employees Feel Respected

Podcasts — July 05, 2023

Episode 113: Entering the Coachability Learning Zone

Podcasts — June 27, 2023

Episode 112: Why Coachability is the Leadership Superpower

Podcasts — June 20, 2023

Episode 111: Leadership Speed—How to Accelerate Successful Execution

Podcasts — May 31, 2023

The 90th Percentile Podcast 5 Year Workiversary

Episode 110: Watch Out For Your 5-Year Workiversary

Podcasts — May 23, 2023

External Focused Leaders

Episode 108: How Leaders Focus Externally to Improve the Customer Experience

Podcasts — April 19, 2023

Attitude about feedback of leaders

Episode 107: 10 Attitudes About Feedback From The Most Effective Leaders

Podcasts — April 12, 2023

Episode 106: Getting Along With Difficult People at Work

Podcasts — April 04, 2023

Episode 105: Behavioral Bridges—Increasing Employee Engagement While Driving For Results

Podcasts — March 29, 2023

Great Listener Episode 5 90th Percentile

Episode 5: What Great Listeners Actually Do

Podcasts — March 15, 2023

90th PErcentile Asking good Questions

Episode 104: The Lost Art of Asking Good Questions

Podcasts — March 07, 2023

Episode 103: Skills, Skills, and More Skills— Finding What the Organization Values Most

Podcasts — March 01, 2023

Episode 102: Leading with Kindness and Accountability

Podcasts — February 15, 2023

Episode 101: How to Push Your Team to Take Risks

Podcasts — February 08, 2023

Women leaders- 90th Percentile Podcast

Episode 23: Are Women Better Leaders Than Men?

Podcasts — January 31, 2023

Episode 100: The Unexpected Bad Habits of Leaders

Podcasts — January 18, 2023

highly effective coaches

Episode 99: Ordinary Habits of Highly Effective Coaches

Podcasts — January 11, 2023

90th Percentile Podcast- Hidden Talent

Episode 98: Discover and Develop Hidden Talent Pools

Podcasts — January 04, 2023