Episode 189: Your Good Leaders Are the Hidden Problem

Published: July 23, 2026

Episode Description

For years, organizations have invested enormous time and resources trying to fix their weakest leaders. But what if the greatest opportunity for improving performance isn’t at the bottom of the leadership curve—it’s in the middle?

In this episode of The 90th Percentile, BreAnne Okoren sits down with Dr. Joe Folkman to explore surprising new research from more than 500,000 leaders and 120,000 360-degree assessments that reveals why “good” leaders may be the biggest hidden cost in an organization. While poor leaders create visible problems, good-but-not-great leaders often go unnoticed—even though their teams are significantly more likely to disengage and consider leaving.

Joe explains why traditional development approaches often fail, why fixing weaknesses isn’t the answer for most leaders, and how developing a handful of profound strengths can dramatically accelerate leadership effectiveness. Together, they discuss the science behind Zenger Folkman’s Strength Builders research and why helping good leaders become exceptional may be one of the highest-return investments an organization can make.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn

• Why “good” leaders—not poor leaders—may represent the greatest untapped opportunity for organizational performance.
• The surprising research showing that employees working for good leaders are more than twice as likely to consider leaving compared to those working for exceptional leaders.
• Why improving weaknesses isn’t the best development strategy for most leaders—and when it actually is.
• How developing just a few profound strengths creates a nonlinear increase in overall leadership effectiveness.
• What Strength Builders are and how pairing complementary leadership behaviors can accelerate development far beyond traditional leadership training.

Whether you’re an executive, HR leader, manager, or leadership coach, this episode offers a research-backed framework for rethinking leadership development and unlocking extraordinary performance across your organization.