Best LeaderFactor Podcasts (2025)

1
How to Avoid Manipulative Leadership: 2 Failure Patterns Sabotaging Organizational Change 52:29

2h ago52:29

52:29

What if your instinct to control change is exactly what’s breaking trust with your team? In this episode, we uncover the two most common failure patterns in change management: smuggling and muscling. These covert and coercive tactics might deliver short-term results—but at the cost of long-term commitment, culture, and credibility. If you're ready …

1
The Hidden Danger of Stability: How Great Teams Build Resilience 56:08

14d ago56:08

56:08

What if the stability you’re working so hard to protect is actually what’s holding your team back? In this episode, we explore the Stability-Stress Paradox — the idea that too much comfort can quietly stall innovation, weaken resilience, and prevent growth. If you want your team to not just survive adversity, but bounce forward because of it, this …

1
Constructive Dissent at Work: How to Turn Conflict Into Innovation 46:31

28d ago46:31

46:31

How do you create a team culture where people actually speak up — even when it’s uncomfortable? In this episode, we explore the power of constructive dissent and how it fuels innovation, better decisions, and stronger teams. Learn the 4-step process for productive disagreement, why leaders often struggle with dissent, and how to turn conflict into …

1
What Leadership Is Not: 10 Myths You Need to Unlearn 37:32

1M ago37:32

37:32

Is leadership really about power, popularity, and success? Many people think they know what makes a great leader, but the truth is more complex. This episode unpacks some of the biggest leadership misconceptions and reveals why the qualities we often associate with leadership may not be what actually matter. 📥 Download the resources/slides from the…

1
Navigating Leadership in the AI Era 41:02

2M ago41:02

41:02

AI is changing the workplace faster than ever, and L&D leaders have a first-mover obligation to introduce AI effectively. In this episode, we explore why waiting for organizational adoption is a mistake, how fear stifles innovation, and three practical steps for navigating AI in leadership. 📥 Get the AI Adoption Guide for L&D Leaders: https://www.l…

1
Emotional Regulation For Leaders: Staying Calm Under Pressure 44:48

2M ago44:48

44:48

Emotional regulation is one of the most critical leadership skills—but also one of the hardest to master. In this episode, Tim and Junior break down how leaders can stay composed in the face of dissent and bad news, why emotional responses shape workplace culture, and practical strategies to strengthen self-regulation. Key Takeaways: ✔️ Why dissent…

1
Mastering the Autonomy-Accountability Balance in Leadership 38:46

3M ago38:46

38:46

The majority of CEOs don't know how to create maximum organizational leverage through the transfer of autonomy to their people. Without autonomy, teams feel suffocated. Without accountability, they fall apart. How do you find the right balance? In this episode, hosts Tim and Junior unveil the 4 biggest leadership mistakes that destroy accountabilit…

1
4 Coaching Derailers That Are Ruining Your Career 36:00

3M ago36:00

36:00

There is something in your management style that is limiting your team and ultimately your organization. How do you spot the symptoms of coaching derailers, such as communication issues, emotional reactivity, and micromanagement? In this episode, we give you the tools to spot the symptoms and actionable tips to close your coaching gaps and change y…

1
How to Turn Managers into Leaders 37:58

4M ago37:58

37:58

Are you naturally drawn to leadership or management? While these roles complement and compete with each other, they require careful balance based on need and circumstance. Knowing when to sustain the status quo or catalyze change is essential for success. In this podcast episode, Tim and Junior explore four practical frameworks to help you balance …

1
Fear vs. Innovation: How Toxic Cultures Kill Organizations 32:09

5M ago32:09

32:09

Employees stuck in a survival response will never feel safe enough to innovate. This episode reveals how fear-based management impacts creativity, turnover, and organizational success, backed by insights from leading research. Learn why punished vulnerability leads to stagnation and how psychological safety is the key to unlocking bold ideas and co…

1
How to Overcome a Legacy Culture 37:22

5M ago37:22

37:22

Legacy cultures stifle innovation, drain talent, and hurt your customer experience. In this video, we’ll break down practical steps to identify the root causes of resistance, reframe outdated mindsets, and implement strategies that drive cultural evolution. Learn how to identify the symptoms of a legacy culture, protect against its common causes, a…

1
Influencing Up: How to Effectively Change Organizational Culture 27:51

6M ago27:51

27:51

How do you influence organizational change when you don't have budget authority or decision-making power? In this week's episode of The Leader Factor, hosts Tim and Junior outline the most effective way to introduce a cultural change initiative to an organization. The formula includes four steps: (1) Maximize the dream outcome for L&D leaders, (2) …

1
What Non-HR Execs Need to Know About Psych Safety 48:29

6M ago48:29

48:29

In this episode, we break down what non-HR executives need to understand about the critical role of psychological safety in building high-performing, innovative teams. For HR and L&D leaders, this conversation is essential to influencing executive buy-in and driving culture by design. Discover how psychological safety impacts 10 key business outcom…

1
6 Pitfalls of Large-Scale Psychological Safety Initiatives 35:31

7M ago35:31

35:31

70% of change management programs fail to meet their objectives, and cultural change programs have even higher mortality rates. Psychological safety initiatives aren’t immune to this phenomenon. Luckily, the failure patterns aren’t mysterious. In this episode, organizational anthropologist and executive leadership coach Timothy R. Clark shares the …

1
Overcoming Organizational Fear in 3 Practical Steps 46:24

7M ago46:24

46:24

Fear is the biggest inhibitor of organizational success. Join us as we explore 3 practical strategies for dismantling fear-based barriers, fostering a culture of psychological safety, and driving transformative change. Episode Chapters: 02:08 - Fear is part of our everyday lives 04:10 - The biggest organizational fear statistics and data 08:00 - Fe…

1
What You Need to Know About Project Aristotle 33:39

8M ago33:39

33:39

When Google set out to discover what makes a high-performing team in 2012, researchers expected to uncover a set of individual demographics, characteristics, or personality traits that made each team great. What they realized, however, was that it was the interactions of a team that determined its effectiveness. But while Google's Project Aristotle…

1
7 Things Psychological Safety Is Not 20:53

8M ago20:53

20:53

If you want to implement a psychological safety initiative in your organization, you'll need to explain what psychological safety isn't. Why? Because your culture won't change unless it's built on a shared understanding. Psychological safety isn’t artificial niceness or a lack of accountability. Unless you clarify, stakeholders might think it’s a g…

1
What to Do With a Toxic Leader 34:53

9M ago34:53

34:53

What are the HR best practices when it comes to toxic leadership? Should you coach the leaders? Or should you fire them? When it comes to toxicity, organizations often wait too long to get involved. Learn how to identify the symptoms of poor leadership and intervention strategies to preserve and protect your teams' cultural health. Episode Chapters…

1
Measuring Psychological Safety: What Most L&D Leaders Don't Realize 32:11

9M ago32:11

32:11

Psychological safety is a cultural initiative that was made to be measured. It’s the best indicator of cultural health in your organization. Let’s talk about how to measure it effectively. Every effective psychological safety assessment has these 5 things: (1) A valid, quantitative instrument. (2) Space for qualitative feedback. (3) Org-wide report…

1
Measuring EQ: What Most L&D Leaders Don't Realize 38:38

9M ago38:38

38:38

Your career, business, and closest relationships are only as good as your emotional intelligence. And your ability to improve your EQ is only as good as your ability to measure it. Every effective EQ assessment has 5 things: (1) a valid, qualitative instrument, (2) multi-rater feedback, (3) real accountability mechanisms, (4) consideration of inter…

1
Psychological Safety: The Collective EQ of a Team 38:22

10M ago38:22

38:22

Psychological safety is the collective emotional intelligence of a team. This relationship between emotional intelligence and psychological safety is the anatomy of culture in an organization, and both should be at the foundation of all development efforts. In this episode, hosts Tim and Junior share what they’ve learned after years of programming …

1
EQ & Social Regard: Do you actually care about your team? 45:42

10M ago45:42

45:42

As leaders, we need to develop the type of intent necessary to have healthy influence. We need to ask ourselves the question: Do I actually care about my team? And if so, is that evident in my behavior, values, and interactions? If we don't account for the fundamental beliefs a person has about themselves and others, we can easily promote, support,…

1
EQ: Your Delivery System 35:05

10M ago35:05

35:05

Humans in the workplace engage in millions of daily interactions. Some are effective, and some, well, aren’t. Your emotional intelligence (EQ) determines your ability to interact effectively with other humans. It’s your delivery system through which you share your knowledge, experience, and skills with others. If your delivery system is broken or i…

1
The Experience Leader: How to Outpace Commoditization in the 21st Century 36:56

10M ago36:56

36:56

Are you paying attention to the rate at which your skills as a leader are being commoditized? In this episode of The Leader Factor, hosts Tim and Junior put a new spin on Joseph Pine's 1998 article, The Experience Economy. They draw parallels between an economy's differentiation and commoditization cycle and how a leader's skills can become commodi…

1
How to Build Challenger Safety 38:39

11M ago38:39

38:39

Can you be candid about change at work? Challenger safety satisfies the basic human need to make things better. It allows us to feel safe to challenge the status quo without retaliation or the risk of damaging our personal standing or reputation. As the highest level of psychological safety, it matches the increased vulnerability and personal risk …

1
How to Build Contributor Safety 37:45

11M ago37:45

37:45

Can you create value for your team? Contributor safety satisfies the basic human need to make a difference and offer meaningful contributions. When we create contributor safety for others, we empower them with autonomy, guidance, and encouragement in exchange for effort and results. Listen in as hosts Tim and Junior discuss how to build Stage 3: Co…

1
How to Build Learner Safety 28:59

11M ago28:59

28:59

We can either cultivate or crush, nurture or neglect, stimulate or stifle learner safety, the second stage of The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety. When we have learner safety we feel safe as we ask questions, give and receive feedback, experiment, and admit when we don’t know. As the highest form of enterprise risk management, learner safety opens…

1
How to Build Inclusion Safety 48:13

11M ago48:13

48:13

This episode is the first in a four-part series on How to Build The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety. Listen in as hosts Junior and Timothy R. Clark, author of The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety book, share in-depth insights into the thinking behind the 4 Stages framework. The episode covers the history behind psychological safety as a concept, w…

1
Micro-coaching Pt. 3: The Coaching and Accountability Matrix 41:02

11M ago41:02

41:02

In this final episode of the Micro-coaching and Accountability series, Tim and Junior take the previous two frameworks, The Coaching Continuum and The Three Levels of Accountability, and put them together into the ultimate diagnostic tool for leaders. Think of this matrix as a model to operationalize coaching on a dynamic team. Your objective? To m…

1
Micro-coaching Pt. 2: The 3 Levels of Accountability 26:48

12M ago26:48

26:48

Accountability means being answerable for performance. The scope and levels to which we are held accountable vary based on role, willingness, skill, and need. But we can all agree that organizations function based on shared accountability. This means that as teams increase their capacity for accountability, organizational function will also increas…

1
Micro-coaching Pt. 1: The Coaching Continuum 25:19

12M ago25:19

25:19

In this first episode of a 3-part series on Micro-coaching and Accountability, Tim and Junior introduce us to The Coaching Continuum, a framework that can be used to identify coaching patterns in leaders. It runs from “Tell” on one side to “Ask” on the other. A leader has one primary objective: To expand the capabilities of the people they lead by …

1
Redefining Intelligence 47:31

1y ago47:31

47:31

This week, we're talking about intelligence. Most people have a view of intelligence that's not just wrong, but damaging. Our conception of intelligence affects our goal choice and the intensity of our efforts. It affects how we perceive ourselves and our potential. In the episode, Tim and Junior discuss how intelligence is more like athleticism. T…

1
The Resilience Cycle: Disturbance, Adaptation, and Recovery 47:12

1y ago47:12

47:12

This week, Tim and Junior outline the resilience cycle, which, similar to patterns we see in ecology, consists of disturbance, adaptation, and recovery. They share 5 practical ways to become more resilient as a leader, including spreading out, leaning on positive emotions, developing effective coping mechanisms, adopting a growth mindset, and seeki…

1
The Dangers of Contingent Self-Esteem 51:30

1y ago51:30

51:30

This week, our hosts navigate through an extensive amount of research literature to come to some conclusions on self-esteem and how to approach it. When we rely on external factors to determine our self-esteem, we open ourselves up to dangerous perspectives. This kind of contingent self-esteem can lead to chronic insecurity in leaders, which gets i…

1
Leadership is an Invitation 43:45

1y ago43:45

43:45

Have you ever thought about leadership as an invitation? If your goal is to improve and make a positive impact, then leadership will be an inevitable part of your journey. The job to be done, then, is to recognize and accept the invitations that come your way. These could be invitations to grow, help others, or even sometimes, to fail. Tim and Juni…

1
Do Little Things For a Long Time 59:22

1y ago59:22

59:22

This week, Tim and Junior are talking about the importance of doing the little things for a long time. Why? Because leaders sweat the small stuff. They know that over time, focusing on the little things plays a key part in sustaining goals, maintaining a sense of control, building momentum, and recognizing improvement. Takeaways The compound effect…

1
The Two Leadership Failure Patterns 53:01

1y ago53:01

53:01

Tim and Junior talk about the two primary failure patterns in leadership, incompetence and corruption. Effective leaders are leaders with high competence and high moral character. A deficiency in one or the other leaves us susceptible to poor choices, values, and influence on our leadership journey. As part of the episode, our host outlined four di…

1
3D Interviews: 10 Questions That Aren't Cliche 51:08

1y ago51:08

51:08

We're talking about interview questions this week. Why? Because poor interview protocols are dangerous and inefficient. They decrease your chances of finding the right person to join your team. During the episode, Tim and Junior highlight the limitations of traditional interviews and give you 10 unique interview questions to help you improve your 3…

1
What Employees Need from Leaders in Uncertain Times 48:52

1y ago48:52

48:52

In this episode of Culture by Design, Tim and Junior sit down to talk about leading through uncertainty. The content from this episode comes from Dr. Clark’s most recent Harvard Business Review publication, an article entitled What Employees Need from Leaders in Uncertain Times. In the episode, they explore the impact of uncertainty on individuals …

1
5 Subtle Signs of Leadership Potential 44:39

1y ago44:39

44:39

We can all agree that identifying potential leaders is a crucial part of organizational success. But too often, leaders are promoted purely for their technical ability. What would happen if organizations put equal weight on cultural competence in their promotion criteria? In this episode, we're talking about just that. Listen in as our hosts, Tim a…

1
The 6 Domains of Emotional Intelligence: Believe, Know, and Do 38:26

1y ago38:26

38:26

This week, our hosts Tim and Junior are talking about the limitations of a traditional, four-competency emotional intelligence model. Why? Because LeaderFactor’s private emotional intelligence assessment, EQindex™, is now publicly available! This assessment, and its Leadership 360 version, is based on a 6 domain, 30 skill model that measures what w…

1
What Do You Do With a Toxic Leader? 45:41

1y ago45:41

45:41

In this week's episode of Culture by Design, Junior and Dr. Tim Clark discuss a daunting but important question: What do you do with a toxic leader? Too often, organizations will either do nothing or wait too long to react to evidence of harmful leadership. But toxic cultures can't and won't heal themselves. And the remedy largely depends on the ki…

1
The Leadership Journey Part Three: Leads the Business 52:55

1y ago52:55

52:55

In the final installment of our Leadership Journey series, we delve into the intricacies of Leading the Business with Dr. Tim Clark and Junior. This episode uncovers the transition leaders must undergo from tactical to strategic thinking, focusing on optimizing the whole while preparing for the future. Key Points & Timestamps: Transitioning to Stra…

1
The Leadership Journey Part Two: Leads the Team 47:15

1y ago47:15

47:15

Tim and Junior continue their Leadership Journey series by diving into part two on leading teams. They discuss the challenges leaders face when transitioning from individual contributor to managing others. 0:02:15 - Transitioning from independent contributor to leading a team requires a fundamental shift in mindset and skills. It's often under supp…

1
The Leadership Journey Part One: Leads Self 54:30

1y ago54:30

54:30

Today, Tim and Junior kickoff a three-part series on the leadership journey: Leading yourself, leading the team, and leading the business. Today's episode is focused on leading yourself. Tim and Junior emphasize taking personal accountability and ownership of your own development. You'll hear insights on cultivating wellness, self-awareness, and a …

1
Can You Have Too Much Psychological Safety? 45:51

1+ y ago45:51

45:51

In today's episode of Culture by Design, Tim and Junior discuss a question brought up in a recent Harvard Business Review article, which is, can you have too much psychological safety? The article suggested that excessive amounts of psychological safety could undermine accountability and performance. Tim and Junior share their perspective, pushing …

1
How to Challenge the Status Quo (Pt.2) 48:36

1+ y ago48:36

48:36

In this two-part series, Tim and Junior discuss practical steps for effectively challenging the status quo. Innovation requires some dissent and deviation from the norm, but challenging the status quo can be difficult since it often feels personal. Today they cover the final 5 tips including bringing credibility, knowing your boss, framing dissent …

1
How to Challenge the Status Quo (Pt. 1) 50:29

1+ y ago50:29

50:29

In this week's episode of Culture by Design, Tim and Junior tackle a common organizational-wide dilemma, how do you effectively challenge the status quo? Questioning the prevailing mindset is tricky business. While innovation requires deviation from the norm, pushing for change often feels like a personal confrontation rather than an objective deba…

1
Where Great Culture Starts 1:05:45

1+ y ago1:05:45

1:05:45

Original Air Date: November 21, 2022 The culture dilemma (00:45). Many organizations tell us that they want to improve their culture, but often don’t know where to start. What does an unhealthy culture look like? What symptoms need to be identified and treated? The definition of culture (02:30). Culture is the way we interact. It exists anywhere wh…

1
What Makes a High Performing Team 54:13

1+ y ago54:13

54:13

In this episode, Tim and Junior discuss how high-performing teams are formed and maintained. The quality of an organization is a reflection of the quality of its teams, and high-performing teams have patterns. Although there are many patterns, Tim and Junior will focus on a core four in this episode, including how high-performing teams (1) connect,…

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