Most leaders underestimate how much their values shape decisions, trust, and performance, especially under pressure.

In this episode, Paul Ingram, Columbia Business School professor and author of What Do You Really Stand For?, explains why values are not soft ideals but practical tools for better leadership.

He shows how aligning your choices with your core values can strengthen decision-making, improve relationships, build resilient teams, and shape a healthier organizational culture.

You’ll learn why generic value lists often fall flat, how to uncover your real values through simple reflection, and how to turn those values into daily habits, difficult trade-offs, feedback conversations, and moments of pressure.

For leaders, executives, entrepreneurs, and anyone who wants to lead with greater clarity, purpose, integrity, and conviction, this conversation offers a practical roadmap for making your values one of your most powerful leadership assets.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Values and Leadership

04:14 The Importance of Values in Decision-Making

07:04 Practical Tools for Identifying Personal Values

09:44 Reflection Exercises for Value Identification

12:31 Laddering Technique for Deeper Value Understanding

19:21 Embodied Cognition and Values

23:22 Structuring Values for Decision-Making

25:01 Ranking Values for Better Choices

27:25 Value-Based Decision Making: A Case Study

30:53 Activating Values in Daily Leadership

34:38 Building a Values Affirmation Habit

41:09 Understanding Values in Relationships and Conflict

47:41 Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation in Leadership

54:54 Long-Term Value Alignment vs. Short-Term Gains

1:00:21 Key Insights and Takeaways

This episode explores why so many organizations are one departure away from a leadership gap, why succession plans often fail when tested, and what leaders can do to build real bench strength before it is too late.

Drawing on current research, real organizational pain points, and the science of how leaders actually develop, Charles unpacks a better way to think about succession planning.

In this episode, you will learn:

why naming a successor is not the same as preparing one

how weak succession planning creates key-person dependency

why leadership pipelines are often thinner than they look

what stretch assignments, coaching, reinforcement, and deliberate practice have to do with readiness

how to build an organization that gets stronger because of how it develops people

If you are a business leader, HR executive, talent leader, or founder trying to build a stronger future, this episode will challenge how you think about succession planning.

Watch the full episode, then share it with a leader who needs to rethink succession planning before a resignation forces the issue.

Chapters

00:00 The Cost of Leadership Turnover

01:36 Understanding Leadership Bench Strength

03:28 Identifying Pain Points in Succession Planning

07:32 Generational Challenges in Leadership

11:09 Building a Development System

17:20 Proving Leadership Development Through Performance

20:30 The Path Forward in Succession Planning

22:34 Key Insights and Takeaways

In this episode of The Good Leadership Podcast, Charles Good talks with Matt Carstens about what leadership looks like when volatility becomes the norm.Drawing from experience across agriculture, sustainability, finance, and turnaround leadership, Matt explains how strong leaders stay steady when markets shift, headlines intensify, and pressure rises.

The conversation explores how to focus teams, make better decisions under uncertainty, lead change without panic, and distinguish real strategy from noise.

Matt Carstens is a seasoned executive leader with nearly 30 years of experience in the food and agriculture industries. He is known for his strategic vision, transformative leadership, and ability to drive growth in complex, competitive markets. With leadership experience at organizations such as Land O’Lakes, United Suppliers, and Landus, Matt brings deep expertise in innovation, sales growth, mergers and acquisitions, and building high-performing teams.

Chapters

00:00 The Essence of Leadership in Uncertainty

02:01 Identifying Organizational Pain Points

04:23 The Challenge of Change Management

09:08 Navigating External Volatility

12:57 Maintaining Focus Amidst Chaos

15:36 Sustainability: Words vs. Actions

18:44 Understanding Customer Needs for Growth

19:21 The Importance of Face-to-Face Interaction

23:04 Navigating Change in Agriculture

24:50 Adoption of Technology and Innovation

28:15 Hiring for Cultural Fit

30:18 Balancing Change and Pressure

35:08 The Future of Agriculture

36:56 Key Insights and Takeaways

#Leadership #DecisionMaking #StrategicThinking #ChangeLeadership #BusinessStrategy #LeadershipDevelopment #TheGoodLeadershipPodcast

What actually makes learning stick when it matters most? In this episode of The Good Leadership Podcast, Charles Good sits down with Dr. Megan Sumeracki to explore the science of effective learning and why so many common study habits fail to produce lasting performance.

They unpack the power of retrieval practice, the role of growth mindset in sustained improvement, and practical tools like the WHOOP framework to help learners turn good intentions into meaningful action.

Whether you are a leader, educator, student, or lifelong learner, this conversation offers research-backed strategies to strengthen memory, improve retention, and transfer learning into real-world results. If you want to learn smarter, remember more, and perform better under pressure, this episode is for you.

In this episode:

00:00 The Learning Gap: Understanding Memory and Learning

01:52 The Power of Retrieval Practice

03:18 Assessments and Their Formats

08:06 Scaffolding Retrieval for Effective Learning

10:59 Implementing the WHOOP Strategy

14:49 Barriers to Effective Learning Strategies

20:21 The Impact of Mindset on Learning

24:33 Learning Myths & Future of Learning

29:20 Learning Strategy Effectiveness for Adults

31:35 Key Takeaways

Is AI making your people more capable, or just more dependent? In this solo episode of The Good Leadership Podcast, Charles Good explores one of the most important leadership questions of the AI era: what happens to judgment, expertise, and human thinking when AI starts doing more of the cognitive heavy lifting?

Drawing on research from Ethan Mollick, Boston Consulting Group, behavioral science, learning science, aviation, chess, and real-world leadership practice, Charles unpacks the hidden capability gap that can form beneath rising productivity.

He reveals why higher output does not always mean stronger people, how AI can either sharpen or replace human thinking, and what leaders must do now to ensure their organizations are not just faster, but genuinely smarter.

Chapters

00:00 The Impact of AI on Human Capability

02:39 Understanding AI Adoption and Transformation

04:53 The Hidden Capability Gap

06:59 The Autopilot Problem and Its Lessons

09:21 Cyborgs vs. Centaurs: Human-AI Collaboration

11:30 The Generation Effect and Learning Frameworks

13:33 Categorizing Capabilities: Risks and Strategies

15:27 Patterns of AI Use: Replacement vs. Sharpening

18:35 Practical Steps for Leaders

20:11 The Future of Human and AI Collaboration

21:07 Key Insights and Takeaways

Subscribe to my Substack — Outlearn to Outperform https://charlesgood.substack.com/

Most leaders think their job is to have the answers. That instinct is exactly what’s holding them, and their teams, back.

In this episode of The Good Leadership Podcast, Charles Good sits down with Michael Bungay Stanier, author of The Coaching Habit (1.5M+ copies sold), to unpack a counterintuitive truth:

👉 The best leaders don’t give better advice.

👉 They ask better questions.

But here’s the catch…Even after training hundreds of thousands of leaders, most still struggle to make coaching stick. Why?

Because knowing what to say is only half the equation.

How you show up changes everything.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction to Michael Bungay Stanier

02:35 The Evolution of The Coaching Habit

05:20 The Distinctiveness of the Coaching Habit

08:14 Barriers to Effective Coaching

11:19 The Biggest Myths and Wastes of Time in Coaching

13:42 What Leaders Still Get Wrong About Curiosity

16:31 What is powerful about coaching & What to focus on

22:13 The Paradox of Confident Humility

28:49 Celebrating the new edition

30:24 Key Insights and Takeaways

In this episode of The Good Leadership Podcast, Charles Good sits down with Karen Dillon, co-author of the New York Times bestselling book How Will You Measure Your Life?, to explore one of the most important questions any of us can ask. Most people measure their lives using the wrong metrics, titles, achievements, money, or recognition.

But those measures rarely capture what truly matters. Drawing on the work of the late Clayton Christensen, Karen explains how our daily decisions about where we invest our time, energy, and attention quietly shape the kind of life we end up living.

This episode challenges listeners to rethink how they define success and to start aligning their daily choices with the person they ultimately want to become.

If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re investing your time and energy in the right things, this conversation will give you a powerful framework for thinking about your career, relationships, integrity, and legacy.

CHAPTERS

00:00 The Importance of Allowing Children to Face Challenges

01:50 Rethinking Leadership Development: McCall's Theory

04:47 Creating Valuable Experiences for Growth

07:16 Deliberate Family Culture: Building Values Together

11:07 Reinforcing Values in Organizations and Families

14:40 The Trap of Marginal Thinking

21:29 Measuring a Meaningful Life

24:10 Balancing Life's Investments

24:50 Practical Actions for a Fulfilling Life

27:23 Key Insights and Takeaways

Why do some ideas stick, spread, and persuade, while others are ignored almost instantly? The answer has less to do with logic than most leaders think. Human decisions are shaped by behavioral science, psychology, and how our brains process stories, framing, and experiences.

In this episode of The Good Leadership Podcast, Charles Good sits down with Nancy Harhut, author of Using Behavioral Science in Marketing, to explore the hidden psychological forces that shape attention, memory, influence, and decision-making.

You’ll discover why stories are dramatically more memorable than facts, what the invention of Post-it Notes teaches about reframing failure, and how remarkable experiences—like the Magic Castle Hotel's “popsicle hotline” or the famous Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa teddy bear story—create powerful word-of-mouth and brand loyalty.

Nancy also explains how labels shape behavior, framing shifts perception, curiosity drives engagement, and choice architecture quietly nudges decisions. If you're a leader, marketer, entrepreneur, or communicator who wants your ideas to stick, persuade, and drive action, this conversation is packed with insights you can use immediately.

Chapters

00:00 The Importance of Storytelling in Marketing

02:30 Creating Memorable Experiences through Unique Offerings

08:03 Institutionalizing Service Stories for Brand Identity

10:12 The Impact of Labeling on Customer Behavior

12:34 Framing Value Propositions Effectively

15:31 Harnessing Temporal Landmarks in Marketing

18:11 Overcoming Present Focus Bias

20:22 The Power of Information Gaps

22:42 Navigating Choice Architecture

24:45 Conquering Status Quo Bias

27:09 The Impact of Language in Marketing

32:07 Using Metaphors and Similes Effectively

33:52 Leveraging the Consistency Principle

36:08 Key Insights and Takeaways