Chain of Learning: Leadership Strategies for Transforming Culture, Developing People, and Getting Results

87| When Help Becomes Unhelpful: How Providing Support Develops People

Help and support. Two words we use almost interchangeably. But do they mean the same thing? And does the distinction even matter? It does. Because your help can be the

86| Ask, Don't Tell: How Humble Inquiry Builds Deeper Connection [with Peter Schein]

How do you build deeper human connection in your relationships so that you can more effectively lead change and help others? That question sits at the heart of some of t

85| It's Not the Workload, It's the Thoughtload: Move from Overwhelm to Focus [with Liane Davey]

Enter for your chance to win a copy of "Thoughtload" by Liane Davey: http://chainoflearning.com/85 Giveaway ends October 9th at 11:45pm Pacific Time. Your team isn't res

84| You Want a People-Centered Learning Culture. What's Getting in the Way?

People-centered. Learning organization. Culture of continuous improvement. We use a lot of different words to describe what we are trying to create. But do we actually m

83| Keep Ownership at the Right Level: How to Sustain Organizational Transformation [with Anna Pessah]

Overstepping ownership rarely looks like overstepping. It looks like moving things along. You know how something could be improved, so you give your suggestion. Work get

82| Connect the Parts, Focus on People: Inside the Toyota Economic System [with Olivier Larue]

Profit or cash. Efficiency or flexibility. Speed, or doing it right. Leaders feel like they have to make trade-offs like these all the time. But the choice often isn't r

81| Adapt How You Lead: Situational Leadership in Practice [with Suzie Bishop]

Your leadership style isn't the problem. Your default is. The gap between how you're leading and what the person in front of you actually needs is one of the most common

80| Bad News First: How a Leader's Response Builds a Culture of Learning [with Isao Yoshino]

How many problems are actually visible in your organization? Research shows senior leaders see just 4%. The other 96% stay hidden — invisible, yet still there. And some

79| Build Powerful People: Why Transformation Starts with Your Own [with Gary Peterson]

Efficiency and cost savings aren't what makes operational excellence last. People are. The leaders who create enduring, high-performing organizations are after something

78| Strategy Isn't Enough: 9 Practices to Help Your Team Meet the Moment [with Karina Mangu-Ward]

Have you poured months into a strategy your team couldn't bring to life? Or watched capable people work harder than ever, and still struggle to pull together as a team?

77| Lead with Joy: A Business Strategy for Success [with Rich Sheridan]

Joy isn't a perk. It's a business strategy. Have you ever wondered whether work has to feel this hard? Whether the team you've built can actually function without you? W

76 | What Is the Purpose of Kaizen? John Shook Answers Your Questions (Part 3 of 3)

What does it really take to sustain a culture of continuous improvement –  through pressure for results, across generations, and into an era of AI? In this final episode

75 | The Human Side of Lean: John Shook on Building Systems That Last (Part 2 of 3)

Lean has always been about people. We just kept reaching for the tools, without understanding the human purpose behind them. In part two of my three-part conversation wi

74 | What Problem Are We Solving? John Shook Reflects: Has Lean Failed? (Part 1 of 3)

Has lean really failed? That question sparked one of the most listened-to conversations in the history of this podcast — my two-part series with Jim Womack in episodes 3

73 | Small Steps, Leading with Heart: How Transformation Sustains [with Richard Koch]

The way you’re leading transformation might be getting in the way of the culture you’re trying to build. As change leaders and practitioners, we care about results. But

72 | Finding Clarity Through the Messy Middle: Reflections from My Book Retreat [with Betsy Jordyn] (BONUS)

The messy middle is part of the learning process. It’s the point where what worked before no longer fully fits—but what comes next is not yet clear. Where your thinking

71 | Own the Thinking Process, Not the Thinking: How Leaders Build Problem-Solving Capability

Caring becomes carrying. It happens so naturally we rarely notice it. Someone brings us a problem. We care. We want to help. And somewhere in that desire to help, withou

70| Talk to the People: How Leaders Make Better Decisions [with Nigel Thurlow]

What happens when leaders make decisions further and further away from the work itself? In a world of AI, automated dashboards, and remote work, it’s easy to manage repr

69| Better Judgment, Not Better AI Tools: What Leaders Need to Learn and Unlearn [with Barry O'Reilly]

You're being told to use AI. But which tool you actually need to do your best work? Leaders and change practitioners everywhere feel the same pressures right now — more

68| The Power of Learning Together: How Shared Experience Enables People-Centered Leadership

What changes when leaders stop learning alone—and start learning together? Leadership development often focuses on individual insight: reading, listening, reflecting. Bu