90th Percentile Leadership: Insights. Backed by Data.

Episode 194: Psychological Safety Is Not About Being Nice

Episode Description Is your team psychologically safe, or have you simply created a culture where everyone is afraid to disagree? Psychological safety has become a leade

Your Feedback Is Too Nice to Be Useful

Your Employees Know When You’re Pretending to Listen

AI in the Workplace: The Leadership Skills AI Can’t Replace

Leadership Blind Spots: Why Others See You More Clearly

The Leadership Skill Everyone Thinks Is Dangerous

Your Good Leaders Are the Hidden Problem

Remembering Jack Zenger—The Leader Behind the Research

The Future of Employee Development

The Future of Employee Development For decades, employee development has largely been reserved for leaders and high-potential talent. But as organizations face growing su

Filling the Missing Gap in Early Career Development: Extraordinary You

Episode Description Why do so many capable professionals overestimate their effectiveness at work? And what are the hidden behaviors quietly limiting trust, credibility,

Episode 185: Are You Overestimating Your Effectiveness? (And Why It Matters More Than You Think)

Episode Description Why do so many capable people overestimate their effectiveness at work? And what are the hidden behaviors quietly damaging trust, credibility, communi

Coaching is Connection First— Why Presence Outperforms Advice

Episode Description In this episode of The 90th Percentile Podcast, BreAnne Okoren and Jack Zenger sit down with leadership expert Michelle Fabian to explore one of the m

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

Episode Description Gossip may seem like a minor workplace habit, but the research tells a very different story. In this episode of The 90th Percentile, BreAnne and Joe F

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

Episode Description In a time of tighter budgets and higher scrutiny, leadership development is often one of the first investments leaders feel pressure to justify—or cut

Episode 181: Highlights from The Leadership Skills Report 2026

Details In this episode of The 90th Percentile, BreAnne Okoren and Joe Folkman unpack Zenger Folkman’s new Leadership Skills 2026 Report?and explore what truly differenti

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

Details Trust in leadership is often framed as a generational issue—older leaders are assumed to be more credible because of experience, while younger leaders are expecte

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

Details Emotional intelligence has dominated leadership conversations for years—and for good reason. Leaders who listen, empathize, and build strong relationships create

Episode 178: The Hidden Truth About Gender and Leadership Ratings

Details Are workplace evaluations truly objective—or do subtle perceptions still shape how we see male and female leaders differently? In this episode, host Bre Okoren si

Episode 177: Why Strengths-Based Development Outperforms Traditional Methods

Details Consider this episode your Strengths-Based Leadership 101. BreAnne and Joe revisit the foundation of Zenger Folkman’s entire leadership philosophy — the data-driv

Episode 176: Jotun Case Study in Extraordinary Leadership

Details In this special episode of The 90th Percentile, we unpack how Jotun—the Norway-based, family-owned paints and coatings company operating in 100+ countries—elevate