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The Leadership Podcast

The Leadership Podcast

We Study Leaders

TLP524: The Best Leaders Build More Leaders

August 12, 2026

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Patrick Emmons is the founder of DragonSpears and president of Improving Chicago. For more than two decades, he has built, scaled, and sold technology companies while helping organizations develop stronger leaders and healthier teams. Patrick believes the strongest organizations don’t depend on a few exceptional leaders. They grow because leaders are developed at every level….

Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: ai impact on sales, authentic leadership skills, business exit emotions, coaching lessons for business leaders, eadership podcast, entrepreneur leadership lessons, having difficult conversations at work, how to sell a business, leadership at every level, leadership development podcast, patrick emmons dragon spears, remote team coaching, sales relationship building, self aware leadership, the leadership podcast episode 524

TLP523: Tom Rath: The Daily Question That Changes How You Lead

August 5, 2026

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Purpose isn’t something you find once and follow forever. It’s something you practice every day. Tom Rath is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of StrengthsFinder 2.0, How Full Is Your Bucket?, Eat Move Sleep, and his latest book, What’s the Point?: Turning Purpose Into Your Daily Superpower. After decades studying what helps people…

Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: ai impact on sales, authentic leadership skills, business exit emotions, coaching lessons for business leaders, entrepreneur leadership lessons, having difficult conversations at work, how to sell a business, leadership at every level, leadership development podcast, Leadership Podcast, patrick emmons dragon spears, remote team coaching, sales relationship building, self aware leadership, the leadership podcast episode 524

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One of the hardest things Nick Black ever faced ha One of the hardest things Nick Black ever faced had nothing to do with combat.One week after one of the most intense firefights of the deployment, one of those men took his own life.And a year later, Nick read something that broke him open completely.More servicemen and women were dying by suicide than in combat.He still does not fully know what to do with that.But it changed the entire direction of his life.What do you think leaders most often miss when it comes to the people right in front of them?The full episode is up now. https://bit.ly/TLP-YT-513?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=westudyleaders#leadershippodcast #leadership #stopsolidersuicide #veteranmentalhealth #militaryleadership #podcast #mentalhealth #service #leadershipdevelopment #shorts
Most leaders treat growth like a race. Joth Ricci Most leaders treat growth like a race.Joth Ricci treats it like a marathon.When you scale too fast, something breaks. The question isn't IF—it's WHAT.He managed Dutch Bros from 27 locations to 92 in three years without losing the culture. Here's the principle that made it possible.See how he scaled: https://bit.ly/TLP-YT-516?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=westudyleaders#scaling #leadership #organizationalculture #businessgrowth #leadershiplessons #dutchbros #westudyleaders #theleadershippodcast
Kevin Rice was leading a growing company, adding o Kevin Rice was leading a growing company, adding over 100 people, navigating an acquisition, raising two boys alone, all during a pandemic.His coping mechanism was to shut everything off. No emotions. No processing. Just output.From the outside it looked like peak performance.His team and his kids were getting a version of him that was present in body but absent everywhere that mattered.That is the version of leadership nobody talks about enough.Episode 512 of The Leadership Podcast is a good place to start that conversation. Go find it. https://bit.ly/TLP-512?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=westudyleaders#leadership #leadershipdevelopment #emotionalintelligence #theleadershippodcast #executiveleadership #CEOmindset #personalgrowth #parenting #entrepreneur #selfawareness
Most leaders think accountability is someone else' Most leaders think accountability is someone else's problem.Jim Brown—author of The Imperfect CEO, founder of Org Health—spent 30 years with CEOs discovering the one behavior that rewires everything. One small question. One major shift.Leadership accountability isn't what you think it is.Listen to episode 517 now. https://bit.ly/TLP-517?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=westudyleadersWatch it on YouTube: https://bit.ly/TLP-YT-517?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=westudyleaders#leadershipaccountability #leadershipdevelopment #organizationalhealth #teamculture #leadershipcoaching #executiveleadership #theleadershippodcast #westudyleaders
Donnie Boivin doesn't work the room. He plants his Donnie Boivin doesn't work the room.He plants his feet and lets the room come to him.He calls it command presence, and it's a leadership skill, not a personality trait. The best leaders aren't controlling every conversation, they're guiding the room just by how they show up.Hear Donnie break down what that actually looks like in practice. Full episode is live now. https://bit.ly/TLP-YT-521?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=westudyleaders#leadership #networking #executivepresence #personalbranding #leadershipdevelopment #salesleadership #leadershippodcast #businessgrowth
Here's a framework worth borrowing from David Crai Here's a framework worth borrowing from David Craig, former CEO of Refinitiv.Meeting overload isn't the actual problem. It's a symptom of unclear ownership.When it isn't obvious who owns a decision or a budget, people default to scheduling a meeting to sort it out. David solved this at Refinitiv by documenting exactly who owns what, a reference guide his team nicknamed the Blue Book.He also questioned a habit most companies never examine: why every meeting defaults to 60 minutes. His team ran 25-minute meetings instead, built around what the meeting actually needed.Two practical ideas any leader can apply this week.Full conversation is live now https://bit.ly/TLP-YT-525?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=westudyleaders#leadership #davidcraig #meetingculture #businessefficiency #leadershippodcast #organizationalculture #executiveleadership #productivitytips
When you are stuck in your head the worst thing yo When you are stuck in your head the worst thing you can do is think harder.Karen Doll calls it a bottom-up strategy. Stop analyzing. Get up. Move.The body is not separate from the mind. And sometimes the fastest way out of a spiral is not another meeting or another framework.It is a walk.Full conversation on The Leadership Podcast. https://bit.ly/TLP-514?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=westudyleaders#leadershippodcast #leadership #mentalhealth #psychologicalfitness #podcast #leadershipdevelopment #mindset #burnout #executivecoaching #selfreliantleadership
Patrick Emmons wasn't a great student. He'll tell Patrick Emmons wasn't a great student.He'll tell you that himself.But he's built and sold three companies over 25 years.His point: the hero story isn't the requirement people think it is.Hear Patrick's full story on episode 524. https://bit.ly/TLP-524?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=westudyleaders#leadership #entrepreneurship #growthmindset #careeradvice
Chasing the next promotion isn't the same as chasi Chasing the next promotion isn't the same as chasing the next skill.David Craig watched talented people burn years climbing a ladder instead of building capability, and he says it's one of the costliest mistakes in a career.The shift is simple: choose the work that develops you, not just the title that impresses others.Hear David explain the lesson behind it in episode 525. https://bit.ly/TLP-525?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=westudyleaders#leadership #davidcraig #careeradvice #leadershipdevelopment #leadershippodcast #careergrowth #executivecoaching #professionaldevelopment
This is the line that separates coaches from probl This is the line that separates coaches from problem-solvers.Most leaders take the ball when it matters most. When the stakes are high, they jump in and solve it themselves.But Joth Ricci teaches. He shows. He develops capacity in his people instead of creating dependency on himself.That's why he's mentored 12 people who are now CEOs.Discover the coaching framework: https://bit.ly/TLP-516?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=westudyleaders#leadership #coachingleadership #talentdevelopment #leadershiplessons #personaldevelopment #westudyleaders #theleadershippodcast #jothricci
Most leaders think the biggest threat to their tea Most leaders think the biggest threat to their team is performance.Missed targets. Wrong hires. Bad culture.Nick Black watched some of America's greatest warriors fall — not to the enemy, but to silence.Not because they were weak.Because no one was checking on them.Isolation is the enemy. And it does not announce itself.Listen to the full conversation. https://bit.ly/TLP-513?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=westudyleaders #leadershippodcast #leadership #mentalhealth #isolation #veteranleadership #leadershipquotes #podcast #selfreliantleadership #militaryleadership #leadershipdevelopment
Kevin Rice built his agency straight out of colleg Kevin Rice built his agency straight out of college with no mentor and sold it 13 years later for nine figures. He says he felt almost nothing when it happened.On Episode 512 of The Leadership Podcast, he shares what it was like leading through a pandemic as a new single dad, growing a company by 100+ people, and going through an acquisition at the same time.He calls it "robot mode"—high performance, no emotion, just survival. It worked in business but cost him connection at home.He also shares what parenting taught him about leadership and why presence matters more than time.Listen to Episode 512 wherever you get your podcasts. https://bit.ly/TLP-512?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=westudyleadersWatch it on YouTube - https://bit.ly/TLP-YT-512?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=westudyleaders#leadership #entrepreneur #parenting #worklifebalance #leadershipdevelopment #ceo #personalgrowth #success #fulfillment
You're not bad at networking. You just haven't lea You're not bad at networking. You just haven't learned the skill yet.Murshad Chowdhury, founder of Tech Duels, breaks it down simply: most people think you need to be naturally outgoing. You don't.Introverts, extroverts, ambiverts — doesn't matter. This is trainable.The barrier isn't your personality. It's knowing how to do it.Once you learn the framework, everything changes. Opportunities expand. Careers transform.Your biggest career breakthroughs are waiting on the other side of this skill.Full episode: https://bit.ly/TLP-515?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=westudyleaders#networkingskills #careerdevelopment #leadershipdevelopment #personalgrowth #theleadershippodcast #careeradvice #professionalnetworking #skillsbuilding
After hundreds of conversations with some of the m After hundreds of conversations with some of the most decorated leaders in the world, Jim and Jan finally turned the question on themselves. What is leadership actually? And what they landed on will probably sit with you longer than any definition you have read in a book. It is not a destination. It is not a title.It is a state you manage every single day and the moment you think you have it figured out, something shifts and you are back at it. The full conversation is up now. https://bit.ly/TLP-YT-511?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=westudyleaders#leadershippodcast #leadership #podcast #whatisleadership #selfreliantleadership #executivecoaching #leadershipdevelopment
Everyone rushes to answer. That's why their answe Everyone rushes to answer.That's why their answers fall flat.Here's what Murshad Chowdhury teaches in his debate and communication training: pause."Let me think about that for a few seconds."That's not a weakness. That's clarity.It's the difference between a half-thought answer and a fully formed response.Master this in interviews, presentations, and conversations. https://bit.ly/TLP-YT-515?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=westudyleaders#publicspeeking #interviewtips #communicationskills #presentationskills #executivepresence #theleadershippodcast #careertips #leadershipskills
Most people wait until they feel ready before taki Most people wait until they feel ready before taking action. Jill Schulman's research in positive psychology proves that's backwards. Confidence doesn't come first. Action does. Every time you move forward despite fear, you're building the neural pathways that create real confidence. Move forward before you feel ready.Discover why action comes first. https://bit.ly/TLP-518?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=westudyleaders#bravery #leadershipdevelopment #personalgrowth #psychology #fearless #confidence #mindset #actiontaker
Your leadership team is waiting for you to solve e Your leadership team is waiting for you to solve everything.Jim Brown watched this pattern destroy ownership.A woman entrepreneur realized her team had stopped thinking. Everyone just looked to her for answers.So she tried something simple. Stop answering questions. Start asking them."What do you think we should do?"That one behavior change made her meetings louder. More ownership. Shared responsibility.If you're carrying the weight of all decisions, your team isn't really yours—they're dependent on you.See the full conversation on episode 517. https://bit.ly/TLP-YT-517?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=westudyleaders#leadershipaccountability #teamownership #leadershipbehavior #organizationalhealth #leadershipdevelopment #theleadershippodcast #jimbrownorghealth #leadershipinsight
Purpose is one of the most talked about topics in Purpose is one of the most talked about topics in leadership right now and also one of the most misunderstood. Maria Brinck makes a distinction that reframes the whole conversation. She is not talking about finding purpose. She is talking about building it. And the difference between those two things changes everything about how you lead and how you live. Episode 510 of The Leadership Podcast is out now. This is one worth clearing your schedule for. https://bit.ly/TLP-510?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=westudyleaders#Purpose #Leadership #TheLeadershipPodcast #LeadershipDevelopment #Podcast
Most leaders treat ethics as a cost. Patrick Ryan Most leaders treat ethics as a cost. Patrick Ryan says that's backwards. Morality isn't friction. It's the lubricant that makes markets actually function. Without it, you don't have capitalism. You have extraction. This is what modern business gets fundamentally wrong—and how it shifts everything about how you lead.Watch the full conversation. https://bit.ly/TLP-YT-519?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=westudyleaders#capitalism #ethics #leadership #adamsmith #moralcapitalism #businessethics #leadershippodcast #virtuouscapitalism
Nobody announces that they are struggling. They j Nobody announces that they are struggling.They just go quiet.Pull back. Stop showing up the same way.And by the time anyone notices, it is already too late.Nick Black has lost too many people to this pattern — soldiers who survived everything — and he is not done talking about it.The full episode is up now. https://bit.ly/TLP-YT-513?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=westudyleaders#leadershippodcast #leadership #mentalhealth #isolation #veteranmentalhealth #stopsolidersuicide #militaryleadership #podcast #leadershipdevelopment #shorts
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Recent Posts

  • TLP526: The Surprising Link Between Great Parents and Great Leaders
  • TLP525: When Complexity Becomes the Biggest Obstacle
  • TLP524: The Best Leaders Build More Leaders
  • TLP523: Tom Rath: The Daily Question That Changes How You Lead
  • TLP522: Stop Building a Life That Looks Good but Feels Wrong

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