The Global Leadership Podcast

What if the biggest risk in your next leadership decision isn't making the wrong choice—but waiting too long to make one?
Leaders rarely have all the information they'd like before making an important decision. But waiting for certainty can keep teams stuck and organizations from moving forward.
Kelly Merryman Hoogstraten has navigated these challenges while helping build Netflix's streaming and international businesses, leading at YouTube, and co-founding Wonder Project. In this conversation with GLN President and CEO David Ashcraft, she shares why making an imperfect decision is often better than making no decision at all.
You'll hear how Netflix's philosophy of "context, not control" empowered people to make decisions, why successful organizations must remain willing to change, and how Kelly's faith and personal convictions shaped her professional direction.
It's a practical invitation to make thoughtful decisions, equip others to lead, and keep moving even when the path isn't entirely clear.

Wanting people to grow and actually developing them are two different things. In this quarterly "Best Of" episode, Whitney Putnam and Eric Case revisit four conversations that create a practical pathway for helping people reach their potential: see them, know them, grow them, and release them. You'll hear Lori Hermann describe what happens when leaders recognize potential before someone sees it in themselves; Thasunda Brown Duckett explain why knowing the whole person is connected to excellence; David Ashcraft challenge leaders to develop people beyond their own expertise; and Julio Garcia wrestle with what happens when someone you've invested in chooses an opportunity elsewhere. Together, these conversations challenge leaders to move beyond good intentions and ask a more practical question: What does the person you're developing need from you next?

When a team feels frustrated, disconnected or unsure where to focus, the problem may not be effort or talent—it may be clarity. In this episode, Whitney Putnam talks with Global Leadership Network President and CEO David Ashcraft about a leader's responsibility to create direction people can understand, remember and act on.
David explains why leaders often need to repeat the vision more than they think, why collaboration and candor can sharpen direction, and how unclear communication from senior leaders can unintentionally send teams running in the wrong direction. He also shares a simple practice his teams use to distinguish between processing an idea and actually making a decision.
Whether you are setting organizational strategy or leading a team through a new initiative, this conversation offers practical ways to reduce unnecessary confusion and make the direction simple enough for people to follow.

If you want people to tell you what they really think, simply asking for feedback isn't enough—you have to earn their trust. In this episode, TIAA President and CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett shares practical ways leaders can get closer to their people, uncover perspectives they might otherwise miss, and create a culture where honest feedback and high expectations can coexist.
Thasunda explains why leaders need to "get proximate," how she uses small-group conversations to hear directly from employees throughout the organization, and why asking for the "counter-narrative" can improve decision-making. She also explores how vulnerability creates permission for others to bring more of themselves to work, why job titles shouldn't limit someone's contribution, and how leaders can guide people through the uncertainty created by AI. Along the way, she makes the case that if leaders want excellence, they first have to earn the right to demand it.

Most leaders say people matter—but that commitment gets tested when growth, performance, accountability, and opportunity are on the line. In this episode, Ambriza Social Mexican Kitchen cofounder and CEO Julio Garcia joins David Ashcraft to explore what people-first leadership looks like in practice.
Julio shares how his own understanding of leadership shifted from status and entitlement toward responsibility and service, and how that change now shapes Ambriza's culture. He explains why leaders need to know the people behind the roles, how the company develops employees toward greater responsibility and even ownership, and why caring for people still requires clear standards.
The conversation also examines a harder question: What happens when you invest deeply in someone—and that growth eventually takes them somewhere else? Julio offers a practical picture of leadership that measures success not only by organizational growth, but by what becomes possible for the people you lead.