Humanergy Leadership Podcast

David Wheatley

Impactful leadership development. For 25 years, Humanergy has helped leaders cut through the noise and take real action. This podcast delivers straight-talking insights, practical tools, and expert strategies you can actually use—right away. Whether it’s a deep-dive conversation with an experienced coach or a quick, powerful tip from the field, every episode is designed to help you lead with clarity and impact. Practical, proven, and built for real-world leadership.

  1. 3d ago

    Ep 251: Leadership Books Worth Reading This Summer (2026)

    Seven books. One summer. A few of them might change how you think about leadership. David Wheatley, co-founder of Humanergy and host of the Humanergy Leadership Podcast, wraps up the season with his annual summer reading list for leaders. This year's picks span decentralized leadership, AI, gender dynamics in the workplace, coaching philosophy, team performance, and how people build a life worth living. The books on the list: Turn the Ship Around by David Marquet — a classic on leader-leader culture that keeps coming back into the conversation for good reason. The AI-Driven Leader by Jeff Woods — the book Humanergy has been recommending all year for leaders trying to get a practical handle on AI. The Only Woman in the Room by Lisa Davis — not just for women. David interviewed Lisa earlier this season; this is a good companion listen. The Score Takes Care of Itself by Bill Walsh — a look at what actually goes into building a winning culture, from the coach who rebuilt the 49ers. And It Was Beautiful by Phil Hay — the story of Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds, and a counterpoint to Walsh worth reading alongside it. What Great Teams Do Great by Humanergy — if you haven't read it yet, it's 98 pages and worth every one of them. What to Make of a Life by Jim Collins — his newest book. If you know Collins from Good to Great or Great by Choice, you know what to expect: rigorous, research-driven, and worth your time. Drop your own summer reading recommendations in the comments. Humanergy is a leadership development company based in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Learn more at humanergy.com. Learn more about Humanergy's work: https://www.humanergy.com Join the Humanergy community on LinkedIn. Sign up for our FREE leadership workshops.

    4 min
  2. Ep 250: How AI Erodes Trust on Teams

    Jun 19

    Ep 250: How AI Erodes Trust on Teams

    AI tools create a specific kind of trust problem on teams, and most leaders aren't sure what to name it or where it's coming from. In this Practical Field Notes episode, Mimi and David react to a Harvard Business Review piece by Jayshree Seth and Amy Edmondson on psychological safety and AI integration. They connect the article's ideas to what leaders are actually navigating in their organizations, including how to build learning loops that keep AI use transparent and how leaders can model the kind of openness that makes it safe for teams to question, challenge, and learn. Humanergy is a leadership development company that helps leaders and teams work better under real conditions. Learn more at humanergy.com. (Note: The HBR article is behind a paywall. HBR offers free monthly access, if you're out of free reads, you can still follow this conversation without it.) Link to article here: https://hbr.org/2026/02/how-to-foster-psychological-safety-when-ai-erodes-trust-on-your-team Learn more about Humanergy's work: https://www.humanergy.com Join the Humanergy community on LinkedIn. Sign up for our FREE leadership workshops.

    22 min

  3. Jun 12

    Ep 249: What to Say When You Need to Hold Someone Accountable

    Managers know when a performance conversation is overdue. What stops them is not knowing what to say, or worrying the conversation will go sideways. In this free workshop, Humanergy coach Jim Marshall shares two practical tools: the WXYZ framework for giving specific, grounded feedback without triggering defensiveness, and Feed Need Seed Weed, a four-part structure for organizing accountability conversations from recognition through correction. If you're sitting on a conversation you've been delaying, this one's for you. Humanergy is a leadership development company that helps leaders work better and make better decisions in real organizations. Learn more at humanergy.com. Learn more about Humanergy's work: https://www.humanergy.com Join the Humanergy community on LinkedIn. Sign up for our FREE leadership workshops.

    13 min
  4. Ep 248: When You Promote Your Best Employee and It Backfires: The Coaching Table

    Jun 5

    Ep 248: When You Promote Your Best Employee and It Backfires: The Coaching Table

    Three high-performing individual contributors got promoted to lead roles. All three are now miserable. The manager who promoted them is asking what to do. In this episode, Humanergy coaches John Barrett and Quay Eady work through exactly that scenario — why it happens, what the manager can do now, and what organizations consistently get wrong about developing people before they're promoted. The conversation covers a practical tool called FROM/TO for mapping where someone's strengths came from and what success looks like in their new role. Humanergy helps leaders and organizations work through real challenges like this one. Learn more at humanergy.com. Learn more about Humanergy's work: https://www.humanergy.com Join the Humanergy community on LinkedIn. Sign up for our FREE leadership workshops.

    48 min

  5. May 29

    Ep 247: "Why" Is Not a Neutral Question

    When leaders ask "why," they often get defensiveness instead of dialogue, even when that's not what they intended. In this episode, David Wheatley explores why the word "why" tends to put people on the front foot and shares a simple language shift that changes the whole tone: replacing "why" with "what's causing that?" It's a small swap, but it opens conversations that might otherwise close down.  Humanergy is a leadership development firm dedicated to practical, human-centered leadership. Learn more at humanergy.com. Learn more about Humanergy's work: https://www.humanergy.com Join the Humanergy community on LinkedIn. Sign up for our FREE leadership workshops.

    2 min

  6. May 22

    Ep 246: How to Respond to Angry Customers on Social Media

    Most organizations prepare for system changes with FAQs and talking points. When Honor Credit Union switched its core banking platform overnight, 110,000 members woke up to something unfamiliar, and some of them were not happy about it. Jen Wagner and her social media team responded to nearly a thousand comments over two weeks. Not with scripted replies or copy-paste answers. With real people, talking to members like humans. The result was so striking that Honor's social team became the first-ever recipient of Humanergy's Green Path Award. In this episode of the Humanergy Leadership Podcast, David Wheatley talks with Jen about what actually made it work, months of preparation, a clear response framework, the mindset shift that kept the team energized, and why empathy is a practice, not a personality trait. If your team is heading into any kind of major change, this one's worth your time. Topics covered: How Honor's team prepared for and responded to a major core banking conversionThe three-step response structure that kept communication caring, honest, and directWhat it looks like to hire for empathy and then build systems around itWhy the most frustrating comments were actually the most valuable Humanergy is a leadership development company that helps teams do the hard work of leading well. Visit humanergy.com to learn more. Learn more about Humanergy's work: https://www.humanergy.com Join the Humanergy community on LinkedIn. Sign up for our FREE leadership workshops.

    20 min

  7. May 15

    Ep. 245: Delegation That Actually Develops People

    Delegation is one of the most talked-about leadership skills, and one of the most poorly executed. In this free workshop session, Humanergy coach Lance Satterthwaite gets into the real reasons leaders avoid delegating or do it badly, and offers concrete ways to change that. He covers four common barriers, it takes time, you love the work, you don't trust it'll get done right, and fear of losing control, along with honest questions to help leaders examine their own patterns. He also walks through Humanergy's authority matrix, a practical tool for defining decision-making levels and tracking how much ownership is actually being transferred over time. The core argument: if you're only using delegation to manage your workload, you're leaving the most important part on the table, the development of your people. This session is for leaders who want both. Find resources and upcoming free workshops at humanergy.com. Find the Authority Matrix here: https://humanergy.com/freebies/ Learn more about Humanergy's work: https://www.humanergy.com Join the Humanergy community on LinkedIn. Sign up for our FREE leadership workshops.

    19 min

  8. May 8

    Ep 244: How Do You Get Senior Leaders to Stay Strategic? (First, Change the Question)

    C-suite leaders often know their teams should be thinking strategically, and yet under pressure, those same teams keep dropping back to the tactical level. In this episode, David Wheatley, Dr. Rick Eigenbrod, and Dr. Judy Brown unpack why that keeps happening and what to do about it. The conversation starts with a reframe: the question "how do I get them to be strategic?" is itself the problem. It creates a dependency that almost guarantees teams won't take ownership. From there, they explore what actually drives the regression: unclear shared meaning of "strategic," metrics and bonuses that reward tactical behavior, the boss's own anxiety signaling what really matters, and whether team members are developmentally ready for the altitude being asked of them. Listeners will come away with a sharper diagnostic lens and a set of better questions to ask before trying to change anyone else's behavior. Learn more about Humanergy's work: https://www.humanergy.com Join the Humanergy community on LinkedIn. Sign up for our FREE leadership workshops.

    39 min
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5
out of 5
10 Ratings

About

Impactful leadership development. For 25 years, Humanergy has helped leaders cut through the noise and take real action. This podcast delivers straight-talking insights, practical tools, and expert strategies you can actually use—right away. Whether it’s a deep-dive conversation with an experienced coach or a quick, powerful tip from the field, every episode is designed to help you lead with clarity and impact. Practical, proven, and built for real-world leadership.

Information

  • Creator
    David Wheatley
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    244
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Humanergy Leadership Podcast
  • Show Website
    Humanergy Leadership Podcast

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