Lead the Team (Top 2% of Podcasts)

Ben Fanning
  • 4.8 (66)
  • CAREERS
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Real CEOs. Real Stories. Hosted by Ben Fanning—2025 Gold Stevie Award winner for Best Business Podcast and ranked in the Top 2% globally—Lead the Team draws on over 600 CEO interviews to take you inside the minds of leaders from brands like Honeywell, HP, IBM, Dunkin’, and L’Oréal. In each episode, you’ll hear raw, unfiltered stories of leading through rapid growth, high-stakes decisions, and make-or-break moments—plus the CEO-tested tools and strategies they use to build high-performing teams. From turning around billion-dollar brands to sparking innovation at scale, these leaders share lessons you can put into action right now to lead your own team better. Subscribe now. ------------- https://www.benfanning.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/benfanning/

  1. The $1.1B Transformation Most Leaders Fail (Winpak's Chief Operational Excellence Officer, Randall Troutman)

    3D AGO

    The $1.1B Transformation Most Leaders Fail (Winpak's Chief Operational Excellence Officer, Randall Troutman)

    THE TRANSFORMATION WALL Randall Troutman, Winpak's, Chief Operational Excellence Officer leads a massive $1.1 billion transformation, tasked with turning 13 independent "kingdoms" into one efficient operating system. But there’s a moment in every change effort where leaders mistake resistance for failure, and that’s when teams stop following. Randall discovered that project success is never about the initial launch; it’s about what you do when the "physics of people" takes over. We went deep into the "Valley of Despair" in this interview... ...that predictable, dangerous phase where the initial hype dies and the true energy requirement sets in. EVERY BIG project I've ever been part of hits make-or-break moment! It’s the exact point where most leaders flame out, pack up, and say, "I knew it wouldn't work". In this episode, you'll discover: - How to recognize the "Valley" phase in real-time before it stalls your progress. - Why most change efforts quietly die exactly when they should be accelerating. - The framework for keeping thousands moving when fatigue and doubt peak. - The "Visual Roadmap" Randall used to make a global crisis actionable. If your initiative feels stalled, you aren't failing....you're just hitting THE WALL. It takes a courageous leader to admit they've lost momentum, but it takes a PRO to expect it and share the map to get out. Question: Ever had a big project lose momentum? What helped? ----- Connect with the Host, #1 bestselling author Ben Fanning Speaking and Training inquires Subscribe to my Youtube channel LinkedIn Instagram Twitter

    42 min
  2. How Great Leaders Navigate Uncertainty (CEO Jed Ayres, ControlUp)

    5D AGO

    How Great Leaders Navigate Uncertainty (CEO Jed Ayres, ControlUp)

    Leaders Are Built in the Blur. Jed Ayres, CEO of ControlUp, told me something most leaders won’t say out loud: Clarity usually comes after you move, not before. If you’re waiting for the perfect signal…You’re already late. That “responsible” decision you’re about to make? It might be the very thing slowing your flywheel before it ever turns. We talked about what it really takes to move when things aren’t clear: - When the leader (who drove 600% revenue growth in three years and a $1B valuation) believes the safe decision becomes the most dangerous one. - How a former dishwasher turned hotel owner turned tech CEO learned to scale transformation — long before collecting 10,000 metrics every three seconds. - What six Ironmans teach you about pushing when nothing feels like it’s moving. There’s a mental shift required when you can’t see the finish line. Many leaders miss it. So consider "Are you leading…or too focused protecting your downside?" Have you ever confused “responsible” with fear? ----- Learn more about Jed and his organization here: https://www.controlup.com/ ----- Connect with the Host, #1 bestselling author Ben Fanning Speaking and Training inquires Subscribe to my Youtube channel LinkedIn Instagram Twitter

    46 min
  3. The Question That Reset Avaya (CEO Patrick Dennis)

    FEB 22

    The Question That Reset Avaya (CEO Patrick Dennis)

    That first all-hands. Patrick Dennis, CEO of Avaya, walked in expecting nerves and optimism. Instead, one question he was asked changed the room. It wasn’t dramatic or confrontational. But it was revealing. It showed to him that the organization wasn’t aligned on reality. And misalignment at that level doesn’t stay neutral. It compounds. I’ve seen this pattern more times than I can count. Leaders hear a question and assume pushback. But sometimes the question asked IS THE DATA. Sometimes the raised hand is the WARNING LIGHT. What inspired me most in our conversation was how Patrick responded. No corporate speak or protecting people from the numbers. You'll hear in our conversation how he chose to communicate with clarity, knowing it would cost comfort. That decision shifted everything and ultimately made HUGE results possible. It shifted the organization's trajectory. So, when your team asks the uncomfortable question, how often do you treat it as resistance or as information? ----- Connect with the Host, #1 bestselling author Ben Fanning Speaking and Training inquires Subscribe to my Youtube channel LinkedIn Instagram Twitter

    47 min
  4. What Only Hard Seasons Teach (CEO Planview's Matt Zilli)

    FEB 18

    What Only Hard Seasons Teach (CEO Planview's Matt Zilli)

    The Hard Season Matt Zilli, CEO of Planview, told me the hardest years of leading a company through billion-dollar growth (including restructures, tough people decisions, and uncertainty) became the most valuable leadership training of his career. That really resonated for me. Some of the most uncomfortable stretches building my podcasts and business were the exact moments I wondered if I should pivot, slow down, or walk away. The audience wasn’t growing yet. The results weren’t obvious. The path felt uncertain. Ever had the "uncomfortable stretch"? You know, those seasons forced me to get clearer, tougher, and more patient as a leader. Matt called it in our conversation “SCAR TISSUE"...the kind you only earn by staying in the work when it’s not fun, not fast, and not guaranteed. Wins build confidence. Hard seasons build leaders. Looking back, the seasons I wanted to escape were often the ones doing the most to shape how I lead today. Question: Do you think we leave the hard season too early or make a mistake by preventing it all together? ----- Connect with the Host, #1 bestselling author Ben Fanning Speaking and Training inquires Subscribe to my Youtube channel LinkedIn Instagram Twitter

    34 min
  5. Repeat Elite Performance (The Change that Matters)- CEO John Leach of FLS Transportation

    FEB 16

    Repeat Elite Performance (The Change that Matters)- CEO John Leach of FLS Transportation

    Is obsession with "The Win" actually preventing it? John Leach CEO of FLS Transportation shared with me that fixating on the win is the fastest way to lose control. He breaks down what happens when he walked away from "personality-first" leadership to build a system where success isn’t a roll of the dice. It made me reflect on some of my own team's results where we delivered short term but they weren't always sustainable. Wish I'd chatted with John years ago! We discuss: The End of the "Charismatic" Leader: Why being "outgoing" eventually fails and the specific system that must replace it.Volatility Proofing: How to lead through government-induced market shifts and economic chaos.Transactional vs. Transformational: The only shift that allows you to scale a resilient team.The CEO Secret: Why elite performers ignore the final numbers to focus on controllable actions. Stop chasing the outcome. Start mastering the activity. Question: Could your team repeat last year's wins without you looking over their shoulder? ----- Connect with the Host, #1 bestselling author Ben Fanning Speaking and Training inquires Subscribe to my Youtube channel LinkedIn Instagram Twitter

    34 min
  6. Monetize Your Leadership (Thinkific CEO & Founder Greg Smith)

    FEB 8

    Monetize Your Leadership (Thinkific CEO & Founder Greg Smith)

    Missed Opportunity. Greg Smith, Founder of Thinkific, shared with me how most leaders are sitting on their most undervalued asset: their own expertise. And I’ve been guilty of this too. For years, I thought growth meant building something new (a new product, new offering, new initiative). BUT some of the biggest growth I’ve seen (in my own business and with companies I work with) came from teaching what they already knew. Not as marketing. Not as training. As a product. When leaders and their organizations share their thinking clearly and consistently, something powerful happens: Trust grows faster. A new sales channel opens. Revenue flows. Education and training used to be a COST CENTER. Now it’s becoming the new GROWTH CHANNEL. And truly, it makes sense because customers don’t just want vendors anymore. They want guides. Why are leaders still hesitant to monetize what they already know? ----- Connect with the Host, #1 bestselling author Ben Fanning Speaking and Training inquires Subscribe to my Youtube channel LinkedIn Instagram Twitter

    40 min
  7. The RISK of Your Top Performers (CEO Americas at Nortal, Alain Dias)

    FEB 1

    The RISK of Your Top Performers (CEO Americas at Nortal, Alain Dias)

    High performance deceives. Alain Dias, CEO of Nortal Americas, knows a thing or two about building at scale..after all his team helped build the world’s very first "digital nation." When a leader with his kind of track record speaks about growth, I'm in! His interview is a gut-check for most organizations: If your expansion depends on a "Hero," you aren't ready to scale. In many cultures, we celebrate the "firefighter" who pulls the all-nighter to save the project. We give them the shout-outs and the awards. But as Alain points out, constant heroics are actually a warning sign. When you rely on individual brilliance to save the day, you aren't building a resilient business...you’re building a dependency. Beware "The Heroic Trap": - The Bottleneck: Critical knowledge stays trapped in one person’s head. - The Single Point of Failure: Your best people become your biggest risk for burnout. - The Chaos: As growth accelerates, clarity vanishes, and your "Hero" simply can't keep up. What I admire about Alain’s approach is the focus on maturity. World-class leadership is designing systems that make heroics unnecessary. Your vision can’t outrun your systems. Have you seen the limits of heroics? ----- Connect with the Host, #1 bestselling author Ben Fanning Speaking and Training inquires Subscribe to my Youtube channel LinkedIn Instagram Twitter

    35 min
  8. Scaling Deceives (Here's Why) - CEO of Forescout, Barry Mainz

    JAN 23

    Scaling Deceives (Here's Why) - CEO of Forescout, Barry Mainz

    Scale deceives. Barry Mainz, CEO of Forescout Technologies Inc., reveals how leaders unknowingly become responsible for massive risks they never personally approved. As your organization grows, leadership doesn’t just get harder, the real issues become harder to see. More effort stops producing better outcomes. And more hustle just starts masking risk. Barry’s work shows something unsettling: even elite tech leaders are often blind to 30–50% of the devices actually connected to their networks inside their own organizations. But that’s not a technology failure; it’s a leadership one. In our conversation, you’ll discover: - The Hidden Effort Tipping Point - The Great Leadership Management Flip - The Habit That Sabotages Scale - Why Hustle Is A Warning - The Dangerous Illusion Of Control If you spend all your time working in the business, you’ll may miss the off-radar decisions forming around you...until they surface as a crisis. A leadership question to consider: Is the leader who knows every detail actually a pro… or just a bottleneck in disguise?

    31 min
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Trailer

4.8
out of 5
66 Ratings

About

Real CEOs. Real Stories. Hosted by Ben Fanning—2025 Gold Stevie Award winner for Best Business Podcast and ranked in the Top 2% globally—Lead the Team draws on over 600 CEO interviews to take you inside the minds of leaders from brands like Honeywell, HP, IBM, Dunkin’, and L’Oréal. In each episode, you’ll hear raw, unfiltered stories of leading through rapid growth, high-stakes decisions, and make-or-break moments—plus the CEO-tested tools and strategies they use to build high-performing teams. From turning around billion-dollar brands to sparking innovation at scale, these leaders share lessons you can put into action right now to lead your own team better. Subscribe now. ------------- https://www.benfanning.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/benfanning/

Information

  • Creator
    Ben Fanning
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    435
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 Ben Fanning

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