The Leadership Buzz | Work Hard. Tell the Truth.

Buzz Buzzell
  • 5.0 (7)
  • Management

The Leadership Buzz is a short, practical leadership development podcast for managers, executives, and anyone who wants to lead better. Hosted by retired Air Force Colonel and executive coach Lloyd “Buzz” Buzzell, ACC, it draws on 37 years of military leadership from enlisted Airman to colonel. Each episode explores one leadership concept, supported by an idea from a respected leadership book and a real story from Buzz’s experience. You’ll leave with practical takeaways and three coaching questions to help you build trust, develop people, make better decisions, and grow as a leader.

  1. 1d ago

    Values to Action Part 2 | Balanced Perspective

    Send us Fan Mail Two leaders can walk away from the same meeting with completely different stories. And both can sincerely believe they're telling the truth. That's more than a communication challenge. It's a leadership challenge. Because the moment we assume our perspective is the whole picture, we stop listening and start defending. In Part 2 of our series on Harry Kraemer's From Values to Action, we explore his second principle of values-based leadership: balanced perspective. Balanced perspective isn't about avoiding difficult decisions or treating every opinion as equally valid. It's about listening, challenging our assumptions, and recognizing what we might be missing. I share an experience from my time as an Air Force squadron commander when good people sincerely believed something had happened that the mechanical and procedural facts simply couldn't support. It taught me an important lesson: Sincerity and accuracy aren't always the same thing. We also explore what accountability looks like when things go wrong, how leaders can respectfully disagree and still work together, and why some of the most valuable leadership conversations begin with a question rather than advice. Finally, we consider the 168 hours we're given each week. What does the way we spend them reveal about our priorities? Because sometimes working harder isn't the same as leading better. I'll leave you with three coaching questions to challenge your own perspective. If this episode resonates with you, share it with another leader, subscribe to The Leadership Buzz, and join us next week as we continue exploring values-based leadership. Work hard. Tell the truth. The Leadership Buzz is hosted by Lloyd “Buzz” Buzzell, an ICF-ACC executive coach, DISC practitioner, and retired U.S. Air Force officer with 37 years of leadership experience. Each episode focuses on one book, one idea, and one practical leadership concept to help you align your behavior with your values and lead with greater clarity, trust, and impact. If you’re a leader who wants to build stronger teams, improve communication, and create real ownership, subscribe and share this episode with someone on your team. Connect with Buzz on LinkedIn or visit workhardtellthetruth.com for coaching and leadership development resources. Work hard. Tell the truth.

  2. Oct 12

    Values to Action Part 1 | Self-Reflection

    Send us Fan Mail How well do you know yourself as a leader—especially when you are tired, stressed, disappointed, or convinced you are right? In Part 1 of our Values to Action series, Buzz explores self-reflection as the foundation of values-based leadership. Drawing on Harry Kraemer’s book, From Values to Action, this episode looks at the connection between self-awareness, values, behavior, and leadership. Buzz shares two personal stories from his Air Force career: a painful non-selection for an elite military school and a later decision to accept a demanding missile-unit leadership role with no guarantees. Both experiences raised an important question: Are we leading and serving from our values—or simply pursuing the next opportunity? You will also hear why honest feedback can be difficult for leaders to receive and how the military practice of an after-action review can become a personal tool for reflection and growth. This episode closes with three coaching questions to help you identify blind spots, close the gap between what you say matters and how you show up, and lead yourself more intentionally. Subscribe for the rest of this four-part series on values-based leadership. The Leadership Buzz is hosted by Lloyd “Buzz” Buzzell, an ICF-ACC executive coach, DISC practitioner, and retired U.S. Air Force officer with 37 years of leadership experience. Each episode focuses on one book, one idea, and one practical leadership concept to help you align your behavior with your values and lead with greater clarity, trust, and impact. If you’re a leader who wants to build stronger teams, improve communication, and create real ownership, subscribe and share this episode with someone on your team. Connect with Buzz on LinkedIn or visit workhardtellthetruth.com for coaching and leadership development resources. Work hard. Tell the truth.

  3. Oct 5

    Never Split the Difference | Tactical Empathy for Better Leadership Conversations

    Send us Fan Mail How can leaders handle difficult conversations without giving in or escalating the conflict? In this episode of The Leadership Buzz, Buzz Buzzell explores tactical empathy from Chris Voss’s bestselling negotiation book, Never Split the Difference. Tactical empathy is not agreement, and it is not lowering the standard. It is understanding what a situation feels like from the other person’s side and showing them you hear it. Buzz shares practical leadership communication tools from Chapter 3, including Voss’s “labeling” technique: phrases such as “It sounds like…” and “It seems like….” He also tells a story from nuclear operations where a disagreement with another organization shifted when he acknowledged their frustration. If you lead people, manage conflict, negotiate, or need to have a hard conversation at work, this episode will help you build trust and move the conversation forward. You will also get three coaching questions to practice tactical empathy this week. Work hard. Tell the truth. Subscribe so you do not miss future conversations, and if this helps, share it with a leader who is navigating tough talks and leave a rating or review so more people can find the show. The Leadership Buzz is hosted by Lloyd “Buzz” Buzzell, an ICF-ACC executive coach, DISC practitioner, and retired U.S. Air Force officer with 37 years of leadership experience. Each episode focuses on one book, one idea, and one practical leadership concept to help you align your behavior with your values and lead with greater clarity, trust, and impact. If you’re a leader who wants to build stronger teams, improve communication, and create real ownership, subscribe and share this episode with someone on your team. Connect with Buzz on LinkedIn or visit workhardtellthetruth.com for coaching and leadership development resources. Work hard. Tell the truth.

  4. Sep 28

    The Motive by Patrick Lencioni: Leadership Responsibility vs. Reward

    Send us Fan Mail Why do you want to lead? In this episode of The Leadership Buzz, Buzz explores The Motive by Patrick Lencioni and the difference between reward-centered leadership and responsibility-centered leadership. Leadership can bring recognition, authority, and opportunity. But real leadership also means having difficult conversations, giving clear feedback, making hard decisions, developing people, and staying engaged when the work gets uncomfortable. Buzz shares lessons from military leadership, including a piece of feedback he once received: “You care too much about people.” His response is at the heart of this episode: caring about people is not soft leadership. Caring means setting clear standards, holding people accountable, helping them grow, and having the conversation you may be tempted to avoid. This leadership podcast is for managers, executives, and emerging leaders who want to build trust, strengthen team culture, improve communication, and lead with both accountability and care. Listen for practical leadership development ideas on running better meetings, creating clarity, communicating priorities, developing your team, and examining your own motive for leading. What is your real motive for leading? Subscribe, share this episode with a leader who would benefit from it, and leave a rating or review to help more leaders find The Leadership Buzz. The Leadership Buzz is hosted by Lloyd “Buzz” Buzzell, an ICF-ACC executive coach, DISC practitioner, and retired U.S. Air Force officer with 37 years of leadership experience. Each episode focuses on one book, one idea, and one practical leadership concept to help you align your behavior with your values and lead with greater clarity, trust, and impact. If you’re a leader who wants to build stronger teams, improve communication, and create real ownership, subscribe and share this episode with someone on your team. Connect with Buzz on LinkedIn or visit workhardtellthetruth.com for coaching and leadership development resources. Work hard. Tell the truth.

  5. Sep 21

    Gregg Popovich Leadership Lessons: Building a Winning Team Culture

    Send us Fan Mail Talent can win a game. Culture is what helps a team keep winning over time, especially when things get difficult. In this episode, I use Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs as a leadership case study. Their success was not just about having great players. It was built on clear standards, unselfish play, accountability, and trust. Their “beautiful game” meant the best shot mattered more than who got the credit. I also connect it to my years in Air Force nuclear operations. The mission could not depend on one person having a good day. There was always a backup, shared responsibility, and people who knew when to speak up. Good teams do not let all the knowledge sit with one person. They cross-train, develop others, and help one another get the work right. Popovich was known for being direct, but he also took time to know his players as people. That is an important reminder for leaders. High standards work best when people know you care about them and are invested in their success. I close with three coaching questions to help you think about your own team culture, standards, and the talent you may not be fully using. If this episode is helpful, please subscribe, share it with someone who leads a team, and leave a rating or review. The Leadership Buzz is hosted by Lloyd “Buzz” Buzzell, an ICF-ACC executive coach, DISC practitioner, and retired U.S. Air Force officer with 37 years of leadership experience. Each episode focuses on one book, one idea, and one practical leadership concept to help you align your behavior with your values and lead with greater clarity, trust, and impact. If you’re a leader who wants to build stronger teams, improve communication, and create real ownership, subscribe and share this episode with someone on your team. Connect with Buzz on LinkedIn or visit workhardtellthetruth.com for coaching and leadership development resources. Work hard. Tell the truth.

  6. Sep 14

    Purpose: Helping People See Why Their Work Matters | Drive, Part 3

    Send us Fan Mail Nothing is more draining than giving your best to work that feels invisible. In Part 3 of our Drive series, Buzz explores purpose at work and why leaders must help people see how their daily effort connects to a larger mission. Drawing on 37 years of Air Force leadership and nuclear operations, he reflects on a mission where long shifts, rigid procedures, and routine work often led to one measure of success: nothing happened. That was not failure. In strategic deterrence, readiness and credibility exist to prevent the worst outcome. Buzz shares how leaders can keep the mission visible, recognize people who carry the load on nights, weekends, and holidays, and connect behind-the-scenes work to the people it serves. Purpose is not a slogan, poster, or one-time speech. It is a leadership habit. You will also hear three coaching questions to help overlooked contributors feel seen, strengthen employee engagement, and tie daily work to the bigger mission. Subscribe to The Leadership Buzz for leadership lessons on autonomy, mastery, purpose, coaching, and values-based leadership. Work hard. Tell the truth. The Leadership Buzz is hosted by Lloyd “Buzz” Buzzell, an ICF-ACC executive coach, DISC practitioner, and retired U.S. Air Force officer with 37 years of leadership experience. Each episode focuses on one book, one idea, and one practical leadership concept to help you align your behavior with your values and lead with greater clarity, trust, and impact. If you’re a leader who wants to build stronger teams, improve communication, and create real ownership, subscribe and share this episode with someone on your team. Connect with Buzz on LinkedIn or visit workhardtellthetruth.com for coaching and leadership development resources. Work hard. Tell the truth.

  7. Sep 7

    Mastery: Ambition Isn’t Always a Promotion | Drive, Part 2

    Send us Fan Mail The most overlooked kind of ambition is the person who stops chasing the next title and starts chasing the next level of skill. We pick up part two of our Daniel Pink Drive series to talk about mastery, the desire to get better and better at something that matters, and why great leadership makes room for growth that does not look like a promotion. I share lessons from 37 years in the Air Force, including how blunt, specific feedback changed my trajectory and how debriefs create a culture of learning instead of a culture of guessing. We get practical about what mastery looks like day to day: asking for direct feedback that you can actually use, focusing on craft, and building confidence through disciplined improvement. If you lead people, you will also hear what to do when someone is struggling and how to set clear expectations without turning coaching into a performance of authority. We also zoom out to the organizational challenge: systems that reward climbing can miss the quiet go-to experts who make teams safer, faster, and better. We talk about how to recognize deep expertise, how to keep technical talent motivated, and why relying on a single “only one who knows” expert becomes a leadership risk. The win is helping experts teach, mentor, and multiply what they know so mastery spreads. Subscribe to The Leadership Buzz, share this with a leader who values craft, and leave a rating or review so more people can find these coaching questions. The Leadership Buzz is hosted by Lloyd “Buzz” Buzzell, an ICF-ACC executive coach, DISC practitioner, and retired U.S. Air Force officer with 37 years of leadership experience. Each episode focuses on one book, one idea, and one practical leadership concept to help you align your behavior with your values and lead with greater clarity, trust, and impact. If you’re a leader who wants to build stronger teams, improve communication, and create real ownership, subscribe and share this episode with someone on your team. Connect with Buzz on LinkedIn or visit workhardtellthetruth.com for coaching and leadership development resources. Work hard. Tell the truth.

  8. Aug 31

    Autonomy: When Leaders Give Up Control | Drive, Part 1

    Send us Fan Mail Autonomy can sound risky, especially when the stakes are high. But when the mission is clear and the boundaries are real, autonomy is not freedom from responsibility. It is a performance advantage. In Part 1 of our Drive series, Buzz explores Daniel Pink’s first key motivator: autonomy. Drawing on 37 years of Air Force leadership and nuclear operations, he shares a story from an inspection-heavy simulator evaluation. Rather than prescribe every detail, he stepped back and let young officers lead the preparation. They built training around what the crew actually needed—and the result was better than the plan he would have created himself. Buzz also examines the other side: what happens when leaders micromanage, require permission for every decision, or quietly signal that capable people cannot be trusted. The result is often compliance, not ownership. If you lead in business, government, healthcare, or another high-reliability environment, this episode offers practical ways to set clear expectations, establish boundaries, and give people room to use their judgment. Subscribe for Part 2: Mastery: Ambition Isn’t Always a Promotion. Work hard. Tell the truth. The Leadership Buzz is hosted by Lloyd “Buzz” Buzzell, an ICF-ACC executive coach, DISC practitioner, and retired U.S. Air Force officer with 37 years of leadership experience. Each episode focuses on one book, one idea, and one practical leadership concept to help you align your behavior with your values and lead with greater clarity, trust, and impact. If you’re a leader who wants to build stronger teams, improve communication, and create real ownership, subscribe and share this episode with someone on your team. Connect with Buzz on LinkedIn or visit workhardtellthetruth.com for coaching and leadership development resources. Work hard. Tell the truth.

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The Leadership Buzz is a short, practical leadership development podcast for managers, executives, and anyone who wants to lead better. Hosted by retired Air Force Colonel and executive coach Lloyd “Buzz” Buzzell, ACC, it draws on 37 years of military leadership from enlisted Airman to colonel. Each episode explores one leadership concept, supported by an idea from a respected leadership book and a real story from Buzz’s experience. You’ll leave with practical takeaways and three coaching questions to help you build trust, develop people, make better decisions, and grow as a leader.

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