18 Leadership Podcasts to Inspire Growth and Cultivate Collaboration

If you're looking for some inspiring podcasts, don't worry about sifting through the 3 million+ podcast episodes out there. We've compiled 18 leadership podcasts to educate, empower, and encourage growth among your team.

Leadership Skills and Styles

Essential leadership skills include effective communication, decision-making, emotional intelligence, adaptability, and leading through change.

• The Hanselminutes Podcast by Scott Hanselman: "Engineering Leadership and Refactoring Monoliths with Kirsten Westeinde"
• The Manager's Toolbox Podcast by Lisa Cummings: “Strengths Based Conversations”

Team Building and Collaboration:

These episodes focus on building high-performing teams, fostering collaboration, creating a positive team culture, and improving team dynamics.

• True Collaboration: Team Building for the 21st Century by Alberto Garcia-Jurado: "Effective Team Leadership. It's NOT About Super-Human Beings."
• The Collaboration Superpowers Podcast by Lisette Sutherland: “Build Trust With A Side Of Metrics”

Remote Team Management:

The following episodes discuss topics like remote communication, virtual team building, productivity tools, and maintaining team cohesion.

• The Remote Leadership Podcast by Kevin Eikenberry: “The Empathy Advantage with Heather McGowan”
• Managing Remote Teams by Lukasz Szyrmer: “Designing remote collaboration with Jim Kalbach”

Project Management

Here are some episodes on project management practices such as sprint planning, prioritizing work, and managing project timelines.

• Super Creativity Podcast by James Taylor: "Project Management and Leadership With Anh Dao Pham"
• Projectified by Tye Tavaras: "Where Tech Tools and Human Skills Meet in Project Management"

Performance Management and Feedback:

Dive into topics on effective performance management techniques, providing constructive feedback, conducting performance reviews, and motivating team members.

• The Radical Candor Podcast by Kim Scott: “Are You ‘Helping’ or Micromanaging? Here's How to Tell"
• The Manager Tools Podcast by Michael Auzenne and Mark Horstman: “Delivering the Performance Review”

Coaching and Mentoring:

Coaching and mentoring is another vital part of team management. These episodes cover topics like career development, skills enhancement, and creating a learning culture within the team.

• Coaching for Leaders by Dave Stachowiak: "How to Influence Through Your Questions, with Kwame Christian"
• Sounds Good by Branden Harvey: “Navigating Change Is An Opportunity for Growth”

Emotional Well-being and Work-Life Balance:

The following episodes emphasize the importance of employee well-being, work-life balance, preventing burnout, and promoting employee engagement.

• The Life Coach School Podcast by Brooke Castillo: “Identity and Self Authority”
• WorkLife with Adam Grant by TED: "The science of personality and the art of well-being with Brian Little"

Building Empathy and Trust

These episodes discuss how building empathy and trust can help teams strengthen their bonds, improve collaboration, and achieve higher levels of performance and job satisfaction.

• Maintainable Sofware Podcast with Robby Russell (the CEO of Planet Argon!): "Empathy-Driven Software Development with Andrea Goulet"
• The Productivity Show by Asian Efficiency: "How To Build Renewal Into Your Day - Wisdom Wednesday"

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion:

You'll find that these episodes highlight the significance of diversity, equity, and inclusion while covering topics like unconscious bias, inclusive leadership practices, and creating an inclusive work culture.

• Once a Maintainer by Allison Pike: "On tackling the lack of diversity in open source and creating a deliberate, welcoming community."
• Untapped by Tariq Meyers: "The Intersection of Technology, DEIB, and Social Impact: A Conversation with Waymo's Arezoo Riahi"

No reason to stop here! Use these as a launching point to discover even more excellent leadership podcasts.

"Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow." -Ralph Waldo Emerson