Dr. John Delony joins Dr. Matt Paden on Bad Days Leadership.

In this episode, John shares the story of getting publicly exposed for pretending to understand a $20M financial decision, why he spent 15 years thinking "never say I don't know" was good leadership, and the hiring blind spot he still can't fix. They also break down what real crisis leadership looks like (from a bus wreck that sent students to five hospitals), why feedback only works inside relationship, and the three phrases John uses daily to stay regulated as a leader.

Dr. Kathy Crockett — executive coach, keynote speaker, founder of the Kathy Crockett Company, and facilitator of the Lead Well leadership groups — joins Dr. Matt Paden on the first episode of the Bad Days Leadership podcast. Kathy gets honest about steamrolling two teams with an "amazing idea" she pushed through without thinking about the ripple effects, walking into rooms completely blind to the political dynamics everyone else could see, and the gut-wrenching decision to end a program she helped build from scratch. She breaks down why grit has a shadow side, how servant leadership gets twisted into a badge of burnout, and why the jump from doing the work to leading the people doing the work is bigger than anyone prepares you for. Plus — what happened when she finally asked her daughter about the year she felt like a failure as a mom.