Dr. Darwin Mason Jr. — educator, minister, consultant, and community leader — joins Dr. Matt Paden on the Bad Days Leadership podcast. Darwin opens up about walking into a turnaround school with a superhero complex, only to learn the staff was still grieving the leader he replaced. He shares how a bad hire derailed two and a half years of progress because he wasn't courageous enough to have the hard conversation soon enough, why loving the idea of leadership without loving the people is a recipe for disconnection, and how leading 700 kids also meant leading every parent and stakeholder attached to the building. From kindergarten bags that couldn't be changed to body language red flags he watches for in every room, Darwin brings real talk on humility, trust, and why failure isn't the end of the road — it's part of the process.

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.