Somewhere between year eight and year twelve of a knowledge-work career, something shifts. The title is good. The compensation is good. The reviews are good.

The output has never been more polished, especially in the last two years, because AI has put a layer of polish on everything you ship. But the feeling of getting visibly better, the feeling that defined your first decade, has quietly disappeared.

Most professionals misdiagnose what's happening. They call it lost motivation, burnout, or hitting their ceiling. None of those is usually the right diagnosis.

In this episode, Charles Good breaks down why mid-career professionals plateau and it's not what you think. Drawing on cognitive science research from Anders Ericsson, Robert Bjork, Monique Boekaerts, and the Harvard Business School / BCG / Dell'Acqua study on AI and consultant performance, Charles identifies the four forces quietly dulling your edge: rooms that have become too familiar, the habit of never watching your own tape, the disappearance of reflection time, and the new and accelerating cost of letting AI take your reps.

Then, using lessons from three of the greatest performers in their fields, Roger Federer rebuilding his game at thirty-two, Tom Brady studying his own film into his forties, and Michael Jordan returning to six AM workouts after three championships, Charles offers three concrete moves to put growth back inside the work you already do.

You'll learn:

• Why most professionals misdiagnose the plateau as motivation, burnout, or ceiling — and what's actually happening underneath
• The cognitive science of deliberate practice and desirable difficulty, and why effort and growth are not the same thing
• The four forces dulling your edge — including the AI dynamic that almost no one is talking about
• The Federer Move: how to find a harder room once a quarter
• The Brady Move: the four-question Friday reflection that takes fifteen minutes
• The Jordan Move and the First Draft Rule: how to use AI without letting it take the reps that build your judgment

If you've been delivering well but quietly suspect you've stopped growing, this is the episode for you.

Chapters

00:00 Michael Jordan's Breakfast Club: Why Greats Go Back to the Reps

02:00 The Mid-Career Plateau Nobody Wants to Name

04:30 Why Motivation, Burnout, and Ceiling Are the Wrong Diagnoses

06:00 You Stopped Being a Learner — The Real Reframe

08:30 Force One: Federer at Thirty-Two and the Familiar Room

12:00 Force Two: The Brady Discipline of Watching Your Own Tape

13:30 Force Three: The Reflection Loop That Never Gets Closed

14:30 Force Four: How AI Is Taking Your Reps17:30 The Federer Move — Find a Harder Room

18:30 The Brady Move — The Four-Question Friday

19:30 The Jordan Move — The First Draft Rule

20:00 Are You Still Getting Sharper?

Subscribe to The Good Leadership Podcast: [⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠] | [⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠] | [⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠]

LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/charlesagood⁠⁠⁠

Substack Channel (Outlearn to Outperform): ⁠⁠⁠charlesgood.substack.com⁠⁠⁠

LinkedIn Newsletter (The Outlearn Advantage): [⁠Subscribe⁠]

Most leaders were promoted because they had answers. But the higher you rise, the more dangerous that habit can become.

When every problem runs through you, your team gets slower. When every answer comes from you, your people stop thinking as deeply. And when your identity becomes being the helpful problem-solver, you can quietly become the bottleneck.

In this episode of The Good Leadership Podcast, Charles Good sits down with Michael Bungay Stanier, bestselling author of The Coaching Habit, to explore how leaders can stop giving advice too quickly and start building stronger, more independent teams through better coaching questions.

Michael shares insights from the 10th anniversary edition of The Coaching Habit, including why being coach-like is not about becoming a full-time coach, why the Advice Monster is so hard to tame, and how seven simple questions can transform everyday leadership conversations.

In this conversation, you’ll learn:

How to use coaching questions in five-minute conversations, not just formal coaching sessions

Why “And what else?” may be one of the most powerful leadership questions ever created

How to move from surface-level problem solving to real development by asking, “What’s the real challenge here for you?”

Why the Advice Monster shows up even in smart, well-intentioned leaders

How coaching becomes even more important in an AI age, where fast answers are everywhere but human presence, listening, and encouragement still matter most

This episode is for any leader, manager, coach, or HR/L&D professional who wants to build ownership, reduce dependency, and help people think better for themselves.

Listen now to learn how to stop rescuing, stay curious longer, and start coaching better.

Learn more about Michael Bungay Stanier: [https://www.mbs.works/about/]

Michael's book: The Coaching Habit 10th anniversary edition [https://a.co/d/0dgG1ww7]

Chapters

00:00 The Seven Essential Questions of Coaching

04:17 Navigating Challenges in Conversations

05:58 Understanding the 'What Do You Want?' Question

08:58 The Importance of Asking 'What Else?'

10:28 Avoiding the Rescuer Role in Leadership

15:10 Strategic Decision-Making: Saying No

17:27 The Paradox of Confident Humility

17:48 Building Coaching Habits Effectively

22:31 Redirecting Conversations Back to the Individual

24:01 Empowering Employees to Ask Questions

25:16 The Role of Illustrations in Learning

29:29 The Future of the Coaching Habit Podcast

32:31 Key Insights and Takeaways

Subscribe to The Good Leadership Podcast: [⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠] | [⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠] | [⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠]

LinkedIn: ⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/charlesagood⁠⁠

Substack Channel (Outlearn to Outperform): ⁠⁠charlesgood.substack.com⁠⁠

LinkedIn Newsletter (The Outlearn Advantage): [Subscribe]

Most leadership advice sounds brilliant in the moment and disappears by Monday morning.

The Good Leadership Podcast is built for leaders, managers, and high achievers who want ideas that hold up when the pressure is on.

Hosted by Charles Good, President of the Institute for Management Studies, the show features conversations with bestselling authors, researchers, experts, and recognized thought leaders on how leaders think better, grow faster, and perform under pressure.

Across more than 300 conversations with guests like Marshall Goldsmith, Sally Helgesen, Karen Dillon, Michael Bungay Stanier, and many more, Charles goes beyond the buzzwords and into the science of leadership, learning, and human performance.

No empty advice. No recycled frameworks. No ideas that sound wise but change nothing.

Follow The Good Leadership Podcast wherever you listen.

Outlearn what worked yesterday. Outthink what’s coming next. Outperform when it counts.

Most leaders underestimate how much their values shape decisions, trust, and performance, especially under pressure.

In this episode, Charles Good has a conversation with Dr. Paul Ingram, Columbia Business School professor and author of What Do You Really Stand For?, who explains why values are not soft ideals but practical tools for better leadership.

He shows how aligning your choices with your core values can strengthen decision-making, improve relationships, build resilient teams, and shape a healthier organizational culture.

You’ll learn why generic value lists often fall flat, how to uncover your real values through simple reflection, and how to turn those values into daily habits, difficult trade-offs, feedback conversations, and moments of pressure.

For leaders, executives, entrepreneurs, and anyone who wants to lead with greater clarity, purpose, integrity, and conviction, this conversation offers a practical roadmap for making your values one of your most powerful leadership assets.

Connect with Paul Ingram (https://business.columbia.edu/faculty/people/paul-ingram)

Get Paul Ingram's new book, 'What Do You Really Stand For?' (https://a.co/d/06gE6ZeM)

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Values and Leadership

04:14 The Importance of Values in Decision-Making

07:04 Practical Tools for Identifying Personal Values

09:44 Reflection Exercises for Value Identification

12:31 Laddering Technique for Deeper Value Understanding

19:21 Embodied Cognition and Values

23:22 Structuring Values for Decision-Making

25:01 Ranking Values for Better Choices

27:25 Value-Based Decision Making: A Case Study

30:53 Activating Values in Daily Leadership

34:38 Building a Values Affirmation Habit

41:09 Understanding Values in Relationships and Conflict

47:41 Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation in Leadership

54:54 Long-Term Value Alignment vs. Short-Term Gains

1:00:21 Key Insights and Takeaways

Subscribe to The Good LeadershipPodcast: [⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠] | [⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠] | [⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠]

LinkedIn: ⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/charlesagood⁠⁠

Substack Channel (Outlearn toOutperform): ⁠⁠charlesgood.substack.com⁠⁠

LinkedIn Newsletter (The Outlearn Advantage): [Subscribe]

Why are so many organizations one departure away from a leadership gap? Why do succession plans often fail when tested? And what leaders do to build real bench strength before it is too late?

Drawing on current research, real organizational pain points, and the science of how leaders actually develop, Charles Good unpacks a better way to think about succession planning.

In this episode, you will learn:

Why naming a successor is not the same as preparing one

How weak succession planning creates key-person dependency

Why leadership pipelines are often thinner than they look

What stretch assignments, coaching, reinforcement, and deliberate practice have to do with readiness

How to build an organization that gets stronger because of how it develops people

If you are a business leader, HR executive, talent leader, or founder trying to build a stronger future, this episode will challenge how you think about succession planning.

Chapters

00:00 The Cost of Leadership Turnover

01:36 Understanding Leadership Bench Strength

03:28 Identifying Pain Points in Succession Planning

07:32 Generational Challenges in Leadership

11:09 Building a Development System

17:20 Proving Leadership Development Through Performance

20:30 The Path Forward in Succession Planning

22:34 Key Insights and Takeaways

Subscribe to The Good LeadershipPodcast: [⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠] | [⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠] | [⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠]

LinkedIn: ⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/charlesagood⁠⁠

Substack Channel (Outlearn toOutperform): ⁠⁠charlesgood.substack.com⁠⁠

LinkedIn Newsletter (The Outlearn Advantage): [Subscribe]

How do companies and leaders stay strong when markets shift, headlines intensify, and pressure rises?

In this episode of The Good Leadership Podcast, Charles Good talks with Matt Carstens about what leadership looks like when volatility becomes the norm.

Drawing from experience across agriculture, sustainability, finance, and turnaround leadership, Matt explains how strong leaders stay steady when markets shift, headlines intensify, and pressure rises.

The conversation explores how to focus teams, make better decisions under uncertainty, lead change without panic, and distinguish real strategy from noise.

Matt Carstens is a seasoned executive leader with nearly 30 years of experience in the food and agriculture industries. He is known for his strategic vision, transformative leadership, and ability to drive growth in complex, competitive markets. W

With leadership experience at organizations such as Land O’Lakes, United Suppliers, and Landus, Matt brings deep expertise in innovation, sales growth, mergers and acquisitions, and high-performing team building.

Connect with Matt Carstens (https://matt-carstens.com/)

Chapters

00:00 The Essence of Leadership in Uncertainty

02:01 Identifying Organizational Pain Points

04:23 The Challenge of Change Management

09:08 Navigating External Volatility

12:57 Maintaining Focus Amidst Chaos

15:36 Sustainability: Words vs. Actions

18:44 Understanding Customer Needs for Growth

19:21 The Importance of Face-to-Face Interaction

23:04 Navigating Change in Agriculture

24:50 Adoption of Technology and Innovation

28:15 Hiring for Cultural Fit

30:18 Balancing Change and Pressure

35:08 The Future of Agriculture

36:56 Key Insights and Takeaways

Subscribe to The Good LeadershipPodcast: [⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠] | [⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠] | [⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠]

LinkedIn: ⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/charlesagood⁠⁠

Substack Channel (Outlearn toOutperform): ⁠⁠charlesgood.substack.com⁠⁠

LinkedIn Newsletter (The Outlearn Advantage): [Subscribe]

What actually makes learning stick when it matters most?

In this episode of The Good Leadership Podcast, Charles Good sits down with Dr. Megan Sumeracki to explore the science of effective learning and why so many common study habits fail to produce lasting performance.

They unpack the power of retrieval practice, the role of growth mindset in sustained improvement, and practical tools like the WHOOP framework to help learners turn good intentions into meaningful action.

Whether you are a leader, educator, student, or lifelong learner, this conversation offers research-backed strategies to strengthen memory, improve retention, and transfer learning into real-world results. If you want to learn smarter, remember more, and perform better under pressure, this episode is for you.

Connect with Megan (https://www.learningscientists.org/megan-sumeracki)

The Learning Scientists (https://www.learningscientists.org/)

Get Megan's book (https://a.co/d/066BK5Mf)

In this episode:

00:00 The Learning Gap: Understanding Memory and Learning

01:52 The Power of Retrieval Practice

03:18 Assessments and Their Formats

08:06 Scaffolding Retrieval for Effective Learning

10:59 Implementing the WHOOP Strategy

14:49 Barriers to Effective Learning Strategies

20:21 The Impact of Mindset on Learning

24:33 Learning Myths & Future of Learning

29:20 Learning Strategy Effectiveness for Adults

31:35 Key Takeaways

Subscribe to The Good Leadership Podcast: [⁠Apple Podcasts⁠] | [⁠Spotify⁠] | [⁠YouTube⁠]

LinkedIn: ⁠linkedin.com/in/charlesagood⁠

Substack Channel (Outlearn to Outperform): ⁠charlesgood.substack.com⁠

LinkedIn Newsletter (The Outlearn Advantage): [⁠Subscribe⁠]

Is AI making your people more capable, or just more dependent?

In this solo episode of The Good Leadership Podcast, Charles Good explores one of the most important leadership questions of the AI era: what happens to judgment, expertise, and human thinking when AI starts doing more of the cognitive heavy lifting?

Drawing on research from Ethan Mollick, Boston Consulting Group, behavioral science, learning science, aviation, chess, and real-world leadership practice, Charles unpacks the hidden capability gap that can form beneath rising productivity.

He reveals why higher output does not always mean stronger people, how AI can either sharpen or replace human thinking, and what leaders must do now to ensure their organizations are not just faster, but genuinely smarter.

Chapters

00:00 The Impact of AI on Human Capability

02:39 Understanding AI Adoption and Transformation

04:53 The Hidden Capability Gap

06:59 The Autopilot Problem and Its Lessons

09:21 Cyborgs vs. Centaurs: Human-AI Collaboration

11:30 The Generation Effect and Learning Frameworks

13:33 Categorizing Capabilities: Risks and Strategies

15:27 Patterns of AI Use: Replacement vs. Sharpening

18:35 Practical Steps for Leaders

20:11 The Future of Human and AI Collaboration

21:07 Key Insights and Takeaways

Subscribe to The Good LeadershipPodcast: [⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠] | [⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠] | [⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠]

LinkedIn: ⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/charlesagood⁠⁠

Substack Channel (Outlearn toOutperform): ⁠⁠charlesgood.substack.com⁠⁠

LinkedIn Newsletter (The Outlearn Advantage): [Subscribe]