The Podcast App has a curated collection of leadership podcasts perfect for new managers. You can find shows that cover topics like delegation, team building, and effective communication to help you grow into your new role.
Find the Best Leadership Podcasts to Fuel Your Growth
Last updated: March 2026
In the world of business and personal development, leadership is a skill that requires constant nurturing. Podcasts are an incredible resource for learning from the best minds in the world.
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The Best Leadership Podcasts in 2026
Sharpen how you lead with coaching, management craft, and hard-won lessons. Listen free in The Podcast App.
Listen to all 12 of these free in The Podcast App — with limited offline listening, no app-inserted ads, and optional AI summaries.
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#1Coaching for Leaders
Dave Stachowiak
Dave Stachowiak turns leadership research into concrete weekly practice.
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#2ReThinking with Adam Grant
TED
Organizational psychologist Adam Grant interviews leaders and thinkers to question the assumptions behind how we lead, decide, and grow.
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#3HBR IdeaCast
Harvard Business Review
Harvard Business Review's weekly conversations with management thinkers.
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#4The Look & Sound of Leadership
Essential Communications - Tom Henschel
Bite-size executive coaching on presence and communication.
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#5Coaching Real Leaders
Muriel Wilkins
Muriel Wilkins coaches real leaders through real career dilemmas, live.
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#6Craig Groeschel Leadership Podcast
Life.Church
Practical, energetic leadership lessons for teams of any size.
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#7Maxwell Leadership Podcast
John Maxwell
John Maxwell's enduring principles on growing influence.
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#8The Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast
Andy Stanley
Monthly, focused lessons on making better leadership decisions.
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#9The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk
Ryan Hawk
Ryan Hawk interviews high-performing leaders across sport, business, and the military and distills each conversation into repeatable habits. Nearly 700 episodes deep, it is one of the longest-running leadership interview shows and a fixture on 2026 leadership-podcast rankings. Start with '695: Andy Stumpf - Leadership Lessons From SEAL Team Six, Discipline vs. Motivation' (July 2026) in the Learning Leader Show feed.
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#10Radical Candor: Communication at Work
Kim Scott, Jason Rosoff & Amy Sandler
Kim Scott, author of Radical Candor, with Jason Rosoff and Amy Sandler coach managers on feedback that is caring and direct at once. It focuses on the mechanics of the conversations most leaders avoid, making it a practical pick for the 'leadership and management' searcher. Start with 'Dr. Becky Kennedy - Good Inside' (July 2026) in the Radical Candor feed; earlier episodes cover the core feedback framework.
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#11No Bullsh!t Leadership
Martin G Moore
Former CEO Martin G. Moore delivers blunt, tactical management advice in tight roughly 20-minute episodes covering hiring, performance, and hard decisions without jargon. With nearly 600 episodes it is a go-to for practicing managers who want playbooks over theory. Start with 'The 2 Hardest Conversations You'll Have With Your Top Talent' (July 2026) in the No Bullsh!t Leadership feed.
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#12A Bit of Optimism
Simon Sinek
Simon Sinek, author of Start With Why, has warm, curious conversations about leadership and being human first, from resilience to communication. It balances the tactical shows on this list with a more reflective, values-led take on leading people. Start with 'The AI Skills Nobody is Teaching (And Everyone Needs) with AI Expert Ethan Mollick' (June 2026) in the A Bit of Optimism feed.
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Listen to all 12 in one place
Free core listening with no app-inserted ads, limited offline listening, and optional AI summaries from Podcast Brain — all in The Podcast App.
Sources and further reading
- Coaching for LeadersOfficial site for Dave Stachowiak's Coaching for Leaders podcast (independently produced weekly since 2011).
- ReThinking with Adam Grant (TED)Official TED show page for Adam Grant's leadership and psychology interview podcast.
- HBR IdeaCast (Harvard Business Review)Harvard Business Review's official podcasts hub, home of the weekly HBR IdeaCast management show.
- The Look & Sound of LeadershipOfficial Essential Communications page for Tom Henschel's executive-coaching podcast on leadership presence.
- Coaching Real LeadersMuriel Wilkins' official page for the HBR live-coaching podcast Coaching Real Leaders.
- Craig Groeschel Leadership PodcastOfficial Life.Church page for Craig Groeschel's practical leadership podcast.
- Maxwell Leadership PodcastOfficial Maxwell Leadership site for John C. Maxwell's transformational-leadership podcast.
- The Andy Stanley Leadership PodcastAndy Stanley's official page for his monthly leadership-decisions podcast.
- The Learning Leader Show with Ryan HawkOfficial site for Ryan Hawk's long-running leadership interview show.
- Radical CandorOfficial Radical Candor page for Kim Scott, Jason Rosoff and Amy Sandler's feedback-and-management podcast.
- No Bullsh!t LeadershipOfficial site for former CEO Martin G. Moore's tactical management podcast.
- A Bit of OptimismSimon Sinek's official page for his reflective leadership-and-humanity conversation podcast.
- Leadership (Wikipedia)Wikipedia's overview of leadership theory and practice, the genre's core reference topic.
- Podcast (Wikipedia)Wikipedia's reference article on the podcast medium itself.
- Center for Creative LeadershipLeading research-based leadership-development nonprofit trusted by two-thirds of the Fortune 1000.
- The Podcast AcademyNonprofit membership body celebrating excellence in podcasting; home of the Ambies.
- The Ambies (Awards for Excellence in Audio)The Podcast Academy's annual awards honoring excellence across podcasting.
- Peabody AwardsPrestigious awards recognizing excellence in storytelling across media, including podcasts.
- HBR Leadership topicHarvard Business Review's leadership topic hub, deep journalistic coverage for this genre's listeners.
- Adam Grant (official site)Organizational psychologist and ReThinking host Adam Grant's official website and writing.
- Harvard Business Reviewauthoritative management & business ideas
- Investor.gov (SEC)US SEC investor education
- Y CombinatorStartup accelerator and founder resources
- CrunchbaseStartup and private-company intelligence
Your Questions, Answered
Absolutely! The Podcast App is a free for core listening podcast player with no app-inserted ads. You can listen to all your favorite leadership podcasts without any interruptions or subscription fees.
Podcast Brain can search eligible transcript-backed moments from your listening history. This makes it easy to find the exact information you need, right when you need it.
Start with genre pillars: Coaching for Leaders and HBR IdeaCast for research-backed management, Coaching Real Leaders for live coaching, and The Look & Sound of Leadership for executive presence. Newer additions worth a subscription include Ryan Hawk's The Learning Leader Show, Simon Sinek's A Bit of Optimism, and Martin Moore's No Bullsh!t Leadership. Every show here offers free core listening with no app-inserted ads inside The Podcast App.
If you are stepping into management, Radical Candor teaches the mechanics of giving feedback, No Bullsh!t Leadership covers hiring and performance in short tactical episodes, and Coaching for Leaders turns leadership research into weekly practice. The Learning Leader Show adds interviews with seasoned leaders you can learn habits from. Together they cover both the skills and the mindset new leaders need to develop.
For the overlap of leadership and day-to-day management, HBR IdeaCast brings Harvard Business Review's thinking, No Bullsh!t Leadership delivers CEO-level tactics, and Radical Candor focuses on communication and feedback at work. Coaching Real Leaders lets you hear a coach work through real career and management dilemmas live. This mix balances big-picture strategy with the practical people-management problems leaders face weekly.
For tight listening, The Look & Sound of Leadership offers bite-size executive coaching, and No Bullsh!t Leadership keeps most episodes around 20 minutes. Craig Groeschel's and Andy Stanley's shows are also compact and focused. A Bit of Optimism runs longer but is easy to break across sessions. All feature free core listening, so you can subscribe and pick up where you left off without extra cost.
Unlocking Your Leadership Potential: A Guide to Maximizing Podcast Learning
In today's fast-paced professional landscape, continuous learning is not just an advantage, it is a necessity for effective leadership. Leadership podcasts offer an invaluable resource, providing accessible insights from seasoned executives, innovative thinkers, and industry experts. They serve as a dynamic platform for honing critical skills, understanding emerging trends, and gaining fresh perspectives on team management, strategic planning, and personal growth. Whether you are a budding manager or a veteran CEO, integrating these audio resources into your routine can significantly accelerate your development, offering actionable advice and inspiring stories that transcend traditional learning methods. The flexibility of podcasts allows you to learn on your own terms, transforming commutes or downtime into productive educational opportunities.
Choosing the right leadership podcast involves identifying your specific growth areas and preferred learning styles. Look for shows that feature diverse guests, practical case studies, and engaging discussions on topics relevant to your industry or leadership challenges. Consider podcasts that delve into areas like emotional intelligence, effective communication, conflict resolution, or fostering innovation. A truly impactful podcast will not only inform but also challenge your existing assumptions, encouraging a deeper reflection on your leadership approach. The goal is to find content that resonates with your professional aspirations and provides tangible strategies you can implement immediately to elevate your leadership capabilities and inspire your team.
The Podcast App is designed to enhance your leadership learning journey, making it seamless and highly effective. With its experience without app-inserted ads, you can immerse yourself fully in complex topics without interruption, ensuring maximum focus on the valuable insights being shared. Features like variable speed playback allow you to absorb information at your optimal pace, whether you are reviewing intricate concepts or quickly catching up on daily updates. For those constantly on the move, offline downloads ensure your favorite leadership content is always available, even without an internet connection. This means you can continue your professional development during flights, commutes, or in areas with limited connectivity, never missing a beat in your quest for leadership excellence.
One of the most revolutionary features for leadership development within The Podcast App is Brain AI. This innovative tool allows you to ask specific questions across eligible transcript-backed listening history, instantly retrieving relevant information and key takeaways from hours of content. Imagine being able to quickly find all mentions of "servant leadership" or "OKR frameworks" across dozens of episodes, saving you countless hours of manual searching. This intelligent assistant transforms passive listening into active, targeted learning, enabling you to synthesize complex ideas and apply them directly to your professional challenges. Furthermore, with CarPlay support, your leadership development continues safely and conveniently while driving, making every journey an opportunity for growth.
New in 2026
Leadership listening in 2026 leaned toward two poles: blunt, tactical shows and warmer, human-first conversations. Martin Moore's No Bullsh!t Leadership and Kim Scott's Radical Candor kept climbing business charts by turning management problems, from feedback to hiring to hard conversations, into tight repeatable playbooks. On the other side, Simon Sinek's A Bit of Optimism and Ryan Hawk's The Learning Leader Show drew founders and executives with long-form interviews. A notable feed change: TED's long-running WorkLife podcast switched hosts from Adam Grant to Molly Graham, while Grant's own work moved to his show ReThinking. AI's effect on how teams are managed also became a recurring theme across nearly every leadership show this year.
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