Many accomplished leaders reach a point where success stops meaning anything. The stories leaders live by were useful once, but they run their course, and no protocol, framework, or morning routine can fix one that has stopped working. In a time when a chatbot tends to agree with everything we say, the way forward is to welcome a different view, make the best decision we can without certainty, and take responsibility for it.

Federico Malatesta is the founder of FM Transformational Coaching and the author of They Are Lying to You: The Self-Help Delusion. He grew up in Rome and spent fifteen years in global energy, rising to chief investment officer, or CIO, of a $40 billion portfolio, before leaving to study why success stops meaning anything. He now coaches senior executives from a working horse ranch in Texas, drawing on narrative theory, neuroscience, and contemporary psychoanalytic thought. He writes regularly on identity, leadership transitions, and narrative collapse, and his newsletter is Almost Everything Is Context.

Chapters:

• (00:00) - Welcome and the unreliable narrator
• (02:50) - Four challenges leaders face today
• (04:46) - Meet Federico Malatesta
• (07:16) - Influences and a working horse ranch
• (09:33) - What horses pick up in leaders
• (11:47) - Why self-help protocols fail
• (15:54) - Knowing the why before the how
• (18:35) - The stories leaders live by
• (21:32) - Using AI as a challenger
• (22:52) - The client who kept leaving boards
• (25:13) - Emotional bookmarks and body signals
• (27:42) - Deconstructing a stressful moment
• (30:38) - Practicing in low-stakes moments
• (32:34) - Why authenticity is the wrong word
• (34:45) - Leadership as moving forward under uncertainty
• (39:04) - Challenging your own story
• (41:17) - Judgment in the boardroom
• (42:16) - Lightning round

Referenced in this episode:

Tasha Eurich on how rare self-awareness is - https://hbr.org/2018/01/what-self-awareness-really-is-and-how-to-cultivate-it

Federico Malatesta on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/federicomalatesta/

More about FM Transformational Coaching: https://federicomalatesta.com/about/

Leadership Development News is a Podcasts That Matter production: https://podcaststhatmatter.org

Many leaders believe work leaves no time for love or kindness, only for results. Yet the Apple Store became one of the most respected retailers in the world by serving people rather than selling to them, earning customers one at a time. In an age of AI, when common answers are a quick query away, the edge belongs to leaders who slow down and listen to their own inner voice.

Ron Johnson is the creator of the Apple Store, a sought-after speaker and board member, and the author, with Zander Nethercutt, of Shop Different: How Retail Revealed Apple's Genius. A Stanford alumnus and Harvard Business School graduate, he was a merchant leader at Target, where his collaboration with architect Michael Graves brought good design to everyday shoppers. Steve Jobs hired him in 2000 to create Apple's stores, which he built on a service philosophy rooted in love and kindness, values he traces to growing up outside Minneapolis. He later served as CEO of JCPenney and founded Enjoy, the first mobile retail store.

Chapters:

• (00:00) - Welcome and introduction
• (04:56) - Stores to overcome the fear of technology
• (06:45) - Where love and kindness come from
• (09:05) - Telling Steve Jobs to love the customers
• (12:50) - The mentors who shaped him
• (13:52) - Working for Steve Jobs
• (15:19) - A year of nightly phone calls
• (18:43) - From success to significance
• (22:57) - Serving, not selling
• (25:48) - Why his best days happened in stores
• (30:31) - Creativity, skeptics and believers
• (35:16) - Genius is a team game
• (37:11) - How a hotel shaped the Genius Bar
• (41:49) - What think different means day to day
• (45:00) - The conversation with yourself

Leadership Development News is a Podcasts That Matter production: https://podcaststhatmatter.org

Need support for your own podcast? Reach out: https://podcastsmatter.com

Every leader carries fears and insecurities they've learned to hide. Over time, those hidden struggles build invisible walls—walls that shape how we lead, how we relate, and how others experience us. What we think are strengths are often just sophisticated defense mechanisms.

Tyler Dickerhoof is a leadership mentor, entrepreneur, host of the Impact Driven Leader community, and USA Today best-selling author of The Things We Hide. With 25-plus years of experience and more than $750 million in business sales generated, he knows the real pressures leaders carry. A Cornell graduate, Tyler once measured his worth by achievement, often at the cost of relationships. Through personal growth and entrepreneurship, he faced the hidden insecurities driving his leadership. Now he helps leaders slow down, face what's really driving them, and lead with greater authenticity, clarity, and impact.