Leadership advice is everywhere — on LinkedIn, in airport bookstores, on every other podcast. But most of it stays abstract. The Encourage Mindset Podcast goes somewhere different. When host Ethan Van De Hey talks to guests about leadership, the conversation always lands on something specific: a moment when they had to lead through something messy, uncomfortable, or thankless. Here are eight guests whose leadership insights come from real experience, not theory.
Chandler Lyles: Leadership Should Suck If You Are Doing It Right
Chandler Lyles does not sugarcoat what it takes to lead. He tells Ethan straight out that if leadership feels comfortable, you are probably not doing it well. His episode focuses on a topic most leaders avoid entirely: criticism. Chandler argues that the ability to absorb criticism from the people you are trying to lead — and use it to get better — is the single most underrated leadership skill. The guests who talk about accountability like Scott Zimmerman hit on similar themes, but Chandler frames it as a competitive advantage rather than a burden.
Patrick Coggins: Why Great Leaders Listen More Than They Speak
Patrick Coggins flips the script on what most people think leadership looks like. Instead of the loudest voice in the room, Patrick makes the case that the best leaders are the best listeners. His episode is a practical breakdown of how to build trust by shutting up and paying attention — a skill that sounds simple but that almost nobody actually practices. If you enjoyed Patrick’s perspective on leading through listening, Angie Lion’s episode on compassion explores a closely related idea from a different angle.
Greg Davis: From Third-Generation Restaurateur to Tech Leader
Greg Davis came from three generations of restaurant industry experience before making a dramatic career pivot into technology. That transition required him to lead in an environment where he was no longer the expert — and that is where his insights get interesting. Greg talks about how fixing your focus is the precondition for leading effectively, especially when you are building something in a space where you do not have decades of pattern recognition to fall back on.
Mike Durnin: Becoming a Champion Leader From Within
Mike Durnin takes leadership inward. His episode is about leading from within — the idea that external leadership is only as strong as the internal work you have done on yourself. Mike connects this to discipline and self-awareness in ways that echo what Dan Marzullo says about discipline being the real cheat code. The difference is that Mike applies it specifically to how you show up for other people, not just for your own goals.
Ronen Wasserman: Human-First Teams in an AI World
Ronen Wasserman brings the conversation into the future. His episode tackles what leadership looks like in a world increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence, and his answer is counterintuitive: the more technology advances, the more important human-first leadership becomes. Ronen talks about building teams where people feel seen and valued — not replaced — and how that approach actually drives better results than optimizing everything for efficiency.
John Preston: Purpose-Driven Leadership
John Preston connects leadership directly to purpose. Without a clear sense of why you are leading — and who you are leading for — the mechanics of management become hollow. John’s episode pairs well with Alex Demczack’s conversation about knowing your identity and your why, because both guests argue that self-knowledge is the foundation that everything else is built on.
Aaron Mikulsky: Leadership and Business Growth
Aaron Mikulsky brings the leadership conversation into the context of scaling a business. Growth creates new leadership challenges — the skills that got you from zero to ten are not the same ones that get you from ten to a hundred. Aaron’s episode is practical and specific about what changes when the team gets bigger and the stakes get higher.
Andrew Wolfram: Innovation and Forward Thinking
Andrew Wolfram approaches leadership through the lens of innovation. His argument is that the best leaders are not just managing what exists — they are building what comes next. That forward-thinking orientation requires a different kind of courage than day-to-day management, and Andrew talks about what it takes to lead people toward something that does not exist yet.
The Takeaway
Across all eight of these episodes, one theme keeps surfacing: real leadership is not about having authority. It is about earning trust, staying uncomfortable, and doing the internal work that makes your external impact credible. Whether it is Chandler absorbing criticism or Patrick learning to listen, every guest on this list earned their leadership perspective the hard way. Explore all episodes in the Encourage Mindset Podcast archive.