The Leadership Podcast Podcast By Jan Rutherford and Jim Vaselopulos experts on leadership development cover art

The Leadership Podcast

The Leadership Podcast

By: Jan Rutherford and Jim Vaselopulos experts on leadership development
Listen for free

LIMITED TIME OFFER | Get 3 months for $0.99 a month

$14.95/mo thereafter-terms apply.
We interview great leaders, review the books they read, and speak with highly influential authors who study them.Copyright © 2016-2025 Rafti Advisors, LLC & Self Reliant Leadership, LLC - All Rights Reserved. Economics Management Management & Leadership
Episodes
  • TLP493: "Sand People" - The Hidden Drag on Your Team's Performance

    TLP493: "Sand People" - The Hidden Drag on Your Team's Performance
    Jan 7 2026
    Jim and Jan tackle the uncomfortable truth about "sand people," those team members who grind everything to a halt, and why even your best glue guy can't overcome the friction they create. Drawing from their coaching experience, Jim and Jan reveal how to identify and deal with sand people before they destroy your team. They explore the telltale signs—projecting, hoarding resources, passive-aggressive behavior—and explain why leaders consistently wait too long to act. They also share the harsh truth that someone who is not performing well is costing more than they produce, and costing opportunities and damaging team morale in ways that are difficult to quantify. In this episode, you'll learn how sand people self-identify through their behavior, the specific ways they inhibit high performance, and most importantly, why it's critical to move quickly.. Find episode 493 on The Leadership Podcast, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts! Watch this Episode on YouTube | Jim and Jan on "Sand People" - The Hidden Drag on Your Team's Performance https://bit.ly/tlp-493 Key Takeaways [01:35] Jim coined the term "sand people" to describe team members who act as sand in the gears, preventing smooth team operation. [03:05] Jan noted that 60% of people in the U.S. are not in high-value jobs with only 31% engagement, creating a disconnect between economic growth and worker fulfillment. [05:12] Sand people often project by complaining about what others aren't doing, which is exactly what they themselves aren't doing. [07:34] Jan confirmed that one bad person on a team poisons everything, making it impossible to have a successful team experience. [12:33] A-players immediately avoid sand people and start looking for better teams because they expect leaders to uphold standards. [16:04] Jim witnessed Larry Yost pick up a cigarette butt when no one was watching, demonstrating how modeling behavior matters more than words. [19:17] Jan admitted being a sand person as a young cynical military officer, making wisecracks without anyone coaching her on the impact. [21:05] Jim acknowledged being too harsh early in his management career and emphasized the importance of learning from mistakes. [22:06] Jan's biggest business mistake was bragging about new hires then keeping them too long trying to fix them instead of recognizing sunk costs. [23:49] Jim advocated hiring for unteachable qualities like curiosity in salespeople rather than skills you can train. [26:34] Jan recommended "Top Grading" by Brad Smart for distinguishing between easy-to-change skills and hard-to-change qualities like energy and passion. [33:36] Leaders must be attracted to friction to identify where to remove resistance and lubricate the machine for team effectiveness. [29:57] Jan identified two coaching buckets: helping people prioritize time strategically and having difficult conversations about performance expectations. [33:21] And remember… "The path of least resistance is the path of the loser." - H. G. Well Quotable Quotes "If getting rid of people is easy for you and you don't lose sleep over it, you're probably a sociopath." "The day it gets easy for you is the day you've kind of lost your soul." - "We've got to have good friction. Friction that produces traction, not friction that produces drag." "Your culture becomes the worst behavior you tolerate." "One bad person, even if they're a little bad, is way more powerful than the best person for a team." "Look for work, look for things to do, and give more than you take." - "Sand people are limiting your culture. They are in effect a toleration of sub optimal performance of weakness." "If we pay people that aren't getting the job done, then they're either a charity case or they are a thief." "As a leader, I think we need to be attracted to friction." "People are not fine wine." These are the books mentioned in this episode Resources Mentioned The Leadership Podcast | theleadershippodcast.com Sponsored by | www.darley.com Rafti Advisors. LLC | www.raftiadvisors.com Self-Reliant Leadership. LLC | selfreliantleadership.com Jan Rutherford LinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/in/janrutherford Jan Rutherford X | @JanRutherford Jim Vaselopulos LinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/in/jimvaselopulos Jim Vaselopulos xX | @jim_va
    Show more Show less
    34 mins
  • TLP492: Stop Fitting In with Jinky Panganiban

    TLP492: Stop Fitting In with Jinky Panganiban
    Dec 31 2025
    Jinky Panganiban serves as Professor of Practice at the University of Oregon's Sports Product Management Program, founder of 1969Blue Consulting, and founding member of Oregon Sports Angels. She is a former Vice President and General Manager at Nike with over 20 years of global executive experience. She led multibillion-dollar businesses across Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America, and Europe. In this episode, Jinky reveals why "fitting in" kills leadership potential and how your cultural background becomes your superpower in global business. Jinky explains how the sports product industry has built intentional leadership development by translating a shared mission to fit local cultures instead of forcing one uniform way while maintaining a unified mission. She addresses the volatile state of global trade by emphasizing curiosity and critical thinking as essential skills for the next generation. Jinky argues that despite rising nationalism and tariff threats, consumers are already voting for a borderless world through their digital behavior and content consumption. In this episode, you'll discover how to leverage your cultural background as a superpower, build high-performing global teams, and lead with authenticity in an increasingly connected world. Find The Leadership Podcast episode 492 on YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts! Watch this Episode on YouTube | Jinky Panganiban on Stop Fitting In https://bit.ly/TLP-492 Key Takeaways [04:09] Jinky describes how she started at Nike through a blind ad in Manila and was handpicked to help build Southeast Asia operations. [06:26] Jinky reveals how three white male mentors helped her realize her cultural background was her superpower. [09:47] Jinky explains that great leadership starts with being—knowing who you are and what you stand for—not just the doing of checking off deliverables and performance goals. [12:51] Jinky distinguishes influence from selling. [13:42] Jinky describes how SPM deliberately keeps students in the same project teams for 18 months because leadership is formed in the messy middle when deadlines are tight and not everybody agrees. [17:12] Jinky explains the collective industry commitment to raising next-generation leaders who will progress the culture. [20:32] Jinky demonstrates how global brands must translate their message locally. [25:17] Jinky shares how mentor Kate Delhagen gave her courage to leave corporate and explore angel investing. [28:58] Jinky describes her current advisory work with startup brands where she's both business advisor and biggest cheerleader, modeling what Kate did for her. [31:04] Jinky argues that despite borders and tariffs, the next generation of consumers already thinks globally through social media and digital platforms, celebrating differences rather than fearing them. [34:09] Jinky emphasizes that curiosity combined with critical thinking—vetting sources and asking why—is essential for navigating today's information-saturated world. [37:26] Jinky encourages everyone to celebrate where they've come from because there's only one of you, and you can't be more original than that—your background is your competitive advantage. [ ] And remember… "To be one, to be united, is a great thing, but to respect the right to be different is maybe even greater." – Bono Quotable Quotes "There's only one of you, so you can't be more original than that." "My cultural background and where I came from and all of my lived experience actually isn't something that I should shy away from or even be embarrassed about, but actually use it to my advantage and actually leverage it." "Great leadership starts with being. It's knowing who you are, what you stand for, and how you show up, especially when no one's watching." "We believe that leadership is formed in the messy middle. You know, when the deadlines are tight, the tempers are like rising and then not everybody's agreeing, but then you still have a deadline to hit." "Global doesn't mean uniform. The best teams share common purpose but express it in ways that feel very local." "Even if we put borders around things, the consumers will vote anyway to go beyond borders. Ideas, innovation, their talent, creativity, I don't think it carries a passport." "Human leadership never goes out of style." "Learn to lead yourself first. Build credibility, make sure that you practice empathy, and then lead through action and not titles." "If you don't know how to work in teams, you cannot work in the industry." "It's not so much exporting the culture, it's about translating it so that it works for everybody." "Cultural intelligence or cultural fluency is really critical because I've seen how that has become the one skill that could bridge global teams and communicate even beyond language." "Making sure that you find sources that are credible. Not just take things face value. Critical thinking is also something that's really important to ask the ...
    Show more Show less
    36 mins
  • TLP491: Letting Go of Old Frameworks with Jack Swift

    TLP491: Letting Go of Old Frameworks with Jack Swift
    Dec 24 2025
    Jack Swift is a West Point graduate, former CEO of TIFIN and Liminal Collective, and co-founder of Pacific Current Group and Sangha. He now advises frontier AI ventures, including Vantage Discovery (sold to Shopify), Brightwave, and Grid Aero, and co-founded Sangha, a community for conscious leadership. In this episode, Jack explains why the biggest threat to your organization isn't outside pressure. It's your need to be right. He shows why old leadership habits—command and control, chasing quarterly targets, and relying only on past wins—no longer work. He offers a different approach built on deep listening, less ego, and faster instincts. Jack talks about the blind spots he sees on boards, from big companies ignoring rapid change to startups burning cash to prove a point. He also shares how to spot the moment when governance stops supporting durability and starts blocking innovation—and what to do before bureaucracy kills your edge. Listen to this episode to learn how to drop old frameworks, trust your gut, and build a learning culture that works with AI instead of fighting it. Find The Leadership Podcast episode 490 on YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts! Watch this Episode on YouTube | Jack Swift on Letting Go of Old Frameworks https://bit.ly/TLP-491 Key Takeaways [02:28] Jack shares that stopping drinking a few years ago has been "incredibly clarifying" for his decision making and presence as a leader. [05:19] Jack shares how his perspective on leadership has evolved from military to entrepreneurship to board service. [10:11] Jack emphasizes three critical elements that make an effective independent board director: maintaining independence to evaluate organizational health, stepping into conflict early, and the ability to "look around corners" and anticipate future disruption. [15:07] Jack identifies the biggest blind spot for larger companies and the biggest blind spot for early-stage companies and founders. [19:26] Jack reflects on how his experiences as an entrepreneur shaped how he evaluates opportunities and risks. [21:48] Jack reflects on something 18 years ago that helped him learn without screwing up. [23:00] Jack discusses the role of ego versus intuition in leadership. [25:34] Jack defines governance in highly regulated industries like insurance and financial services versus the AI space. [29:56] Jack agrees AI works best in regulated spaces because "machine based learning and models work really well in systems, rules based systems" where regulatory review "may have taken humans six months to do, it can be done in like six minutes." [33:16] Jack describes how Boulder's ecosystem has influenced his approach to leadership and growth. [36:35] Jack advises traditional industry leaders to "let go of old frameworks" and "be open to how it might be done" because entrenched industries are "specifically ripe for innovation and disruption." [37:36] Jack says one piece of advice for leaders navigating uncertainty today. He explains why whole-body listening matters for the future of leadership. [41:19] And remember..."I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor." - Henry David Thoreau Quotable Quotes "Leaders make decisions and they look for and create alignment within an organization." "The need to be right is the biggest blind spot. Taking the position that I want to be right, I'm gonna burn capital to show the world that I'm right is a very risky way to go about your business." "I made a lot of mistakes. I screwed a lot of things up. Sometimes because I didn't know any better, sometimes because I let my ego make decisions, and sometimes because I was relying on old frameworks that just wouldn't work anymore." "Your go mind shouldn't always drive the car. Sometimes you need to put instinct in the driver's seat and let your brain be the passenger." "Let go of old frameworks. Don't think you know better. Work on self awareness, work on your personal growth edges. Better at you is better at what you do." "Listen with your whole body. Your body knows—that's your gut, your instinct, your intuition. The faster you can listen, receive, and act, the faster you'll be able to go." "Human beings are the only species that can imagine infinite future potentials and bring them into reality. That creative capability is uniquely human and incredibly special." Resources Mentioned The Leadership Podcast | theleadershippodcast.com Sponsored by | www.darley.com Rafti Advisors. LLC | www.raftiadvisors.com Self-Reliant Leadership. LLC | selfreliantleadership.com Jack Swift Website | www.jackcswift.com Jack Swift LinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/in/jack-c-swift
    Show more Show less
    42 mins
All stars
Most relevant
I've been listening for 3 years and every time I listen to a show I feel like I can go apply the practices discussed in my personal life and lower to mid management career. I have 100% grown as a leader from listening to this show.

Focus on evergreen topics. Meaning they don't cover current events. Only leadership focused self improvement topics.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.