Do Good To Lead Well with Craig Dowden

What if the hierarchy we often blame for dysfunction is actually essential to our team’s success? To explore this important question, I speak with Stanford’s Nir Halevy, whose eye-opening book, Level Up, draws on cutting-edge research and candid stories to challenge conventional wisdom around organizational power, status, and leadership. In reality, a well-designed and managed hierarchy can drive...

How can a company deliver industry-leading growth while committing millions to social good? This week, I sit down with Zahid Salman, CEO of GreenShield, to explore the answer. Our conversation challenges one of business's most persistent myths: that organizations must sacrifice social impact to achieve exceptional performance. Instead, we highlight how courage, transparency, and values-driven...

This week’s episode of Do Good to Lead Well opens with a frank recounting of the realities of hustle culture and burnout, through the lens of my guest, Dr. Christian Poensgen’s personal odyssey from scientific research on stress to practical, real-world transformation. Our conversation explores why classic notions of working harder and longer so often fail and how true productivity demands the opp...

What if you could transform every meeting into your best meeting ever? This week’s episode of Do Good to Lead Well features Rebecca Hinds, the acclaimed bestselling author of "Your Best Meeting Ever." Our conversation dives into the hidden dynamics behind every team gathering, from subtle power plays to the creeping status bias of overloaded calendars. Our discussion moves beyond complai...

This week’s episode of Do Good to Lead Well opens with a lively exchange about the true essence of “managing up.” Our conversation focuses on Melody Wilding’s journey from her bestselling book Trust Yourself to her latest, Managing Up, revealing how self-leadership is the essential foundation for influencing those in power. Together, we explore why managing up isn’t “boss-pleasing,” but rather emp...

This episode of Do Good to Lead Well opens with a thought-provoking challenge to the familiar refrain, “Let’s be more data-driven.” Instead, Sebastian Wernicke, a top TED speaker and globally recognized thought leader, shares the importance of being “data-inspired.” Our discussion focuses on the premise that lasting transformation requires more than dashboards and metrics. We explore the subtle ye...

What truly separates good teams from legendary ones? In this week’s episode, I speak with Dr. Andre Martin, author of Collective Confidence and a highly respected leader across multiple Fortune 100 companies. Our conversation debunks the quick-fix of assembling teams of pedigreed all-stars, showing instead how extraordinary outcomes come from humble, well-aligned teams rooted in trust and a sense...

How do you lead well in a world transformed by AI? This week, Do Good to Lead Well tackles this question head-on, as I speak with Mike Sullivan, co-founder and Chief Growth Officer of OneDigital, and the co-author of the timely and insightful book, Workforce Intelligence. Throughout our conversation, Mike breaks through both the hype and the fear surrounding AI in today’s workforce. As a champion...

Over the past three episodes, I had a very special guest; Kevin Ford, the former CEO of Calian. Our previous conversations trace a powerful progression from self-leadership to connecting with others. In the final episode of this series, we explore how a profound sense of purpose united by a set of core values truly anchors an organization. Our discussion moves beyond corporate clichés, as we dig i...

In this episode of our 3-part series exploring the foundations of positive leadership, I speak with Kevin Ford, the award-winning, past CEO of Calian Group, about how to effectively connect with others. In a world grappling with AI, remote work, and breakneck change, we examine explore what meaningful connection looks like in practice. Starting with candor and transparency, our discussion explores...

What makes great executives stand out? I’m thrilled to share Part 1 of a 3-part series that will explore the foundations of positive leadership. Throughout this special set of episodes, I will be sharing the stage with Kevin Ford, the award-winning CEO of Calian who recently stepped down. In this episode, Kevin and I start the conversation by taking an honest look at why leading yourself matters m...

What happens when you leave your routine behind to embrace uncertainty? DJ DiDonna, Harvard Business School senior lecturer and founder of the Sabbatical Project, joins Craig Dowden to unpack the real benefits of sabbatical leave, drawn from years of research into hundreds of sabbatical-takers. DiDonna explains why extended leave delivers measurable physical healing, from resolving stress conditio...

This solo episode of Do Good to Lead Well focuses on one of the most common challenges in both leadership and everyday life: continually repeating the same difficult conversation without real resolution. Drawing on the important work of Crucial Conversations and Crucial Accountability, I explore the transformative CPR model (Content, Pattern, Relationship) as a deceptively simple framework for bre...

In this not-to-miss episode of Do Good to Lead Well, I am joined by Marcus Buckingham—the world’s foremost expert on human strengths and engagement—for a candid, data-rich conversation about bringing love into leadership. Drawing on his latest book, Marcus redefines love for the modern workplace: not as romance, but as an intentional design for human flourishing and extraordinary results. Our conv...

What stops talented leaders from truly hearing honest feedback? This episode tackles that question head-on, drawing from both leading research and lived experience. While most articles, books, and workshops focus on how to give feedback, this discussion targets how to receive it. I explore why so many feedback conversations break down and how leaders can do better. Core themes include the impact o...

In this spirited episode, the challenges and paradoxes of modern leadership are brought to the forefront, grounded in the world of philanthropy. My guest this week, Glen Galaich, author of the provocative book Control: Why Big Giving Falls Short and CEO of the Stupski Foundation, invites listeners to reconsider the myths surrounding control, generosity, and decision-making. He makes the compelling...

How do you bridge the divide between how leaders show up and what teams truly want? On this week’s episode of the Do Good to Lead Well podcast, I sit down with Allison Howell, CEO of Hogan Assessments, to discuss their Leadership Divide Global Report, which draws on the responses from 9,794 employees across 25 countries. The findings challenge the conventional myths about what makes a great leader...

What does great leadership look like when AI is moving faster than most organizations can keep up? To answer this important question, I spoke with Joshua Gould, the CEO of thebigword, a global language technology and services company, where he helped grow the business from $6M to over $100M in revenue. In 2021 he sold the business to a large US based PE firm and continued on as CEO, where he has l...

This week on the Do Good to Lead Well podcast, I sit down with bestselling author Eric Ries for a timely and thought-provoking conversation about leadership, mission, and the growing crisis of short-term thinking in business. Eric first transformed the entrepreneurial world with The Lean Startup. In his latest book, Incorruptible, he tackles a new challenge: why so many organizations lose sight of...

On this week’s episode of Do Good to Lead Well, I am joined by Kevin Ford, the former CEO of Calian, whose track record as a transformational CEO sets the stage for a candid exploration of what really drives lasting personal and business success. We start by asking the question: Are authenticity and transparency more critical than ever in the age of AI? Our answer is a resounding ‘yes.’ We continu...

How do leaders stay steady in the storm of tough choices? This week, I sit down with Jack Briggs, a retired major general with a 30-year career in the military who is also a highly seasoned, for a masterclass in pressure-tested decision making. The episode debunks the myth that high-stakes choices are unique to the military or boardroom. Instead, Jack argues, “pressure is pressure,” whether the ri...

Why do (senior) executives so rarely hear what they need to improve? I explore this critical leadership blind spot, inspired by a recent article in Fast Company by Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic and global thought leader on psychological safety, Amy Edmondson. Relying on thought-provoking research amplified by real-world case examples, this episode exposes the invisible barriers that often keep leade...

What does authenticity at work truly mean and why is it worth the effort? On this week’s episode, I have a thought-provoking conversation with Claude Silver, the world’s first Chief Heart Officer from VaynerMedia, about the messy, courageous path to being yourself, even when it feels risky. Together, we deconstruct major myths around vulnerability in the workplace, offering evidence and stories th...

This week’s episode of Do Good to Lead Well features Lorraine K. Lee, award-winning keynote speaker, LinkedIn Top Voice, and bestselling author of Unforgettable Presence: Get Seen, Gain Influence, and Catapult Your Career. Right from the start, Lorraine challenges the myth that presence is an innate trait and persuasively argues that it is a learnable skill that anyone can develop through intentio...

How do you move from playing it safe to truly amplifying your impact? In this week’s energetic episode, I welcome back Dianna Fioravanti, President of Kuhne + Nagel Canada and bestselling author of "Flip the Switch," for a candid exploration of what it takes to silence self-doubt and step into authentic leadership. Dianna draws on her own setbacks and triumphs, revealing how even high pe...