Staying on the leading edge – part 2. My top leadership and philosophy podcasts by Max Eskell

Posted by Max on May 4, 2016 in Blog | Leave a comment

Leaders are required to make difficult decisions involving trade-offs between equally good or equally bad options, always under time pressure and rarely with complete information.  Therefore, leadership is as much about thinking, as it is about doing.  The corollary of this is that thinking is central to what leaders do and how they add value, and philosophy (thinking about thinking) is a good exercise for leaders or aspiring leaders.

Below are some of the top podcasts I listen to on leadership and philosophy.

The Tim Ferriss Show (weekly) – Tim Ferriss, a world renown entrepreneur and author of ‘The four hour work week’ invites top entrepreneurs and leaders to discuss their passion.  Wide-ranging topics and conversations are covered, but Tim is great at focusing in on what drives theses super successful people and uncovering any tips of life-hacks the use to be more efficient or effective.  I listen to this podcast religiously every week.

The Moral Maze (BBC weekly) – Michael Burke and his panel discuss moral concepts through a weekly focus on a moral topic or news item.  By inviting guest speakers to voice their opinions and then cross-examining them, you build an understanding for all sides of an argument.  A great podcast for those interested in ethics and making difficult decisions when faced with moral choices.

The EntreLeadership Podcast (weekly) – David Ramsey and his team go all out.  They attract some of the top leaders in the US to speak on their show.  Each week focuses on a single guest.  Sometimes David himself shares his thoughts on leadership, how he built his company and how he advises others on developing their leadership skills.  Despite being heavily US focused, this is still a great podcast for those interested in entrepreneurial leadership.

TED radio hour (weekly) while not exclusively on leadership or philosophy, this podcast does change the way you think by exposing you to some amazing stories and presenters.  They choose a new theme each week and explore that theme in detail through relevant TED Talks and conducting interviews with TED presenters.

HBR Ideacast (weekly) – while not always focused on the topic of leadership, this podcast is essential for all leaders as it covers a broad range of management, leadership and business.

I hope you find these useful.  Please let me know if there are any podcasts that I have missed.  My next blog on this topic (part 3), will cover the money and financial podcasts that I regularly listen to.