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Learn to Lead

Leadership is a process. These are the stories about the journey we all take learning to lead. On our show we talk about how people can lead teams more effectively, how organizations can enhance their approaches to developing the leaders of tomorrow, and we talk to our guests about their own journey of professional and personal development. Produced by www.abilitie.com.

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The Hidden Architects of Success

What do shipping containers, barcodes, and time zones have in common? At first glance, not much. They’re ordinary, often overlooked systems that most of us rarely think about. But each quietly transformed the way the world works. In this episode, we explore the hidden innovations that made modern commerce, transportation, and retail possible, and what they reveal about leadership. While most…

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The Trap of Optimization

History is filled with companies that became incredibly good at the current game, right before the game changed completely. Through stories from the mobile phone and retail industries, this episode explores why disruption often comes not from doing something better, but from asking a fundamentally different question. — Learn To Lead is brought to you by Abilitie, a leading provider of experiential…

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The Missing Piece Problem

Some ideas don’t fail because they’re bad, they fail because something is missing. In this episode, we explore how QR codes, online grocery delivery, and ride sharing all struggled before finally taking off, and why something as simple as a tin can took nearly 50 years to become usable. Each story reveals a powerful leadership insight: great ideas don’t exist in isolation, they depend on timing,…

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The Long Road To Breakthrough

Some of the most extraordinary successes in history didn’t happen early, and they didn’t happen easily. In this episode,we explore the stories of people who stayed relentlessly committed to their passions long after most would have quit. From Orville Redenbacher’s decades-long quest to perfect popcorn to Colonel Sanders launching KFC at 65, these journeys show how persistence, curiosity, and…

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The Hidden Cost of Good Intentions

Sometimes the best ideas have unexpected outcomes. In this episode, we explore how a pizza delivery guarantee, a public bike-sharing program, and safer playgrounds all changed behavior in surprising ways. Each story highlights a powerful leadership insight: when you design a policy or system, you’re not just shaping results — you’re shaping how people respond. The most effective leaders look…

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The Strategy of Standing Out

In crowded markets, most organizations fight to be slightly better than everyone else. But some of the most successful companies in history took a different path. They chose to stand apart instead of blend in. In this episode, we unpack how AOL, Red Bull, and IKEA each broke industry norms, challenged conventional wisdom, and built enduring brands by leaning into what made them unconventional.…

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The Fresh Start Effect: Why New Beginnings Motivate Us

What is it about a new beginning that makes us feel more motivated, more hopeful, and more ready to change?Behavioral scientists call it The Fresh Start Effect — the idea that temporal landmarks create psychological separation from our past selves and give us permission to begin again. In this episode, we explore three fascinating examples: why people are far more likely to run their first…

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The Map That Changed The World (And Distorted It Too)

Every leader relies on maps. They are not geographic ones, but strategic ones: frameworks, dashboards, models, and plans that guide how we see the world. But what happens when those maps stop matching reality? In this episode, we explore the story of Gerardus Mercator, the 16th-century mapmaker whose revolutionary projectionchanged how the world navigated, and quietly distorted, how we viewed…

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The Empty Chair Principle

What if your most important stakeholder isn’t sitting at the table? In this episode, we explore how great leaders givea voice to those who aren’t in the room. From Amazon’s “empty chair” representing the customer, to Procter & Gamble’s “Living It” approach to empathy, to The Mayo Clinic’s groundbreaking inclusion of patients in decision-making. The lesson is clear: leadership isn’t just about…

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Find the Red Balloons: A Leadership Lesson in Networks and Incentives

In 2009, the U.S. Department of Defense issued a bizarre challenge: find 10 red weather balloons hidden across theUnited States and do it faster than anyone else. What followed was a test not just of internet savvy, but of leadership in the digital age. In this episode, we dive into the winning strategy from MIT, uncover why most teams failed, and extract powerful lessons about networks,…

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