What if the best way to grow as a leader isn't to learn more, but to simply start putting into practice what you already know?

Leaders often invest significant time in reading, studying, and preparing. But at some point, growth requires action—even when we don't feel completely ready.

In this episode, Global Leadership Network President and CEO David Ashcraft joins Whitney Putnam to explore how curiosity and hands-on experience help leaders continually improve. David shares how studying successful organizations helped him grow as a leader, why learning doesn't look the same for everyone, and how taking action often reveals what we most need to learn next.

This episode will help you discover practical ways to learn from leaders who are ahead of you, expand your team's vision, and overcome the perfectionism that can keep good ideas from becoming reality.

Because sometimes the best way to become a better leader is to start leading.

What if the biggest risk in your next leadership decision isn't making the wrong choice—but waiting too long to make one?

Leaders rarely have all the information they'd like before making an important decision. But waiting for certainty can keep teams stuck and organizations from moving forward.

Kelly Merryman Hoogstraten has navigated these challenges while helping build Netflix's streaming and international businesses, leading at YouTube, and co-founding Wonder Project. In this conversation with GLN President and CEO David Ashcraft, she shares why making an imperfect decision is often better than making no decision at all.

You'll hear how Netflix's philosophy of "context, not control" empowered people to make decisions, why successful organizations must remain willing to change, and how Kelly's faith and personal convictions shaped her professional direction.

It's a practical invitation to make thoughtful decisions, equip others to lead, and keep moving even when the path isn't entirely clear.

Wanting people to grow and actually developing them are two different things. In this quarterly "Best Of" episode, Whitney Putnam and Eric Case revisit four conversations that create a practical pathway for helping people reach their potential: see them, know them, grow them, and release them. You'll hear Lori Hermann describe what happens when leaders recognize potential before someone sees it in themselves; Thasunda Brown Duckett explain why knowing the whole person is connected to excellence; David Ashcraft challenge leaders to develop people beyond their own expertise; and Julio Garcia wrestle with what happens when someone you've invested in chooses an opportunity elsewhere. Together, these conversations challenge leaders to move beyond good intentions and ask a more practical question: What does the person you're developing need from you next?