The Leadership Buzz | Work Hard. Tell the Truth.
The Leadership Buzz is a short, practical leadership development podcast for managers, executives, and anyone who wants to lead better. Hosted by retired Air Force Colonel and executive coach Lloyd “Buzz” Buzzell, ACC, it draws on 37 years of military leadership from enlisted Airman to colonel. Each episode explores one leadership concept, supported by an idea from a respected leadership book and a real story from Buzz’s experience. You’ll leave with practical takeaways and three coaching questions to help you build trust, develop people, make better decisions, and grow as a leader.
Episodes
33 episodes
Purpose: Helping People See Why Their Work Matters | Drive, Part 3
Nothing is more draining than giving your best to work that feels invisible.In Part 3 of our Drive series, Buzz explores purpose at work and why leaders must help people see how their daily effort connects to a larger mis...
Mastery: Ambition Isn’t Always a Promotion | Drive, Part 2
The most overlooked kind of ambition is the person who stops chasing the next title and starts chasing the next level of skill. We pick up part two of our Daniel Pink Drive series to talk about mastery, the desire to get better and better at so...
Autonomy: When Leaders Give Up Control | Drive, Part 1
Autonomy can sound risky, especially when the stakes are high. But when the mission is clear and the boundaries are real, autonomy is not freedom from responsibility. It is a performance advantage.In Part 1 of our Drive series, ...
What Is Your True North? | How Great Leaders Shape You
What is your True North, and will it guide you when leadership gets difficult?In this episode of The Leadership Buzz, I draw on Bill George’s True North and stories from my 37 years in the Air Force to explore how our v...
What Got You Here Won’t Get You There | How Leaders Grow at Every Level
Leadership growth requires more than hard work and technical expertise. In this episode of The Leadership Buzz Podcast, we explore Marshall Goldsmith’s bestselling leadership book, What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, and why the beh...
How to Know a Person | Leadership, Listening, and Seeing People in Busy Times
How to Know a Person: Leadership, Listening, and Seeing People in Busy TimesThe fastest way to lose a team is not always a bad plan. It is treating people like tasks while chasing the next deadline.Recording from a New York...
From Expert to Coach: A Client-Led Executive Coaching Field Guide
Where does faith belong in executive coaching—if anywhere? In this special edition of the Leadership Buzz, retired Air Force Colonel and ICF-credentialed coach Buzz Buzzell presents his NYU Executive Coaching Capstone Futures Projec...
The Advice Trap: Why the Hardest Person to Coach Is Yourself
When should a leader provide the answer—and when does that answer prevent someone else from learning how to think?In this episode of The Leadership Buzz, Buzz Buzzell explores The Advice Trap by Michael Bungay Stanier t...
Teams That Work: How Great Teams Keep Getting Better | Part 3
Teams That Work: How Great Teams Keep Getting Better | Part 3Great teams don’t improve simply because they stay busy. They improve because they intentionally learn from both success and failure.In Part 3 of our series on Teams...
Teams That Work: Why Great Teams Embrace Healthy Conflict | Part 2
“My door is always open” is one of the most repeated phrases in leadership. But does your team actually trust you enough to disagree, deliver bad news, or tell you something you don't want to hear?In Part 2 of our Teams That Work ...
Teams That Work: Are We Really on the Same Page? | Part 1
How do great teams stay aligned when the stakes are high?In Part 1 of this three-part series on Teams That Work: How to Build High-Performing Teams by Scott Tannenbaum and Eduardo Salas, Buzz explores one of the bo...
The Courage to Question | Leadership Lessons from Richard Feynman
Your title cannot bend reality. Your confidence cannot change the facts. Great leadership starts when we stop protecting our image and start pursuing the truth.In this episode of The Leadership Buzz, we explore Richard Feynman’s...
No Mess, No Magic | Building Fearless Teams Through Psychological Safety
o Mess, No Magic: Why Fearless Teams Tell the TruthEvery leader says they want honesty. But the real question is — have we created a culture where people feel safe enough to give it?In this episode of The Leadership Buzz...
Earthrise Leadership | Bill Anders and the Power of Perspective
What if the biggest leadership breakthrough is not working harder — but seeing differently?This week on The Leadership Buzz, we explore William Thorndike’s The Outsiders and the remarkable leadership journey of B...
Make Your Bed | Small Things Are Never Small Things
Admiral William H. McRaven’s Make Your Bed reminds us of a powerful leadership lesson: small habits create lasting impact.Leadership is not built in one big moment. The big moment usually reveals the discipline, character, and h...
What Leaders Celebrate, Teams Repeat | Praise, Encouragement, and Positive Energy in Leadership
How do great leaders create influence without relying on authority, position, or title?In this episode of The Leadership Buzz, we explore leadership lessons from Leading Without Authority by Keith Ferrazzi and discuss how praise...
Leadership Under Pressure | Built Long Before the Pressure Arrives
In this episode of The Leadership Buzz, we explore how leadership under pressure is usually built long before the pressure arrives. Using Todd Beamer’s story from Lisa Beamer’s Let’s Roll, this conversation looks beyond the headlin...
Bonus Episode | Three Defining Moments That Shaped My Leadership
In this special bonus episode of The Leadership Buzz, Lloyd “Buzz” Buzzell reflects on three defining moments from the summer of 1983 that shaped his understanding of leadership, resilience, responsibility, mentorship, integrity, and service. F...
Engage With Honor | Courageous Accountability for Everyday Leaders
In this episode of The Leadership Buzz, we explore Engage with Honor: Building a Culture of Courageous Accountability by retired Air Force Colonel and Vietnam POW Lee Ellis and discuss how these leadership lessons apply directly to bus...
Multiplier vs Diminisher Leadership: Are You Making Your Team Smarter or Quieter? Liz Wiseman | Multipliers | Leadership, Team Performance, Psychological Safety
Are you a multiplier or a diminisher as a leader?The fastest way to lose a room is to walk in thinking you need to have every answer. In this leadership podcast episode, we break down Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Eve...
Radical Candor | Care Personally, Challenge Directly
Most leaders think they’re being kind when they hold back the truth—but what if the real damage comes from silence? In this leadership podcast episode, we dig into Radical Candor by Kim Scott and explore one of the most important leade...
People Matter: Ownership Changes Everything
Ownership is the quiet force that turns average teams into teams you can trust under pressure. When something goes wrong, do you default to “whose fault is this,” or do you ask the question that changes everything: “what part of this is mine to...
How to Get a Return on Failure | The Power of the Debrief
Failure is not a leadership flaw. It is a leadership guarantee.What separates strong leaders from stuck leaders is what happens after the miss. Do we hide, blame, and move on too quickly, or do we slow down and learn?In this episo...
Leaders Are Readers | Why Reading Makes You a Better Leader
Leaders who don’t read don’t stay sharp, they just stay busy. Today we unpack a simple belief with huge consequences: leaders are readers, and the ones who keep learning are the ones who make better calls when pressure hits.TJ tees up G...
Leaders Eat Last: How Great Leaders Build Trust
Most teams do not fail because they lack talent. They fail because they do not feel safe enough to tell the truth, take smart risks, or trust their leaders when things get hard. We dig into Simon Sinek’s Leaders Eat Last and the real point behi...