
The 90th Percentile: An Unconventional Leadership Podcast
Using over 1.5 million assessments from leaders across the world, renowned psychometrician Joe Folkman and leadership legend Jack Zenger are here to settle the debates and let the data speak for itself. Each week they analyze different leadership traits, trends, and what it really takes to get to the 90th percentile. These short episodes feature compelling stories, research, and actions that leaders can take to improve. To learn more visit https://zengerfolkman.com/podcast/.
Latest episodes

May 31, 2023 • 18min
Episode 111: Leadership Speed—How to Accelerate Successful Execution
Details If you have ever been lost while driving in a car, your natural reaction is to slow down. When we are uncertain about which direction to head, our natural response is to slow down, look at a map, ask questions, and proceed cautiously forward. We have measured resilience and confidence for several years and … Continued
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May 23, 2023 • 20min
Episode 110: Watch Out For Your 5-Year Workiversary
Details Most of us begin a new position with energy and a desire to impress. Our effort is high. Our passion is infectious. Our enthusiasm helps us to excel quickly. But for some, work becomes mundane and repetitive. They lose some of their passion, and their work can begin to feel like a chore. Eventually, … Continued
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Apr 19, 2023 • 18min
Episode 108: How Leaders Focus Externally to Improve the Customer Experience
Details Have you ever been on the phone for an hour with customer service, and once you finally get to talk to a human to resolve your issue, they only say: “I’m sorry, I can’t help you.” And it’s true; they can’t. They don’t have the power or authority to resolve the problem. It’s frustrating … Continued
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Apr 12, 2023 • 18min
Episode 107: 10 Attitudes About Feedback From The Most Effective Leaders
Details Occasionally, people read articles about the best approaches to giving and receiving feedback and may think, “That all sounds great, but what do the most effective leaders actually do?” To answer that question, we combined a self-assessment measuring feedback preference with 360-degree evaluations of leaders to discover the common attitudes of the best leaders … Continued
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Apr 4, 2023 • 23min
Episode 106: Getting Along With Difficult People at Work
Details Some of the most challenging relationships we have to learn to manage in this life are the ones we have with our co-workers. Because we spend a lot of time with them, probably even more time than friends, and we don’t always get to choose who we work with. Amy Gallo is a workplace … Continued
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Mar 29, 2023 • 17min
Episode 105: Behavioral Bridges—Increasing Employee Engagement While Driving For Results
Details Is it possible to be a high-standards, results-driven leader while at the same time building an engaged, fun-to-work-with team? Many people would contend that doing either of these things well makes it almost impossible to succeed at the other. And yet our examination of 360-degree assessment data from more than 60,000 leaders showed us … Continued
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Mar 15, 2023 • 17min
Episode 5: What Great Listeners Actually Do
Details Chances are you think you’re a great listener. People’s appraisal of their listening ability is much like their assessment of their driving skills, in that the great bulk of adults think they’re above average. What really makes a manager a great listener? Many assume that it involves three components: not interrupting the speaker, following along … Continued
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Mar 7, 2023 • 15min
Episode 104: The Lost Art of Asking Good Questions
Details Regardless of who you are in an organization — a great question can help you learn more about your task, unlock hidden opportunities, deliver better results, and mitigate unforeseen risks. In general, most of us don’t ask enough questions because we fail to recognize the enormous benefits in terms of interpersonal bonding and how … Continued
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Mar 1, 2023 • 16min
Episode 103: Skills, Skills, and More Skills— Finding What the Organization Values Most
Details What skills do you really need from your workforce? What skills are most valuable What are the critical issues? If the answers were clear, every organization would likely change. There are literally thousands of variables that leave leaders baffled as they sift through the clutter of needs and options to decide what is really crucial. … Continued
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Feb 15, 2023 • 13min
Episode 102: Leading with Kindness and Accountability
Details Leaders are experiencing more demands for compassion at a time when there’s not a lot of room for compromise on what they have to deliver. Do they have to choose between kindness/compassion and the expectations for performance? We wanted to understand how we maximize support and, at the same time, drive performance. In this … Continued
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