September 2026

If you want people to tell you what they really think, simply asking for feedback isn’t enough—you have to earn their trust. In this episode, TIAA President and CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett shares practical ways leaders can get closer to their people, uncover perspectives they might otherwise miss, and create a culture where honest feedback and high expectations can coexist.

Thasunda explains why leaders need to “get proximate,” how she uses small-group conversations to hear directly from employees throughout the organization, and why asking for the “counter-narrative” can improve decision-making. She also explores how vulnerability creates permission for others to bring more of themselves to work, why job titles shouldn’t limit someone’s contribution, and how leaders can guide people through the uncertainty created by AI. Along the way, she makes the case that if leaders want excellence, they first have to earn the right to demand it.

Most leaders say people matter—but that commitment gets tested when growth, performance, accountability, and opportunity are on the line. In this episode, Ambriza Social Mexican Kitchen cofounder and CEO Julio Garcia joins David Ashcraft to explore what people-first leadership looks like in practice.

Julio shares how his own understanding of leadership shifted from status and entitlement toward responsibility and service, and how that change now shapes Ambriza’s culture. He explains why leaders need to know the people behind the roles, how the company develops employees toward greater responsibility and even ownership, and why caring for people still requires clear standards.

The conversation also examines a harder question: What happens when you invest deeply in someone—and that growth eventually takes them somewhere else? Julio offers a practical picture of leadership that measures success not only by organizational growth, but by what becomes possible for the people you lead.

Strong leaders do more than delegate responsibility—they develop people who can eventually take their work farther than the leader could alone. In this episode, David Ashcraft shares how he learned to build teams by intentionally investing in people, establishing trust, and giving them room to become experts in their own areas.

David explains why development requires more than hiring talented people and handing them responsibility. Leaders need to stay closely engaged early, create shared learning experiences, communicate expectations, and be willing to course-correct when necessary. He also challenges leaders to examine their own role when someone on the team is struggling.

The goal is not to remain the most capable person in every area. It is to build people who grow in expertise, ownership, and confidence—and strengthen the organization in ways the leader could never accomplish alone.