5 Podcasts That Will Make You Smarter, Better, Healthier, and Wiser

“Work-life balance” and “people-first culture” are no longer trendy buzzwords but real, substantive initiatives in most industries. At the heart of any business’s success are its people, and leaders are finally recognizing that these ideas are not just important to their employees but also help inform their own leadership styles.

These five podcasts explore lessons and insights from a variety of sources–artists, athletes, entrepreneurs, and leadership experts willing to get vulnerable–and share how to bring a little more heart and humanity into our work.

1. Guy Kawasaki’s Remarkable People

On Remarkable People, Guy Kawasaki’s chief virtue is his curiosity. He comes from a venture capitalist background in Silicon Valley during the very beginnings of its boom, so it’s no wonder Kawasaki is drawn to people pursuing “remarkable” things. Through his podcast and his upcoming book, Think Remarkable: 9 Paths to Transform Your Life and Make a Difference, Kawasaki aims to help individuals reach their full potential and become remarkable themselves by digging deep into stories from activists, authors, adventurers, and everything in between. Kawasaki’s insightful discussions with different movers and shakers offer powerful anecdotes and must-have tips on how to pursue, foster, and achieve remarkable results.

2. No Show Dogs

Professional athletes face an immense amount of pressure in their industry, yet they usually get to benefit from coaching to help them withstand the heat. No Show Dogs hosts Derin McMains and Dr. Nicole Detling, two mental performance coaches who once worked with Olympians and the MLB before shifting into the high-stress industry of cybersecurity, take the hard-earned lessons from sports and apply them to the corporate world. With their sports world counterparts (including coaches, Olympians, and Hall of Famers), they explore topics like the value of “play” when it comes to improving performance and well-being and the blueprint to building and being a part of a world-class team. Rather than leaving people to struggle on their own, their conversations offer insights on how to withstand and rise above the pressure as individuals and as a team.

3. The Reboot Podcast

Jerry Colonna and the Reboot.io team believe that focusing on the heart and soul of business is vital for helping individuals navigate the wins and losses and ups and downs of being a leader in the world of startups. While spreadsheets and strategy may be important to bring a business together, they argue that what matters most is building meaningful relationships between leaders and workers. If you can think of a struggle you have faced as a leader, The Reboot Podcast has probably touched on it: imposter syndrome and self-doubt, burnout and building resilience, stepping up in difficult situations–every episode lets you know that you are not alone in your struggles.

4. How Leaders Lead with David Novak

The main question for the leaders being interviewed on How Leaders Lead with David Novak is simple: “How do you lead?” But it manages to bring out stories not just about their incredible successes but also about the greatest lessons they learned along the way–usually from their mistakes. His forthcoming book, How Leaders Learn: Master the Habits of the World’s Most Successful People, is an extension of this work. In many of his interviews, you’ll also hear how many leaders emphasize the benefits of listening to your team, tapping into their potential, and appreciating a diversity of talents, voices, and perspectives.

5. Love in Action

This April, I will be returning to the air with my own podcast, Love in Action, where I speak with the world’s leading business experts on how to bring more compassion to our workplaces. Leading from a place of kindness takes more than just being “nice,” and in each episode, I speak with leaders on how they apply those make-or-break essential human skills in their own work. We discuss topics such as how leaders can foster connection within their teams, how they can learn through intelligent failure, and dive deep into the principles of servant leadership, showing how leading with humanity can be beneficial for both people and profits.