Podcast
OwlCast: The Leadership & Coaching Podcast
Hosted by David Morelli with Co-Host William Oakley · EN
OwlCast is a podcast on leadership and coaching. You can expect to get insights to help you solve the thorny problems of life and leadership – all with a dollop of laughter thrown in. Your dynamic hosts, David and William, will help you become a more kickass leader. Together, they won’t only motivate you, they’ll give you scientifically proven tools to become better – full stop!
34episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Are You Outsourcing Your Judgement? AI Suggested This Title
4d ago00:53:41Tap to summarizeWhat happens when convenience becomes a substitute for thinking?From AI-generated content to GPS navigation and social media algorithms, we're surrounded by systems designed to make decisions easier. But at what cost? In this thought-provoking episode, David and William unpack the hidden danger of outsourcing our judgment and explore why critical thinking may be one of the most valuable leadership skills in the age of artificial intelligence. If you've ever wondered whether technology is helping you think—or thinking for you—this conversation will challenge you to reclaim your most important leadership asset: your judgment.Key Topics:• Tools like AI, social media, GPS, and even managers can become substitutes for critical thinking. • Outsourcing judgment can reduce ownership and weaken decision-making skills. • Technology should enhance thinking, not replace it. • Strong leaders challenge assumptions, wrestle with ambiguity, and think critically before acting. • Coaching strengthens judgment by helping people think for themselves rather than providing answers. • Growth requires "cognitive friction"—the discomfort of working through complex questions.
Transcribe →Too Tired to Think: Why Modern Leaders Are Running on Empty and How to Recharge
2w ago00:47:06Tap to summarizeEver feel exhausted before the day is even half over?Most leaders don't have a time problem—they have an energy problem. Constant notifications, endless meetings, and the pressure to always be productive are quietly draining the mental fuel needed for great leadership. In this episode of OWLCAST, William Oakley and David Morelli explore the hidden cost of cognitive overload and reveal practical ways to recharge your brain, reclaim your focus, and lead with greater clarity and impact. If you're tired of feeling tired, this conversation may be exactly what you need.Key Topics:• Continuous multitasking and task-switching drain mental energy. • Being constantly "on" reduces effectiveness and increases mistakes. • Rest is a leadership strategy, not a reward. • True recovery requires periods without new inputs, decisions, or performance demands. • Leaders who model healthy boundaries help create healthier, higher-performing teams. • Productivity is often improved by strategic recovery, not by working longer
Transcribe →Aren’t I Supposed to Chase Success? Rethinking Work, Status and Happiness
4w ago00:59:36Tap to summarizeWhat happens when the thing you’ve spent your entire career chasing… stops working? In this deeply personal episode, David, William and guest Anna-Marie explore the hidden cost of success through a real-life story of walking away from a high-powered career. It’s a conversation about identity, pressure, and the quiet realization that achievement doesn’t always equal fulfillment. We dig into the masks we wear to survive in high-performance environments—leader, fixer, “I’m fine”—and the toll they take over time. We also confront the harder questions most people avoid: What is this costing me? Who am I outside of my role? And what does success look like if it’s not defined by titles, money, or status? This isn’t just about leaving a job. It’s about reclaiming alignment, rediscovering what matters, and having the courage to redefine success on your own terms—even when the world around you doesn’t understand it.Key Topics:• Success can become an identity trap—achievement replaces self-awareness. • High performers often push through stress, burnout, and misalignment for years. • Eventually, the question shifts from “What am I gaining?” to “What is this costing me?” • Lack of belonging and authentic self-expression drives disengagement. • Leadership misalignment (styles, connection, support) can push out top talent. • Courage isn’t just climbing the ladder—it’s knowing when to step off.
Transcribe →Presence: The One Thing You Can’t Fake
Jun 900:53:08Tap to summarizeYou’ve felt it before—those rare moments when someone is fully with you. No distractions, no agenda, no performance… just presence. And you’ve felt the opposite too—the “I’m here, but I’m not really here” conversations that leave you feeling unseen. In this episode, David and William unpack what presence really is—and why it’s one of the most powerful and misunderstood aspects of leadership and coaching. If you’ve ever been told to “work on your executive presence” but had no idea what that actually meant… this conversation finally puts language to the invisible.Key Topics:• Presence is the alignment of attention, intention, and emotion. • You can’t measure your own presence—others feel it instantly. • Lack of presence impacts promotions, reputation, and influence. • Presence is not a tactic—it’s a “beingness,” not a checklist skill. • Executive presence ≠ dominance; it’s grounded, authentic alignment. • Coaching presence is different: • Focused fully on the other person• Neutral emotion• Clear intention to support their growth• The fastest way to lose presence? Focusing on yourself. • Growth tip: You don’t “add” presence—you remove what gets in the way
Transcribe →You’re NOT Listening: (Oops, neither am I!)
Jun 200:51:41Tap to summarizeMost of us think we’re good listeners… but we’re really just waiting for our turn to talk. In this episode, David and William call out the hidden habits—reloading, multitasking, and conversational narcissism—that quietly break trust, kill engagement, and cost more than we realize.Key Topics:• Listening ≠ hearing — true listening is about understanding, not responding.• Silence is a leadership skill—it allows people to process, open up, and feel heard.• Deep listening reduces stress, lowers defensiveness, and increases trust• There are 3 levels of listening: o Level 1: Me-focusedo Level 2: You-focusedo Level 3: Context & what’s not said• Leaders who don’t listen create disengagement, poor performance, and turnover.• Practical moves: o Pause (count to 3)o Paraphrase before respondingo Don’t interrupto Listen with your eyes
Transcribe →Start with People: The Rest Follows with Fortune 100 CHRO Mike Theilmann
May 2600:55:23Tap to summarizeWhat if career success has less to do with titles and compensation—and more to do with who you choose to work for? In this powerful conversation, Fortune 100 CHRO Mike Theilmann shares his unconventional career path and a radically human philosophy: start with people, and everything else follows. This episode is packed with real stories about development, courage, coaching, and what it actually means to put people first at scale.Reach Mike here: mtheilmann@icloud.comKey Topics:• Pick the person, not the positionCareers accelerate when you work for leaders who genuinely develop people. • Ask better interview questions“Who have you developed?” may be more important than any job description. • Development doesn’t come from comfortGrowth comes from being stretched into situations you don’t fully understand—yet. • Coaching and feedback are different toolsFeedback helps people learn from moments; coaching helps people think and grow over time. • People-first leadership scalesWhen organizations prioritize human capability, business results follow. • You don’t wait for the ladder—you pull it downOwnership, curiosity, and initiative matter more than permission.
Transcribe →Engagement: The Most Important Thing We Can’t Explain
May 1900:44:33Tap to summarizeEveryone wants “engaged employees”… but almost no one can clearly define what engagement actually is. In this episode, David and William unpack why engagement has become one of the most measured—and most misunderstood—concepts in modern organizations. From burnout and belonging to relationships and coaching, this conversation challenges leaders to stop chasing survey scores and start creating the conditions where people can actually bring their whole selves to work.Key Topics:• Engagement is not enthusiasm or complianceIt’s about how much of yourself you feel safe bringing to work—emotionally, mentally, and physically. • Burnout and engagement are two sides of the same coinYou can’t fix burnout without understanding engagement, and you can’t boost engagement by ignoring burnout. • Relationships drive engagementBoth the number of workplace relationships and the depth of those relationships matter. • Engagement is environmental, not motivational.When people disengage, it’s rarely because they don’t care—it’s because the conditions make caring hard. • Coaching multiplies engagementLeaders who coach well (across different styles) create belonging, meaning, and momentum. • Leaders don’t create engagement directly They create (or destroy) the conditions where engagement can exist.
Transcribe →Lower the Bar to Raise It: Why Transformation Requires a Temporary Dip in Performance
May 1200:51:23Tap to summarizeWhat if struggling during change doesn’t mean something is wrong—but means it’s working? In this episode of OWLCAST, David Morelli and William Oakley explore why real transformation almost always comes with a temporary dip in performance. From AI adoption to leadership behavior change, they explain the neuroscience of learning, the danger of abandoning change too early, and how leaders can normalize the dip to unlock higher performance on the other side.Key Topics:• Meaningful change requires unlearning—and that creates a temporary performance dip. • Leaders must normalize the dip to prevent premature abandonment of change. • Learning goals outperform performance goals during transformation. • Motivation often drops when people realize how much they don’t know—and that’s normal. • Immersion and repetition shorten the “awkward phase” of learning. • Coaching conversations dramatically reduce the pain and length of the dip. • Transformation fails when leaders expect performance without allowing learning.
Transcribe →Nice Leaders, Weak Results: Why Kindness (Not Niceness) Drives Real Performance
May 500:45:39Tap to summarizeMany leaders believe they have only two choices: be nice or be a jerk. In this episode, David Morelli and William Oakley dismantle that false binary and introduce a far better option—kindness. Through candid stories, research, and real workplace examples, they explain how “niceness” often avoids discomfort, feeds mediocrity, and erodes trust, while true kindness requires courage, clarity, and honest conversations. This episode reframes feedback, trust, and leadership communication in a way that challenges comfort—and delivers better results.Key Topics:• Niceness is often about self-protection; kindness is about growth. • Avoiding hard conversations increases conflict rather than reducing it. • Overly nice feedback creates confusion, mistrust, and stagnation. • Clear, specific, and timely feedback is an act of kindness. • Kind communication reduces long-term conflict and builds trust. • Great leaders are willing to create short-term discomfort for long-term growth. • Trust is built through honesty, not comfort.
Transcribe →Let It Die: The Hard Leadership Skill of Letting Go
Apr 2800:47:17Tap to summarizeWe’re taught that great leaders persevere—but what if the real leadership skill is knowing when to stop? In this episode of OWLCAST, David Morelli and William Oakley tackle the uncomfortable truth that holding on too long—to projects, programs, habits, or decisions—can quietly drain performance and morale. Through research, real-world stories, and the concept of “zombie projects,” they show why letting go feels so hard, how ego and sunk costs keep us stuck, and how strategic pruning creates space for focus, growth, and better results.Key Topics:• Letting go is not quitting—it’s a leadership skill. • “Zombie projects” drain time, energy, and morale long after they stop adding value. • High performers are often the worst at stopping bad work because of conscientiousness and loyalty. • Only ~8% of organizations actively stop projects—yet those that do see significantly higher growth. • Fear of being perceived as unreliable keeps leaders stuck in outdated commitments. • Pruning (even good things) allows resources to flow to what matters most. • Ending on a high note can be more powerful than dragging something out.
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