In this episode of My Favorite Mistake, U.S. Marine Corps officer and leadership mentor Olaolu Ogunyemi reflects on a defining leadership moment early in his career—realizing that his approach, while well-intentioned, caused real harm. Listen: Check...
This Mistake of the Week episode looks at how diesel fuel ended up where it shouldn’t—and what that teaches us about system failures. Mark Graban reflects on why learning and prevention matter more than blame after a costly mistake. Listen: Check out...
What happens when a CEO loses his eyesight—and becomes a better leader because of it? In this episode, Ray Zinn shares lessons from nearly four decades of leading Micrel Semiconductor, including why repeating the same mistake is the real failure, how...
Listen: Check out all episodes on the My Favorite Mistake main page. My guest for Episode #336 of the My Favorite Mistake podcast is Amy Rasdal, founder of Billable at the Beach and author of Land a Consulting Project Now. Amy left a successful corpo...
A devastating hospital mistake in Glasgow was described as “human error,” even as leaders acknowledged that “very rigorous processes” were not followed. In this Mistake of the Week, I examine why suspensions and discipline don’t guarantee improvement...
Listen: Check out all episodes on the My Favorite Mistake main page. My guest for Episode #335 of the My Favorite Mistake podcast is Kevin Hipes, a real estate entrepreneur, former city commissioner, and author who’s been called the “New York Forrest...
Listen: Check out all episodes on the My Favorite Mistake main page. What does a failed bank robbery have to do with one of the most cited ideas in psychology? More than you might expect. In this episode of My Favorite Mistake, I tell the true story...
In this episode of My Favorite Mistake, Angie Callen shares why choosing engineering — despite being wired for people — became a defining learning experience that shaped her career, confidence, and purpose. Listen: Check out all episodes on the My Fa...
Jason Sherman shares the startup mistakes that taught him the hard way about co-founders, “smart money” versus just money, and why MVPs should accelerate learning, not complexity. It’s a candid conversation about judgment, incentives, and how early d...
New Year’s resolutions fail far more often than they succeed. In this Mistake of the Week, Mark Graban explores why treating change as a test of willpower—rather than a system design challenge—leads to predictable frustration, both personally and in...