How Great Leaders Grow Themselves First: Margaret Andrews on the Art (and Pain) of Self-Understanding

What really makes someone a great leader? Spoiler: it’s not a fancy title or your ability to quote Simon Sinek. In this episode, I sit down with Margaret Andrews, Harvard educator and author of Manage Yourself to Lead Others, to talk about why leadership starts with, you guessed it, you. We get real about emotional awareness, personal stories, and how your inner world quietly dictates your outer leadership.   Margaret shares a wild story about a student who realized he was the problem, the “Best Boss” exercise that might haunt you in the best way, and why 85% of great leadership comes down to how you treat people, not how many strategy decks you can make.   If you’ve ever thought, “I’m great with systems but people are complicated,” this episode’s for you.   Hit play. Prepare to laugh, squirm a little, and maybe rethink what leadership actually means.     --------------------------------------------------------------------------   Margaret Andrews is a renowned speaker, author, and educator dedicated to transforming the art of leadership through self-mastery. A veteran instructor at Harvard University, Margaret designed and launched the business course Managing Yourself and Leading Others, which remains one of the university’s most popular professional development programs with a perpetual waitlist. She is the author of the 2026 book Manage Yourself to Lead Others, where she shares her high-impact framework for helping executives and decision-makers unlock their next level of success by grounded self-understanding. With a client list that includes Amazon, Meta, Rolex, and the United Nations, Margaret is a global authority on how the inner wisdom of a leader directly shapes organizational culture and long-term performance.   Grab her book: https://www.amazon.com/Manage-Yourself-Lead-Others-Self-Understanding/dp/1541705688 Website: https://www.margaretandrews.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaretcandrews/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themargaretandrews/   #leadership #selfgrowth #mindset #management #harvard