The 90th Percentile: An Unconventional Leadership Podcast

Most leadership podcasts rely on anecdotes and opinions. This one brings receipts. Joe Folkman and Jack Zenger run Zenger Folkman, a leadership development firm that has collected over 1.5 million leadership assessments from organizations worldwide. Their podcast takes that massive dataset and turns it into 12-to-17-minute episodes that answer specific leadership questions with actual numbers. With 191 episodes and a 4.9 rating from 104 reviews, the show has built a loyal following among people who want evidence behind the advice. Recent episodes tackled whether coaching is more about connection than advice (yes, according to their data), how gossip quietly erodes trust in teams, and what the 2026 Leadership Skills Report actually found. Co-host BreAnne Okoren keeps the conversation accessible when Folkman gets deep into the psychometrics. The short episode format is intentional and refreshing. You can listen during a coffee break and walk away with a research-backed insight to apply that day. Zenger and Folkman occasionally challenge popular leadership wisdom, like the myth that generational differences drive trust gaps. They let the data tell the story, which sometimes leads to surprising conclusions. The production is clean and efficient. No long intros, no rambling tangents. If you are tired of leadership advice that boils down to gut feeling and want something grounded in measurement, this podcast fills a gap that almost nothing else in the space does.