The Bosshole® Chronicles

Hosted by Real Good Ventures

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Episodes

309

Latest episode

Nov 2026

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EN-US

About the show

Never waste a good opportunity to learn from a bad boss. Our guests and Subject Matter Experts share their stories about challenging, difficult, and even mean bosses that they have had through their careers. Hosts Sara Best and John Broer explore what happened, what made the relationship difficult, and even the role WE play in our Bosshole experiences. More importantly, we apply some of our insight and analysis around behavioral science and emotional intelligence so that we (and managers listening in) can learn from the experiences and avoid common Bosshole® Blunders. If you have questions or stories you want to share, contact us at info@realgoodventures.com

Listen to episodes

60 recent

November 3, 202623 min

Using AI for Bosshole® Prevention - Part 1

AI is already shaping how managers write, speak, and make decisions but it can also shape how we react under stress. We want less knee-jerk leadership, fewer regret-filled emails, and more calm, clear conversations that build trust. So we dig into a practical idea: using artificial intelligence as a mirror to help us stay out of the bosshole zone. Not a replacement for human connection, not a script you hide behind, but a tool that helps you slow down and show up better. Click HERE to anonymously share a Bosshole story... Click HERE to get your very own Reference Profile . We use The Predictive Index as our analytics platform so you know it's validated and reliable. Your Reference Profile informs you of your needs, behaviors, and the nuances of what we call your Behavioral DNA. It also explains your work style, your strengths, and even the common traps in which you may find yourself. It's a great tool to share with friends, family, and co-workers. Follow us on Instagram HERE and make sure to share with your network! Follow us on X HERE and make sure to share with your network! Provide your feedback HERE , please! We love to hear from our listeners and welcome your thoughts and ideas about how to improve the podcast and even suggest topics and ideas for future episodes. Visit us at www.realgoodventures.com . We are a Talent Optimization consultancy specializing in people and business execution analytics. Real Good Ventures was founded by Sara Best and John Broer who are both Certified Talent Optimization Consultants with over 50 years of combined consulting and organizational performance experience. Sara is also certified in EQi 2.0. RGV is also a Certified Partner of Line-of-Sight, a powerful organizational health and execution platform. RGV is known for its work in leadership development, executive coaching, and what we call organizational rebuild where we bring all our tools together to diagnose an organization's present state and how to grow toward a stronger future state. Send us Fan Mail

October 27, 202633 min

Angel Williams - Stop Fixing Symptoms

Most workplace problems don’t disappear because we never remove what’s feeding them. We patch the surface, move on, and then act surprised when the exact same issue comes back with sharper edges, more frustration, and less trust. That cycle is why I wanted to bring on Angel Williams, an ASQ certified Six Sigma Black Belt who’s spent her career in process improvement across aerospace, oil and gas, and healthcare and has turned her expertise into a parable everyone can understand. Click HERE for Angel's LinkedIn profile Click HERE to order Angel's book Stop Fixing Symptoms HERE ARE MORE RESOURCES FROM REAL GOOD VENTURES: Click HERE to anonymously share a Bosshole story... Click HERE to get your very own Reference Profile . We use The Predictive Index as our analytics platform so you know it's validated and reliable. Your Reference Profile informs you of your needs, behaviors, and the nuances of what we call your Behavioral DNA. It also explains your work style, your strengths, and even the common traps in which you may find yourself. It's a great tool to share with friends, family, and co-workers. Follow us on Instagram HERE and make sure to share with your network! Follow us on X HERE and make sure to share with your network! Provide your feedback HERE , please! We love to hear from our listeners and welcome your thoughts and ideas about how to improve the podcast and even suggest topics and ideas for future episodes. Visit us at www.realgoodventures.com . We are a Talent Optimization consultancy specializing in people and business execution analytics. Real Good Ventures was founded by Sara Best and John Broer who are both Certified Talent Optimization Consultants with over 50 years of combined consulting and organizational performance experience. Sara is also certified in EQi 2.0. RGV is also a Certified Partner of Line-of-Sight, a powerful organizational health and execution platform. RGV is known for its work in leadership development, executive coaching, and what we call organizational rebuild where we bring all our tools together to diagnose an organization's present state and how to grow toward a stronger future state. Send us Fan Mail

October 20, 202627 min

TBC Flashback - Ryan Hawk: The Pursuit of Excellence

You can be amazing at your job and still be unprepared the moment you become “the boss.” We rewind to our first conversation with Ryan Hawk, host of The Learning Leader Show and author of Welcome to Management and The Pursuit of Excellence, to talk about the messy, human reality of leadership growth and what it takes to earn trust after a promotion. If you have ever worried you’re faking it as a new manager, this one puts language to the problem and gives you a path forward. Click HERE for Part 2 of our episode with Ryan Hawk Click HERE to access Ryan's LinkedIn profile Click HERE to purchase Ryan's book The Pursuit of Excellence Click HERE to purchase Ryan's book Welcome to Management Click HERE to listen to Ryan's podcast The Learning Leader HERE ARE MORE RESOURCES FROM REAL GOOD VENTURES: Click HERE to anonymously share a Bosshole story... Click HERE to get your very own Reference Profile . We use The Predictive Index as our analytics platform so you know it's validated and reliable. Your Reference Profile informs you of your needs, behaviors, and the nuances of what we call your Behavioral DNA. It also explains your work style, your strengths, and even the common traps in which you may find yourself. It's a great tool to share with friends, family, and co-workers. Follow us on Instagram HERE and make sure to share with your network! Follow us on X HERE and make sure to share with your network! Provide your feedback HERE , please! We love to hear from our listeners and welcome your thoughts and ideas about how to improve the podcast and even suggest topics and ideas for future episodes. Visit us at www.realgoodventures.com . We are a Talent Optimization consultancy specializing in people and business execution analytics. Real Good Ventures was founded by Sara Best and John Broer who are both Certified Talent Optimization Consultants with over 50 years of combined consulting and organizational performance experience. Sara is also certified in EQi 2.0. RGV is also a Certified Partner of Line-of-Sight, a powerful organizational health and execution platform. RGV is known for its work in leadership development, executive coaching, and what we call organizational rebuild where we bring all our tools together to diagnose an organization's present state and how to grow toward a stronger future state. Send us Fan Mail

October 13, 202633 min

The Fearless Report - Psychological Safety Wins

Silence at work may look like “alignment” until the results start slipping. We’re talking about Psychological Safety as the belief that you won’t be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes and why that belief is one of the strongest predictors of team performance. When interpersonal risk feels high, people protect themselves, not the work, and dangerous silence takes over. Click HERE to see The Fearless Report - 2025 Click HERE to see The Fearless Report - 2024 Click HERE to listen to The 2026 Human Connection Study (Part 1) Click HERE to listen to The 2026 Human Connection Study (Part 2) HERE ARE MORE RESOURCES FROM REAL GOOD VENTURES: Click HERE to anonymously share a Bosshole story... Click HERE to get your very own Reference Profile . We use The Predictive Index as our analytics platform so you know it's validated and reliable. Your Reference Profile informs you of your needs, behaviors, and the nuances of what we call your Behavioral DNA. It also explains your work style, your strengths, and even the common traps in which you may find yourself. It's a great tool to share with friends, family, and co-workers. Follow us on Instagram HERE and make sure to share with your network! Follow us on X HERE and make sure to share with your network! Provide your feedback HERE , please! We love to hear from our listeners and welcome your thoughts and ideas about how to improve the podcast and even suggest topics and ideas for future episodes. Visit us at www.realgoodventures.com . We are a Talent Optimization consultancy specializing in people and business execution analytics. Real Good Ventures was founded by Sara Best and John Broer who are both Certified Talent Optimization Consultants with over 50 years of combined consulting and organizational performance experience. Sara is also certified in EQi 2.0. RGV is also a Certified Partner of Line-of-Sight, a powerful organizational health and execution platform. RGV is known for its work in leadership development, executive coaching, and what we call organizational rebuild where we bring all our tools together to diagnose an organization's present state and how to grow toward a stronger future state. Send us Fan Mail

October 6, 202634 min

Brad Rowe - Engineering People Development at SSOE

The fastest way to break a team isn’t a big scandal, it’s a slow drift: overloaded managers, constant change, and people leadership getting pushed to “later.” We sit down with Brad Rowe, Senior Vice President of People and Culture at SSOE, to talk about what it takes to build a sustainable culture inside a high-performing architectural and engineering firm and how leaders can avoid slipping into The Bosshole Zone when the pressure spikes. Click HERE for Brad's LinkedIn page Click HERE for SSOE's website HERE ARE MORE RESOURCES FROM REAL GOOD VENTURES: Click HERE to anonymously share a Bosshole story... Click HERE to get your very own Reference Profile . We use The Predictive Index as our analytics platform so you know it's validated and reliable. Your Reference Profile informs you of your needs, behaviors, and the nuances of what we call your Behavioral DNA. It also explains your work style, your strengths, and even the common traps in which you may find yourself. It's a great tool to share with friends, family, and co-workers. Follow us on Instagram HERE and make sure to share with your network! Follow us on X HERE and make sure to share with your network! Provide your feedback HERE , please! We love to hear from our listeners and welcome your thoughts and ideas about how to improve the podcast and even suggest topics and ideas for future episodes. Visit us at www.realgoodventures.com . We are a Talent Optimization consultancy specializing in people and business execution analytics. Real Good Ventures was founded by Sara Best and John Broer who are both Certified Talent Optimization Consultants with over 50 years of combined consulting and organizational performance experience. Sara is also certified in EQi 2.0. RGV is also a Certified Partner of Line-of-Sight, a powerful organizational health and execution platform. RGV is known for its work in leadership development, executive coaching, and what we call organizational rebuild where we bring all our tools together to diagnose an organization's present state and how to grow toward a stronger future state. Send us Fan Mail

September 29, 202637 min

Dr. Anthony Belluccia - The PI Cognitive Assessment

Cognitive ability is one of the strongest predictors of job performance, and it still makes a lot of leaders nervous. We sit down with Dr. Anthony Belluccia, senior product scientist at The Predictive Index, to pull the curtain back on PI’s Cognitive Assessment and explain what it is and what it is not. If you’ve ever worried that a cognitive test is just an IQ test in disguise, or you’ve seen teams mishandle it and spook candidates, this conversation brings the clarity and guardrails people need. HERE ARE MORE RESOURCES FROM REAL GOOD VENTURES: Click HERE to anonymously share a Bosshole story... Click HERE to get your very own Reference Profile . We use The Predictive Index as our analytics platform so you know it's validated and reliable. Your Reference Profile informs you of your needs, behaviors, and the nuances of what we call your Behavioral DNA. It also explains your work style, your strengths, and even the common traps in which you may find yourself. It's a great tool to share with friends, family, and co-workers. Follow us on Instagram HERE and make sure to share with your network! Follow us on X HERE and make sure to share with your network! Provide your feedback HERE , please! We love to hear from our listeners and welcome your thoughts and ideas about how to improve the podcast and even suggest topics and ideas for future episodes. Visit us at www.realgoodventures.com . We are a Talent Optimization consultancy specializing in people and business execution analytics. Real Good Ventures was founded by Sara Best and John Broer who are both Certified Talent Optimization Consultants with over 50 years of combined consulting and organizational performance experience. Sara is also certified in EQi 2.0. RGV is also a Certified Partner of Line-of-Sight, a powerful organizational health and execution platform. RGV is known for its work in leadership development, executive coaching, and what we call organizational rebuild where we bring all our tools together to diagnose an organization's present state and how to grow toward a stronger future state. Send us Fan Mail

September 22, 202631 min

TBC Flashback - Bjorn Billhardt - "The 12-Week MBA"

The fastest way to break a team is to promote a high performer into management and then give them zero training. We bring back a powerful conversation with Bjorn Billhardt, CEO of Abilitie and co-author of The 12-Week MBA, to get honest about why first-time managers struggle, why traditional MBA programs often underweight people leadership, and what actually helps when the job stops being about your personal work product. HERE ARE MORE RESOURCES FROM REAL GOOD VENTURES: Never miss a good opportunity to learn from a bad boss... Click HERE to get your very own Reference Profile . We use The Predictive Index as our analytics platform so you know it's validated and reliable. Your Reference Profile informs you of your needs, behaviors, and the nuances of what we call your Behavioral DNA. It also explains your work style, your strengths, and even the common traps in which you may find yourself. It's a great tool to share with friends, family, and co-workers. Follow us on Instagram HERE and make sure to share with your network! Follow us on X HERE and make sure to share with your network! Provide your feedback HERE , please! We love to hear from our listeners and welcome your thoughts and ideas about how to improve the podcast and even suggest topics and ideas for future episodes. Visit us at www.realgoodventures.com . We are a Talent Optimization consultancy specializing in people and business execution analytics. Real Good Ventures was founded by Sara Best and John Broer who are both Certified Talent Optimization Consultants with over 50 years of combined consulting and organizational performance experience. Sara is also certified in EQi 2.0. RGV is also a Certified Partner of Line-of-Sight, a powerful organizational health and execution platform. RGV is known for its work in leadership development, executive coaching, and what we call organizational rebuild where we bring all our tools together to diagnose an organization's present state and how to grow toward a stronger future state. Send us Fan Mail

September 15, 202636 min

Bill Gallagher - Busy is Broken

The most dangerous bottleneck in a growing company is often the person working the hardest. We’re joined by returning guest Bill Gallagher, host of the Scaling Up Business Podcast and author of Busy Is Broken, to unpack why constant motion can feel heroic while quietly weakening execution, draining talent, and lowering company value. Click HERE to order a copy of Busy is Broken Click HERE to listen to Bill's first episode in The Bosshole® Chronicles Click HERE for Bill's LinkedIn profile HERE ARE MORE RESOURCES FROM REAL GOOD VENTURES: Never miss a good opportunity to learn from a bad boss... Click HERE to get your very own Reference Profile . We use The Predictive Index as our analytics platform so you know it's validated and reliable. Your Reference Profile informs you of your needs, behaviors, and the nuances of what we call your Behavioral DNA. It also explains your work style, your strengths, and even the common traps in which you may find yourself. It's a great tool to share with friends, family, and co-workers. Follow us on Instagram HERE and make sure to share with your network! Follow us on X HERE and make sure to share with your network! Provide your feedback HERE , please! We love to hear from our listeners and welcome your thoughts and ideas about how to improve the podcast and even suggest topics and ideas for future episodes. Visit us at www.realgoodventures.com . We are a Talent Optimization consultancy specializing in people and business execution analytics. Real Good Ventures was founded by Sara Best and John Broer who are both Certified Talent Optimization Consultants with over 50 years of combined consulting and organizational performance experience. Sara is also certified in EQi 2.0. RGV is also a Certified Partner of Line-of-Sight, a powerful organizational health and execution platform. RGV is known for its work in leadership development, executive coaching, and what we call organizational rebuild where we bring all our tools together to diagnose an organization's present state and how to grow toward a stronger future state. Send us Fan Mail

September 8, 202626 min

Michael Kuenzi - Development: Where Performance Really Begins (Part 2)

Most hiring advice skips the uncomfortable truth: if you can’t clearly explain the job, you can’t reliably hire for it. We pick up part two with Mike Kuenzi from Titus Talent Strategies and get painfully specific about role clarity, modern job descriptions, and why so many organizations still post vague requirements that attract the wrong applicants. We also talk about how AI can be useful in recruiting, but only when it’s built on a job target shaped by the people who actually understand the work and the outcomes. Click HERE for Part 1 of Mike's TBC interview Click HERE for Jonathan Reynolds TBC interview Click HERE for Mike's LinkedIn profile Click HERE for Titus Talent Strategies' website HERE ARE MORE RESOURCES FROM REAL GOOD VENTURES: Never miss a good opportunity to learn from a bad boss... Click HERE to get your very own Reference Profile . We use The Predictive Index as our analytics platform so you know it's validated and reliable. Your Reference Profile informs you of your needs, behaviors, and the nuances of what we call your Behavioral DNA. It also explains your work style, your strengths, and even the common traps in which you may find yourself. It's a great tool to share with friends, family, and co-workers. Follow us on Instagram HERE and make sure to share with your network! Follow us on X HERE and make sure to share with your network! Provide your feedback HERE , please! We love to hear from our listeners and welcome your thoughts and ideas about how to improve the podcast and even suggest topics and ideas for future episodes. Visit us at www.realgoodventures.com . We are a Talent Optimization consultancy specializing in people and business execution analytics. Real Good Ventures was founded by Sara Best and John Broer who are both Certified Talent Optimization Consultants with over 50 years of combined consulting and organizational performance experience. Sara is also certified in EQi 2.0. RGV is also a Certified Partner of Line-of-Sight, a powerful organizational health and execution platform. RGV is known for its work in leadership development, executive coaching, and what we call organizational rebuild where we bring all our tools together to diagnose an organization's present state and how to grow toward a stronger future state. Send us Fan Mail

September 1, 202619 min

Michael Kuenzi - Development: Where Performance Really Begins (Part 1)

Most leadership training feels great on Friday and disappears by Monday, and that is exactly what we challenge here. I sit down with Mike Kuenzi, Vice President of Talent Optimization at Titus Talent Strategies, to get brutally practical about what actually changes behavior at work and what is just a polished event with a certificate at the end. Click HERE for Mike's LinkedIn profile Click HERE for Titus Talent Strategies' website HERE ARE MORE RESOURCES FROM REAL GOOD VENTURES: Never miss a good opportunity to learn from a bad boss... Click HERE to get your very own Reference Profile . We use The Predictive Index as our analytics platform so you know it's validated and reliable. Your Reference Profile informs you of your needs, behaviors, and the nuances of what we call your Behavioral DNA. It also explains your work style, your strengths, and even the common traps in which you may find yourself. It's a great tool to share with friends, family, and co-workers. Follow us on Instagram HERE and make sure to share with your network! Follow us on X HERE and make sure to share with your network! Provide your feedback HERE , please! We love to hear from our listeners and welcome your thoughts and ideas about how to improve the podcast and even suggest topics and ideas for future episodes. Visit us at www.realgoodventures.com . We are a Talent Optimization consultancy specializing in people and business execution analytics. Real Good Ventures was founded by Sara Best and John Broer who are both Certified Talent Optimization Consultants with over 50 years of combined consulting and organizational performance experience. Sara is also certified in EQi 2.0. RGV is also a Certified Partner of Line-of-Sight, a powerful organizational health and execution platform. RGV is known for its work in leadership development, executive coaching, and what we call organizational rebuild where we bring all our tools together to diagnose an organization's present state and how to grow toward a stronger future state. Send us Fan Mail