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HR and Leadership Podcasts - Listen, Learn & Engage in 2023

 
 

Are you a podcast junkie or perhaps a newcomer to the world of podcasting? Whatever your level of experience, this post has something for all HR professionals and leaders. We’ll explore the podcast industry's continuing popularity and growth which interestingly has been fueled by the pandemic in recent years. We’ll also review the best places to find podcasts of interest and offer some recommendations for top HR and leadership podcasts to catch in 2023.

DemandSage maintains a list of 39+ Podcast Statistics 2022 (Latest Trends & Infographics), which is worth browsing. For example, we learn that:

  • 41% of people in the USA tune into a podcast every month, and 28% do it weekly

  • 21.7% of podcast listeners are subscribed to over 70 podcasts

  • Approximately 144 million people in the US will be listening to a podcast every month

  • 79% of people in the USA listen to a podcast on their smartphones

  • 22% of people tune into a podcast episode while they are commuting

  • 59% of people tune into a podcast while doing something else simultaneously

Why Listen to Podcasts?

In a recent study, researchers looked at the motivations and outcomes of people who frequently listen to podcasts. It seems that podcast listeners have a few things in common:

  • A higher openness to experience, interest-based curiosity, and the need for cognition was found among the podcast listeners studied. This indicates that those who listen to podcasts have stronger informational needs.

  • Social gratification needs were among the outcomes. Both ‘social engagement with podcasts’ and ‘parasocial relationships with one’s favorite podcast host’ was stronger among those who spent more time listening to podcasts.

Whether you are walking/walking the dog, working out, driving, or doing household chores, podcasts are a great way to pass the time, get other things accomplished simultaneously, and acquire new knowledge/broaden your horizons, all at the same time.

“As a newcomer to the podcast world, I appreciate the opportunity to end my day with new learnings. Listening to Brené Brown and other experts in our field helps me to stay current, broaden my knowledge, and gain fresh insights.”
— Jonathan Parker, President, Jonathan L. Parker & Associates, LLC

How to Find HR and Leadership Podcasts

FeedSpot ranks thousands of podcasts by traffic, social media followers, domain authority, and freshness, making this a great starting point to find podcasts of interest. E.g.,

Human Resource professionals might also want to check out this resource:

Leaders - check out these two lists compiled by the California Association of School Business Officials (CASBO) and the Professional Leadership Institute respectively:

It’s also possible to drill down within the HR and leadership fields:

  • Try a Google search for the best podcasts by discipline and you’ll find some great recommendations. E.g. “top podcasts for your field, such as CFOs, sales leaders, managers, IT leaders, etc.

  • The following list includes thought leadership in a broad variety of topics from AI, empowered women, rethinking hybrid work, agile, digital, cyber-security, and more: 125 Podcasts from Thinkers360 Thought Leaders You Should Listen To in 2023

How to Subscribe to Podcasts

In many cases, it’s possible to stream a podcast from your web browser. However, to keep track of your favorite podcasts and the latest episodes, head over to the Apple Store or download the Spotify app on your mobile or tablet devices. These are the top podcast streaming platforms today. Search for a specific podcast of interest or browse the categories. Add those of interest to your library.

“According to a forecast on the habits of podcast listeners in 2022, Spotify has overtaken Apple Podcasts in terms of monthly podcast listeners in the United States. Spotify is estimated to reach 32.5 million podcast listeners per month while Apple Podcast is predicted to only have 28.5 million monthly listeners. However, both numbers present an increase in listener numbers compared to the previous year.”
— Statista
Top HR and leadership picks

Our Favorite Podcasts at JLPA

  • Hidden Brain explores the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior and questions that lie at the heart of our complex and changing world. Sign up here to receive periodic email updates. In this favorite 2021 episode, entitled You 2.0: How to Open Your Mind, psychologist Adam Grant pushes back against the benefits of certainty and describes the magic that unfolds when we challenge our own deeply-held beliefs. In the United States, we often praise people with strong convictions and look down on those who express doubt or hesitation.

  • How I Built This with Guy Raz. Guy interviews the world’s best-known entrepreneurs to learn how they built their iconic brands. In each episode, you’ll hear profound, intimate moments of crisis, failure, and eventual triumph. How I Built This is a master class on innovation, creativity, leadership, and how to navigate challenges of all kinds.

  • WorkLife with Adam Grant. Organizational psychologist Adam Grant takes you inside the minds of some of the world’s most unusual professionals to explore the science of making work not suck. From learning how to love criticism to harnessing the power of frustration, one thing’s for sure: You’ll never see your job the same way again. As one of Apple Podcasts’ most downloaded new shows of 2018, WorkLife spent two weeks as the #1 show on the entire podcast chart.

  • HBR IdeaCast. HBR senior editors Alison Beard and Curt Nickisch host this weekly podcast featuring the leading thinkers in business and management. The podcast addresses a broad range of topical subjects of interest to leaders and HR leaders. You can browse episodes by year, or subscribe using your favorite podcast platform. You can also add to your newsfeed reader by linking to the RSS feed. For more podcasts produced and hosted by HBR's editorial staff, follow this link.

  • Dare to Lead. Brené Brown’s conversations with change-catalysts, culture-shifters, and more than a few troublemakers who are innovating, creating, and daring to lead. Browse the categories, or search by topic here. You’ll be hooked by the guests and the topics.

We hope we’ve inspired you to check out some great podcasts to tune into in 2023. Enjoy!

Reading & References

research

HR Podcasts - roundup

leadership Podcasts - roundup

CommunicationsPam GrosickiPodcast, HR podcasts, Leadership Podcasts