Why Authenticity is Your Leadership Edge (feat. Neil Ifill)

Most organizations believe that more leadership training means better leaders. But for Neil Ifill, author of The Cart Before the Horse, the real problem isn’t a lack of programs; it’s that the wrong people keep getting access to them.

In this episode, Matt Poepsel sits down with Neil to explore breaks at the manager level, why first-line leaders are the backbone of every organization yet the last to receive meaningful development, and how a running joke among colleagues eventually became a research-backed leadership book. Neil opens up about the gap between top-floor leadership academies and the basket-weaving courses handed to everyone else and what organizations need to do differently. Together, they unpack why going through the motions is easier to spot than most leaders think, and why the most authentic version of yourself is still your greatest leadership asset.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Going Through the Motions: How to recognize when leaders are applying blanket solutions and what genuine investment actually looks like
• The Leadership Access Gap: Why first-line managers are overlooked for development despite being the backbone of execution
• Frameworks That Actually Work: How tools like the Competing Values Framework make complex leadership concepts simple and actionable
• Authentic Leadership: Why starting with who you already are is more powerful than trying to become someone you’re not
• Big Company Blind Spots: How organizational size creates tunnel vision that limits leadership growth at every level

Highlights:

(00:00) Meet Neil Ifill

(01:35) The widening gap between leaders and their teams

(02:59) How a lunchtime joke became a leadership book

(11:14) The basket weaving problem in corporate training

(15:00) Why first-line managers get left behind

(19:15) Going through the motions and how to spot it

(20:31) The executive who wasn’t afraid to ask for help

(24:46) Building the next generation of genuine leaders

(26:42) Why authenticity is your strongest leadership trait

Resources:
Follow Neil on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neil-ifill-phd-67ba8a5b/

Get Neil’s book, The Cart Before The Horse: Practical Considerations for Workplace Leadership: https://www.amazon.com/Cart-Before-Horse-Considerations-Leadership/dp/1665791500 

Follow Matt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattpoepsel/

Subscribe to The Predictive Index on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ThePredictiveIndex

Created in partnership with Share Your Genius: shareyourgenius.com