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My Favorite Mistake: Learning Without Blame in Business and Leadership

My Favorite Mistake is a podcast about learning without blame in business and leadership. Hosted by Mark Graban, the show features honest conversations with leaders, executives, entrepreneurs, and changemakers about a meaningful mistake they made—and what they learned after things went wrong. It’s not just my favorite mistake; it’s yours, it’s ours, and it’s what we can all learn from when things don’t go as planned. This isn’t a podcast about failure theater, gotcha moments, or simplistic “lessons learned.” It explores how real people reflect, improve, and lead better in complex organizations—without scapegoating, shame...

An NFL Player’s Business Struggles and His Identity Shift: Anthony Trucks

46 mins; August 25, 2021

Software Product Manager Melissa Perri Got Stuck in the ”Build Trap”

43 mins; August 22, 2021

Entrepreneur & Investor Susie Carder Was Overleveraged and Got Burned

39 mins; August 18, 2021

Mistakes at Toyota and Distilling Whiskey — David Meier

46 mins; August 15, 2021

Seeking Answers From Outside Herself: Lisa Winneke of ”The Good News Guide”

39 mins; August 11, 2021

What a Friend’s Murder Taught Sunil Godse About Listening to Our Intuition

37 mins; August 08, 2021

”Digital Body Language” Mistakes From Erica Dhawan -- Author, Speaker, and Entrepreneur

39 mins; August 04, 2021

Lean Manufacturing Expert Bob Rush is ”A Big Fan of Mistakes”

35 mins; August 01, 2021

A Model, Author, and Breast Cancer Survivor Who Learned to Ask for Help: Christine Handy

26 mins; July 28, 2021

When Early Success Kills Innovation

25 mins; July 25, 2021

Borrowing Money From Family — and Not Being Able to Quit

29 mins; July 21, 2021

Customers Wanted Solutions — We Gave Them Technology

31 mins; July 18, 2021

Why Being the “Solo Genius” Is a Leadership Trap

33 mins; July 14, 2021

Quitting a 9-to-5 Job — and Falling Into a Pit of Despair

27 mins; July 11, 2021

When Overwork Turns Into a Health Crisis

30 mins; July 07, 2021

When a Customer Demanded Blame — and He Betrayed His Own Leadership Values (Kyle Kumpf)

21 mins; July 05, 2021

How Complacency Nearly Killed a Thriving Business (Aya Shlachter)

34 mins; June 30, 2021

What a Bad MLM Pitch Taught Tim Spiker About Leadership

40 mins; June 27, 2021

The Resume Mistake That Derailed a Doctor’s Career (Dr. Noor Ali)

28 mins; June 24, 2021

Being Careless with a Crocodile Changed Ron Magill’s Life for the Better

4 mins; June 21, 2021

The Consulting Mistake That Got Me Fired — and What It Taught Me About Humility (Jeff Gothelf)

27 mins; June 20, 2021

Why Merging a Business with Your Spouse Nearly Cost Everything (Moe Carrick)

39 mins; June 16, 2021

Why He Hid a Failing Project — and What It Cost Him (Matt Boos)

32 mins; June 13, 2021

Entrepreneurship Mistakes — Victoria Wieck on Owning Your Brand and Platform

45 mins; June 09, 2021

The Cost of Not Owning Your Mistakes — and the Power of Telling the Truth (Terry Iverson)

28 mins; June 06, 2021

BONUS: Last day to enter 2 book giveaways

39 secs; June 03, 2021

Burnout Nearly Took Everything — Until She Learned This (Twyla Verhelst)

34 mins; June 02, 2021

From a WNBA Promo with NSYNC to Leading the 76ers: Scott O’Neil on Failure and Trusting the Process

33 mins; May 31, 2021

Dating Mistakes High Achievers Make — Matchmaker April Davis

30 mins; May 26, 2021

The Surgical Mistake That Changed a Doctor’s Life: Dr. David Mayer on Honesty and Patient Safety

45 mins; May 24, 2021

Leadership Mistakes at Work — AmyJo Mattheis on Being Right and Staying Too Long

38 mins; May 19, 2021

Leadership Mistakes at Work — Ahmed Aref on Results vs. Relationships

25 mins; May 16, 2021

When “Safe Spaces” Aren’t Safe: Nika Kabiri on Psychological Safety and Speaking Up

40 mins; May 12, 2021

The Girl Never Made Mistakes, By the Author Who Did: Mark Pett

35 mins; May 09, 2021

On-Air Mistakes and Media Lessons From the Dan Le Batard Show

20 mins; May 06, 2021

What Working on Jerry Springer Teaches You About Human Behavior

34 mins; May 05, 2021

Forcing Change on Others in the Workplace: Lee Houghton

32 mins; May 02, 2021

Moving For a Cheating Boyfriend After Graduating: Christy Whitman

29 mins; April 28, 2021

Why 5S Fails Without Culture: A Toyota Leader on Learning From Mistakes

27 mins; April 25, 2021

New Job in Toyko, Mistakes on the First Day at Honda: Laura Kriska

40 mins; April 22, 2021

Breaking the NFL’s Glass Sideline: Dr. Jen Welter on Leadership, Empathy, and Mistakes

43 mins; April 19, 2021

BONUS: MIT Prof. Jonathan Byrnes on Mistakes Related to the Covid Vaccine Supply Chain

15 mins; April 17, 2021

The Hurting Hockey Player Who Felt Sorry For Himself: Dave Scatchard

33 mins; April 15, 2021

Tom Peters on Getting Fired from McKinsey (and What He Learned)

47 mins; April 13, 2021

When Bill Maher Wanted Me Fired from Comedy Central — Art Bell

42 mins; April 11, 2021

BONUS: Lori Baker-Schena on Two Bosses, Avoiding That or Managing That Better

11 mins; April 10, 2021

Closing Her Psychology Practice To Take a Job: Dr. Neecie Moore

31 mins; April 07, 2021

Being Defensive When Disagreeing With Marketing Clients: Swire Ho

28 mins; April 04, 2021

When Workplace Humor Goes Wrong: Pranks, Creativity, and Mistakes

34 mins; April 01, 2021

Not Understanding His Customers’ Feelings: Kent Billingsley

43 mins; March 28, 2021

Heather Zumarraga on Mistakes Men Make in the Workplace

33 mins; March 24, 2021

NFL Player Mistakes: Lenny Walls on Humility, Growth, and Life After Football

33 mins; March 21, 2021

Could She Fix a Bullying Narcissist?: Phyllis Quinlan, PhD, RN

35 mins; March 17, 2021

A Future Cybersecurity Expert Hacking His College’s Grading System: Neil Daswani

37 mins; March 14, 2021

Two Bosses Who Didn’t Like Each Other: Lori Baker-Schena

36 mins; March 10, 2021

Mike Smerklo: Fear, Self-Doubt, and the Monkey in His Head

29 mins; March 07, 2021

Pam Hopman: Burnout, Doing It All Herself, and Learning to Scale

28 mins; March 03, 2021

Eric Twiggs: Realizing a New Job Was a Mistake on Day One

33 mins; February 28, 2021

Interviewing Poorly and Failing To Get The Job, Twice! Terry McDougall

34 mins; February 24, 2021

Dave Raymond: The Phillie Phanatic, a Big Mistake, and the Power of Fun

40 mins; February 21, 2021

Being Surprised by Losing Her Consulting Role: Kristie Tobias

33 mins; February 17, 2021

Adam Lawrence: Questioning a Leader’s Commitment Was a Mistake

27 mins; February 14, 2021

Learning to Be a Stronger Patient Advocate: Krista Hughes

36 mins; February 10, 2021

Krista Hughes: Learning to Be a Stronger Patient Advocate

35 mins; February 10, 2021

Matthew E. May: Leaving His MBA Career to Pursue Acting

27 mins; February 07, 2021

Brenden Kumarasamy: Emailing 40,000 Professors—and What He Learned

21 mins; February 03, 2021

Not Listening to Her Intuition and Wasting $23,000: Monica M. Bijoux

32 mins; January 31, 2021

Thinking He Could Sell His Way to Profitability with Stephen King

33 mins; January 27, 2021

Using Shame as a Leadership Tool with Sabrina Moon

35 mins; January 24, 2021

Mistakes Running a Chiropractic Practice with Dr. Kelly Henry

31 mins; January 20, 2021

Billy Taylor (Bonus): Standards, Respect for People, and Leading Without Compromise

29 mins; January 19, 2021

A CEO Mistakes in Filmmaking and College Basketball with ”Filmpreneur” Forrest Tuff

27 mins; January 17, 2021

Michele Parrish: Not Pushing Back on the Client’s Framing of the Problem

27 mins; January 13, 2021

Five Mistakes That Shaped an ER Doctor Turned Startup CEO

39 mins; January 10, 2021

Learning from Mistakes at Toyota with Katie Anderson and Isao Yoshino

37 mins; January 06, 2021

Not Knowing Who She Wanted to Work With: Kim Thompson-Pinder

28 mins; January 04, 2021

Actor Mark Teich: Why Following Others Held Him Back—and What Finally Changed

37 mins; December 20, 2020

Making Business Decisions Out of Ego with Trav Bell

32 mins; December 16, 2020

Doubting Herself as a Singer and Performer: Yaya Diamond

26 mins; December 13, 2020

Sorority President Leadership Mistakes with Val Ries

26 mins; December 09, 2020

Having Clients That Are a Bad Fit with Ash Taylor

29 mins; December 06, 2020

”Let’s Be Bad Together” with Coach Jimmy Nelson

27 mins; December 02, 2020

When Leaving Corporate Feels Like a Mistake

27 mins; November 29, 2020

Starting a Business for the Wrong Reasons With the Wrong People: Eran Thomson

35 mins; November 22, 2020

Trusting an Expert and Not Verifying with Michelle Seiler Tucker

32 mins; November 19, 2020

Carrie Sechel on Making Partner and Leaving a ”Comfortable Hell”

31 mins; November 16, 2020

Getting Fired for Solving the Problem: Audie Penn’s Favorite Mistake

25 mins; November 12, 2020

Melanie Parish on Responding to a Request for Proposal and ”The Experimental Leader”

25 mins; November 08, 2020

The Podcast Mistake That Almost Lost Four Episodes

26 mins; November 04, 2020

The Career Choice That Felt Like a Huge Mistake

30 mins; November 01, 2020

Practicing What She Preached About Work/Life Balance with Michelle Bonahoom

25 mins; October 28, 2020

Viewing Business Relationships as Transactions with Brian Bogert

24 mins; October 25, 2020

”Chasing Shiny Objects” as an Entrepreneur with Angel Cellucci

28 mins; October 22, 2020

Whiskey Making (and Selling) Mistakes with Dan Garrison & Donnis Todd

30 mins; October 18, 2020

A Costly Bourbon Mistake—and the Leadership Lesson Behind It

30 mins; October 18, 2020

Sleep and Wellness Mistakes with Jane Wenning

25 mins; October 14, 2020

Confusing Goals With a Clear Strategy and Path for Success Jonathon Hensley

23 mins; October 11, 2020

“How’s That Working for You?” — A Leadership Question That Changed Everything

25 mins; October 09, 2020

Being the Last to Know, Professionally or Personally with Matt Granados

22 mins; October 06, 2020

Communicating a Difficult Fact to a Client with Brenda Batista

25 mins; October 01, 2020

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My Favorite Mistake: Learning Without Blame in Business and Leadership

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