13 of the Best Leadership Podcasts for School Leaders in 2026

Leadership podcasts give school leaders a flexible way to develop their skills, hear different perspectives and reflect on how they lead. From managing difficult conversations and supporting staff wellbeing to improving communication, culture and decision-making, the best leadership podcasts provide practical ideas that headteachers, senior leaders and School Business Managers can apply in their own settings.

Leadership in schools can be demanding. Leaders are balancing pupil outcomes, staff wellbeing, budgets, safeguarding, workload, school improvement and the everyday challenges that come with running a busy education setting.

Finding time for professional development can therefore be difficult. Podcasts provide a useful addition to formal CPD because they can fit around the school day, whether you listen during a commute, while travelling between sites or simply when you have a spare half hour.

The key is to listen purposefully. Rather than trying to follow every leadership podcast available, choose programmes that relate to the challenges you are currently facing and identify one or two practical ideas to explore with your team.

Here are 13 leadership podcasts worth adding to your listening list in 2026.

What are leadership podcasts?

Leadership podcasts are audio programmes that explore how people lead teams, manage organisations, make decisions and develop professionally.

Some focus specifically on school leadership, while others explore management, organisational psychology, workplace culture, communication, wellbeing or the experiences of leaders from other sectors.

For education professionals, the most valuable podcasts are usually those that provide ideas you can translate into the realities of school life rather than presenting leadership as a purely corporate discipline.

Why can leadership podcasts be useful for school leaders?

Effective school leadership involves considerably more than setting a strategy. Leaders need to communicate clearly, listen to staff, manage competing priorities, build positive cultures, handle challenging conversations and remain resilient when difficult decisions need to be made.

Podcasts can expose leaders to perspectives beyond their own school or trust and provide useful prompts for reflection.

They should not replace structured professional development, coaching, professional supervision or statutory training. Instead, think of them as another tool within your wider professional development.

13 leadership podcasts worth listening to in 2026

1. Better Leaders Better Schools

What is it? Hosted by Daniel Bauer, Better Leaders Better Schools is specifically designed for school principals and education leaders. The podcast has been running since 2015 and now contains more than 500 episodes covering areas including school culture, teacher retention, difficult conversations, leadership mindset and innovation.

Why is it useful for school leaders? Because education is at the centre of the programme, the conversations are often easier to translate directly into school life than more general business podcasts.

Typical episode length: Around 30–60 minutes.

Where to listen: Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.

2. A Podcast of One's Own with Julia Gillard

What is it? Former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard speaks with leaders and experts from areas including business, politics, sport and public life, with a particular focus on gender equality and women's leadership. The podcast continues to release new episodes in 2026.

Why is it useful for school leaders? It provides useful perspectives on confidence, equality, organisational culture and the barriers people can face when progressing into leadership.

Typical episode length: Around 45–60 minutes.

Where to listen: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Acast and YouTube.

3. How to Be Awesome at Your Job

What is it? Hosted by Pete Mockaitis, How to Be Awesome at Your Job focuses on practical workplace skills. Topics regularly include communication, leadership, productivity, career development, team performance and managing change. The podcast remains highly active in 2026.

Why is it useful for school leaders? Although it is not education-specific, many of the skills discussed are directly relevant to teachers, middle leaders, senior leaders and School Business Managers.

Typical episode length: Around 30–45 minutes.

4. WorkLife with Molly Graham

What is it? Long-standing listeners may remember this programme as WorkLife with Adam Grant. In April 2026, TED handed the programme to company builder Molly Graham, who now explores the realities of modern working life, including leadership, careers, team culture, confidence, burnout and change.

Recent episodes have included subjects particularly relevant to education leaders, such as helping people feel heard and managing teams through periods of change.

Typical episode length: Around 30–45 minutes.

Where to listen: Apple Podcasts, Spotify and TED.

5. Manager Tools

What is it? Manager Tools takes a highly practical approach to management. Rather than discussing leadership theory alone, episodes explore what managers can actually do when dealing with meetings, feedback, coaching, delegation, performance and workplace culture.

The podcast remains active, with new episodes continuing throughout 2026.

Why is it useful for school leaders? Its focus on practical management behaviours can be particularly useful for anyone who has recently taken responsibility for managing a team.

6. Habits of Leadership

What is it? Habits of Leadership, hosted by Dan Haesler and Tim Perkins, examines the habits and behaviours that contribute to effective leadership.

After a break, the podcast returned with a new episode in August 2026.

Why is it useful for school leaders? The focus on conversations, behaviour and day-to-day leadership makes it relevant to anyone managing people in an education setting.

Typical episode length: Around 30–60 minutes.

7. HBR IdeaCast

What is it? Produced by Harvard Business Review, HBR IdeaCast is a weekly podcast exploring business, management and leadership.

Topics span areas such as managing people, decision-making, workplace culture, organisational change and professional development. HBR continues to position IdeaCast as its flagship management podcast.

Why is it useful for school leaders? It can help leaders look beyond education and consider how organisations in other sectors approach common leadership challenges.

Typical episode length: Around 20–30 minutes.

8. Making Positive Psychology Work

What is it? Hosted by Dr Michelle McQuaid, Making Positive Psychology Work explores wellbeing, positive psychology and how people and teams can function effectively at work.

Recent 2026 episodes have explored subjects including change fatigue, trust and how leaders can support people through uncertainty.

Why is it useful for school leaders? For leaders considering staff wellbeing, resilience, workplace relationships or organisational change, it provides another perspective on the human side of leadership.

Typical episode length: Around 30–45 minutes.

9. How I Built This with Guy Raz

What is it? Guy Raz speaks to founders and entrepreneurs about how they built well-known organisations, including the failures, uncertainty and difficult decisions they experienced along the way.

New episodes continue to be released regularly in 2026.

Why is it useful for school leaders? Schools and businesses are very different organisations, but stories about resilience, innovation, problem-solving and leading through uncertainty can still prompt useful reflection.

Typical episode length: Around 45–75 minutes.

10. The Dov Baron Show

What is it? Previously known as Leadership and Loyalty, Dov Baron's podcast now operates as The Dov Baron Show and features conversations with leaders and thinkers from a wide range of organisations and industries.

Episodes explore leadership strategy, organisational culture, purpose, communication and the experiences that shape people as leaders.

Why is it useful for school leaders? It is particularly suited to listeners who enjoy longer conversations about the thinking and personal experiences behind leadership decisions.

11. The School Leadership Podcast

What is it? Produced by NAHT, The School Leadership Podcast is one of the most directly relevant choices on this list for UK education professionals.

NAHT assistant general secretary James Bowen and colleagues speak with education leaders and specialists about issues affecting schools. Recent episodes have explored professional supervision for school leaders, belonging, kind leadership, inspection and inclusive school cultures.

Why is it useful for school leaders? Because discussions are rooted in the realities of UK schools, the topics are particularly relevant to headteachers, senior leaders and aspiring leaders.

Typical episode length: Around 30 minutes.

12. Happier with Gretchen Rubin

What is it? Gretchen Rubin and her sister Elizabeth Craft explore happiness, habits and practical ways to improve everyday life.

New episodes continue to be released regularly, combining discussions, interviews and simple suggestions that listeners can experiment with themselves.

Why is it useful for school leaders? Leadership is not only about strategy and performance. Personal habits, energy and wellbeing can also influence how effectively someone leads and supports others.

Typical episode length: Around 30–45 minutes.

13. 12 Minute Meditation Podcast by Mindful

What is it? For something different, Mindful's 12 Minute Meditation Podcast provides short guided mindfulness practices rather than traditional leadership interviews.

Mindful continues to publish new audio practices in 2026 covering areas such as attention, resilience, difficult emotions and navigating uncertainty.

Why is it useful for school leaders? A short mindfulness practice will not solve workload or organisational challenges, but some leaders may find it useful as part of their personal approach to reflection and wellbeing.

Typical episode length: Around 12 minutes.

How should school leaders choose a leadership podcast?

Start with the challenge you are trying to address.

• If you want education-specific leadership advice, begin with Better Leaders Better Schools or The School Leadership Podcast.
• For practical people management, try Manager Tools or Habits of Leadership.
• If staff wellbeing and workplace culture are priorities, Making Positive Psychology Work, Happier or WorkLife may be more useful.
• For broader leadership perspectives, explore HBR IdeaCast, A Podcast of One's Own or The Dov Baron Show.

You do not need to subscribe to every programme. One useful episode that changes how you approach a conversation, meeting or decision can be more valuable than hours of passive listening.

How can school leaders turn podcasts into practical professional development?

Listening is only the starting point.

When an episode is relevant to a current priority, keep a notebook or planner nearby and capture one practical idea you want to test. You might also use sticky notes to record questions for your next leadership meeting.

Consider asking:

• What is the main idea I have taken from this episode?
• Does it apply to our school?
• What would it look like in practice?
• Who else should be involved?
• Is there evidence or further guidance I should check?
• What small action could we test first?

A podcast episode can also provide a useful discussion prompt for leadership teams, provided its ideas are considered critically rather than treated as definitive guidance.

What mistakes should school leaders avoid when using leadership podcasts?

The biggest mistake is assuming that advice which works in one organisation will automatically work in another.

Schools have their own responsibilities, pressures, professional standards and accountability requirements. Advice from business leaders or organisations outside education may provide inspiration, but it still needs to be considered within your school's context.

Avoid treating podcasts as a replacement for evidence, statutory guidance or formal training. Instead, use them to generate questions, challenge your thinking and identify areas you may want to explore further.

It is also worth being selective. Constantly consuming leadership content without putting anything into practice can quickly become another demand on your time.

What should School Business Managers and senior leadership teams consider?

Leadership does not sit solely with the headteacher.

School Business Managers, deputy and assistant headteachers, curriculum leaders, SENCOs, office managers and trust leaders can all influence school culture and improvement.

Different roles will naturally benefit from different topics. A School Business Manager may be particularly interested in communication, planning and organising, workload pressures and managing teams, while curriculum leaders may focus more heavily on coaching, professional development and creating positive cultures.

Sharing useful episodes across the leadership team can also help create a common starting point for discussion.

How does GLS support school leaders?

GLS works with schools every day, so we understand that leadership decisions ultimately have to work in the reality of a busy education setting.

Alongside supplying the everyday resources schools depend on, GLS shares practical guidance around school leadership, School Business Management, staff wellbeing, procurement, organisation and reducing unnecessary workload.

The aim is straightforward: provide useful ideas that make it easier for education professionals to focus their time and resources where they matter most.

Conclusion

The best leadership podcast is not necessarily the one with the biggest audience or longest back catalogue. It is the one that helps you think differently about a genuine challenge in your school.

Choose programmes that match your development priorities, listen critically and turn useful ideas into practical actions. Whether you are an experienced headteacher, a new middle leader or a School Business Manager, a well-chosen episode can provide a useful opportunity to reflect on how you lead.