Why Talented Leadership Teams Still Fail | Phillip Curran

From The Branding Laboratory · 53:07

Show by Deevo Tindall

Great strategy, talented leaders, and the business still isn't firing on all cylinders.Leadership system architect Philip C. Curran joins Deevo Tindall to explain leadership drift, the Drift Tax it puts on a company, and the eight promises from his book The Hidden Emotional Contract.If you lead a team of any size, this is the conversation to have before your next leadership meeting.This episode of The Branding Laboratory is supported by Chemical Free Body.Detox and superfoods made with natural ingredients.Learn more at www.chemicalfreebody.comWhat we exploreWhy leadership works on two levels: the interpersonal and the enterpriseThe Hidden Emotional Contract and the eight promises leaders either honor or breakLeadership drift and its three most common causesHow one company's 12 executives gave 8 different answers about their own strategyThe Drift Tax, and what leadership misalignment actually costsWhy culture is the lived experience of employees interacting with their leadersAbout Philip C. CurranPhilip C. Curran is the founder of Rinnovare, a senior advisory firm that works with CEOs, CHROs, and private equity partners on leadership and human capital systems. He calls himself a leadership system architect. Phil created the RQ™ System and the Hidden Emotional Contract framework, and he is the author of The Hidden Emotional Contract: The Eight Promises That Build Trust, Culture, and Performance. His career spans nearly 40 years in consulting, including 13 years at Mercer, leading the HR consulting practice for the western U.S. at PricewaterhouseCoopers, and serving as a chief human resources officer, including in a health system.Guest Links (verified)Rinnovare: https://www.rinnovarehr.comBook a call with Phil: https://calendly.com/pcurran-rinnovarehr/30minEmail: [email protected] Insights (Phil's articles): https://blog.rinnovarehr.comThe Drift Tax™ Explained in Under 3 Minutes: https://blog.rinnovarehr.com (June 30, 2026 post)Philip C. Curran Advisory: https://pccadvisory.comThe Hidden Emotional Contract (print): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H9P29X9XThe Hidden Emotional Contract (Kindle): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H9Z6JY1XLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philipcurran/Resources mentionedThe Hidden Emotional Contract by Philip C. CurranPeter Drucker's work on management and leadershipGood to Great by Jim CollinsSimon Sinek's work on leadershipChapters00:00 Cold open00:44 The thread: how leadership lives in your people01:16 Deevo on the many kinds of leadership02:06 Leadership is a relationship02:23 Two levels: interpersonal and enterprise03:00 The explicit contract and the unwritten one03:43 The Hidden Emotional Contract04:23 Leadership as an operating system05:05 When success depends on heroes06:07 The human dynamics underneath07:21 What good leadership looks like07:46 What leaders are too close to see08:45 "Great strategy, talented team, something is off"09:16 Fire the coaches?10:03 Leadership drift11:21 What drift costs12:04 Deevo's thesis: unconscious leadership12:42 The three causes of leadership drift13:21 Employees feel the relationship14:10 Teams that dislike each other can still work14:51 Operating rhythm and decision rights15:31 Role clarity, turf wars, and orphaned issues16:41 What teams learn when leaders duck issues17:25 Leaders model expected behavior18:15 Phil's journey18:34 40 years in consulting19:24 Mercer, a CHRO role, and PwC21:01 Pulled into leadership work21:38 The man in the mirror22:36 "I don't want this guy raising my children"23:16 His teachers: Drucker, Collins, Sinek24:52 His father's advice on managers and leaders26:11 Leadership system architect27:23 Five domains, 20 sub-dimensions28:04 The RQ score28:48 The Drift Tax29:25 90-day and 12-month corrections29:36 Learned or intuitive leadership?30:29 The eight promises33:18 Deevo: is leadership systems or emotion?34:07 The short answer is both35:58 The emotional application layer37:19 What Phil was missing at 3138:35 Where is consistency?39:11 Deevo's own consistency check41:00 Boiling it down to eight41:58 The hidden cost of bad leadership42:04 Stop relitigating decisions43:04 12 executives, 8 answers44:50 The results six months later46:13 Why healthcare46:47 Decision fatigue in the CEO's chair48:58 Deevo's hospital client49:38 Everybody agrees culture matters50:11 Culture is the lived experience of employees50:43 Deevo's takeaway51:14 Where to find Phil51:54 OutroAbout The Branding LaboratoryThe Branding Laboratory is where founders and leaders bring the business, decision, or tension they are actually wrestling with and put it on the table. Deevo Tindall, Founder Business Architect and Strategic Advisor, follows the thread underneath the obvious problem to explore how identity, leadership, operations, positioning, relationships, and strategy shape what happens next.

More episodes of The Branding Laboratory

More episodes

PodSearch is a free, independent podcast search engine. Read about PodSearch, the privacy policy or contact us.