A Podcast by humanKIND
The Human Problem
Leadership has a human problem. This show explores it.
Hosted by James Powell, Founder of humanKIND
Launching late 2026
The Premise
Every episode starts with a question the leadership industry would rather not ask.
Most leadership content tells leaders what to do. The Human Problem asks a different kind of question: what is actually happening in the human being doing the leading? What does it cost a leader to perform a version of themselves that was never fully theirs? What becomes possible when they stop? And in a world being reshaped by AI, what does it mean to lead well when the human part becomes the differentiator?
These are not questions with clean, producible answers. They are questions worth sitting with — and this show creates the space to do that. Not as a therapy session. Not as a masterclass. As a genuine conversation between people who have done real work on this and have something honest to say about it.
The format feels like being in the room with a thoughtful leader and their most trusted advisor — at the moment when the real conversation finally starts.
Why Now
The conversation has never been more necessary.
Something is clarifying in leadership, and it is not subtle. As AI automates what can be systematized, the question of what leaders are actually for is becoming impossible to avoid. The answer is becoming clearer: what remains — what cannot be automated, delegated, or optimized away — is exactly what most leadership models have undervalued. Trust. Care. Honest conversation. Human presence. The capacity to hold complexity without collapsing it. The courage to make values-driven decisions when the easier path is right in front of you.
The Human Problem exists because that conversation deserves a dedicated, honest, long-form space. Not a highlight reel. Not a productivity framework. A real examination of what it means to lead as a whole human being at a moment when the world is asking leaders to be exactly that.
In an age of AI, the most strategic investment a leader can make is becoming more human.
What the Show Covers
Three kinds of conversation. One persistent question.
Long-form conversations
Leaders navigating the intersection
Deep conversations with leaders, founders, and executives who are navigating AI, transformation, and the shift toward more human-centred leadership — from the inside.
Solo episodes
One counter-cultural proposition, unpacked
James takes a single idea the leadership world has gotten wrong and works through what a more honest version looks like — and what it asks of leaders who choose it.
Wider lens episodes
Beyond the coaching industry
Voices from technology, design, culture, and philosophy — widening the conversation about what human-centred leadership means in a world that keeps getting more complex.
Be the First to Know
The Human Problem launches late 2026.
Leave your email and we will notify you when the first episodes are ready — along with any early access or preview content we release in the lead-up.
No noise. No selling. Just a notification when the show is ready.
In the meantime — The Weekly Alignment. One idea, one question, one practice. A short weekly reflection on leadership, alignment, and the human problem. The podcast is coming. The thinking is already here.
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No pressure. No performance. Just an honest exchange about where you are and what might be possible.
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