This Halloween we dive into the supernatural world of leadership with everyone’s favourite team of chaotic academics turned entrepreneurs, the Ghostbusters! 👻 🚫 Ellen and Andrew explore how Ray, Egon, Peter, and Winston built a spin-out startup that somehow saved New York (twice), and what their ghost-catching antics reveal about team dynamics, charisma, ethics, and emotional intelligence.

Who really leads when egos, ethics, and ectoplasm collide? And could the Ghostbusters teach today’s exec teams a thing or two about situational leadership and psychological safety?

Tune in for spirited debate, sharp insight, and a few spectral laughs.
👻 Happy Halloween from the Leadership Multiverse.

This week we dive headfirst into the chaotic world of The Boys, the anti-Avengers of the superhero genre. Far from shiny suits and noble ideals, this guerrilla crew of misfits are bonded by trauma, revenge, and a shared hatred of the “Supes.”

From Billy Butcher’s toxic charisma to Hughie’s reluctant morality, M.M.’s operational steadiness, Frenchie’s chaotic creativity, Kimiko’s fierce loyalty, and Starlight’s principled courage, Andrew and Ellen unpack how this unlikely team somehow makes dysfunction work.

They explore what The Boys teach us about:

• Adaptive and distributed leadership in high-pressure teams
• The power of psychological safety and authentic individuality
• Why conflict can fuel performance (if you survive it)
• And whether charismatic but toxic leaders like Butcher can ever evolve

It’s a surprisingly heartfelt take on trauma-bonded teamwork, with plenty of laughs, leadership lessons, and the occasional explosion.

In this episode, we leave the stars behind and travel north to Winterfell to explore the leadership of Eddard Stark, the man who tried to do the right thing in a world that punished him for it. Was Ned’s unbending honour a virtue or a fatal flaw? Andrew and Ellen unpack what makes the Lord of Winterfell such a compelling, and cautionary, study in leadership.

From servant leadership and moral courage to political naivety and strategic rigidity, they debate whether Ned was a great leader in the wrong world, or simply a good man out of his depth. Drawing parallels between Westeros and the workplace, they ask: can values-based leadership survive in a complex, shifting environment?

Expect spirited analysis, a few direwolf-sized laughs, and the occasional existential shudder as the duo decide where Ned Stark ranks on the Multiverse Leadership Matrix (spoiler: winter isn’t the only thing that’s coming).

This week Andrew and Ellen boldly go where no podcast has gone before, deep into the command style of Captain James T. Kirk. Maverick? Visionary? HR’s worst nightmare? We chart the life and leadership of Starfleet’s most decorated captain, exploring his blend of charm, courage, and chaos.

We debate whether Kirk’s flair for risk is a strength or a flaw, unpack his servant-leadership instincts, and question if his “strategic rule-bending” would fly in the 21st-century workplace. Along the way, we draw parallels with modern leadership theory, test Kirk’s credentials in other universes (Avengers HQ or Jedi Council?), and ask the ultimate question: would you want to serve under him?

Packed with humour, insight, and just the right dose of Starfleet nostalgia, this episode reminds us that imperfect leaders can still inspire perfect loyalty, and that sometimes, to go boldly, you’ve got to rewrite the Prime Directive.

We turn our attention to Gotham’s brooding vigilante: Batman. From his trauma-fuelled drive to his obsessive need for control, Ellen and Andrew explore whether Bruce Wayne is a leader, or simply a micromanager in a cape. Is Batman’s servant-leadership really self-sacrifice, or just vengeance disguised as virtue? Does he inspire teams like the Justice League, or fracture them through mistrust and emotional repression?

Along the way, we debate Batman’s role as a situational leader, question if Bruce Wayne is really the mask, and ask the ultimate question: would you want to work for him? Spoiler - probably not.

Scathing, insightful, and occasionally sympathetic, this episode unpacks what leaders can learn from the Dark Knight—mostly by showing us what not to do.

This week we turn our attention from individual heroes to one of the most iconic teams of all time: The Avengers. But are Earth’s Mightiest Heroes actually a great team, or just a collection of super-powered egos bound together by circumstance?

From Nick Fury’s manipulative recruitment tactics to the constant clashes between Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, Andrew and Ellen unpack the Avengers’ dysfunction through the lens of Lencioni’s Five Dysfunctions of a Team and Tuckman’s team development model. They explore how trust, conflict, accountability, and ego play out in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and why psychological safety is just as vital for superheroes as it is in any boardroom.

Along the way, they spotlight Black Widow’s role as the team’s emotional glue, debate whether the Avengers could survive in other universes, and even imagine what Nick Fury’s performance reviews might look like.

Join us for a witty, insightful, and sometimes scathing look at what the Avengers can teach us about teamwork, leadership, and why not every group of “the best” automatically makes the best team.

This week we travel to a galaxy far, far away to explore the leadership of Princess Leia Organa. Rebel, senator, general, and enduring symbol of hope, Leia embodies a rare blend of resilience, compassion, and decisiveness. But is she the ultimate leader, or an over-controlling micromanager?

Together, Andrew and Ellen unpack her journey from royal upbringing to frontline revolutionary, examining how she balances duty with empathy, inspires loyalty without demanding it, and navigates the challenges of leading in a male-dominated galaxy. They debate her transformational, servant, and strategic leadership styles, her emotional intelligence under pressure, and the gender dynamics that shaped her portrayal across four decades of cinema.

Would you want to work for Leia? What can today’s leaders learn from her balance of toughness and compassion? And could she really run the Avengers—or is even Earth too small for her vision? Tune in for a spirited exploration of one of sci-fi’s most iconic leaders.

This week we step onto the bridge of the USS Enterprise to explore the leadership of Captain Jean-Luc Picard. From his formative experiences at Starfleet Academy and early failures in command to his role as moral compass and mentor aboard the Enterprise, we unpack what makes Picard one of the most enduring leaders in science fiction.

We discuss his calmness under pressure, deep ethical grounding, and ability to create psychological safety for his crew (contrasting him with other captains and last week’s focus on Tony Stark). Along the way, we reflect on his flaws, his subtle evolution across decades, and the lessons he offers modern leaders about curiosity, resilience, delegation, and cultural intelligence.

Would Picard make a good boss? How would he fare in other universes like Star Wars or Game of Thrones? And what rating does he earn on our Multiverse Leadership Scale? Join us as we beam into the leadership philosophy of a captain who embodies 21st-century leadership in a 24th-century setting.