389 Small Shifts, Big Impact: Leadership Lessons from Mike Mears, Former CIA HR Chief and Founder of the CIA Leadership Academy

What happens when even the most powerful leaders pull every lever they’ve been taught to use—bonuses, metrics, training—and nothing changes? That’s the question that set Mike Mears, former CIA Chief of Human Capital, on a mission to rethink leadership from the inside out. In this episode of Partnering Leadership, Mike joins Mahan Tavakoli to share deeply practical insights on why traditional leadership systems fall short—and what truly drives performance and innovation.

As the founder of the CIA’s Leadership Academy, Mike brings a unique combination of experience in intelligence, government, and corporate leadership. His ideas are grounded in neuroscience, behavioral psychology, and decades of operational leadership. Rather than focusing on leadership theory, he focuses on how leaders can create psychological certainty for their people—even amid external volatility.

Throughout the conversation, Mike challenges long-held assumptions, including the overreliance on performance systems and leadership training that don’t account for human nature. He reveals why emotional clarity and trust are more valuable than process, and how small, consistent actions from leaders—like weekly check-ins and genuine recognition—can transform team dynamics and unlock discretionary effort.

This conversation is a must-listen for CEOs, board members, and senior leaders who want to move beyond abstract leadership models and build real engagement, alignment, and trust. With memorable stories and tested frameworks, Mike Mears offers a practical guide to leadership that resonates at every level of an organization.

Actionable Takeaways

• Hear how a senior CIA leader’s frustration with ineffective levers led to a deep reevaluation of leadership systems
  
  
  
• Learn why many leadership tools—still rooted in industrial-era thinking—don’t reflect how the brain actually works
  
  
  
• Discover how emotional uncertainty impacts employee performance and what leaders can do to restore clarity and direction
  
  
  
• Understand the behavioral progression that effective leaders follow: safety, trust, clarity, and only then challenge
  
  
  
• Learn why short, consistent check-ins often outperform more complex performance systems
  
  
  
• Hear Mike’s candid reflection on the value of feedback—and why he wishes he had given far more of it as a leader
  
  
  
• Explore how “soft accountability” can help embed new leadership habits without adding bureaucracy
  
  
  
• Understand the long-term damage of poor leadership selection—and why choosing the right managers matters more than developing the wrong ones
  
  
  
• Learn why culture is local, and why the team leader—not the organization—defines most of the employee experience
  
  
  
• Discover how to align leadership actions with human nature to build teams that perform better under pressure and change
  
  
  

Connect with Mike Mears
Mike Mears LinkedIn 

Mike Mears Website 

Connect with Mahan Tavakoli:

Mahan Tavakoli Website

Mahan Tavakoli on LinkedIn

Partnering Leadership Website