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Good decisions depend on more than having the most information—they require knowing when to trust experience, whose judgment matters most, and how to keep hierarchy from getting in the way. In this episode, Andy Stanley draws from his latest book, What Great Leaders Do, which identifies seven practices of effective leadership. This conversation goes deeper on two: trusting your leadership intuition and resisting the “evolution of a court” around influential leaders. Andy explains why intuition is often acquired knowledge leaders cannot immediately articulate, how to draw that judgment out of the right people on your team, and why positional authority should not determine whose voice carries the most weight. He also explores the safeguards leaders need as their influence grows and why finishing well requires choosing enduring values over immediate pressures. The conversation was conducted by Life.Church founding pastor Craig Groeschel in front of a live audience at the 2026 Global Leadership Summit.
IN THIS EPISODE:
02:40 Why Andy Wrote What Great Leaders Do
04:42 What the Global Leadership Summit means to Andy
08:04 The Seven Practices of Great Leaders
08:52 Knowing When to Trust Your Intuition
11:27 Drawing Leadership Intuition Out of Others
18:50 Resisting the “Evolution of a Court”
21:45 Building Relationships That Allow Pushback
25:00 Values, Humility, and Finishing Well
WHY THIS CONVERSATION MATTERS:
Leadership decisions improve when the right judgment can surface—even when it comes from someone without the highest title or a perfectly articulated explanation. But as influence grows, leaders also face a second challenge: creating an environment where people are still willing to challenge them. This conversation offers practical ways to use experience more wisely, hear the best voices on your team, and protect your leadership from becoming increasingly insulated.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
• Learn where your experience has given you reliable intuition—and where it has not.
• Ask the person with the most relevant expertise what they would do before extended discussion begins.
• Do not assume the highest-ranking person has the best judgment for every decision.
• Give team members room to express an intuitive concern before requiring them to explain or defend it.
• Identify the areas of specialized intuition represented across your team.
• Build a culture where people lower in the organization can speak honestly without positional authority.
• Actively resist environments where people seek the leader’s approval more than the good of the mission.
• Keep people close who are willing to challenge you, not simply agree with you.
• Clarify your values before immediate pressures compete with what ultimately matters.
• Define what finishing well means while you still have influence and choices.
WHO THIS EPISODE WILL HELP:
• Senior leaders who want to make faster, wiser decisions without relying only on their own perspective
Executives, pastors, and team leaders who need to draw better judgment from people throughout the organization
Founders and long-tenured leaders who want to preserve honest feedback as their influence grows
Analytical leaders who struggle to know when they have enough information to act
Leaders thinking intentionally about humility, accountability, succession, and finishing well
STANDOUT IDEAS:
• “Intuition is knowing without knowing how you know.”
• “You wanna wow it to life, not how it to death.”
• “The org chart’s not your friend.”
• “There is a constant potential for a court to evolve around the leader.”
• “Values are ultimate, everything else is immediate.”
• “I want to finish well.”
LINKS MENTIONED:
What Great Leaders Do by Andy Stanley
Global Leadership Summit
LISTEN:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube
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Leadership That Lasts
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