Why Expertise Is Becoming Cheap—and What Leaders Must Build Instead

Why Expertise Is Becoming Cheap—and What Leaders Must Build Instead

From People Managing People by David Rice

March 10, 2026 · 57 min

About this episode

David Rice discusses with Chris Deaver how fear can undermine high-performing workplaces.

If your organization looks successful on paper but feels strangely tense in practice, there’s a good chance fear—not excellence—is quietly running the show. In this episode, David Rice talks with Brave Together author Chris Deaver about how fear disguises itself in high-performing workplaces: polished presentations, perfect metrics, and meetings where nobody laughs—and nobody challenges anything either. Their conversation explores what happens when organizations reward superhero behavior, vis...

People in this episode

Host: David Rice

Guest: Chris Deaver

Topics covered

  • fear in the workplace
  • leadership
  • high-performing teams
  • organizational culture

Keywords

  • expertise
  • superhero behavior
  • workplace dynamics

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Brave Together

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