What separates a good leader from a great one? It’s not talent. It’s not strategy. And it’s definitely not the ability to slap someone with a leather glove and expect them to perform better.
In Episode 507 of the Misfit Social Podcast, Cliff Nance, Paul Cook, and Royce Wilson sit down for one of their most substantive conversations yet — a deep dive into psychological safety and what it actually takes to build a team where people show up, speak up, and do their best work.
What Is Psychological Safety?
Psychological safety is the shared belief that a team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking. It means your people can ask hard questions, challenge assumptions, deliver bad news, and voice dissenting opinions — without fear of humiliation, retaliation, or being shut down. It sounds simple. It’s harder than it looks. And most organizations are getting it wrong.
Royce Wilson, who has been coaching the Tungco leadership team through this work, unpacks the concept in plain language — where it comes from, why it breaks down, and what leaders can do right now to start rebuilding it.
What You’ll Hear in This Episode
The conversation pulls from some of the best thinking in leadership and organizational culture, including Harvard Business School professor Ranjay Gulati on voice and choice, Frances Frei’s Trust Triangle, Google’s Project Aristotle research, Phil Jackson’s championship culture with the Chicago Bulls, the Working Genius framework, and the DISC assessment. The guys also spend real time on General Patton — a military genius who damaged his own legacy by leading through fear and humiliation — and what his story reveals about the cost of getting this wrong.
Cliff gets candid about his own evolution as a leader, the moments he’s had to sit with hard feedback, and why building psychological safety at Tungco has been one of the most important — and most personal — investments the company has made. This isn’t theory. It’s a conversation happening inside a real company, in real time.
Why It Matters for Your Business
Whether you lead a team of five or five hundred, the same principle applies: people perform at their highest level when they feel safe. Not coddled. Not unchallenged. Safe. There’s a difference between a culture of comfort and a culture of trust — and this episode draws that line clearly.
If your team is quiet in meetings, if your best people keep leaving, if ideas seem to stop at a certain level and never make it up the chain — psychological safety may be the missing piece.
About the Misfit Social Podcast
The Misfit Social Podcast is hosted by Cliff Nance, CEO of Tungco, alongside co-hosts Paul Cook and Royce Wilson. It’s an unfiltered conversation about business, leadership, faith, culture, and what it means to live and lead well. New episodes every week on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, and all major streaming platforms.
About Tungco
Tungco has been a global leader in tungsten carbide reclamation and recycling for over 55 years. Founded by Steve Nance and now led by his son Cliff, Tungco has grown from its roots in western Kentucky into a worldwide operation — supplying recycled tungsten to manufacturers, tooling companies, and carbide producers across aerospace, automotive, oil and gas, healthcare, manufacturing, and thermal spray industries.
Tungco’s procurement team includes some of the most knowledgeable tungsten specialists in the industry. Accurate processing, fair settlement, and prompt payment are handled with the utmost efficiency. But what truly sets Tungco apart is the way they do business — with relationships at the center, integrity in every transaction, and a Whatever It Takes commitment to their suppliers and partners.
They were built in backyards and barns. They operate globally. And they still pick up the phone.
Learn more and request a quote at www.tungco.com
Stream Episode 507 Now
Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, YouTube, and all major platforms. Search Misfit Social Podcast or visit www.tungco.com to listen.
