The Leadership Vision Podcast
The Leadership Vision Podcast is about helping people better understand who they are as a leader. Our consulting firm has spent 25 years investing in teams so that people are mentally engaged and emotionally healthy. Our podcast provides information to help you develop as a leader, build a positive team culture, and grow your organization to match the demands of today’s business landscape. We leverage client experience, research-based leadership models, and reflective conversations to explore personal growth and leadership topics. With over 350,000 downloads from 180+ countries, our podcast shares our expertise in discovering, practicing, and implementing a Strengths-based approach to people, teams, and culture.
The Leadership Vision Podcast
Learning from Leaders: Reflections on a Year of Guest Interviews
In this episode of the Leadership Vision Podcast, hosts Nathan Freeburg, Brian, and Dr. Linda Schubring reflect on their experiences interviewing guests over the past year. They share insights on team dynamics, the power of authenticity, the importance of listening, and the enrichment of open conversations. The discussion also highlights the guests' generosity, expertise, and passion for leadership and team culture. Our team is extremely grateful for the learning opportunities these interviews provide and encourages you, listener, to reflect on any recent learning opportunities you have experienced in your own leadership.
We'd also love to hear your suggestions for future guests, so email nathan@leadershipvisionconsulting.com with any ideas.
03:23 Learning from Podcast Guests
05:19 Team Dynamics and Preparation
09:47 Generosity and Authenticity of Guests
16:32 Listening and Human Connection
22:00 Passion and Expertise of Guests
29:23 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
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Read the full blog post here!
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ABOUT
The Leadership Vision Podcast is a weekly show sharing our expertise in discovering, practicing, and implementing a Strengths-based approach to people, teams, and culture. Contact us to talk to us about helping your team understand the power of Strengths.
You're listening to the Leadership Vision Podcast, our show helping you build positive team culture. Our consulting firm has been doing this work for the past 25 years so that leaders are mentally engaged and emotionally healthy. Hello everyone, my name is Nathan Freeberg and it is the beginning of September, which means it is back to school time. Now, whether or not you have school-aged children or a student yourself, you probably know somebody who is going back to school in some capacity, and, if not, well, you remember what it is like to go back to school. There is a time of excitement in buying school supplies and anticipating what is the new schedule going to be like, but, most importantly, there is lots and lots of learning, and so today on the podcast, brian and Linda and I are going to be discussing our experiences and our learnings from interviewing guests.
Speaker 1:The past year on the podcast, or so, we have interviewed quite a few guests, and there has just been a plethora of things that we have learned, and so we're going to reflect on some of the dynamics of our team in that process, the importance of authenticity, the power of listening and just what we have learned from interviewing these people.
Speaker 1:Now, we have interviewed about 30 or 40,000 people over the years around strengths, but this is the first time that we have interviewed people in this setting and we learned way more than we thought. We're also going to highlight just a little bit about how having open and genuine conversations has really enriched our approach to the work that we do and contributed in a lot of ways to our professional growth. And I will say here, too, that if you have an idea of someone that you'd like to hear us interview on the podcast, or maybe if you would like to be a guest on the podcast, you can reach out to me, nathan, at leadershipvisionconsultingcom, and I would love to chat with you about what you might share around building positive team culture. All right, here it is Brian, linda and myself reflecting on what we have learned from interviewing guests. Enjoy, brian and Linda, hello.
Speaker 3:Hello, Hello.
Speaker 1:Nathan, how are the Canadian wildfires treating you guys?
Speaker 2:Well, the smoke particles are supposed to be up in the atmosphere, so they aren't really settling down to the ground. That's what they told us last night that we're safe to go outside.
Speaker 3:Who's they?
Speaker 2:They, goodness, they're responsible for all the opinions in the world.
Speaker 1:They said we should be safe for now.
Speaker 3:So it's like minnesota tourism they are the yeah, linda's stuffed up.
Speaker 1:Thanks for doing this, even though you're so stuffed up hey, you know I'm stuffed up all.
Speaker 1:I've been stuffed up most of my life, that's true you got the asthma the asthma and whatnot this is going to be going live when everybody's going back to school, and whether or not you are actually going back to school, whether you have children going back to school, I think all of us can remember what it was like to go back to school, be that elementary, high school, college, grad school and there's this anticipation of what you're going to learn. It's can I take all that I've learned in the previous year and apply it to this year and make the next grade or the next degree or whatever that is? And so what we thought could be fun to do is do a little bit of learning reflection on our own kind of in light of that idea of going back to school. And we did something different here on the podcast in 2024, is that we started inviting guests on.
Speaker 1:We had done a couple last year and then, as of right now when we're recording this, which is basically August, we've had about a dozen different guests on, and so each of us have prepared a couple things that we are um have learned about the process of interviewing people um have uh applied, I think, to um. I wouldn't say our first interview was bad, but I think we're getting better at it. As we go, we're learning more. It's a little bit up to the guests Um the uh kimmel, jimmy fallon, john oliver, steven colbert and um, those aren't our guests seth meyers no, but they did a.
Speaker 1:they did an interview, a podcast, during um, like the writer's strike, um, and they did a whole thing talking about like how hard it is when you have a bad guest and someone doesn't want to chat, and it was hilarious listening to like some of their tricks and stuff. We haven't had any bad guests is my point of that whole tangent, but how many interviews have the two of you? Well, the three of us done strengths interviews over the 25-ish years in the history of Leadership Vision 30,000.
Speaker 3:Ballpark 30,000.
Speaker 1:Yep, something like that yeah.
Speaker 3:Between the three of us, I think Between the three of us,000. Ballpark 30,000. Something like that yeah.
Speaker 1:Between the three of us? I think Between the three of us probably.
Speaker 3:With the rest of the yeah, rest of the voice that we've had.
Speaker 1:So, point being, we're not new to talking to people, but there's something in a podcast setting, when it's recorded, that's a little bit different. So, with that in mind, how should we do this? We just kind of each we each have two sort of points of learning here Should we just go one at a time. Who wants to?
Speaker 2:start. Yeah, I want to start, Linda. There you have it.
Speaker 1:Nathan there you go, take it away, doctor.
Speaker 3:We're working a plan as we go. Well for me, if I look back and think about the things that I've learned, the things that I've learned point to the team dynamics of the three of us in particular.
Speaker 1:Oh, I like this.
Speaker 3:If you've ever listened to Nathan on the podcast, you've heard different iterations. He's always improving, maximizing, he's listening to podcasts all the time and he prepares well. And so when he came to us, he's like I think we should have guests and this is what I'm going to try, and I think, you know you should be guests and we should have guests. And usually Brian are like yeah, yeah, okay, yep, great, great idea. And, nathan, when you make it happen, that's when the magic really starts. And I just want to say, from the get go, you're very patient, nathan, you're very patient with Brian and me.
Speaker 3:You better include both of us as we, yeah, as we are.
Speaker 2:Busy.
Speaker 3:No as we were busy and like, well, I don't know how to do this and what does it mean? And, to your point, we've done thousands, tens of thousands of conversations that are specifically pointed around highlighting people's brilliance and beauty. Yet we come to this like, ok, how do we prepare and how do we do this? And one of the things that nathan has done is he. We have these really robust google docs of everything that the person has done and their favorite colors and by robust, let's be clear four to ten pages, single space.
Speaker 1:Google doc with hyperlinks, pictures, images, summaries. There's lots of headings.
Speaker 3:There's them on this podcast. There's them on that podcast, and this is what they did at this session Go on, go on.
Speaker 2:A lot of homework for us.
Speaker 3:And so we come to the table and you know, I think, that some of the first, the first conversations that we had, you know, nathan, you said we're all you know we are getting better and part of it is the nature of the three of us.
Speaker 3:We will always learn from what we did in the previous podcast and try to be better, try to show up different. And I think there was this turning point, nathan, where you know we were coming prepared and at one point you just looked at us and you said why don't you just be yourselves, which is really, you know, wisdom at its finest. Because when we were ourselves and we just used the script to inform us a little bit, we could be way more present to the guests that we were hosting. And for us, we started to have more fun. And, yes, we were prepared, but at the same time, there was something that happened, and Brian can pull together themes really quickly. I'm trying to connect emotionally and relationally with some of these guests and but when I step back and I look at the three of us working together, I'm really proud of Nathan, what you have instigated and set up for success and then meeting some people that have made, made us better and enriched our experience.
Speaker 2:So shout out to our team dynamics. You're welcome, it's been.
Speaker 2:I want to add to that a little bit too, because I think that what Linda is speaking to I know that what Linda is speaking to is actually how we, you know how we approach our engagements as well. We're just people that do the preparation ahead of time. And, nathan, how you provided us with the content beforehand, that was critical to informing us on actually who's showing up and then, by time, blocking on our calendar 45 minutes or 30 minutes prior to the podcast, to talk, for you to lead us through a conversation on what is that that we're going to talk about. That's that's also helpful, because us just being ourself like, nathan, when you challenge us to be that just being ourself also includes doing the work off camera or off mic, that that no one sees, so that we are comfortable with each other, we're grounded and present in the moment that we're going to be having with a guest, so that, you know, we can practice a sense of hospitality around this virtual table that we couldn't do if we, you know, haven't done the prep work.
Speaker 1:Well, you're welcome. I enjoyed the process. It's been really fun, and I'm going to talk about that more in a little bit.
Speaker 2:But Brian tell us, surprised me in this process of interviewing 12 people and that surprise.
Speaker 2:That usually indicates I'm learning something or I'm being aware of something that I value, and the word that came to my mind was I was surprised by the generosity of our guests, because I had thought, like we're being generous to have people on our podcast, but then what I realized is people showed up and many people that you secured for our podcast, nathan.
Speaker 2:They had scripts, they had outlines, they had questions, they had things that they gave us that they want to talk about. But what happened was I felt that people were way more generous in their topic, how much time they gave us, their willingness to really interact with us in a conversational way, and that generosity of sharing their wisdom, sharing their expertise, which I'll talk about later. I was so blown back by that. It was like people came smiling, shoulders down, ready to go, just extremely generous with the hard work that they did and I remember most of these podcast guests were coming on because they've recently written a book and for people to really talk about the process and their larger work. That was a very generous expression for me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I would say I was surprised by that as well, especially how many people didn't want to just go through their talking points about the book, which I thought was pretty cool, something going back to, so something that surprised me or stood out to me or has been a real, I think, good reminder for me in this process, as you so graciously talked about my preparation for this. You know going through and you know reading the synopsis Well, so first it starts with because some of these people reach out to us as well, and so it's first even starting like vetting is this person crazy, is this person interesting? Like who is this random person that reached out to us or I found? So it's doing that it's going through then, sometimes like skimming their book or looking at the highlights of their book. You know looking reading other blog posts, articles, looking at their website, looking at YouTube videos and, through that, composing this picture or painting this picture of who I think this person is going to be right.
Speaker 1:And then they show up in the podcast and pretty much all of them they haven't been wildly different, but they're not the same, as kind of who I thought I was getting or I thought we would be interacting with, and that can be in subtle ways or significant ways, or, I think, one person's like. I don't care if we even talk about this book. I just want to learn something today.
Speaker 2:That was so true.
Speaker 3:Right, it's like, oh no, pressure.
Speaker 1:And so the reminder there for me, I think, is and this applies to people that I'm leading, people that I'm on committees with my own children is sometimes, I think, we fall into this trap of like well, I know who you are, I'm going to treat you this way, and it's really, I think, for me, been a good reminder to sort of let people show me who they are and to let some of the uniqueness and the individuality kind of come out, versus just putting people in this little box of, well, I know who you are, I know how you're going to behave, I know how you're going to respond to this, but instead just, sort of like, be open and kind of holding your hands out to say, like well, who is this person going to be today? Let's just kind of see where this goes. So, and that, I think, is also what we try to do in those 30,000 conversations as well. So people are always like you have my strengths in front of me. Does that mean you know everything about me? It's like not remotely. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Nathan, part of what you're talking about, I think is one of the points that you wanted to emphasize is how real people are yeah, and so part of the generosity that I felt was people were generous with their authenticity.
Speaker 2:Yes, because I felt that people didn't show up thinking that they were on stage. They were authentically themselves and many times we saw that in their setting whether it was someone sitting in their Manhattan apartment to someone who was like, look at, they were sitting in a jungle the people that had finally articulated you know podcast settings behind them. There was just this authenticity to how people showed up and what they were wearing or where they were. That, to me, was such a welcoming invitation. So, nathan, when you talk about how real the people were, what stood out to you?
Speaker 1:Oh man, I think we had some guests that talked about, I think, some personal things, like they're maybe a little more personal than you would just when you're meeting someone in a podcast interview for for the first time, a couple people that I can't remember who it was, but we asked a question and they were like I actually don't know, I don't, I don't know the answer to that question. Let me, you know, figure out, get it back to you. Somebody that was trying to go some through something on their book and they're like I wrote this so long ago I can't remember. Hang on, let me pull out the book and, like, figure out what I wrote two years ago or whatever it was. I think also, brian, just that that interaction that we could be ourselves as they were being themselves, like I never felt like we were being anything other than who we are like right now, you know and everyone has a different, I think, stage persona versus, like you know, if you're talking to a friend in a coffee shop sort of persona.
Speaker 1:But these conversations, just they felt real and every so. What's interesting is I've obviously edited all of them. They're, all you know, between 40 and 60 minutes and every single one it feels like around 45 minutes in. We finally kind of get into this rhythm right as we're closing and I was like if we could have like a two hour conversation where the first hour is just throw away and then we get cause, then you like kind of start loosing up and getting to know people.
Speaker 1:And then, like I think some of the, even more of that realness and authenticity could come out.
Speaker 3:But well, I wonder if some of the pressure of it coming to a close it's like, well, what are we going to say now? And maybe that first part maybe felt like, oh, let's get there. But I think in human relationships, when you're asking people to be human and show up, it does take a little time. It does take a little time.
Speaker 3:For me, that kind of goes to the other thing that, nathan, when you challenged us and you said just be yourself, like, okay, what is one of the main things that we do with people? And that is we listen. So obviously we're talking on the podcast, but I would rather much rather just sit and hear someone talk about their expertise, talk about where they come from, some of the pivot moments in their lives, the things that they have been through, and so for me, I feel like we're I'm always beating this drum, but the power of listening, the power of slowing down, and I feel listeners want to actually hear the story and not something buttoned up or it just sounds too buttoned up, or did AI write that?
Speaker 3:or you know what happened and and when our guests would tell us like, oh, that was fun, that felt like okay then. Then you've come to our table and experienced part of the essence of of who who we are. But the funny part was usually I mean, we're meeting with you, nathan, ahead of time, we're talking about who knows what.
Speaker 3:By the time the interview is going to start, and so when the guest pops up usually we're cracking up about something and we have to let them in on the inside joke, or not, or hey it sounds like you guys know each other, and for me that that makes me proud as well, because there there is a a joy in doing this and not just like, okay, who's the guest? Um, guest. But I think we've we've chosen to approach people with wonder and who?
Speaker 1:knows what can come from that. Well, and that's I'm going to cause I know what Brian's going to say next, because mine piggybacks very well off what you just said, Linda is. So what I really love is that our interaction with the guests is just what you said, and there was there's one where we were talking about like accidentally putting on lipstick, like the on lipstick right before the guest comes on, and so they come into these hilarious like we're basically laughing like this, and they're like, oh hey, what's happening?
Speaker 1:And it's not intentional necessarily, but there's just some funny interactions that they come into and so, um, I and again I think this goes. Another leadership principle is like how are you, as a leader, sort of modeling what you um, what you want out of those that you're leading? How do you, as as a parent, sort of establish the type of environment you want your home to be? As you're a team leader, how do you establish some of the norms and all of that of your um, you know, your working group or whatever? And there's, I think, a real value and, and I've listened to so many podcasts where the podcast starts with, like the guest is like you know, they're not even on mic, so they're talking, you know they're, they're off my hey, welcome in hey yeah, this is a and eventually they get to the microphone.
Speaker 1:I was like that's what I want. I want it to feel like we're just sitting down to this conversation and we're talking about your book, we're talking about leadership, we're talking about positive team culture, and so when we were reflecting on this like that, I was like, yeah, that's like we're trying to set the table for what we hope, like with intention and purpose, what we, how we hope this conversation feels. So that's right so good, yeah, brian, what's you're?
Speaker 3:gonna add something. What was?
Speaker 2:I forgot, um, sorry, no, there, it was about the interaction, the oh, the listening Something. Yeah, part of the power of part of the power of listening was, I think, once the guests sometimes the guests realize they're in a conversation, really quickly that it's not an interview Some people, I feel, came prepared for an interview and when they, you know, then overhear us talking about, you know, lip gloss or whatever that conversation was, they realized that there was something different happening. Right, I say that to say this, the listening part, I feel, was two ways, because we had many guests who were listening as closely to what we were saying as we were listening to them, and there was this unique interplay between what we talked about, how we journeyed towards the topics, and what really came up. That was, I know, surprising to all of us and that was something that stands out to me was the guests we're listening to.
Speaker 2:You know, there are some conversations we've all been a part of where we feel we're talking to someone who's just waiting to talk and when someone's listening, it just is a whole different tone of how the podcast goes and you can tell, you know, when the guests are in that place, where things have, you know, kind of like the agendas have dropped to the wayside. Yes, we're trying to promote the book or their expertise or what their their journey has been, and we and we do get to that. But part of what we're talking about is, you know, we're having a conversation between human beings, and human beings have shared lived experiences that we all can relate to, and oftentimes, before people you know hear what we're talking about on the podcast. We've already talked about kids and where we come from, and you know people looking forward to the break of doing the podcast interview because their kids are at home and can at least get an hour to themselves.
Speaker 3:Yeah, Well and I want to jump off that because I think there's something powerful about listening to their stories there were so many people that, obviously because it's around leadership, where some of the guests were coming to the table they had studied a certain topic of leadership or of humanity that, if applied, would make human functioning better, team functioning better. And so I think we were. We were just listening, we were learning and in that learning, what I realized is that the three of us in particular and I hope, some of our listeners are really inspired by people that are passionate about whatever topic there was, and there were many times and a shout out to all our guests there were many times where we would leave the podcast, brian and I would go into our next client meeting and we'd be quoting some of the, we give you credit.
Speaker 3:But we'd be quoting some of the things that we had heard and talked about and I think that was one of the things, Brian, that really stood out to you was how passionate, how experienced they were. Do you want to speak to that part?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a huge takeaway for me. Our company is 25 years old and I've been doing this work for 37 years and there's a depth of experience that I have lived through in my career and the guests that we had on I felt they had this depth of experience that they were just willing to share. And by depth of experience I don't mean people that have done a variety of careers, have a bunch of degrees or have studied a whole bunch of different things. These are people that have committed to three lanes in their life and they've done the hard work, the heavy lifting. They put in the hours and the at-bats to gain the expertise over time. And not only did they share the expertise, but they were curious on what we thought about it.
Speaker 2:And when you talk to somebody who is generous in their spirit, who has done the hard work, written the book or done the research, they built these companies and then they're willing to just share that, you know on a podcast that just blew me away of how people commit to their craft, yeah, they stick to it because they really want to transform people's lives. However that looks for each person, that is just a huge statement to me is whether they're doing it from a stage on a screen, through podcasts, through consulting or coaching work or written. Whatever they're doing, they want people's lives to change on their side. And that took me completely by surprise is that authentic moment when somebody had a transformation in their own life early in their journey and then they double down to share that transformational experience with other people and they want to be a catalyst around that. That just blows my mind, and people shared that over and over and over again and that's a massive standout for me maybe they shared their dreams with us.
Speaker 3:Maybe that's what it was right. There was a way that they shared the things that they are passionate about or the things that they had studied. There were always a reason for it. Maybe we were just listening to their dream unfold or listening to um our part in in helping them continue to push their dream out to other audiences.
Speaker 2:How often do people get that chance Right? How many times are people asked you know how? How did your story begin? Or when? When does you know what was that pivotal moment? And then to be able to talk freely about how your dream became a reality. And we all know that when I ask a question of how did this book come to be that, that that's a request for their origin story, and we all know it's not about the book. It's something that happened years or decades before that that led to them feeling that like they had to write a book to reach more people, and that's the shared lived experience that all of us have. We have these moments where something is birthed within us, and there are few people sometimes that see that out to the end. You know they just don't give up and I just love hearing those stories.
Speaker 1:That's become one of my favorite questions we ask and it's always a little different is what happened that led to this book or led to this thing, and then, well, I did this, that and the other thing, and then I had this book. He's like yeah, but what led to that? And then you know it kind of goes steps down a couple, uh, a couple different layers. So it's a very um even that that guest that you know did the research. He's in academia like he's.
Speaker 2:He, it's a very um even that that guest that you know did the research. He's in academia like he's. He it's part of his job to do that, but it was years before that that it was an encounter with a mentor, like just those moments where, where you realize, something specific happened in a relational context that left a shaping imprint on someone and it's shifted the course of their life. And isn't that the kind of work that?
Speaker 1:we're into and that's what's. That's. What's so fun is that we're all all these folks we've interviewed we're all sort of heading in the same general direction of what we're trying to put out in the world and how we're trying to help people realize their piece of that and all that.
Speaker 3:So and the world needs more people. So someone said why do you keep interviewing people that are kind of like doing what you're doing? Isn't there competition? I'm like have you seen the world.
Speaker 1:We need all of us.
Speaker 3:And so shout out to anyone that is seeking to stir goodness among humanity we're right there with you.
Speaker 2:And I feel this is I didn't think about saying this before now. Um well, I think one thing I'm also grateful for is. I know this wasn't your question in our pre-work it's okay, I like, I like the spot I'm grateful that.
Speaker 2:I'm grateful that these guests have introduced me to a peer group. I didn't know I had having your own business and like running the kind of business that we're in. You know you never show up to an event with another consulting firm alongside. It's a very isolating endeavor and you you lose track that there are other people out there that have the same type of commitment and passion and drive as you do. And for me to be able to meet these people that are a part of this unique tribe, that's been so reassuring and affirming for me that you know we're not the only ones out there that are are trying to have that shaping influence on individuals and that's been really heartwarming for me to meet people that have the same experience that sometimes can feel really isolating and overwhelming.
Speaker 1:Keeping like with the theme that we started with, kind of going back to school. It's like when you find that club at school or that organization that you're like oh wait, you all like this thing too and we're doing this. Yes, I want to be a part of that. And there's I mean we've I think all three of us have had conversations with guests not recorded after the fact being like hey, can I pick your brain about like there's one other podcaster? It's like can we just talk about podcasting, like gear and strategies and all this stuff? And it's just like oh okay, I'm not losing my mind and going crazy. This is a problem that everyone's having. So well, brian and Linda, thank you very much. Do you have any final thoughts?
Speaker 3:I'm thankful that we tried something new and, even though many people are hosting many different kinds of guests, this was new for us in a new way, and I am glad that we have learned some things, that we are going to continue to evolve and grow. We want to just encourage all those guests that were a part of our show to keep doing the good work you are doing, as well as those that will be on a future show or two. We're just humbled and excited about sharing the work that we're doing, listening and learning from the work that you're doing, and if you have some really great guests that you think would be great on our podcast, maybe you should let us know and or let Nathan know If you let us know it might go into a vortex.
Speaker 3:But if you let Nathan know, maybe something will happen. So, nathan, thanks for being our leader in this.
Speaker 1:Thank you, thank you and thank you listeners, for listening to the Leadership Vision Podcast, our show helping you build positive team culture For more resources, about developing your strengths the strengths of your team or the strengths of your entire organization. You can click the link in the show notes or visit our website, leadershipvisionconsultingcom, and if you have questions about anything you heard in this podcast or learning more about how we might help your team, do that, send us an email. Connect at leadershipvisionconsultingcom. I'm Nathan Freeberg.
Speaker 1:I'm Linda Shubring and I'm Brian Shubring and I'm Brian Schubring, and on behalf of our entire team, thanks for listening.