Lead From Where You Are: Embracing Everyday Influence

In this episode, Nathan revisits one of Brian Schubring's earliest blog posts, "Lead From Where You Are," written in 2012. The wisdom in this post is simple but powerful: meaningful influence doesn’t always come from formal leadership roles or big platforms. Instead, it often happens in quiet, everyday moments of relationship and presence.

Nathan connects these reflections to themes found in Unfolded: Lessons in Transformation from an Origami Crane, the new book by Dr. Linda and Brian Schubring. Just as the character OC learns that flight begins with small, playful steps, leaders are reminded that transformation starts not with the destination, but with paying attention to the here and now.

Whether you’re leading a team, a classroom, or your own family, this episode will remind you that you don’t need to be “in charge” to make an impact. You just need to show up.

Reflection Questions:

• What’s one small, unnoticed moment today where you could show up more fully?
• Who around you could use your attention, presence, or support?
• Are you focused more on outcomes than the process? What would it look like to shift your focus?
• What dream or goal are you holding onto? How might your next step be smaller—and closer—than you think?

Links & Resources:

• Learn more about Unfolded at schubrings.com
• Subscribe to the Leadership Vision Podcast and explore past episodes
• Want to bring this kind of leadership development to your organization? Visit leadershipvisionconsulting.com

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to Leadership Vision Podcast

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

You are 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. To learn more about what we do, click the link in the show notes or visit us on the web at leadershipvisionconsultingcom. Hello everyone, my name is Nathan Freeberg and I have sort of a mini episode here for you today. I was going back through old blog posts and I found something that Brian had written way back when we were just starting the blog. I was convincing him that this was a good idea, and so he sent me something that he had been working on and I want to read it for you here today, because to me it just echoed some of the themes that are in their new book, linda, and Brian's book Unfolded Lessons in Transformation from an Origami Crane. So let me read you this old blog post and I want to draw a couple connections, and then I would love to know your thoughts on it. So the blog post was titled Lead from when you Are, published August 6th of 2012. So the blog post was titled Lead From when you Are, published August 6th of 2012.

Speaker 1: 1:13

When we look only for opportunities to lead, we often miss the more frequent and more common opportunities for meaningful influence. Influence of others through the more common, relational and unsuspecting moments make the most lasting impact. But in doing so, we need to pay attention more, a lot more. I believe by focusing on being a leader, many people lose track of being right, where they are on the next step, the small moments of influence, common moments, moments of relationship. And so he asks where are you? What is your next step? Who is with you? What is your next step? Who is with you? What is your tempo to living? Now, brian here is not advocating that we don't have an objective, an end goal or a destination. All he is asking is that we do not lose sight of what and who are immediately around us and how we are giving ourselves into the commonality of each step. And one of the things I love about that and what really resonated with me is this line here when we look only for opportunities to lead, we often miss the more frequent and more common opportunities for meaningful influence. For meaningful influence, I think. For me, he really reminded me, and hopefully reminded all of us, that real leadership is less about seizing a platform and more about being present right where we are, with the people around us, in everyday moments that often go unnoticed. I can think of a lot of parents I've talked to who have older kids that feel like they miss some of these moments because they were always focused on this end goal or this bigger thing. Or I can think of moments in my own life where I have been so focused on achieving this thing or hitting this goal or this milestone that I have missed all of this stuff along the way, and it's taken a lot of forceful effort to slow down and pay attention.

Speaker 1: 3:06

So now fast forward to 2025, their book Unfolded Lessons in Transformation from an Origami Crane by Dr Linda and Brian Schubring, you'll hear echoes of that same idea that Brian wrote about so long ago, only deeper or maybe more refined and lived. In the book Unfolded, we meet Osi, the main character, who's an origami crane with a dream to fly. But the story isn't just about reaching the sky. It's about every crease, every fold along the way, all of those small little moments and mistakes and relationships and reflections that become part of this map that shapes her, the character and, ultimately, all of us. So, just like Brian wrote.

Speaker 1: 3:51

What was that 13 years ago now, when we focus only on that end goal, we risk losing the wisdom of the next step, that common moment, the person that's standing right in front of us or right beside us. So, whether you are currently in a mountaintop season, a mountain fold we'll call it an origami or feeling stuck in a valley, those valley fold moments, I think the book Unfolded, and also Brian's Reflection from 2012, reminds us again to ask where am I, who is with me and what is unfolding right here? Because transformation, as we know, often begins with just paying attention to what is happening, what is going on right around us. So reflect on that. I would love to know what you think about that.

Speaker 1: 4:41

Go pre-order the book you can click the link in the show notes or go to shoobringscom to get your copy and then let's talk about it. I want to hear about your mountain moments, your valley moments, where you are, who is with you and what are those things that you're paying attention to right now that, who knows, maybe somewhere someday, at some point along the journey, will become something else. Thank you for listening to the Leadership Vision podcast, our show helping you build positive team culture. We would love it if you could subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. Go to our website, sign up for our free email newsletter and, most importantly perhaps right now, is go to shoobrinkscom and pre-order that book. My name is Nathan Freeberg. On behalf of our entire team, thanks for listening.