Over the past year, I’ve been exploring ways to consume more content while moving. (More on this soon.)
Podcasts have been a great resource, providing a break from screens, an opportunity to get outside, and a wide array of quality content to tune into.
When it comes to leadership, I find it especially valuable to be able to hear from people on their successes and failures, as well as how they navigate different relationships.
I’ve curated a handful of my favourite podcasts that provide this through their raw and insightful interviews.
Without Fail
Without Fail is the new show from Gimlet Media that asks people who have pursued incredible things: What worked? What didn’t? And why? Each week, Alex Blumberg interviews a person who’s taken a big bet and won or lost. His guests share stories and lessons about what’s it’s like to succeed, what’s it’s like to fail, and how to live with both.
In particular, I’ve really appreciated the candor shared in these interviews, which brings an unexpected level authenticity that makes these guests and their experiences especially relatable and helpful.
Recent favourites include Relentless: How One Guy Brought the Internet to America’s Schools, Ira Glass: The Man Who Launched a Thousand Podcasts, and Sophia Amoruso: From Nasty Gal to Girlboss.
StartUp Podcast
StartUp is another Gimlet podcast that is a documentary series about entrepreneurial life. Their multi-episode podcast series range from capturing some of the less conventional entrepreneur stories including Church Planting, Startup Bus, Arlan Hamilton (Silicon Valley, By Invite Only) and Success Academy. The episodes do not shy away from sharing conflicts and challenges faced by teams, and how they prevail or fail (or both).
HBR IdeaCast
HBR IdeaCast is a weekly podcast by the Havard Business review that features thought leaders in business and management. I’ve found that while the podcast features many different guests and topics on business and management, many of the episodes circle back to the impact of employee engagement and workplace culture on an organization’s long-term effectiveness.
Recently I enjoyed listening to Improving Civility in the Workplace that shared how managers need to discover how to allow more honesty and emotions and humanity in the workplace, while still delivering in a high-performing environment.
Other episodes I’ve found insightful include Speak Out Successfully on acts of courage in the workplace, Avoiding Miscommunication In A Digital World, The Power of Curiosity, and John Kerry on Leadership, Compromise, and Change (sharing leadership lessons from his career in public service).
Masters of Scale
Masters of Scale is an original podcast hosted by Reid Hoffmanin (LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner). Reid invites various entrepreneurs to provide insight into how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion. Guests include people like Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg & Sheryl Sandberg, Netflix’s Reed Hastings, Google’s Eric Schmidt, Spanx’s Sara Blakely.
Recently, I listened to the episode The Millennial Episode — with Brit + Co’s Brit Morin that talks about the opportunity to marshal the power of millennials to grow and support and organization, and the need to redefine your concept of loyalty by focusing on a commitment to continuing to evolve.