Brilliant Leadership Lessons & Takeaways In High Profile Podcasts
Here are 5 brilliant examples of podcasts to listen to for great examples of company and industry leaders confidently talking about themselves, their products and the future. Definitely time to grab a notepad and pen (or open up Apple notes) and make notes:
Listen to Shopify's founder and CEO Tobi Lütke talk about:
Building new companies
What Founder mode is to him and why it was so important in 2020-2022
How to understand you are onto something when you go from impossible to really hard is when you can make magic happen
How to lead a company through this AI age
Why implementation matters most
Kat Cole (The CEO of AG1) has a brilliant backstory and comes across as incredibly thoughtful and deliberate in her interviews
Listen to find out:
Why being connected to the team and the mission is so important
How to learn about brand and true brand connection from her time at Hooters and Cinnabon
Focusing on talent and nurturing key staff members is critical to her successes and likely inside your business
Why working at a brand like AG1 and being linked heavily to science is important and how as the company leader you have to get into the details and understand the complicated product(s)
Listen to Prof G (aka Scott Galloway) interview Brian Chesky (Airbnb co-founder) to hear:
The future of Airbnb (hint not just property)
What founder mode really is from his private YC conversation
How to react to big shifts
What internal data shows about the power of superstars and the influence it has on cities
Listen to brand-building master Sophia Amoruso talking openly and candidly about her career, dabbling with influencing and new business ventures
How VC will push you to growth targets you won’t know how to hit
But with that said why she has gone into venture and offering companies a chance to grow by investing in them and helping them grow steadily
Management is not for everyone and certain people make bad managers and leaders
What scaling with intention means
Listen to Duolingo’s CEO Luis Von Ahn on his journey as founder and CEO and refreshing conversation on:
How AI is a huge opportunity but not always as people think (and why they won’t be held down to one AI partner)
Why engagement is critical over every other metric (no usage no monetisation)
Why deciding on a new product launch is important
Understanding your data is critical and why so many tests can be balanced with marketing the Owl (mascot) and it driving 15% of new user acquisitions
Why iOS over Android even though Android is a bigger market (hint iOS user are much higher spending)
The top 5 takeaways for company leaders should be:
Be confident in talking as much about you as the decisions you make and the products you are selling
Your stories should be additive to you and your company you are representing - Kat from AG1 and Sophia Amoruso embrace their backgrounds and talk confidently, making you want to know more or be part of their approach to company building.
Have your stories ready, 3-5 stories you can tell over and over again but with slightly words and energy to keep audiences wanting to see you speak, be interviewed or on other podcasts
Embrace non perfect answers and non perfect solutions - Luis from Duolingo comes across free but willing to share non perfect non exact answers even thou he is a CEO of a listed company & is never recommended
When you have been challenged on a topic or somethings leaked by others, be prepared to have a little fun at yourself but explain it so simply people feel like they know you and should consider copying - Brian from Airbnb does this with founder mode in this podcast (not so much with this longer deep dive into hiring and founder mode)
Allow the podcaster to ask the questions, pause and be prepared with something not overly PR prepared, authentic leadership is about allowing time and space to talk openly about a problem you are or have faced or a problem you are solving — so many company leaders jump in with the PR answer they miss the question or the direction the question is headed.
