Speaker 1: Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of
Speaker 1: performance through strong human relations, team building, and golajiving. This
Speaker 1: is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host Paul Fellavledo.
Speaker 2: Hello everyone, and welcome to the Seven Minute Leadership Podcast.
Speaker 2: It's episode three point fifty seven. Today's episode is a
Speaker 2: bit personal. It's leadership lessons that I have learned from
Speaker 2: my own podcast. When I first hit record on this
Speaker 2: show back in twenty sixteen, I had no idea where
Speaker 2: this journey would take me in Nearly a decade later,
Speaker 2: it's been downloaded around the world, listened to, and over
Speaker 2: one hundred countries, shared by leaders from every level C suite, frontline, military,
Speaker 2: nonprofit and public safety. But what it's also done is
Speaker 2: teach me just as much as I've tried to teach others.
Speaker 2: So today I want to peel back the curtain and
Speaker 2: talk to you about what I've learned from the good,
Speaker 2: the bad, the pressure, and the pride of running this
Speaker 2: podcast as a one man leadership company. So number one.
Speaker 2: Feedback isn't always fun, but it's always valuable. Let's start
Speaker 2: with the hardest one feedback. I've received amazing messages from
Speaker 2: people thanking me for helping them find their leadership style
Speaker 2: or deal with a toxic boss or a toxic employee.
Speaker 2: But I've also had people critique my tone, my sound quality,
Speaker 2: and even how fast I talk. It used to sting.
Speaker 2: I'd get an email or a comment and instantly get defensive,
Speaker 2: But then I realized every piece of feedback is a
Speaker 2: free consultation. If someone takes time out of their day
Speaker 2: to tell me what they think, that's data, and data
Speaker 2: makes me better. The leadership takeaway from this is don't
Speaker 2: just be open to feedback, hunt it down. Look at
Speaker 2: it like GPS. You don't get mad at your GPS
Speaker 2: for saying recalculating. You just adjust and keep driving. The
Speaker 2: second one is time is the currency of content. People
Speaker 2: think that these episodes are quick because they're short, but
Speaker 2: the truth lies all in the prep. That's a completely
Speaker 2: different story. Every single episode takes hours of research, remembering, writing, recording, retakes,
Speaker 2: uploading social media, scheduling, and then listening back not for fun,
Speaker 2: but to scrutinize. I listen for breath noise, mic pops,
Speaker 2: awkward transitions, and whether my message actually landed. That's seven
Speaker 2: minute or less episode. It easily takes two to four
Speaker 2: hours from start to finish. I treat every episode as
Speaker 2: if it were my full time job. The leadership takeaway
Speaker 2: from this is doing something well takes time. There is
Speaker 2: no shortcut for quality. If you're a leader who thinks
Speaker 2: you can wing everything, you're leaving your credibility up to chance.
Speaker 2: The third one, being a one man show, is the
Speaker 2: ultimate leadership school. I wear every hat, writer, producer, editor, marketer,
Speaker 2: web manager, well actually, Gellman's the web manager, listener, support,
Speaker 2: and creative director. That's not a brag. It's a wake
Speaker 2: up call. If something doesn't get done, it's on me.
Speaker 2: If an episode falls flat, that's on me. If I
Speaker 2: want more listeners, better graphics, tighter sound, guess what, that's
Speaker 2: still on me. It's taught me business fundamentals. I never
Speaker 2: thought i'd need email, marketing, SEO, audio mastering, analytics, branding,
Speaker 2: even merchandise and publishing. The leadership takeaway there is when
Speaker 2: you run your own thing, even if it's just a podcast,
Speaker 2: you quickly learn what accountability really looks like. You can't
Speaker 2: blame the marketing team or the intern. You are the team.
Speaker 2: In the fourth one, you have to be your own coach.
Speaker 2: Sometimes I'm very proud of an episode. Other times I
Speaker 2: might cringe a little bit. Maybe I rushed a point
Speaker 2: or my tone was flat. The key is I listen
Speaker 2: with brutal honesty. I asked myself. Did I deliver a
Speaker 2: message that matters? Did I sound like someone people would follow?
Speaker 2: Did I respect the listener's time? I keep notes. I've
Speaker 2: even gone back and re recorded episodes that didn't sit
Speaker 2: right with me. That's not ego, so it's standards. The
Speaker 2: leadership take away there. You don't need someone else to evaluate.
Speaker 2: You be your own toughest critic, hold your own performance reviews,
Speaker 2: raise your own bar. And this last one is brand
Speaker 2: isn't just a logo. It's how you show up consistently.
Speaker 2: My podcast is my brand, my name, my voice, my reputation.
Speaker 2: If I skip a week, people notice if the message
Speaker 2: feels off brand. They notice if I drift into corporate
Speaker 2: fluff or cliches, they definitely notice. Staying on brand means
Speaker 2: staying connected to my audience. I know who listens, new leaders,
Speaker 2: aspiring leaders, seasoned professionals looking for tactical reminders. I don't
Speaker 2: waste their time. That's part of my brand promise. The
Speaker 2: leadership take away. You are your brand, whether you like
Speaker 2: it or not. Every meeting, every email, every podcast, every interaction,
Speaker 2: that's your reputation being built in real time. So podcasting
Speaker 2: taught me leadership is a marathon of micro decisions. You
Speaker 2: don't become a better leader overnight. You become better when
Speaker 2: you choose to show up again and again when it's hard,
Speaker 2: when no one's watching, when no one says thank you,
Speaker 2: and when no one claps. This podcast has taught me patience, resilience, humility,
Speaker 2: and a relentless pursuit of being better. It's given me
Speaker 2: the chance to practice my message before I preach it,
Speaker 2: share valuable leadership lessons from my past, so you don't
Speaker 2: experience the same pain points that I did. And most
Speaker 2: of all, it's helped me grow into the leader I
Speaker 2: needed when I started. This has been the seven Minute
Speaker 2: Leadership Podcast, and I thank you for listening.
Speaker 1: For more Paul Fellovlito podcasts, visit Paul Fevalito dot com