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