Successful Leaders

Written By: Hans Appel

This fall I’m launching a student-led leadership podcast called Award Winning Culture.  Students will be talking about topics like Character, Excellence, and Community all under the Wildcat Nation umbrella.  They’ll have a chance to dig deep into concepts like kindness, empathy, and service and understand how these impact student learning.  As part of this project, I’ve set up interviews with authors, business leaders, educators, and cultural experts. Additionally, they’ll have the opportunity to chat with leadership students around the country.  As you can imagine, this is a HUGELY ambitious project that’s inherently fraught with a gigantic learning curve. I assure you that we’ll be making mistakes all along the way. Did I mention, I know almost nothing about creating a podcast?  I mean, I've certainly enjoyed listening to them but until recently, I had no idea how to put one together.  Yes, I've gotten a few eye rolls and a couple collegues have asked me questions like: “don’t you already have enough on your plate?” Yes! I certainly don’t need anything else. And if I was less passionate about this adventure, I would and maybe SHOULD have a healthy dose of fear about creating something with students that I have no expertise in. So, why would I venture into the unknown for our students this year?

Successful Leaders

As human beings, were drawn to successful influential people.  We study them, watch them, and try and be near them; all along hoping to learn the secrets of life.  People watch documentaries and interviews all to garner a glimmer of insight into what makes successful people tick.  We read autobiographies, stalk them on social media and aspire to figure out how they became a success. Even the most successful people in the world love to surround themselves with other successful folks in hopes of taking a tiny nugget of wisdom.

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