What I’m Into: Podcasts

Time is limited. Given the overabundance of free and accessible content today, what do you like to read or listen to? When and how do you make time?

I’m into podcasts. As a busy working mother of 3 elementary aged boys, my “second office” is my car. Podcasts are an easy way for me to listen and learn while driving around my bucolic Virginian town shuttling my boys from school to various afterschool sports and activities. Stacked full of drinks, snacks and my work supplies, my car is where I enjoy precious time to myself.

Since its inception in early 2020, my favorite weekly podcast is Leadership Next hosted by veteran journalists, Fortune CEO Alan Murray and Ellen McGirt. Every week these well-paired hosts hold intimate conversations with today’s great business leaders about the new rules of leadership and how accelerating technological change and rising demands from stakeholders are leading them to put a new sense of purpose at the center of their enterprises. It’s clear both hosts and guests acknowledge business leadership has fundamentally changed in the last ten years with the COVID-19 pandemic only accelerating the pace of change toward stakeholder capitalism.

Conversations are open, honest and heartfelt – tackling a range of serious business topics and the COVID-19 pandemic in addition to today’s more sensitive issues on racial injustice, DEI, income inequality and business activism. And, since I believe so strongly that everyone has a ‘story,’ I really enjoy the episodes where the discussion drift to a business leader’s personal background and upbringing.

It would be impossible to pick my favorite one or two interviews. In less than 30 minutes, I learn something new and interesting every week. If you’re looking for a new podcast, I highly recommend Leadership Next. I promise you’ll be inspired and learn valuable insights about the changing rules of business leadership and how these CEOs are changing the world through their visionary leadership.

What podcasts do you enjoy listening to? Please share your ideas with me below!