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Leadership Biz Cafe with Tanveer Naseer

Lead With Purpose: 3 Leadership Lessons from My 15-Year Podcasting Journey

Season 15, Ep. 200

15 years ago, I got an email from Guy Kawasaki that would change the course of my life. He had a new book out and said if I wanted to interview him for a podcast, he’d be game. The only problem … I didn’t have a podcast.

 

But being able to have a one-on-one conversation with a successful leader and entrepreneur like Guy is not an opportunity one passes up. And so, this podcast “Leadership Biz Cafe” was created and I could never have imagined the journey and growth this podcast would lead to.

 

Over the past 15 years and 199 episodes, I’ve been able to have conversations with renowned thought leaders like Marshall Goldsmith, Tom Peters, Stephen M.R. Covey, and Robin Sharma, and a create platform that has reached leaders around the world.

 

And through such a long and successful journey, you pick up a few hard-earned lessons of what it takes to not only succeed, but persist no matter what uncertainties lie ahead.

 

That’s why I’ve decided for this milestone episode of this podcast to share the unexpected lessons I learned along the way - about why purpose matters more than certainty when starting new initiatives, why curiosity is a more effective leadership tool than waiting for the fog to clear, and the one thing that separates leaders who build something enduring from those who stall before they ever begin.

 

Listen now to discover what 15 years of podcasting taught me about leading with purpose.

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