Podcast
Unlocking leadership with great leaders
In the Arena
The lessons learned and earned as leaders developed their craft ‘In the Arena’
The moments that meet you where you are but never leave you where they found you
Podcast
Unlocking Leadership with Great Leaders
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
Delivered at the Sorbonne, in Paris, France on 23 April, 1910
As leaders, we are ‘In the Arena’
I love the old Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards’ quote, “It is not where you take it from, it is where you take it to that counts”.
As a leader and now leadership coach, I seek to make meaning and sense of those times when the challenge of the role was often beyond my capacity to cope with it, yet I still had to lead.
I had no choice and, so often, came up short.
I call this ‘the leader’s limp’, and I have a favourite line:
“Never trust a leader without a limp.”
Like many leaders, I found solace in the iconic speech of US President Teddy Roosevelt, sometimes known as ‘The Critic’ but mostly known as ‘’In the Arena’, delivered in Paris in 1910.
I reflect on the moments that meet you where you are but do not leave you where they found you, understood more with each telling and reflection.
Playon!
Leadership is the difference maker
To embrace the expectations of your role, welcome the responsibilities and pressures as a privilege, a right you have earned, and be energised by the opportunities they provide.
My thanks to the team at THIS IS A STUDIO, particularly the early conversations with Alex and Dave, for showing me the way, keeping it real, and straightening me up, and Pat for listening to my warblings as we recorded each episode.
Great people to work with.
Give them a try!
Cameron Schwab
Listen and Subscribe
Guests from the Arena
#024 - Lisa Alexander
#023 - Craig Foster
#022- Marne Fechner
#021 - Cody Royle
#020 - Neil Balme
#019 - Nick Stone
#018 - Joe Barr
#017 - Cameron Schwab and Andrew Horsfield
#016 - Andy Gowers
#015 - Layne Beachley
#014 - Ben Williamson
#013 - Matti Clements
#012 - Shane McCurry
#011 - Brian Cook
#010 - Scott Barrow
#009 - Nick Maxwell
#008 - Todd Viney
#007 - Dame Alison Rose DBE
#006 - Neil Craig
#005 - Brendan Schwab
#004 - Dr Lauren Burns OAM
#003 - John Bertrand OAM
#002 - Debbie Lee
#001 - Michael Voss
How do you make it happen?
Leadership is a conversation
“There is more to the game than you are seeing”.
I once heard the quote, “The future is here now, it is just not evenly distributed”. In my experience, elite team sport represents the future when it comes to eliciting maximum performance within the constraints of a high-stakes environment.
Elite team sport focuses on the behaviours, individually and collectively, required to be executed precisely and consistently in all forms of conditions, mostly uncontrolled and uncontrollable, to achieve a desired outcome, and there is only one outcome we are ultimately interested in.
Collective success.
Elite team sport is, unapologetically, in the business of human performance.
The role of leaders is to create the conditions to get the best from a group with all of its idiosyncrasies, strengths and weaknesses. No team is the same and will always require something different from its leaders.
My interest is supporting leaders to create the conditions for success in an unknown and unknowable future.
I’ve had the good fortune of being invited onto a number of podcasts in recent times.
It is important to seek out conversations with leaders who are happy to share their lived experiences, and I have been so fortunate in this regard.
Podcasts are a version of these conversations.
While the common theme is football, I am more than comfortable in going deep in relation to important discussions for leaders, be it parenting, how we learn, mental health, finding purpose, and dealing with setbacks.
Each podcast offers something very different.