The Upstream Leader: A Journey to the Source of Great Firm Leadership
Think for a moment; how did you become the leader you are today? You’re probably recounting your career path, mentors along the way, challenges you faced… but go beyond that. What was the one defining moment that set you on that path?
Going upstream in the leadership journey is the premise of Jeremy Clopton and Heath Alloway’s podcast, The Upstream Leader. Recently, these two co-hosts joined me on Podcasting in Professional Services to share their experience running the show, why they started it in the first place, and some of the stories they’ve uncovered along the way. Listen to the full conversation here:
When they first launched their podcast in 2021, Heath and Jeremy didn’t know what to expect. But they quickly realized early on that they could still make a difference, even if it was just for a few people at a time. Today, the show continues to be active and has released more than 60 episodes.
Why start a podcast in the first place?
“Even if we can just reach one or two or three people and make a difference in their career journey, we're making an impact that way,” said Heath. “That was for me at the heart of it; how can we have that service mentality and help others in their journey?”
This service mentality and helping others in their journey is done by teasing out great stories from guests. “We will have a topic that we want to talk about with a guest,” said Jeremy. “Some of the stories that you hear and the things that you learn through that you never had a clue that you were going to get into that side of the conversation of the value. And that's really been super rewarding.”
A 24-Episode Commitment to the Podcast
Going into it, Heath and Jeremy knew a podcast was a long-term investment. That’s why they made a commitment to releasing a minimum of 24 episodes, published every-other week.
“I don't ever remember thinking when we started this, that we would fail” said Heath. “We committed to a year up-front and then committed to collaborating on how we want to approach it.”
They treated each year as a ‘season’ and then re-grouped to decide whether or not to renew for another season.This approach gave them a goal and a way to pull the plug if they found the podcast wasn’t working. “About midway through year two, we decided to stop with the season concept and just have episodes,” added Jeremy—a sign they believe in the power of their podcast.
Benefits of Co-Hosting a Business Podcast
Structuring their podcast around two co-hosts gave The Upstream Leader added benefits. They were more flexible with episodes, they had a shared sense of ownership and accountability, and each host brings their own perspective and personality to the table. Let’s take a look at each of these benefits:
Episode Flexibility
On some episodes, Jeremy leads a one-on-one interview with a guest. Other times it’s Heath. Sometimes, Heath and Jeremy team up to interview a guest together. Finally, some episodes feature a conversation between just the two co-hosts.
Shared Ownership and Accountability
Another benefit of the co-host model is a shared sense of ownership and accountability. “It's not a policing accountability,” said Jeremy. “It's more so, ‘Who are we having? What's our theme? Are there any holes? What type of guests do we need to find?’”
This collaborative arrangement gave both Jeremy and Heath a partnership where they could share the load of scheduling and conducting interviews, doing prep work, and managing the production of the podcast.
Differing Perspectives
Another added benefit of structuring their podcast around a co-host model was that each brought their own unique perspective and personality to the show. This diversity of thought gives listeners multiple perspectives from which to compare. “We get different perspectives, different approaches,” said Heath. “It's been a lot of fun. I really liked the back and forth that we have with having two hosts.”
Having two hosts, The Upstream Leader also has more ears to the ground in terms of finding the right conversations to highlight on the show. “One thing that's really nice is when you have a conversation with a client or you have a conversation with somebody at a conference,” said Jeremy. “You're sitting there and you're thinking, ‘you know what? This would be really valuable if other people…could be the fly on the wall.”
Episode Structure: Going Upstream in the Leader’s Journey
Uncovering the most compelling stories from their guests is more art than science. Whether it’s Jeremy leading an interview or Heath, they each follow a similar structure. They will start each interview with a single question, which acts as a launching point that could go in any direction.
“We have one question that we lead every episode off with,” said Jeremy. “And that is, ‘How did you become the leader that you are today?’”
In the early days of their podcast, that question was designed to be an introduction to the guest, their background, and a chance for Heath and Jeremy to introduce themselves. Instead, they found that question to be a starting point for a deeper conversation.
Unearthing Passion & Excitement
As the co-hosts refined their interviewing skills and published dozens of episodes, they uncovered their own passion and excitement for helping their guests tell their own powerful stories.
“In my experience, so many of those answers have taken us down a completely different path,” said Jeremy. “There have been some episodes that the first 15 minutes have just been diving into a somewhat related topic that we were planning to discuss, but they became so much more impactful.”
“I try to keep an eye out for any life experiences or something that you can just tell means something very important to them,” said Heath. “That usually gives you an insight to something that means a lot to them.”
Heath and Jeremy have found a way to differentiate their podcast content from other interview shows by teasing out passion and excitement in their guests. This has resulted in great content as well as passion and excitement of their own for the future of The Upstream Leader podcast.
Take the Next Step on Your Podcasting Journey
Like Jeremy and Heath, you can launch and grow a successful business podcast for your firm. There is a blue ocean of opportunity for professional services firms to use this format to accelerate their networks, humanize their brand, and create endless content. Here are a few resources to help you take the next step:
