UpSkill: Reflections and gratitude after a year of podcasting

We published the trailer for “UpSkill Talks” just under a year ago and have subsequently published over 50 episodes. And you have been so gracious and so committed to us: listening every week, subscribing and leaving your five-star reviews. We’ve noticed by our data that you’re listening to us in north America where we are, you’re listening to us in Europe. You’re listening to us in Asia. You’re listening to us in Australia. You’re listening to us in south America. You’re listening to us in Africa and we appreciate you.

We’re grateful for the feedback you’ve shared with us over the year, for the ideas you’ve shared. Such as the imposter syndrome, which was the most requested topic from you.

And that is why we created several podcast episodes and blog posts to address your needs. We answered the questions you asked:

What is it?

How do we deal with it?

Where does it show up?

And then we brought other experts in and had a conversation to share stories that help you to see you are not alone.

If you’re experiencing the imposter syndrome. that’s just one of the ideas you gave. That is how we wrapped up the season, but that’s not where we started. We started the season looking at our confidence, and how confidence shows up in our leadership. And how you can show up confidently in various spaces.

We’re happy to share with you that your favourite podcast episode was number 14: Effective Goal Setting — Your smartest goals.

We’re happy because that means you’re setting SMART goals and are trying to achieve what you want and desire in your life.

The next three topics you really enjoyed were:

#24: UpSkill — Preparing for Scrutiny, a Simple Strategy for Leadership.

#25: UpSkill — Leadership is a Long Distance Journey.

#3: UpSkill — The Importance of Community for Leaders.

So if those were not your favourites, go back and see what made them favourites. And if those were your favourites, Kudos to you. And thanks for making those the four most popular episodes in season one to date.

My personal favourite was episode #30 to run your own race. It’s something I believe in. It’s something I practice. It’s something I encourage you to practice. Because no matter where you are, no matter where other people are, if you have done what we talked about in episode 14 (set the smartest goals) I encourage you to run your own race and leave others to run their own.

When I’m working with my students, I recommend episode 20, “Your goals live outside your comfort zone.” It’s a call to step up and step out.

Exploring. Experimenting. Experiencing Upskilling. That’s what it’s all about. None of these happen inside our comfort zone.

Hosting this podcast was a journey outside of my own comfort zone.

I had to step up to learn to open myself to coaching from someone with greater expertise on podcasting. Shout out to Michael Sharkey, my podcast coach. He supported me, helped me with strategy, held my hand, guided me, and then empowered me to take the journey on my own.

If you’re in a comfort zone right now — and you know you need to take that next step — If you’re not confident on your own. Partnering with someone like a coach or a peer is so important for getting out of your comfort zone. If we don’t feel we have the courage or the skills to do it alone.

I am fortunate to have the team at UpSkill community and our partners at McGraw hill to support us along this journey. And I have benefitted tremendously from their ideas, their input and their encouragement to be able to stay on track episode after episode for one year.

That has been a great lesson in accountability. It’s the only way for us to do more and to contribute more. I would not be doing this episode, reporting to you into you that we have now published several episodes. To be able to answer questions in episodes for others, be able to address topics that we’re concerned for others. Be able to invite a number of people to join us inside UpSkill community for the ongoing conversation.

None of this would have happened if I had stayed where I was in my comfort zone, unsure of how do I exactly go about podcasting. There are people to help you. There are coaches, they’re partners, they’re accountability partners.

There is a community of people, of leaders who are there looking to make a contribution, looking to learn together. And we’re doing that at UpSkill community if you do not have a place to go come over and join us and be part of the conversation.

In a nutshell, some of the key lessons we learned this year:

1. Get started. On that thing that you’ve been putting off on that thing that you’re afraid of starting. Get started.

2. Take it one step at a time. If you’re writing that big document one day a week, just think about how difficult recording 52 episodes could be if you were to think about that all at once. But because we’ve been doing it just one week at a time, we’re in this place and joyful to share with you that we’ve finished season one. And we’re looking forward to season two.

3. Please get started wherever you are. That’s the number one lesson we’re taken away from season one. And we want to share that with you.

Last week. We had a conversation with branding guru, the brand man, Peter Wilkin, joining us inside UpSkill community and leading off the conversation on branding.

And we’re going to continue that conversation and we invite you to join.

Please share your favourite episode of UpSkill Talks with your friends and your network. And invite them to subscribe and let’s listen along as we take our journey to season two.

There will be more conversations with experts, and we’re going to invite you to be the guest.