A Time for Change
David Freund, Chief Leadership Officer

This week, The Next Page podcast completes its fifth year. Five years, 260 episodes of writing, prepping, and finding times in busy schedules to record our 20 – 30 minute conversations. Each episode involved about 2.5 hours of my time, at least 1.5 hours of Marisa’s time, and 45 minutes of our technician’s time to edit, produce, and post. The results have been great. Listeners in 25 countries and 36 states have been able to participate in this MACNY activity each week, equaling tens of thousands of downloads and hours and hours of content.

Before we started the podcast, our technician told me that he would only work with us if we committed to sticking with it for six months. He really was onto something with this one because a whopping 51% of podcasts only last 10 episodes. Even more shocking is that only 17% have more than 50 episodes. Wow, 260 weeks of non-stop episodes is really living the law of consistency! The question now is – how long do we go? How much more is left in the tank?

One of the most difficult questions any leader needs to ask is, “Is it time to make a change?” I decided to do some research in this area and wasn’t happy with any of the insight I found, so I am just going to tell you what I think. How’s that for arrogance? How would I know if it were time for a change with The Next Page? I began to ask the following questions:

Is The Next Page relevant? I began to wonder if we were making the difference we wanted to make. What I discovered is that we are making a difference, and our weekly downloads continue to be strong and are still inching upward. So, I determined that the podcast is still relevant. Time to move to the next question.

Is there someone who could, and might be, doing it better? This question was a very easy one to answer. Yes, and yes. The Maxwell Leadership Podcast is outstanding, releases on Wednesdays just like The Next Page, and offers downloadable worksheets to help you follow the content. They also offer a YouTube video of the podcast for those who would rather watch it. A better product offered on the same day. A no-brainer.

Could we be doing something more valuable with our time? Once again, the answer is yes. If someone else is doing the same thing, even better, then let them. This opens up additional time in our days to work on better projects and new ideas.

Is there a better idea for the podcast? I believe the answer to this is a resounding yes. The podcast isn’t going away, but we will be taking the summer off to prepare for our new idea. We will be rebranding the podcast as The Navigating Leadership podcast. If you are subscribed to The Next Page, you won’t need to do anything. When a new episode is released, you will be the first to see it in your downloads.

So, it’s time to change. Time to grow into something new and more exciting that will add more value to our listeners around the world.

Please join Marisa Norcross and me for the final episode of The Next Page podcast as we share a few more statistics about the podcast, memories, and highs and lows from the last five years.

I want to publicly thank Marisa for having the courage to take this journey with me. Her expertise, patience, professionalism, and, most importantly, her friendship have been a blessing to my life. I will miss our weekly conversations.

Listen and subscribe to The Next Page here: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | PodBean