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The Leadership Podcast

The Leadership Podcast

We Study Leaders

April 15, 2020

TLP197: The Gift of Struggle

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Bobby Herrera

Bobby Herrera is the author of The Gift of Struggle. As the co-founder and CEO of Populus Group, Bobby never imagined the challenges of building a $500 million organization that serves tens of thousands of people. Throughout his life, he experienced the divergence between the intentional leader he wanted to be, and the less engaged version of him that showed up at the office every day. One day at a company meeting, he decided to share a story about one of his first struggles as a young adult. That story, a pivotal experience that transformed Bobby’s life, inspired his employees with its radical transparency, humility and the idealism of his dream for the company.

Key Takeaways

  • Bobby shares some of his stories from his leadership journey. Each story shows the broader lesson any leader can apply.  
  • Every leader has stories about the challenges they have faced and struggles they have overcome. In the moment, those situations require strength, patience, perseverance and courage. 
  • With time, those struggles provide lessons for how to be better leaders. Bobby Herrera learned to see those struggles as gifts.

The Leadership Podcast is sponsored by W.S. Darley & Company.  

Founded in 1908, Darley remains a family owned and operated business, providing the highest quality equipment solutions to our country’s warfighters and firefighters.  

Learn more at darley.com and darleydefense.com


Quotable Quotes

“The struggles continue; that’s part of the learning process.” Share on X “Oftentimes, we share the story, but we don’t invite them to be part of the story.” Share on X “Everything you say yes to, you say no to something else.” Share on X

Additional Resources

  • Populusgroup.com
  • Bobby-herrera.com
  • Bobby on LinkedIn
  • Follow Bobby on Twitter @BobbyHerreraPG
Bobby Herrera

These are the books mentioned in Bobby’s podcast

The Gift of Struggle: Life-Changing Lessons About Leading

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The Gift of Struggle: Life-Changing Lessons About Leading
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The Gift of Struggle: Life-Changing Lessons About Leading

The Leadership Podcast is proud to announce a new initiative with thoughtLEADERS to provide very short podcasts called “chalk talks.” They’re “bitesize” hacks on common (but challenging) leadership issues. Interested in learning more? 

You can only access the Chalk Talks by subscribing to our newsletter at The Leadership Podcast.

Beyond the Uniform offers over 300 free episodes to help military Veterans succeed in their civilian career. This includes overviews of potential career paths, deep dives on necessary skills to succeed, and reviews of other free services that support the military Veteran community. You can find more info at BeyondTheUniform.org.

Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: adversity, leadership, struggle

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