Lessons From The Remarkable Leadership Podcast this Year (12/23/2025)

Happy Christmas Eve Eve!

I suppose Christmas Eve Eve isn’t really a thing, but I’m in the holiday spirit and I hope this made you smile.

I have three other sources of smiles for you today!

I smiled the whole time I wrote up some of my biggest lessons from hosting The Remarkable Leadership Podcast this year (if you don’t listen, search on your favorite podcast app or go here). I’ve written it with lessons that do not require you to have listened, but I’m betting you choose to listen to at least one of these episodes after reading my insights.

I’m also sharing some insights for us as leaders from one of the most popular Christmas songs (though my daughter isn’t a fan). I hope my take gives you some insight and makes you smile.

And, just in time for the holidays, I have gift for you! I re-imagined an exercise I created for our recent Remarkable Gratitude Challenge and an evergreen exercise for teams or groups of any kind. If you would like a flexible framework for a team, group or family gathering or event, this Gratitude Exercise might be just the ticket! In fact, if you are looking for something to do with family or friends in the next two weeks, let me humbly suggest this too. Here’s the link to access with our compliments.

After all, if we can’t find at least something to smile about this time of year when can we?

From all of our team, we wish you a the Merriest of Christmases, and I will talk to you one more time before the calendar turns to 2026.

Make it a great Tuesday and a tremendous week.

You are Remarkable!

Kevin 😊

Leadership Lessons as You are Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree

The song, Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree, has had an unusual life. Brenda Lee released it in 1958, and it became popular in 1960. Here are some interesting tidbits gleaned from Wikipedia:

• By 2008, Lee's original version had sold over 15 million copies globally with the 4th most digital downloads sold of any Christmas single.

• In December 2023, the song topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, making Lee the oldest artist ever to top the Hot 100 at age 78.

• The song set the record for the longest time between an original release and topping the charts (65 years).

It first became a hit 18 months before I was born, but it wasn’t universally loved at the start.

Kids into early rock ‘n’ roll loved it then, everyone else, well... not so much.

Many felt that Christmas music should speak of the Christmas story, or at least be sung by Frank, Bing, Nat, Perry, Andy, or Ella. A 15-year-old talking about rockin’ at the Christmas Party hop?

Not so much.

I can hear it, “What is the world coming to?”

Listen to the radio this week and you’ll hear the song called a timeless Christmas classic.

The song that many probably didn’t care for, because they thought it was trendy, frivolous, and wasn’t really Christmas-y, is now a timeless classic.

When I listen to it, the final line of the chorus and the song always strikes me: “in the new, old-fashioned way.”

Here are the lessons I take from the song (besides the awesome saxophone):

• What was once new, is now old-fashioned, treasured, and traditional. A song some people may have hated, became tolerated, then beloved. I believe there will be things from the tumult of the past few years that will become treasured and cherished just like the Brenda Lee classic.

• When we think about change with this longer time horizon (and I don’t mean 65 years!), we get a new and valuable perspective about resistance and acceptance.

• The paradox of the clever line: “New old-fashioned way” looks at the traditions of your childhood or from history. Look too at the opportunities of today - joy in the old and the promise of the new. Finding that balance will help you and your team thrive.

Lessons From The Remarkable Leadership Podcast this Year

I welcomed 62 wise and experienced guests for 56 conversations on The Remarkable Leadership Podcast this year. And now, I am attempting the impossible by sharing just a few of my biggest lessons and learnings from these conversations.

I hope these leadership lessons stand alone as actionable insights, and I hope those insights encourage you to dive deeper into one or more of these selected conversations or subscribe to learn more in the future.

I’m sharing just two insights in each of five categories and referencing the episodes if you want to learn more about those conversations or my guests. It’s just a tasty appetizer, but like any good appetizer, I hope it leaves you hungry for more.

KEEP READING

Thanks for reading. Please reply at any time with questions or feedback for our team.

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