Why I Started a Podcast (And What Most Leaders Get Wrong About Sharing Their Story)

Many leaders have a powerful story to tell, but they are often held back by two major hurdles: the fear that corporate content has to be 'polished and boring' and the technical overwhelm of actually producing a high-end show. When James Fleming, founder of The Power Within Training, came to us, he wanted to move past the 'tidy and safe' leadership tropes. He needed a platform where he could share the messy, real side of leadership with broadcast-quality production that didn't require him to become a technical expert overnight. By partnering with Podcast Studio Glasgow, James was able to focus entirely on his message while we handled the multi-cam video and audio engineering, resulting in a show that has reached over 30,000 followers and even gone viral on TikTok. Here, James shares why he stepped away from a 'comfortable' career to build a leadership platform rooted in authenticity.

Thanks to James for his endorsement of the studio, and I hope you enjoy reading his thoughts below - Mark Hunter

Guest post by James Fleming

Let me start with a slightly uncomfortable truth.

Most leadership content is painfully boring.

You know the kind. The sophisticated LinkedIn posts. The recycled leadership quotes. The “five tips to become a better leader” articles that all sound suspiciously similar.

Everything is tidy. Safe. Edited.

And almost none of it tells you anything real about the person behind it.

Which is strange, when you think about it. Because leadership, at its core, is messy. It’s uncertain. It involves doubt, risk, setbacks and the occasional moment where you’re sitting at your desk wondering if you’ve completely lost the plot.

So why does leadership content pretend none of that exists?

That question, more than anything else, is why I started The Success or Excuses Podcast.

The Story Behind the Podcast

Before starting The Power Within Training, I had what most people would call a very successful career.

Amazing salary. Senior role. Comfortable life in the UAE.

On paper, it was exactly what many people aim for.

But the thing about comfort is that it can slowly turn into complacency if you’re not careful. And I started to realise that what I really wanted wasn’t just career progression. I wanted to build something meaningful. Something that genuinely helped people grow. 

So I made what many people would probably describe as a questionable decision.

I walked away from a high-paying job and started a leadership development company with my wife from scratch.

Not the safest career move in the world. But it was the right one.

The whole idea behind The Power Within Training was simple. Most leadership training focuses on skills. Communication skills. Delegation skills. Presentation skills.

 All useful. But they miss the most important part. 

Leadership behaviour is driven by thinking. Beliefs. Identity. The internal narrative running in someone’s head when pressure shows up.

That’s where Motivational Intelligence (MQ) comes in. It looks underneath behaviour and helps leaders understand why they react the way they do. Why some leaders crumble under pressure while others grow through it.

And once you understand that, everything changes.

Stories Teach Leadership Better Than Theory 

Over time, I started sharing my own experiences on LinkedIn. 

Not the polished version. The real version.

The risks. The mistakes. The moments where things didn’t quite go to plan.

To my surprise, people responded to that far more than any carefully crafted leadership tip.

The audience grew. Today there are more than 30,000 people following along, many of them business owners and leaders trying to navigate the same challenges.

And it made me realise something.

The most valuable leadership lessons rarely come from textbooks.

They come from stories.

Stories about starting businesses when nobody believes in you. 

Stories about making decisions that look reckless from the outside but make perfect sense internally. 

Stories about setbacks, resilience, and the mindset required to keep going when things get uncomfortable.

That’s exactly what The Success or Excuses Podcast was built for.

The Real Conversations Leaders Need 

When we invite guests onto the podcast, the brief is simple. 

Don’t give us the perfect version.

Tell us the real story. 

We’ve had business owners, entrepreneurs and leaders who have faced serious challenges. Financial pressure. Personal setbacks. Big decisions that could have gone either way.

And when people speak honestly about those experiences, something interesting happens.

The conversation becomes useful.

Because listeners start recognising themselves in the story.

They hear someone describe the same doubts they’ve had. The same fears. The same moments of uncertainty.

And suddenly leadership doesn’t feel like some abstract theory.

It feels human.

Twelve Months In (And Apparently TikTok Likes It)

We’ve now been running the podcast for about 12 months, and it’s been a brilliant experience.

I’ve had conversations with some fascinating people. Business owners who built companies from nothing. Leaders who made bold decisions when the easier option was to play it safe.

And according to my marketing team, some of the clips have even gone a bit viral on TikTok!

I’ll be honest, that wasn’t part of the original strategy.

In fact, I’m still not entirely sure what qualifies as “viral”. But apparently when thousands of people start sharing short clips of you talking about leadership mindset, it counts.

I’ll take their word for it.

Why We Record at Podcast Studio Glasgow

Of course, running a podcast also raises a practical question.

Where do you actually record it?

We chose Podcast Studio Glasgow, run by Mark Hunter and Cam, for a few simple reasons.

First, the location in the East End of Glasgow works perfectly for us.

Second, the equipment and studio setup are excellent. If you’re going to record conversations that people will listen to for an hour, the sound and production quality matter more than most people realise.

And third, they offer a genuinely done-for-you service, which means we can focus on the conversation rather than worrying about cameras, microphones or editing.

For anyone thinking about launching a podcast, that last point alone makes life significantly easier.

You walk in, record the conversation, and the technical side is handled professionally.

Simple.

The Leadership Lesson Behind It All

At its heart, the podcast reflects something we see constantly in our work with leaders.

People don’t change because they read another list of leadership tips.

They change when their thinking shifts.

When they hear a story that challenges their assumptions.

When they realise someone else has walked through the same doubts and figured it out.

That’s exactly what Motivational Intelligence is about. Understanding the beliefs and thinking patterns that drive behaviour.

Because once those change, everything else follows. Confidence improves. Decisions become clearer.

Leadership becomes less about pretending to have all the answers and more about being willing to grow.

One Final Thought

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from a year of podcast conversations, it’s this:

Every successful leader has a story that includes uncertainty, risk and plenty of moments where things didn’t go to plan. 

The difference isn’t that they avoided those moments.

It’s that they chose growth instead of excuses.

And those are exactly the stories worth sharing.

James Fleming
The Power Within Training
The Motivational Intelligence Company
james@tpwtd.com