Dan Rockwell on Leadership, Storytelling, and Writing Habits

We have all kinds of amazing guests on this podcast, but it’s rare that I have a guest whose platform has been built on the very concept of daily writing. But since 2010, my guest has been blogging about leadership every day. Now he has a following of nearly half a million people across social media and his email list.

His name is Dan Rockwell and he’s the genius behind LeadershipFreak.com. He describes himself as “freakishly interested in leadership.” Dan is an Inc Magazine Top Fifty Leadership and Management Expert and a Top 100 Great Leadership Speaker.

According to the Center for Management and Organization Effectiveness, the Leadership Freak blog is the most socially shared leadership blog on the Internet.

Dan coaches leaders, consults with organizations, and delivers corporate and community presentations. He’s also the co-author of the brand-new book he wrote with John David Mann: a business parable called The Vagrant: The Inner Journey of Leadership. It’s really terrific, and I hope you’ll pre-order a copy before it releases on Sep. 19th.

In this conversation, Dan and I talk about the inspiration behind The Vagrant and why he and John decided to approach it as a parable. I think you’ll discover some great insights on storytelling from Dan. We also talk about the genesis of his world-renowned blog, some leadership principles for writers and entrepreneurs, and his process for writing every day, especially when you’re getting started.

This was a wide-ranging and fascinating conversation. Many thanks to John David Mann for introducing me to Dan!