For years at LeadersAtlas, my team and I have interviewed people across different roles and levels about their professional experiences and expertise. We would turn those interviews into skill-sharing workshops the interviewee would lead, getting in front of their teams to walk them through a win or insight and lead them to a-ha moments that might convey the power of their approach.
Over hundreds of conversations, I was struck by how rare these kinds of conversations are in our professional lives — an invitation to present a combination of personal stories and professional power and insights.
When was the last time someone really sought out your unique perspective? Not just your opinion on a current project or your input in a team meeting, but your deeper insights about what works, what matters, and what you've learned along the way?
These conversations can be enriching, but they’re not easy. They require an environment where people feel safe to explore and articulate what makes their approach unique and what it can offer the group.
Finding What's Worth Sharing
One of the most consistent patterns in these interviews was initial hesitation on the part of our interviewee. This wasn't because people lacked valuable insights, but because they weren't sure how to articulate what they were doing, even if they were doing it well. They didn't know how to structure their insights for broader sharing, or how to differentiate their personal style from a relatable core essence that others could adopt more readily.
Often people don't even recognize what they're doing differently that serves as their source of power – that enabling element that makes their approach effective. Instead, their method for getting great results just feels natural and hard to analyze. They need someone to be a sounding board, listening for the patterns and reflecting back what sounds unique and valuable in their approach.
Foundations of the Interview
What transforms these conversations from awkward to energizing? Three key elements emerged from our interviews:
Element 1: Creating a Clear Scope
People want to be precise when they know everyone’s eyes will be on them – whether it's on a big stage or in a small group. They’re happy to have something of value to offer their team, but they need to know they won't be overreaching or overstating their expertise.
One key to a successful interview is starting with a clear, achievable goal the interviewee could lead their colleagues through. This might be as simple as "helping everyone feel more comfortable about cold outreach" or "getting back 2-5 hours in your week." Having this north star helps frame the conversation and gives people confidence their insights will matter to others.
Element 2: Enabling Self-Analysis Through Reflection
The act of putting together the puzzle pieces – thinking through what matters and why it matters, making sense at a deeper pattern level – becomes intellectually enjoyable in itself. When people start seeing their experiences through this lens, the conversation transforms from an interview into a genuine process of discovery. They get excited not just about sharing their insights with others, but about personally understanding themself in new ways.
Sometimes these conversations reveal things that are hard to talk about directly, like team challenges or frustrations that need addressing. Our job as interviewers would be to help channel that energy constructively, turning potential pain points into valuable insights others can learn from. This ability to "take the edge off" while still addressing important issues builds trust and allows for meaningful sharing instead of staying safely at the margins.
Element 3: Build a Structure for Sharing
When we really hook into a topic an interviewee cares about, one where they understand the value proposition and we've framed it appropriately, something snaps into place. The conversation finds its natural flow, and people keep talking and filling in details easily and intelligently. If we tried to get insights from something they don't really care about or know about, we’d realize we were misaligned and change topics.
From there, it's about finding the right structure for each person's story. Some naturally think sequentially, sharing milestones in a process. Others organize their thoughts more like a checklist of important elements. Either approach works; the structure will create a container for insights without forcing an unnatural direction or tone.
What Success Looks Like
When these conversations click, something remarkable happens. People who started hesitant or anxious become energized, excited not just about the conversation but about the tangible output. They see their opportunity to share something around a past pain point of theirs that can make a difference. They see their experiences in a new light and get excited about making them useful to others.
The key is drawing insights from a solid base by letting people put their best foot forward while staying grounded in what they know. Even if the conversation ranges to the creative and speculative, we wouldn’t ask them to push beyond the specifics their experience truly supports.
Looking Forward
Because the external environment is changing so rapidly and a team’s contextual experience is so specific and unique, leaders will need ways to surface and share the practical wisdom that exists throughout organizations – not just at the top, but everywhere good work is being done.
Fortunately, the capability to share meaningful insights isn't reserved for a select few. It exists everywhere people are doing good work and reflecting on their experiences. The more we believe in that and act on it, the more our teams and organizations will thrive.
