#271: Childhood moments that shaped the world’s top leaders

How Leaders Lead with David Novak

David Novak Leadership

Entrepreneurship, Business, Management

4.8 • 596 Ratings

🗓️ 25 December 2025

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this special holiday episode, David and Koula revisit one of our favorite questions around here: What’s a story from your childhood that shaped the kind of leader you are today? You’ll hear funny, insightful stories from past guests like Jamie Dimon (CEO of JPMorgan Chase), Lynsi Snyder (Owner of In-N-Out), Andy Jassy (CEO Amazon), and many more top leaders. As you slow down for the holiday season to spend time with your loved ones, let this episode remind you how important it is to know your own story and learn from it at every stage of life Take your learning further. Get proven leadership advice from these (free!) resources: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The How Leaders Lead App⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: A vast library of 90-second leadership lessons to stay sharp on the go ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Daily Insight Emails⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: One small (but powerful!) leadership principle to focus on each day Whichever you choose, you can be sure you’ll get the trusted leadership advice you need to advance your career, develop your team, and grow your business.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey everybody, welcome back to How Leaders Lead and Merry Christmas.
0:04.2	Kula, thanks for joining me to host this special episode of How Leaders Lead.
0:08.3	And today's show is different.
0:10.0	And in this episode, we're going to reflect on some incredible guests we've had on this show this past year.
0:16.6	If you're a regular listener, you know that one thing we always ask our guests for is for a story from their childhood that has shaped the kind of leader that they are today.
0:24.6	In fact, it's my favorite question.
0:27.5	And today, to celebrate the holidays and spending time with the ones you love, we're going to dive back into some of the great stories that have shaped the lives of leaders that we've had on the show this past year.
0:44.0	David, I'm so excited to revisit some of these amazing guests and their insights. And you're right,
0:48.9	it is such a great time to air an episode like this. It's the holidays. Merry Christmas, by the way. People are
0:55.5	spending time with their families, and it really is such a special time to reflect on the year
0:59.7	we've had and all the moments we've experienced that have helped us grow. And as you start to
1:04.2	slow down for this holiday season, I mean, that may be hard to do. And spend time with your friends
1:09.6	and family, let's revisit some of these
1:11.9	stories that have shaped some of the world's greatest leaders. And hopefully, it will remind you
1:16.7	that every experience and person you encounter in your life can teach you something about yourself
1:22.7	and how you want to show up in the world. In this episode, you'll hear lessons from CEOs, coaches,
1:28.8	and leaders, and the moments from their lives that have shaped who they are today. Lessons from
1:32.9	their parents, from their mentors, really everything. And we hope that they'll inspire you as you
1:37.7	enjoyed this season with your loved ones. So let's start here with the story from Jamie Diamond's
1:43.1	childhood. Jamie's the chairman of C. of J.P. Morgan Chase, and you're going to love this story about his mom.
1:49.5	I'll tell you a quick little story about my mother.
1:51.5	My mother's, we must be 12 or 13 years old, and my parents are having a glass of wine in the living room.
	...

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