Kevin King, a sports management teaching specialist at the University of Minnesota, found himself asking the question, “What makes a team win?”

This eventually led him to think about workplace environments and what causes them to thrive: leaders.

King, a Woodbury resident, started his podcast, “Twin Cities Leaders,” last year with co-host Angela Harder, interviewing local leaders to discover how they “built, sustained or transformed cultures within their organizations.”

The podcast educates listeners on how to become more effective leaders, he said, but beyond that, it is meant to encourage community building.

“I know there are other leadership podcasts out there, but I wanted to make it unique to this community,” King said. “What are leaders doing in our own backyard that we can learn from?”

Here are 10 nuggets of wisdom he said he’s gleaned from the conversations so far.

1. Learning to be a leader should start early on >> An episode with Brian Sprout, varsity baseball coach at Woodbury’s East Ridge High School, touched on how sports can help youth become emerging leaders.

“Teaching young people about leadership at an early age pays off so far in advance,” King said.

Sprout said coaching helps kids learn how to be collaborative, disciplined and work under other leaders, but those who don’t play sports may not have the same opportunities. Leadership skills should be taught during early developmental stages, beyond sports, because the skills apply to other areas of life and set youth up for future success, King said.

2. Maximize workforce potential >> King interviewed U of M management and leadership development professor Elizabeth Campbell, who has studied the negative consequences of high performers.

When thinking about the workplace and who makes up a team, high performers are often viewed positively, King said. Who doesn’t want to hire a high performer? They’re consistent in their over- delivery of tasks and can juggle multiple things at once.According to Campbell, however, there are consequences to having high performers in a team structure, and it takes a strong leader to manage them well. Others often compare themselves to high performers, but Campbell suggests that the only person people should compare themselves to is themselves.

“We also talked about how high performers can take away from collaboration, teamwork, hearing other voices and brainstorming,” King said.

Campbell suggested the 10/80/10 model, which says that 10% of most organizations are made up of high performers, 80% of workers consistently do a good job but don’t often go above and beyond, while the lower 10% consists of the free-spirited workers who don’t have the organization at the top of mind and are often defiant.

However a leader chooses to manage their team is up to them, King said, but the goal should be to focus on the entirety of the workforce to maximize potential and meet goals.

3. Invest in emerging leaders >> In every organization, there are people who have the potential for more, King said. Julie Nielsen, superintendent of South Washington County Schools, shared that investing in emerging leaders creates room for new and unique perspectives.

“We always want to help the people coming behind us, or who model, or demonstrate leadership tendencies, but maybe they just don’t really think about it,” King said.

Nielsen said she seeks out people who are often overlooked, who she believes possess leadership qualities. She tells them what she thinks they’re capable of and asks if they’ve ever thought of themselves as a leader, King said. Leaders in other positions of authority can do the same, King said, and work alongside emerging leaders to develop their skills and offer them new opportunities.

4. Words that define your focus >> At the end of every episode, King asks guests, “What is one word or phrase that defines your focus for the year?” and a few of them stuck out, he said.

Stacey Carlson, president and principal consultant at the Ferguson Group, shared that her words for 2025 were “focused agility,” describing that she wanted to focus on linear goals, but be agile enough for whatever life brings, King said.

“It was interesting listening to why they chose their words … and it was a great way to end the show, but there are great stories behind them,” King said.

Others that stood out to King included “teaching,” “wonder and curiosity” and “peace in a chaotic world,” he said.

5. Culture can’t be faked >> Every organization has a culture, King said, and leaders need to identify it to curate an environment that aligns with their vision.

“It’s OK for cultures to be inclusive and exclusive,” King said. “Not every culture is for everyone.”

In a conversation with the general manager of the Minnesota Frost, Melissa Caruso, King said she spoke of the importance of having a solid team, building trust with employees and caring about people beyond their title as core components of creating a culture that matches a leader’s vision.

6. Providing feedback is important >> In conversations with multiple sports leaders, King said the message of the value of direct communication in the workplace was resounding.

“Being more direct doesn’t mean in a derogatory way, but in a development way,” King said.

Sports leaders know how to communicate directly, and they must if they need a player to pass the ball or get from one end of the field to the other quickly, but other workplace leaders don’t always know how to communicate effectively in the same way, King said. What the sports leaders taught him, he said, is that feedback is extremely important, and sugarcoating it when it’s negative can end up hurting an organization rather than helping it. So be direct, but do it supportively, King said.

7. Emotional intelligence is necessary for change >> Change is often uncomfortable to navigate in the workplace, King said, especially when it comes to new leadership. One guest whom King said navigates change well is Carlson. Something Carlson emphasized, King said, was emotional intelligence as a tool to navigate change and conflict.

“Change can create anxiety, doubt and fear, but on the other end it can create excitement, relief, joy and a new start,” King said.

In June, for example, Gov. Tim Walz ordered state employees to return to work in the office at least half-time, King said, and people responded emotionally to it as they had to consider things like day care, schedules and commutes. These sorts of changes matter to people, and the message that Carlson shared was that as a leader, it’s important to understand and engage with people’s emotions to build trust and shape culture, King said.

8. Leadership isn’t for everyone >> The idea of being a leader can apply added pressure to a work environment, King said. Some people don’t need to be leaders at work, but they might be leaders in other areas of their lives, like at home, he said.

King spoke with U of M manager of leadership development Lovey Peissig, who said that instead of trying to show up as a leader in every area of life, people should home in on what leadership means to them.

“She mentioned that we should really look at leadership not in terms of ‘what is it?’ but ‘what is it for us?’” King said.

Pessig shared in the episode the importance of self-analysis as a guide to being a better leader and learning to prioritize leadership where it matters most to the individual, rather than simply to align with a title, King said.

9. Leaders don’t have it all figured out >> After talking to Twin Cities leaders from an array of career focuses, King said they each have something very humbling in common: no one feels like they have it all figured out. Leaders struggle with things like imposter syndrome and, because they’re human, they make mistakes, King said, which is something he discussed with the vice president and general manager of the Xcel Energy Center, Kelly McGrath.

“I’ve never talked to anyone this season who talked as if they knew it all,” King said.

What makes a leader stand out, however, is that “they’re not afraid to fail because they know they’re not perfect,” King said. They are all lifelong learners who learn from others just as much as others learn from them, King said.

10. Leadership is nothing without collaboration >> One message echoed by every guest, King said, was that of collaboration.

“The best leaders understand that they can’t do it alone,” King said.

For season two, King is interviewing guests solo and said he will explore leadership outside of corporate systems — he wants to speak with artists, musicians and community organizers, because what makes a leader is not what a person does, he said, but who they are.

“Twin Cities Leaders” season two is out now and new episodes drop every Thursday on Spotify and YouTube.