The Higher Purpose Journey with Kevin Monroe

Our guest on this episode of the Higher Purpose Podcast is … me! Today, I’m having a conversation with my new friend from across the pond, Gary Turner, as I reflect on the journey of this very podcast. What I’ve discovered, how I’ve grown, and why Humans First has become such a big part of it all.
The format of the Higher Purpose Podcast
For this podcast, I just wanted to find people — whoever they are, wherever they’re at, and regardless of title — who are doing amazing things and integrating purpose into their work. And I’ve been blessed to meet and connect with an amazing community of people from around the world. 
I also decided I didn’t want to have interviews, I wanted to host conversations. That was a significant shift. I wanted to have unique conversations with my guests that they won’t have with any other podcast host, or that you won’t hear on any other podcast. 
The Humans First Movement 
The movement began for me through relationships. Marcel Schwantes and I were already connected, and he asked if I knew Mike Vacanti. I said I didn’t, Marcel made the introduction, and what was supposed to be a 30-minute conversation with Mike lasted for two and a half hours.
For some reason, Humans First is a label that just connects like crazy with people. I like to think of Humans First as a multifaceted diamond. You can look at it from different perspectives, and each person will see something unique in the diamond — but we’re all still looking at this same multifaceted gem. 
The Humans First Series on the Higher Purpose Podcast 
There was no plan of doing a Humans First series on the podcast, but then I began to have conversation after conversation with people, and every time, there was this lift. There was energy. It was fun.
And the guests weren’t showing up to say, I have the answer. No: it was to say, here’s my contribution. And I want to sample what other people are offering. Let’s have a conversation. To me, that’s the single biggest difference that I see characterizing Humans First. 
On community 
I’ve identified my zone of genius as Create, Connect, Converse, and so to me, podcasting is a conversation that connects people in the community. 
I don’t know the scale or the scope, but I’m going to begin hosting some in-person gatherings because we need to get in the room together. These are going to be unique meetings that aren’t going to be built around presentation — they’re going to be transformational conversations with like-minded people from around the world. 
Emergence 
Rather than trying to make things happen, for me, it’s all about the flow. The flow of energy, the flow of creativity. When you follow the flow, amazing things happen. 
Last week, I sent out an email to all the folks that have been in this Humans First series of conversations and I said, here’s an idea. And in a few hours, everybody said they were in. We’re in the process now of planning a series where we’ll have four or five people on the podcast at once, and have an unscripted and unplanned conversation that takes a topic and dives into it. That’s what we’re doing very soon! 
I’m electrified, ecstatic, and energized. I’m pretty excited about the things we’re talking about and I’m just thinking, wow, what’s next? What is possible? 
HumansFirst Leaders Connect
Join me for the HumansFirst Book Club, where we do a deep dive into a book a month and often engage the authors in conversation.

Our guest on this episode of the Higher Purpose Podcast is … me! Today, I’m having a conversation with my new friend from across the pond, Gary Turner, as I reflect on the journey of this very podcast. What I’ve discovered, how I’ve grown, and why Humans First has become such a big part of it all.

The format of the Higher Purpose Podcast

For this podcast, I just wanted to find people — whoever they are, wherever they’re at, and regardless of title — who are doing amazing things and integrating purpose into their work. And I’ve been blessed to meet and connect with an amazing community of people from around the world. 

I also decided I didn’t want to have interviews, I wanted to host conversations. That was a significant shift. I wanted to have unique conversations with my guests that they won’t have with any other podcast host, or that you won’t hear on any other podcast. 

The Humans First Movement 

The movement began for me through relationships. Marcel Schwantes and I were already connected, and he asked if I knew Mike Vacanti. I said I didn’t, Marcel made the introduction, and what was supposed to be a 30-minute conversation with Mike lasted for two and a half hours.

For some reason, Humans First is a label that just connects like crazy with people. I like to think of Humans First as a multifaceted diamond. You can look at it from different perspectives, and each person will see something unique in the diamond — but we’re all still looking at this same multifaceted gem. 

The Humans First Series on the Higher Purpose Podcast 

There was no plan of doing a Humans First series on the podcast, but then I began to have conversation after conversation with people, and every time, there was this lift. There was energy. It was fun.

And the guests weren’t showing up to say, I have the answer. No: it was to say, here’s my contribution. And I want to sample what other people are offering. Let’s have a conversation. To me, that’s the single biggest difference that I see characterizing Humans First. 

On community 

I’ve identified my zone of genius as Create, Connect, Converse, and so to me, podcasting is a conversation that connects people in the community. 

I don’t know the scale or the scope, but I’m going to begin hosting some in-person gatherings because we need to get in the room together. These are going to be unique meetings that aren’t going to be built around presentation — they’re going to be transformational conversations with like-minded people from around the world. 

Emergence 

Rather than trying to make things happen, for me, it’s all about the flow. The flow of energy, the flow of creativity. When you follow the flow, amazing things happen. 

Last week, I sent out an email to all the folks that have been in this Humans First series of conversations and I said, here’s an idea. And in a few hours, everybody said they were in. We’re in the process now of planning a series where we’ll have four or five people on the podcast at once, and have an unscripted and unplanned conversation that takes a topic and dives into it. That’s what we’re doing very soon! 

I’m electrified, ecstatic, and energized. I’m pretty excited about the things we’re talking about and I’m just thinking, wow, what’s next? What is possible? 

HumansFirst Leaders Connect

Join me for the HumansFirst Book Club, where we do a deep dive into a book a month and often engage the authors in conversation.