Uncommon Impact is a leadership podcast hosted by Nathan Whitaker—speaker, author, and Super Bowl–winning former NFL executive.
The show features thoughtful conversations with leaders from sports, education, business, and media, exploring how teams are built, how values are tested, and how leaders create lasting impact.
Each episode focuses on leadership, culture, decision-making under pressure, and living with purpose.
Tim Sinclair: Voice of the Bulls & Bears on Passion, Priorities & Choosing Your Own Path
Tim Sinclair is the public address voice of the Chicago Bulls, Chicago Bears, Chicago Fire, and University of Illinois athletics—but none of that was part of his original plan. Tim joins Nathan Whitaker to talk about his unlikely journey from architecture school and small-market radio to some of the biggest stages in sports. Along the way, they discuss Tim’s belief that “passion changes priorities,” his unconventional “1099 to 5” career, and why he eventually realized he didn’t want the bigge...
8 Oct 2026
What Secure Leaders Do Differently: Tony Dungy, Brendan Suhr & Catriona Moran
What do secure leaders do differently? In this special episode of Uncommon Impact, Nathan Whitaker revisits three conversations from his earlier "The Art of Playing Well" series with longtime NBA coach Brendan Suhr, Super Bowl-winning coach Tony Dungy, and educator Catriona Moran. Each offers a different lesson on leadership: * Brendan Suhr shares what Chuck Daly taught him about listening, ownership, and giving the people you lead a voice. * Tony Dungy explains why leadership doesn’...
1 Oct 2026
Nathan Whitaker: 5 Things Good Leaders Stop Doing
Good leadership isn’t only about what we learn to do. Sometimes it’s about what we learn to stop doing. In this solo episode, Nathan shares five habits good leaders should leave behind: making leadership about themselves, solving every problem, leading from a distance, reacting too quickly, and correcting more than they encourage. Drawing from The Mentor Leader and lessons from Tony Dungy, Chris Archer, a federal judge Nathan clerked for, and his own experiences, Nathan explores how leaders c...
24 Sept 2026
Kris Carter: From Harvard Law to Africa | Faith, Failure & Meaningful Work
Kris Carter’s career has rarely followed a straight line. Since graduating from Harvard Law School, he has worked in law, technology, music, microfinance, entrepreneurship, manufacturing in Africa, and venture capital. But behind those career pivots is a deeper story about identity, faith, risk, failure, and learning to follow the next call even when you aren’t sure where it will lead. Kris shares what difficult leaders taught him about the importance of being “the leader of your own soul,” h...
17 Sept 2026
Jim McKenzie: Leading Change, Casting Vision & Inspiring Hope
How do you lead people through change without losing them along the way? Jim McKenzie spent 24 years in education, including more than two decades in leadership, before stepping away from a job he loved without knowing exactly what would come next. Today, he serves schools and leaders as a consultant, speaker, author, and entrepreneur. Jim joins Nathan to talk about leading people through significant change, why leaders must provide clarity as well as character, and how an imaginative vision...
10 Sept 2026
Nathan Whitaker: Own Your Role
What’s the difference between accepting your role and owning it? Nathan shares the unusual story behind The Soul of a Team—a book that began with a rejected 60,000-word manuscript and had to be completely reinvented—and then explores one of its central principles: Own Your Role. Through the story of Chicago Bulls player Stacey King and Nathan’s own unexpected first assignment with the Jacksonville Jaguars, this episode looks at what happens when the role we’re given isn’t necessarily the role...
3 Sept 2026
Andy Janning: Great Stories Aren't Safe
What makes a story worth telling — and a life worth living? Andy Janning has spent decades helping organizations and leaders tell better stories. But his own story has increasingly pushed him toward work that is anything but safe. In this episode of Uncommon Impact, Andy joins Nathan Whitaker to talk about Overdrawn, his new investigative documentary podcast exploring what happens when trust breaks inside an institution and a community; Life Over Debt, an initiative helping cancer patients fa...
27 Aug 2026
Chris Archer: More Than the Player
Former MLB All-Star Chris Archer spent 17 years in professional baseball, including 10 seasons in the major leagues. Today, as a Special Assistant with the Los Angeles Dodgers, he's using those experiences to help develop the next generation of players. In this episode of Uncommon Impact, Chris talks with Nathan Whitaker about the people who invested in him, the mentor who changed the trajectory of his life, and why player development has to be about more than baseball. Chris shares what lead...
20 Aug 2026
Nathan Whitaker: Success vs. Significance: What Are We Really Chasing?
What does it really mean to make an uncommon impact? Years ago, Tony Dungy’s college football coach Cal Stoll told him, “Success is uncommon.” That idea eventually helped inspire our book Uncommon—and, years later, the name of this podcast. But being uncommon isn’t simply about achieving uncommon success. In this solo episode, I share a lesson I had to learn myself after Quiet Strength became a #1 New York Times bestseller. A friend congratulated me on a talk I’d given about success and signi...
13 Aug 2026
Larry Shyatt: Why Great Followers Matter
What makes a great follower? And why might developing great followers matter just as much as developing great leaders? Larry Shyatt has spent more than four decades in basketball as a head coach, assistant coach and mentor. Along the way, he served as an assistant to three Hall of Fame-caliber coaches—Rick Barnes, Billy Donovan and Rick Carlisle—even though Larry was older than all three. In this episode of Uncommon Impact, Larry shares why he never thought of himself as working for those coa...
6 Aug 2026
Tansley Stearns: Purpose, Courage, and the Story Behind Choose the Bear
Tansley Stearns, president and CEO of orsa credit union, joins Nathan Whitaker for a conversation about purpose, courage, financial agency, and the responsibility of leaders to expand what their organizations believe is possible. Tansley shares how orsa’s work with survivors of domestic and economic abuse grew from charitable support into a broader commitment to help women make choices on their own behalf. She explains the thinking behind the Choose the Bear movement, the importance of listen...
30 Jul 2026
Nathan Whitaker: What Uncommon Leadership Looks Like
What does culture actually look like in the everyday life of an organization? In this solo episode of Uncommon Impact, Nathan Whitaker reflects on lessons from the podcast’s first four guests and explores two themes that surfaced repeatedly: culture and connection. Drawing from experiences in coaching, university leadership, the NFL, and international schools, Nathan looks at how culture is shaped not only by formal leaders, but also by assumptions, habits, communication, and the small choice...
23 Jul 2026
Samir Suleiman: Tough, Fair, and Built to Last
What does strong leadership look like when the pressure is high, the personalities are difficult, and every decision affects the entire organization? Samir Suleiman spent more than two decades in the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars, St. Louis Rams, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Carolina Panthers. Along the way, he negotiated contracts, managed competing priorities, worked alongside future Hall of Fame coaches, and learned firsthand what separates lasting leadership from leadership built only on ...
16 Jul 2026
Matt Rom: Leadership That Lasts - Authenticity, Purpose, and People
What does it mean to build something that lasts beyond your career? In this episode of Uncommon Impact, University of Oklahoma Associate Vice President Matt Rom shares lessons on authentic leadership, creating meaningful workplace cultures, navigating change, and investing in people. Although he leads facilities management at one of the nation's largest universities, Matt's insights apply to leaders in every profession. Our conversation explores: Why authenticity is the foundation of tr...
9 Jul 2026
Kent Maxson: Leadership, Culture, and Education-Based Athletics
What is the real purpose of sports? In this episode of Uncommon Impact, Nathan Whitaker sits down with Kent Maxson, Athletics Coordinator at the American School Foundation in Mexico City, to discuss leadership, culture, and why athletics should develop people—not just produce victories. Drawing from more than two decades of being involved in athletic programs in Qatar, Kenya, Vietnam, and Mexico, Kent shares how moving between cultures has shaped his philosophy of leadership. He e...
9 Jul 2026
Donnie Jones: Leadership, Relationships, and Winning Teams
What makes a leader worth following? In this episode of Uncommon Impact, Nathan Whitaker sits down with longtime friend Donnie Jones, head basketball coach at Stetson University and former University of Florida assistant coach during the Gators' back-to-back national championship seasons. Donnie shares lessons from nearly four decades in coaching about leadership, culture, relationships, and why true success is measured by the lives we influence—not just the games we win. Whether you lead a b...
9 Jul 2026
Why Uncommon Impact?
Why Uncommon Impact? Why do some people leave those around them better than they found them? Welcome to Uncommon Impact. In this introductory episode, Nathan Whitaker shares the vision behind the podcast and why he believes the most meaningful conversations aren't just about success—they're about significance, character, and the lasting impact we have on others. Drawing on more than three decades in professional sports, leadership, and publishing, Nathan explains why he created Uncommon Impac...
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Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
6 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
3 ratings
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