Dave is a is a retired Fire Department Battalion Chief, author (“Fireproof: Your Grand Strategy for Transforming Failure into Fuel for Your Future”), motivational speaker, and coach/mentor. These days, Dave spends much of his time running his leadership consulting firm and hosting his own podcast (From Embers to Excellence). Given his background I knew we would talk about leadership, but it was really interesting how Dave framed service, adding value to others, and what he calls "selfish altruism" as key tenets of being a leader. 

There was also an authenticity to how he thought about serving others, seemingly because he has really worked through the process in life to prove it is worth it. As Dave mentions he didn't always think this way. His ego used to be much bigger and he didn't really see much value in being a better leader or helping to raise those around him. But he's done a lot of work, humbled himself, and tried to truly learn what life is all about for him. Through that he realized the path of caring about other people and trying to help them improve, is what brings him the most purpose and joy.

Then we did the fun work of asking the deep philosophical questions to try to understand why that is. Why does it actually matter on the grand scale of the universe if we make someone else smile or improve their circumstances? Is it just because it makes us feel good? Because if that is the case, is it fair to say that if it doesn't make somebody feel good to help others than they shouldn't? We asked those and lots of other big, hairy meaning of life questions; and it was fun to get Dave's perspective on them. Big thanks to him for being on and sharing his insights.