Spartan Leadership with Josh Kosnick

Josh Kosnick
  • 4.7 (70)
  • Self-Improvement
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Good and Great Are the Enemies of Possible™️ Leadership and business coach Josh Kosnick has conversations with some of the greatest minds in leadership both in business, community, and politics. Guests provide insights from years of experience, delivering powerful messages to help you live a more inspired and impactful life. 

  1. 5d ago

    He Sold Everything To Go All-In: Blake Erickson On The Science Of Scaling

    Send us Fan Mail At 18, Blake Erickson led 200 missionaries in Peru. He came home, went commission-only door-to-door, and finished in the top 0.01% of first-year reps. Then he built and led an organization of 300 to 400 salespeople. He was a millionaire at 24. Then in 2024 he sold his companies and his real estate portfolio, and stepped away from his own podcast, to go all-in on one thing. That one thing is Scaling.com, co-founded with Dr. Benjamin Hardy. It went from zero to $10 million in its first eight months. Blake and Ben also co-wrote the New York Times bestseller The Science of Scaling, and their firm now advises more than 500 companies doing anywhere from $500,000 to $10 billion a year. In this conversation, Josh and Blake get into: • The Science of Scaling and why most growth advice misses the point • Frame, Floor, Focus: the three principles behind the framework • Why a 10X goal is a psychological tool, not a fantasy • The three laws of scaling: a complex system cannot scale, a divided team cannot scale, and you cannot serve two masters • Why so many owners mistake activity for growth, and how to tell if you’re the ceiling in your own business • What the mission field and door-to-door sales taught Blake about leading people • The 2024 decision to sell everything and go all-in • Building world-class teams, and the hard talent decisions that unlock growth • Faith, family, and why no one has ever been inspired by somebody playing small If you’re a founder who has grown the business as far as your own effort can take it, this one is for you. 📘 The Science of Scaling and Scaling.com: https://scaling.com 🔗 Blake Erickson: https://blakeerickson.com — Spartan Leadership is hosted by Josh Kosnick, founder of Kairos Coaching & Consulting, author of The Kairos Code, and creator of the Bridge Builder Mastermind. 🏛️ Bridge Builder Mastermind: https://www.joshkosnick.com/mastermind 📖 The Kairos Code: https://www.joshkosnick.com/thekairoscode 📊 Take the free Life Quotient Assessment: https://www.joshkosnick.com/assessment 📺 Subscribe for more Spartan Leadership episodes. Good and great are the enemies of possible. Lead like a Spartan today. #SpartanLeadership #BlakeErickson #ScienceOfScaling #ScalingCom #Entrepreneurship #BridgeBuilderMastermind #JoshKosnick CONNECT WITH ME HERE: Facebook Instagram LinkedIn Twitter TikTok YouTube SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST HERE: Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube

    He Sold Everything To Go All-In: Blake Erickson On The Science Of Scaling

  2. Sep 22

    Why Customers Agree… Then Do Nothing | Cam Tolman

    Send us Fan Mail Cam Tolman spent seven years running a home services company in Houston before he ever touched tech. Then he got his MBA, joined Podium, and became the number two rep out of 120 — with a 22-month streak of 100%+ attainment. He climbed to VP of Business Development, Director of Sales at Scorpion, and CRO at Mia Share, where he drove 120% revenue growth and pushed SaaS ACV up 800%.  Four-time Presidents Club. Million-dollar closer. And he refused to call himself a salesperson the entire time. In June of 2025, Cam walked away from the CRO chair to build PitchDown — a framework for founders, engineers, product teams, and everyone else whose title doesn’t say sales but whose job absolutely is.  His tagline: “The best decisions aren’t sold. They’re discovered.” In this conversation, Josh sits down with Cam to dig into: • The one-word question from his first sales manager that changed his career (asked five times in a row) • Why the word “salesperson” costs the person who wears it — and why he refused it even at the top of the leaderboard • The PitchDown Method: ignorance, awareness, acknowledgment, acceptance, action — and where most conversations actually get stuck • Why customers agree with you… then do nothing • “Pitch down, not up” — the difference between educating a buyer to reality and pushing product features • The doctor / Ferrari analogy for how expert questions move people from ignorance to action • The 2024 decision to walk away from the CRO chair and go all-in on PitchDown • How founders sell the vision — and why “I can’t find good people” is almost always a mirror problem • Why he’s been fired from multiple CRO chairs for putting customers first — and why he’ll fight that one to the death If you’re a founder, an engineer, an operator, or anyone whose job is really sales even though your title doesn’t say so, this one is for you. 📘 Cam’s book PitchDown and free Tuesdays @ Two coaching call: https://www.pitchdown.com 🔗 Connect with Cam: https://www.linkedin.com/in/camtolman — Spartan Leadership is hosted by Josh Kosnick — founder of Kairos Coaching & Consulting, author of The Kairos Code, and creator of the Bridge Builder Mastermind. 🏛️ Bridge Builder Mastermind: https://www.joshkosnick.com/mastermind 📖 The Kairos Code: https://www.joshkosnick.com/thekairoscode 📊 Take the free Life Quotient Assessment: https://www.joshkosnick.com/assessment 📺 Subscribe for more Spartan Leadership episodes and never miss a conversation. Everyone is in sales, whether they have the title or not. Lead like a Spartan today. #SpartanLeadership #CamTolman #PitchDown #SalesCoaching #FounderLedSales #BridgeBuilderMastermind #JoshKosnick CONNECT WITH ME HERE: Facebook Instagram LinkedIn Twitter TikTok YouTube SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST HERE: Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube

    Why Customers Agree… Then Do Nothing | Cam Tolman

  3. Sep 15

    Steven Pressfield: Resistance, Spartan Virtue, And The Unlived Life

    Send us Fan Mail Steven Pressfield is the reason a generation of leaders finally put a name on the enemy inside them. He called it Resistance — capital R. The force that stops the founder from starting, the writer from writing, the leader from leading. He gave the language for it in The War of Art, and he’s been at the desk fighting it every Wednesday for over 50 years. He’s the author of Gates of Fire — required reading at West Point, Annapolis, and on the Marine Commandant’s list — The Legend of Bagger Vance, Tides of War, The Virtues of War, A Man at Arms, and his newest work released this past May, The Arcadian, a novel following Telamon the immortal mercenary through fifteenth-century Spain and the central question: does justice exist in this world? At 82 years old, Pressfield still shows up. Every Wednesday. That is the discipline this episode is about. In this conversation, Josh Kosnick and Steven go into: • Resistance, capital R — what it is, how it shows up on a Tuesday morning, and how to recognize it before it wins • Steven’s daily ritual after five decades of fighting Resistance — and how he shuts it off at the end of the day • The Legend of Bagger Vance — what it’s like to have your work adopted by Hollywood • Gates of Fire and why military academies keep coming back to it — what civilian leaders miss • The Spartan covenant between mother and son — “come back with this or on it” — and what it teaches a modern leader about standards • The professional vs. the amateur — the single most important difference, and how a founder knows which side of the line they’re standing on • Telamon and The Arcadian — what a hero carrying a centuries-old curse teaches a leader who is tired of dragging his own • Does justice exist in this world — where Steven has landed after 40 years of writing about war and virtue • AI and the writing world — what a legendary author sees coming for creativity • Writing Wednesdays — the discipline that keeps an 82-year-old at the desk • The one Spartan virtue Steven would install in every American boardroom tomorrow • Steven’s unpopular belief — the answer to Josh’s signature closing question Josh’s on-mic acknowledgment: The Kairos Code was directly shaped by The War of Art. Steven’s language of Resistance, the unlived life, and the professional/amateur distinction runs through Josh’s work — and this episode is Josh giving public credit to the man who gave him the language. CHAPTERS ________________ 00:00 Intro 01:04 Spartan mythology and the War of Art — the bridge for an operator 02:27 Resistance, capital R — naming the enemy inside 05:42 Steven’s daily ritual after 50 years of fighting Resistance 07:36 How Steven shuts it off at the end of the day 10:17 The Legend of Bagger Vance and Hollywood 13:33 Gates of Fire — why military academies require it 16:52 What civilian leaders miss about the Spartans 19:23 What drew Steven to Spartan culture in the first place 22:34 The Shield — “come back with this or on it” 27:16 The professional and the amateur — the line 30:37 The Arcadian — Telamon and the curse a leader carries 34:45 Does justice exist in this world 36:06 This life or the next 37:20 A word for the Christian operator 39:42 AI and the future of writing 45:55 Writing Wednesdays — the 82-year-old discipline 51:02 The one Spartan virtue for every American boardroom 54:35 Steven’s unpopular belief 55:13 Where to find Steven’s work FOLLOW STEVEN PRESSFIELD Website & Writing Wednesdays: https://stevenpressfield.com The Arcadian (2026, Norton): available wherever books are sold The War of Art — the book every operator needs on their desk Gates of Fire — the Spartan novel required at West Point, Annapolis, and by the Marine Commandant SUBSCRIBE TO SPARTAN LEADERSHIP https://www.youtube.com/@spartanleadershippodcast?sub_confirmation=1 FOLLOW JOSH KOSNICK Website: https://joshkosnick.com The Kairos Code (book + audiobook): https://joshkosnick.com/thekairoscode Bridge Builder Mastermind: https://www.joshkosnick.com/mastermind Rate and review the Spartan Leadership Podcast wherever you listen. It’s how the next operator finds the show. Remember, the good and great are the enemies of possible. Lead like a Spartan today. #SpartanLeadership #StevenPressfield #TheWarOfArt #GatesOfFire #TheArcadian #Leadership #KairosCode CONNECT WITH ME HERE: Facebook Instagram LinkedIn Twitter TikTok YouTube SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST HERE: Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube

    Steven Pressfield: Resistance, Spartan Virtue, And The Unlived Life

  4. Sep 1

    I Am Undefeated. And This Is How I Know. | Trey Roth

    Send us Fan Mail Trey Roth spent ten years being called a failure before the world called him a success. He founded YayStack in September 2014. Raised money. Failed. Raised again. Failed again. Facebook killed his API access and forced a full rebuild. He watched other founders zoom past him with cleaner product-market fit and shorter timelines. Two weeks before the ten-year anniversary of the company — the deadline he and his wife Ashley had actually set as the “throw in the towel” date — everything clicked. Today YayStack is a geocaching gift card and giveaway platform. Think Pokémon Go, but instead of chasing creatures, you’re chasing real gift cards from real local businesses. The tagline is “we made advertising fun,” and Trey relaunched the whole entity around that promise in January of this year. In this episode of Spartan Leadership, Trey and Josh Kosnick go deep on the twelve-year grind, the McDonald’s nuggets moment with his last twenty dollars, the plane crash at nineteen that changed how he views every breath, the pirated software prayer that led directly to the idea for YayStack, and the Dwight Howard six-figure investment story that started with a 51%-decided choice to get in the car when he was too tired to drive. You’ll hear: • Why Trey was preparing the “I quit” email to his shareholders and what changed his mind • The identity stack — “I am undefeated, and this is how I know” • Why “51% decided” is Trey’s action threshold and how it literally saved his twin brother’s life • The Dwight Howard story — how a $200 Apple Pencil turned into a six-figure investment check • The transition from platinum-selling music producer to tech founder — and the integrity moment that made the bridge • How faith actually shows up on a Tuesday morning when payroll is due on Friday • The 1-in-400-trillion odds that every one of us already beat Josh’s takeaway from Trey — “I am undefeated, and this is how I know” — is added to his own identity stack on-mic. If you take one thing from this episode, take that. FOLLOW TREY & YAYSTACK Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yaystack Trey on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/treyroth Website: https://yaystack.co Download the YayStack app in the App Store or Google Play — national gift card drops every Saturday through the end of 2026. SUBSCRIBE TO SPARTAN LEADERSHIP https://www.youtube.com/@spartanleadershippodcast?sub_confirmation=1 FOLLOW JOSH KOSNICK Website: https://joshkosnick.com The Kairos Code (book + audiobook): https://joshkosnick.com/thekairoscode Bridge Builder Mastermind: https://www.joshkosnick.com/mastermind Rate and review the Spartan Leadership Podcast wherever you listen. It’s how the next operator finds the show. Remember, the good and great are the enemies of possible. Lead like a Spartan today. #SpartanLeadership #TreyRoth #YayStack #Entrepreneurship #Faith #Leadership #KairosCode CONNECT WITH ME HERE: Facebook Instagram LinkedIn Twitter TikTok YouTube SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST HERE: Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube

  5. Aug 25

    Why 84% Of Adults Read Nothing (And How To Fix It) | Nick Hutchison

    Send us Fan Mail Nick Hutchison walked into his senior year of college with a 0% homework average and zero interest in reading. Ten years later, he's read over 1,000 personal development books and built BookThinkers into a seven-figure book marketing agency serving hundreds of authors a year. In this conversation, Josh and Nick break down: • The reading system Nick uses to actually implement books instead of just consuming them • Why 4% of the books you read create 95% of the change in your life • The SMART goal framework you should set BEFORE opening page one • How Nick built BookThinkers as a side hustle while working a full-time B2B sales job • The failed Argentina app build that almost ended it before it started • The anonymous team survey that exposed his biggest leadership blind spot • The five-year "deposit strategy" that got Jim Kwik to invite him on stage • Why 84% of American adults read nothing — and how to reverse it If you've ever finished a book and thought, "That was great — now what?" this episode is your operator's manual. —————————————— CONNECT WITH NICK Instagram: @bookthinkers Website: bookthinkers.com Get his book: Rise Of The Reader (new edition launching November 1st) CONNECT WITH JOSH Website: joshkosnick.com Instagram: @joshkosnick Get The Kairos Code: joshkosnick.com/thekairoscode Remember: the good and the great are the enemies of the possible. Lead like a Spartan today. CONNECT WITH ME HERE: Facebook Instagram LinkedIn Twitter TikTok YouTube SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST HERE: Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube

    Why 84% Of Adults Read Nothing (And How To Fix It) | Nick Hutchison

  6. Aug 18

    Ken Rusk | The Ditch Digger Who Built a Nine-Figure Empire — Comfort, Peace, and Freedom Without a Degree

    Send us Fan Mail Ken Rusk was 15 years old when he walked through a hole in the fence behind his high school, into an industrial park, and asked a construction company what they did. Their answer: we dig ditches and fix wet, smelly basements. Ken said, “I thought I was qualified for that,” and took the job. He never went to college. In 1986, he founded Rusk Industries in Toledo, OH with six ditch diggers.  Today it’s a portfolio of construction companies with over 200 employees and nine figures in revenue. Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Blue-Collar Cash. Fox News contributor. Publicly endorsed by Tony Robbins.  In this conversation, Ken and Josh dismantle the college lie (only 1 in 3 degrees ever get used), walk through Ken’s 5-step Path, and unpack why Ken funds Trump Accounts for his employees’ kids, launched a bourbon company for Gold Star families, and taught his framework to female inmates. Plus a first look at Ken’s new book, Rockstars and Rainmakers. CONNECT WITH ME HERE: Facebook Instagram LinkedIn Twitter TikTok YouTube SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST HERE: Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube

  7. Aug 11

    Your Best Customer Is Dying. Now What?

    Send us Fan Mail In-N-Out took 80 years to become a legend. Raising Cane's did it in 36 — with worse chicken and a better marketing team. Two founders sat down with Josh at the Book & Bourbon Club fly-in to debate what actually wins in 2026: the slow, silent build or the personal-brand turbocharge. Guests: Dennis Leis (investor, MetPro, LRT, Whole Body Fitness) and Trace Miller (founder/CEO of Konala — high-protein drive-thru restaurants, konalafranchise.com). Three debates, no filler: The personal branding debate — can you still grow a massive business silently? The In-N-Out vs. Raising Cane's case study, the "sellout" question every founder wrestles with, and why your best customer is literally dying every day. The AI debate — Dennis is all-in, Trace is skeptical, and Josh is in the middle. China just passed a law that you can't lay someone off and replace them with AI. Salesforce is cutting tens of thousands. Only 2% of the world is actually using it. What "ethical capitalism" looks like when the tokens cost more than the labor. The hiring debate — Dennis hires for his weaknesses and openly admits he has zero desire to be a CEO. Trace wants to grow into his weaknesses, Gymshark-style. Two founders, two very different answers to the oldest question in business. Plus Dennis unveils the AI-powered talent-matching platform he's building in beta — outbound recruiting for cultural fit instead of skills-first hiring. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Follow Dennis Leis: Instagram @dennis.leis Follow Trace Miller & Konala: konalafranchise.com Book & Bourbon Club: joshkosnick.com ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Books mentioned: • Raving Fans — Ken Blanchard • Unreasonable Hospitality — Will Guidara • Good to Great — Jim Collins • Blue-Collar Cash — Ken Rusk ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Follow Josh Kosnick: Website — joshkosnick.com Instagram — @joshkosnick LinkedIn — linkedin.com/in/joshkosnick Subscribe for weekly conversations on leadership, faith, and building a life worth living. #SpartanLeadership #JoshKosnick #DennisLeis #TraceMiller #Konala #PersonalBranding #AIinBusiness #EthicalCapitalism #FounderPodcast #HiringStrategy CONNECT WITH ME HERE: Facebook Instagram LinkedIn Twitter TikTok YouTube SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST HERE: Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube

  8. Aug 3

    How He Got John Maxwell's Cell Number for $400 | Chris Welton

    Send us Fan Mail Chris Welton was born with one hand. He's a performance coach, TEDx speaker, and international bestselling author of One Jordan — and he built his entire professional network by mailing strangers a single Jordan sneaker with a note: want the other one? Give me a call. It worked on Damon West. It worked on Ben Newman. It worked well enough that John Maxwell built a keynote around the strategy and started naming Chris from the stage — Chris found out because strangers began messaging him on LinkedIn mid-talk. In this conversation, Chris and Josh get into what separates lived adversity from performative resilience: the four ways people show up when adversity hits, why Chris intentionally puts himself in brutal physical situations before life does it for him, and what happened at HYROX in Dallas when he went face-first into the turf twenty meters from the finish and his wife told the paramedics to back up. He also opens up about mental health, PTSD, and why men his size don't have those conversations. In this episode: - The One Jordan strategy and why most people aren't bold enough to try it Why the gap between top producers and mediocre performers is smaller than you think - Victim, Survivor, Warrior, Architect — the four adversity paradigms - The Adversity Accelerator: training for hardship before it arrives - Why Chris moves foster-care kids to the top of the resume pile - Accountability versus ownership, and what it costs teams when leaders get it wrong - The sentence his grandmother said to him 47 years ago that shaped everything Connect with Chris Welton: Website: https://chriswelton.live Instagram: @onehandatatime Podcast: One Hand At A Time Book: https://onejordanbook.com Connect with Josh Kosnick: https://joshkosnick.com Life Quotient Assessment: https://www.joshkosnick.com/assessment Spartans — share this episode far and wide. CONNECT WITH ME HERE: Facebook Instagram LinkedIn Twitter TikTok YouTube SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST HERE: Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube

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4.7
out of 5
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Good and Great Are the Enemies of Possible™️ Leadership and business coach Josh Kosnick has conversations with some of the greatest minds in leadership both in business, community, and politics. Guests provide insights from years of experience, delivering powerful messages to help you live a more inspired and impactful life. 

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