WADT Podcast - Better Men, Better Families
Better Men,
Better Families
ON 20 JANUARY 2021, the We Are Dads Too* podcast started its first episode, Papa, Don't Teach. Despite having zero knowledge about podcasting until I attended a course just two months before, we managed to hit the goal of releasing fifty-two episodes in a year.
How did we do it?
The following are six questions forming the acronym GROWTH that guided us.
1. What do we need to achieve? (Goals)
Before setting the goal, we made clear that our mission was to reach out and inspire more fathers to take action to be the best dad they can be. We believe that fathers face a multitude of problems due to a lack of resilience, not physically but rather mentally and emotionally.
We gathered a few friends who all happened to be educators and mostly parents themselves, to brainstorm the issues surrounding fatherhood and suggest what fathers need to know to improve themselves. I must say that without them volunteering and supporting us at the beginning, the podcast would not get off the ground. We then outlined the podcast objectives as follows:
- Engage fathers in frank and deep discussions on fathering matters in a safe space that encourages self-reflection and self-awareness.
- Enable fathers to acquire a clear self-concept and essential skills that help them harmonize their multiple roles as fathers, husbands, breadwinners, leaders, sons etc.
- Empower fathers by providing resources and support for them to aspire and achieve being the best irreplaceable dad that they can be.
I was very aware of the importance of setting a goal that is realistic and achievable. But we also wanted to make sure that we had the momentum to produce a good number of episodes covering as many topics as possible. So, we agreed on the goal to release an episode per week or 52 episodes in a year.
2. What is happening now? (Reality)
The reason for doing something is an important part of the reality that will not only shape but also sustain any actions. For me, firstly, I needed to reach out to people about my coaching practice. While coaching is essentially a process, it needs content and context to demonstrate its relevance and how it works in the real world. Secondly, with more than 20 years of experience being a father of 4 children, I would like to share my experiences with other fathers, as men usually do not ask for help on fathering, until it's too late.
We needed a communication platform to share with others about fathering that is cost-effective. As I had attended a podcast course recently and Parcsen had tried podcasting some years ago, we were confident that it is worth giving a shot to start a podcast. Furthermore, being in the midst of the Covid pandemic, a podcast would be a good way to reach out to an audience virtually, especially young fathers and men.
It took just a 2-hour coffee session at Heavenly Wang with Parcsen to decide on starting the podcast.
3. What could we do? (Options)
For funding, we tried getting corporate sponsors and applying for government grants. Content-wise, we had it covered as Parcsen had a lot of materials as the Head Programmes in the Centre For Fathering. As a transformation coach, I can contribute by sharing practical techniques to achieve effective and lasting personal change.
I knew that unless I align the podcast with my job, it would not be sustainable. So, I presented a proposal to my Management Board to sponsor the podcast. As one of Emaan Catalyst Community's portfolios is Impact & Sustainability, I positioned the podcast project under the Social Incubator Program, which aims at supporting early-stage social impact initiatives through training, coaching, mentorship and financing. This sponsorship was really instrumental in allowing us to focus on the content of the podcast while engaging branding and marketing agents.
4. What will we do? (Will)
As we did not have the technical experience to set up a podcast and no amount of research can beat learning from those who had actually done it, I got the help of an old friend who had started a podcast a couple of years ago as part of marketing his business. He had interviewed me on his podcast called Naked@Work on the topic of volunteering and told me that he was willing to help. He even helped to record our first episode in his office studio and brought me to a recording session by Ok Let's Go, a popular podcast started by former Mediacorp Ria 89.7FM radio deejays.
At the office studio of Osman Ali (middle) with Shaheed Salim, who helped us at the beginning.
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| Recording of our first episode |
At the Ok Let's Go recording studio
For content, we listed the topics under the themes of Parenting Skills, Father Involvement, Parents Relationship, Health and Child Development. We recorded most of the first 10 episodes ourselves while looking out for subject matter experts who would come on the podcast as guests. Eventually, we recorded 30 episodes on the above themes in Season 1 before going into the broader theme of Manhood in Season 2 for the next 26 episodes and then 16 Hot Potatoes and Transformation topics in Season 3.
5. How and when will we do it? (Tactics)
We broke down the one-year goal to 6 months and set a stretched goal of recording 50 episodes in 6 months. We thought that by recording twice the speed of the release, we would be sure not to miss any weekly releases. We tried doing back-to-back episodes where possible to make full use of the studio booking times and save on travelling.
However, from around 26 Jun 2021 onwards, we had to resort to online recording using Streamyard due to the more stringent Safe Management Measures (SMM). Even though there were some limitations in terms of the quality of audio and visuals, we did not go back to the studio even after the SMM was relaxed as it was too convenient and more efficient than the studio recording. Despite the convenience, we found that it was hard to keep to the 2 episodes per week recording frequency. Instead, we started recording one episode weekly on average, sometimes just in time for the release on Wednesdays.
On the 21st of January 2022, just a day after our podcast's first anniversary, we completed recording the 52nd episode, meeting the 52 episode releases in a year goal right on the dot. The feat certainly wasn't a walk in the park and personally, I was quite demotivated at times as the number of listeners to our podcast was not growing as expected. However, I consistently remind myself that there are fathers out there who need to hear us and even if I'm able to impact just one person, I'm grateful.
By June 22 2022, we managed to release 72 episodes with the participation of 29 guests, 4 volunteers and 4 co-hosts.
6. How will we sustain our success? (Habits)
Honestly, Parcsen played a very instrumental role in our success to meet our goal. With his Conscientious personality style, he was very persistent in sticking to the schedule and doing back-to-back recordings when necessary. Though both of us are results-oriented Dominant personalities, I'm more of an Influence personality style, thus balancing things up when working together.
Due to the mundane work-from-home arrangements, I started a morning exercise routine on the 18th of August 2021, out of the desire to be more physically active and lose some weight. It made me healthier and able to work on the podcast in addition to my other work responsibilities better. What's more significant, the whole 10-week exercise plan gave me the chance to practice self-coaching so that I can experience the challenges of forming and changing habits myself.
Indeed, this podcasting experience showed me several things:
1. The personality type composition of a team must be right. When we set out to achieve a stretched goal, especially as a team, it's not enough just to get an agreement or commitment between team members.
2. The goal set has to be based on a bigger purpose of serving what the world needs. There needs to be a clear Mission driving the goal as Passion is not enough to make the effort worth doing (ref. Ikigai).
3. Accountability is underrated. There's a need to be deliberate in getting people to whom we are accountable in pursuing a goal. Accountability partners can help us overcoming roadblocks by coming out with solutions to problems, staying focused by removing distractions and validating our approach by providing a sounding board to bounce off ideas.
Firstly, I was fortunate to have friends who not only provided intellectual and technical help but also motivated me along the way. Secondly, it was crucial that my organisation became the sponsor of this project, which required me to report its progress. Third and most important, were my wife and children, who had tolerated my busier schedule and kept the volume at home down during the online recordings.
So, that's how GROWTH helped us.
“Learn all you can.
Growth comes from setting your goals high
and reaching for the stars.”
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