Steve Schwab on Fueling a Movement With Authentic Leadership (Re-Air)

About this episode

Steve Schwab discusses authentic leadership and the importance of storytelling in building movements for military families.

We’re revisiting a powerful past conversation with Steve Schwab, CEO of the Elizabeth Dole Foundation, whose insights on leadership, storytelling, and movement-building remain just as relevant today. In this episode, Steve reflects on how Senator Elizabeth Dole transformed a critical but largely invisible issue, the millions of family members caring for wounded veterans, into a national movement. He explains the difference between a mission and a movement, sharing how meaningful change requires both the science of research and the poetry of authentic storytelling. Steve also discusses the growth of the Hidden Heroes Campaign and how building coalitions across sectors, including policymakers, caregivers, corporate partners, and influential voices like Tom Hanks and Savannah Guthrie, has helped expand support for military and veteran families nationwide. Along the way, he shares lessons on authentic leadership, the power of persistence in driving policy change, and why the most effective movements are fueled by purpose, community, and a mission greater than oneself. Takeaways: Clear mission or purpose: Having a mission larger than yourself drives personal motivation and…

People in this episode

Guest: Steve Schwab

Topics covered

• leadership
• storytelling
• movement-building
• military families
• coalition building
• policy change

Keywords

• authentic leadership
• Hidden Heroes Campaign
• Elizabeth Dole
• military families
• coalitions
• storytelling
• policy change

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Elizabeth Dole Foundation, Hidden Heroes Campaign

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