Monmouth University President Patrick F. Leahy was the featured guest on “Failing Forward: How Setbacks Paved the Way for a University President,” episode 80 of “The Jon Schultz Podcast – The Myth of Overnight Success,” which explores how leaders from all walks of life–from ultramarathoners, musicians, entrepreneurs, and billionaires–share stories of overcoming adversities to build their careers. In an interview that Schultz describes as a “conversation that reminds you why leadership stories matter,” Leahy shares his journey from being the youngest of six kids outside Baltimore to running a $200 million university.
“We dive into the mentor who changed everything by pushing him to apply to Georgetown (spoiler: he thought he’d never get in), the poetry class with the university president that shifted his entire career path, and those messy years when he tried business and finance before finding his true calling in higher education,” said Schultz. According to Schultz, the conversation also includes, “what it was actually like stepping into the president’s role just months before the pandemic hit, how he kept an entire campus community connected through weekly Zoom calls that people still don’t want him to stop, and the bold moves he’s made to position Monmouth for the future.”
They also discuss partnerships with Hackensack Meridian for health care programs, building out film and TV production right as Netflix constructs their massive studio two miles away, and chairing the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music. Leahy also shares his perspective on how AI is going to reshape education, why being someone others want to work with might be the most critical skill you can develop, and what it means to lead through uncertainty while staying true to your values.
The episode is also available to watch on the YouTube platform.
