Grasslands Agency
February 27, 2024
As we ring in the 7th season of The Weedsmith, a meditation on modern cannabis leadership, we are pleased to welcome our next guest, Josh Kirby, founder and chief operating officer of Kin Slips. Josh explores how being compassionate and empathetic makes a good leader.
Transcription:
Ricardo Baca:
Today I’m thankful to be sitting across from my friend Josh Kirby. Josh, I want to know: in your opinion, what makes a good leader?
Josh Kirby:
Getting into the cannabis space and starting my own business and then working with others later to start Kinslips, I’d never really been forced to be a leader in anything, in any other project or or anything that I've ever worked on. I never had anybody underneath me, and so I've been trying to figure that out as we've been developing this company, as we’ve been growing the business, as we’ve been getting licensed and regulated in this space.
So, that’s the question I ask myself every day. I try to read as much thought leadership stuff as I can and just try to teach myself. But honestly, I don’t really know yet.
I'm still trying to figure it out.
Ricardo:
Are there qualities that you've observed in others, though, where you’re like, “Oh, that appears to be good leadership. I want to be more like that.” If so, what are those qualities?
Josh:
Yeah, I've seen some of the people that I really look up to and respect are people who can have a good balance between being compassionate and empathetic towards the people they are leading, but also stern and forceful with the things that need to get done. And finding that balance between those two and still getting people to move the ball forward is something that I really admire in people and something I strive to do every single day.
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