In Podcast Interviews, Partner Andrew Sherman Shares Leadership Lessons for Entrepreneurs

Partner Andrew Sherman was a guest on two episodes of the “Bricks or Sticks” podcast, which applies lessons from popular children’s fairy tales to doing business in the 21st century.

The episodes, hosted by Brian Moran and Jocelyn Ring, highlighted “Cinderella” and “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” In the first episode, released on Jan. 26, Sherman said entrepreneurs are often raised in environments similar to Cinderella, where they’re the black sheep of the family.

“There’s a lot of wisdom inside this story that entrepreneurs can relate to because they often feel like more people are going to tell them no, than yes; more people are going to be discouraging and skeptical, than being positive and encouraging,” Sherman said. “The environment that they’re raised in is to typically go get a job, go make the safe choice, earn a living, buy a starter home. Not take as much risk as the typical entrepreneur or small business owner takes the way that Cinderella wanted to be part of the event.”

In the second episode, released on Feb. 23, Sherman was joined by entrepreneur Matt Doherty, a former basketball player and coach at the University of North Carolina.

Sherman said there are three main points in “The Emperor’s New Clothes” that are important to focus on when discussing business in today’s world: fraud by the weavers, the emperor’s ego and the fact that it took a small child to speak the truth.

“It’s bad enough if you believe your own hype, but it’s even worse when everyone around you reinforces that hype,” he said. “You’ve created a very dysfunctional culture if you do that in companies. … There are so many leadership lessons embedded in that story.”