Recently, I had the opportunity to return to A Kid’s Place of Tampa Bay for Career Day and spend time talking with the kids about podcasting, YouTube, content creation, communication and careers.
This wasn’t my first visit.
I had previously been to A Kid’s Place to record podcast conversations with members of its leadership team. This time was different. Instead of sitting down for an interview, I had the chance to interact directly with the kids, answer their questions and, more importantly, ask them questions.
A Kid’s Place provides a safe, loving and nurturing home for children in foster care throughout the Tampa Bay area. One of the organization’s core missions is keeping brothers and sisters together during what can be an incredibly difficult period in their lives. Since opening in 2009, A Kid’s Place has served more than 1,700 children.
I went there to talk about careers.
I left thinking about leadership.
Here are seven lessons from the experience that apply directly to MSP owners and leaders.
1. Showing Up Matters
We spend a lot of time in the MSP industry talking about revenue, technology, cybersecurity, AI, margins and growth.
All of those things matter.
But leadership also means being present in your community.
You don’t always need a major initiative or huge financial commitment. Sometimes it starts with showing up, sharing what you know and giving someone access to an experience or perspective they may not otherwise have.
2. Curiosity Is a Competitive Advantage
One of the first things I asked the kids was simple:
If you had your own podcast or YouTube channel, what would it be about?
The answers went everywhere—true crime, robots, sports, music, cooking, gaming, haunted attractions and more.
That curiosity is powerful.
I’ve built much of my own podcast around being curious about people and asking what makes them tick. MSP leaders should cultivate exactly the same habit.
What is changing with your clients? What is your team seeing? What are your competitors doing differently? What technology should you understand better?
Curiosity keeps leaders learning.
3. Ask Better Questions
During the session, we practiced asking what, why and how questions.
That sounds simple, but think about how important it is in an MSP.
Why is the customer really unhappy?
What business problem are they trying to solve?
How is this issue affecting their employees?
The best discovery calls aren’t interrogations. They are conversations driven by thoughtful questions.
The quality of the answer often begins with the quality of the question.
4. Listening Is a Skill
We also talked about the difference between simply hearing someone and actually listening.
After asking a question, you have to pay attention to the answer.
That applies whether you’re interviewing someone on a podcast, talking with a teenager at Career Day, meeting with an employee or sitting across from your largest client.
Too often, we listen while preparing what we’re going to say next.
Good leaders listen to understand.
5. You Don’t Need Perfect Tools to Start
At one point, I asked what might stop someone from launching a podcast or YouTube channel.
One answer was money.
My response was that you don’t need an expensive studio. You can start with a phone. You can learn editing, cameras, audio and software as you go.
That lesson should sound familiar to any entrepreneur.
We can spend so much time waiting for the perfect system, perfect employee, perfect technology stack or perfect moment that we never begin.
Start. Learn. Improve.
6. Skills Create Opportunity
We talked about photography, video editing, CapCut, cameras, podcasting and content creation.
One of the kids was already editing content.
I told them something I strongly believe: these are marketable skills.
The MSP industry has the same opportunity to expose young people to career paths they may not know exist—cybersecurity, help desk, cloud, networking, sales, marketing, automation and AI.
Not every technology career requires the same path.
Sometimes all it takes is someone showing a young person what is possible.
7. Leadership Goes Beyond the Business
This may have been the biggest reminder for me.
MSPs are local businesses.
You employ people locally. You support local businesses. You know the schools, nonprofits, charities and organizations in your communities.
That gives MSP leaders an opportunity to make an impact that goes well beyond technology.
Mentor someone.
Teach a class.
Offer an internship.
Sponsor an organization.
Donate.
Or simply give some of your time.
How the MSP Community Can Help A Kid’s Place
A Kid’s Place continues to rely on community support to provide housing, education, therapy, meals, activities and other resources for children in foster care. The organization is also expanding resources for young adults ages 18–23 who have aged out of foster care and is developing a new Activity Center for learning, recreation, therapy and connection.
There are several ways to help, including direct donations, monthly giving, employer matching programs, corporate support, Amazon Wish List purchases, stock and securities donations and volunteering.
If you’re part of the MSP community—especially here in Tampa Bay—I encourage you to learn more about what they do.
Learn more, volunteer or donate at A Kid’s Place of Tampa Bay.
Career Day was supposed to be about teaching the kids something about podcasting and YouTube.
As often happens when you spend time asking questions and listening, I think I walked away having learned just as much.