Mean Time to Lead

Be a guest

Led through a hard call? Come and talk about it.

Guest conversations run 35 to 45 minutes. Relaxed, recorded remotely, lightly edited, and never a sales pitch.

Suggest a guest

Opens your email app, addressed to hello@meantimetolead.com.

01Who we look for

People with a point of view and the scars to back it up.

  • Practitioners who run IT, security or operations and can talk about how the work really gets done.
  • Researchers whose work helps leaders decide better, especially work built on public data.
  • Authors with a clear, useful argument about leadership, AI, cybersecurity or IT operations.
  • People who have led through hard calls, and are willing to talk about what they would do differently.

Guests are not paid, and we do not accept payment for appearances. Nobody buys a place on the show.

02What to expect

The format.

Length
35 to 45 minutes of conversation. Please block 60 minutes, including setup.
Style
A relaxed conversation, not a panel or a sales pitch. We want your honest view, including where you disagree with conventional wisdom.
Recording
Video and audio, recorded remotely in a browser-based studio. We’ll send the link.
Editing
Lightly edited for flow and sound. Stumbles and restarts are fine, and we cut them.

Timeline

  1. On bookingWe send the briefing guide, the release form and a short questionnaire.
  2. 1 to 2 weeks beforeAn optional 15-minute pre-call to agree the angle and anything that’s off-limits.
  3. 1 week beforeWe send the episode outline and 5 to 7 likely questions.
  4. 1 day beforeA reminder with the recording link.
  5. Recording day10 minutes of tech check, then we record.
  6. 2 to 6 weeks afterThe episode goes live, and we send you links, clips and suggested posts.

03The deal

What we ask. What we promise.

We ask you to

  1. Sign the release before recording. It lets us publish the episode and clips.
  2. Fill in the questionnaire, including your approved title, bio, headshot and any topics to avoid.
  3. Keep it confidential-safe. Please don’t share confidential information about your employer, clients or anyone else. If you need employer approval to appear, arrange it in advance. We can provide a short summary for your communications team.
  4. Stay non-promotional. It’s fine to mention your book, company or project, and we’ll include links in the show notes. The conversation itself should teach, not sell.
  5. Be accurate. If you cite a statistic, tell us the source so we can link it in the show notes.

We promise

  1. No ambush questions. You’ll see the outline in advance. If we go somewhere unplanned, you can always say “let’s skip that.”
  2. Fair editing. We edit for clarity and time, never to change your meaning.
  3. A chance to flag slips. If you mention something confidential or get a fact wrong, email us within 7 days of recording and we’ll fix it before publication.
  4. Proper credit. Your name, title and links go in the show notes exactly as you approve them.
  5. Promotion. We share the episode across our channels and send you ready-made clips.

04Setup tips

Sound good in ten minutes.

  • A quiet room with soft furnishings, and the door closed.
  • Wired headphones or earbuds, please. They prevent echo, which we can’t fix in editing.
  • An external USB microphone if you have one. Otherwise your laptop microphone, in a quiet room.
  • A laptop camera at eye level, with light facing you rather than behind you.
  • A wired internet connection if possible. Close other apps and pause any cloud backups.
  • Chrome or Edge for the recording link.
  • Phone on silent, and notifications off.

Suggest a guest

Yourself, or someone you would like to hear.

A few lines is enough: who, what they could talk about, and a link to their work. Guests are not paid, and we do not accept payment for appearances.

Email a suggestion

Subject line “Guest suggestion: Mean Time to Lead”, sent to hello@meantimetolead.com.