The Founder Your Business Actually Needs (Part 2 with Dave Munson)

There’s a moment in every founder’s life when someone holds up a mirror they didn’t ask for. Sometimes it’s a coach. Sometimes it’s a spouse. Sometimes — the moment Dave Munson is most honest about — it’s an employee saying something you didn’t see coming. In Part 2 of our conversation with Dave Munson, founder and CEO of Saddleback Leather Co., MaryAnn Means-Dufrene continues the discussion that started in Episode 28 — but this half goes deeper into the unseen work of becoming the leader your business actually needs. Dave shares a 2010 lunch with Zig Ziglar that reframed everything (“court your spouse, encourage everyone, help others succeed”), the 2015 moment a Christian employee told him he was “one of the most prideful people I know,” and the research project that followed — fifty “signs of pride” lists categorized into twenty-four jars on his table. He talks about saying out loud to his wife that he was the problem in the business, the moment his teenage daughter refused to grab him a fizzy water and what it exposed, and the Rick Warren line that quietly reframed humility for him: humility is saying what’s true. He also talks about writing his award-winning book They’ll Fight Over It When You’re Dead (Audiobook of the Year 2025), the three and a half years he spent without a smartphone, and his refusal to use AI for creative work — a hand-written newsletter included. If you’ve ever quietly suspected that the business you built has been shaping you more than you’ve been shaping it, this conversation will land. Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn: 01:17 Meeting Zig Ziglar 02:45 Three Life Principles 03:57 Learning to Serve Family 06:26 Called Out for Pride 08:54 Redefining Pride 10:06 Signs of Pride List 14:59 Humility vs Pride 16:18 False Humility Explained 17:06 Saying What Is True 17:33 Humility Versus Pride 18:27 How Pride Shapes Business 19:56 Marriage Kids Business Growth 21:07 Book Story And Awards 22:27 Writing Process And Lessons 27:34 Enneagram And Storytelling 28:37 Going Smartphone Free 30:50 AI Boundaries Handwritten Newsletter 31:37 Closing Thanks And Book Reminder About the guest Dave Munson is the founder and CEO of Saddleback Leather Co., the global leather goods company known for heirloom-quality designs and a 100-year warranty. He is the author of They’ll Fight Over It When You’re Dead — winner of Audiobook of the Year 2025 — and has designed leather interiors for the Toyota Tundra and Sequoia. Through Africa New Life Ministries, he and his wife Suzette have brought more than 400 people to Rwanda to support sponsored children and local communities. Dave’s “signs of pride” research, posted on the Saddleback site, draws roughly 1,200 readers a day. 👉 Ready to stop leading from burnout? Book a call with MaryAnn: https://collectivegrowthleadership.com/book-call #leadershipdevelopment #innerwork #executiveteams #founderleadership #humility