Nic Bittle: Life and Leadership

Do you remember what you learned after your first year of marriage? What was working and what wasn’t? How did you balance work and family? As you reflected on your wedding day, what was most memorable? Did it storm and rain that day or did someone forget your shoes? Was your future mother-in-law uncharacteristically calm? What was your first fight about? Or did you just work through disagreements?...

(This episode originally aired on July 8, 2025.) Nic tricks his new son-in-law, Micah Graf, to join him on podcast. He opens the conversation with a question, “What are your intentions with my daughter?” They talk about farming in western Oklahoma, which includes scaring up wild pigs. His favorite part of farmer is corn harvest. He also posts drone footage on Instagram @Oklahoma_Farming, capturing...

(This episode originally aired on May 13, 2024.) Nic and Tarina are joined by their daughter, Elle. She shares how she got started making the Encouragement Cards and how this experience over the past 9 years has given her confidence in her gift of encouragement. It’s a special episode profiling Elle’s leadership as well as her courage to do what others may consider weird. Her example is living pro...

This is the second half of Nic’s interview with Brett Russell, retired Fire Chief for the City of Clinton, Oklahoma, and small business owner. What’s one of the biggest leadership lessons you’ve learned? Do you appreciate the power of presence and proximity as a leader? Are values something you just put on the wall or something you actively reinforce every day? As a true leader, what really matter...

What are the desires of your heart? What’s next for you after a successful and fruitful career? Nic’s guest is Brett Russell, retired Fire Chief for the City of Clinton, Oklahoma, where he has served since 2017. How do you transition from one good thing to the next good thing? Are you, as a leader, ready to let go and let your people perform? Do you know what will be said for your eulogy? Will peo...

It’s funny what happens when we don’t read the fine print. It’s also funny how ah-ha’s arrive when we least expect it. And men, do you feel you’re serving your wife because you joined in what she wanted? But did you complain the whole time? Are you really serving from the heart or making your wife pay emotionally for dragging you along to an event you didn’t really want to do? If you enjoy Nic and...

This episode originally aired on April 22, 2024. How do you as a leader develop your men and women to become problem solvers? Or will you remain frustrated rather than get curious about how to lead differently? Good foremen recognize that for many of the people they lead, this is their first real job. Do you remember your first job and all the mistakes you made? When we remember our own growth we...

In this episode, Nic delivers the commencement address to the Corn Bible Academy Class of 2026. After being “warmly” introduced by his son, Cruze, Nic asks an important question: What do you do when you see your neighbor suffering? If you enjoy Nic and Tarina’s podcast and get something from listening to “all this Nic Bittle Crap,” please hit the like button, share it with a friend, or both. Your...

Are you frustrating yourself or your people or even your kids with your inability to delegate well? Does the way you delegate actually set your people up to succeed? Do you know why you’re delegating or not delegating? Unfortunately some people delegate too much and others not enough. Where do those you lead land on the Delegation Ladder? What mind traps keep you from putting in the time to train...

The Builder connects the dots. The question leaders must ask: What does the builder need from you to keep them from leaving? Are you ignoring your Builder or taking them for granted? Do you recognize the Builders on your team—if not, you may be too late and lose them. Watch for the book Nic is writing on the The Four Levels of Ownership. If you enjoy Nic and Tarina’s podcast and get something from...

Every job site has Cowboys and you will know them by their wake. But the challenge for every leader is how every Cowboy is different. Do you know which version of Cowboy you are leading? Do you know whether the Cowboys on your team are unaware or indifferent? The difference is frustrating and often highly consequential. What do they need from you and what are the consequences if you don't deliver?...

The goal as leaders is to move our people from level to the next. Do you know what The Worker needs or what they want? Are they good at taking direction, getting work done, but not thinking for themselves? How do you develop someone who has been trained to believe: “I’m not paid to think?” What is your strategy for empowering them to take initiative—to see-a-need-fill-a-need? As the leader, how ar...

If you’re a leader, your work is to develop your people. The answer is not to do more or work longer or harder. What would it take for you to put that time and effort into people development? As a GM or leader, are you trying to do everything? Who on the worksite is just there for the ride-along while you carry more? Do you feel like you’re the only one thinking on your job? If you enjoy Nic and T...

Nic claims these are not rules of traveling, but common courtesies—especially in airports. Have you ever wondered what it might be like to travel with Tarina? Imagine being Nic and Tarina’s new son-in-law on your first vacation with the Bittle Ranch. What if traveling meant being trapped on a boat for seven days with unlimited access to ice cream and a lactose-intolerant brother-in-law? There is a...

With gale force winds outside, Nic and Tarina are back in the Corn Studio having returned safely from their cruise. Nic has enough material to host a podcast describing what it’s like traveling with Tarina for a week. Have you ever wanted to be heard and respected better? Do you have trouble being understood? Or, perhaps, your people do the opposite of what you said? Tarina shares what she recentl...

Tarina got to see Nic speak—first time in six months. They had a direct flight to Atlanta and Nic dressed up a bit. She asked, “Are you wearing your tacky Dakotas belt?” Afterwards, she promised to work on her Nic Bittle clarification. They are going on a family vacation soon. Nic claims Tarina will bring 70 pounds of clothes, and he’ll take a tank top and swimsuit. This conversation returns to Ep...

It was a hard couple of weeks at the Bittle Ranch. Nic and Tarina had to put down Stella, Elle’s dog. Stella is remembered as being all kindness and a lot of joy. Today’s episode is about the damage done from unspoken kindness—Part 2 of The Power of a Kind Word. The unspoken kind word or constant criticism can do untold harm. Tarina tells a story about a top athlete in high school who was under co...

Tarina is working on delegating, especially the deep house cleaning. Nic and Tarina report having a hard conversation about Nic’s travel schedule and his to-do list. And Nic, for the first time ever, went ice fishing with Jason and Derrick and actually drove on the ice. Both Nic and Tarina share stories about receiving a kind word and how it made them feel. Examples range from recognition and appr...

Nic judged a grade school speech competition and had to tell a couple of kids, “No snacks for you.” He enjoyed it because he got to exercise one of his spiritual gifts: judging people. Tarina also points out that Nic is hard to make toast for. The idea of this episode is to build the profile of your ideal week. If you don’t have a profile and life just happens. It’s better to be intentional. What...

Nic received two packages—and on a Saturday of all days. Tarina says she never gets packages on Saturdays. One of them is a new “sock cap” for Nic’s bald head because it’s still cold in Oklahoma. The most important proof of leadership is Ownership. This is the fifth and final proof. When you make a mistake do you “own it” or do you make excuses? We all struggle with admitting when we mess up, espe...

Nic and Tarina mention “snow-megadon” in Oklahoma. While they were looking for warm clothes to fight the chill, Tarina wanted her robber mask. Nic, bumfuzzled, confirms they have plenty of robber/ski masks. In this episode, Nic says that when leadership happens we’re developing others. This is the fourth proof of leadership. It’s important to note that teaching and development are not the same thi...

Tarina launches with a question for Nic: “Can you help me improve?” Nic immediately knows it’s a trap—and he questions whether to take the bait, which he does. In this episode, Nic and Tarina talk about the third Proof of Leadership: Model. They take the idea of leading by example further—giving substance to the practice of modeling the behavior you want to see in others. The question they ask the...

Nic nearly Wreck-it-Ralph’d his Corn studio because he couldn’t get his microphones working—only to find out his speakers were off. And evidently, Tarina loves a good gas station hotdog (not). In this episode, Nic and Tarina talk about the second Proof of Leadership: Clarity. They provide personal examples of how successful they are together when they communicate with clarity. And they agree that...

Nic and Tarina talk about some comments they received from the recent episode on marriage. Nic then informs listeners that Tarina is “fancy”—which we already knew. In the episode, Nic introduces The 5 Proofs of Leadership: Evidence that Leadership is Happening. The first proof that you are competent leader is: You Protect. They discuss different lenses (environments) where you lead. The question:...

On Marriage: PART 2 Nic launches the conversation with an important question: “How do you keep someone as big of a deal like me coming home?” He claims getting that asked a lot. Nic and Tarina have been married for 25 years. One thing they agree contributes to their success is they like each other. They choose each other and pursue one another every day. They admit this isn’t magic. They act on sh...