SunCast 871: 10 Years Later - Adam James on Building Teams, Time & Impact
This episode marks ten years of SunCast - and the return of its very first guest.
In 2015, a young GTM Research analyst named Adam James joined host Nico Johnson for the debut episode exploring the rise of solar in Latin America.
A decade later, Adam is a Partner at Energy Impact Partners and Chair of the Clean Energy Leadership Institute (CELI). Together, he and Nico reflect on how far both they—and the clean energy industry—have come.
This isn’t just a reunion; it’s a conversation about how work, leadership, and life evolve over time. Adam shares what he’s learned about managing people, building systems that scale, and staying grounded through seasons of growth and fatherhood.
They explore:
🔹 What it takes to build great teams and sustainable systems inside fast-growing organizations
🔹 How to hire for responsibility, not just experience
🔹 The lessons fatherhood teaches about leadership and presence
🔹 Why consistency—and showing up—is the real differentiator in both parenting and management
Whether you’ve been listening since that first episode or you’re just discovering SunCast today, this 10-year anniversary conversation captures the heart of what the show has always been about: how we grow—personally, professionally, and collectively—in the work of powering a better future.
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