The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Read more about our team at: https://learningleader.com/team/ Text Hawk to 66866 to become part of Mindful Monday Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com "Have I ever mentioned how much I f'n love these Phase 2 calls?!? Free cocaine. Straight outta the Dope Factory." – Geron Stokes "Another thing that I found is an intense interest of the subject is indispensable if you are really going to excel. I could force myself to be fairly good in a lot of things, but I couldn't be really good in anything where I didn't have an intense interest." – Charlie Munger Our Team Values & Behaviors: Curious: practice invested listening Honest: give direct feedback Intentional: provide purposeful action What is our edge as a TEAM? Our purpose, our values, and our behaviors. We are ACTIVELY doing it. Raw and Simple: We cut through the noise and address the fundamental issues leaders face. Our straightforward approach helps teams confront what they're not doing and empowers them to take actionable steps toward improvement. In The Arena: We don't just talk about leadership principles—we live them. Every member of our team actively practices the strategies we coach, ensuring real-world insights and practical solutions. Take Risks: We're unafraid to push boundaries and challenge conventional thinking. We help leaders take bold actions, even if it means stepping out of their comfort zones or facing tough consequences. Love being on a team that "makes the water rise." We all are better for being together on the same team. Gratitude – You can't roll up your sleeves and clench your fists at the same time. Living with gratitude is about recognizing and appreciating what you have. This will change the lens in which you view the world. Geron (overheard from Coach Mike Gundy): "I can't believe they pay us to do this." It is so much fun working with this team and the reward is that we get to keep doing it. So grateful. The makeup of a great team… They are tough, they have fun together, they care about each other, and they have that gritty humility about them. "Humble enough to listen, gritty enough to apply." Our prep calls – The calls before the calls. We learn so much from our preparation together. It's an open forum to share ideas, disagree, talk through stories, and figure out how to make people better. Some of my favorite times. How to work with the employee who just won't fully buy-in. Be curious, not judgemental. Ask questions. LISTEN. Care. As Sherri said, "Nobody wants to sleepwalk through life." We need to figure out what makes them come alive and help them bring that to the team.

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Text Hawk to 66866 to become part of The Learning Leader Community This is Episode #601 with the CEO of Automattic, Matt Mullenweg Notes: What is your creed? I will never stop learning. I won't just work on things that are assigned to me. I know there's no such thing as a status quo. I will build our business sustainably through passionate and loyal customers. I will never pass up an opportunity to help out a colleague, and I'll remember the days before I knew everything. I am more motivated by impact than money, and I know that Open Source is one of the most powerful ideas of our generation. I will communicate as much as possible because it's the oxygen of a distributed company. I am in a marathon, not a sprint, and no matter how far away the goal is, the only way to get there is by putting one foot in front of another every day. Given time, there is no problem that's insurmountable. "People need something to believe in." -- That's what draws talent to the company. What do you look for when hiring a leader? "The four qualities that you can't train..." Work ethic Taste Integrity Curiosity Coaching -- Expose your leaders to coaches. Mirror Ask questions Reflect Commonalities of leaders who sustain excellence: Optimism in dark times Player coaches -- They can do the work AND lead others Hire well -- They spot talent, hire, train, develop, and retain them Commencement speech -- Encourage others to think bigger. Raise their ambition. From Tyler Cowen -- The high-return activity of raising others' aspirations - (PhD instead of Masters) At critical moments in time, you can raise the aspirations of other people significantly, simply by suggesting they do something better or more ambitious than what they might have in mind. It costs you relatively little to do this, but the benefit to them, and to the broader world, may be enormous. Matt's Twitter Bio -- I can think. I can wait. I can fast– This comes from Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha. Siddartha said "if you can think, wait, and fast, you can do just about anything." Don't constrain your mentors by their availability, engage with their work! Jim Simons was a mentor for Matt. Be guided by beauty. Will Durant - Health lies in action, and so it graces youth. To be busy is the secret of grace and half the secret of content. Let us ask the gods not for possessions, but for things to do; happiness is in making things rather than in consuming them." Matt's goals -- My goals in life are to democratize publishing, commerce, and messaging. I travel a lot. In 2023 I visited 63 cities, and 18 countries, and my average velocity was 41.9 miles per hour. I was born and raised in Houston, Texas. I write code, poetry, prose, and music, often in support of those three goals, but sometimes just to make the world a more beautiful place. I love taking photos and have posted over 30,000 to this site, hence my common username photomatt.

Read our book, The Score That Matters - https://amzn.to/4ggpYdW Full shownotes at www.LearningLeader.com The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk We are celebrating episode #600 with Keith Hawk and AJ Hawk Tell a story about an awesome leader you worked with... Ron Ullery – I'm a firm believer that people either live up to or down to your expectations. And most people set their expectations for themselves too low. So it's on you as a leader to raise those expectations for them. Demand more because you know they can do more. Tyler Cowen – The high return activity of raising others' aspirations. Encouraged someone who was going for an MBA to get a Phd. At critical moments in time, you can raise the aspirations of other people significantly, especially when they are relatively young, simply by suggesting they do something better or more ambitious than what they might have in mind. It costs you relatively little to do this, but the benefit to them, and to the broader world, may be enormous. What helps you give a great speech? How do you prepare? Ask, "What do I want my audience to do after seeing my speech?" Interview members of their team. Learn their terminology, challenges, what's going well, what's not, what are their goals, etc... Practice, practice, practice. Say it out loud. Rehearse so that once you're on stage, you can let it rip. What did the best teams you've been on do differently than the average teams? The best players on the best teams always practiced the hardest. They set the tone for the work ethic of the team. They chose extra work. They set high standards and they demanded others raise their level of performance. The best teams hung out together outside of work. AJ was a Captain of the Green Bay Packers Super Bowl-winning team in 2010-2011... That team regularly hung out together outside of working hours, shared lots of meals, and knew each other extremely well. They trusted each other. Tell a story about how you've shown resilience… Failed and what did you do next? The Miami/Ben Roethlisberger story - The world doesn't care what you think you deserve. The primary goal is focused on adding value to others' lives. AJ shared a story from his sophomore year at Ohio State. His defensive coordinator, Coach Mark Dantonio sat with him 1 on 1 watching each play of the Michigan game. A day he'll never forget for how hard it was, how upset he was, and how determined he was to respond. AJ never lost to Michigan again in his career after that. Pistol shared a story about the time when the new CEO wanted to bring in his own head of sales (which was Pistol's job). Instead of complaining and leaving the company, he got creative and offered a new idea and a great way to leverage all the skills and knowledge he developed from being at the company for so long. It is amazingly rare for the head of sales to stay at a company after he's been replaced. But he thrived in the role and made the company better. Front line obsession – Pistol's story of the legendary Mert McGill going to the Supreme Court to demo LexisNexis and earning the most important sale in the company's history. I love stories about leaders proactively taking action and not being afraid to do the work. Update since Episode #500: Built the Learning Leader Team -- Officially working full-time with Sherri Coale, Brook Cupps, Geron Stokes, and Eli Leiker. We are working with leaders from a wide variety of companies throughout the U.S. The magic of the Pat McAfee Show -- They are unafraid. They say what others are thinking but are too afraid to say. They are authentic and fully themselves. They have great role clarity. Everyone knows and embraces their roles and excels at them. The End of the Podcast Draft – You're stranded on a deserted island. You have one iPad. On that iPad has 5 TV shows (and nothing else). Which shows do you choose? This is a competition with a clear winner and losers. The object is to win the draft.

Read our book, The Score That Matters https://amzn.to/3XxHi7p Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Sustaining Excellence Good get at getting stuff done Make a change from an expert to a learning machine Apply to be in my Learning Leader Circle Leadership is: Teaching – sharing with others what they need to know, how to do something Mentoring - Help them see the world from our eyes Coaching - Help them see the world through their eyes. To do that, we must be good listeners, ask questions, and challenge them Follow what's interesting to you… To figure out your passion, you have to do stuff. That's the only way to fully learn what you're good at and what you want to do. Have to be willing to try, fail, keep going, and figure out where you excel and what you're curious about. That's how you find your passion and do it for a living. They set up leadership dyads and triads at the Mayo Clinic. Group up a doctor, a nurse, and an administrator to help make decisions. This way you gain the perspective from different angles, people, and experiences. You have to context-shift radically, from an ER to a boardroom to a coaching session. Not everybody can wear all those hats, and yet Rick does it really well (with grace and humility). What's the difference between a coach and a mentor? When you mentor: You share your experience & subject-matter expertise. You help a colleague see the world & its potential—through your eyes. When you coach: You help your colleague make sense of their world—from their perspective. Effective leaders: seek diverse perspectives recognize the bias of individual opinion make decisions methodically Ineffective leaders: make reflexive decisions amplify the thoughts of a few see alternate perspectives as obstacles Hiring -- What are the must-haves for a leadership role? Knowledge Fit with the team Collaborate Align with the values How to run 1:1s Consent to an agenda Ask useful questions LISTEN Career and Life Advice: Ask Who, How, What, Why Seek multiple perspectives Atul Gawande's Checklist Manifesto is useful.

Full Show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Read our book: The Score That Matters - https://amzn.to/3AAPyds The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Ep # 598: Sam Parr Notes Sam's mantra (which he has tattooed on his thigh): "Bold. Fast. Fun." It's really hard to beat someone who moves fast, takes risks, and has fun doing it. Think big, but you have to get started. We see Hustle Con and the 2,500 people and think that's just how it always was. It started as a small book club, then a small event that made a little money... And YEARS later it's HustleCon which helped launch The Hustle, which then eventually sold for 10's of millions. We have to get started and keep going. The most important skill set (according to Sam) is the ability to convince people of something. Persuading others. You have to believe in it yourself, be a clear thinker, and know how to communicate that to others to make them believe in it too. This skill will help you accomplish a lot. Writing – Write like you talk. Writing clarifies your thinking… Think in headlines – Thinking in headlines will make you a clearer thinker. It will help you see how an idea should be framed, identify different ways to tell your story, and show you the soul of your topic. Back against the wall - "I firmly believe in putting my back against the wall." Deadlines, pressure, and harsh goals will pull out the best from you. Copy by Hand – Sam copied the best sales letters of all time by hand. Let the writing you admire pass through your fingers. This method is called copywork. What Sam learned backstage at his events with rich people/CEOs - "They weren't smarter than me." We're all just figuring it out as we go.: " Cold emails -- Work that muscle. AirBnB cold email story: "I cold emailed this guy named Brian. And he had a company called Air Bed and Breakfast. I said, 'Hey, this sounds like a cool thing. I want to interview. I think I can help make it better by doing a few things.' And they said, 'Are you in the Bay Area?' 'Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm there.' And he said, 'Alright, great. Come to the office on Monday.' So I booked the flight and I flew out and got an interview there. That's how I got introduced to startups. And then I eventually moved to San Francisco." Sports - Love them because they are objective. The time doesn't lie. Same with business. The numbers don't lie. You know you're going to feel pain (before running a 400m), but you do it anyway and push through it. That's what makes them great. How to raise tough kids? "I'm scared. I think about this all the time. Will need to remove the things that make my life easy like all the service providers have now." Hiring - Freaks, weirdos. The others. Want people passionate about something. Anything. Bottom 4th of the resume. Be skilled at something, not a generalist. Writing/communication - No typos. Clear writing = clear thinking. We want clear thinkers. Especially for leadership roles. Fame - "I don't want that anymore, but I still want to be taken seriously by the big boys. I'm still insecure about building something other than a media company." Advice: "Be a fucking animal." Don't let anything stop you. Excellence - "Like your shit. Enjoy it. Must have endurance. Be like a cockroach and stay alive. Survive. Don't quit. Don't be vanilla. Do dope shit."

Go to www.LearningLeader.com for full show notes Read our book, The Score That Matters https://amzn.to/4dNLqoH The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Episode #597 -- Daniel Pink How to give a great townhall speech: Begin with the end in mind. What do you want the people in the audience to do? Prepare, don't wing it. Be ready. Practice Sound like you. Don't try to sound like Steve Jobs or someone else. When you're on stage or presenting at work, sound like you. Be genuine. Ideas for persuading others: Make it easy for others to say yes Social proof - Show that others are doing it (this is why companies put the logos of their customers on their website) Know when to appeal to the head or the heart. Typically, it's the heart and emotion when speaking to those who work for you. And it's your head when speaking to your boss. This is nuanced though and not black and white. Remember, there are two types of people: Those who make their boss's life easier or harder. Be the former. Pitching... Miles Teller in the TV show The Offer. Instead of trying to convince the mob boss to allow him to make the movie, he offered to show him the script and collaborate with him. The best pitches invite others to be co-creators. The motivation framework: Autonomy: The desire to direct our own lives. Giving people more control over their work or tasks can enhance motivation and performance. Mastery: The urge to get better at something that matters. People are more motivated when they see progress and can develop their skills. Purpose: The feeling that what we do is important and has meaning. Connecting tasks or jobs to a larger cause can be a powerful motivator. "If you're not confident, don't be self-deprecating." To Sell is Human - "We're all in sales... Convincing, cajoling, persuading." Make it easy for people to say yes... That's what the best salespeople do. Social Cues -- From Robert Cialdini - People look around for cues. That's why companies put logos of their customers on their websites. So others look and say, "Oh, they are with them, I guess we can be too." Know when to appeal to the head or heart. "When managing up, it's usually their head. When managing down, it's usually their heart." Processing fluency - Make it sticky. Memorable. Rhyme. Repetition. Repetition. Repetition.

Read our book, The Score That Matters https://amzn.to/3XxHi7p Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Notes: Arthur grew up with one goal - To be the world's greatest French horn player. He learned that striving for something was fungible across all fields of life. It was a great laboratory for learning. Intrinsic vs Extrinsic motivation - Intrinsic motivation comes from an internal desire to accomplish a goal, while extrinsic motivation comes from external rewards and praise. "Misery comes from excessive auto-focus." Misery comes from thinking about yourself too much and not enough about helping others. The curse of the strive... All happiness comes from progress. The arrival is not the goal. How to be happy while striving: Be grateful - Write it down. Do it daily. Always look to help others. "All research is 'me-search.'" The Four Idols: Money, Power, Pleasure, and Prestige/Fame. We talked through ours… What are yours? The Four Focus areas to help with happiness Faith Family Friendship Serving Others Define your purpose. Write it down. Understand why you're here. Mine = "To inspire others to value and pursue excellence." Too many people are ok with mediocrity. We should strive for more. Oprah Winfrey is the same person everywhere she goes. She is genuine and authentic to all. Arthur's column helped Oprah stay positive and happy through the pandemic. So much so that she called him and asked to meet. And eventually, write a book together. That book became a #1 best-seller. #1 Life Hack: "Don't lie ever." Arthur is jacked (in great shape). Taking care of your body helps with unhappiness. Wake up 1.5 hours before dawn. Work out hard. Lift weights. Do challenging cardio. Life/Career Advice: Don't worry too much about the first job out of college. Don't sacrifice relationships. Bring love to every relationship and be great at what you do. Be excellent. Emanate love and show excellence.

Read our book, The Score That Matters https://amzn.to/3XxHi7p Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com This episode is supported by Insight Global. Insight Global is a staffing company dedicated to empowering people. Please CLICK HERE for premier staffing and talent. "I looked at these guys (homeless) and demanded nothing but pure excellence from them. And it was almost as if they were waiting for someone to do that." Set high expectations for people. Believe in them. Care for them. Support them. Love them. And watch what happens. This is leadership. Nobody runs by themselves. What a great life motto. We all need people. Anne believes in the importance of community and doing hard things together. Her mindset was fostered, in sometimes complicated ways, by her childhood home life, she says. At age 16, her parents divorced after her father gambled away their family savings. To cope, Mahlum started running and became hyper-focused on the idea of controlling her own life. When others are playing defense, go on offense. When others are scared, get aggressive (easier said than done). Anne did it. "Running is the vehicle we're using to create community and positive reinforcement." "If you want to make change, you have to help others see that they can do it. You can't force it on them." How to build a great non-profit: Identity - Each group had team names Need team leaders, people to map out logistics, and volunteer coordinators Need to make day 1 incredible. Launch BIG. Target the right people - In Anne's case, it was executives who were runners... Decision makers who appreciated running. Goals - Work backwards. Set a date and then do whatever it takes to hit that launch date. solidcore -- Anne thought big from the beginning. She was opening her second location almost the same time her first location went live. She always wanted to scale it and thought about it from Day 1. Important to hire great coaches. They needed a great personality and had to make every member feel welcome. Learn everyone's name. Say their name. Anne learned from How to Win Friends and Influence People Risk-Taker - Step into uncertainty. That's how you build confidence. "I always bet on myself." Action builds confidence. Push past the uncertainty. Create evidence for yourself. Make the things that were previously uncomfortable for you more comfortable now by taking action. When others are playing defense, go on offense. That creates your edge… Anne's plan was always to sell Solidcore... Her strength is in bringing concepts to life and building communities, rather than sustaining them over time. The same month she exited the company, she opened her next venture, a New York-based fitness studio chain called Ambition.

Read our book, The Score That Matters https://amzn.to/3XxHi7p Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com This episode is supported by Insight Global. Insight Global is a staffing company dedicated to empowering people. Please CLICK HERE for premier staffing and talent. Ask deep questions – A deep question asks about someone's values, beliefs, judgments, or experiences, rather than just facts. A deep question asks people to talk about how they feel. Asking a deep question should feel like sharing. NASA listened to how people laughed and if they possessed a genuine matching quality. Not performative or inauthentic, but people who connect with others by matching their energy. The 4 Rules of a learning conversation: Pay attention to what type of conversation is occurring Share your goals, ask what others are seeking Ask about others' feelings and share your own Explore if identities are important to this discussion The How Do We Feel conversation: What can we learn about listening from Nicholas Epley? (Psychology Professor). (Everyone knows how to listen deeply. If a podcast or something is interesting, nobody struggles to listen). Epley didn't teach them how to listen. He urged them to have more interesting and meaningful conversations. To talk about feelings. When we talk about feelings, something magical happens. Other people can't help but listen to us. Practical actions to take: Ask Deep Questions: Instead of sticking to surface-level topics, ask questions that invite people to share their values, beliefs, or significant experiences. For instance, if someone mentions they are a doctor, ask them what inspired them to pursue medicine. Prove You're Listening: Demonstrate that you are actively listening by asking follow-up questions or repeating back what the other person has said to ensure understanding. Match Emotional Tone: Pay attention to the other person's emotional state and match it appropriately. If someone is sharing something emotional, respond with empathy rather than attempting to offer solutions immediately. Understand the Social Identity: Be mindful of the social identities that might be important in a conversation. This awareness can enhance understanding and connection by showing respect for the experiences and viewpoints shaped by those identities. Charles shared that understanding whether a conversation is emotional, social, or practical is crucial, especially in leadership and educational settings. Teachers, for instance, are taught to ask students if they want to be helped, heard, or hugged—a reminder that recognizing the intent behind communications is key to providing appropriate support and connection. Time Stamps 01:06 Educational Choices and Parental Guidance 02:03 Reporting from Iraq: A Journalist's Perspective 03:41 The Bike Messenger Experience 05:47 The Harvard Study and Its Impact 09:23 Felix Sagala: The Art of Deep Communication 13:30 Mastering the Skills of Super Communication 20:25 Connecting with Strangers: Nicholas Epley's Experiment 21:20 Emotional Intelligence in Space: NASA's Challenge 24:51 The Matching Principle: Authentic vs. Fake 32:27 Insights from The Big Bang Theory Writers 35:36 The Art of Learning Conversations

Read our book, The Score That Matters https://amzn.to/3XxHi7p Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com This episode is supported by Insight Global. Insight Global is a staffing company dedicated to empowering people. Please CLICK HERE for premier staffing and talent. Episode #593: Kim Campbell - Contingency Planning, Responding to Adversity, Earning Trust & Respect, Flying in the Face of Fear, and How To Run a Debrief Aviate, Navigate, Communicate - "Aviate, navigate, communicate" is a fundamental principle in aviation that pilots learn early in flight training. It's a priority order that helps pilots stay focused and in control, even when they're under pressure or distracted: Aviate: Keep the plane flying Navigate: Figure out where you are and where you're going Communicate: Talk to air traffic control (ATC) or someone else as needed On March 20, 2003, Kim wrote letters to her loved ones in case she died in battle. Prepare, practice, and plan for contingencies. My college football coach, the late great, Terry Hoeppner used to always say, have a plan, work the plan, plan for the unexpected. As leaders, it's on us to prepare, practice, and plan for contingencies. You don't have to get ready if you stay ready. I love the way Kim's dad helped support her dream to be a fighter pilot. If you want to do this, you have to put in the work. Run hills, and do pull-ups every time you go to the bathroom. He didn't just tell her you can do whatever you want… He created opportunities for Kim to do the necessary work to achieve what she wanted. Kim's telling of the story of how she was hit and how she responded. An amazing example of responding in the face of fear, dealing with adversity in a calm, poised manner, and making a tough decision. Kim's training and her attitude is what set her apart and saved her life. Response to Rejection: Initially Kim was rejected by the Air Force Academy because of a low SAT score. In response, instead of quitting and moving on, she wrote a letter to them every week stating why they should accept her… Which they eventually did. Dealing with fear: What's most important is what we do in the face of fear. We can't freeze. We must take action. The Debrief: Check your rank and ego at the door. Write all the objectives down. Next to each one, grade it a plus or a minus. Find the root causes of each mistake. What lessons can we learn from our mistakes? What will we change for our next mission based on what we learned? Share lessons learned beyond that room. Johnny Bravo - Be humble, approachable, and credible. That's how you earn trust and respect and inspire others to follow.

Read our book, The Score That Matters https://amzn.to/3XxHi7p Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com This episode is supported by Insight Global. Insight Global is a staffing company dedicated to empowering people. Please CLICK HERE for premier staffing and talent. Notes: Commonalities of excellent coaches: Not defensive Respond well to feedback Ability to learn "Leadership can't be taught but it can be learned." Coaching is not therapy, but it can be therapy-adjacent. It's not telling people what to do and it's not just asking questions. It's a combination of all of them. There is ample research on the benefits of writing. It clarifies your thinking. The questions to ask someone who might need an executive coach: Why do you want a coach? Why now? What do you hope to get out of it? What do great leaders do? First, do no harm. Walk the talk. Be an embodiment of the culture. Have high standards Take risks Coach people up Train people "Coaching is accomplishment through others." "Feedback is not a gift." Feedback is data. Signal and noise. Signal - Important and good. Noise - Byproduct of someone's distorted lens. "Praise, Criticism, Praise (PCP) is terrible." Don't give the compliment sandwich. It's disingenuous. How leaders best overcome adversity – The most critical skill is "adaptive capacity..." It's composed of two primary qualities: the ability to grasp context, and hardiness. Coaching - Asking evocative questions, ensuring the other person feels heard, and actively conveying empathy remain the foundations of coaching. Connect: Establish and renew the interpersonal connection, followed by an open-ended question. Reflect: Having elicited a response, reflect back the essence of the other person's comments. Direct: Focus their attention on a particular aspect of their response that invites further exploration. Support and Challenge - A client once said, "It feels like you're always in my corner, but you never hesitate to challenge me." Master the Playbook, Throw it Away - Coaching involves a continuous and cyclical process of learning, unlearning, and relearning. Power Dynamics - The longer I coach, the more I appreciate and value the work of Jeff Pfeffer, a leading scholar on power. philosopher Ernest Becker: "If you are wrong about power, you don't get a chance to be right about anything else." "Meaningful coaching is always an emotionally intimate experience, no matter what's being discussed. In part this is a function of the context: two people talking directly to each other with no distractions... Intimacy in a coaching relationship also results from a willingness to 'make the private public'--to share with another person the thoughts and feelings that we usually keep to ourselves... And yet an essential factor that makes such intimacy possible is a clear set of boundaries defining the relationship, which creates an inevitable and necessary sense of distance..."

Read our book, The Score That Matters https://amzn.to/3XxHi7p Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com This episode is supported by Insight Global. Insight Global is a staffing company dedicated to empowering people. Please CLICK HERE for premier staffing and talent. Ryan Holiday is one of the world's bestselling living philosophers. His books like The Obstacle Is the Way, Ego Is the Enemy, The Daily Stoic, and the #1 New York Times bestseller Stillness Is the Key appear in more than 40 languages and have sold more than 5 million copies. His latest book (a #1 NY Times Best-Seller) is called Right Thing, Right Now. This conversation was recorded in person at Ryan's bookstore, The Painted Porch, which sits on historic Main St in Bastrop, Texas. Notes: June 16, 2024 – Birthday and Father's Day. How does stoicism impact you as a dad? "What's at stake today is how they remember you 20 years from now." Choose a North Star -- Choosing a North Star can function as a compass professionally, personally, and morally. Most people don't do the work to figure out what their North Star is… Most people default to what others do, and then they end up comparing themselves to others. Ryan Holiday's North Star? Writing... Pay the taxes of life gladly: Not just from the government. Annoying people are a tax on being outside your house. Delays are a tax on travel. Haters are a tax on having a YouTube channel. There's a tax on everything in life. You can whine. Or you can pay them gladly. Oscar Wilde wrote in The Portrait of Dorian Grey "The aim of life is self-development. To realize one's nature perfectly. That is what each of us is here for." —- What are you here for? Stoicism - "A stoic doesn't control what happens but they focus on how to respond to what happened. The virtues of stoicism are courage, discipline, justice, and wisdom." Build a coaching tree -- Popovich reference - and his coaching tree - how do we get better at making a goal to build a forest of leaders? What's interesting about Pop's coaching tree is there is a huge diversity of what he's created. What's interesting is the coaches who have learned from him are all different - they're not replicas of Coach Popovich. RC Buford (GM of the San Antonio Spurs) said, "We have a good coaching tree. That's what we do here. In all roles." A shocking number of players have decided to stay in San Antonio, so much so that they have an alumni locker room in their practice facility because they choose to stick around afterward. "I love the idea of "hey we're an organization, and we want to win, but our ultimate job is to bring good people in, and bring them better, and learn from them along the way." "We don't talk enough about the bad coaching trees… ultimately you measure greatness about how replicable their system is and others can take it and use it as well. Don't just judge people on their wins, but on their coaching tree… or lack thereof. When you're hiring someone, can you both be on the same page - and there's clarity. When I get invited to something, who am I bringing? Or when it's a specific project, who on my team will crush it with me or on their own? Understanding that this will be a tour of duty. Robert Greene - "Robert knew I wanted to be a writer and he knew what I wanted to do, and it allowed me to realize that he was letting me do this to understand how the whole writing process works. If somebody wants to work with someone else, what's the best way to reach out to that person, to try and get your foot in the door." Mentors: (Advice to mentees) "Don't say 'I'll do whatever, or I'll do anything,' I don't need anything done, I have very specific things that need to be done. Don't present them with the problem of you…. Present them with the problem they have and several ideas that you have to potentially help. Be specific and present a solution to a potential problem that maybe they haven't thought about yet." Keep your hands clean - the difference between Patrick Reed and Rory McIlroy. Be kind — JM Barrie, the creator of Peter Pan said in 1902, "Shall we make a new rule of life from tonight? Always try to be a little kinder than is necessary." Discipline is a "me" virtue. Justice is a "we" virtue. Make "Good" Trouble - "If you got into this to gain a lot of fans, you'll never do anything to lose fans….. you don't have the fans, the fans have you… it's the other way around. There's a balance, I don't want to speak up on every divisive issue, but at the same time if you're not speaking up on things that you think are important, and you keep silent, then you're creating a form of death, and you're hurting other people that could potentially learn from your words and thoughts… You have to think about how you want to use your platform and the authority you have. It's easy to say politicians live this way, but when's the last time you spoke up on something you didn't agree on?" President Truman - "An incredible example of an ordinary person doing extraordinary th

Read our book, The Score That Matters https://amzn.to/3XxHi7p Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com This episode is supported by Insight Global. Insight Global is a staffing company dedicated to empowering people. Please CLICK HERE for premier staffing and talent. Notes: Nat Eliason studied philosophy at Carnegie Mellon University. Since he started publishing his writing in 2013, his work has been read by millions of people and spun out multiple businesses ranging from a marketing agency to a cafe. He's the author of Crytpo Confidential: Winning and Losing Millions in the New Frontier of Finance. How to make our days more memorable? Throw parties with 3-4 different phases. When taking your loved one out on a date, have 3 different parts. Implement homework for life. Write down the stories of each day. This helps you remember them more. Do Hard Things – Our self-image is composed of historical evidence of our abilities. The more hard things you push yourself to do, the more competent you will see yourself to be. "Build up your identity of being a capable person." "Money corrupts quickly." It's never the right time. Any time you catch yourself saying "Oh it'll be a better time later," you're probably just scared. Or unclear on what to do. There is never a right time for the big things in life. Moonwalking with Einstein -- Memory competitions. Die with Zero -- Create memory dividends (Bill Perkins). Be in the moment. Homework for Life (Matthew Dicks). Nat's birthday this year was the first time he ever felt sad (on a birthday)... Why? "It feels like it's going by quicker than it ever has." Create time with texture? "Mine workers have time with texture. I'm not sure that's memorable or desirable." Crypto Confidential is the roller coaster story of getting rich, going broke, scamming, and getting scammed. It's a narrative of Nat's personal journey through the world of crypto, but it's also a revealing look at exactly how the crypto sausage gets made—and how we can all be more educated participants during the next inevitable bull run. Money can buy happiness. So long as you spend it on upgrading and expanding the things that make you happy, instead of using it to play status games or on fleeting experiences.

Read The Score That Matters https://amzn.to/3zbDGhi Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Notes: How to create a learning organization - Set the tone at the top. The senior leader needs to model this behavior. Create peer groups at your place of work. Team learning is important. Give people the responsibility to lead training sessions. Support your teammates. Pay for them to go to conferences, hire coaches, and learn. Commonalities among leaders who sustain excellence: They are curious. They have no confirmation bias. They have high standards. They respect all members of their team. They have a vision and goals and they share them with their team. GPS - Goals, Perspectives, Strategy. Process -- Full transparency, one meeting per week. Start with a story about a member at each meeting. "If you know what to do, what would you do?" Help high-integrity leaders make good decisions for their company, family, and community. Hiring "must-haves" They believe in the mission They don't think they're better than others They listen They collaborate well Advice: Give back what you can to help others. Be generous. Learn. Get away from bad bosses. Be balanced. The power of being part of a peer accountability group – I've learned firsthand the impact this has on leaders through my Learning Leader Circles. The differences between leading, managing, and coaching, and why you must do all three... Leader - Set direction, make sense of the outside world Manager - Know the details Coach - Help you activate what you already know

Order our new book, The Score That Matters https://amzn.to/3VJoYFZ Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com This episode is supported by Insight Global. Insight Global is a staffing company dedicated to empowering people. Please CLICK HERE for premier staffing and talent. Rejection is a learned skill. Tara has gone through rejection therapy. Go out and ask for something crazy big. Get comfortable with being rejected. Hearing the word no. Go big. Confidence is about keeping promises to yourself. Create evidence for yourself. Create magical moments for the people you're leading. Show them how much you care for them. The small touches are a big deal. The magic is in the small details. How to have fun at your company: Fun (and culture) cannot be outsourced. You cannot delegate "culture carriers." You (the leader) are the ultimate culture carrier. It has to come from you. "Ask for money, get advice. Ask for advice, get money." "If it's too easy, you get soft." It's important to set high expectations for the people you're leading. "The boss I respected the most was a hard ass and very demanding." The difference between nice and kind: Nice = Soft, easy. Kind = Set high expectations. Hold you accountable to them. You're better long-term being kind. Tara's "must-haves" when hiring a leader: Raw intelligence - How quickly can you learn? Must be a clear and critical thinker. Fantastic communicator Intensity, drive, hunger Sense of humor - Need to be able to laugh and have fun. Values: Business owner Kid at heart Design thinking - Craft for the end-user Peak performance Be human Keys to a great off-site retreat Craft for the people High energy Sense of connection - get to know each other Peak performance workbook - set goals Small touches - personalized gifts for the team (like picture frames with personalized pictures in them) Create magical moments to connect Focus on the arrival - make it special Eliminate loneliness - Assigned seats, name tags, conversation prompts (especially helps introverts) Tara worked at LuluLemon while in grad school at Stanford. It was a useful learning experience for her. She worked for a world-class manager. What Tara learned from her parents: Leadership is about modeling the right behaviors. Advice - "If you want to be extraordinary, you can't fit in." "Give way more than everybody else." "Follow great people and be around greatness." Tara created a 50-slide PowerPoint while going for a role as a part-time content writer. Going above and beyond for that leader left an impression and that woman who Tara impressed remains a mentor, investor, and friend to this day more than a decade later. You never know what will happen if you consistently over-deliver for people.

Read our new book, The Score That Matters https://amzn.to/3VlZHCA Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com This episode is supported by Insight Global. Insight Global is a staffing company dedicated to empowering people. Please CLICK HERE for premier staffing and talent. Notes: Daniel Negreanu has earned over 52 million dollars at the poker table, which ranks him as the highest-earning player in live tournament poker history. He's won 6 world series of poker bracelets, two world poker tour titles, and Daniel was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2014. He's often referred to as "Kid Poker" and is known for his charismatic personality at the table. Commonalities among the greatest poker players in the world: Self-Awareness Humility In order to avoid criticism, "say nothing, do nothing, be nothing." Daniel is obsessed with the Rocky movies and the lessons learned from each one. Rocky 3 - Don't get complacent. Rocky 4 - It's heart versus machine. Rocky Balboa - But it ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done! The luck factor... Dealing with things outside of our control. A victim versus an owner mentality. Victims will complain, give up, sulk, be passive-aggressive, or procrastinate. Owners will seek solutions, take action, or ask for help. Victims will focus on things they cannot control, while owners will focus on things they can control. "A big mistake is a beautiful opportunity." It's easier to be a victim and not take responsibility. "Failure builds muscle." "I don't care what others think anymore. I do not have that fear." Rounders (the movie) is the greatest poker movie of all time. Why Daniel is inspired by Sylvester Stallone... He's not complacent In Rocky IV it was heart versus machine. Rocky (Sly) was all heart. Outspoken and direct – "If you have a problem with me, text me. And if you don't have my number then you don't know me well enough to have a problem with me." – Christian Bale Phil Ivey said about Daniel: "I can't think of too many people who have done more for the game of poker than Daniel." When was Daniel happiest? "I would say in very high-stress situations. During the World Series of Poker main event [in 2015], when I actually was eliminated in 11th place and felt a gut punch." Early life – Be Rich – At an early age, Daniel was ambitious: "From the age of four, I thought I'd be rich. I told my mom I'd build a house out of Popsicle sticks and move to California." Sharing both the wins and the losses with his fans: "This is what holding yourself accountable looks like. I could lie, right…or B. I could just not share this with you but then that wouldn't be authentic and real, right? I'm not just going to share my winning years, I'm going to share my losing years." Daniel is willing to go outside of his comfort zone... Head's up matches with Doug Polk (a head's up specialist): On July 29, 2020, after a years-long feud, Daniel publicly accepted a challenge to a high-stakes grudge match with Doug Polk. They played 25,000 hands of No-Limit Texas Hold'em at $200/$400 stakes. The duel ended on February 4, 2021, with Polk winning approximately $1,200,000 over 25,000 hands. Then in 2023, Daniel got a rematch with Doug and beat him for $200K and a championship belt.

Read our book, The Score That Matters https://amzn.to/3VrogOC Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com This episode is supported by Insight Global. Insight Global is a staffing company dedicated to empowering people. Please CLICK HERE for premier staffing and talent. Notes: What Erika learned from her dad: "He loved his work and was so full from it. Three weeks before he died he was doing Zoom calls with students from the ER even though it was beyond unnecessary and impractical to do so. If you love what you do it can add so much dimension to your life and the lives of others. He liked people and to learn from them. There's something to learn from everybody. And the best control was no control - let things happen and learn from them & adapt. Career advice: Know what your company is paying you to do. And the better you make your boss look, the better it will be for you. Find problems and clear the path for your boss. Make their life easier. Make them look good. That's the role when you have a boss. Must-Haves When she's making a hiring decision: Be able to share stories of how you've gone for something that failed, and learned Be curious, ask thoughtful questions Do research on the company. CARE. Test the product. Be able to demonstrate that you know what it does. Bring a point of view. Articulate what you could bring to the role and how you could make the company better. Joanne— I wanted to be you until I realized I couldn't, so I decided to be me. I studied you for twelve years. You are the architect of all my work dreams, and you are the scaffolding I built myself on. You put force into my nature, and for that I am so grateful. Getting the Barstool CEO role: She earned the job over 74 male candidates. "I wanted this job because they were considered too rogue, too untouchable, too badly behaved, too unproven. Dave Portnoy (the founder) was powerful, seemingly unmanageable, and volatile." In 2012, when Chernin bought a majority stake in Barstool, the company was worth $12 million. You sold it to Penn Entertainment seven years later for $550 million. Make Your Own Luck – When Erika was nearly graduating college, she applied for an internship at Converse no less than 45 times. She never got an interview. Why? "I didn't do anything unique enough, passionate enough, or memorable enough to deserve a chance at the job." "It was a heart attack every day for nine years," Erika said of being Barstool's CEO. As the first-ever CEO of media magnate Barstool Sports, Ayers Badan led the company through explosive growth (+5000% in revenue and significantly more in audience), expanding the company from a regional blog to a national powerhouse brand and media company. During her 9 years steering the company, Barstool became a top ten podcasting publisher in the US, with the world's #1 sports, hockey, golf, and music podcasts, and a top 6 brand globally on TikTok.

Read our USA TODAY Best-Selling Book, The Score That Matters https://amzn.to/4bNbVcO Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Notes: John Quincy Adams once said, "Gratitude… when it takes possession of the bosom, fills the soul to overflowing and scarce leaves room for any other sentiment or thought." Ask yourself the question, "What good shall I do today?" When you're upset that your social media post didn't get as many likes as you thought it would stop and think, 'What good shall I do today?" It can reframe how you approach others and be more servant-based (which is a mark of a great leader) The fox mindset versus the hedgehog mindset. A hedgehog has a single lens. It's more rigid thinking. A fox sees the world through many different lenses. It's more flexible and adaptive. That is a theme of this conversation. Be open, be less judgemental, and be more curious about the way others view the world. "The older I get, the less certain I get of my opinions." "It's easier to act your way into a new way of thinking than think your way into a new way of acting." AJ shared that when he was dedicated to the thank you project even on a bad day when he was focused on saying thank you, his mind eventually caught up to his body. Change Your Mind – the founding fathers did this a lot. Daniel Kahneman said, "No one enjoys being wrong, but I do enjoy having been wrong because it means I am now less wrong than I was before." Be Humble In Your Opinions – Ben Franklin told a short parable. He said, there was a "French lady, who, in a dispute with her sister said, I don't know how it happens, sister, but I meet nobody but myself that is always in the right. The point is that we are all that French lady. We all believe we have a monopoly on the truth. (Remind yourself that you're wrong sometimes) Flexibility of mind: Many of the Founding Fathers were open to the idea that they might be wrong, and more willing to change their minds than leaders are today. At the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin summed up this open-mindedness: "The older I grow the more apt I am to doubt my own judgment." Think Slow – There are parts of modern life that would benefit from an enforced speed limit. We need fewer hot takes and more cold takes. We need more slow thinking. Writing in depth letters by hand forced ideas to be more nuanced. Thumb-texting acronyms have the opposite effect. Slow down consumption. Forced self to read the news just once a day. The value of slow thinking: For the year, AJ wrote a letter with a quill instead of using social media or texts. It was a revelation. It led to a less impulsive, slower style of thinking – a waiting period for his thoughts. Embrace Virtue – In the founding era, virtue was a cherished ideal (now it's often used in the phrase virtue signaling which is not a compliment). "A virtuous person puts the interests of others before their one. They focus on those two key words in the Constitution's Preamble, "General Welfare." We Control the Sun – The sun carved on the back of George Washington's wooden chair at the Constitutional Convention. The sun was cut in half by the horizon. Was it rising or setting? At the end of the convention, Ben Franklin said he was convinced it was rising. America had a bright future (the world is built by optimists) Whether the sun sets or rises on democracy, that's up to us, we the people. In The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Franklin tells a story about his father criticizing his writing."About this time I met with an odd volume of the Spectator," Franklin wrote, "I thought the writing excellent, and wished, if possible, to imitate it." AJ's goal was to try to understand the Constitution by adopting the mindset and lifestyle of the Founders for a full year. He committed to living as the original originalist as a new way of searching for answers to one of the most pressing questions of our time: How should we interpret America's foundational document today?

Our new book, The Score That Matters, is a USA Today Best-Seller! Buy it here: https://amzn.to/44HucGf Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Craig Robinson is the host of Ways to Win. He's the executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). From 2017-2020, he served as the VP of Player Development for the New York Knicks. Previously, he was a Division I head men's basketball coach at Oregon State and Brown. He also is the brother of former First Lady Michelle Obama. Notes: What Craig learned from Coach Pete Carill about recruiting: There is a sales element to it. And one of the most important skills to develop is to become a great LISTENER. Ask questions, listen, and ask more questions. Curiosity is the ultimate form of respect. Coach Carill won over Craig's dad because he was curious. That's a good lesson for all of us. President Obama (Craig's brother-in-law) said Craig's discipline and diligence enhanced his presidential campaign. "Craig doesn't profess to know the specifics of politics the way he knows the X's and O's of basketball, but I think what he does understand is the need to wake up every morning doing your best and having a positive attitude. And him communicating that to me was always very helpful." When (future President) Barack Obama was dating Craig's sister (Michelle), he told their family at Thanksgiving dinner that he had aspirations and a plan to be the President of the United States. It seemed crazy at the time, but he made it happen. What are the "must-have" qualities to be a coach on Craig's staff? Connect with people Lifelong learning Curiosity Fill in gaps (be strong where Craig is not) Must be a good listener What Craig looked for in a player when recruiting: Baseline talent (table stakes) 2-3 "bucket-getters" High IQ Flexible After graduating from Princeton, where he played for Pete Carril and was twice named the Ivy League player of the year, Criag wanted to coach. Instead, he went to graduate school and succeeded in the financial world, including spending seven years as a vice president at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. Then, he pivoted away and took an assistant job on Bill Carmody's staff at Northwestern. That job eventually led Robinson to Brown, where in two seasons he overhauled the program with his work ethic, tough love, and relentless demands on his players. He put a dictionary in the locker room for players to look up the words he used, a tradition that has continued at Oregon State. What made him not immediately go into coaching? Pete Craill telling him to get a real job. It's amazing the influence the people we look up to can have on us. Craig's fondest memory? January 20, 2009. He went to President Obama's inauguration in Washington D.C. He then flew to a game on the west coast (as the head coach of Oregon State). And received a standing ovation from the visiting team's crowd as he walked out!

Our new book, The Score That Matters, is a USA Today National Best-Seller. Buy it here: https://amzn.to/3Qw9Mu0 Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Making decisions – Decisions aren't hard — it's the moments after that are. Whenever I make decisions, I don't think about now, I think about eventually. How will this feel then, maybe a year from now. When it's real, not raw. When the complications around the concern have cleared, and distance has done its job. Goal setting - 37 Signals does not set long-term goals. Jason (as the CEO) helps set the direction and they work in six-week sprints. Think, "What am I optimizing for?" 37 Signals does not have a board of directors or advisors. Is it more helpful to have a chip on your shoulder to prove someone wrong or to be motivated to prove your supporters right? Both can be useful. Keys to a great partnership? Jason works with his co-founder, David Heinemeier Hansson (a previous guest on The Learning Leader Show). Mutual admiration Have complementary skills (Jason is design, DHH is engineering) A company is essentially two things: a group of people and a collection of decisions. How those people make these decisions is the art of running a business. Maxims: Decide what you're going to do this week, not this year. Whenever you can, swap "Let's think about it" for "Let's decide on it." Momentum fuels motivation. Just ship it. You'll figure out what needs to be fixed as you go. Mark Zuckerberg is coming into his own... There are lots of reasons for it. One of them (maybe)? He's working out, in great shape, fighting MMA style, and surrounding himself around others who are doing the same. All leaders should have a writing practice. Hopefully, you don't feel the need to send it to a lawyer or a comms team before publishing it or sharing it with the people you're leading. Write like you talk. Write what's in your head. Think about what you want to say, and say it. You never know who is watching: Jeff Bezos sat in the front row for one of Jason's keynotes and was so impressed that he asked to invest in his company. When you have the guts to put your thoughts and beliefs out into the world, it can work as a magnetic effect to attract people to you. It's refreshing to hear Jason talk about one of the core qualities he loves most about Jeff: he is overwhelmingly optimistic. The world is built by optimists. You don't create culture. It happens. A company's culture is a 50-day moving average. It's what you've been collectively doing as a company over the last 50 days. How do you treat people? Who have you hired (or fired) and why? Company off-site events: They do two per year (one in the United States, and one abroad). Members of Jason's team meticulously design them. One day of business followed by time for the team to hang out, do activities together, eat together, and bond. Does Jason have plans to sell 37 Signals? "No, that would be the demise of the company."

Read our book, The Score That Matters https://amzn.to/44qxsph The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Notes on this conversation with Cal Newport (Obsess over quality). Jewel obsessed over the quality of her work so much that she turned down a 1m dollar offer (even while living out of her car) because she needed time to make her work excellent. Obsess over the quality of what you produce, even if this means missing opportunities in the short term. Leverage the value of these results to gain more and more freedom in your efforts over the long term. Benjamin Franklin – He hired David Hall to create time freedom. He needed time to think, time to experiment. He gave up money in the short term to gain time freedom to create something for the future. There's no guarantee that it would pay off, but we all should think about how we can make investments that our future self would thank us for. Have fewer concurrent active projects. Instead of focusing on 10 things, focus on 2 or 3. Make it public. Share with your team. Be known as a leader who focuses on a few important objectives instead of 10 of them. Match your space to your work – Be in nature, Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote Hamilton in the Morris-Jumel Mansion, the oldest surviving house in Manhattan (served as headquarters for George Washington during the Battle of Harlem Heights, and home of Aaron Burr when he was Vice President), Neil Gaiman built a spartan, 8 sided writing shed that sits on low stilts and offers views on all sides of endless trees. Do Fewer Things: Limit Daily Goals – Cal learned this from his doctoral adviser at MIT. She was incredulous about Cal's attempts to switch back and forth between multiple academic papers. She preferred to get lost in a single project at a time. Cal was convinced that the slowness of working on just one important thing per day would hold him back. Work at a Natural Pace Don't rush your most important work. Allow it instead to unfold along a sustainable timeline, with variations in intensity over different timescales, and, when possible, executed in settings conducive to brilliance. Slow productivity emphatically rejects the performative rewards of unwavering urgency. Grand achievement is built on the steady accumulation of modest results over time, and you should give your efforts the breathing room and respect required to make them part of a life well lived, not an obstacle to it. Obsess over Quality By focusing intensely on the small number of activities that matter most to our jobs, you can find both the motivation and justification for slowness. Improve your taste. It's in the uneasy distance between our taste and our ability that improvement happens – aka in our drive to meet our own high standards. To combat the potential paralysis of perfectionism, think about giving yourself enough time to produce something great, but not unlimited time–focus on creating something good enough to catch the attention of people whose taste you care about but relieve yourself of the need to forge a masterpiece. Gather with people who share similar professional ambitions. When you combine the opinions of multiple practitioners, more possibilities and nuance emerge, and there's a focusing effect that comes from performing for a crowd. It's easy to mistake "do fewer things" for "accomplish fewer things" – but this understanding is backward. We work roughly the same number of hours each week regardless of the size of our task lists. Having more commitments simply increases the hours lost to overhead tax – the coordinating activities, such as meetings and email, needed to manage what's on your plate. The pandemic "zoom apocalypse," in which many knowledge workers found themselves in Zoom meeting all day long, was caused in part by reaching a state in which overhead tax crowded out almost any time to actually complete tasks. Doing fewer things, in other words, makes us better at our jobs–not only psychologically but also economically and creatively. The Overhead Tax – A key property of overhead tax is that it tends to expand to fill as much time as it's provided. So long as a project is something that you've committed to, and it's not yet complete, it will tend to generate a continual tax in the form of check-in meetings, impromptu email conversations, and plain old mental space. Knowledge workers have no agreed-upon definition of what "productivity" actually means–incredibly unusual compared to other areas of our economy. Lacking a precise definition they defaulted to a crude approximation: pseudo-productivity – using visible activity as a proxy for useful professional accomplishment. Cal argues that the current burnout crisis is due, in part, to the combination of pseudo-productivity with more recent advances in mobile computing and digital communication that made unlimited work available at all times in all places. The result was an impossible internal tug of war, where there was always more to

Buy our new book, The Score That Matters https://amzn.to/44kKLHK Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Never Miss a Day – In the summer, going into Paul's freshman year of high school, he was at a lacrosse camp at Loyola University… At the end of the morning session, an all-time coaching legend, Tony Seaman spoke to the group. He told them he could guarantee that they could earn a college scholarship. All they had to do? "Take 100 shots per day. Here's the catch. You can never miss a day. No excuses." What are your 100 shots a day? Goal Setting – Most people don't set goals because the act alone is both a major and personal step in the direction of commitment, and it invites hope, fear, and the possibility of regret. Focus on what you can control – John Wooden was 5'10. Below average for a basketball player. He was really good at "understanding the things at which he had no control and things over which I had some control." Let Go of Outcomes – Archery master Awa Kenzo told his students to pay no attention to the target. Success and failure come from the same place, so that's where the archer should point all of their attention: not on the outcome, but the effort. Therapy– Dr. Lindsey Hoskins once said that when we hurt someone we love, it's because we fear disconnection from that someone. We hope that by lashing out, they'll show us love, and as a result, we'll feel safer in the relationship." The Difference Between Self-Promotion and Passion - "I'm not going to convince you to like what I do. I'm going to show you how much I love what I do." You won't achieve ambitious goals if you don't set ambitious goals. The legendary Michael Ovitz shotgun pitch to Coca-Cola. He and his team outworked the competition, flew in a day early, practiced in the actual room the pitch would take place, bought new suits, and over-delivered during the pitch meeting. Their competitors took the meeting for granted, flew in the morning of, and didn't perform. Michael and his team won the $300m contract and earned the business for years to come. A true champion is intensely focused on the things they can control. Being coachable is rare—it's being curious, eager, self-aware, and ambitious. Discover and harness your unique learning style. What might appear as an inability or perceived disadvantage could be your greatest asset in mastering your chosen field. For example, Paul grew up with a learning difference called Auditory Processing Disorder. The only way to learn from failures is to feel it, study them, make adjustments, a new commitment, and put it behind you. The Voice No One Else Hears – Performance psychologist Jim Loehr has worked with some of the top athletes in the world. He has them wear a microphone during a competition, and he asks them to honestly articulate what the voice in their head says and thinks. Whatever the circumstances, Loehr said he asks, "Is this how I would speak to someone I deeply care about? Or, if I were speaking to someone I deeply cared about, what would I say?" "I've been here before." "I've taken 35,000 shots." Rebound... Bounce back. Paul loves the "up and down" statistic in golf. It refers to a golfer recovering from a bad shot and still making a par on the hole. In life, it's all about how you choose to respond. Paul's Brother, Mike - "One of my favorite chapters in this book is about planting "little acorns." (p.174) Had it not been for the biggest acorn in the family, who left his job to build the PLL with me... well, I'd just be a retired athlete, continuing the pursuit of my next professional life. Thank you for everything, Mike."

Read our new book, The Score That Matters - https://amzn.to/3w5K0FW Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com The 5 Journal Prompts - What am I grateful for? Where am I winning? What will I let go of today? What does my ideal day look like? What needs to be said at the end? Avoid the old person flaw – Sometimes you meet an old person and they spend hours in conversation living in the past. Don't ever believe that your best days are behind you. Have a "never peak" mindset with an upward trajectory… Always. Go see people in person - In Italy they say, "We are not friends until we've eaten together." Release the energy vampires – "We feel guilt when we no longer want to associate with old friends and colleagues who haven't changed. The price, and marker, of growth." - Naval Ravikant Stop salting your food before you taste it. Happiness is an inside job. See Solitude as the new status symbol. A sweaty workout is never a silly idea. Ask Yourself the 10,000 Dinner Question: That's how many dinners you can expect to share with your chosen mate. Does that thought thrill you, or give you the shivers? If the latter, you may not have found the one. Be a Perfect Moment Maker: Focus on making magical memories with those we care about so we feel rich when we're old. Never be a prisoner of your past. Become the architect of your future. You will never be the same. "Your "I CAN" is more important than your IQ." "Everything is created twice, first in the mind and then in reality." "You can't make someone feel good about themselves until you feel good about yourself." "Investing in yourself is the best investment you will ever make. it will not only improve your life, it will improve the lives of all those around you." Start a mastermind alliance… For years, every Friday at 6am, Robin met with his mastermind partner at a coffee shop where they'd chat for 2 hours. "Success occurs in the privacy of the soul." - Rick Rubin – Success is about YOUR definition, not whatever society says it should be. It's about understanding your purpose, your values, and the critical behaviors to match those values. The cool part about it, is you get to define it. That isn't easy work, but it's worth it. Ski instructors aren't rich, "but we have a rich life."

Read our new book, The Score That Matters https://amzn.to/3VFVYAm Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Episode #579: David Perell - Setting The Standard, Cultivating Your Taste, Pursuing Excellence, Becoming a Sloganeer, Always Working/Never Working, & Lessons From a Mysterious Billionaire Notes: Set the standard – "It's your job to have the highest quality standards of anybody you work with. Every day, you'll face pressure to lower them. Don't do it. If you can set a high standard and simply maintain it, you'll do very well for yourself." Have a high-quality bar. Do three things: Define it: Clearly state the standards. (read The 11 Laws of Showrunning) Maintain it: This is hard to do. Raise it: Keep pushing. You need to define what quality looks like. Set the true north. David worked with a coach to establish his core values. And he was going to narrow it down to five and the coach said, "Nope, it's just one. It's the one that everything in your life orbits around... It's The Pursuit of Excellence. The biggest piece of low-hanging fruit for leaders is getting funnier: Nobody trains themselves to get funnier though. It's strangely taboo. That's why it's such an opportunity. "Laughter is the sound of comprehension." Say something memorable. Humor is memorable. A good way to think... Deconstruct something funny. David spends a lot of time understanding why Theo Von is so funny. The key to excellent storytelling: a moment of change. Conflict and suspense carry stories. Robert Caro writing the LBJ books... "What would I see if I was there." He moved to where LBJ lived to see what it was like to be there. How to cultivate taste: Make a list of things you love/hate. Look for things you love (but aren't supposed to), and things you hate (but are supposed to love). Make things. Don't be a passive consumer. Be a connoisseur. Be discerning about what you consume. Amor Tolles - History is bad for knowing what's good now. Consume old things. Museums - Pay attention to what elicits a reaction. Why is it a 10? Why is it a 1? What do you love? What do you hate? Why? Archegos is David's favorite Greek word, and it gets to the heart of good leadership. Four meanings: Author, founder, pioneer, leader America's founding fathers are the canonical example Lessons from a mysterious billionaire mentor: David asks very specific questions, listens, and takes lots of notes. When meeting with a mentor, show up with energy and specific questions. They are tired of hearing the boring generic questions. Be specific. The mentor talks 98% of the time and David just types what he says. He now has 18,000 words worth of notes. Some lessons: CEOs are Sloganeers: CEOs shouldn't write strategy memos. They should drive slogans. Three lines. Three words each. (Bezos: Focus on the Customer) CEOs should tell the same stories over and over again, refining their pitch like a comedian. Gauging reactions Asking questions Listening to push-back Seeing what makes people's eyes light up Your message is only landing once people start making fun of you. Good goal in life: Always working, never working Story from Patrick O'Shaughnessy. He was asked how much time he spent preparing. Initially, he said, "not much." Then he thought for a while, and said, "I'm preparing all the time. My whole life is preparing to ask these questions."

Order our book, The Score That Matters https://amzn.to/3xbhAdD Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Create surplus value - What can we do to give more than we take? "The key is to figure out what you can do that others can't or are unwilling to do. Hard work is a talent. Curiosity is a talent. Patience and empathy are talents." "Helping others makes me feel strong." Scott's recent experience with Ketamine Therapy - "It clarified my thinking. It's helped me stop keeping score. It also made me grateful for my wife. Did you ever get a gift when you were a kid that you weren't expecting and you couldn't afford it? Something you never imagined having." I got a $45 Banh skateboard from my mom's boyfriend Terry. It was a moment of sheer surprise and joy. My wife kept popping in my head and I kept thinking, god I get to hang out with this person, get to have kids with them, get to build a life with her. It was this overwhelming feeling of wonderful joy and surprise. It was very clarifying and rewarding for me." "You Gotta Ask" - Scott met his wife at the Raleigh Hotel pool in Miami. He saw her from a distance and promised himself that he wouldn't leave the pool without introducing himself to her first. In order to do anything of significance in your life, you must take an uncomfortable risk." Scott is married to Beata Galloway, a real estate developer born in Germany. Together, they have two sons. One of them has the middle name, Raleigh. Why Crying is Important - "It informs what's important to you." Why Scott uses crude humor - It's used to connect with people. And people are either afraid or not able to do it. When Scott was 13… One of his mom's boyfriends handed him two crisp 100-dollar bills after he asked him about stocks. Terry (his mom's boyfriend) told him "Go buy some stock at one of those fancy brokers in the village." Once there, Scott met a mentor named Cy Gordner who helped him learn about the markets. Show up when it matters — Michael Bloomberg's policy. "If a friend gets a promotion, there is no need to call. You'll get dinner with them at some point. But if a friend gets fired, I have dinner with them that night in a public place where everybody can see me. Because I remember when I got fired from Solomon Brothers — I can tell you every person that called me. That meant something. When I was made partner? I have no recollection of that whatsoever." Last year Scott had 340 inbound speaking requests. He accepted 30 of them. His average rate is $112,000 per speech. "The stimulus that attracted my attention with the most urgency was money, not as a means of establishing economic security, but to feed my addiction: affirmation from others." The role of Luck - Being born in America in the 1960s and two (most importantly) Scott's mom. Though she was raised in a household with little affection, she couldn't control herself with her son. "For me, affection was the difference between hoping someone thought I was wonderful or worthy and knowing it." (Emotional) Scott is a dynamic communicator: A turn of phrase is a way of expressing something, in writing or speech, that stands out in some particular way. One of the key indicators of long-term success is the "willingness to endure rejection." Whether this is walking up to a stranger at the Raleigh hotel, a cold-calling sales job, or asking people to be on your podcast. How to build wealth? Focus (mastery, find your talent), Stoicism (this is about saving more than you spend), Time ( 21 years with your money in low-cost index funds, you will earn 8 times your money), Diversification (Your kevlar). Once you earn some money, assume you are not Steve Ballmer or Mark Zuckerberg. Use a variety of investment vehicles. Going all on one company or asset class is not the optimal choice for most of us.

Our book, The Score That Matters, is now available! https://amzn.to/3ToYckL Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk The ASK approach - Choose curiosity, make it a safe space to tell the truth, pose quality questions (that's a question that helps you learn something), LISTEN (check if you heard them right, rephrase), then reflect and connect - FOLLOW UP. Make sure the other person feels that you've listened to and heard them. 1) Choose Curiosity to awaken your interest in new discoveries. What can I learn from this person? 2) Make it Safe for people to tell you hard things Find the right context. Be vulnerable. Radiate Resilience. 3) Pose Quality Questions so you can uncover what's most important Questions that help you learn something. What do you really think? 4) Listen to Learn, to hear what someone is really trying to tell you. Request reactions... What holes are in my perspective? 5) Reflect and Reconnect, so you take the right action based on what you've heard. Update my thinking. Sifting through what we heard. What can I take away of value? What are the best questions to ask in an interview for a job: As the interviewee, ask them what concerns they have about you? They're going to talk about these when you're not in the room. You might as well talk about them together when you're in there… As the interviewer: Fast forward 1 year. There are two scenarios. 1, you crushed it. 2, You didn't. Tell the story of what happened in each of those scenarios… What did Jeff learn from his work as a magician? Magic trains you to hold your cards close to your chest, that's what makes the illusion work…He dreamed (still does) of someone asking him, so what do you think Jeff? He's held back so much because he wanted people to ask him what he thought… It's like he needed permission. When pollsters asked Americans, "If you could have any superpower you wanted, what would you pick?" Two answers tied for the number 1 spot. Reading other people's minds and time travel. Asking helps you read people's minds. Key learning from Chris Argyris: How smart people fail to learn... They don't ask. A child asks 25-50 questions per hour. An adult. A tiny fraction of that. Curiosity goes away as we age if we're not intentional about it. "We're all stuck inside our own certainty loops." Leadership hiring must-haves... Alignment with the mission Core values Track record A learner Learning design – How to make your next leadership retreat as impactful as possible? ASK the participants to help you co-create the event. We often miss out on goals, opportunities, and relationships because we don't know how to ask the right question, in the right way. Yet this critical strength can be learned, and transform your career, organization, and relationships. Career and Life advice: You don't have to have it all figured out. WHO matters more than WHAT.

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Buy our new book, The Score That Matters https://amzn.to/3ToYckL My guest: Scott Belsky co-founded Behance in 2006 and served as its CEO for six years. Behance was acquired by Adobe in 2012. Since then he has had a variety of roles with the company and is currently Adobe's Chief Strategy Officer, and EVP of Design & Emerging Products. He's also the author of two best-selling books, The Messy Middle and Making Ideas Happen. Scott holds a bachelor's degree from Cornell University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Hiking > Beach - You're only able to recollect experiences with enough friction to add texture to time as it passes. time spent doing the unexpected and/or being challenged is time with texture. Ultimately, in our dying breath, the more experiences in our lives with texture, the more of our lives we will actually remember and the longer we will feel we have lived. What adds texture to time? A challenge. Feeling unrushed - Feeling unrushed (so simple, yet so hard) is indeed such a luxury; one I still fail to achieve. Persona-Led Growth - People are more likely to share what people say than what companies say. Modern "PR strategy" should amplify the voice of actual builders, embrace personality rather than dull it out, and aspire for more real-time updates vs. major moments. How to raise kids to become great adults? "model hard work" Say, "This is the hard work." Manufacture hardship. Regulate emotions. Big feelings, little bodies. Why Scott enjoys working at Adobe... He's a mission-driven entrepreneur. Progress begets progress. Prototype = Show, not tell. A prototype is worth a hundred meetings, and almost all meetings that aren't grounded with a prototype are a waste of time (or worse). A prototype immediately surfaces gaps in logic or business concerns. It is the fastest way to drive alignment. "A prototype prompts decisiveness" "It's a hot knife through the butter of bureaucracy." Why Scott writes a Substack newsletter: "I want to be part of the creator platform." Writing clarifies thinking It's important to stay close to the action. Writing works as a forcing function to do that. Scott has benefited greatly from running every day. It's important to push yourself mentally and physically. "There's no option to stop." What's the most important element of leadership? "Empathy. It's a shortcut for overcoming challenges." "You're either part of the living or part of the dying." Scott's aunt Arlis Aron. Fought stage 4 cancer for 15 years. She always focused on living, her garden, breakfast, and traveling. "Decide if you want to live less or live more." "Every day is a standalone canvas."

Our new book, The Score That Matters, is out TODAY (March 26, 2024). Here's the link: https://amzn.to/4citmTL Thank you for your support! Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Ryan Hawk is the creator and host of The Learning Leader Show, a top-rated business podcast that focuses on learning from the most effective leaders in the world. He speaks regularly to Fortune 500 companies; works with teams and players in the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NCAA; and facilitates Leadership Circles to offer structured guidance and collaborative feedback to new and experienced leaders. Ryan has also built an online leadership school called The Learning Leader Academy. He is the author of Welcome to Management and The Pursuit of Excellence, lauded by Forbes magazine as "the best leadership book of 2020" and "the most dynamic leadership book of 2022," respectively. Brook Cupps has been a high school basketball coach for more than 20 years, earning several Coach of the Year awards. His teams have won numerous conference, district, and regional championships, as well as Centerville High School's first-ever basketball state championship in 2021. In addition, he has spent the last eight years coaching grassroots basketball on the AAU circuits and helped guide the North Coast (Ohio) Blue Chips to national championships in 2014 and 2019. He publishes weekly essays on leadership and coaching on his site, Blue Collar Grit, and is the author of Surrender the Outcome. People love to keep score. Managers keep score of a range of business metrics: market share, revenue, profit margin, and growth rate. In our personal lives, social media has us keeping score by likes and followers. These external scores are outcome-driven and serve as proof of our success—money, fame, material possessions, wins—but this constant chase for more validation often leaves us feeling exhausted and empty. Offering both descriptive and prescriptive advice and anecdotes, The Score That Matters will help you unlock true fulfillment and happiness by discovering your purpose, identifying your values, creating critical behaviors, and living them faithfully every day in all aspects of your life. Warren Buffett once said, "The big question about how people behave is whether they've got an Inner Scorecard or an Outer Scorecard. It helps if you can be satisfied with an Inner Scorecard." And that's what The Score That Matters Is All About… The inner scoreboard is about eliminating comparison with others and living in alignment with what's most important to you: your values and the behaviors to match those values. If you want to stop comparing yourself to others, establish YOUR core values, and live in alignment with them (and I believe you should), then I think our book, The Score That Matters, will be useful for you. In addition to that, our book, The Score That Matters, will help you Build trust with the important people in your lives (your family and the team you're leading at work) It will help you focus on your eulogy virtues instead of your resume virtues And we write about how you can build transformational relationships that will ultimately change your life for the better. When I interviewed economics professor and best-selling author Tyler Cowen, I asked him why he chose to write his most recent book with someone else (after he previously had written his books by himself). He said, "If you have an opportunity to work with someone who is awesome and brilliant and who will cooperate with you, you should always do that. Drop everything and do that." Before this, I never thought I would write with someone else. It's too personal. However, I took Tyler Cowen's advice and I am so glad I did. Working on a book with one of your mentors is the ultimate tool for learning. I got to have long-form conversations (both in writing and in person) from someone who has figured out some of life's most challenging issues. When you meet Brook Cupps, you'll notice that he's incredibly comfortable in his own skin. He has ZERO need to get approval from anyone outside of his closest friends. He has his values, lives his values, and that's it. I think we would all be better off if we did that. In this book, you'll get the unique perspective of a teacher and a student. Brook plays the role of the teacher, and me the student. We wrote almost all of the book together and mixed in some parts labeled BC and RH when it was from each of our unique perspectives. After a lifetime of figuring these things out and 3 years working together to get the ideas out of our heads onto the page, our book, The Score That Matters is now available for you to read. If you've gotten any value from The Learning Leader Show over the past 9 years, I hope you decide to buy this book. I think it could change your life. Go to Amazon now and buy it. If you've already bought yourself a copy, go back to Amazon and buy another one or two for the people in your life you care about most. S

Read our new book, The Score That Matters https://amzn.to/3vjDSt6 Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk 574: Guy Kawasaki - Leadership Lessons From Steve Jobs, Learning How To Sell, Becoming a Chief Evangelist, and The 'Think Different' Philosophy "Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it." – William Arthur Ward In 1977, Guy enrolled in the UCLA Anderson School of Management, where he earned an MBA. While there, Guy also worked at a jewelry company, Nova Stylings. He said, "The jewelry business is a very, very tough business, tougher than the computer business... I learned a very valuable lesson: how to sell." It's helpful to know that we are all in sales every day. Whether you think you're in sales or not… You are. You're selling yourself, your ideas, projects, products. It's useful to learn how to sell. Melanie Perkins, CEO of Canva (which is an amazing product and company)... "She's Steve Jobs with heart and soul. They are on a relentless pursuit of perfection." Guy's counting dots story… It started in 6th grade. A teacher pushed him to go to a private school. That led to him getting into Stanford. This is where he met Mike Boich, who ended up hiring him at Apple. Then getting asked to go on the TEDx stage with Jane Goodall… Guy has made the most of the good fortune in his life… Steve Jobs/Change Your Mind: Guy launched his tech career at Apple as the company's "chief evangelist," marketing the original Macintosh computer. When Jobs first introduced the iPhone in 2007, it was a closed system — no one outside of Apple could create an app for it. Software developers had to use a Safari plugin to make their app work on the phone, as they weren't able to access the iPhone's system directly in order to ensure the phone's security. Just one year later, however, Jobs made a complete "180-degree reversal," The founder opened the iPhone system to the public after realizing how much more the device could offer customers with apps written by anyone with a good idea. "I learned the very valuable lesson that when you're doing something wrong when you're doing something sub-optimally, it's a sign of intelligence to change your mind." Throughout our conversation, Guy talks about being an evangelist, and the definition of that is to "bring the good news." Default to yes. Make yourself indispensable. Learn to say, "I'm sorry," and "I don't know." Guy shares a story about a disagreement he had with Steve Jobs and how that cost him millions of dollars… But he learned an important lesson from Steve that has impacted him ever since.

Read our book, The Score That Matters https://amzn.to/3uWB1pQ Full Show Notes at www.LearningLeader.com Notes: "If it can't be grown, it must be mined. It's a truth of human progress." The story of Burro Schmidt… He spent 38 years hand-digging a tunnel through a ½ mile of solid granite even though 19 years in, they built a road that made his tunnel obsolete. But he found his purpose and wanted to finish the job. Some may think that's crazy, but I admire people like that. Be Your Own Light - "I don't look for hope. I look for evidence." Seek Awe - Understand your smallness in the world and how it's all interconnected. Read the "Thank You Project" by AJ Jacobs. "We love to see people who have found their purpose." There are long-term consequences of short-term thinking. Robert Greene's advice to Brent - Combine your unique and different skill sets to find your purpose. Brent dedicated his book to his parents, Liz and Bill, and sister Laura. I appreciate Brent's outlook on life and permitting yourself to live a life of adventure and to think BIG. You can still wisely do this. Brent still works a day job with the Daily Stoic but is also taking a big swing at the same time. This is an option that is available for most of us. It's on us to take action and do it. I've known Brent for about a decade. In his previous role with Brass Check (that's Ryan Holiday's marketing company), one of his jobs was to get authors on podcasts. And I love how precise Brent was in his outreach. He never sent me an author unless he had done the work ahead of time to ensure they were a good fit for my show. I appreciate the care he puts into his work and has for a long time. "When I think back 4 years, before Cerro Gordo, life was pretty stable. I had a good job, a solid apartment, and friends. It felt like a life that I could have floated through forever. I just kept feeling like I was missing out on...something. Something to grab my attention and not let go. To avoid, as Thoreau said, a life of "quiet desperation." ⁣A lot has changed since then. Life certainly isn't comfortable. There were 3 feet of snow to shovel before I could get to the outhouse this morning. There have been fires, floods, and earthquakes. I've lost too much weight, friends, partners, money. A lot more. I wouldn't change a thing. I feel fulfilled in a way I never knew was possible. Building something real that I care about. Connected to my work, the world, the past. Meeting so many passionate people who care deeply about the same things. ⁣" Get To Work – JP Morgan said every man has two reasons for doing anything: a good reason and the real reason… The siren song of Cerro Gordo, a desolate ghost town perched high above Death Valley, has seduced thousands since the 1800s, but few fell harder for it than Brent Underwood, who moved there in March of 2020, only to be immediately snowed in and trapped for weeks. It had once been the largest silver mine in California. Over $500 million worth of ore was pulled from the miles of tunnels below the town. Butch Cassidy, Mark Twain, and other infamous characters of the American West were rumored to have stayed there. Newspapers reported a murder a week. But that was over 150 years ago. Brent Underwood bet his life savings—and his life—on this majestic, hardscrabble town that had broken its fair share of ambitious men and women. What followed were fires, floods, earthquakes, and perhaps strangest, fame. Ghost Town Living tells the story of a man against the elements, a forgotten historic place against the modern world, and a dream against all odds—one that has captured millions of followers around the world. After graduating from Columbia University, Brent worked briefly for an investment bank in New York City. After one month, he quit and backpacked across Central and South America. Upon returning to New York, he founded a hostel in Brooklyn. In December 2014 Brent founded HK Austin, a hostel in Austin, Texas after staying in 150 hostels across 30 countries. For 2015, HK Austin was the highest-rated hostel in the United States. "I'm not going to call it a ghost town anymore. I'm going to call it home."

Buy our NEW BOOK, The Score That Matters https://amzn.to/3TmmbkT Full show notes www.LearningLeader.com Think BIG... But choose what to be ambitious about. Get clear on that first. Simple Modern is a $225m bootstrapped business... Mike owns the majority of the company. Mission: "We exist to give generously." Simple Modern is an employee-owned Oklahoma based company whose mission statement is we exist to give generously. Our desire is to make 5-star products offering remarkable value so we can give to worthy organizations making the world a better place. Use the "75-year-old self principle:" - What would your 75-year-old self regret if you didn't do? (credit: Jeff Bezos) Leadership stages: Player Player/Coach Coach General Manager "I love the name of your podcast. You have to keep learning." What are the best and worst parts of being a CEO? Best: Building culture, being part of a community, having lunch every day with your team. It creates huge leverage to do great work. Worst: Stress, isolation. Understanding your identity? Is it too tied up in an unhealthy place? Mike's purpose: Teaching Giving Leading and creating value Parenting Positively alter the lives of others (as many as possible) "Great leaders create more leaders. We measure it wrong. It should be about creating more leaders." The professor, Rufus Fears, started the lecture. The first thing out of his mouth was, "If you are here trying to get a pink slip, I can tell you that the class is full, and there will be no pink slips given." Mike did not let that stop him. He stayed after class, talked with Professor Fears, went to his office, and talked with him. And earned entry to his class (and a few others of his later). It's a great lesson that we need to be proactive and take initiative. We need to go after what we want. Is your identity coming from a healthy place? Is it coming from accomplishments, titles, or materialistic things? Money? Or have you found your identity in something bigger than yourself? A well-defined purpose almost always stems from helping other people. Why you should write: There are multiple levels of understanding. They are: You know nothing, then you have an intuitive understanding of something but you can't explain it to someone else, then you actually behave in a deliberate way and can explain it. That goes to a point where you can understand a situation in real-time. And finally, you get to the point where you can teach it to someone else. A writing practice can help clarify your thinking and help you better understand something so well that you can teach it to others. Let's develop a writing practice. Writing scales. Hosting a podcast scales. They also increase your surface area for luck and serendipity. Why Mike has no desire to sell Simple Modern: The whole point of having money is that we can trade it for things that are better than money. "You can't convert money to friendships. You can't buy things that give you meaning & purpose. Life is in pursuit of priceless things." Mike's favorite marketing pitch ever (Jon Hamm in Mad Men): Kodak asks for a branding campaign around a new product. It is a circular device that allows you to flip through pictures. Kodak hopes to highlight the technology and call the product "the wheel." Then, they get a master class on branding from Jon Hamm in Mad Men… Before we can lead others well, we have to be internally healthy. Leadership is an inside-out exercise. What do you value? It is easy to determine what someone truly cares about: What do they do with their free time? Where do they spend their extra money? "I frequently spend time comparing what I say I value to what my behavior shows because the worst lies are the lies we tell ourselves."

Do you want to live in alignment with your purpose and values? Read our new book, The Score That Matters https://amzn.to/3Igx1Ue Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Notes on my conversation with former CEO of 7-Eleven and Blockbuster, Jim Keyes: From adversity to the stars. Per ardua ad astra is a Latin phrase meaning "through adversity to the stars." Adversity is your advantage. The tough moments you're going through will help you be stronger long term. This is a useful mindset shift. "Adversity is an advantage." How did Jim get hired the first time and continually get promoted? He told the truth. He was unafraid to tell it like it really was. No fluffy language. He got right to it and let them know how he could help them. He focused on THEM, not him. They don't care about why you think you deserve the job. They care about their company and if you'll be able to help solve their problems. Focus on them, their issues, and how you can help them. That's what Jim has done his entire career. The C-Suite Learnings What – Change, Confidence, Clarity How - Critical thinking (ask why), curiosity, and creativity (have fun) Why - Collaboration, Culture literacy (learn from others experiences), and character Jim became one of the youngest managers in this history of McDonald's. "The only one that likes change is a wet baby. Change is reality. Change equals opportunity." CEO = "Change Equals Opportunity." Confidence is all about preparation. The more you prepare, the more confident you'll be. Clarity and Simplicity. "The hardest thing in the world is to keep things simple." "True elegance is in simplicity." "I can't lead if you can't understand. So, it's up to me to keep things simple and clear." Nelson Mandela once said, "I never lose…I win, or I learn." "There are three prerequisites to a successful business transformation in the face of change: cash management, confidence, and collaboration. Managing cash flow is, by far, the most important but maintaining sufficient cash requires confidence and collaboration."

Read our new book, The Score That Matters https://amzn.to/49LJuuD Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Notes: Just two years into Amy's work as a therapist, her mother passed away unexpectedly. Exactly three years to the day later, her 26-year-old husband, Lincoln, died of a heart attack. So she set out on a personal journey to learn as much as she could about grief, mental health, and mental strength. Amy decided that she would live life to the fullest. She rode mules into the Grand Canyon, went skydiving, took flying trapeze lessons, spent the night in 49 states, got 6-pack abs in 28 days, and started driving a motorcycle Amy's daily challenge: She pushes herself to run a mile as fast as she can. It forces her outside of her comfort zone and ensures mental and physical growth. Pleasant activity scheduling. Put them on the calendar. Block out time for pleasant experiences together with your partner, your family, and your friends. You then look forward to those moments, get to experience those moments, and then create memory dividends that you'll have for life. Schedule pleasant activities. Don't take your partner for granted. I think this goes for any relationship, but especially for those of us who are in committed long-term relationships with a spouse. Think of the Tony Robbins story: For the past twenty years, each day when he gets home from work, he has a "Honey I'm home" routine where they share a big embrace and a kiss and they both bring positive energy to the interaction. This sets the tone so that their relationship doesn't get boring. What Mentally Strong Couples Do: They don't ignore their problems. - Whether they face a sudden financial hiccup or experience issues related to intimacy, mentally strong couples address their problems head-on. They engage in difficult conversations and confront their issues, regardless of the discomfort it might bring. By working together to find solutions early on, they prevent their problems from escalating. They don't keep secrets. - Mentally strong couples respect each other's privacy, like allowing one another to have private conversations with friends. However, they draw the line at keeping secrets. They're honest about everything, whether it's how much they really spent on an item or the fact that a co-worker has been flirting with them. They prioritize open discussion over potential discomfort because they understand that trust is the foundation of their relationship. They don't hesitate to set boundaries - Mentally strong couples know the importance of setting boundaries with each other. For instance, one partner may need to refrain from responding to text messages during the workday as it interferes with their job. But they also set boundaries to shield their relationship from external influences, like an overbearing mother-in-law or a relative who asks to borrow money. Together, they establish financial, physical, emotional, social, and temporal boundaries that enable them to function at their best. They don't become martyrs - Mentally strong couples understand that while sacrifices are part of a relationship, it doesn't mean giving up everything to the point of self-destruction. They steer clear of bitterness and resentment for the things they've done for the family. Instead, they set boundaries, voice their needs, and take care of their well-being. They don't use their emotions as weapons - It's healthy to experience and express a wide variety of emotions. But mentally strong couples don't weaponize their emotions. For instance, a strong individual won't cry to avoid a tough conversation, and they won't raise their voice to get their way. Their focus is on managing their emotions, not controlling their partner's actions. They don't try to "fix" each other - While they work toward bringing out the best in each other, mentally strong individuals don't try to "fix" their partners. They strive to be a positive influence but respect their partner's autonomy to make personal choices—even when they don't agree with those choices. They support their partner's attempts at self-improvement but understand that they can't do the work on their partner's behalf. They don't communicate with disrespect - While most couples understand that name-calling or belittling each other can harm their relationship, mentally strong couples also pay attention to the subtle aspects of communication that can make a significant difference (like looking up from their devices to hold a conversation). They prioritize active listening, understanding each other's perspectives, and expressing their feelings in a healthy manner. They don't blame each other for their issues - A mentally strong individual doesn't pass the buck by saying things like, "I'd be happier if my partner changed." Instead, they take ownership of their happiness. They refrain from blaming their partner for their struggles, acknowledging that everyone has the power to bring about change. They never lose sight of wh

Order our new book, The Score That Matters https://amzn.to/3HSQzhf Rob Henderson has a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Cambridge, where he studied as a Gates Cambridge Scholar. He obtained a B.S. in psychology from Yale University and is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force. He's the author of Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class Self-discipline beats motivation. Often, people say they need to feel "motivated" to perform a task. Motivation, though, is just a feeling. Self-discipline is "I'm going to do this, regardless of how I feel." Air Force Training – "My favorite part of training was the camaraderie. I especially enjoyed drill and marching. The synchronized movement with others, moving as a single element, instilled a feeling of belonging." – The military provided a structured environment. Rob said that whenever he felt like an outsider, he sought refuge in helping others. Because of that, he volunteered at New Haven Reads near Yale. While there, he met a kid named Guillermo. There, he learned how to relate with others by sharing his story. Writing: Rob was accepted into the War Horse Writing Seminar at Columbia University. The program was designed to help veterans write about their experiences. External Achievement: "Upon obtaining a few totems of achievement, I came to realize that they are flawed measures of success. External accomplishments are trivial compared with a warm and loving family. Going to school is far less important than having a parent who cares enough to make sure you get to class every day." Two of Rob's mom's friends came to him for advice. They were talking about their 6-year-old son and they were concerned with how "smart" he was. They asked, "Should we be reading to him more?" And Rob responded, "Yeah, but not because it will expand his vocabulary. Read to him because it will remind him that you love him." The best and worst things about Yale: Best Students work ethic Focused Unique pursuits Worst Self-censorship One of his instructors at Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas asked the class one Friday afternoon if they had any questions. Rob asked, "If you could do it all over again, would you still have enlisted?" – "Understand that the Air Force is going to ask a lot from you. Just remember that you can get a lot in return from it, as well." Luxury beliefs - Rob coined the term to describe beliefs that mark the believer as holding the approved opinion while harming those less privileged. Lessons Learned The Hard Way: You are what you do. Not what you say or what you believe. People use words to strategically justify their actions and blind you to who they really are. Don't be fooled by cheap talk. Pay close attention to how people actually spend their time and effort. Good conversations are made up of questions. Avoid speaking for longer than three minutes without asking one. When seeking advice, ask people in a different life station than you—ahead or behind, older or younger. People in the same position are often biased by envy, and this can color the advice they give. One of the most common life regrets people report is "I wish I had let myself be happier." You'll never be happy if you continue thinking that you'll be happy one day. "The study of happiness often sounds like a sermon for traditional values. The numbers show it is not the rich, privileged, robust, or good-looking who are happy; it is those who have spouses, friends, religion, and challenging, meaningful work" - Steven Pinker (How The Mind Works) 35% of people in America graduate with a bachelor's degree, 11% of people from poor families graduate from college. And just 3% of foster kids graduate from college. When you think about Rob's story, it's hard not to be inspired. He's beaten almost impossible odds to not only graduate from college, but he served our country, then went to Yale, graduated, and got his PhD from Cambridge. It's awesome to see what he's done and he's still so young and at the beginning of his career. I love it when good things happen to good people. Life/career advice - "Be a fish out of water. Do something hard. Be uncomfortable." That was advice for a recent grad, but I think it's useful for all of us.

Order our new book, The Score That Matters https://amzn.to/48jAoUM Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com For the past 40+ years, Tony Robbins has been known worldwide as one of the most impactful business and life coaches in the world. He's hosted millions of people at his events, written 6 international best-selling books, he's involved in more than 100 businesses that have done more than 7 billion dollars in revenue, and as part of his work with Feeding America, Tony has provided more than 850 million meals to those in need. He's personally coached President Bill Clinton, Serena Williams, Connor McGregor, Marc Benioff, Usher, the Golden State Warriors, and many others. Notes: The advice Tony received from Jim Rohn. "Your job is to become more valuable. We are all equal as souls, but not equal in the marketplace." "If you want things to get better, you've got to get better." Commonalities among leaders who sustain excellence: They find something they care about more than themselves, they have a hunger for it, and they work amazingly hard at it. "You're rewarded in public for what you practice in private." Steph Curry has taken far more practice shots than game ones. He's rewarded in public for what he does in private. How to build confidence: Preparation creates certainty. "Whatever you hold in your mind on a consistent basis is exactly what you will experience in your life." The essence of building confidence is this: If you go into a situation knowing that you can handle it – whatever it is – then that's exactly what you'll do. "A belief is a poor substitute for an experience." You might believe it's something you're going to love, but you don't fully know until you do it. Get in the arena and do it. See what it's like. That's when you'll learn. Tony learned NLP from John Grinder (founder of NLP). Neuro-Linguistic Programming. is an approach to communication, personal development, and psychotherapy, that first appeared in Richard Bandler and John Grinder's 1975 book The Structure of Magic I. NLP asserts that there is a connection between neurological processes, language, and acquired behavioral patterns, and that these can be changed to achieve specific goals in life. "The path to success is to take massive, determined action." "Any time you sincerely want to make a change, the first thing you must do is to raise your standards." "The power of positive thinking is the ability to generate a feeling of certainty in yourself when nothing in the environment supports you." "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."― George Bernard Shaw Tony interviewed a dozen of the world's most successful investors in private equity, private credit, private real estate, and venture capital. He wanted to learn everything he could about the private markets and investing. Ray Dalio - Apply diversification across 8-12 uncorrelated investments.

Order our new book, The Score That Matters https://amzn.to/48ePbAa Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com William Ury is the co-author of Getting to Yes, the world's all-time bestselling book on negotiation with more than 15 million copies sold, and co-founder of Harvard's Program on Negotiation. Bill has devoted his life to helping people, organizations, and nations transform conflicts around the world, having served as a negotiator in many of the toughest disputes of our times, taught negotiation to tens of thousands, and consulted for dozens of Fortune 500 companies, the White House, the State Department, and the Pentagon. Based in the mountains of Colorado where he loves to hike, Bill is an internationally sought-after speaker and has two popular TEDx talks with millions of viewers. Notes: Your life's work: "If you had to boil your life's work down to just one sentence you could leave behind, what would it say?" This is a great question for us to ask ourselves to gain clarity on our purpose and what we were put here to do. What is your life's work? On one of Bill's hikes with Jim Collins in Boulder, Colorado, he asked, "When did you first discover your interest in and instinct for what became your life's work?" Be trustworthy AND trust willing. Become known as a person who trusts others first without making people earn it. Yes, you'll get burned every once in a while, but I've found it's worth it. Leading with trust seems to attract the type of people you want to be around. On a freezing night in January 1977, the phone rang at 10:00 pm. Bill was living in a little rented room in the attic of an old wooden house in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was 23, writing term papers, and studying hard for graduate school exams in social anthropology. Bill picked up the phone… "I was particularly struck by Bill's rare ability to bring calm and optimism to seemingly intractable conflicts and by his blend of intellectual clarity and practical wisdom." - Jim Collins Go to hardest places: Instead of sharpening his intellect and insights by doing research sitting in a plush faculty office at some Ivy League institute, Bill decided to "go to the hardest places first," throwing himself into political negotiations in the Middle East. "𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒏𝒆𝒈𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒔, 𝑰 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆, 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒐 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒚, 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒂 𝒈𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒈𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒐𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒅 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆. 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕, 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝑩𝑩𝟑." "The only book to write is the one you cannot not write." What are the 3 victories on the path to possible? The story of the wise old woman and the camels... The story of Vasili Arkhipov and Sub B-59 (the pause, calm, reactive to proactive). Bring your spirit of play. That's one of the things about Bill that I couldn't help but notice from the second we connected. He was smiling, laughing, and enjoying himself the entire time. He was having fun. What's the point of doing all of this if we don't have some fun along the way?

Order and Read our new book, The Score That Matters https://amzn.to/4btcb1o Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12 https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12 What do leaders who sustain excellence do? They have the ability to be present for an extended period of time. They are here now. They live a life that creates a sustainable presence. They are fully present. Be here now. Fully here. This makes you available for this creative moment. Play the long game. Excellent leaders play the long game. "Live a life that creates sustainable presence." Space and Place: It's important to know your soul's home: For Jim: Northern Michigan. Quiet, still, simple, in nature... "It's recharging for me." Lead and live intentionally to get to your flow state. Ask: What is it that creates the most "alive-ness" in you? Do an energy audit. Look at your calendar for the last week. What events make your energy go up, stay neutral, or go down? Maximize for people and events that make your energy go up. "Populate your life with what you love." Are you willing to be fully alive? What are you willing to risk to make that happen? Get rid of energy downers. You can do that in 3 ways. Dump it, Delegate it Do it differently Responsibility – By me: I commit to taking full responsibility for the circumstances of my life, and my physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being. I commit to support others to take full responsibility for their lives. I have to = Victim mindset I choose to = Ownership mindset To me = At the effect of other things. Outside my locus of control. By me = Inside. I am the cause of the experience. Radical responsibility. How am I causing the experience? Josh Waitzkin - Make weather what it is. Play in the rain. Curiosity is everything as a leader. The opposite of curiosity is always needing/wanting to be right. Deconstruct all the places where you want to be right. Most of it stems from fear. There are three fears: Approval Control Security Curiosity - I commit to growing in self-awareness. I commit to regarding every interaction as an opportunity to learn. I commit to curiosity as a path to rapid learning. Candor - I commit to saying what is true for me. I commit to being a person to whom others can express themselves with candor. Accountability and Responsibility: Responsibility is not something that can be assigned, it is something that has to be taken. Responsibility lives in the world of integrity and impeccable agreements. Speak truth in love. "We often describe unconscious leaders as reactive. They react from a "story" about the past or an imagined future, and their personality, ego, or mind takes over."

Order our new book, The Score That Matters https://amzn.to/47K2g4f Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com "Rejection is a test if you really want something. The upside of asking is unlimited." "People are afraid of asking. The people who make it happen are willing to ask, be rejected, and keep going." One of the biggest lessons learned from working with Mark Zuckerberg? Pick one goal. Then focus relentlessly on reaching it. His was 1 billion users on Facebook. This is how Noah has grown App Sumo to $80m in revenue. Focus on one big goal and the system implemented to make it happen. Noah's parental influence: Fearlessness - Ask for everything. Set rejection goals. You learn that selling copiers door to door. His mom is very disciplined. Always working out in the gym. She follows through. She's persistent. She grinds. His mom also hated her job. "I don't want to live a 'what-if' life" "Are we getting what we get or are we getting what we want?" The law of 100 -- Do the thing 100 times before you quit. Get going, get started. It's about now, not how. Create an exciting vision: "What are we looking forward to?" Million Dollar Weekend: Start it Build it Grow it Noah's philosophy on interviewing: 1) Talk with people you're genuinely interested in 2) Tell them how they've positively impacted your life. People love genuine compliments. And they loved to hear that they've helped others. 3) Tell them what's in it for them. Create questions that make your guests excited to answer (set them up to tell interesting stories) Entrepreneurship is not risky. Risky is spending your life at a job you hate, with people you don't like, working on problems you don't care about. Freedom is about gaining control of your schedule. Money is the tool, not the goal. This trip was one of my highlights of the fall. Nothing like biking across America. So much good time to think and reflect. Reminds me that whenever you're in a funk, just get moving. (Helps to be surrounded by beautiful landscapes) The future of big business is small teams. One person. No employees. Everything automated. Solopreneurs are the future. Acknowledgements: Adam Gilbert for our bike ride ten-plus years ago where I shared a dream to put my knowledge into a book for other people. And for always always being my guardian angel. Tahl Raz - I dreamed for years of the chance to work with you on a book. Thank you for taking a chance on me. Somehow you were magically able to take all my adventures/theories/ideas/antics and put them together in a helpful narrative better than I could have ever dreamed. Thank you! Also for being a mutual lover of schvitzing.

Order our new book, The Score That Matters. https://amzn.to/3OsEEdV Text Hawk to 66866 to become part of "Mindful Monday." Join 10's of thousands of your fellow learning leaders and receive a carefully curated email from me each Monday morning to help you start your week off right... Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com X/IG: @RyanHawk12 https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12 Ariel wants to be the "Howard Cosell of MMA". "I got the interview skills from my mom, who my friends would always call for advice, and the work ethic from my dad, who never gave an excuse or took a sick day." "So one of the things that early on, before I became a dad was I want to be omnipresent. I believe in this quote from Woody Allen "80% of success is just showing up." I want to be at every single event. I want to be the guy that people when they think of big fights, they think of me. Howard Cosell, of MMA, all that stuff and more." Ariel's Parents: "My mom still watches my show every week, and it's a long show about a topic she doesn't know a hell of a lot about. But she does it because she loves and supports me." "She's the mom that a lot of my brother's girlfriends and stuff would stay in touch with, even after they broke up. Because she just had that connection with people. She asks questions, she listens, she has a good mind and eye for things." "My dad is a workaholic, and he'd be the first to tell you that. He's the kind of guy who, every day, I'd see him Monday through Friday, wake up, go to work at around seven, come home at around seven. He would have this massive box of papers, he would sit at the dinner table, and he would work on all the papers. He would take his shower at like 9:30, go to bed, and start over again, and he couldn't have been happier." Syracuse: In 9th grade, he was reading Sports Illustrated and learned that the U.S.'s top sportscasting degree is earned at Syracuse. Bob Costas went there. Marv Albert went there. So he went to Syracuse. Being homesick and full of anxiety in college: "I wouldn't want to go to the dining hall to eat, so I just stocked up on Blue Diamond almonds. Which I have a hard time eating till this day because it reminds me of those days. Chef Boyardee, Alphagetti, that's what I was eating. I was watching sports in my room, by myself, I had a single room, and I was just crippled with this anxiety. And every time I would leave home to come back to school, like Thanksgiving break was over, and whatnot, Christmas break, I was sad. I was down." When he knew he wanted to cover MMA – back home in the fall of 2006 when he found himself in Champs Sports Bar, on Saint Laurent Boulevard, where the TVs were tuned to a UFC pay-per-view special. When the Quebec-born fighter Georges St-Pierre beat up Matt Hughes and scored a TKO to win the welterweight championship, "the place explodes like the Canadiens just won the Stanley Cup. And I'm like: 'I want to be a part of this sport.'" Being the Heel – He learned from Howard Cosell, who was known as a heel, the pro wrestling term for the bad guy who people tune in to see fall. "Heelwani" What does it take to be a great interviewer? Be prepared. Ask thoughtful questions. Don't script the conversation. LISTEN. Ask better follow ups. Make it feel more like a conversation. Feuds with Dana White: "I'm the type of person who doesn't back down, in large part because of my parents and my family, and they never back down, so how could I? And why should I? Especially if I'm not doing anything wrong. So I would say I never sought it, I always try to diffuse it, privately. I don't try to get into Twitter wars and things like that, with other people. Where it seems like they spend their life over there trying to go back and forth. That being said, to your point, which is a great point, having an understanding of pro wrestling, and storylines, and feuds. And I come out of my ESPN chapter as Helwani, and punching back, and it's "High road Helwani, no more" and all that. Yes, sure, there's a little bit of pro wrestling in there, and I love pro wrestling. And I believe that there are a lot of elements in pro wrestling in a lot of different walks of life, including politics and whatnot. Good guy/bad guy, heel/face, all that stuff." How conduct a great interview? "You have to listen, you have to be ready to open your mind, open your heart, and not feel, again, like you're just coming out guns blazing, and hitting someone with haymakers. Listen to them, be soft, be gentle, be welcoming. But, again, Howard Stern, no one did it better, he breaks you down to the point where you think that you're just two guys sitting around, or a girl and a guy sitting around, and there are not even cameras or microphones. They forget that they're on a show, if you're empathetic, if you're warm, if you're welcoming, that's the best result." Make the ASK - Ariel knocked on the door of a senior executive at ESPN. The guy didn't even know who he was. And he asked to be a sideline reporter at bask

Pre-order our new book, "The Score That Matters." https://amzn.to/3HaJjgh Go to www.LearningLeader.com for full show notes. This is episode #563 of The Learning Leader Show. My guest is Dr. Mike Massimino. The 3 Trusts - Trust your gear, trust your training, trust your team… And the 4th: trust yourself. Mike persisted through 3 rejections over 7 years on his way to becoming an astronaut, including overcoming a medical disqualification by training his eyes and brain to see better. Mike participated in a mission that significantly increased Hubble's discovery potential and led to the award of a Nobel Prize in physics for the discovery of dark energy during a spacewalk. Why Mike was chosen to be an astronaut: Mike has a great combination of competence (he knows his stuff) and high character. He's the type of guy that can get along and work with anyone. He's honest, humble, and authentic. The power of having a deep passion for what you're doing. Mike watched Neil Armstrong walk on the moon when he was six years old and then did whatever he could over the rest of his life to become an astronaut. His desire to become an astronaut led him to go to prestigious universities, earn his Ph.D., become a pilot, become scuba certified, develop great communication skills, and so much more. All of that work led to him accomplishing what he set out to do when he was just 6 years old. "I knew right then that I wanted to be a part of something that meaningful. I wanted to have something I was so passionate about that I'd be willing to risk everything for it. I wanted to know that if I ever got killed, I got killed doing something worthwhile. The kid who looked up at the moon and wasn't afraid to dream - I decided that part of me deserved a chance. I sat there in that reception area, watching the crash footage play over and over again on the television, and that was when it hit home for me: you only have one life. You have to spend it doing something that matters." What Mike learned from Alan Bean: The most important lesson is to care for and admire everyone on your team. "My favorite lecturer was Alan Bean, who flew on Apollo 12 and is one of the twelve guys who walked on the moon. After retiring from NASA, he became a painter. Alan's lecture was called "The Art of Space Exploration." He talked about the mistakes he'd made and how he learned to fix them. One lesson that took him a while to learn was that at a place like NASA you can only have an effect on certain things. You can't control who likes you. You can't control who gets assigned to flights or what NASA's budget is going to be next year. If you get caught up worrying about things you can't control, you'll drive yourself nuts. It's better to focus on the things right in front of you. Identify the places where you can have a positive impact. Concentrate there and let the rest take care of itself. The last thing Alan said to us was 'What most people want in life is to do something great. That doesn't happen often. Don't take it for granted. Don't be blasé about it. And don't blow it. A lot of times, believe it or not, people blow it. "Kennedy's address announcing the Apollo program was one of the great presidential speeches of all time. He challenged us. He excited us. We reach for impossible things, he said, "not because they are easy, but because they are hard." Competence + Character = Trust. The Right Stuff - The Original 7 Astronauts. If you have a bad boss, what should you do: Stay the course Lead by example "Life is funny. I'd applied to the wrong graduate program, but that eventually led me to the right grad program. I'd taken what I thought was the wrong undergraduate major, and that was the thing that set me apart and allowed me to find my niche. I don't know if there are any lessons to take from that except to realize that the things you think are mistakes may turn out not to be mistakes. I realized wherever you are, if you make the most of what you've got, you can find a way to keep moving forward." "If you can learn to live with indignities in life, you can go far." "That's how a team works. You help the people around you, and everybody's better off for it. The crazy thing is that most of those guys wanted to be astronauts, too, but they never saw it as a competition. We were on the same team, where you want everyone around you to be as successful as possible, because in some way or another their success will become your success. It's good karma - what goes around comes around." "Right after we launched, I realized that all the training we'd on what to do if something went wrong during launch-how to bail out , how to operate the parachutes, how to make an emergency landing-I realized that all those years of training were completely pointless. It was just filler to make us feel okay about climbing into this thing. Because if it's going down, it's going down. It's either going to be a good day or it's going to be a bad day, and there is no in-between." "The ca

Order our new book, The Score That Matters. https://amzn.to/3RTU399 Text Hawk to 66866 to become part of "Mindful Monday." Join 10's of thousands of your fellow learning leaders and receive a carefully curated email from me each Monday morning to help you start your week off right... Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com X/IG: @RyanHawk12 https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12 Nikki Glaser is one of the funniest female voices in comedy today. For nearly two decades at clubs across the country, stand-up comedian, actress, podcaster, and TV host. In July of 2022, she headlined her first HBO comedy special, GOOD CLEAN FILTH, which has been nominated for a Critics Choice Award for Best Comedy Special. Nikki was a standout at the Comedy Central Roasts of Alec Baldwin, Bruce Willis, and Rob Lowe, which led to her guest-hosting JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE! Nikki is currently on her nationwide and international comedy tour, THE GOOD GIRL TOUR, which kicked off in January 2023. Before coming on The Learning Leader Show, Nikki has done in-depth interviews with Howard Stern, Marc Maron, Conan O'Brien, and Joe Rogan. Notes: When Nikki is bombing on stage, she has a great method to reset. "Just say what's true." "Everyone is putting on a mask. Everyone is trying to present in a different way. If you just say what's true, it's the funniest." Nikki is a professional "noticer of things." This is why I think great stand-ups are modern-day philosophers. They notice things and then have a way to share them in a unique and funny way with all of us. We laugh because they've said what's true, but have done it in a way that we haven't thought of before. As leaders, we should be more aware and notice things more often. The writing process: "You need to pay attention constantly to everything to see what could potentially be a joke. Sometimes, in the middle of a conversation with a friend, I'll tell them to hold on because I need to take out my phone and type something funny that I just saw. If you don't write it down, you won't remember it." Just get started. What advice for someone who wants to do something? You have to do it. The way to get good is to get going. Nikki has become one of the premier comedians in the world because she's pushed past her fear and signed up for the things that she's not sure she can do. Last comic standing at age 20, celebrity roasts, hosting TV shows. She wasn't necessarily ready for any of the work she agreed to do, but she did it anyway and then figured it out. We all can learn from that. Nikki is the voice of Dave Matthews Band radio on Sirius/XM Radio. She had terrible stage fright when she was younger. Nikki would have insomnia for weeks before a classroom presentation and shake the entire time. Her first TV appearance was on Last Comic Standing when she was 20. Nikki waited in line at open auditions in Chicago in the snow. "I always wanted to be a singer. But I think that I'm also someone who's not very comfortable with sincerity and emotions." (She placed third on her season of The Masked Singer) Nikki is starting her own Taylor Swift cover band. Meeting Jerry Seinfeld – "We're walking through the bowels of the casino, and I get over to his greenroom and he greets me," Glaser said. "And he was like, 'I'm such a fan, I've watched everything you do. I pull up your YouTube clips all the time whenever I want a laugh. And you've got it, girl, you have the voice...' Jerry Seinfeld identifies "taste and discernment" as the ultimate skill of great artists. In every creative field, Seinfeld says, the dividing line between those who succeed and those who fail is the ability to discern good and bad: "It's one thing to create," Seinfeld says. "The other is you have to choose. What are we going to do, and what are we not going to do?' This is a gigantic aspect of artistic survival. It's kind of unseen, what's picked and what is discarded, but mastering that is how you stay alive."

Order our new book, The Score That Matters, now! https://amzn.to/41zFYku Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Commonalities of leaders who sustain excellence: Curiosity (ask lots of questions) Willingness to try something new Compassion - Assume you don't know others' struggles Bob worked with Ed Catmull (Pixar) He was one of the best at combining curiosity, willingness to try new things, and having compassion for people Good Boss vs. Bad Boss Good bosses ask lots of questions and then make the call (John Hennessey, Stanford President) The Jumbo Grocery Stores in Holland created "slow lanes" for those who wanted to talk… They didn't want efficiency or speed, they wanted a conversation. It's a good reminder that sometimes we should slow down and enjoy our surroundings and the people we're with… Curiosity and Compassion are skills we can build. Take the experiment where they counted the number of questions versus statements and your talking time. Surround yourself with people who will give you direct feedback about your level of curiosity and compassion… When conversing with someone else, how often are you asking questions versus talking about yourself? Think about that… It's not always right to be efficient… Bob shared the Jerry Seinfeld story… The network was considering bringing in McKinsey to help Jerry become more efficient when making his show. He asked, "Are they funny?" They said, no that's not what they do. And he said, "Then I don't need them." It's not always supposed to be efficient. Sometimes, the hard way is the right way… To get the best result, it usually is. Some things Bob believes (we should all post an essay about what we believe): Indifference is as important as passion. The best leaders know what it feels like to work for them. They overcome the urge to focus attention on powerful superiors rather than their followers The best leaders think and act as trustees of their employees' and customers' time. They are "friction fixers" who hold themselves and others responsible for making the right things easier and the wrong things harder. That might mean, for example, reducing friction by eliminating and revamping meetings. "Am I a success or a failure?" is not useful. It is better to ask "What am I learning." Noam Bardin (from Waze) Laszlo Bock - For hiring, "If you need to interview someone more than 4 times, then you must get written approval." This helped speed up the process. One of the roles of the leader is to be the editor-in-chief. Great leaders are great communicators. You must become a good writer and speaker if you want to lead. Life/Career advice: Seek variation each day A chief of staff job could lead to big things (if you work for the right person) Be kind

Pre-order our new book, The Score That Matters https://amzn.to/47bhRto Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Dr. Barry Posner, author of The Leadership Challenge and The Truth About Leadership The 4 characteristics of leaders whom we would most choose to follow: Honest (trustworthy, they do what they say they're going to do) Competent (Smart, and constantly learning) Inspiring - Energetic, enthusiastic. Inspire means to breathe life in to... Forward-looking - They have a sense of the future. They share a compelling vision People all have values, but not everyone knows what they are. To know what our values are, we must be thoughtful and intentional about them and do the reflective work to understand what we value most. What is Kouzes and Posner's leadership theory? Their research, which they conducted over almost 20 years, suggested that leadership is not a position, but a collection of practices and behaviors. These practices serve as guidance for leaders to accomplish their achievements or "to get extraordinary things done. The Leadership Challenge – Leaders drive results and achieve goals. To face the obstacles of today and tomorrow, we need leaders at a high level. The Leadership Challenge gives everyone the tools and practices to Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision, Challenge the Process, Enable Others to Act, and Encourage the Hearts of those around them. "In the middle of responding to an audience question one of us was saying, "I don't know what you call something that's been the same for twenty-five years, but…," and Ken Blanchard interrupted, exclaiming, 'I'd call it the truth.'" The Truth About Leadership The first truth is that You Make a Difference. The second truth is that Credibility Is the Foundation of Leadership. If people don't believe in you, they won't willingly follow you. The third truth is that Values Drive Commitment. People want to know what you stand for and believe in. The fourth truth is that Focusing on the Future Sets Leaders Apart. The capacity to imagine and articulate exciting future possibilities is a defining competence of leaders. You have to take the long-term perspective. You Can't Do It Alone is the fifth truth. Leadership is a team sport…What strengthens and sustains the relationship between leader and constituent is that leaders are obsessed with what is best for others, not what is best for themselves. Trust Rules is the sixth truth. Trust is the social glue that holds individuals and groups together. And the level of trust others have in you will determine the amount of influence you have. You have to earn your constituents' trust before they'll be willing to trust you. That means you have to give trust before you can get trust. The seventh truth is that Challenge Is the Crucible for Greatness. Great achievements don't happen when you keep things the same. Change invariably involves a challenge, and challenge tests you. Truth number eight reminds you that You Either Lead by Example or You Don't Lead at All. Leaders have to keep their promises and become role models for the values and actions they espouse. Truth number nine is that The Best Leaders Are the Best Learners. Leaders are constant improvement fanatics, and learning is the master skill of leadership. The tenth truth is that Leadership Is an Affair of the Heart. It could also be the first truth. Leaders are in love with their constituents, their customers and clients, and the mission that they are serving. Leaders make others feel important and are gracious in showing their appreciation. Love is the motivation that energizes leaders to give so much for others. You just won't work hard enough to become great if you aren't doing what you love. Credo = Beliefs (credibility) Leadership is a team sport. You can't do it alone. We are all community-made. The best leaders are the best learners. Challenge is the crucible for greatness. Life/Career advice: Remain curious Ask questions Volunteer

Order The Score That Matters NOW. CLICK HERE. In The Score That Matters, Ryan Hawk and Brook Cupps show that the internal score is what matters most—it reveals whether we are living in alignment with our purpose and values. Offering both descriptive and prescriptive advice and anecdotes, The Score That Matters will help you unlock true fulfillment and happiness by discovering your purpose, identifying your values, creating critical behaviors, and living them faithfully every day in all aspects of your life. Notes from my conversation with Marshall Goldsmith: Attributes of the best leaders he's worked with: They are courageous, they have humility, and they are disciplined. Do we all need a coach? "I don't know, but if we're honest with ourselves, we all need help. And a coach can be someone to help…" Happiness and achievement are independent variables. I felt we kept going around in circles because I'm a prescriptive thinker and like actionable takeaways. And I feel like Marshall was helping me understand it's more of a mindset. With a PhD from UCLA, Marshall is a pioneer of 360-degree feedback as a leadership development tool. His early efforts in providing feedback and then following-up with executives to measure changes in behavior were precursors to what eventually evolved as the field of executive coaching. "Fate is the hand of cards we've been dealt. The choice is how we play the hand." "Getting mad at people for being who they are makes as much sense as getting mad at a chair for being a chair." "Successful people become great leaders when they learn to shift the focus from themselves to others." "People who believe they can succeed see opportunities where others see threats." "If we do not create and control our environment, our environment creates and controls us." "A leader who cannot shoulder the blame is not someone we will follow blindly into battle. We instinctively question that individual's character, dependability, and loyalty to us. And so we hold back on our loyalty to him or her." "Peter Drucker, who said, "Our mission in life should be to make a positive difference, not to prove how smart or right we are." "People will do something—including changing their behavior—only if it can be demonstrated that doing so is in their own best interests as defined by their own values."

Order The Score That Matters NOW. CLICK HERE. In The Score That Matters, Ryan Hawk and Brook Cupps show that the internal score is what matters most—it reveals whether we are living in alignment with our purpose and values. Offering both descriptive and prescriptive advice and anecdotes, The Score That Matters will help you unlock true fulfillment and happiness by discovering your purpose, identifying your values, creating critical behaviors, and living them faithfully every day in all aspects of your life. "The big question about how people behave is whether they've got an Inner Scorecard or an Outer Scorecard. It helps if you can be satisfied with an Inner Scorecard." - Warren Buffet – The inner scorecard is about eliminating comparison with others and living in alignment with what's most important to you. Your values and the behaviors to match those values. The inner scorecard eliminates the comparison of things. How to build trust? Laugh together, cry together, suffer together (do hard things). Resume virtues versus Eulogy virtues. We'll get caught up in living for our resume (promotions, money, objects) if we're not intentional. We think it's better to live for your eulogy virtues (the impact you had on people, fulfilling your purpose, living in alignment with your true values) Why a strong purpose beats a good plan: we explain how a strong purpose erases obstacles, is never about you, and is highlighted by considering death. Why being the greatest is a mirage: While greatness is a process that is attainable for all, we share why becoming the greatest is a destination that no one can reach. How to navigate the tricky art of building trust: Throughout 25 years of teaching and coaching Brook has refined the trust-building process to 3 simple actions every leader can use. How to fight the poison of comparison: Our focus on a consistent process over the societal pursuit of results seems contradictory to excellence but just may lay the foundation for its attainment. Why self-awareness is not a solo flight: The feedback we seek from special people in our life, our foxhole, reminds us that we are tougher together. Why team captains are overrated: Brook connects how the shared ownership of a team is best when all members assume the responsibility of upholding the standards. How plain and simple can bore you right to excellence: We like to complicate success, but we point back to a consistent return to the fundamentals. Brook originally learned about creating and living his core values from Coach Dick Bennett's "Pillars of Success." Brook's values are: Tough, Passionate, Unified, and Thankful. My values are: Thoughtful, Thankful, Curious, and Consistent. Foxhole friends are disagreeable givers. They are kind enough to give you honest feedback. And you do the same for them. Thankful Thursdays Send a text message, email, or handwritten note to three people you're thankful for every Thursday. Push the pace... Full-court pressing and always running a fast break on offense is living up to Brook's value of speaking and acting with urgency (unified). How Brook coaches his team to play: "Our anchor defensively is no comfort, no vision. We want you to never be comfortable. And we want the same thing offensively. We say simple and together, but we think of pressing you offensively too. We don't want you to be comfortable. We want you to be on your heels."

Text Hawk to 66866 to become part of "Mindful Monday." Join 10's of thousands of your fellow learning leaders and receive a carefully curated email from me each Monday morning to help you start your week off right... Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com X/IG: @RyanHawk12 https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12 The SAVERS acronym – Silence, Affirmations, Visualization, Exercise, Reading, and Scribing. If you implement that consistently, you'll probably do better. 72% of people said they were not a morning person before implementing SAVERS. The makeup of a great sales professional: They are coachable... They bring energy and enthusiasm to the job... They are consistent. They can handle rejection and keep going. They focus on the process... Affirmations: First, affirm what you're committed to. Next, why is it a must for you, and finally, affirm the specific actions you will take and when. That's how you bring affirmations to life… Hal died for 6 minutes, broke 11 bones, suffered permanent brain damage, and was told by doctors that he would never walk again. Then, at age 37, he nearly died again when his heart, lungs, and kidneys were on the verge of failing, and he was diagnosed with a rare, aggressive form of cancer. "Any time you find yourself "wishing" you were further along than you are, or comparing where you are with where someone else is, keep in mind that when you finally get to point you've been working towards for so long, you never wish it would have happened any sooner. Instead, you see that the journey and the timing are perfect. So be at peace with where you are while maintaining a healthy sense of urgency to make the consistent progress each day that will ensure you get to wherever it is that you want to go. " "Those who only do what they feel like, don't do much. To be successful at anything you must take action even when you don't feel like it, knowing it is the action itself that will produce the motivation you need to follow through." "It's temporary. Tolerate it, accept it, embrace it, or enjoy it. Whatever it is, just know that it is temporary." "The moment you accept 100% responsibility for EVERY aspect of your life is the moment that you claim the power to change ANY aspect of your life. I think where people get caught up with this is when someone else is to blame for a situation. But understand that accepting responsibility is NOT the same as accepting blame. While blame determines who is at fault for something, responsibility determines who is committed to improving a situation. It really doesn't matter who was at fault; all that matters is that YOU are committed to improving and creating the circumstances you want for your life, regardless of who is at fault. That's what taking responsibility is all about."

Text Hawk to 66866 to become part of "Mindful Monday." Join 10's of thousands of your fellow learning leaders and receive a carefully curated email from me each Monday morning to help you start your week off right... Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12 https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12 "Your personal experiences make up maybe 0.00000001% of what's happened in the world but maybe 80% of how you think the world works." "All behaviors make sense with enough information." The best story wins: Good stories have an extraordinary ability to inspire and evoke positive emotions, bringing insight and attention to topics that people tend to ignore when they've previously been presented with nothing but facts. Stories are more powerful than statistics. And most statistics are incomplete props to justify a story. Stories are easier to remember, easier to relate to, and emotionally persuasive. Progress requires optimism and pessimism to coexist: A rational optimist. - Save like a pessimist and invest like an optimist. - Plan like a pessimist and dream like an optimist. "It's supposed to be hard." – Everything worth pursuing comes with a little pain. The trick is not minding it hurts. It's impossible to plan for what you can't imagine. - Invest in preparedness, not in prediction. - Realize that if you're only preparing for the risks you can envision, you'll be unprepared for the risks you can't see every single time. Fostering envy vs. admiration. Are you creating envy by what you post on social media? "People admire you when you are pursuing something, not when you have it." Reasonable Optimists: Once people believe in a better future – for themselves and others – they become willing to take risks, work hard, sacrifice near-term comfort, delay gratification, and cooperate with others, all of which are the raw ingredients of economic and social progress. A realistic optimist is someone who knows that what happens in any given day, month, or year will be surprising, disappointing, difficult, and mostly out of your control. But they know with equal confidence that what happens in any given decade or generation is likely to be pretty good, bending heavily toward progress. The reasonable optimist expects the world to break all the time. But they know – as a matter of faith – that if they can survive the day-to-day fractures they'll capture the up-and-to-the-right arc over time. Writing: I think "know your audience" can be dangerous advice for writers. Write stuff you yourself find interesting and entertaining. Writing for yourself is fun, and it shows. Writing for others is work, and it shows. If you're efficient, you're doing it the wrong way (Jerry Seinfeld micro-managed everything about his show). Counterintuitive. Highlights the dangers of shortcuts. Be careful what you wish for: A carefree and stress-free life sounds wonderful only until you recognize the motivation and progress it prevents. Hardship is the most potent fuel of problem-solving. And what makes life mean something is purpose. A goal. Read less news and more books. If you read good books, you'll have an easier time figuring out what you should pay attention to. (News isn't timeless. Good books are) Writing: People don't remember books, blogs, or articles. They remember sentences. That should be your goal: a collection of memorable sentences. One good line is infinitely more powerful than a few clumsy paragraphs. Mr Beast tells aspiring YouTubers to make 100 videos and he'll give them feedback and advice. 2 things happen. 98% never get close and give up. The 2% who do, no longer need his help. People use success as an indication of what to keep doing. But most success plants the seeds of its own demise, so what people think works and try to copy is always changing. Keep running - There is never a time when an investor can discover an investing strategy and be confident it will continue working indefinitely. The world changes, and competitors create their own little twist that exploits and snuffs out your niche. Same with careers, job skills, relationships, and countries. It's hard to accept that you have to put in a ton of work just to stay in one place, but that's how it works. Keep running. Acceptable Flaws -- Short-term thinking is the root of most of our problems in business, investing, and politics. But I get why it happens. It has to happen. Short-term thinking can be the only way you'll survive long enough to experience long-term results. It's an acceptable flaw. Useful Biases -- Reasonable ignorance – intentionally limiting your diligence in order to avoid decision paralysis in a world where everything, if you dig deep enough, is more complicated than it seems. (the paradox of choice). Progress happens too slowly for people to notice; setbacks happen too fast for people to ignore. "Stop telling kids they can be whatever they want to be. You can be whatever you're good at, as long as they're hiring. And even then it helps to

Text Hawk to 66866 to become part of "Mindful Monday." Join 10's of thousands of your fellow learning leaders and receive a carefully curated email from me each Monday morning to help you start your week off right... Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12 https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12 The power of believing in someone. Mr. Duncan, Shane's high school English teacher was the first person to tell him that he believed in him. He changed the trajectory of Shane's life. We, as leaders, can do that for others. Let's proactively look for opportunities to tell the people we're leading that we believe in them. The difference between Nice and Kind feedback. Too often, the people we ask for feedback are nice but not kind. Kind people will tell you things a nice person will not. A kind person will tell you that you have spinach on your teeth. A nice person won't because it's uncomfortable. A kind person will tell us what holds us back, even when it's uncomfortable. A nice person avoids giving us critical feedback because they're worried about hurting our feelings. Champions: "Champions don't create the standards of excellence. The standards of excellence create champions." "Expecting high performance is a prerequisite to its achievement among those who work with you. Your high standards and optimistic anticipations will not guarantee a favorable outcome, but their absence will assuredly create the opposite." The USS Benfold — was one of the worst-performing warships in the US Navy in 1996. The destiny of the USS Benfold changed the day Michael Abrashoff was named commander. Shane was 13 years old. Shane was standing with a group of his friends after school and they were teasing one of his classmates and he was watching. Teachers intervened and it ended quickly. He didn't realize that your dad was parked nearby and was watching. You have to stand up for people who don't have a voice. Warren Buffett: "The big question about how people behave is whether they've got an Inner Scorecard or an Outer Scorecard. It helps if you can be satisfied with an Inner Scorecard." Brent Beshore: "My favorite part of the book was the section on habits, rules, and safeguards (page 101). A principle that Shane and I discussed in January changed my life and was expounded on in the book. Shane said, "It's impossible to work out very often if you have to decide every day whether or not you'll do it. That's why I just do something active every day, no matter what." Solutions/Ego: "Solutions appear when you stop bargaining and start accepting the reality of the situation. That's because focusing on the next move, rather than how you got here in the first place, opens you up to a lot of possibilities. When you put outcome over ego, you get better results." "Small plans don't inspire, but consistently small actions create incredible results." Knowing Your Defaults: The emotion default - We tend to respond to feelings rather than reasons and facts The ego default - We tend to react to anything that threatens our sense of self-worth or our position in a group hierarchy The social default - We tend to conform to the norms of our larger social group. The Inertia default - We're habit-forming and comfort-seeking. We tend to resist change, and to prefer ideas, processes, and environments that are familiar. Ancient Greek word — Phronesis— the wisdom of knowing how to order your life to achieve the best results. Life/Career advice: "I'd give the same advice to someone who's trying to find someone to marry. Go on lots of dates. Experiment. Do stuff. Get out in the world. You can only connect the dots looking backward." If you want to develop good judgment, start by asking two questions: What do I want in life? And is what I want actually worth wanting?

Text Hawk to 66866 to become part of "Mindful Monday." Join 10's of thousands of your fellow learning leaders and receive a carefully curated email from me each Monday morning to help you start your week off right... Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12 https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12 How can I become a high-rung thinker? High-rung thinking is independent thinking, leaving you free to revise your ideas or even discard them altogether. On the low rungs, it means you're working to dutifully serve your ideas, not the other way around. How can I be the boss of the ideas in my own head? When you're the boss of the ideas in your head, you're always willing to revise them. When there's no amount of evidence that will change your mind about something, it means that idea is your boss. Humility is the awareness that no idea is worthy of being your boss. Best advice Tim has ever received: "I met Chris Anderson, the head of TED, in 2015. He had read a few WBW posts and offered me the opportunity to give a TED Talk at the 2016 conference (which was six months away). Immediately full of both gratitude/excitement and dread/anxiety, I asked him if it might be better to wait a couple years until I had some more speaking experience. He paused thoughtfully for a few seconds before saying, "There's no time like the present." I took his advice. Since then, his voice saying those words has popped into my head again and again during hard decisions, and I'm yet to regret following them." Great advice is sometimes great because it's totally original or framed in an original way. But, as in my story, a well-known platitude, at the perfect moment, can also make a huge impact. What makes Chris's advice so valuable to me wasn't that it was something new—it was that the lesson I learned from taking the advice in that particular moment turned a cliché into a mantra. No one "builds a house." They lay one brick again and again and again and the end result is a house. A remarkable, glorious achievement is just what a long series of unremarkable, unglorious tasks looks like from far away. "If I aired a highlight reel of your most selfish life moments and most shameful thoughts, you'd seem like an awful person. If I aired a reel of your best, kindest moments, you'd seem like a saint. But people aren't highlight reels, and the unedited cut is always a messy mix!" Kids Asking WHY? When kids repeatedly ask "why?" they're trying to see the underlying reasoning behind what they're told by authorities. "Because I said so" rejects that instinct and says "stop reasoning and obey." We then become adults who only know how to trust authorities other than ourselves. High Rung Thinking: Rung 1 - Thinking like a Scientist. When you're thinking like a scientist, you start at point A and follow evidence wherever it takes you. Rung 2 - Thinking like a sports fan. They want the game played fairly, but they really want the process to yield a certain outcome. Rung 3 - Thinking like an attorney. When you think like an attorney, you start from point B. The client is not guilty. Now let's figure out why. They cherry-pick evidence and piece it together to make an argument that leads where you want it to. Rung 4 - Thinking like a zealot. Their ideas aren't rugged experiments to be kicked around, they're fragile, precious babies to be adored and protected. The zealot doesn't have to go from A to B to know their viewpoints are correct– they just know they are. With 100% conviction. Life/Career advice: "I'd give the same advice to someone who's trying to find someone to marry. Go on lots of dates. Experiment. Do stuff. Get out in the world. You can only connect the dots looking backward."

Text Hawk to 66866 to become part of "Mindful Monday." Join 10's of thousands of your fellow learning leaders and receive a carefully curated email from me each Monday morning to help you start your week off right... Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12 https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12 "Amateurs focus on outcome. Professionals focus on process." And if you want to change the process, focus on just one change at a time. He used the fly fishing analogy. You don't change all three at once. Try one change and re-evaluate. I love the idea of creating a personal checklist for yourself much like pilots fill out every time before they fly a plane. We should all create our checklist and fill it out consistently. This is a great tool to become more self-aware. Top performers have a thirst for feedback in victory and defeat. The leaders who sustain excellence over time are intentional about surrounding themselves with a kitchen cabinet who is there to regularly provide feedback so that they can iterate and improve. That's one of the biggest differences between those who sustain excellence over time and those who don't. Goal Setting 34%-42% chance of hitting a goal if you ideate it 62% chance of hitting a goal if you write it down 75% chance of hitting a goal if you verbally share it with others Eric developed a psychological "resilience" test that when combined with data on the candidate's physical characteristics became a very good predictor of who would fail BUD/S (97%). While working with the Navy SEALs in San Diego, Eric frequently had guests come to observe the SEALs and how they worked. A lot of them were professional athletes like Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong, Michael Phelps, and many more… While there, Eric asked to interview them. Over time he was able to build an extensive knowledge base of the mental approaches of the world's top performers. "If your brain is firing, it's wiring." Learned from downhill skiers... Commonalities of leaders who sustain excellence: They accelerate what they value. They move from reputation to identity. They worry less about what others think. One of the biggest regrets of people on their deathbed is that they regret what they didn't do. Capitlize now to have no regrets later. Create a credo (your identity) Mindset They have a growth mindset (instead of a fixed mindset) They are thirsty for feedback (they want feedback in victory and defeat) Eric is agnostic about motivations - Clean fuel vs Dirty fuel They have different mindsets for the roles they play Think of yourself as a dimmer switch -- Sometimes you're white hot, sometimes you need to dim down Efficient and Consistent They manage their time well They sleep 8 hours They don't let life dictate what's important to them. Time = Currency. Block time for what's most important. Color code your calendar. Adversity Tolerance They control their human stress response They have a pre and post-performance routine They set goals They use visualization tools They compartmentalize well They use positive self-talk (they believe) They are good contingency planners They have high levels of self-awareness Like a pilot, they have checklists for themselves Balance and Recovery The more balanced, the more productive Feed all of your pillars Work Health Relationships Hobbies Spirituality Legacy Leadership role "Must-Haves" Emotional Intelligence - "Feel for a room" Empathy - Put our own perspective aside to understand others Curiosity - A desire to learn, to know more