The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Text LEARNERS to 44222 Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12 Episode #387: Arthur Blank - Owner of The Atlanta Falcons Notes: His Dad died when he was 44 years young, leaving his business to Arthur's mother. Arthur's mom took over and built a successful company. He learned to be principled and values driven from his mom. His mom always told him, "Principle matters." Arthur got fired from his job at Handy Dan in 1978. He didn't take it personally and founded The Home Depot with Bernie Marcus. At the original Home Depot headquarters, he and Bernie Marcus shared a bathroom between their offices. In the hallway outside the bathroom, they hang up press clippings. Not the accolades, or the awards won, but the negative stories and criticism. Why? You cannot have complacency or believe you are beyond reproach. Must always keep striving to get better. How did they duplicate the original Home Depot culture when they expanded beyond their first four stores? "You must always promote people based on them living the values of the company. Ahead of everything else." "The culture is critical." Ask, "Can they lead using our values?" --> Read the book, The War For Talent How did they maintained the culture as they acquired nine additional stores? Originally, it was an issue. "It was like changing the tires on a car as it was driving 30 miles per hour." "We had to self impose slowing down the growth." Must train the team on the culture "We didn't have money for training, but we did it anyway." To build a long term, sustainable business, you must focus on training. "You have to have a caring mentality. It takes time. I'm only interested in relationships. It's all about building long term relationships." Arthur tells the story of when he came to an agreement to buy the Falcons from Taylor Smith -- He booked a nice hotel suite, had dinner/wine, etc… He wrote on a napkin, "For Atlanta and the Falcons, $545 million. To the heritage and the tradition, in the past and the future." ---> Taylor asked what you were doing and Arthur said "This is a bond between the two of us." And further, "Important deals don't get done on paper napkins, it had to be a cloth one." → That napkin is displayed at the training facility of the Falcons and the team is now worth 5 times what he paid. "It was a win-win negotiation." In the lobby of your Atlanta offices, stands a custom bronze statue of a Sioux warrior in full battle regalia. He cannot move from his position on the battlefield -- he will stand his ground until victory or death. His chin proudly lifted and eyes scanning the horizon, he raises his bow, an arrow poised on the string. It's entitled, Point of No Return. It depicts a time-honored tradition of Sioux Leadership. "You have to lead from the front." Arthur names all of your conference rooms after personal heroes (Kurt Hahn is one of them, he is the founder of Outward Bound) -- "To strive, to serve, and not to yield." When he was the new owner of the Falcons, he walked to the back of the plane where the players were sitting and said, "Don't worry, I'm not going to try to coach you, but I need to know, what can I do for you? What do you need?" ("The Best Think Tank Any Company Could Ask For) -- "That one hour flight was worth a dozen strategy meetings with the team's executives or coaching staff." (You need to have a front line obsession, Chris Zook -- Get to the people who really know. The ones closest to the action) Innovate Continuously -- Need non stop reinvention. Leaders need to ensure that the road is cleared of unnecessary speed bumps and overly stringent traffic rules. Too much bureaucracy will kill innovation before it has even begun. Top down management structure will always constrain people's entrepreneurial spirit. --- The "Invisible Fence" style of management. "Hire people who are overqualified." -- Arthur had lunch with Charles Lazarus one day, the founder of Toys R Us, and he said, "the hardest moments are when you have to look at a person who helped you get to $1 Billion and realize that person can't help you get to $10 Billion." "Treat every team member as a free agent" -- Never take people for granted. "They should be committed because of the culture, not the contract."

Text LEARNERS to 44222 Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com IG/Twitter: @RyanHawk12 Notes: The Learning Leader Show "Life is on the wire. The rest is just waiting." -- Karl Wallenda (Nik's grandfather) "Fear of Feathers" -- One of the greatest fears of our current age: uncertainty. On March 4, 2020, Nik completed his greatest accomplishment to date, walking over the lava lake of the active Masaya Volcano. On June 4, 2011, Nik Wallenda successfully completed the high wire walk in San Juan that took his grandfather's life -- a 135-foot-long high-wire crossing between the two towers of the ten-story Condado Plaza Hotel. John Maxwell saw Nik speak at an event and encouraged him to write a book. Nik shares how his worst fear came true when five family members fell while doing a stunt. He thought, should I get back up on the wire? He learned from his family that they always fulfill their contracts. "I get goosebumps telling this story... My dad said, 'I'll always be there for you.'" "It's my job as the leader to figure out who's shaky and be there for them." Work to counter negativity with positivity and preparation. Nik's mother walked the wire when she was six months pregnant with him. "This is the way I came into the world. This is the way I want to go out." "One day you eat the chicken. The next day, you eat the feathers." "What you would call fear, I would call respect." "The worst thing you can do for a wild animal is show it fear. Show respect instead." "I never wear a harness unless my network partner makes me." The preparation process for a big event is meticulous and intense. He wears an oxygen deprivation mask to feel what it's like to not have a lot of oxygen. "It's all about building mental confidence." Make training much harder than the event "You cannot ever train enough." "If you think you should practice 5 times, do it 50 times." Excellence = A passion about being good at what you do Too many people are miserable at what they do. It's fear. "Even if you hate your job, do it with excellence." "You have to show up at work every single day." "Be positive, force yourself to smile." What is Nik thinking while walking over an active volcano? "I'm free, I'm excited, I have every emotion you can imagine." Alex Honold and David Blaine have become great friends and are very helpful.

Text LEARNERS to 44222 Full notes at www.LearningLeader.com IG/Twitter: @RyanHawk12 Notes: Community — In Rome, Panaetius met a fellow student of Diogenes named Gaius Laelius, and later in a naval contingent, met and served with Scipio Aemilianus, one of Rome's great Generals. These three men formed a kind of philosophical club — known to historians today as the Scipionic Club (like Ben Franklin's Junto's) — they would meet you discuss and debate the stoic philosophy they all pursued. Plutarch wrote in Moralia: Precepts of Stagecraft "it is a fine thing also, when we gain advantage from the friendship of great men, to turn welfare of our community, as Polybius and Panaetius, thru Scipio's goodwill towards them, conferred great benefits upon their native states" Ryan participates in off site adventures with other top authors in the world like James Clear and Mark Manson. They go there to share ideas and help one another. He experienced another example of this as he was asked to speak to a group of the top athletic directors in collegiate sports. All of them are very competitive with each other, yet they still meet regularly to share ideas and help one another. Zeno had little patience for idlers or big egos on his porch -- "Stoa is the Greek word for porch." Zeno said "better to trip with the feet than with the tongue" He was the first to express the four virtues of stoicism Courage Temperance/Moderation Justice Wisdom Consistency -- "His work was not defined by some single epiphany or discovery but instead by hard work. He inched his way there, through years of study and training as we all must." Zeno said "well being is realized by small steps, but is truly no small thing." Cleanthes — he not only continued his labors but actively turned down large financial gifts to help him retire to his studies — to him labor and philosophy were not rivals. They were pursuits that furthered and enabled each other. The ancients used to describe his industriousness: philoponia - a love of work. Chrysippus, the third Leader is the stoic school. He was introduced to running and it changed his life. The same is true for Ryan... "A marathon doesn't care that you're tired at mile 20. You have to get to 26.2 to be done. Your mind wants to quit much earlier than your body has to." "When you think you're done, you're at 40%." - David Goggins The stoic idea of Oikeiosis - that we share something and our interests are naturally connected to those of our fellow humans — is as pressing in the ancient world as it is today. "Being poor is not having too little, it is wanting more." Seneca Stay a Student -- The Maxim For Every Successful Person; 'Always Stay A Student' -- "Every man I meet is my master in some point, and in that I learn of him." — Ralph Waldo Emerson. Genghis Khan one of the greatest military minds who ever lived, he was a perpetual student. How to find stillness? Stop watching the news Journal - Anne Frank wrote when she struggled: "Paper," she said, "has more patience than people." Go for a walk or run Seek solitude -- Bill Gates "think weeks" How to balance temperance and justice? Start by being better ourselves As a citizen, where do you draw the line? Particularly when it's not in your interest to do so... What are you willing to sacrifice to insist on your standard? Epictetus' instructions: Separate things into what you control and what you don't Choose not to be complicit in getting offended Prep for adversity in advance Realize every situation has 2 handles—grab the right one Memento Mori—let death put everything in perspective "Writer's block is a phony, made up BS excuse for not doing your work." Jerry Seinfeld Life advice -- "Don't send me an email asking if you can ask me a question. Just ask the question." -- Ryan Holiday Be worthy of a great mentor... Do work that impresses them. Gets their attention. "Writing forces you to clarify your thinking..."

Text LEARNERS to 44222 Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk #384: Les Brown - You've Got To Be Hungry Notes: "If you want to be successful in life, do these three things..." Change your mindset - "You don't get in life what you want, you get in life what you are." Practice OQP - "Only Quality People" Develop your communication skills - "Once you open your mouth, you tell the world who you are. Sidney Poitier wrote a book called The Measure of a Man and she said, "When you go for a walk with someone, something happens without being spoken. He said, "either you adjust to their pace or they adjust to your pace." Think "Whose pace have you adjusted to? Les needed to disrupt the vision he had of himself in order to change... Distract Dispute Inspire Expand the vision of what's possible for life Mike Williams -- "The Road To Your Best Stuff" Keys to growth: Hire a coach Use your story to create an experience for your audience "Be transformed by the renewing of their minds." "You can't fit a big dream into a small mind." "We are here to live a life that will out live us." "The two most important days of your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why." - Mark Twain Les has battled cancer for 27 years... The beginning: When Les's mom worked for a white family, they would make her clap her hands regularly when she was alone in a different room to ensure she wasn't stealing anything. When Les learned why his mom always had to clap her hands together, he made it his mission to ensure that he would buy her a house one day... And eventually that's exactly what he did. Negative thoughts are like weeds. They'll keep coming back. You have to keep at it and have a positive mind. Every morning, Les takes the following action: Has a verbal (positive) affirmation Writes seven things he wants to do that day Reads 20-30 pages "There is power in pursuit... Set goals beyond your comfort zone." Have a perpetual plan of action "You're never too old to learn" "You're never too young to teach" "Don't ever stop raising the bar on yourself." There are three kinds of people: Millionaires, Billionaires, and Witnesses "You gotta be hungry." Thoreau - "Go where there's no path and leave a trail." What does Les think immediately before going on stage with 80,000 people in the crowd? "More of THE, less of ME." "When you wax a floor, you need to strip it first. The same is true with coaching." "Cancer Conquerors" -- "I don't have time to die, I've got too much work to do." Excellence: Durable, sustainable advantage. "I will not fail." All accomplishments happen in the mind first... And then in practice.

Text LEARNERS to 44222 Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk #383: Guy Raz - How I Built This Excellence = Ambition Desire to produce for the sake of personal fulfillment -- "It's oxygen" Bill Gates is constantly challenging himself... Having a growth mindset. "To survive means to grow." How has Guy become one of the greatest interviewers in the world? "I've been shooting free throws for 25 years. I've gotten a lot of reps." To be great, you have to be bad at the beginning... And keep going. How to connect with others? "I interpret the non-verbal feedback." Purposeful Practice: It's a team effort -- "I've worked with my team for twenty years. There is a strong bond and connection. They are very honest with their feedback. Constructive criticism is essential. We need outsiders to assess us." Guy thanks his mom and dad in the acknowledgement section of his book: They came to America in the 1970's. "Being courageous requires resilience." Guy has covered four wars, but he still doesn't feel he's as courageous as his parents. "Without taking a risk there is no reward." When Guy is afraid to take a risk, he thinks of his parents. How his fellowship year at Harvard impacted him: They teach through case studies and stories. It helped him understand business and storytelling. Guy is inspired by Joseph Campbell's hero's journey... His 'Must-Have' qualities to get hired to work on his team: Kindness - "We filter for kindness" They have to "want to improve" How Guy prepares to interview someone for one of his shows: Contact them well ahead of the interview date Do a deep dive on them and people around them (read, watch videos, listen to podcasts) Do a background check "All of us are imperfect... That's what make someone relatable. We all have flaws. You need to hear the failures." "The interviewee must be generous with their emotions. "The idea that I can learn from someone excites me." "I love transmitting the story." The idea for How I Built This came to him in 2008 when he took a class at Harvard Business School during a sabbatical year as a Nieman journalism fellow after nearly eight years as a foreign correspondent. Guy demands that those who sit for an interview with him are completely open. "I ask them, 'Are you willing to come to this interview and surrender?'" Guy stared as an NPR intern and didn't get the initial jobs he wanted... I asked... "How much of your success can be attributed to luck and how much skill/hard work?" Life advice: Get a job in sales -- All jobs have a selling component. Learn this crucial skill. Be methodical about your experiences. Keep your eyes open for problems all around you... Look for problems to solve. All businesses are built on solving a problem.

Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more details Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk #382: Morgan Housel - Timeless Lessons On Wealth, Greed, & Happiness Notes: "Writing helps crystallize vague thoughts in your mind." It helps clarify your thoughts. Writing is an art. When you publish your own work, you own the success or failure. Public speaking is a great tool to learn how to communicate succinctly. It's a skill worth building. The Psychology of Money is a study in understanding why people do what they do... "Use money to control your time. That's the highest dividend money can do for you." Why work with Collaboration Fund: You need more than just a check: values, philosophies, get your thoughts out into the world. 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. "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 know someone." -- Chris Rock Excellence = Patience - Stick with it. Continue to go during down periods. That's how compounding works. Success Laws -- "Strong beliefs, weakly held." Storytelling: "The prize goes to the person who can explain something well... Stories move the needle. You convince someone something is true through stories." How to become a better storyteller? READ a lot. And practice. "If you're going to try to predict the future — whether it's where the market is heading, or what the economy is going to do, or whether you'll be promoted — think in terms of probabilities, not certainties. Death and taxes, as they say, are the only exceptions to this rule." Some quotes (thanks to RightAttitudes.com) "Two things make an economy grow: population growth and productivity growth. Everything else is a function of one of those two drivers." "Changing your mind is one of the most difficult things we do. It is far easier to fool yourself into believing a falsehood than admit a mistake." "Study successful investors, and you'll notice a common denominator: they are masters of psychology. They can't control the market, but they have complete control over the gray matter between their ears." "There's a strong correlation between knowledge and humility. People who spend 10 minutes on Google studying monetary policy think they have it all figured out, while people with PhD's and decades of experience throw up their hands in frustration. The more you study economics, the more you realize how little we know about it." "When you think you have a great idea, go out of your way to talk with someone who disagrees with it. At worst, you continue to disagree with them. More often, you'll gain valuable perspective. Fight confirmation bias like the plague." "Short-term thinking is at the root of most of our problems, whether it's in business, politics, investing, or work."

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Text LEARNERS to 44222 IG/Twitter: @RyanHawk12 Full notes at www.LearningLeader.com #381: John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Notes: Excellence: Energy - Vitality -- "You cannot be lazy" "You need a strong desire to be excellent" Excellent leaders strive for excellence in everything they choose to do Good physical and mental health Honor - "Hold yourself to high standards" John and Rene Lawson raised $45,000 from family and friends and borrowed $10,000 in 1978 to open a small natural foods store called SaferWay in Austin, Texas. When the couple were evicted from their apartment for storing food products in it, they decided to live at the store. Because it was zoned for commercial use, there was no shower stall, so they bathed using a water hose attached to their dishwasher. Two years later they brought on partners who owned another grocery store and formed Whole Foods Markets. Having high expectations: As a younger person in his early 20's, John was curious about learning... He loved organic, natural food before it was popular. Revolutions: The running revolution happened in the 1970's - He got into that. The long runs made him feel fantastic. He became a vegetarian. It helped him feel better, be more alive. He is now a vegan. In 1981, they had to deal with a 100 year flood in Austin. "Renee had to swim out of the store that day." "Whole Foods should have died that day. That was when I learned about stakeholders." --> Many people helped them stay in business. "A banker co-signed on the loan without approval because he trusted me. I didn't find out until later." He moved to Boulder in 1999 to run WholePeople.com -- Then the internet bubble popped and it failed. When he moved back to Austin, TX, a coup was afoot... One of his trusted senior leaders was trying to get John fired. John walked through the nearest Whole Foods while preparing to tell the board why he should keep his job... "I get a super high touring that store." Touring the stores helps you feel the pulse of the company. John thought, "Oh my God, this is the love of my life. This is my purpose." That's what he told the board and senior execs and convinced them to let him keep his job. He learned to cultivate and build relationships with his board through that... A "Conscious Leader" = Vision & Virtue – Put purpose first, lead with love Mindset & Strategy – Find win-win solutions. Innovate and create value People & Culture – Constantly evolve the team. Regularly revitalize, continually learn and grow John has elected to take a $1 yearly salary and to forgo any bonus or stock grants since 2007. Hiring: "You're no better than your team." "Excellence is continued growth." "When you stop growing you begin to die." You need to constantly revitalize yourself: Sleep well Eat healthy food Exercise People are addicted to bad food... But you can change this habit if you're willing to go through some pain for a month or two. You can teach yourself to enjoy healthy foods. It needs to become a habit. Hiring: Do group interviews - Don't rely on just one person Looks for: Intelligence ('that's the ante to get in') Emotional Intelligence -- "Steve Jobs would not have gotten hired at Whole Foods" Need to work well with others Take responsibility High integrity Chemistry with others and high character Ask, "Who have you helped get promoted?" "Who have you developed?" "How?" The sale to Amazon "We took a plane up to Seattle and met in Jeff's (Bezos) house. It was very secretive. There was a lot of security around." "The conversation was like falling in love. They were just regular guys who were very smart." "Jeff (Bezos) is unpretentious, has a great sense of humor, and is a genius. He's brilliant." "It's like marriage, I love them 98% of the time." Advice: "Life is an adventure. Go for it."

Text LEARNERS to 44222 Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk #380: Jay Hennessey - How To Build A Learning Organization Shared Adversity - "That's what creates the foundation for teams. It's the glue that builds trust." MOFO - Mandatory Optional Fitness Opportunity SEAL training - The shared adversity among trainees creates camaraderie. Evolutions are team based. "Lock arms laying the surf" "Great teams aren't created by happenstance" -- You must be intentional and deliberate. What is the culture you want to create? - "You must be deliberate about that up front." "The language you use is so important." Dan Coyle is the ultimate connector "When people are asking you questions, it's super energizing" -- Approach each conversation with a curious mind Foster "Organization Humility" The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge: The discipline of team learning starts with 'dialogue', the capacity of members of a team to suspend assumptions and enter into a genuine 'thinking together'. To the Greeks dia-logos meant a free-flowing of meaning through a group, allowing the group to discover insights not attainable individually…. [It] also involves learning how to recognize the patterns of interaction in teams that undermine learning. Dialog vs. Discussion Dialog = Strong convictions loosely held. Starting with, "I may be wrong..." Discussion = Trying to convince others you're right The Learning Organization Get reps - Read with someone else and share Engage the learner: Just in time Just for you Just in case Building a learning organization creates a competitive advantage: Great teams are always learning, evolving, and changing. What you know now will be extinct in five years. Must keep learning. "Nobody that we hire wants to be stagnant." There is no mandatory compliance. Book: Practice Perfect -- "Whoever is doing the talking is doing the learning." When building a learning organization, stress that it's about active participation. Not passively watching lectures, but actively participating in them. Being a "Yes, And..." leader -- Build off the ideas of others. Lift them up. A "Yes, And..." leader doesn't need the credit. They bring energy to the group. "Leadership is about making something better than it was when you found it and doing so by developing people along the way. Leaders cannot be energy neutral. They are either adding energy or taking energy." - Tom Ogburn Don't be a "Mr. Poopy Pants" -- "Oh, well that will never work." Nobody wants to work with Mr. Poopy Pants. How to develop awareness: Started as the second youngest guy on the seam when he went to SEAL team 5. He was 2nd in charge of his platoon. "Show up with humility and think, 'where can I add value?' Ask for help from mentors -- Hitch yourself to a strong chief. "Have a strong burden to add value" A stay ready mindset -- Have a 'never peak' attitude. Always ready to go. No excuses. "In every aspect of your life, no one cares what you used to be able to do, they care what you can do today." What type of leader do you want to be? -- Write it down. Leaders need to think deeply. Writing forces that to happen. Write your command philosophy Be deliberate Be a connector: What is the difference between Connecting and Networking – Networking is looking for people who you can help; networking is looking for people who can help you. Be a connector. How to build comfort in your own skin? Do hard things -- Progress turns into confidence It's a self-efficacy model -- It's okay to fail. Overcome it and keep going. Be part of something bigger than you. Excellence -- "Humility is the enabler for curiosity." Here is WHY joining a Learning Leader Circle is a good idea... Jay's "Leadership Philosophy" Mission: To execute at my fullest potential and to serve as a resource to help my Family and Teammates continuously improve at every stage of their personal and professional development. Vision: to lead a healthy and happy family where we all strive to become the best version of ourselves. Professionally, my vision is to be a contributing member of a learning organization with a culture that encourages learning and development at every level. Core Attributes: Humility, curiosity, empathy, trust, followership, generosity, competition, health & fitness, gratitude Guiding Leadership Principles: Exude positivity, communicate effectively, learn and adapt in all areas of personal and professional life, be creative, iterate & execute quickly, be aggressive, have fun, show initiative toward opportunities and problems, challenge self, solitude/mindfulness, be deliberate (set goals, reflect) Leadership Statement: Make the most of everything I do – be positive, have fun, learn, adapt, and push / pull / drag or chase my teammates toward our goals.

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Text LEARNERS to 44222 to learn more Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com #379: Jack Butcher - Founder of Visualize Value Notes: Excellence: Humility - "People who don't think they're very good." The willingness to "put yourself in situations where you don't have a clue." No Plateau - Need to put yourself in scenarios where you are inexperienced... To learn and build resilience. Why Jack shoots "one take" videos and doesn't edit --There is a focus on "getting things out there." Ship it. Publish. Take action. "The ability to publish is prioritized." You can build a bond with a teacher through their authenticity. Create and share what you're building in real time... People want to go on that journey with you (when it's real) How Jack has built such a high level of confidence in himself -- Had a great mentor who was a polymath. It was six months into being a designer... Jack was preparing to show some of his work. He framed it as "I'm not sure if this is any good..." His mentor told him, "Never discount what you're doing prior to showing it to them." Frame it right. KNOW YOUR WORK. Own the full interaction of your story. Explain how you got the answer. DO the necessary work to understand it at its fundamental level. Think as if you are going to defend your work as you present it -- "What would the worst critic say about this work?" How would I respond to that? Do your research and be prepared. That's how confidence is built. Be consciously competent about your work. Visualize Value -- Jack is a designer by trade. He has built his skills based on his previous decade working with some of the world's largest brands. He most enjoyed the strategic component of the process -- The articulation of the strategy through the use of compelling visual images. Think: How can I make this argument more visual? He helps businesses understand their value proposition He takes the same principle to consumers now with Visualize Value Leadership Development - Understand the individual components to transformation Curriculum - Organize it to a sequence of principles that build on one another. Share myths - What's incorrect Don't skip the foundation Share the problem - Don't just focus on the symptom Prescriptions can mask the symptom Help with transformation -- "Debug the code" "Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better." - Pat Riley As a leader, it's important to constantly set a new baseline. Consistency - "We're bad at understanding the compounding function." Resistance - Progress is a force you're pushing against. Your ability to continually push forward against the resistance is critical in your long term success. Sales - There's no scenario where sales isn't important. Sales is always a component to what you're doing whether you like it or not.

Text LEARNERS to 44222 IG/Twitter: @RyanHawk12 Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com #378: Brad Feld Notes: Excellence: Honesty - Clear view of what's going on with self and others Transparency/Authenticity is overused Confirmed process of learning - Hypothesis, clarity of though around experimentation Advice to a new manager: Ask a lot of questions REALLY LISTEN - Engage in conversations... Don't just try to get the right answer We have endless biases "People defend their biases instead of questioning their biases." --> Have a curious mind. Curiosity: His parents gave him positive feedback for being inquisitive... An exploration of new ideas. Brad loves to read and takes a digital sabbath every Saturday. Approach new ideas with a Buddhist philosophy --> Let go of assumptions. Approach each topic with a beginner's mind. A founder who is an explorer -- "Don't get stuck as an investor by constantly asking questions. You need to want to deeply understand someone. It goes both ways. Literal answers aren't enough." The role of the founder is "to collect people." → Mentor side, peer side, employee side, customer side. Engage with people. Create a 'bi-directional' connection. This has shifted over time for Brad. Think #GiveFirst Life partner - Amy... They are equals. It's important to acknowledge that. They almost split up after 10 years because Brad's words were not matching his actions. "YOUR WORDS MUST MATCH YOUR ACTIONS.' Prioritize what's important and then follow through. If it's important to you to spend time with your spouse, then do it. Brad and Amy had to learn how to fight... When their 13 year old dog died, it was devastating. Amy and Brad deal with tragedy differently. It's important to understand that it's OK for your spouse to deal with grief differently than you do. Key Parts to building community: The people in charge must be leaders Must have a long term commitment --> 20 years+ Inclusive of anyone who wants to engage Have events that engage people Complex systems to how communities evolve --Complicated systems has more steps. Goal setting - They tend to be too rigid. The time component can be a problem. Brad prefers raid iteration. Better to have a hypothesis. If the hypothesis fails, learn it. Eric Ries - Lean Startup Rapid experimentation - Rapid learning is better Vast majority of goals you set are not right in the future Writing - "When I write, I learn." Force yourself to write it down. Put it in public. Have an open mind to feedback. "People get stuck in dogma when they don't write things down. They don't know why they believe in it." You can't do this quickly. People don't feel like they have time to think. That's a problem. The role of selling: Selling is crucial. You are selling all the time. Sales is a noble profession. Acknowledge it. Develop the skills to do it well. Everyone works in sales.

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Text LEARNERS to 44222 Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Episode #377: Casper Ter Kuile - How To Turn Everyday Activities Into Soulful Practices Notes: Excellence: Always learning Commitment - Willingness to go deep Generosity Patience Casper spent his 30th birthday with nuns. He's not very religious but realized he had a lot in common with them. They care about the same things. They're very honest. What he learned from his mother and father: Father - Do well when you follow the rules. Be detail oriented. Honest. Trustworthy. Mother - She has a more "cheeky side." She breaks the rules. Deep connection isn't just about relationships with other people. It's about feeling the fullness of being alive. It's about being enveloped in multiple layers of belonging within, between, and around us. Four Levels of connection: Connecting with yourself Connecting with the people around you Connecting with the natural world Connecting with the transcendent Tradition -- "We mistake tradition for convention. Tradition is the beating heart, convention is the outer expression." A college football team can change their uniforms and not lose tradition. The uniforms are a form of outer expression. You change symbols as you grow. Preaching at its best is a conversation with the congregation. Ancient texts are so valuable. The Bible is a description of how life is... Casper shares what it was like growing up in England and not fitting in... His home life was great. His school life was awful. Connection: Willing to change Forged in flames Honesty & commitment to each other Science is stable - we value being in tribes. There's less of a connection to places and family. There is a decline in religious communities. Why has there been a decrease? Productivity has become so important. To be productive, relationships are sacrificed. Priorities have shifted. We are missing opportunities to go deep with people At work: Younger people show up at a job for the meaning of the company... The military: Soldiers care about the people they are shoulder to shoulder with... They honor their culture. As a manager: Replicate water cooler moments (virtually). 30 minutes snippets on zoom. Invite people to go deeper. Use question prompts - create safe spaces. It's an interesting time for relationship design. He's created "The Confession Group" The leader needs to model vulnerability but hold the boundaries. Have a place where people can go to admit they screwed up -- 10 minutes to share, 10 minutes to ask questions Discipline: Take a tech sabbath -- Each Friday, Casper hides his phone and computer. It's rest time. Sabbath - "The apex of life." What we practice is what we become "We all worship something. We just don't know what we're worshiping." The paradigm of how we see ourselves in the world.

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Text LEARNERS to 44222 @RyanHawk12 Full notes at www.LearningLeader.com Episode #376: David Perell - Why You Should Write Notes: The importance of writing -- Why everyone should write… "Having a website with articles you've published is like having a personal agent who finds career opportunities for you 24/7." "Writing crystallizes ideas in ways thinking on its own will never accomplish." — Morgan Housel "The person who writes sets the strategy. If you want to lead, write." "Writing is a 'proof of work' mechanism" It shows the world that you've thought deeply about a topic Networking - The old way vs the new way Old -- Go to conferences, happy hours, networking events New -- Publish your work online. You attract the type of people you want... Bill James analytical approach. His book only sold 550 copies, but one of them was to Billy Beane (General Manager of the Oakland A's). And the "Moneyball" revolution was created... The Venn Diagram of Specificity Learn how to create this for your business How to built a career? Do things that are unique, in demand, but the world doesn't have yet Your first draft is what is top of mind -- "Rewriting is rethinking." It's the process to make our ideas better. Writing and re-writing will make you a more thoughtful person and will create clarity. Writing is an element of teaching. Expertise is like a ladder -- Be like an investigative reporter about a topic that fascinates you The benefits of learning in public: "It is the best way to build a network." It's a forcing function. It forces your brain to always be on. "Want a great spouse? Deserve one." - Charlie Munger Publishing your work online (podcast, essays, book) is the greatest networking tool in the world. I've met amazing people because they've benefitted from my work (head coach Atlanta Falcons, Brooklyn Nets, Ohio State basketball coach, SVP of Fortune 50 companies). Community and connection —- community becomes the byproduct when you're going through something challenging together (ie: Navy SEALs). "The strength of a community is hard to quantify, which makes it hard to advertise. But like good music, you measure it by how it moves your spirits and how you feel in its presence." Competition is for Losers: Avoid competition. Stop copying what everybody else is doing. If you work at a for-profit company, work on problems that would not otherwise be solved. If you're at a non-profit, fix unpopular problems. Life is easier when you don't compete. (Hint: don't start another bottled water company). Personal Monopoly: Corporations reward conformity, but the Internet rewards people who are unique. If you work in a creative field, strive to be the only person who does what you do. Find your own style, then run with it. Create intellectual real estate for yourself. (Jerry Garcia -- Be the only person who does what you do) The Map Is Not the Territory: Reality will never match the elegance of theory. All models have inconsistencies, but some are still useful. Some maps are useful because they're inaccurate. If you want to find an edge, look for what the map leaves out. There are two kinds of companies: 1) Product-First Audiences: Build a product, then an audience. Attract customers with paid advertisements. 2) Audience-First Products: Build an audience, then a product. Attract customers with differentiated content. Take Action -- "Taking action will teach you more about yourself in a month than years of contemplation ever will." Making something easier expands the market... But making it harder gets you the clients you really want. Twitter is the town-square of the internet. It can be the best learning tool in the world if you use it right: Mute politics Unfollow people who make you angry Understand your opponent's opinion better than they do Production: Make tweets useful. It forces you to focus on ideas that are timeless. It forces you to have constant epiphanies. Have "spiky" ideas -- They pierce society. Have a point of view Sustained excellence = Obsession - Doing great work is hard. You need to love it. "I can't live without creating." Vision - Set a goal that scares you and march toward it. Have ambition A keen understanding of what one is good at - Self-awareness.

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more details Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Episode #375: Miranda Hawk - How To Cultivate A Loving Relationship. Miranda Hawk is an award winning sales professional, builder of teams, and sits on the board for multiple non-profit organization. Miranda is my wife, and together we are striving to raise our daughters to be kind, strong, hard-working, resilient leaders. Miranda is the former owner of the Dayton Mom Collective, a business that provides a positive voice for motherhood by connecting moms to resources and parenting perspectives unique to their communities. She has worked in the profession of selling since she was 14 and understands the determination and work ethic it takes to sustain excellence. **We recorded this conversation on our Anniversary.** Notes: The symbolism of a wedding anniversary - The amount of time is not impressive. It's what you do during that time. The type of people you become. Not just that you've made it a certain number of years, but making those years count. The relationship has grown. The love for one another has grown. You've accomplished things together and on your own. And both people in the relationship and the world around are better because of the relationship. What was the initial attraction and how that has grown and/or changed over time? (Confidence (shoulders back), beauty, work ethic, your demonstration of excellence at your craft, toughness) --> the blending of a family. Challenges and the joy of it.... What is beauty? Is beauty a pretty face, a nice smile, flowing hair, nice skin? Not to me, it's not. To me beauty is living life to higher standards, stronger morals and ethics and believing in them, whether people tell you you're right or wrong. Beauty is not wasting a day. Beauty is noticing life's little intricacies and taking time out of your busy day to really enjoy those little intricacies. Beauty is being real, being genuine, being pure with no facade—what you see is what you get. Beauty is expanding your mind, always seeking knowledge, not being content, always going after something and challenging yourself." -- Jake Plummer (describing Pat Tillman) The pursuit - the importance of being in pursuit of one another -- Love is a verb. It's a constant action. It's a behavior towards one another. Why "happy wife, happy life" is stupid -- In what other world is the focus on only making one person in the relationship happy? You wouldn't do that in a friendship. You wouldn't do that at work. Why would you do that in your marriage? Gratitude -- Saying the words. The power behind words. Being intentional about saying thank you. The importance of specificity. Learning Leader Circle question (Chris G) I'm always fascinated by how things start. As you have started the podcast, what did that look like for your family in starting the venture? Also the dynamic that you have as far as how much you are involved with each other's careers? i.e. involved and talk about it daily, or primarily keep your conversations centered on the family and personal life. The importance of leading yourself first... It gives you the energy and drive to love others. Conflict resolution - It's critical to have open dialog about the mistakes made and how we rectify them... We strive to have a relationship where we can discuss disagreements, come to a resolution, and move forward. Health and wellness -- Why taking care of ourselves is so important. You're passionate about this and have made our family better because of it. "If you take care of your body, it will take care of you." "I'm striving to be the best version of myself." I'm attracted to discipline... And the ability to do what's hard Our WHO -- Becoming more intentional about dinner dates/friends/how we spend our time Advice for younger women - Be proactive - Your job responsibilities are the minimum, do more than that Develop a strong work ethic Be positive -- Bring positive energy Learning Leader Circle question from Nick -- What are your key family anchors" for the week or month? Example: Sunday dinners, etc.- We invested in a nice area to gather outside on our back porch. Our family dinners together are what we love most... The exercise we do: Each person says something they love about every other person at the table. Get specific! "Your mate will either inspire you to grow into your greatness or they will confine you to complacency. They'll either be your other half, or they'll make you half of yourself." - Nuri Muhammad "Business like life is all about how you make people feel. It's that simple and it's that hard. —— Consciously think about how I make you feel." - Danny Meyer "Ultimately the bond of all companionship, whether in marriage or in friendship, is conversation." - Oscar Wilde Habits/Routines -- Differences and similarities The importance of long walks together...

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more details Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Episode #374: Alexandra Carter - How To Ask For More. Alexandra Carter is a Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Mediation Clinic at Columbia Law School. She has spent the last eleven years helping thousands of people negotiate better, build relationships and reach their goals. In 2019, Alex was awarded the Columbia University Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching, Columbia University's highest teaching honor. She is a world-renowned negotiation trainer for groups and individuals from all over the world Notes: Excellent leaders have a beginner's mindset What does a mediator do? They are a third person that helps people negotiate. The good ones don't act like the smartest person in the room. They are learners and great listeners. What is negotiation? It is NOT a transaction over money. Negotiation is any conversation where you are steering a relationship Every conversation is like being in a kayak. Approach every conversation differently... With intention. "We make our world significant by the courage of our questions and by the depth of our answers." - Carl Sagan The ultimate open ended question -- "Tell Me…" Questions - an open question is like fishing with a net. A closed question is fishing with a pole. A great open question doesn't have a question mark. "Tell me about your trip to India!" Change your WHY questions to WHAT questions...Rather than ask "Why haven't I been able to… Turn that around to "What has made this challenging for me?" Move from a place of blame to curiosity. How to handle a PDP (performance development plan) meeting? How to ask for a raise? Recruit your manager to be on your side. Share your goals with them, bring them along with you... Connect with your manager. Talk about the future and how you can work together. Ask open ended questions to learn more about the needs of the business. Tie your money request to your production. Use "I + We" statements - Share how your work benefits the company. Your asks should be: Optimistic Specific Justifiable Research suggests that women hold themselves to perfectionist standards As a boss: Invest in top performers, mentor people, empower them, unleash them What do you need? 2 buckets Tangibles - touch, see, count Intangibles - Values, freedom, acknowledgement Questions to ask yourself: What would progress look like? What do I feel? Grapple with your feelings so that they don't control you How have I handled this successfully in the past? Ask yourself about prior success. Write down your answer. It's a "power prime." Questions to ask: The first 5 questions are for your side- The Mirror: What's the problem I want to solve? What do I need?, What do I feel?, How have I handled this successfully in the past?, What's the first step? Then, the second 5 questions are for your opposite number: The Window: Tell me?, What do you need?, What are your concerns?, How have you handled this successfully in the past? What's the first step? The five, best open-ended questions to ask in each part seek to identify and define the following: (1) the problem/goal; (2) needs; (3) feelings/concerns; (4) previous success; and (5) the first step. And that the answers to these important questions can help steer conversations, relationships, and negotiations that will increase the likelihood of a desired negotiation destination. "The Mirror," in that knowing oneself by spending the time it takes to honestly ponder, reflect, and journal one's personal thoughts, feelings, expectations, and dreams to answer those five questions, in an attempt to not only improve one's skills in formal negotiations, but to also navigate the relationships in life's journey.

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Text LEARNERS to 44222 Full show notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com #373: Bill Perkins is a hedge fund manager, film producer, and high stakes poker player. He is the author of Die with Zero: Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life. Notes: Your life is the sum of your experiences… "The business of life is the acquisition of memories. In the end, that's all there is." - The butler from Downtown Abbey... Excellence: Integrity with your word and yourself -- Don't lie to yourself and others. You can't be flippant with yourself. Don't say it unless you mean it (to yourself and others) How to maximize your lifetime memorable moments with "memory dividends" How to get the most experiences in the optimal time with "experience bucketing" In each season, experiences will forever go away. Map out the experiences you want and what you are saving for. There are some experiences that you can only do when you're young and healthy. There is a deterioration of health. You won't always be able to climb a mountain or wake board. Do those now. Follow your "net worth curve" - "Consume money and convert it into experiences." How to navigate whether to invest in or delay a meaningful adventure based on your "personal interest rate" -- "Should I take one trip today or two trips in 10 years?" Bill shares the life changing conversation he had with his boss, Joe Farrell, a partner at the company where he worked -- Bill was making $18,000/year and had saved $1,000. Joe questioned him... "Go spend that money! Why deprive yourself? You don't think you're going to make more money as you get older?!" Jason Ruffo -- Backpacked Europe when he was young and able even though he didn't have any more. He did it while he could instead of waiting to have enough money. He now has an experience dividend for life that Bill doesn't. What are we saving for? Survival Experiences we want - The memory dividend - "This is the stuff of life." It's a compounding dividend "Who am I? The summation of my experiences." "Money is a tool to have the experience." Die With Zero is about choices - What do you choose to do now? What later? Bill and I have the same literary agent, Jim Levine - Bil liked Jim because he told him that his proposal wasn't good enough to share with publishers when it was first written... Bill appreciated that honest feedback and desire to make it better. "It's hypocritical and stupid to leave inheritance to your kids." (Give them money when they're young and can use it for cool experiences). Behaviors for hiring: Integrity Intrinsic motivation Problem solvers "Aiming to die with zero is the most thoughtful thing you can do."

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Text LEARNERS to 44222 Full show notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com #372: Will Guidara Notes: Sustaining excellence = Everyone has the capacity for excellence Hard work Giving a lot of yourself to something -- A" passion for the thing you're excellent at doing." The nobility of service It requires getting up on a day when you're tired and not feeling it "You need to be on even when you feel off" The "pre-shift" meeting -- "As a leader, you have a responsibility to share what inspires you." "Everyone craves affirmation." Lessons from his Mom: She became a quadriplegic when Will was nine You can talk things into existence - Will's mom said she wanted to stay alive until he graduated college. And she did it by one day. Doctors said she should have died when Will was 12. "What would you attempt to do if you could not fail?" The power of non-verbal communication. Integrity in the face of adversity - Life is not always awesome. There's always ups and downs. Perspective is key. Eleven Madison Park - Setting the goal to be the #1 rated restaurant in the world. In 2010, they were #50. Seven years later, they were #1. "You need to love what you're doing to be great at it." There is power in having extraordinary intention Strategic planning -- Be specific and actionable Have endless reinvention Be willing to take risks "Unreasonable Hospitality" You need to decide what you want to embody "Business like life is all about how you make people feel. It's that simple and that hard." - Danny Meyer Hiring: "We hired dream weavers from art schools, designers..." Experiential design separated them from the rest Be present Listen to what is being said and what's not being said. Engage with people. Serve them. Meet them where they are. "Hospitality is one size meets one" - Have to meet them one at a time What's the secret to a happy marriage? "Never stop pursuing each other" Ruth's Chris - The special calamari strips -- Not on the menu, but available to make an experience exceptional The nobility of service... The four words: Hospitality Excellence Education - "A day you aren't learning isn't a day worth living" Passion - "Our work matters. What we do matters." Meeting at The White House: Restaurants during the pandemic His dad's advice -- "Adversity is a terrible thing to waste" "It's not what happened to you, it's how you respond." "Through crisis comes community" The Welcome Conference "Hospitality is just as much a craft as cooking." Will's dad is his hero "Next level intense responsibility" He never complained "Name what you want to accomplish and do it" "The secret to happiness is always something to look forward to." Here is WHY joining a Learning Leader Circle is a good idea...

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Text LEARNERS to 44222 Full show notes are at www.LearningLeader.com #371: Maria Konnikova - Maria Konnikova is the author of two New York Times bestsellers, The Confidence Game, winner of the 2016 Robert P. Balles Prize in Critical Thinking, and Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes, an Anthony and Agatha Award finalist. Her new book, The Biggest Bluff, will be out from Penguin Press on June 23, 2020. She is a regularly contributing writer for The New Yorker whose writing has won numerous awards, including the 2019 Excellence in Science Journalism Award from the Society of Personality and Social Psychology. While researching The Biggest Bluff, Maria became an international poker champion and the winner of over $300,000 in tournament earnings—and inadvertently turned into a professional poker player. Maria's writing has been featured in Best American Science and Nature Writing and has been translated into over twenty languages. Notes: Sustaining excellence = Genuine interest in what they do for a living They follow their curiosity - "It's not about wanting to make a shit load of money." Passionate "They work their asses off" - They work a lot. It doesn't just happen. "Follow your curiosity and obsessions with great rigor." - Brian Koppelman Why write a book about poker when you've never played before? "I wanted to write about chance and the role luck plays in our life." Game theory stemmed from poker Poker is about strategic decision making Why poker? "Poker is a powerful tool to metabolize the luck that surrounds us, and a way to become comfortable with something that is not only all too applicable to our current situation, but extremely difficult for the human mind to process: uncertainty." Erik Seidel became Maria's personal coach/mentor "There's no one like him." He's stood the test of time. He's been successful at poker for decades... He's evolved with the changes of the game, made adjustments and has won. He's kind and humble. Tips on asking for someone to mentor you: Do your homework - Read everything there is to know about the person before contacting them Be specific with your ask Make sure you know why this person should be your mentor Figure out what's in it for them Find someone who can help amplify your strengths Don't write a novel in the first email or DM - Get to the point quickly If you can get an in person meeting, do it NEVER say: "Can I pick your brain?" Why playing poker is comparable to writing: Both are deceptively simple on the surface. Anyone can do either, but to do either well in the long term, a certain mastery is needed. Both are subject to the Dunning-Kruger effect, which means that the more someone knows, the more they realize how much they don't know on a topic, while someone with little knowledge tends to be falsely confident about their understanding of a topic Meta-cognitive process - "I great more aware of my thinking." You must reflect before reacting. Poker helps you to practice this valuable skill. Make decisions after going through a process of reflection List the things you need to be attentive to What are the relevant factors? What should I be paying attention to? Write it down In order to make better decisions, you must be able to identify your process The ultimate goal of poker and life is to make the optimal decision in that moment The best poker players work incredibly hard: They study hands, they talk hands over with other bros, they watch video, they dissect hands. They build up their self control and their emotional regulation What Maria learned from playing a lot of tournament poker? "It is an extreme sport. You can't take breaks. You're put in a pressure cooker for hours and must make the right decision." "I had internalized gender stereotypes. I was letting myself be bullied. I'd take less active lines because I was scared. I had to overcome that and still need to work on it." Advice: "Work hard. Life gives you nothing. Everything is earned. Life isn't fair. You must work for it. Saying life isn't fair isn't good for you. Think: 'What can I do about it? What can I control?'" Follow your curiosity Read, Read, Read. Read poetry and read fiction

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Text LEARNERS to 44222 For full show notes, go to www.LearningLeader.com #370: Steve Herz: Don't Take Yes For An Answer Notes: Sustaining excellence = Curiosity - Genuine interest A desire to learn and grow Finding uncommon commonalities: His parents went to Ohio University (which is where I graduated) Do your homework prior to meeting someone (as Steve did on me) Be actionable and intentional Meet someone on their turf. ACKNOWLEDGE them. Turner Smith: "Don't Take Yes For An Answer" -- Beware of the counter-fit yes. They are not helpful. "Don't live in an echo chamber of Yes." Seek feedback - Turner Smith not only didn't give Steve an offer... He gave him specific feedback as to why. Changed his life. Tough love with kindness Read the book: Seabiscuit. Knowing when to use carrots vs. sticks. Taking his shot with Alfred Geller - "I met him in a elevator and only had a few seconds. I asked to work with him... He said, 'meet me in my office at 8:00am tomorrow.'" "I downloaded his brain." "You need to perfect your A. W. E." Authority Warmth Energy John Kasich didn't use his voice properly. "Change your voice, change your life." Mid-level manager advice: "Act like you've been there before (like Barry Sanders)." Internalize it. "When you're walking your dog, who is walking who?" Providing feedback to his clients: "Joe Tessitore couldn't figure out how to modulate his voice." Don't get into the "vortex of mediocrity:" The most painful thing in the world is unfulfilled potential. Find the people who are able to give you critical feedback and listen. When he started his company, he called it IF after Rudyard Kipling's poem by the same name which says, "If you can dream-- and not make dreams your master… yours is the Earth and everything that's in it." We are ALL in sales: Steven Shapiro, member of the board of overseers of University of Pennsylvania Law School, "We have a saying at the firm: You can buy a pound of brains at the butcher. I walk through the halls of the university, and there are many brilliant future lawyers. But they can't look you in the eye in the hallway. In 15 years, this person may be writing law on the tax code, but they're probably not going to have a lot of clients." You know where lawyers, or salespeople, or consultants go when they don't bring in business? Neither do I. Because you rarely hear about them ever again."

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Text LEARNERS to 44222 Full show notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com #369: Nancy Koehn & Adi Ignatius Nancy Koehn is a historian at the Harvard Business School. She's the author of multiple books, her most recent: Forged in Crisis: The Power of Courageous Leadership in Turbulent Times. Adi Ignatius is the Editor in Chief of the Harvard Business Review. Previously, he was deputy managing editor for Time, where he was responsible for many of its special editions, including the Person of the Year and Time 100 franchises. Notes: Sustaining excellence = Leaders are made, not born "Crisis are great greenhouses to make great leaders" Resilience - It's a muscle built over time A unique combination - The ability to commit, married to that, but flexibility to the means to make it happen Empathy & Emotional awareness - How a leader shows up in service to the mission Convey conviction and confidence A real sense of how much impact a leader has. Humble and own the sense that they have great influence. They use it to help people overcome their own limitations Adi - Understand the long term. Need the ability to shift. Transparency - Direct reports should know where they stand at all times. Emotional discipline: Don't send email when you're mad. Think about the long term impact of what you do. JFK - White House discovered missiles in Cuba. Read: Guns Of August - How WWI Started Slow pace down Imagine what Khrushchev would do - Give him room, hold off... Use "calculated empathy" Standing up to others like Winston Churchill - He stood up to the opposition. Dunkirk - Leadership when everything changes Ernest Shackleton - He took 27 men to Antarctica How did he avoid mutiny in the midst of huge adversity? He had the trust of his men. They believed he cared about them. Emotional awareness - He addressed their fears - "What can I do to address their fears?" Extraordinary ability to toggle seamlessly between little things like the weather and the big picture. Zoom in and zoom out. Pay attention to the mundane - The daily work schedule. Stick to the routine. And also have a plan to solve the problem. How to lead a remote team: It's reassuring to have your leaders step up and speak the truth. "Here's what we're going to do..." False optimism doesn't help. Honesty is critical. Brutal honesty + credible hope... Share the team's capabilities, the history. "Nothing to fear but fear itself." Great leaders 'feed their team.' Leaders in crisis: Shackleton gave duties to each man. They regularly changed duties to stay fresh. Isolation feeds fear. It feeds the 'worst case scenario' in the minds of people. Shackleton combated that by forcing them to socialize. They told stories, had skits, made up games. He empowered his team. It's important to have rituals that bring you back to a good place. For Nancy: 1) Deep breaths 2) Classical music 3) Walks Adi: Meditates daily, 10 minutes of breath work. Connect, Connect, Connect with others. Say thank you. Shift places depending on the type of work. President Lincoln had no plans for winning the way. "I navigated from point to point." "Great careers are build on passion and the dedication to do the work." Gather years in every career. You do not always need to check off boxes. "Life is long. Don't burn bridges." The benefits of teaching: "It keeps you honest. You have to think like a chess player. You must stoke the fires of curiosity."

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Text LEARNERS to 44222 Full notes at www.LearningLeader.com 358: Jim McKelvey - How To Build An Unbeatable Business (One Crazy Idea At A Time) Jim McKelvey is the co-founder of Square, was chairman of its board until 2010, and still serves on the Board of Directors. In 2011, his iconic card reader design was inducted into the Museum of Modern Art. Jim also founded Invisibly, a project to rewire the economics of online content; LaunchCode, a non-profit that trains people to work in technology; and Third Degree Glass Factory, a publicly accessible glass art studio & education center in St. Louis. In 2017, he was appointed as an Independent Director of the St. Louis Federal Reserve. Sustaining excellence = The people you lead will eventually kick you out... This signifies your ability to hire, train, and develop excellent leaders. "I'm not a good leader. I don't run the business. I build the company and then get out of the way." "I have a weird skill set... I'm comfortable doing things that have never been done before." What it's like working with Jack Dorsey (Jim started Square with Jack): "He has the ability to administer and incrementally improve... That's something I value in a person. Jack is incredibly competent, very quiet, and very capable. He knows the difference between good and excellent." Jim sees himself as a normal guy without any gifts... "Don't disqualify yourself because you think other people are special (or gifted) and you're not." What if the activity had never been done before? The Wright Brothers were no more qualified to build the first ever flying machine than someone else. They made the choice to do it, and put in the work to make it happen. "To be excellent, you need to reach out to others who are." Interview process: "People who lie are not consistent. Ask similar questions in different ways multiple times." Tell people very honestly all the reasons they shouldn't work at your company. Be very honest. Then say, "I can't tell if you're lying to me, I won't be able to catch you now, however I will find out eventually and I will fire you." Jim describes what it's like to be a billionaire... Think of the companies that have done something that had never been done before: Bank of America Ikea Southwest Airlines Square "Commitment can be a great substitute for being qualified." "Admitting you don't know something frees your mind from constraints. To actually do something new requires the humility to admit that your solution may not work, followed by the audacity to try anyway." How to get people to perform at higher levels? "Go hang out with smarter people and raise their level of performance... Ask questions." Never interrupt Leave pauses in a sentence, give them a chance to keep going... An Innovation Stack = Series of inventions that create a new product. Doing something new. What it was like to prepare for a demo with Steve Jobs: "He can be nasty if he doesn't like you. You had to make it beautiful." Advice: "Consistently do something that makes you slightly uncomfortable." Jim flies planes and gives speeches (both make him uncomfortable) --> This will slowly expand the things that you like. It will create more friends, and you'll develop more respect for people who have differing views. "You'll learn it's possible to function even when you're uncomfortable." Continually do little things to strengthen yourself... It helps you continue to go when others quit. "Customers who trust you are more valuable than customers who love you. There's only one shot at trust, and Square was trustworthy because of its values and mission, and built its Innovation Stack around them." Here is WHY joining a Learning Leader Circle is a good idea...

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Text LEARNERS to 44222 Full show notes found at www.LearningLeader.com #367: Ozan Varol - How To Think Like A Rocket Scientist Sustaining excellence = The ability to learn from failure - "Failure sucks and shouldn't be celebrated. We must learn from it." "Learn fast, don't fail fast. We need to get better with each iteration. Breakthroughs should be evolutionary, not revolutionary How success can lead to failure The Challenger Explosion - A string of successes discounted the role that luck played in the process "Just because you're on a hot streak doesn't mean you'll beat the house." Post mortem - A Latin phrase for "after death." Instead of a post mortem, do an "after action review." Review after all actions whether they succeeded or failed. The "Kill The Company" exercise Ask the people within your company what they would do to compete and beat your company... And then do that. Mark Zuckerberg does this with acquisitions (WhatsApp, Instagram). One of his greatest fears is becoming the next MySpace. As a mid-level manager: Put yourself in the position of your customer. Why are customers justified in buying from our competitions? "They see something we're not seeing." Growing up in Istanbul, Turkey. It was a culture of conformity. Ozan did not fit in. In fact, he was assigned a number in school and that was used to call on him instead of his name. His parents let him choose which school he went to and he remembers feeling so empowered by them for having a choice. He wanted more of that. So he decided to come to the United States for college and attended Cornell. Ozan blindly applied for a job that didn't exist by emailing Steve Squyres (he was in charge of a NASA funded project to send a river to Mars). And he acted on his dad's advice, "you can't win the lottery if you don't buy a ticket." "Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge." - Carl Sagan In the modern world we look for certainty in uncertain places. We search for order in chaos. The right answer in ambiguity. And conviction in the complexity. We should be fueled not by a desire for a quick catharsis but by intrigue. Where certainty ends, progress begins. "The great obstacle to discovering was not ignorance but the illusion of knowledge. - historian Daniel J Boorstin It takes courage... Often times there is a failure of courage. Have the courage to take action when the rest of the world is standing still. Ask yourself two questions: What's the worst that can happen? What's the best that can happen? Adopt an experimental mindset - Frame your actions as experiments. Don't be afraid to try new things... "The way you figure out what's right is to try to prove it wrong." The goal? "Find what's right, not to be right." Ask people who disagree with you... Why? Have a mindset to learn from them. "Tell me what's wrong with this..." Be a work in progress. "All progress happens in uncertain times." "It's bizarre. People prefer certainty of bad news instead of the fear of the unknown." "Be curious about tomorrow." Think: "What problems can I solve right now?" It is not helpful to try and solve something that you cannot control. Diversify your identity and services -- This allows you to be flexible and not depended on one stream of revenue. "All of our differences are minimized when we zoom out." The Apollo 8 mission gave us an opportunity to look at the Earth from afar (mission to go near the moon). Jim Lovell could cover up the earth with his thumb. It put things in perspective. Rocket science teaches us about our limited role in the cosmos and reminds us to be gentler and kinder to one another.

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Text LEARNERS to 44222 Full show notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com Episode #366: Laurie Santos - Laurie Santos is a cognitive scientist and Professor of Psychology at Yale University. She has been a featured TED speaker and has been listed in Popular Science as one of their "Brilliant Ten" young scientists in 2007 as well as in Time magazine as a "Leading Campus Celebrity" in 2013. In January 2018, her course titled Psychology and the Good Life became the most popular course in Yale's history, with approximately one-fourth of Yale's undergraduates enrolled. Notes: Sustaining excellence: Good habits: Form consistent routines Healthy: Exercise regularly Socialize with others They "offload dumb decisions" Create a morning routine - Limit the wardrobe (limit mental energy spent on trivial things). Harness the power of habits - "Set you exercise clothes out the night before." Do it at a consistent time each day no matter what. This decreases anxiety. For writing: Stop in the middle of a sentence. This will help you get started the next day (and avoid seeing the blank screen) Laurie is the head of a college at Yale. She lives and eats with the students in the dining hall. She built her class based upon hearing the complaints of students daily (they were unhappy) Important behaviors: Gratitude Social connection Random acts of kindness Students didn't realize their misconceptions about happiness It's not about your job, house, or money. Happy people are: Socially connected - They spend a lot of time with others. They prioritize connecting with others. They don't focus on themselves - "Others oriented." They do more for others. Grateful - They look for the good. They have a mindset of gratitude. They write down 3-5 things they are grateful for everyday. They are mindful. The GI Fallacy - It's more than just knowing... "You must DO IT." Be deliberate about connecting with others. Hang out with people you care about. Set up Skype calls with others. Do NOT complain - It's awful. Laurie's class has become the most popular class in the history of Yale... Her lectures have been filmed for the Today Show Created The Happiness Lab It's given more meaning to life Advice for mid-level managers: Doctors find happier workers use less than 15 sick days a year Work with your employees to do what they're best at Find out what they're getting out of the job "Your emotions can be contagious. If you embody calm, they will be calm." Affective spirals - The leader can turn emotions positive How to run excellent meetings: Infuse it with gratitude - Say what you're grateful for. Grateful team members are more productive. Regulate your emotion. Don't transmit negative energy to your team. At home: Regulate emotion. Take time to pay attention to your emotion. What are you bringing home? Be present. Express gratitude to your family. Shift from complaining to being grateful. Say what you love about each other at your family dinner table The best way to learn is to teach it.

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk For more details text LEARNERS to 44222 Full show notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com #365: James Altucher - How To Become An Idea Machine "Vulnerability equals freedom." "You need to say something interesting. You need to step outside of your comfort zone." James started writing in 1990 after a girl he liked chose to date a writer instead of him. He wrote 3,000 words a day and yet didn't publish anything for 12 years. Why write about your flaws? Watch the movie 8 mile... "Eminem shares all of the negative aspects of himself. He left his competition with nothing to say about him. He beat him to the punch." "I don't hit publish unless I'm worried. Am I afraid? If yes, then publish." "All good writing has to have a story." Commonalities of people who sustain excellence: Physically healthy - They are in shape Emotionally healthy - They have good relationships They are extremely curious - "Ken Langone came in my comedy club and asked tons of questions. He's so curious." They are very creative They have a "ready, fire, aim" approach - Sara Blakely started Spanx and got a $300K order and hadn't figured out how to manufacture her product yet. Creativity/Idea generation is a muscle - If you don't work it, it atrophies. Write 10 ideas a day. Quantity is more important than quality. "He who has the most ideas wins." You'll have a lot of bad ideas. You have to get through those to get to the good ones. Quantity is important. "Writing 10 ideas a day changed my life. I wasn't depressed anymore." Write ideas for companies and share with them... They might call you. Being an "intrapreneur" within your company - Think of ideas that can help your company and share with the CEO. "Success is always on the other side of can't." Great entrepreneurs focus on reducing risk How to speak to powerful people? Realize they are just people Humor is key. "Laughter is the way to level the playing field." Developing a skill - Deliberate practice The "10,000 Experiment" rule The key to getting good is to experiment Be in the top 1% of doing experiments Work your idea muscle every single day - The neurons will be re-wired Share your ideas to help other companies Over-promise AND over-deliver. Do both. Everyone else under-promise with the hope to over-deliver. Don't do that. Overpromise upfront and over-deliver.

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Text LEARNERS to 44222 Full show notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com #364: Derek Sivers: Derek Sivers is a writer, musician, programmer, and entrepreneur best known for being the founder and former president of CD Baby, an online CD store for independent musicians. A professional musician since 1987, Sivers started CD Baby by accident in 1997 when he was selling his own CD on his website, and friends asked if he could sell theirs, too. CD Baby went on to become the largest seller of independent music on the web, with over $100M in sales for over 150,000 musician clients. Notes: The similarities between becoming a Dad and starting a business: The transition from being "me" focused to becoming focused on others first. "That happened when I started a business... Long before I became a dad." "As a dad, I learned to be fully present with him. To shut everything else down and focus on him." "Adults are always looking for amazing superlatives. Kids are happy with tiny details." "Stop wasting hours... Learn to have a blast where you are." Making big decisions: There is a difference between theory and in practice "Don't consider anything decided until you've tried it." Why you should keep your goals to yourself: An identity goal makes you a different person. If you announce it to others and they give you social satisfaction, that feedback you receive gives you internal satisfaction. That could lead to you already feeling satisfaction and thus less likely to achieve the goal... Receiving the satisfaction from others before you've done it is not helpful. (NOTE - There is additional information to read about this nuanced topic. THIS is helpful.) Sustaining excellence: They hold themselves to high standards. They set high stakes. They have amazing self-control "Excellence is setting high standards and living up to them." Excellent leadership is being selfless... Doing what's in the best long-term interest of the people you're leading. Selling CDBaby for $22m and giving the proceeds away to charity. The power of writing: "I journal my ass off." Documenting your daily thoughts is a very useful exercise -- It's fascinating to look back on how you felt at that specific time. Create "Per Topic" Journals Journals that focus on a specific topic (Singapore, Interviews, Language Learning) Values = Learning... Remaining flexible and creative. Answering the questions, "What did I really want from that?" Derek's values evolve and change over time Being a monomaniac - Obsessed with one thing at a time Currently: Writing a book called How To Live The stress of replying to 7,000 emails vs making a genuine connection with each person... Being a longterm thinker Here is WHY joining a Learning Leader Circle is a good idea...

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Text LEARNERS to 44222 Full show notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com #363: Admiral William McRaven - 363: Admiral William McRaven - The Bin Laden Raid, Saving Captain Phillips, & Leadership Lessons For Life Notes: Sustaining excellence: Great listeners - They value the opinions of others and listen Decisive - The leader must take responsibility and make the call Measured - Calm. Staying cool under pressure is vital Importance of coaching in Admiral McRaven's life… and being pushed by them. He pushed himself to his physical limits to set the school record for the mile with the help of a phone call from a coach. (Jerry Turnbow). Write letters to the parents/spouse/kids of the people you want to recognize. "Love on the people who love them." Failure can make you stronger —- Being assigned to "The Circus" in SEAL training helped him build resilience and a "never quit" attitude. Writing ­– He was a journalism major at Texas. Admiral McRaven has consistently worked to become a great writer. It is critical for leaders to be exceptional communicators... Both of the written AND spoken word. In July 1983, he was fired as a SEAL squadron leader for trying to change the way his squadron was organized, trained, and conducted missions. His response was the difference between a long, successful career, and quitting. Georgeann (his wife) offered him encouragement and said, 'you've never quit at anything in your life and don't start now'. Admiral McRaven has always had great respect for the British Special Air Service: the famed SAS. The SAS motto was "Who Dares Wins." He said that even moments before the Bin Laden raid, his command sergeant major Chris Faris, quoted it to the SEALs preparing for the mission. To him that motto was more than just how special forces operated. It's about how each of us should approach our lives… Life is a struggle and the potential for failure is ever present… Admiral McRaven walked us through the strategy development and the decision making process for the bin Laden raid: It was a team effort - Leon Panetta could have done it only as a CIA mission, but he reached out to Admiral McRaven because the mission was what was most important, not getting credit. Great leaders recognize that it's never about them. If you think it's about you you're probably not a good leader. It was still an extraordinarily difficult decision to green light the mission. Admiral McRaven described that conversations he had with President Obama. "If we got there and the guy on the third floor was just a tall Pakistani man, then President Obama would have been a 1 term president." The SEALs on the mission rehearsed and practiced A LOT. No matter how much experience you have, you ALWAYS need to practice. The night of the bin Laden raid, Admiral McRaven was in charge of 10 other missions! He didn't have time to celebrate, he was focused on identifying the body, telling the President, and then paying close attention to the other missions he had going on that night. Courage — "without courage, men will be ruled by tyrants and despots. Without courage, no great society can flourish. Without courage, the bullies of the world rise up." Over the course of a month he visited Saddam Hussein in the jail where they were holding him, he would rise to meet Admiral McRaven. McRaven would motion for him to go back to his cot. The message was clear, "you are no longer important." Rise to the occasion. Be your very best in the darkest moments – Think about the moment we are in right now. Great leaders rise to the occasion in the midst of a pandemic Books Admiral McRaven recommends- The Speed of Trust- Stephen M.R. Covey, It's Your Ship - Michael Abrashoff No plan survives first contact with the enemy- things will go wrong and you need to plan accordingly. Be prepared, think through worst case. "Have a plan, work the plan, plan for the unexpected." Get over being a sugar cookie and keep moving forward. Don't ever say "that's not fair." The story of Moki Martin - bike accident that left him paralyzed

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Text LEARNERS to 44222 Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Episode #362: Chris McChesney - How to Achieve Your Wildly Important Goals Chris McChesney is a Wall Street Journal #1 Best-Selling Author – The 4 Disciplines of Execution. In his current role of Global Practice Leader of Execution for FranklinCovey, Chris is one of the primary developers of The 4 Disciplines of Execution. For more than a decade, he has led FranklinCovey's design and development of these principles, as well as the consulting organization that has become the fastest growing area of the company. Notes: Sustaining excellence = They execute on the strategy that's been launched... They have amazing drive High expectations - They expect a lot of everyone and do it in a positive way They "radiate love." Warmth... Strategy to execution -- It's an art and a science "Execution doesn't like complexity..." Great leaders develop pattern recognition over time. An experienced quarterback has more repetitions and the game "slows down" which creates a situation he recognizes Three components to any strategy to execution process: Lower the blood pressure -- "Stroke of the pen." Take life support measurements Break through What is a 'stroke of the pen' action as a mid level manager? Modify the portfolio, work within the limited budget, figure out incentives, hiring decisions, combining territories "Sometimes in life our challenges are really hidden opportunities." Chris did an unpaid internship. He warned that with Stephen Covey by continuing to show up and add value to the lives of the people at the company. Advice: "Work outside of your job description but within your influence." "Don't fall in love with a solution, fall in love with a problem." "I have never gotten a job from a standard interview process... I've gotten seduced by a problem... And then worked to solve it." This is how Chris created a company within a company. He identified that execution was a problem, and worked to solve it. Useful feedback Chris received earlier in his career from a mentor: "Chris, when you come to headquarters, people like you, but you aren't fun to work with." The power of honest, specific, feedback. Paul Walker (President) - "It's never about him. He's always interested in understanding what's going on around him and with others." Pat Lencioni - Not everyone should be a leader... "I don't like the term 'servant leadership.' It makes it sound like there's any other way." The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Focus on the Wildly Important -- Exceptional execution starts with narrowing the focus— clearly identifying what must be done, or nothing else you achieve really matters much. Act on the Lead Measures -- Twenty percent of activities produce eighty percent of results. The highest predictors of goal achievement are the 80/20 activities that are identified and codified into individual actions and tracked fanatically. Keep a Compelling Scoreboard -- People and teams play differently when they are keeping score, and the right kind of scoreboards motivate the players to win. Create a Cadence of Accountability -- Great performers thrive in a culture of accountability that is frequent, positive, and self-directed. Each team engages in a simple weekly process that highlights successes, analyzes failures, and course-corrects as necessary, creating the ultimate performance-management system. "As legendary Harvard marketing professor Theodore Levitt put it, "People don't want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole." "People who try to push many goals at once usually wind up doing a mediocre job on all of them. You can ignore the principle of focus, but it won't ignore you." "If you ignore the urgent, it can kill you today. It's also true, however, that if you ignore the important, it can kill you tomorrow" "Managing a company by looking at financial data (lag measures) is the equivalent of "driving a car by looking in the rearview mirror." Optimization - Consistency is wildly important. Lock down elements of the process. Anchor the process at two points. Rule - "If we can meet the lead measure for 14 weeks, we're calling it a habit."

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Text LEARNERS to 44222 Full show notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com Episode #361: John C. Maxwell - The Essential Changes Every Leader Must Embrace Notes: Adaptability: "Good leaders adapt. They shift. They don't remain static because they know the world around them does not remain static." 3 questions to ask yourself every day: How will this crisis make me better? How will I use this crisis to help others? What action will I take to improve my situation? Leaders get paid to deal with uncertainty. They must relish it because it comes with the territory. Betty Bender, former president of the Library Administration and Management Association, explains, "Anything I've ever done that ultimately was worthwhile initially scared me to death." "Success in life comes not from holding a good hand, but from playing a bad hand well." - Warren Lester Leaders become invigorated with problems. "Doing the right thing daily, compounds over time." Ask what you can do to add value to others during this time. "Leaders don't rise to the pinnacle of success without developing the right set of attitudes and habits; they make every day a masterpiece." It's okay to be uncertain but it's not okay for a leader to be unclear. If you prepare today you don't have to repair tomorrow. The opposite of distraction is traction. Crisis moves us You help people gain traction by helping them gain perspective. Fear is a negative emotion, feeding fear is like putting fertilizer on weeds. The question is what is going to dominate between fear an faith and the dominant emotion will win the day. What gains your attention and focus only grows whether that's fear or faith. "A difficult time can be more readily endured if we retain the conviction that our existence holds a purpose, a cause to pursue, a person to love, a goal to achieve." Great coaches make adjustments during a game. Action is where all transformation takes place. The most overrated English phrase is good intentions. "Change is inevitable. Growth is optional." A crisis doesn't make a person, a crisis reveals a person. "The difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of and response to failure." "Decision making is easy when you know what your values are." Right now the people come first, the company second, yourself last. Respect is learned and earned on difficult ground. "No one ever coasted their way to greatness." People don't want perfect leaders, they want authentic leaders. Experience is not the best teacher. Evaluated learning from experience is the best teacher. The first step to great communication is to get over yourself. It's not about you. Focus on others and adding value.

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Text LEARNERS to 44222 Full show notes found at www.LearningLeader.com Episode #360: Kirk Herbstreit - How To Prepare Like The Best Broadcaster In The Business Notes: "Because of what you have to do to be part of that program... You do things you didn't think you would ever fathom you could get through. It develops you as a person." -- Kirk on what it's like to play football at Centerville High School. "Nothing has impacted me more than the time and what I learned from Bob Gregg and Ron Ullery. It's with me every single day. That's why we take so much pride in it. Because of the impact it has on our entire life." Learning resilience and how to persevere, and how to prepare for big moments. Kirk's preparation process: There's nobody more prepared than Kirk each week. "It's the only thing I know. It's not an option for me to not be prepared." "Nobody knew who I was back in 1996 when I first started. Instead of hiding from that, I said 'I'm going to be the hardest working analyst in sports. That became my calling card. I had to earn people's respect. The only way I knew how to do that was through my work ethic and preparation. It's the only way I know how." The importance of relationships - "I've never in 25 years burned a coach. I never will. They are a lifeline for me. It's one thing to read an article. For you to really get information, you have to go directly to the sources... The coaches." "I feel I'm the most prepared person covering the sport every week when I do Gameday and when I go into the booth Saturday night." "If I'm awake I'm either with my kids or I'm preparing for the games." Building relationships with powerful people... How? "Trust. That's the most important thing. In my job, you sometimes have to be critical. What I've always said to myself is, if this person was sitting next to me, he might disagree, but he's not going to be offended." "I'll call them the next week to make sure they understood what I said. I go out of my way to promote people." Sustaining Excellence -- "I look at it like... I don't do this for money, I don't do this for fame, I do this for love, for passion. There's nothing that makes me more happy than watching football. I love it. It never gets old, I'm constantly trying to improve, to get better. I feel like here I am 25 years into this business and I'm just scratching the surface..." "You gotta keep working, you gotta keep learning." "It's such a fun challenge to broadcast games now with how much has changed..." Working with a partner (for him it is Chris Fowler)... The keys to working well with a partner: Developing a relationship with that person - Make sure you go to dinners, do things away from work. Get to know that person. Become friends. Then earn your stripe through your preparation and your work. Working with a broadcasting team - It takes amazing, constant, communication. Keys to great quarterback play and how that translate to being a great leader in the business world: The ability to process a lot of information and make sense of it quickly (Joe Burrow is the best he's seen) Accuracy - Throw the ball where you want it to go Make great decisions Mental toughness Being the type of person that others want to follow... How to do that? Play-making ability is a must - people are drawn to you because they believe in you You can do it differently, but "it's very hard to think of successful quarterbacks that aren't well liked by all members of the team." People are drawn to them. -- Cannot be selfish. The quarterback gets a lot of attention. Need to deflect that and talk about the linemen, the defense, your teammates. Would Kirk take the Monday Night Football broadcasting job? "I've talked with my agent about it. That's in play. It's being talked about. It would have to be in addition. I'll never leave college." "I love watching the NFL... Watching guys that I've covered. The college game is leaking more and more into the NFL. The prep would be pretty extreme, but I could do it." Life advice: "I was raised to be an unselfish person. I've never felt like I was more important than anyone else. I'll never put myself above anybody in any regard." -- Be the hardest working person, have an awareness about you to help others, never think you're more important than others."

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Text LEARNERS to 44222 Full show notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com Episode #359: Pat Lencioni This was recorded with hundreds of fans/friends on Zoom on April 2, 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Notes: Three actions for leaders in a perilous time: be exceedingly human. By that, I mean that you should demonstrate your concern for the very real fears and anxieties that your people are experiencing, not only professionally and economically, but socially and personally. Even though you don't have definitive answers to all of their questions, don't let that keep you from listening to them and empathizing with their fears. And, contrary to conventional wisdom, you should not be hesitant to share your own concerns with your people. They want to know that they can relate to you and that they are not alone in their concerns. be persistent. This is not a time to hold back. Send people updates and regular communication, even if there is not a lot of new information and the message is largely personal. No one will look back at this time and say, "my manager was so annoying with all the encouraging emails checking in on me." When people are isolated, over-communication is more important than ever. be creative. Try new things. Call semi-regular video-conference meetings that allow employees to not only talk about work, but to share their experiences dealing with this situation. Have them share movies and games and other tools that they are finding to be helpful with their families and invite them to tell stories about what is going on in their worlds. Crises provide an opportunity for people to come to know one another and establish bonds that will endure long after the crisis is over. This is not a time to be efficient. It's a time to be present with people. Once they get that new sense of trust, then you can move on. Every company/family needs to be intentional about their thematic goal/rallying cry. Cohesiveness and innovation are the themes for The Table Group What we do during this time is going to be what people remember. This is the window of opportunity. People would rather be criticized than ignored. The opposite of love is not hate. It's indifference. Pat is looking for that sense of "peace" that no matter what happens, we will be okay. (He tells a story about an NYC priest the night before he died "I"m not afraid.") When you help others, your fears go down. Idle time and worry is what makes fear rise. Advice for parenting teenagers right now -- "It's a time for grace, not discipline." How to establish a safe environment? Empower people to take risks. When they stumble, it's okay. Failure = learning moment 2 biggest red flags of a bad teammate - what are the symptoms/ hardest things to overcome? Insecurity and selfishness Good teammates? "They take ownership of their mistakes and work to correct them." Must take ownership of it to improve. The Ideal Team Player -- Humble, Hungry, Smart. Download for free: "The three questions to ask your family" on Pat's website The Table Group Does Love have a place in leadership? You need to love your players even if you don't like them. You have to do what is in their best interest. Pat's next book? "The Heroic Manager" The Five Dysfunctions Of A Team: Absence of trust - unwilling to be vulnerable within the group Fear of conflict - seeking artificial harmony over constructive passionate debate Lack of commitment - feigning buy-in for group decisions creates ambiguity throughout the organization Avoidance of accountability - ducking the responsibility to call peers on counterproductive behavior which sets low standards Inattention to results - focusing on personal success, status and ego before team success

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Text LEARNERS to 44222 Full notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com Episode #358: Stephen Covey - The One Thing That Changes Everything (Trust) Notes: Sustaining excellence = They get results in a way that inspires trust. If you cut costs for profits, you won't earn trust long term. You won't win long term. "You must think... There always is a next time." Build a culture of character and competence. Those are the components of trust. Taking shortcuts, cutting corners will get your short term results, but you will not sustain it. "Beware of the shortcuts." Make expectations clear. Hitting the number is a commitment. For the mid-level manager: The middle is the key leverage point. You always need to be building trust and delivering results. Leaders go first. "Be trustworthy. Be trusting." Give trust to others, lead with trust. If you have a bad boss? "Create an island of excellence in a sea of mediocrity." "If we think the problem is everyone else, we disempower ourselves." --> Look in the mirror: 'Here's what I can do..." Self trust. It starts inside of you. Neuroscience on trust - When there is low trust on a tea, it saps the energy and joy. It's not fun. High trust = energizing. How can I be that type of leader? For the person that doesn't trust anyone else, they are really saying, "I don't trust myself." They know they lie. How to build trust with yourself? Learn to make and keep commitments with yourself and others. "Make, keep, repeat. Make, keep, repeat." "Trust is doing what you say you're going to do." "Saying it builds hope. Doing it builds trust." Trust = Character + Competence. Admiral McRaven - "If you wan to change the world, start with making your bed." "Private victories precede public victories." Warren Buffett does deals based on trust. Trust impacts speed and cost. "Trust decrease transaction costs." --> When you don't have trust, there is a tax on that. When trust goes time, costs go up. When trust goes up, costs go down. Focus on your credibility. Your character and your competence. Build your reputation. Start with your behavior. Behave in a way to garner trust. Distrusts is exhausting. It's not sustainable in relationships. How to handle a non-trusting boss? "You can't change the conditions or change them. If you must stay, focus on YOUR credibility. The starting place is on increasing your credibility, it will create more clout, courage, and permission in your organization. Always start with yourself." The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People #1 - Be proactive. You're responsible. "You're not a program. You're a programmer." Between the stimulus and response, there is a space. I choose my response and take responsibility." What's it like having Covey as his last name - "The power is in the principles." #5 - Seek first to understand, then to be understood. A doctor diagnoses before they prescribe. It builds trust when the other person feels understood. #7 - Sharpen the saw - Getting better. "The Learning Leader has never arrived..." His Dad's ethos: To Live To Love To Learn To Leave a Legacy Here is WHY joining a Learning Leader Circle is a good idea...

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Text LEARNERS to 44222 For full notes go to www.LearningLeader.com Episode #357: General Stanley McChrystal - Leadership In Uncertain Times "As we lead through this time of crisis, leaders are more important than ever: 1) Communicate relentlessly 2) Match your internal operating pace with that of your external environment 3) Continue to reiterate what 'winning' looks like to your organization." Foreword from his book Team of Teams, legendary author Walter Isaacson wrote: "Whether in business or in war, the ability to react quickly and adapt is critical, and it's becoming even more so as technology and disruptive forces increase the pace of change. That requires new ways to communicate and work together. In today's world, creativity is a collaborative endeavor. Innovation is a team effort." Stockdale Paradox - (named for Admiral James Stockdale - the highest ranking POW of the Vietnam War who described how leaders survive terrible ordeals) "You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end — which you can never afford to lose — with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be." From page 104 in my book, Welcome To Management -- General McChrystal extended a gracious invitation for me to tour the hallowed grounds at the Battle of Gettysburg alongside the students he teaches in his leadership class at Yale. We learned a lot about the history of the battle over the course of two days with General McChrystal and some of his friends as tour guides. However, one teaching point that I specifically remembered was this, "The real lesson is . . . it's not tactics, not strategy; it's always about the people." Uncertainty -- What's most scary for people. While you can't predict the future, you can be that sense of calm, cool, composed (QB in the huddle in tense moments). General at war. The quarterback at Yale (where Stan teaches) said, "When you throw an interception, don't say 'My bad.' The guys know it's your bad. Say, 'here's what we're going to do next.'" Recent events: "These observations remind us of our early months fighting Al Qaeda in Iraq: We struggled to keep up with the pace of events, needed to unlearn conventional management rules and had to learn to lead in a totally new way." From James Clear - "The most useful form of patience is persistence. Patience implies waiting for things to improve on their own. Persistence implies keeping your head down and continuing to work when things take longer than you expect." "You have to navigate from where you are, not where you wish you were." From Stan -- The German Army had a say, "feel the cloth." They were referencing when the men were walking so close to one another they could literally feel the cloth on the person next to them. Right now, we don't have that luxury with our co-workers, and it's a challenge. But what we do have and what we need to utilize are communication platforms to stay connected to our teammates. This is our new normal and it's our time to be a leader and help our team get the job done. Communicate -- Losing these in person interactions in a remote-work environment means leaders need to start communicating with more regularity and breadth to their organization. Set Realistic Goals - This is not business as usual, but you can still succeed. Your role as a leader is to be brutally honest about what is achievable in the coming weeks and months as this disruption continues to ripple across the economy. Be Patient - Many of your employees, especially the younger ones, have not experienced turmoil like this in their careers. Be patient, but start communicating now. It is your responsibility as a leader to be a source of calm and steady for them. (from CNN) Questions from members of my Leadership Circle: Nicci Bosco --What values can we hold in our mind/should we be thinking about/allowing to guide our own actions with when speaking to a group/leading a group/etc in uncertain times? What can we do to re-fill our own reservoir when we notice we're depleted? If we don't know the answer to something, but still want to provide guidance and a response, what are some options? Tom Carvelli -- If you had to sum up your leadership principles into a single unified concept, what would that be? What does your your daily fitness routine look like in times like these when resources and activities are curtailed? Matt Spitz -- In a world that is incredibly uncertain is there anything in his life that never changes? Matt Mullins -- In times of adversity and uncertainty how do leaders ensure that their people are prepared and confident to thrive and maintain character through those moments? How does one develop the ability to maintain composure in stressful situations? How? Stan's daily routine - It always starts with a workout in the early morning hours. "Always start the day lifting. Do a lot of Abs. Work on your core." That discipline creates consistency and t

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Text LEARNERS to 44222 for details Full show notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com 356: Stewart Friedman - How To Parent With Purpose & Fuel Your Career Notes: Sustaining excellence = "they take seriously the idea that it's not just about work. It's about life." --> Know what you care about... "It takes courage to look inside yourself." Ask yourself, "What am I here to do?" For Stew, "I'm here to help people grow as leaders and make an impact on the world." What Stew learned from his time as a cab driver: Patience... Everyone is unique. You see how people treat others. "It created a love of geography." There is a lot of perspective to be gained from working in the service industry. Stew was hired to run the leadership development program at Ford It was important to connect with everyone around him "Be respectful of all people you interact." Humbled -- "I realized I knew nothing when I went to Ford." "I get up there and devise what the next 10 years will look like... And talked about myself the whole time. A key leader pulled me aside and said, 'What the F are you doing?'" Be WHOLE - It's about you as a whole person both at work and at home. "Firms that fully embrace the needs and interests of the whole person will win today's competition for the best talent." "Leading is about mobilizing people toward valued goals." Learn how to talk with others and show them that you truly value you... LISTEN "Ryan, you're one of the most important people to me in my life..." What does the team need from the leader? values, vision, an understanding of the stakeholders The leadership leap: You must care about people Understand the specific priorities Ask, "What am I missing?" Total Leadership: Projection - "If you had control, what would you be doing?" "What's distinctive about you?" Get clarity on what you care about right now Identify the most important people in your life Be innovative -- Constantly experimenting Create 4 way wins: Business Family Community Personal Take initiative - "What's a win for your company? Your boss?" "At the individual level, you need to examine what you truly value, share this with key stakeholders in various life domains both to get feedback and support, and then to experiment with new ways of doing things so that - over the arc of a life - you can achieve harmony and have more of what it is that you uniquely want out of life." Work life integration is a more useful term than work life balance. "Balance is the wrong metaphor." The four elements, where do you devote your attention? Do an assessment - Take 100 points... Divy up how important each of the following are based on your actions: Work Home Community Self Do you find yourself saying, "I'm not paying enough attention to the things that matter to me." "It's like a jazz quartet. Four people paying attention to each other, improvise, respond, make something beautiful over time." "The only failure is the failure to learn from conscious and deliberate efforts to make things better, even if those attempts fall short of the mark." Writing Parents Who Lead - Crafting a collective vision. "What does our life look like?" The question to ask: "How do you be you?" "The courageous ones are able to bring that question forward..."

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Text LEARNERS to 44222 Full show notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com The Learning Leader Academy: http://bit.ly/thelearningleaderacademy Episode #355: Ramit Sethi - How To Live A Rich Life Notes: Ramit's book buying rule - If you are even thinking about buying the book, don't deliberate, just buy it. You could invest $17 and it could change your life. Even one idea makes it worth it. Excellence - "Consistently do the work." Put it on the calendar Seek out people who are successful and then ask them for advice In motion - Refuse to be stuck or paralyzed -- Take action "Show me your spending and your calendar and I'll show you your priorities." What are the 3-4 most important things in your life? Does your spending and your calendar reflect that? Ramit starting learning how money worked while he was in college at Stanford... "The basic, boring truth. Consistency..." Starting your blog can be your experimental laboratory What is the future of online courses? Online learning will continue to grow -- "Great leaders are always learning." You should join The Learning Leader Academy The trajectory of hiring as you're growing a business: Part time assistant --> Researcher --> Full time What do you look for when choosing who to add to your team? Excellent at the task of doing the work Curious - They ask great questions Likable - They are someone you want to spend time with Start your business on the side: It's practical... Going from zero to 1 is very hard: Start this part while you have a job and don't need the money from your new endeavor The psychology of pricing: There is a profound difference in customers who get it for free vs. those who pay for it You need to create "skin in the game." People value it more if they have a financial stake in it. "In business, you're not looking for the most people, you're looking for the right people." "If you're a cheapskate, you'll attract cheapskates." The power of mentors: They can be massively helpful, but you need to do the work to be a valuable mentee. Show up to your meetings prepared and with a purpose. Don't wander through life. Atul Gawande - A coach in the operating room -- EVERYONE needs a coach. Automate your finances - It's the crown jewel. Set up your system so you don't need to think about it after it's created. Create auto saving behaviors "People are so busy asking $3 questions instead of $30K questions." "How do I use my money to live a rich life?" "What does rich mean to you?"

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Text LEARNERS to 44222 For full show notes, go to www.LearningLeader.com Episode #354: WELCOME TO MANAGEMENT Book Launch Party With Doug Meyer This is the recording from the conversation I had with Co-Founder/President of Brixey & Meyer, Doug Meyer, in front of many of our friends, clients, and colleagues at the Dayton office of Brixey & Meyer. In WELCOME TO MANAGEMENT, I provide practical, actionable advice to help new managers build and lead committed teams in the face of daunting, unanticipated challenges. He presents a three-part framework outlining best practices distilled from interviews with more than 350 of the most forward-thinking leaders in the world, as well as his own professional experience transitioning from individual producer to new leader. Through compelling stories and data-backed case studies, the book helps high performers make the leap from individual contributor to manager with greater ease, grace, courage, and effectiveness. Notes: The book writing process: How long did it take to write? What was the proposal writing process like? What led you to sell the book rights to McGraw-Hill? Curiosity? Always natural or a learned skill? -- For me, this was something I learned to do... As I learned more, I realized there was so much more to learn. The Cycle of Learning -- Operating Framework Consume/Learn - The intake engine (read, listen to podcasts, speak with mentors) Test - Experiment with what's been learned (You can't just be a learner, you have to be a doer) - "We learn who we are in practice, not in theory." Reflect - Analyze results, make adjustments Teach - Reinforce learning through sharing with others Mentors vs. coaches. Interesting comparison and need throughout life. We discussed the difference and importance of each... "Build the skills to do the job, not to get the job." -- The act of putting your high potential employees in position to actually do the job, not just prepare for an interview. Developing self-awareness -- It's important to regularly hold a mirror up to ourselves and surround self with people who will be brutally honest and caring of you and your development. WELCOME TO MANAGEMENT will teach you Where the real work of leadership begins The greatest medicine for fear and how to put it into practice Why you need an "Operating Framework" and how to create one The 3 key elements to creating a performance culture The opportunity that many managers miss after they achieve success The seven keys to earning respect The quickest way to build trust is through vulnerability Managing a team you inherit -- The instant you sign for the job, those are YOUR players. Don't use terms like 'they' or 'them.' It is US and WE. The difference between leadership, management, coaching Leadership: The act of leading is about providing purpose, direction, aligning expectations, and inspiring the team. Management: Figuring out how to work within the current constraints of the system you are in... It is the administration and stewardship of resources. Coaching: The two types of coaching: Coaching for performance - The 'right now' actions... Behaviors. Coaching for development - Longer term Dustyn Kim is a fantastic model for humility, vulnerability, and intelligence -- That's what she's the type of leader that I committed to doing everything I could to help her be successful. Nobody is 'self-made.' We are are built from communities of people who care about us, help us, and show love and support.

The Learning Leader Show with Ryan Hawk Text LEARNERS to 44222 For full show notes go to www.LearningLeader.com Episode #353: Jeni Britton Bauer - How To Create A 'Craveable' Reason To Return Jeni Britton Bauer is an American ice cream maker and entrepreneur. Jeni opened her first ice cream shop, Scream, in 1996, then founded Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams in 2002. Her first cookbook, Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home, is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller and won a coveted James Beard Award in 2012. Jeni is a 2017 Henry Crown Fellow and has been recognized by Fast Company as "one of the most creative companies in the world." Notes: Leaders who sustain excellence = "The main thing is you show up every day. You show up and lead by example. You have to be IN IT daily." That develops trusts. Trusts leads to it the rest... Jeni is a subject matter expert on the topics that matter to her: ice cream, leadership, curiosity, creativity... "It's not a genius idea then lots of funding, then success. It's really more subtle than that. Blazing a slow path through a tangled jungle, learning as you go over many years. It takes time." "I find my discipline when I find my passion. And that passion starts with curiosity. And finding the place of what I want to do is needed in the world." How to know what your passion is? "There's a cross road of what you want to explore and what other people want." -- "That's entrepreneurial thinking. It's about community and creativity." "We don't know what's possible... You've got to be out exploring and be open to new ideas." Create time for yourself and your team to follow your curiosity... Entrepreneurship is about a 2 way communication with customers. One pint of ice cream tested positive for listeria but there was never an outbreak. -- They recalled 6 months worth of ice cream, destroying 535,000 pounds (or 265 tons) of ice cream, costing the company more than $2.5 million! It almost put them out of business. "You want to say you've got talent, hustle, and guts. You want to tell that to the world, but you don't really know until you prove it." "If we create a community, everything falls into place. Put your values front and center and merge with the community. When the community sees your business as vital, they will help you when times are tough." "There's nothing more important whether in the financial industry or ice cream, than trust." "Create a craveable reason to return" - Why would a customer come back to you? Why would someone follow you? What are you doing as a leader that makes someone want to follow you?

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Text LEARNERS to 44222 Full show notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com Episode #352: Patrick Lencioni - The Five Key Actions Of Excellent Leaders Notes: Leaders who sustain excellence = Humility - They don't feel they are more important than others, but they realize that their words and actions carry more weight. "Leadership is a privilege... It's about serving others. A lot of leaders lead because they think it looks cool." "Leadership has to be about what you can give, not what you can get." Exploring the two leadership motives: Reward-centered leadership: the belief that being a leader is the reward for hard work, and therefore, that the experience of being a leader should be pleasant and enjoyable, avoiding anything mundane, unpleasant or uncomfortable. Responsibility-centered leadership: the belief that being a leader is a responsibility, and therefore that the experience of leading should be difficult and challenging (though certainly not without elements of personal gratification). One of the questions to ask yourself: "How do you see your job in terms of verbs?" — what do you do to really help the business? The leader must be a constant, incessant reminder of the company's purpose, strategy, values, & priorities. You're not only the CEO, you're the CRO." Chief Reminding Officer The actions of great leaders: Running great meetings Managing the executive team Managing the executives as individuals Having difficult conversations with people Constantly communicating and repeating key messages to employees "The CEO should have the most painful job in the company." For the mid-level manager -- "Am I waking up with the right rationale to do this job?" Love is a verb: Time Affection Discipline "Leadership is not a noun, it's a verb." Running great meetings: "Meetings are the central activity of leadership. Bad leaders have other people run their meetings." Good meetings have debate and conflict. People are able to be passionate without consequence. The leader prioritizes what will be talked about. CEO's are responsible to build teams. Your job is to build teams based on trust When receiving a message from a cynical leader who says "You don't understand." Our response? "No, we're not going to be that way. The ones who do the hard work change the world." Micro-managing vs. Accountability: "There is an abdication of management. You should know what your team is doing." Parenting: "The great news about being a parent is it's humbling." The leader must be the chief reminding officer: "Constant, incessant, reminder of the company's purpose, strategy, values, and priorities. You must over-communicate." Marriage advice: "Be completely humble, vulnerable, especially in front of the kids. Engage in healthy conflict. When people can't argue, that's a problem."

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Text LEARNERS to 44222 Full show notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com Episode #351: John Maxwell - The Laws Of Leadership (Follow Them & People Will Follow You) John C. Maxwell is an internationally recognized leadership expert, speaker, coach, and author who has sold over 20 million books. A New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Business Week best-selling author, Maxwell has written three books which have each sold more than one million copies: The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Developing the Leader Within You, and The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader. Notes: "Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better." - Pat Riley The difference between 'best' and 'better' "Whatever is best for now... Tomorrow has got to get better. I always look at 'best' for a moment." "If you're not growing today, I have to talk about yesterday. I don't want to talk about yesterday." The great leaders: Listen Learn Lead The importance of listening and asking questions: "I began to ask questions, invite people to sit down and talk." Shared learning and growing together... What John learned from Angela Ahrendts: "I aim to always give 60 and take 40. Always give more than you take." "Add more value to people than you take." Working with your team: "I put an idea in front of my team and say, 'make it better,' and they always do." Proactive: "If you're not proactive, you're reactive. I've never met a great leader who wasn't proactive." "Be unforgettable. Always be the first person to help." Action Attraction "The moment I move, I attract all resources because I'm moving." "I never draw people to me when I sit still." "Action shows intention" Keynote speaking preparation: "When I'm in the green room preparing, I'm thinking about the people in the audience. I begin to envision the people leaning in, taking notes, engaged. It helps me." The content you have will alone will not cut it -- "Connecting the content to the people carries the day. I want them to say, 'oh my gosh, he's talking to me.'" "The response of the people charges me up." Layered learning: Is your fence facing out or facing in? Are you growing? Or shrinking? Building a company? "I wasn't trying to build a company. It started in a garage. Each company was created just to help solve problems for people. --> Find a need, start a company, find a need, start a company." There are now over 30,000 John Maxwell coaches "I've always had the ability to take a problem and develop a resource for it." "I can smell an opportunity... And I can see it in people. I've always been quick to spot this." How to develop this skill? --> "You must seize the opportunities. Act quickly." Adaptability - "A person that lacks flexibility will mist a lot of opportunities." Peter Drucker did not make long range plans. He focused on seizing the moment. John's long range plan: "What I want for people is for them to do well and I want to help them do that." Life advice: Value people Continually grow Live very intentionally

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk For details, Text LEARNERS to 44222 Full show notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com Episode #350: Tom Rath - Answering Life's Great Question Tom Rath is an author and researcher who has spent the past two decades studying how work can improve human health and well-being. His 10 books have sold more than 10 million copies and made hundreds of appearances on global bestseller lists. Tom's first book, How Full Is Your Bucket?, was an instant #1 New York Times bestseller and led to a series of books that are used in classrooms around the world. His book StrengthsFinder 2.0 is Amazon's top selling non-fiction book of all time. Tom's other bestsellers include Strengths Based Leadership, Eat Move Sleep, and Are You Fully Charged? Notes: Commonalities of leaders who sustain excellence: "They are the single best people at asking good questions." "They are amazing listeners. They make you feel like you are the only person in the room." Ask insightful questions that help others identify something they had not previously thought of How does one develop that skill? Spend time alone learning... Have a genuine intellectual curiosity... Write caring, handwritten notes Make sure your teammates know you care about them and show your gratitude I shared the story of Doug Meyer calling me simply to say "thank you" and how much it meant to me. Be a thoughtful leader who leads with gratitude. Use specifics when describing why you appreciate someone Why did StrengtsFinder catch on? "We should not fall back to a resume. We don't have a good language to describe what we do and our talents." Strengths Finder does that for people As leaders, we should always be on the lookout for the unique talent in others Tom's Top 5 Strengths: Futuristic Analytical Relater Significane Activator My Top 5 Strengths: Learner - People who are especially talented in the Learner theme have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. In particular, the process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites them. Input - People who are especially talented in the Input theme have a craving to know more. Often they like to collect and archive all kinds of information. Intellection - People who are especially talented in the Intellection theme are characterized by their intellectual activity. They are introspective and appreciate intellectual discussions. Individualization - People who are especially talented in the Individualization theme are intrigued with the unique qualities of each person. They have a gift for figuring out how people who are different can work together productively. Achiever - People who are especially talented in the Achiever theme have a great deal of stamina and work hard. They take great satisfaction from being busy and productive. Individualize -- Send articles to specific people each day -- Write: "Hey, I was reading this and thought you might find it helpful." What you can contribute is more important that your passions. "There's an enormous mismatch in what the world needs and what's out there." Three big influences on Tom: Dr. Martin Luther King - "Life's most persistent and urgent question is: what are you doing for others?" Ben Horowitz's commencement speech His grandfather, Don Clifton -- "Our greatest contribution can be to teach others." There is a higher correlation in helpfulness when you can literally see the people you're helping (Tom shares the research to back this up). This gives you motivation to see your impact. We need a productive purpose. When feeling unfulfilled or unhappy at work? Instead of looking to leave the company, look for new ways to get to your intended outcome. How could you re-write your job? Can you make the job you have today meaningful? The Peter Principle - The principle that members of a hierarchy are promoted until they reach the level at which they are no longer competent. Qualities Tom looks for in a leader: Desire to develop other people Vision Life's great question is: "What are you doing for others?" We need to align basic expectations: "How do each of us want to contribute?" Create - Have a challenger as part of your team. Someone to push back and ask questions Relate - An energizer. How do you get and stay charged up? What reminds you of the vision? Of the mission? How to have fun? Operate - Scaling... Reaching more people. Advice: Map what the world around you needs. Who are you? What are your talents? Interests? Motivators? --> Draw the connections. Look where they intersect.

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Text LEARNERS to 44222 For full show notes go to: www.LearningLeader.com #349 - An Inside Look At The Book Writing Process With Jay Acunzo Why this topic? We've both written books. And my book is out this week! Context on our books: Welcome To Management. I wrote the book I wish I had when I first got promoted. Jay's book is called Break The Wheel. "Write a book because you think it has to exist. Not to be a best-seller. The Process: Research, outlining, fan interaction, drafting, publishing -- Why an outline is a vital piece of the process. "The outline is the bones." "Doing research in public created a system to vet ideas and best practices." --> Using client interactions as real time research to help test ideas Podcasts - It was extremely helpful for me to be recording while I was writing the book: I was consistently doing research while writing the book. Interviews, asking questions about writing/books, ideas, etc. I was working full time while I wrote this book and I think that made it better. It forced me to be disciplined with blocking time to write daily. Traditional vs. Self-Publish vs. Hybrid -- Jay chose a hybrid approach to publishing his book. I chose to publish traditionally with McGraw-Hill. I did a lot of research on the different paths for publishing and chose the traditional route because: I wanted to create options and leverage for myself. And after I spoke with Casey Ebro from McGraw-Hill I was completely sold on accepting their offer. Superlatives: Platitude about writing/writing books/creativity that you found MOST true during this process? LEAST true? Most true = Writers write (listen to the James & Kristy Clear story from dinner). Least true = I've read from a few well known authors that you have to dedicate your life to nothing but writing the book. I found that continuously working and building a business at the same time as writing was helpful. When I do q & a's on stage after a keynote or on my podcast, I get ideas and prompts to write about... Most useful habit/routine: I learn through talking. I had regular sessions where I would sit in a room with my Dad and/or my friend Lance (who was a prosecutor for 10 years). They would give me prompts, ask questions, and we would talk out the book. I would type notes during our sessions, then I would go by myself and write. In my very first session with my Dad, he said, "Remember, it's a lot harder when you care." He meant this in the form of leading people… And he's right. But the same is true for writing a book. It's hard when you care so deeply about the topic of helping people lead others more effectively… Because I understand the ripple effect. The wake left behind you as a leader. Most surprising lesson: You don't fully know what you think or how little you know until you put pen to paper. Writing REALLY forces you to be clear on what you believe. I outline sections and then would ramble on for pages. The editing process was helpful. I hired an editor/writing coach to help. Best story from the book: I sent an early copy to Ryan Holiday to read and offer feedback. He called me said, "Dude, why is your best story in the middle of the book? You should open the book with that story." And so I did... What was your editor's favorite part? Casey Ebro (from McGraw-Hill) said to me, "I read non-fiction business books for a living. I've read hundreds of them. And your section titled "You Have To Do All Three" in chapter six is the most unique and helpful view that I've read about leading, managing, and coaching." -- That was a great moment. Additional Benefits: Publishing your work online is becoming the greatest networking tool in the world -- When done well, you attract the people you want to be around. (David Perell, James Clear have written a lot about this) Writing is the ultimate exercise to help you find clarity. Sometimes you don't realize how much you don't know about something until you try to write about it. -- This can help everyone (especially useful for leaders).

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Text LEARNERS to 44222 Full show notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com Episode #348: Simon Sinek - Why Consistency Beats Intensity (Playing The Infinite Game) Notes: Leaders who sustain excellence: Humility - They don't believe their own hype. Their power is accumulated through helping others. "I'm fully aware I'm the same idiot I was back then." "Vision is like an iceberg. The great leaders can see what's beneath the surface." "I never look at what I've done, I look at what I can do." "I tend to be very future focused." "People called me the 'why' guy... For my tastes, it's about new ideas, building on ideas." "We all need to find a vision." People should practice telling stories about real people, learn how to use metaphors Simon described the difference between the messaging at Apple vs. Microsoft Microsoft (during the Steve Ballmer days) were focused on their competition Apple was focused on helping teachers and designing beautiful products Stop thinking of others as competitors... Instead find worthy rivals In the late 1970's Milton Friedman said business should maximize profits for shareholders. For some reason, this idea was adopted and it became the norm. it was embraced. It's terrible. Prior to this, the idea of mass layoffs didn't exist as an option for a business. "We all have to become the leader we want to become." "Leadership is not rank, it's seeing those around you rise." "Business is one of the most personal things in the world." You should never said, "it's not personal, it's just business." It's ALWAYS personal. Great leaders are the ones who think beyond short term vs long term. They are the ones who know it's not about the next quarter or the next election but about the next generation. The greatness of George Eastman - he was not just how great for Kodak, but amazing for the game of business as a whole… He created a lot of employee incentives in 1912 that had not been happening up to that point. Stock options, sick days, college tuition reimbursement, etc. "Consistency becomes more important than intensity." "Where a finite-minded player makes products they think they can sell to people, the infinite-minded player makes products that people want to buy. The former is primarily focused on how the sale of those products benefits the company; the latter is primarily focused on how the products benefit those who buy them." "Being the best simply cannot be a Just Cause, because even if we are the best (based on the metrics and time frames of our own choosing), the position is only temporary. The game doesn't end once we get there; it keeps going. And because the game keeps going, we often find ourselves playing defense to maintain our cherished ranking. Though saying "we are the best" may be great fodder for a rah-rah speech to rally a team, it makes for a weak foundation upon which to build an entire company. Infinite-minded leaders understand that "best" is not a permanent state. Instead, they strive to be "better." "There is an entire section at the book store called "self-help," there should be a section called "help others." Why lead? --> "Because you want to see others grow. Your job may be 9 to 5, but leadership is 24-7." "If you like the idea of taking care of others, you may be suitable to lead."

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Text LEARNERS to 44222 Full show notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com Episode #347: Steven Strogatz - How Calculus Reveals The Secrets Of The Universe Leaders who sustain excellence: Have a willingness to be a beginner "When you're naive, you ask new questions" "They have the courage to be someone who's just starting" How do you fight the urge to live up to a prior reputation of being an expert at something? Be known as an adventurer. Cannot have an ego. Six degrees of separation is a math problem The strength in weak ties It's important to connect with people outside of your typical orbit Action: Go to a strange party, play a new sport, go to a new gym, meet oddballs Collect "casual acquaintances" The value of being a helper: Be the assist person, help others, do little acts of kindness, promote someone else's work How Steven and I got to know each other: David Epstein's wife made an intro for David and Steven... And then from David to me. "Be the kind of person who remembers others names" Why should a normal person learn calculus? "The world has been turned upside down by calculus" "Calculus is the mathematical study of change" "It's a great intellectual adventure story" "Calculus is the language that God talks" --> The laws of nature are built in calculus How to be more creative? Be broadly interested in many different topics. Take something from one area and apply it somewhere else. Advice Steven would give to a mid-level manager: "Getting high grades is jumping through hoops someone else sets" "As a PhD, you have to make your own hoops" "People need to be more adventurous, and then figure it out" Why you should study Improv as a leader: Use "Yes and..." This helps with brainstorming and coming up with new ideas. Put out a lot of wacky ideas to get to the good stuff. "I want people to be gripped irrationally by the imagination" The power of mentors: "Learn from both the great coaches and the bad ones" The value of friendships: The story of Mr. Joffray -- Physically impressive and wonderfully intelligent. He took pleasure in Steven passing him. The value of teaching: It helps create empathy... It forces you to put yourself in the mind of someone else. "Bad teachers don't have empathy." How does Steven prepare for big moments? "I try to be myself. And talk myself out of being intimidated." ---> The audience wants you to do well. Life advice: "Do what you care about most, what drives you the most, do the hard work to become skillful." Why joining The Learning Leader Circle is a good idea

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Text LEARNERS to 44222 Full show notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com #346: Cameron Mitchell is the founder & CEO of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants. In 2018, they celebrated their 25th anniversary. He employees more than 5,000 people and his restaurants do $300m/year in sales. He is the author of Yes Is The Answer, What Is The Question? He has been recognized as Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst and Young, as a Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration and as one of 50 New Taste Makers by Nation's Restaurant News. Notes: "Leaders who sustain excellence believe in people. They put trust in people." Must have strong culture and values Writing your core values -- The benefit of putting pen to paper and the courage to act on them (including firing a superstar if he doesn't live up to the values set) His goals: Go to the Culinary Institute of America Become GM at age 24 Regional at age 26 VP of Operations at age 30 Be president of a restaurant company by age 35 Go to the Culinary Institute of America He woke his mom up at a 1:00am and told her his goals "When you share your goals, people want to hold you accountable to them..." He went to Culinary Institute of America. Same place as Anthony Bourdain. The CIA was the Harvard of culinary schools. He got turned down initially because of his low high school grades -- "I had the can do, but didn't have the want to initially" He once worked 100 days in a row without a day off (that included a 1 hour and 45 minute commute each way) "I equate it to the doll that you punch and it comes right back up." -- Must be resilient "You cannot build a life like this or be successful without a commitment to hard work" Years ago Cameron was a young man with a dream, a yellow note pad, and a pen. He wrote down 5 questions and answers that articulated who he would be, why he would exist, and what he believed and did as a restaurant company. The 5 Questions: Who are we? What do we want to be? Why are we in business? What is your role? What is our goal? After those questions were answered, Cameron created their eight core values to live by... Fundraising (for people to invest in his new restaurant business) was a grueling process. He got rejected 9 out of 10 pitches when trying to raise money for his first restaurant. Cameron shares everything he learned from so much rejection and failure... Initially Cameron was a bad boss and people threatened to quit because of him… He got help from Jim Collins and other mentors. Why the answer is always yes... --> Cameron shares the symbolism of a milkshake. To grow his business, he needed to hire great leaders to help him scale and run other restaurants... He shares the key qualities he looked for when making hiring decisions. The first leader he hired 20+ years ago is still with him today. "I'm constantly pushing on where could we be? Constantly thinking about how we can be better?" The Customer Comes Second -- Book by Hal Rosenbluth that impacted Cameron. Cameron gave 5% of the purchase price ($4.6m) to his associates (employees) when they sold a portion of their business to Ruth's Chris and gave a unique gift/experience to his senior leaders (paid for their kids college tuition, sent them on a European trip with their spouse) Associates must come first Cameron described with emotion the power of having children had on him... Before Cameron had even met his wife, he would tell people, "I'm working for a wife and kids I don't even know yet." The moment of clarity when you have that walk with your wife... When she's in the wheelchair holding your new baby. "You can't be successful at home if you're not successful at work. You can't be successful at work if you're not successful at home." "Everyone sees the outward success. But the family is the inward success." Their associates get 8 weeks paid vacation. The culture and values must hold up especially when times are tough Cameron tells the story of a time when his best chef used bad language towards another associate. Cameron fired him within five minutes. "If we don't live those values every single day, then they become no good." General life advice: "Integrity takes years to build and minutes to ruin. You must lead with integrity." "Cutting corners in life will get you nowhere." Don't think of the easier way to do things. "If it were easy everybody would do it. I don't want the easy way, I want the right way." "Positive mental attitude. It's what you do with your day that defines you. Be constantly aware of that." Be unwavering with your work ethic. "We're pushing forward every day."

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Tex LEARNERS to 44222 Full show notes found at www.LearningLeader.com #345: Kamal Ravikant - Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It Notes: Commonalities of leaders who have sustained excellence: A belief in the power of commitment to self: WHO am I going to be that day? Don't just float through life "Excellence means continuing through imperfect days." --> Moving forward: It's a mindset How to learn how to keep pushing forward? "Don't wait until you're qualified to do it. Jump in, learn to swim." Kamal's process for selling: "You have to believe it." Writing process -- Forced Kamal to deal with rejection... It was part of the process to get better. Studied the greats: Hemingway - Clear, simple, prose. "Writing is more rewarding than anything. It's just you and the blank page." "Love yourself like your life depends on it." It's story about responding to failure. How does this work with someone who already feels great about themselves? "Fundamentally, this is about how to be better. Learn from the maps of humanity." It's all about what's intside. "The internal impacts the external." Kamal had to come to terms with his tough childhood. He appreciates the strength developed from sleeping in a car (temporarily homeless) What was learned from boot camp (in the Army)? "I can handle anything thrown at me." It teaches the value of mission and responsibility. Leading a team in business: "Hire people for what they're best at." And then support them to do that work. "The best leaders are those that have actually done stuff." They understand the nuance of the industry and the work. Must be hungry. Why walk across Spain? Having the mentality of, "No matter what, I'll figure it out... Take chances in life. Go beyond comfort zones." How has a life altering event (a surgery that went bad) impacted perspective on life? "I feel blessed and lucky." "You can become a mess or become awesome." What Kamal learned from spending time with monks? "The construct of self disappears." "Love and compassion." Advice: "Excellence requires persistence."

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Full show notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com Text LEARNERS to 44222 #344: Jesse Cole Jesse Cole is the founder of Fans First Entertainment and owner of the Savannah Bananas. His teams have welcomed more than 1 million fans to their ballparks and have been featured on MSNBC, CNN and ESPN. Cole's teams have been awarded Organization of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year, Business of the Year and have won three CPL Championships. The Savannah Bananas currently have sold out every game for three straight seasons and have a waiting list in the thousands for tickets. In 2018, Fans First Entertainment made the INC 5000 list as one of the fastest growing companies in America. Jesse wrote Find Your Yellow Tux – How to Be Successful by Standing Out. The book launched #1 in three categories on Amazon and has been sold in 18 countries. Staying true to his mantra, " Whatever's Normal, Do the Exact Opposite," Jesse launched the book with a World Book Tour….at Epcot. Notes: How do we define excellence? Hunger like PT Barnum and Walt Disney Curiosity Sustain energy -- Always "bring the energy." --> "When I'm at work, it's show time." Understand what brings you energy -- Write it down "It was right in front of me. We sold our house... We needed to create attention. We couldn't do marketing like everyone else." The daily practice of writing Thank You notes: The "thank you experiment." One per day, every day. Look for people you're grateful for... Tell them. Love: "Love is something not talked about enough." Jesse learns the love languages of all of his employees. Long term values -- They call all people who buy tickets to his games. Be intentional about EVERYTHING. "We don't invest in marketing, we invest in experiences." Relate to the normal person: With the hold music Your email signature Business cards Name tags Make everything remarkable Write a letter to the parents of young people who work for you. How are you recognizing people? "Be patient in what you want for yourself, but be impatient in how much you give to others." Core beliefs: Always be caring Be different Write your future resume (what do you want to experience) "Red flags never go down." If you find a red flag in the interview process, it's time to move on. "We want people who 'do and learn.'" "You don't fail, you discover things." Build your idea muscle -- Write 10 ideas a day, every morning. "I believe in learning by doing." Wrote 159 blogs before publishing any of them... "Stop standing still, start standing out." "It's a lot easier to fit in than stand out." Create "You wouldn't believe" moments Write the normal list and then do the opposite -- Do the remarkable (like going on a world book tour at Epcot) Magic Castle -- "Listen carefully, respond creatively." Advice: What makes you different? What makes you stand out? Be okay with standing for something. Don't just try to be a little better than someone else. Experiment -- Throw darts until you hit the bulls-eye

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Full show notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com Episode #343: Kelly McGonigal Kelly McGonigal is a health psychologist and lecturer at Stanford University who specializes in understanding the mind-body connection. As a pioneer in the field of "science-help," her mission is to translate insights from psychology and neuroscience into practical strategies that support personal well-being and strengthen communities. She is the best-selling author of The Willpower Instinct and The Upside of Stress. You might know her from her TED talk, "How to Make Stress Your Friend," which is one of the most viewed TED talks of all time, with over 20 million views. Her new book, The Joy of Movement, explores why physical exercise is a powerful antidote to the modern epidemics of depression, anxiety, and loneliness. Her identical twin sister is the well-known game designer and futurist Jane McGonigal. Notes: How do we define excellence? What's the metric? It's about contributing to the world consistent and personal values. A sense of who Let your strengths and talents be what guides you Trust in self, intuition, take risks Kelly has a strong sense of direction. She's had that for a long time. When to say yes or no? She discovered she loved teaching. The story/science approach -- "I want to connect you with a stranger." Help people connect with others. "The science reveals something about human nature." Willpower -- "The ability to make choices to do what you want even when part of you doesn't want to do it." Immediate gratification combined with an investment if your future. Both are important. "This is a skill that can be developed." Be clear about your values and goals. Know what you want. "Every morning, do a 30 second commitment to what's important to you." Remember who you are. "Create an environment that reminds me of my goals and makes it easier to accomplish them." Disciplined people do what they say they will do. "They are clear about what they want to do. Create an environment that supports them. Have a sense of purpose." "Anyone can develop discipline if they are clear on what they want." "Stress is what happens when we care/have a lot at stake." "Stress is what gives you energy. It reminds you that it matters." Think, "How is stress trying to direct me?" "What is my body and brain trying to nudge me towards?" "Figure out your healthy stress responses." Real life example: How to prepare for your first meeting with your new team (that you are leading): Get rid of the idea that you shouldn't be stressful. It is part of the process. It's a signal that you care. Bigger than self-perspective. Go beyond the ego. Think it's allowing the team to have a moment. Support the mission. Think bigger than just making a good impression. It helps you connect with clear intentions. It's a mindset shift. Always assume others have something as valuable as you. They have wisdom. Let it be co-created with others. "Being a leader is bringing what's best in the room. People will rise to the expectations of them." Thoughts Kelly had in her mind prior to her TED Talk (that has since gone viral): The woman that went before her had a panic attack. Kelly noticed that the crowd had incredible goodwill towards the speaker. They wanted the speaker to do well. "Breathe in anxiety, breath out encouragement." "I'm going to put the audience at ease. I got you." The joy of movement: When you go from sedentary to active, when you move your body, there is increased optimism, hope, connection. The story about my mom working as an aerobics instructor when I was a kid -- Moving your body to the beat of the music is powerful and helpful. Walking in nature: "When you're in nature, the brain shifts to the present moment." Take more walks. The "Runner's High"-- Persistence is high, put the body in motion and just keep going. Your brain releases chemicals to provide pleasure, reduce pain. It creates energy and optimisim "We learn from movement. We endure. We learn what we're capable of." General advice: Take care of your self -- invest in your well being. It will help you deal with challenges Tell me about someone who's made a positive influence on your life Don't wait for permission. Start it. Do it. You need feedback.

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk #342: Shane Snow - The #1 Skill Of An Effective Leader (Intellectual Humility) Text LEARNERS to 44222 For full show notes go to www.LearningLeader.com Notes: Commonalities of leaders who sustain excellence: Pattern recognition - The ability to connect ideas and people Systems thinking - Connect dots, zoom out The ability to continue to question yourself, a hunger to improve, a "voracious learner" (Liv Boeree) Must relearn how to humble yourself The #1 skill is intellectual humility -- The ability to sit between gullibility and stubbornness Why are people so unwilling to change their mind? "So much of our ideas are attached to our identities." "You must separate your ego from intellect." What is a solution (as a leader)? If you're the one in power, invite people with a different perspective to the table. Don't invoke identity. Just ask for perspective. Leave space to change your mind... "I could be wrong but..." Strength and flexibility should not be in conflict Ben Franklin idea: Use idea, leave space for change, set opinion, but use phrases less defensive, only change your mind based on evidence. Say things like: "I could be wrong but..." "The research suggests..." "The evidence suggests..." Elon Musk -- His pattern to persuade people... It's purpose based leadership ("to make life multi-planetary") The strength is in his vision and his purpose. He's seen as strong by being willing to change his mind. Compliance versus Committed = Cult vs Culture Difference between a cult and culture: Cult - Must act and think in a certain way Culture - Asked to contribute your ideas in your way Key part of leadership: "Understand what matters to your people." Intellectual humility: Respect for others' viewpoints Lack of intellectual overconfidence Separating your ego from your intellect Being open to revising your viewpoints Openness to new experiences Separate feelings/thoughts from facts Trying something new creates new opportunities Advice: Learn about intellectual humility - take Shane's assessment Frame changing your mind as a strength -- reward others for doing this Habits: Instead of saying "I feel" say "I think." Words matter. Separate facts from stories Why joining The Learning Leader Circle is a good idea Order my book: WELCOME TO MANAGEMENT

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk #341: Behind The Scenes Of The Learning Leader Show With Jay Acunzo Full Shownotes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com Text LEARNERS to 44222 Notes: SECTION ONE: Superlatives Hardest interview: -- Jim Collins. Most-downloaded all-time:Show has steadily grown since it was created, so the most downloaded is a recent episode. From this year: #310 David Epstein. He wrote Range and The Sports Gene, Some popular ones from the past are: #300 with my dad and brother AJ, #216 Jim Collins episode is a popular one. Most referenced: the one you cite the most in conversation or your work - #78 with Kat Cole (Courage/Confidence + Curiosity/Humility) = Productive Achievers. Biggest delta between what you thought they'd be like...and what they were actually like? General Stanley McChrystal. War hero. 4 star General. Expected him to be super intimidating, but he was so kind, thoughtful, curious, and caring. Followed up to ask him to write the Foreword to my book and he said yes. Hardest part of running this show? It's never ending. Must always be working on it - Reaching out to guests, cold emails, preparing for each conversation, reading their books, watching everything they have online, etc. It never stops. Where have you most improved? Better conversationalist. Understand how to ask better questions, be more thoughtful, intentional with my actions/behavior. Biggest benefits to your life... 1) The more I learn, the more I realize I don't know… I've become more curious. Most active listeners: who do you see popping up a lot? - My Leadership Circle SECTION TWO: Stagnation Is The Enemy We undervalue the power of consistency: Consistency + Quality is the key to long term success. Most people quit. Must keep going. Why start it? - I wanted to create my own Leadership PhD. One where I get to choose the professors. Share with others, be a multiplier… Had dinner with Founder of Broadcast.com, Todd Wagner. Publishing work is the best form of networking. Create a reason for people to WANT to contact you. The preparation process - Read their books, watch their talks, read articles written by them and about them. Talk to friends we have in common. Read the ACKNOWLEDGEMENT section of their books to ask questions about meaningful in their lives (this gets them to open up and feel free to speak more emotionally… Which can be great audio and REAL) Given repeat ability and longevity, how do YOU stay engaged? Mental heuristics, intrinsic things that you just do/try, proactive remixes and reinventions? -- Have to be genuinely curious in the guest. Have to enjoy the pain of preparation. What are you willing to struggle for? Because that seems to be a greater determinant of how our lives turn out (Neil Pasricha). I love the preparation process, reading/thinking of angles to take a conversation with a specific guest that I'm curious about. Given that stagnation isn't just caused by US but also by the market saturating, how do you operate today compared to before? Early mover advantage wanes...and so many more podcasts about your topic specifically now exist. -- Willing to try new things (like this). Study and understand my listeners. You'll often hear me speak to the exact avatar of my listener. I'm not trying to have the biggest show ever. I'm trying to be the right show for the people who email me (mid-level manager in corporate America. Building teams, hiring/firing, qualities to look for when building a team). It helps directly with those people, but have also found niche audiences in other spaces like NCAA basketball coaches, NBA players, etc. SECTION THREE: What's next? What are you excited to do next? Try new projects like this episode… Continue to do live shows with an audience, travel more for in person recordings (Koppelman, Roberge), and keep going. My book. Where does this show go? What other projects surround it now, vs what you want to try? - Live shows, travel for in person. Bring on guests for my Leadership Circles (paid Mastermind groups. My groups ask for a guest, I bring them on). Creates group teaching and a ton of value for my Leadership Circles. My book. What's pissing you off about leadership in the corporate world that you'd like to explore and help solve? - Bad bosses. I've worked for a few (as have we all). I wrote about that goes through the process of being a bad boss to being a better one. I lived it and I've learned so much from others. That's what WELCOME TO MANAGEMENT is all about.

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Full show notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com Text LEARNERS to 44222 to receive the first chapter of my new book, WELCOME TO MANAGEMENT for free. Episode #340: Liz Bohannon - co-founder and co-CEO of Sseko Designs and the author of Beginner's Pluck: Build your life of purpose, passion and impact now. Liz and the Sseko story has been featured in dozens of publications including: Vogue Magazine, Redbook Magazine, O Magazine, Inc, Fortune and others. Sseko has appeared on national broadcasts including ABC's Shark Tank and Good Morning America. Commonalities of leaders who sustain excellence: They do work that taps into their intrinsic motivation and they know WHY they do what they do. You must drill down far to know this Vulnerable -- Look at Brene Brown. A "truth teller." Shoshin - An openness with eagerness. Have to have both. Why is the "Beginner's Pluck" message resonating with so many people? "I believe it, but not sure if I really do..." People (women especially) tend to doubt themselves too much. "You don't need to be extraordinary to build a life making a difference." "Passion is something you build... I learned it through telling an untrue story." Be driven by interest, and curiosity... "I'm the CEO of a for-profit fashion company." "My ego wasn't super involved. It gave me the freedom to just do it." "I got so obsessed with the problem and finding a solution to it." "The work of an artist is to know what's inside of you. Be solutions agnostic." "The artist creates without thinking of the audience." "The entrepreneur has to think of the audience." --> What's the actual problem this fixes? Sit in the complexity of what it means to be a world changer. "We live in a world that is so quick to critique... Show up, do the work." How did Liz learn to run a business? She took a six week crash course on basic accounting and followed her curiosity to learn each skill as she went. Don't be caught in analysis paralysis "The thing I had connected to me was my WHY." "You don't get to know Step 7 when you're in stage 1. That's not how it works." Must take it a step at a time. "What do I absolutely need to figure out? The MVP - Minimum Viable Product -- Know that it's only Version 1. Can iterate as you go. The 4 stages of Learning: Unconscious incompetent Conscious incompetent Conscious competent Unconscious competent How often am I feeling out of my league? -- You should feel this often in order to grow.

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Full show notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com Ep: #339: Robert Greifeld - Lessons Learned From A Decade Of Change As CEO Of NASDAQ Robert Greifeld served as the CEO of Nasdaq from 2003 to 2016. During his tenure, Bob led Nasdaq through a series of complex, innovative acquisitions that extended the company's footprint from a single U.S. equity exchange to a global exchange and technology solutions provider, nearly quadrupling revenue, growing annual operating profits by more than 24 times and achieving a market value of over $11 billion. He is the author of a new book called: Market Mover: Lessons from a Decade of Change at Nasdaq. Notes: Commonalities of leaders who sustain excellence: "Once you achieve competency, they're on a daily battle with complacency." Always looking forward - never resting on laurels A mindset that: "Success in the past is no guarantee that success will happen in the future." Self reflection is important for self awareness: "Being focused on the present doesn't preclude self reflection." Has being rich made you happy? "Wealth makes you more secure?" How to balance family time and work time? "Balance is a dangerous word. I prefer having an integrated life instead." "I made a rule that I did no business dinners unless I was doing the selling." Make multiple short trips instead of longer ones... Only miss seeing your family for a day or two at a time Bob describes the story of how he was recruited to NASDAQ and why he took the job... During the interview process, he shared the five things he would do within the first 100 days: Get right people on board Reduce bureaucracy Embrace fiscal discipline Overhaul technology Stop being satisfied with number 2 Have to have the right people on the bus Bob met with many people prior to starting as the CEO of NASDAQ: "I fired a lot of people before 8:00am on the first day I started. I did a lot of work prior to starting to learn who was going to buy in." "Good morale in a bad organization is not a good thing." With promotions, live by the 80/20 rule: "We tried to promote 80% from within our organization." "When interviewing people from the outside, the odds of being wrong are higher." Qualities to look for in people to promote: Positive attitude/energy -- "Happy campers" Pure skills How well do they play with others? Won't tolerate prima donnas How to be a great leader? Must be in front of your customers Stand in the shoes of your people Do a lot of individual contributor work "Don't be a conference room pilot" -- Don't spend all your time in meetings Learned knowledge vs. Lived knowledge Learned: "Don't know what's coming, you just learned it." Lived: "You've sat in the seat, you can see around corners." Acquisitions: Geography - If location is near us, that helps Industry - If it's the same industry, just smaller, that helps Overall advice: Never had a career path or end goal Wanted to do something that energized me "I'll do that job well." "Don't focus on climbing the mythical career ladder." "Don't take a job to just get another job." Why leave NASDAQ? "I like controlling my schedule." The benefits of growing up with blue collar parents. His dad worked for the Post Office, he was always upbeat and believe that life can be better.

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Episode #338: Jason Fried Full show notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com Text LEARNERS to 44222 to learn more Jason Fried is the founder & CEO at Basecamp. He's the co-author of Getting Real, Remote, REWORK, and It Doesn't Have To Be Crazy At Work. Basecamp is a privately-held Chicago-based company committed to building the best web-based tools possible with the least number of features necessary. Their blog, Signal vs. Noise, is read by over 100,000 people every day. Jason believes there's real value and beauty in the basics. Elegance, respect for people's desire to simply get stuff done, and honest ease of use are the hallmarks of Basecamp products. Notes: Commonalities of leaders who sustain excellence: Willingness/ability to know what's the work worth doing The skill to discern what's important How to develop that skill? Must become a good auditor of your time. Practice. Look back on what you've done. Analyze what you do? Discern what's worth it. Remote work: Basecamp has 56 employees in 30 cities around the world... Why remote? "You don't want the best people, you want the right people." The odds of all the right people living near your headquarters is small. The business started in Chicago with three people. They hired DHH to be their first programmer. He lived in Denmark. Then they hired someone in Utah. "It just worked. We didn't worry about where, just wanted to find the right people." Jason never writes a business plan -- No 1, 3, or 5 year plan. They work in six week project increments. Why? "Planning is simply guessing. Setting your course over a guess doesn't seem like a good idea. We have an idea of where we're headed, but we work in six week chunks." What Jason learned from Jeff Bezos: "People who were right often changed their minds." --> Be willing to change your mind when better evidence presents itself. The "anti-goal" mindset: "(Financial) Goals are made up. There's nothing about them that's true. They are guesses... Made up numbers." "Asking if I hit the goal is the wrong question. Asking if I enjoyed the run is the better question." "One of the problems with setting goals is you are a different person when you set them than when they need to be met." You grow, evolve, and change. "Too many companies focus on numbers instead of their customers." --> That is because they have number based goals to hit. It can ruin the customer experience (Jason had a terrible experience trying to cancel his satellite radio service) Qualities Jason looks for when making hiring decisions: Communicate clearly - "You must be a great writer." Much of their communication is done in writing. "We look at the cover letter first. That must be good. If that's not well written, then we do not look at the resume." Quality of character - "You must be a good person. We hire people that we want to be with. No ego. We like to hire people that use "we" and "us" instead of "I" Must be able to give and take feedback - Need to be coachable. "For designers, we give them a project to do in the interview process and then we provide them feedback. If they can't handle it, we will not hire them." Transition from individual contributor to leader... How to do it well? "It is REALLY hard. Very few people are born being good managers." "Come to terms that you can no longer do everything." Advice Jason got from Tobi (CEO of Shopify) - "As the CEO, you are working on longer term strategic initiatives. You don't get to feel the day-to-day progress that people lower in the organization feel." Need to get comfortable with that. Some of the benefits at Basecamp: Fully paid vacation every year for all employees ($5K), 3 day weekends all summer, $1K/year in continuing education outside of your job, $100/month for a massage, $100/month gym membership, $2K/year charity match, paid in the top 10% of your salary range as if you lived in San Francisco (even though no employees live in San Francisco) Why do it? "It's the right thing to do. I wanted to start a business that I wanted to work at. We're a company that cares about service." "People are not the place to save money. They are the place to spend money." "Give people their time. A contiguous block of time every day to do their work." Don't muddle it up with meetings in the middle of that time. "I'll work hard now so I can relax later" is not the optimal way to live. Create the habits now to enjoy it as you go. "Later" is where intentions go to die. "When calm starts early, calm becomes the habit."