The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Episode #303 - General Stanley McChrystal

Full Show Notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com

A retired four-star general, Stan is the former commander of US and International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) Afghanistan and the former commander of the nation’s premier military counter-terrorism force, Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC).  In June 2009, the President of the United States and the Secretary General of NATO appointed him to be the Commander of US Forces Afghanistan and NATO ISAF. His command included more than 150,000 troops from 45 allied countries. 

Notes: 

• There is a formulaic myth: Leadership is not what we think it is...
  • "I thought it was just behaviors, but that's too simplistic."
  • "Leadership is intensely contextual."  A great leader must adapt themselves to the situation.
    • "There's not a style that's perfect for every situation."  Vince Lombardi coached differently based on the team he was coaching.  Coach K (from Duke) is known to be incredibly adaptable and that's why he's succeeded year after year.
• Important leadership qualities:
  • Great listener -- Pay attention.  Marinate in what's happening.
  • Have humility -- Think of the people you serve
• Why General McChrystal went to West Point:
  • Dad, brothers, grandpa were all soldiers.  It's in the family.
  • He wanted to be an Army Officer
• Stan struggled his senior year in high school.  He lived by himself, his mom had died.
• His Freshman year at West Point, he didn't take the school part seriously and got in trouble.
• He was almost kicked out of West Point.
• However, he got extremely high peer review ratings:
  • His new tactical officer told him, "You're going to be a great officer" -- This was said based on how his peers had so much respect for him as a person.  That mentor reached him and made a significant impact on him.  "We all need someone like that."
• The power of a mentor/leader who believes in you:
  • It's huge to have someone who mentally maps it out for you and believes in you.  Someone that takes time to get in your mind... To care about you.  It must be genuine, and when it is, it's powerful.
• Team of Teams:  It's hard to scale a lot of small team. It must be organically connected.
• The front line leader -- It's impactful to have a "front line obsession."  Be with your team.  Show them you care through your actions.  In order to fully understand the situation, you need to get out and see it for yourself.
• We often don't have the answers.  "You can't fake it.  The role of the leader has changed.  It used to be command and control.  A leader is more like a gardener now.  You must orchestrate the pieces of a team, and ensure they are well connected."  You want a well connected, curious organization.
• "If when you get on the ground the order we gave you is wrong, execute the order we should have given you."
  • The leader must educate the team to make wise decisions from the front line if the leader is somewhere else.  The leader must trust the team to make the right decisions in that moment.
  • "The leader still owns the outcome.  The reality is the team will do better if properly trained."  Create an organization of trust and speed.

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

302: Nick Kokonas - How To See The Genius In People

Full show notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com

• Commonalities of sustaining excellence:
  • Intellectual curiosity - A desire to learn.  Not for the outcome, but for the curiosity to learn more
  • Healthy degree of paranoia - What Jim Collins would call "productive paranoia"
    • In the pursuit of excellence
  • "No one is giving it away for free.  It takes effort."
• Balance -- "I get manic at times. I'm not always well balanced."  The skill is in being able to turn it on and off... Which can happen over time
• "I've always been curious about how things worked..."
• Why it was helpful to go to Colgate University
  • A Liberal Arts school forced Nick to study areas outside of just his major.  Made him more well-rounded
  • He "learned how to learn" -- Forced him to wrestle with existential questions
• Rhetoric -- Can you understand all sides of an issue? Where does ambiguity exist?
  • Need to learn to think critically -- How you do it is more important that you do it
• General advice:
  • "Learn to communicate well.  Concisely. Learn to write and speak well.
  • From a psychology perspective, analyze, "what are they really saying?"
• Why he became a derivatives trader:
  • "I got into law school, but didn't want to go."
  • He tested well, but desired his independence
  • "Prestige as part of pay doesn't matter to me."
  • To be great at anything, you must be disciplined to show up everyday -- "My money has always been at risk everyday. Some think that's crazy.  But I've always worked to have an edge."
  • How to figure out outcomes as soon as possible
• The decision to leave the world of derivatives trading to open a restaurant... Why?
  • "I took some money off the table... Then my dad died... and I thought, what am I doing?  I had no idea what I was going to do next..."
• Meeting Grant Achatz and the impact that had on Nick's life...
  • "He reminded me a lot of myself.  He was thoughtful, driven, shy (this was the opposite), and he wasn't afraid of hard work."
  • "I think I have a skill to see the genius in some people."
  • "Grant's work is of artistic genius"
• Doing what you love and are passionate about:
  • "For me the test is... When I wake up in the morning is it nagging at me to do it?"

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Episode #301 with James Kerr

Full show notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com

• Commonalities of sustaining excellence:
  • Humility - An ego-less approach. "Serve to lead" mentality
  • Curiosity - Following passion
  • Value Excellence - Focus on doing the small things right
  • These are transferable principles to any organziation
• The "All Blacks" rugby team "are our Gods in New Zealand." 
  • They've won just under 80% of their games in history
  • Scored twice as many points as their competitors
  • The most successful sports team of all time
• Sustained high performance
  • Mana = The God within.  The spirit... The ethos that creates excellence decade after decade
• Surprises? "The softness in this hard game.  A love, a brotherhood, connection, meaning, caring for one another."
• How have they sustained excellence?
  • Tradition
  • Starts at the top with the leaders
  • Breaking down old orthodox
  • Like the British SAS - "Rank but no class"
  • Leadership group -- It's not just one coach.  Everyone's ideas are valued.
• It's a player led team - "Positive power of peer pressure."  That feeling of not wanting to let one of your teammates down
  • "You fight more for the person in the foxhole next to you."
  • The Spartan sword and shield.  You can lose you sword, but you can never lose your shield.  That helps protect your brother.
• Accountability - There is leadership at every level
  • It empowers the individual in a project bigger than themselves
  • How does this work in business?
    • Helps them step up, take ownership, be responsible
• "A leader is responsible for the result.  Good or bad."

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Episode #300: Keith & AJ Hawk - How To Instill Work Ethic & Curiosity In Your Kids

Full show notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com 

Keith Hawk is a 32-year veteran sales professional and sales leader.  For over ten years he led one of America's greatest sales organizations, at LexisNexis.  He continues in a customer focused role to this day at that global organization, speaking to customer groups around the world on the topic of solving business problems with the solutions offered by his firm.  In addition, he continues to speak regularly on topics such as consultative selling, selling to executives, and how to effectively lead people.  He also happens to be my dad.

AJ Hawk played 11 seasons in the NFL.  He was a two-time All American at Ohio State and he also won The Lombardi Award (as a senior at Ohio State) as the countries best defensive player.  He was the fifth overall draft pick of the Green Bay Packers in the 2006 NFL draft.  He was voted team captain on their Super Bowl winning team in 2010.  He finished his career as the all time leading tackler in Green Bay Packer history.  AJ is my younger brother.

• Staying sharp after official retirement?
  • "My mind is as clear as it's been in many years. I read more, write more, listen to more podcasts, I learn more now than I ever have."
  • "I never liked getting the question, 'did you get all of your work done?' As a senior leader at a big company, the work was never done. In my role now, I can go give a speech and get the work done."
  • Advice to others - "Stay patient a little bit, you have to find a way to grab hold of your day and take control of it.  Don't let others do that to you."
• AJ's progress to improve as a broadcaster:
  • There is no end game
  • Must keep grinding and getting as many reps as possible
  • "You have to jump in and do the work." You can't worry about judgement from others. You have to get the reps. Get on the stage and do it.
• How to handle the follow up to a competitive life in the NFL?
  • Must have realistic expectations... That amount of competition will never happen again.  That's okay as long as you're prepared for it
  • Broadcasting is a never ending battle with myself to get better.  To improve.  "I'm competitive with myself to get better."  Learning the intricacies from the greats.  "I've learned to be quiet, to let a moment breathe."
• Why are walk-thurs so important in the NFL?  Why does a world class athlete need to walk-thru a step for over an hour a day?
  • “The tiny details consistently worked on everyday so they become instincts. In the moment you don’t have to think and just rely on the instincts you created.  That's why we did so many walk-thrus in the NFL."
  • Why my Dad went to Green Bay for his birthday week every summer? The famous Tom Hanks quote, "I could watch my son brush his teeth all day." And he loved watching world-class athletes work on perfecting their craft.
• Listener question: From Tony Milenberger (member of one of my leadership circles) - With all the different directions you guys are going, how do you still manage to like each other? What rhythms keep you connected in the busy seasons?  How does it help your success?
  • We each have different roles and we've worked hard to do a great job at our role.  We all have creative outlets and have remained each others biggest fans.  We push each other to be better.  And when one of the family members reaches a level of fame and fortune (AJ), their ability to remain humble and down to earth is huge.  AJ has done that and created a ton of phenomenal family experiences because of it.
• The process of earning my book deal with McGraw-Hill... How it all came about.  There was an instant huge belief from Casey Ebro, senior editor from McGraw-Hill.  I describe that conversation and why we chose to work together.
• Listener question from Mike Flynn: What is your Dad's greatest hopes for his children and grandchildren?
  • Maslow's hierarchy
    • Economics taken care because of their hard work
    • Fulfilled life with a great spouse
    • Work stimulates us, gets us excited
    • Put our children in a place to be successful
    • Self-actualize -- Live up to what you want to do
• How to handle a situation when you hit a rut?
  • When this happened with my Dad, he always wanted to get directly to the front lines.  "When times got tough, I scheduled days in the field to meet with our customers and our front line people.  I wanted to be reminded why they did business with us.  I wanted to break it down to the bare essentials.  How could I do this in a different way?  Meeting with them helped." Reminded of the quote, "if it's not broke, fix it."  Be proactive.  Billy Joel had this happen to him and he rediscovered his love when he went to a new fan base in Russia.
  • With AJ - "When I was struggling or kept getting caught in the garbage of the linemen in front of me, my coach, Winston Moss, would say, 'why don't you take a step back and see what the view is like from there?' A simple step back to gain a new perspective helped.

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Episode #299: Kyle Maynard

Full show notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com

Kyle Maynard is a motivational speaker, bestselling author, entrepreneur, and ESPY award-winning mixed martial arts athlete, known for becoming the first quadruple amputee to reach the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Aconcagua without the aid of prosthetics.

Oprah Winfrey called Kyle “one of the most inspiring young men you will ever hear about.” Arnold Schwarzenegger described him as “the real deal,” “a champion human,” and “one of the most inspiring people” he’s ever met. Even the great Wayne Gretzky has spoken of Kyle’s “greatness.”

Show Notes:

• Commonalities of sustaining excellence:
  • Consistent action... Plotting
  • Life is a marathon
  • "I've struggled with this."
• "We live in a society that we think we have to reach the summit"
  • "Climb as hard as you can but relinquish the fact that you've ever arrived."  It will never be enough to fulfill you.
• "You've never arrived, you're always becoming."
• "I question what we're driven towards."
• Losing the first 35 matches... His dad told him that no wrestlers win in their first year and convinced him to go back for his second year
• "What you're looking for, you're going to find."
  • A self-efficacy belief.  It's in your deeper nervous system... It becomes automatic.  His dad planted the seed.
• "We have this illusion in our head, but it doesn't happen overnight."
• "The world will not be tailored for your every need."
• "We are softening the edges, we need to learn how to mentally deal with things."
• "We need to choose conscious suffering."
  • "Voluntary hardship"
• The power of meeting veterans in an airport on a way to giving motivational speeches
  • "It shifted, it wasn't about me."  The message helped veterans not commit suicide.
• "It's B.S. to think anyone is self-made.  We all need help."  The ripple effect.
• Why climb?
  • "I want to experience the world.  Just did scuba dive at the Great Barrier reef."
• Crawling 19,340 feet in just ten days... Climbing Mount Kilmanjaro
• "Focus on that next three feet in front of you..." Just the next step.  Before you know it, you put your head up and you're at your destination
  • Reminds me of Alison Levine -- "Just put one foot in front of the other and take that next step. Just keep going."
  • "I don't know if I have enough in the tank, but I'm going to keep going."
  • "The 3 feet in front of you is the only thing that matters"
• "Anything is possible is a lie... Tell the truth, know how to test your limits"
• "What gets measured gets done"
• How long can you enjoy accomplishments?
  • "It's a weird dance."
  • "What I'm learning to do now is plotting the essence of it..."
• Favorite book: Empire Of The Summer Moon
• Fasting: "When you fast (don't eat), your body picks the weakest cells and eats them."  There is a lot of science to support fasting
• Advice to others:
  • Value money but not too much
  • Have a small number of possessions
  • Namaste = "Light inside of me.  Recognize light inside of you."
  • Take calculated risk, go on adventures
  • "Follow your bliss"

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Episode #298 with Michael Useem - How To Become A Learning Machine

Full shownotes can be seen at www.LearningLeader.com

• Commonalities of sustaining excellence:
  • Thinking strategically
  • Communicating persuasively
  • Decisive decision making
• The power of using real life examples to demonstrate leadership
• Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain
  • He was a learning machine
  • "We know not the future, and cannot plan for it much.  But we can determine and know what manner of men we will be whenever and wherever the hour strikes."
  • He was a self directed lifelong learner - "I have always been interested in military matters, and what I do not know in that line, I know how to learn. I study I tell you every military work I can find."
  • He had a mentor/coach - Adelbert Ames was his tent mate and he learned all he could from him
    • He had a disciplined focus on learning from him.  "I asked him every night to tell me what he knew so I could learn"
  • He routinely got outside of his comfort zone - "I will watch myself and do an after action review to analyze."
  • Get tangible experience
• The purpose behind taking students and family members to Gettysburg every semester - To "stand where Chamberlain stood." And to "get you in their moment on that ground." Recreate the moment as if you're there.
• Gene Kranz and Apollo 13
  • "Expecting high performance is a prerequisite to its achievement among those who work with you.  Your high standards and optimistic anticipations will not guarantee a favorable outcome, but their absence will assuredly create the opposite."
  • Being a decisive decision maker and preparing for those challenging moments with an attitude that "failure is not an option."
  • "I knew my teams even more than they knew themselves."
  • Had a great mentor in Chris Craft to help him
  • Teams that are well developed go through experiences together can outperform individuals under stress
• The motivation behind risk takers:
  • "A calculating adventurer, deriving a thrill from taking a risk and watching it pay off."  This is how visions are created.
  • How to become savvy about calculated risk
  • Risk tolerance is a learned skill
• Persuasive communication is an art form
  • It's a learned skill
  • You can't hide, you must be persuasive as a leader
  • There needs to be a solid narrative (story), a purpose behind it
  • Every person must know how important their specific contribution is -- "Why are we doing this and what is my role?"

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

#297: Tero Isokauppila - CEO Of Four Sigmatic: Principled Based Leadership

Full show notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com

Show Notes:

• Commonalities of sustaining excellence:
  • "They love what they do" -- Love the process.  The work
  • Humility/Excitement to learn -- they know things will change and they must adjust
  • Listen more than you talk.
  • Curiosity -- The Dalai Lama exemplifies this very well.
  • Able to adjust -- Madonna is a prime example of being able to adjust and reinvent herself
• How being a 13th generation farmer from Finland helped set the course for Tero's life -- "I have domain knowledge."
• Finnish people consume more coffee per capita than anyone in the world
• The idea of putting mushrooms in coffee came because of this
• Super foods help with:
  • Hormonal response
  • Gut health
  • Immune system
• Four Sigmatic is a company built with super foods
• The beginning -- "It all comes down to value generation.  If you want to generate value, you have to see what others don't yet see."
• Culture -- "You need to rally around people who believe in the mission."
• Find believers and sponsors as your first employees -- his founding team were former teammates
  • Get to know you team deeply -- how they think, feel, act, what motivates them
  • Currently they have a fully distributed team of 37 people
• The hiring process and qualities they look for.  Four lenses:
  • Can they do they job? -- Skills
  • How will they fit in our culture? -- Fundamentals
  • What do they cost? -- Financially and emotionally
  • What is their growth potential?
  • They must be "extra good" at communication - written and verbal.  How do they write emails?  Must be extra organized.
• "Culture exists whether you want or not.  It is what it is."
• Their principles:
  • S - Stay healthy, eat well, exercise
  • W - We are us, not them
  • A - Always carry product
  • R - Results with freedom -- KPI
  • M - Make it grow, let it go
• Examples of innovation

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Episode #296: Emily Fletcher - The Secret Superpower Of Top Performers (Meditation)

For full show notes, go to www.LearningLeader.com 

• Commonalities of sustaining excellence:
  • They have a magnetic quality.  Others are drawn to them.  People look to them.
  • They have the ability to shift their state of being.  Not just being calm.  They are able to be variable and can adapt to situations
• Meditation increases adaptability
  • Meditation helps you take care of yourself
  • Rest, nurture your brain and body
• The failure of most when they attempt to meditate:
  • Emily is on a mission to rid the world of "ex-meditators" -- people who have tried and failed and given up on it
  • There have been 58 million downloads of meditation apps
    • Free apps are gentle by design and not as useful
• Advice -- There is a difference between mindfulness and meditation.
  • "Meditation is a tool that helps you get rid of stress from your past."
  • Mindfulness is "the art of bringing your awareness into the present moment"
• Meditation gives your brain and body tools.
  • "Kind of a nap sitting up. Mind alert, body getting rest." -- Relieve stress from now and past
  • It is not a toy.  It's a very powerful tool.  You need proper training
  • It's ridiculously simple, yet powerful
• Biggest misconception  -- "People think they have to clear their head.  They think thoughts are the enemy.  That's not true."
  • "People think they are too busy to meditate... You know we're talking about your brain right?"
• Emily was on Broadway for 10 years... Living in constant state of anxiety... Sick, insomnia, was miserable.
  • She noticed another performer had none of those issues.  She asked what she did and found out meditation was the key...
    • Emily took a class, and liked it so much she went to India to be trained professionally.
• She created Ziva... An online meditation tool.
• It's about manifesting "consciously creating the life you love"
• "Don't water the weeds" -- Don't focus on the wrong things

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

#295: Todd Herman - Using Alter Egos To Transform Your Life

To read the full show notes, go to www.LearningLeader.com

Notes:

• Commonalities of sustaining excellence:
  • "Negative capability" (John Keats term)
    • The ability to pursue your dream despite the fact that circumstance tells you it won't happen.
    • Not losing faith despite the long odds
    • Mental toughness - "The ability to be flexible & adaptable despite what the world is throwing at you."
• The OPP framework for goal setting:
  • Outcome
  • Performance - Resources
  • Process - Who, what, when, where
• What Todd does?
  • He's on a mission to give people smart thinking models.  He helps ambitious people.
  • Revenue generation: He's built programs and systems and licensed it to sports teams
  • He does sport science and peak performance coaching
  • Grew up doing speaking competitions.
    • Did 68 speeches in 90 days.  All for free.  Have to "get the reps"
• "This is how I know I've made it... I loved doing a free speech for four people.  I loved it!"
• "You must show up.  Continue to show up no matter what.  Even if nobody is there, show up anyway."
• "The answers are never waiting for you to sit still. The answers are out there doing it.  It's action that matters."
• How Todd developed strong mental toughness?
  • Rough upbringing -- He was sexually abused at a church camp when he was 12
  • He retreated and developed mental toughness to deal with it
• Skills developed as an athlete that translated to life outside of sports:
  • Preparation
  • Routines
  • Visualization/Imagery
• Why are alter-egos so powerful?
  • They help you get into flow state and not get out of your head
• The Bo Jackson story -- "Bo Jackson never played a down of football.  It was Jason from Friday The 13th.  I was crazy out there."

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Episode #294: Warren Berger - How To Ask More Beautiful Questions

• Commonalities of sustaining excellence:
  • Intelligent... Smart
  • Hard-working
  • Ambitious
  • Humble -- This is a really important quality.  No ego or arrogance.  They admit when they are wrong.  Willing to acknowledge when they're wrong.  They are open to listening to others and their ideas.
  • Curiosity - They are not trapped by their own expertise.  They are open minded, curious, looking around.
  • Able to adapt
  • Communication skill -- The willingness and ability to ask great questions
• The genesis of becoming a questionoligist -- Warrens calls himself a questionoligist.  The art and science of asking questions.
  • He originally was a journalist and developed a skill for asking questions doing that job.
  • "Questioning was a tool of the trade"
• Warren was writing about design and the idea of questioning kept coming up with leaders in business.
  • "The ability to ask good questions would lead them thru the innovation cycle."
• The holy trinity of questioning:
  • Why?  Trying to understand
  • What if?  Ideation, brainstorming
  • How?  Get practical.  "How can we take the first step?"
• Big open ended questions -- They are the stems
  • Each one does something completely different
• Questioning as a manager:
  • Find time to have the conversations and ask questions of your team members
  • Must be thoughtful and prepared
  • We've gotten out of the habit of being questioners, and now it's always about doing.  "Slow down, ask questions.  Why are we pursuing this strategy? Understand why?"

Go To www.LearningLeader.com

Text LEARNERS to 44222

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Episode #293: Brent Beshore - How To Get Rich Slow & Live An Optimal Life

• Commonalities of sustaining excellence:
  • The usual things like: integrity and hard work
  • But the best... "know how messy they are, they challenge themselves, they have high level of self-awareness, they need people around them to help.  They acknowledge their imperfections, and they give others grace for their imperfections."
• How to develop self awareness? 
  • Surround yourself with people who will tell you the truth -- "We are all highly imperfect."
  • Give people a true open invitation to criticize, but they also must be constructive, loving, kind, thoughtful people.
    • "They need to be rooting for you."\

• What do you look for in someone to work with?
  • Curiosity - an inherent desire to know more, learn, reconstruct reality
  • Self awareness - genuine intellectual honesty
  • Integrity - function of consistency over time.  Have to reconstruct it

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Episode #292 - Beth Comstock: You Don't Need Permission (Former GE Vice Chair)

Beth Comstock spent nearly three decades at GE. As Chief Marketing Officer and then Vice Chair of Innovation, she led efforts to accelerate new growth, develop digital and clean-energy futures, seed new businesses and enhance brand value.  As President of Integrated Media at NBC Universal, she oversaw TV ad revenue and digital media efforts, including the early development of Hulu. Prior to this, she held roles at NBC, CBS and CNN/Turner Broadcasting.

Her first book, Imagine it Forward, was published in September 2018. She is a director at Nike, and trustee of The National Geographic Society. 

The Learning Leader Show

"You must grab agency.  You don't always need permission."

Show Notes:

• Commonalities of sustaining excellence:
  • "They don't stop. They keep coming back.  There is an inherent belief that tomorrow is another day.  They have great stamina."
  • Examples: Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Mary Barra (GM)
• What was it like being hired by Jack Welch (including the story of Jack offering her the big promotion)
• "You know you can't say no to Jack Welch and GE.  It fascinated me."
• Jeff Immelt -- "He lives to deliver for the customer"
• Take us back to 1985... Beth is in her mid-20's, she's hiding behind the door as her husband tells her mom that they are getting a divorce.
  • "It was a defining moment.  I was willfully choosing an unfamiliar path.  It felt like a failure."
  • "In times of change, you have a choice to figure it out."
• JR, the bad boss... We've all had bad bosses.  How to deal with it? "He was a gatekeeper, just said no.  So, I wrote a report, shared it with others, gave it to him.  He rejected all of it.  So I left to go to Ted Turner's CNN."
  • "You must grab agency.  You don't always need permission."
• "No means 'not yet'"
• The difference between gatekeepers and goalkeepers:
  • Goalkeepers clear the way, they help you.  Gatekeepers do the opposite."
• Common mistakes the new manager makes and how to avoid them:
  • Understand the responsibility
  • Find a way to be secure in yourself.  A lot of mistakes are made out of insecurity.
  • "I was not good at giving feedback.  Good or bad.  I didn't communicate well initially."
  • "You need to get to know your team very well.  Know them as individuals.  Connect with them.  People don't want to be managed or controlled, they want to be led. There is a difference."
  • Mentors: "I was a 30 year old first time manager and I didn't have good mentors.  I was afraid to reach out to people for help.  Find a series of people to be your board of advisors.  You will need it."
• The "Steve Jobs recruited me" story -- "This was right before the iPhone came out.  He said, 'We're going to do some really big things here and I want you to be part of it.'  It wasn't right for my family to move out there at that time though.  I made the pro and con list and the move was too powerful.  So I said no.  There are days where I regret it."
• The difference between Jack Welch and Jeff Immelt:
  • "Both were good leaders.  Jeff championed people and fully supported me."
  • "They led in different times.  It's a shame that they get compared when they led in two completely different eras."
• "Tell me something I don't want to hear." -- Why this is a powerful exercise all leaders need to do with their teams on a regular basis.
  • "Success theater" was an initiative.  It's meant to crack bureaucracy.  "Jeff Immelt was actually trying to make it better through doing this.  You need that feedback loop."
• Hiring:  What does Beth look for in a candidate?
  • Curiosity - Open and eager to learn
  • A quest for excellence - Do they actively strive to be better?
  • Others provide references on their behalf
  • Trial run - "Try, then buy."  Simulate the role
  • Hire someone who knows what you don't - Hire for your weaknesses
• How to handle an environment as a woman leader surrounded by men?
  • "I'm a creative woman.  I came to appreciate my differences.  I became this small, quiet, rebel. Forge a different path.  Learn how to get comfortable doing this."
  • Advice to men? "I'm so glad you're asking this.  Be open.  Listen.  Talk with females at work. Have open dialog.  Ask questions how you can do better."
  • "Assume nobel intent."
• How to "imagine it forward?"
  • "Data is squeezing imagination from us." -- "Open yourself to new people and ideas."
  • "Pattern recognition"
  • "Scenario planning"
  • Think "What if I were the customer? What if I were the competitor?  What would I do?"
• Leading as an introvert.  Most great introvert leaders have these useful qualities:
  • Introspective
  • Good listener
  • Understand how to manage their energy
    • Find time to recharge
• Why joining The Learning Leader Circle is a good idea
• Use the "Get To Know You Document"

"I'm a creative woman.  I came to appreciate my differences.  I became this small, quiet, rebel. Forge a different path.  Learn how to get comfortable doing this."

Social Media:

• Follow Beth on Twitter: @bethcomstock
• Read: Imagine It Forward
• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Join our Facebook Group: The Learning Leader Community
• To Follow Me on Twitter: @RyanHawk12

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Episode #291: Andy Rachleff (CEO Wealthfront) - What Do You Uniquely Offer That People Desperately Want?

Andy Rachleff is a co-founder and Executive Chairman of Wealthfront. Rachleff co-founded Benchmark Capital in 1995 and was a general partner until 2004. 

Some notes... (More found on www.LearningLeader.com)

• Commonalities of sustaining excellence:
  • Intellectual curiosity -- Pass this along to kids at the dinner table
  • Ask questions
  • "Bright people think other smart people ask questions."
• The leader creates the culture
• "People model the behavior of the leader."
• "To be a great teacher, you have to synthesize something into small statements.  This helps you be a better leader."
• Magic 8 Ball statements
  • "A's hire A's. B's hire C's."

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

#290: Scott Harrison - Redemption, Compassion, & The Transformative Power Within Us All

Scott Harrison is the founder and CEO of charity: water, a non-profit that has mobilized over one million donors around the world to fund over 28,000 water projects in 26 countries that will serve more than 8.2 million people. Harrison has been recognized on Fortune's 40 under 40 list, Forbes' Impact 30 list, and was ranked #10 in Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People in Business. He is currently a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. Scott’s first book, Thirst, was released in October (2018) and immediately hit the New York Times best-seller list.

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Episode #289: Philip McKernan - Relationships Move At The Speed Of Vulnerability

Show Notes:

• Commonalities of sustaining excellence:
  • Moments where they feel like a fraud, question themselves.  They are more comfortable within those moments
    • This allows them to bounce back quicker
  • They seek and attract things that are outside of their normal comfort zone
  • The Picasso example -- The courage to face the failure and own up to it
• "Vulnerability is the only way to truly deepen relationships"
  • "When you say, "I don't know," it helps others feel empowered to help"
• Philip felt worthless at age 14. He felt isolated and alone, a burden to try and fit in.  "That pain had a purpose."
  • How to go from an isolated and alone 14 year old to a keynote speaker who moves people to tears?
• How to deal with skeptics?
  • "That's okay. But, I would address it now. Couples typically wait five years too long to get counseling.  Do it now."
• What do you do? "I create environments for people to go deep. I meet them where they're at."
• The story of starting this business on the side in an Irish pub.
  • "The hardest time of my life was at the beginning, but I didn't allow lack of money to impact what I did."
  • "What are you willing to give up to do what you want?"
  • "I stopped making the journey about me... It was about them."
• Why Philip will not send his kids to college...
  • "Spend time learning. You need to understand who you are. A classroom is not built on how to get to know who you are."
• The "Planes, Trains, & Automobiles" test:
  • Kevin Bacon started his career with no lines... But kept working. "Be willing to put in the work. Run for the cab."
• Is "follow your passion good advice?"
  • "Yes and no.  There is a big difference between excitement and passion.  I believe we all have gifts and so many people use their talents."
  • "For you, sales was a talent, but your gift is connecting with people. To lift them, to help them, to build confidence."
  • "We are all leaders but a lot of people lead from an inauthentic space. It's not what we do, it's how we do it."
• What is One Last Talk?
  • "If you had 15 minutes left to live to share your message, what would you say? You need to share with the world to free yourself."
  • The process creates freedom.  People want to connect.  This is "team deepening."
• Why write a book?
  • "Everyone has the capacity to make an impact. I believe all of us carry some demons."
  • "It's like five years of therapy in one book." "The book is by me, but it's not for me.  I will never sign it."
• "One of the greatest burdens a child can bare is the unlived life of their parents."

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Episode #288: Robert Greene - The Laws Of Human Nature (Part 2)

"I knew at eight years old I wanted to be a writer. It took me 30 years to find the right ideas. Everybody has a primal inclination." - Robert Greene

"If you're not excited about the field you work in, you'll learn half as much." -- Robert Greene

www.LearningLeader.com

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Episode #287: Robert Greene - 5 Strategies For Becoming A Master Persuader (Part 1)

Robert Greene teaches the most important subject of all – understanding people’s drives and motivations, even when they are unconscious of them themselves. Drawing from the ideas and examples of Pericles, Queen Elizabeth I, Martin Luther King Jr, and many others, Greene teaches us how to detach ourselves from our own emotions and master self-control.

www.LearningLeader.com

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

286: Phil Jones - How To Build Your Squad (The WHO In Your Life)

Show Notes:

• Commonalities of sustaining excellence:
  • Ability to see things through the eyes of others -- empathy
  • Create and articulate a shared vision
  • Create momentum for others
• Build your squad -- The WHO in your life
  • His mom said, "Be careful, go get a job and be safe."  She is the right person in the wrong place.
  • We all need:
    • Cheerleaders - they put fuel in our tank
    • Role modes - someone's model to follow
    • Mentors - someone to share experiences with
    • Coaches - they ask us questions
    • Trainers - they teach us skills
    • Advisors - overall strategy
    • Aspirational peers - Peers you look up to and want to spend time with
• "Success leaves clues."

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Episode #285: Scott Gerber - Stop Networking And Start Building Relationships That Matter

Show Notes:

• Commonalities of sustaining excellence:
  • Those who surround themselves with people smarter than them
  • Empathetic
  • Self-aware -- And an ability to understand others
  • "We are losing connection for connectivity."
• How to become a super-connector?
  • "Curiosity leads to everything." -- Always be questioning...
  • "Learning is the defining quality of all of it."
• How to get to the core of person to better understand where they come from and their motivations...
• "The Road Less Traveled" -- Constantly revise our maps of reality
• "The Big Short" - "It's what you think you know that's not true that gets you in trouble."
• How to answer the "What do you do?" question --
  • Scott - "Try to live life purposefully"
  • His nickname -- "The Pandora of Gen-Y networking"
• "Social Capital is the most important currency that we have. I'm a curator of people."
  • "There is so much power to bringing amazing people together."
• Why it's bad to ask, "How can I help you?"
  • "Marketers fundamentally f'd up this conversation." -- "It's become too formulaic as the next step.  Instead, you should know how you can help and help.  It's a bad question because it shows your thoughtless and it's part of a script. Don't do that."
• Be exceptional at making introductions -- Does it provide mutual value?
  • When you become proficient at it, take it a step further... Film a short video to make the intro. Get creative.
• The gray zones -- Always ask "why?"
• "Real relationships take real time"
• How to create remarkable experiences:
  • Get great people in the room -- carefully curate the guest list
  • Build trust
  • Exceptional atmosphere/environment
  • Be very thoughtful about every tiny detail
• The YEC summit in Eden, Utah
  • Create something remarkable to ensure people and things you bring together click.
  • Humanize people that run the community -- Ex: The execs serve dinner to the guests, find common touch points
  • "Get the intros right! Lift your guests up, brag about them in front of their peers."
• Being a connector vs being connected -- The tools
• How to build consistent referrals?
  • Create events where people want to bring a guest who is not a current client but could be.  The event must be exceptional.  Invest heavily in this.
• Why joining The Learning Leader Circle is a good idea
• Use the "Get To Know You Document"

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Episode #284: Michael Lombardi - A Masterclass In Building Teams And Winning Championships

Show Notes:

• Commonalities of sustaining excellence:
  • A set foundation
  • A standard of excellence in everything they do.  Not rooted in sports, but in everything
  • Understand how to build a culture
• Why mission statements were useless to Mike and his colleagues
• The focus on getting 1% better every day... If you do so, the score takes care of itself
• Demonstrate how to lead... The leader must model that behavior
• "Managers do things right, leaders do the right thing."
• Operating framework
  • Have a plan
  • Explain to self
  • Build trust
  • Command of self
• "Culture is a plant. You must nurture it everyday."
• Personal accountability is the ultimate sign of strength.  "All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong." - Sophocles
• Bill Walsh - The value of being his personal driver and learning from him directly during all of those car rides.  That's where Mike learned about leadership... And about Tom Peters
• Coach Walsh was always reading something that made him think and passed that along to Mike...
• "If you don't like change, you'll like irrelevancy less."
• Hiring process:
  • Want people who are coach-able and able to learn the Bill Walsh system
  • "Training is hard. Most managers don't do it."
• A "5 tool leader"
  • Strategy
  • Tactics
  • Preparation
  • Execution
  • Situational instincts to know which among the first 4 is required and when
• The myth of coaches working long hours and sleeping in the office
• Sustainable values vs situational values -- command of the process
• When Al Davis interviewed people, he would do a deep dive on their background prior to the interview and use their high school mascot as his personal nickname for the candidate. This was Al's subtle way of letting the candidate know that he "knew everything about them so they better be honest."
• Creative vs divergent -- Take an existing idea and make it better
• The 7 QB qualifiers and how this relates to a leader in business:
  • A winning way
  • A thick skin
  • Work ethic
  • Football smarts
  • Innate ability
  • Carriage
  • Leadership
• You must be able to process things at a high rate
• Learning from mistakes -- The Doug Pederson mistake Mike made...
  • "How often is it the structure, the landscape, vs the player?
• Jackson Browne - "Never forget the ones you mess up."
• Life advice -- Jack Nicholson - "Read everything. It's the elixir of life. Understand something from all sides and all points of view. Read it all from the opposition side to get complete understanding on the topic."
• The most effective leaders have a willingness to receive feedback and implement it.

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Episode #283: Tyler Cowen - The Path To Prosperity In A Disordered World

Show Notes:

• Commonalities of sustaining excellence:
  • "I admire people who are constantly reading and learning things."
  • Those who have a quiet excellence about them
• The most effective leaders have a willingness to receive feedback and implement it.
• Tyler was a world class chess player at age 15 and won the world championship.  He always played against older players, people who were better than him. (Reminds me of James Clear and the Goldilocks Effect)
• Doing vs. Learning: Tyler admires those who spend more time learning than doing (he takes a counter intuitive approach to this... like most things he thinks!)
  • "I admire people who spend a lot of time thinking, those who read a lot of books, searching..."
• Tyler describes his book reading process
• Books - "Start with what you love..."
  • Start with fiction: Shakespeare, others like that.  Tyler is not a fan of most management books.
  • Books he likes: The 5th Discipline, Michael Porter, Maslow, Flow, Daniel Kahneman
  • "Read biographies"
• What was Tyler like as a kid? "Intense, curious, even tempered, quite happy... Much the same as I am now."
• There is always new information to learn from travel -- The perspective gained from traveling the world is extremely valuable.  Tyler has traveled to 100's of countries worldwide
  • Have dialog with local people in each place you go.  We discussed my trip to Italy, Slovenia, and Croatia.
  • Learn the personal history of the places you go.  Some great recent trips? Singapore, China, Mexico (learn to speak Spanish)
• Tyler's day to day actions: Write, blog, lunch with college students, teaches for 3 hours per day. He's 56 years old
• What is scarce? -- We all should focused on being great at what is scarce
  • Quality land and natural resources
  • Intellectual property, or good ideas about what should be produced
  • Quality labor with unique skills
  • Talent that can execute. Great leadership
• How to become great at what is scarce?
  • Tyler interviewed the tennis great, Martina Navratilova... Her thoughts: "You need to make a deliberative decision to train. A complete dedication to the craft."
  • You also need someone who will tell you the truth and help you improve. Who are your mentors, am I respecting others? A massive need to train and practice.
• Why shouldn't we pay kids to do chores?
  • "Don't transact with kids.  It should be part of their normal day.  They shouldn't be paid for it."
• The shifting gender balance of power - Be conscientious.  "Women are simply better at almost everything."
• How Stripe publishing is doing things differently...
• Latest book: Stubborn Attachments - "It's been 20 years in the making. My most philosophical book."
  • "It's about the eternal principles how we should think about things..."
• The meta explanation for why it seems like our political world is wacky... "Most of history is wacky."
• Tyler makes a 2020 prediction for the presidential election
• "Stories are deliberate over-simplifications. Complexity has been drained away from most."
• How to prepare for a keynote speech?
  • "For the Martina Navratilova interview, I read 40 books about her and tennis and learned everything I could to be prepared."
• Reading:
  • Read books in clusters based on topics
  • Go to the library and do a physical search
• • Why joining The Learning Leader Circle is a good idea
  • Use the "Get To Know You Document"

  "It's about conscientiousness.  Women are simply better than men at almost everything."

  Social Media:

  • Follow Tyler on Twitter: @tylercowen
  • Read: Stubborn Attachments
  • Connect with me on LinkedIn
  • Join our Facebook Group: The Learning Leader Community
  • To Follow Me on Twitter: @RyanHawk12

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Episode #282: Seth Godin - You Can't Be Seen Until You Learn To See

"In a crowded marketplace, fitting in is a failure. In a busy marketplace, not standing out is the same as being invisible." 

Show Notes:

• Commonalities of sustaining excellence:
  • It changes over time
  • Must be willing to fail - "Okay... Will I do things that might not work?"
• Some of Seth's failures: many teaching mistakes, tried to build philanthropy platform that failed, blog has failed at times
• How to handle a slump? - "There's no such thing as a long slump."
  • Stephen J. Gould - "The real problem is how you respond to the failure. You can't tell yourself a story that's not true."
  • Have honest self talk -- "This isn't a slump."
• Stanford MBA - Friends with Chip Conley.  "Everyone there feels like a fraud or an arrogant jerk. I felt like I was drowning. The sessions with Chip changed my life."  Chips "Random Acts of Initiative" were life changing.  Chip taking initiative and not fearing rejection. Remarkable.
• Empathy - A mentor wants to see you do things that are bold, leap forward because of them.
• Be a mentor - "Make the world shinier. Bring life to more causes."
• Economy of words - "I made the decision to write like I talk."
  • "Talking isn't better because you're afraid."
• The book publishing world and why Seth chose to traditionally publish This Is Marketing
• What percentage of Seth's success is luck? "98.2%"  The final 1.8% is "relentless persistence."  "The 98.2% is the parent lottery."
• How to deal with rejection after rejection...
• "Culture IS strategy. How we treat people. It's hard to do the things we're proud of."
  • "Great ones have better clients."
• Side hustle advice -- Start it on the side so that you don't have to make money at it right away. You can choose your clients and never just "do it for the money."
  • "Exactly. Great advice."
• Keys to storytelling - "We have too much stuff."
  • Better understand the story you're telling yourself.
• Why joining The Learning Leader Circle is a good idea
• Use the "Get To Know You Document"

"Luck for me is 98.2% of it. The other 1.8% is relentless persistence."

Social Media:

• Follow Seth's writing on Twitter: @ThisIsSethsBlog
• Read: This Is Marketing
• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Join our Facebook Group: The Learning Leader Community
• To Follow Me on Twitter: @RyanHawk12

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Episode #281: George Raveling - Eight Decades Of Wisdom: From Dr. Martin Luther King To Michael Jordan

Show Notes:

• Commonalities of sustaining excellence:
  • Growth mindset
  • Immense curiosity
  • High level of self awareness -- "It starts within"
  • Great vision
  • Most important = "they execute"
• Relationship lessons learned over eight decades - "Be a giver, not a taker. Try to genuinely help people."
  • Develop trust, respect, and care for others -- "It's all about love.  Don't keep score.  Do the right thing, be kind, but don't keep score or trade favors.  That's not how it works."
• Standing next to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr for the "I Have A Dream" speech
  • Asking Dr. King for the speech after he finished (and getting it... still has it!)
  • Why he won't sell of try to profit from the speech despite it being worth millions
  • The power of "showing up early" and "asking for what you want"
• Why Coach reads so much -- "The slave owners used to hide money in books because they knew slaves would never look in the books because they couldn't read." -- "If someone can control my mind, they can control my body.  I will not let that happen.  Books are my mistress."
• Information = knowledge = wisdom = opportunity = growth = success
• The importance of his upbringing - His dad died when he was 9, his mom was institutionalized when he was 13. He was raised by his grandmother and nuns.
  • "My grandmother taught me to be curious.  She taught me to ask.  She taught me good manners.  She taught me humility. She taught me to help people.  She was the #metoo movement before the #metoo movement"
• How basketball was the "greatest vehicle for transformation in my life."
  • Earned scholarship to Villanova -- When George was first offered a scholarship, he didn't know what that meant.
  • Going from player to coach and why he was suited to be a great coach
  • Becoming the first African American head coach of the Pac 8 (Pac 12)
• The mindset of thinking of yourself as an educator/teacher
• George is a voracious reader and marks up each and every page of the books he likes (I saw first hand and it's amazing)
• The importance for older people to have 4-5 younger mentors in their life.  Ryan Holiday plays this role for Coach.
• The importance of self leadership - "You must take care of yourself before trying to lead others"
• Working at Nike for Phil Knight -- Helping sign Michael Jordan away from Adidas
• Focus on being a great decision maker and seeking out growth opportunities
• Why you don't need a title to be an effective leader
• In order to be promoted, focus on being incredibly great at what you're doing right now
  • "Be so good they can't ignore you."
• The 10 realities of life Coach Raveling values most at age 81
• Pushing Coach to write a book about living a great life -- Tweet him to do this!
• Why joining The Learning Leader Circle is a good idea
• Use the "Get To Know You Document"

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Episode #280: Danny Iny - Why You Shouldn't Go To College

"The future is here. It's just not evenly distributed." 

Show Notes:

• Commonalities of sustaining excellence:
  • An attitude of curiosity - interested. "I wonder why that happens?"
  • Sense of things being "figureoutable." They will get it done. Fortitude.
• Danny and I discuss a partnership -- Working together on building a course
• Being "catalytically curious"
• Why start Mirasee?
  • Built after previous failure. "On an emotional level, a startup falling apart is like a really rough breakup."
• "Mirasee was the rebound business."  It has a value driven ethos.  "At the end of an interaction with you, people should like you more regardless of what happens."
  • "Mira" = To see, wonder
• Why build online courses?
  • The convenience and practicality. It's "Just In Time" Learning
• Should graduating high schoolers go to college?
  • "Probably not. There is an expectation that smart kids should go to college. That it's the ticket to the good life.  This used to be true, but it's not anymore. The facts don't back that up."
  • "The future is here. It's just not evenly distributed."
  • "Those non-specific degrees are functionally worthless."
  • "It's not about where we are, it's about where will we be?"
• What should a smart high school graduate do instead?
  • Find people you respect and trust in the working world.  Offer to work for them for free.  Shadow them. Learn from them.  Figure out if you want to do that full time.
  • This requires people to take initiative and ownership
• Why I started the podcast? -- "To create my own leadership PhD."
  • "Pace of education is changing."
  • "At the pace of change currently the curriculum being taught will be completely different in 5-10 years."
• You must have:
  • Literacy
  • Fluency
  • You need a deep understanding of your topic
• How to know which online courses to take?
  • Think: What am I trying to accomplish?
  • Does the course offer this?
  • What do I need to learn? To know?
  • Does the teacher have a track record of success?
• A course must have a support mechanism... The teacher must stand behind promises made
• The "pilot" program
  • Survey audience - data analysis
  • Map out curriculum
  • Adapt on the fly - take insight to create something great
• Peer to peer feedback system in place
  • We learn more from giving feedback to others
  • Accountability measures
• Read Leveraged Learning
• Why joining The Learning Leader Circle is a good idea
• Use the "Get To Know You Document"

"It's not about where we are.  It's about where we will be."

Social Media:

• Follow Danny on Twitter: @DannyIny
• Read: Leveraged Learning
• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Join our Facebook Group: The Learning Leader Community
• To Follow Me on Twitter: @RyanHawk12

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk. Episode #279: James Clear - How Tiny Changes Can Changes Can Equal Remarkable Results (Atomic Habits)

Show Notes:

• "It's important to know how everything works together."
  • Ojai, CA - Circle talking about book writing
• Atomic = Atom, small, tiny.  Habits should be small
• "Habits are the atoms of our lives"
• "It's about the collection of habits"
• "They are small... but put them together... they compound and are powerful."
• The system is in four stages.  They stages are:
  • The cue - gets attention
  • The craving - in the brain
  • The response - the habit, behavior
  • The result - what happens
• Feedback loops - The cookie example
• "My readers and I are peers.  An essential part of the process is to write about it. Try things out.  Everything I've published has been revised many times."
• The four laws:
  • Make it obvious
  • Make it attractive
  • Make it easy
  • Make it satisfying
• The Goldilocks rule - Steve Martin
  • People burn out or get bored.  How to stay motivated...
  • Be stretched just beyond your capacity but not too far. "Always stay just on the edge..."  Steve Martin kept expanding his sets by just a few minutes each time until he had a 60 minute set.  He started small with just a few minutes of material.
  • Make sure you "stretch yourself... just a bit... everyday."
  • Be the person who gets the additional task done
• How to do this all as a parent? -- "Life is in seasons..."
  • "If you want to double your productivity, get 8 hours of sleep."
• The plateau of latent potential -- A melting ice cube.  A 1 degree change
• "Habits don't add up, they compound.  It looks like a hockey stick."
• "Outcome based habits vs identity based habits."
  • Focus on identity based habits.  Be the type of person who wakes up early and works out.
• The importance of being able to delay gratification
• Weightlifting - Reinterpret signals.  "Being sore feels good."  Re frame how you think about something like soreness
• "Happiness is simply the absence of desire."
  • When you observe a cue, but do not desire to change your state, you are content with the current situation
• "Being curious is better than being smart."
  • Need to be eager to learn and accomplish things
  • "Your actions reveal how badly you want something"
• "We can only be rational and logical after we have been emotional."
• System 1 = feelings
• System 2 = Rational, math problem
  • System 1 always leads the way

• The Learning Leader Circle -- Apply
• Use the "Get To Know You Document"

"Being curious is better than being smart"

Social Media:

• Follow James on Twitter: @JamesClear
• Read: Atomic Habits
• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Join our Facebook Group: The Learning Leader Community
• To Follow Me on Twitter: @RyanHawk12