In This Episode, You Will Learn:

• Liz asks... What makes a great podcast episode? A host is listens, asks good follow up questions... And a guest who understands why they've sustained excellence and can intelligently share quality stories.
• The great leadership on her son's football team.  Selflessness, diverse... They all made sacrifices.
• "We've noticed a shift fueled by technology
• "It's not about having the answer, it's about helping the team find the answer."
• How should we deal with diminishers?
• Diminishers don't realize they lack self-awareness -- "Accidental Diminishers"
• The 5 most prevalent strategies to people use to deal with diminishers:
  • Confront
  • Avoid
  • Quit
  • Quit and Stay
  • Ignore Dimishing behavior
• If you are being micro-managed, don't judge or exclude -- Instead, be curious, ask why that person is a micro-manager? Think "I wonder why they need to do this?" -- This can change your mindset and create empathy for that person.  It will help you be less upset
• "Choose to respond with curiosity.  I wonder how they got like that?" -- Be empathetic
• Google's 5 hiring criteria for leaders: Leaders who can move in and out of leadership roles (one day they are in charge, they next day someone else is... Must be fluid)
• Impacting cultural change -- Share common language, behavior, belief, norms, legends, heroes, rituals
• Creating a culture of trust -- In low trust environments, people retreat and regroup.
• The best leaders are great listeners -- FULLY PRESENT with each person they speak with.
• "Great executives have a buffer between the stimulus and their response." -- They are measured and know when to take emotion out of their decision making process.
• Need a container to create space and focus
• How to create an environment where people do their best work.. 

Episode 206: Sam Walker - The Hidden Force That Creates The World's Greatest Teams: Captains

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• The 7 Traits of Elite Captains:
  • Extreme doggedness and focus in competition, often to the point of madness
  • A tendency to play aggressively up to, and often beyond, the limits of the rules
  • A willingness to do thankless jobs in the shadow of more acclaimed teammates
  • A bias against making big speeches in favor of continuous practical communication
  • A talent for displaying their commitment and motivating teammates through aggressive nonverbal means
  • An unwavering commitment to defend their principles and speak truth to power
  • The presence of a "kill switch" for shutting off emotion when it's not useful
• Studying the moment when teams went from good to great
• Why LeBron James is a unicorn
  • "His model of leadership is completely new."
• Relation to the business world -- Some of the greatest leaders don't think they deserve the title (job title or to be captain) -- Tim Duncan & Yogi Berra
• The rituals of Tim Duncan
  • Short conversations with each teammate
  • Great facial expressions
  • Effective messaging
  • Never giving big speeches
• How to be a charismatic connector like Tim Duncan
• Great captains (and leaders) are not "yes men." They defend their principles and speak truth to power
• Jack Lambert purposely left blood on his jersey as a message to his team -- Great captains have a talent for displaying their commitment and motivating teammates through aggressive nonverbal means
• The ability to develop "emotional maturity." A measured approach
  • As Liz Wiseman said "Great leaders have a buffer between the stimulus and their response"
• They are able to build resilience

Social Media:

• Follow David on Twitter: @SamWalkers
• Read: The Captain Class
• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Join our Facebook Group: The Learning Leader Community
• To Follow Me on Twitter: @RyanHawk12

More Learning:

Episode 078: Kat Cole – From Hooters Waitress To President of Cinnabon

Episode 071: Nate Boyer - Green Beret, Texas Football, The NFL

Episode 179: How To Sustain Excellence - The Best Answers From 178 Questions

Episode 107: Simon Sinek – Leadership: It Starts With Why

Episode edited by the great J Scott Donnell

The Learning Leader Show is supported by Rhone.  Use the code "Hawk" for 15% off.  Rhone... premium activewear engineered with principle, performance and progress for the modern man.  Rhone builds clothing around 3 main tenants: Cutting-edge Performance, Premium Comfort, and Simplistic Style.

• Go To www.LearningLeader.com For more information on DHH and this episode
• Common themes of leaders who sustain excellence:
  • "For me it's falling in love with the work itself..."
  • Being excited to do the actual work everyday... The actual day to day work
• "I don't have a need to think "What's Next?" -- "I'm thrilled to do the thing I've fallen in love with."
• How did he become DHH?
• What percentage of your job do you love and what percent do you dislike?
  • DHH works to minimize the parts he doesn't like
  • Managing others is low on his list of what he loves.
• "The thought that you can't be innovative if you aren't in the same room is bullshit." -- You can do that remotely, in fact better in most cases.
• DHH shares why the open office concept is horrible for creative people who like to "get shit done."
• Remote work gives peace, tranquility, quality
• Commuting to work can be a wasteful, drain on your life
• The future of work -- More remote work, more contractors, less full time employees
• "The office is something you choose to have, you don't need to have it."
• "The Day I Became A Millionaire"
  • What DHH learned that day... What changed? What didn't
  • "The things that brought happiness were the things I was already doing. I love writing, programming, reading."
  • Will a certain amount of money ever be enough? Ray Kroc said "No."
• "The human condition does not end because you get rich."  You'll still have problems.
• Best advice to give to people early in their careers?
  • "Be careful what you wish for.  Managing other people is not in my top 5 things I like to do."
  • "Prove you can execute.  That's the way to get to the executive level. Just simply make shit happen, you get shit done."
  • You have to weigh shipping vs quality
  • Take measured risks, and don't be afraid to make mistakes

 David "DHH" Heinemeier Hansson is the creator of Ruby on Rails, founder & CTO at Basecamp(formerly 37signals), best-selling author, Le Mans class-winning racing driver, public speaker, hobbyist photographer, and family man. He is the best selling author of ReWork and Remote: Office Note Required.  You can also read his wildly popular writings on Medium.com/@dhh

Episode 204: Dr. Tasha Eurich - How To Become More Self-Aware

• Common themes of leaders who sustain excellence:
  • Self Awareness - "I scientifically studied this."
  • "People who work on their Self-Awareness are happier, get more promotions, and lead better lives"
• It's become a national sport to point out that someone is self-aware -- "I wanted to do the research behind this to truly learn about it"
• 95% of people think they're self aware -- But only 10%-15% are actually self aware
• It's vitally important to regularly question your assumptions to become more aware
  • Don't wait for a life event or someone else to tell you to do this. You must work on it daily.  The gains will be incremental (The Compound Effect)
• "We cannot own other people's journeys, we must own ours."
  • You will work with people who lack awareness. Don't put it on yourself to fix it.
• Tasha previously worked within a company in the "Wendy Rhoades" role from Billions
• The Mary Tyler Moore Show -- Her boss -- Picture a "laugh track" behind what someone says to help deal with their lack of awareness
• Practical ways leaders build self-aware teams and organizations
  • Alan Mulally story of how he gained self-awareness despite starting with very little of it
  • "It shows that anyone can become self-aware"
• A great leader goes out of their way to build a culture where people can tell the truth."
• It's vital that the leader is vulnerable -- shares weaknesses and mistakes made
• Implementing a Business Process Review on a weekly basis
  • Doing this at home with family as well -- Every Sunday, each family member provides updates
• The Speed of Trust -- Why everything is much faster when built upon the foundation of trust
  • Pixar is the model of Trust.  Ed Catmull shares how they built this.  No leaks to the press.
• The "Selfie Syndrome" -- "There is a direct impact on social media & narcissism"
  • "Resist the pull of the cult of self"
• How to promote your own work you're proud of without becoming a self-promoter? -- It's about the work and positively impacting people.
• Mindfulness practice = Doesn't always have to involve meditation.
  • "Actively noticing the present"

• Continue Learning:

  • Follow Tasha on Twitter: @tashaeurich
  • Read: Insight
  • Connect with me on LinkedIn
  • Join our Facebook Group: The Learning Leader Community
  • To Follow Me on Twitter: @RyanHawk12

Common themes of leaders who sustain excellence:

• They know why they’re there
• “They always have their eye on the why”
• “They think about success often”
• They understand their strengths and weaknesses
• “Surround yourself with people who compliment your strengths/weaknesses”

• How did Todd make a quick ascent to CEO?
  • There must be an opportunity and then you “must go like hell when that happens”
  • “I love the outcome, I love the impact we have”
  • “When coming up through the company, I always kept an eye on the overall strategy”
  • “Don’t focus on getting credit for the project.”
  • “Make sure your personal goals and company goals are aligned.”
• How he does two separate CEO roles? — “Must surround yourself with people you trust”
  • “A strong WE”
• Calendar/Time Management
  • All meetings are 15 minutes in length — This forces people to get to the point immediately
  • Week unfolds:
    • Front load all staff meetings by 1:00 Monday. Must be done by Monday afternoon — “What are the goals for the week?”
    • Having a chief of staff is important
    • Todd is an introvert and does not do back to back meetings all day.  Needs 30 minutes breaks every 3 meetings to think
    • “You said an important word… And that word is THINK”
• “As a manager you are responsible for the success of people.” — Management means you have a responsibility for them
  • Must give feedback.  Feedback is a gift.  It’s generous to give feedback.
• “There’s nothing easier than sharing credit.”
• “Management is around understanding the differences in people, and getting the best out of them”
• “Leadership is about painting a vision”
  • Lead with trust
  • Todd’s story of his first client engagement – FAILED… How his boss responded with trust was powerful — “I trust you”
• When managing through a crisis… BE:
  • Clear
  • Calm
  • Credible
• How sketch comedy can help you be a better leader
  • Bring your whole self to your job
  • Build emotional intelligence
• Paying employees to take a class that has nothing to do with work (Learn a second language, guitar lessons, etc)
• Hiring process:
  • “What are the first 5 things you read everyday?” — “Okay, now tell me the real answer. I want to learn about you, not what you think I want to hear”
    • “I want to hear them defend or support an argument.  It doesn’t matter what it’s about
• Books to read: The Enders Game — Incredible story about getting the best out of people and creating teams
• To be a Learning Leader? — “A process of building.  It’s a thing you do.”
  • “Time is a really expensive leader.” “Must always evolve and pick up lessons”