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

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Episode #278: Mitch Albom - Tuesdays With Morrie & The Five People You Meet In Heaven

Show Notes:

• Commonalities of sustaining excellence:
  • Humility
  • They contribute to the world - "Morrie did the bravest thing I've ever seen."
  • Howard Schultz - The last person in line to get a book signed.  After all of his employees
• "Some of the greatest performers I've ever met are painfully shy: jazz musicians, Barry Sanders, Joe Dumars."
• Tuesdays With Morrie - "He was my college professor.  I had not talked to him in 16 years.  I saw him on TV talking about having ALS."
  • Morrie - "I'm a teacher. That's what I do."
• Why was it so popular and shared so much?
  • "Death ends a life but not a relationship"
  • "You can live within the hearts of people you help/touched."
  • "You have to make time for those relationships while you're here."
• "I write about living.  Death informs everything about how we live."
• "I try to write about reflecting on life."
• Why this theme?
  • "I liked listening to stories from my uncle growing up.  His World War 2 stories."
  • "I spent so much of my youth myopically focused on career success.  For many years I thought how far can I get?"
  • "I wanted to explore what makes a better life?"
• Supporting 47 children in Haiti -- Taking two to college now.
• "Giving makes me feel like I'm living."
• "Taking makes me feel like I'm dying."
• Being part of Sports Reporters on ESPN
  • Writers are critical thinkers and can be good on TV when thinking deeply
• Core pieces of advice:
  • Be humble
  • Be curious - Ask questions
  • Don't lose self in the field you choose.  Life can be brief.
  • "Find out who you are and what you value, and do that."
• Advice from a security guard:
  • Read the best books
  • Listen to the best music
  • Observe the best art
  • Surround self with the best people - Osmosis
  • Immerse yourself with what you value

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

"I wanted to explore what makes a better life?"

Social Media:

• Follow Mitch on Twitter: @MitchAlbom
• Read: Tuesdays With Morrie
• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Join our Facebook Group: The Learning Leader Community
• To Follow Me on Twitter: @RyanHawk12