The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Episode #320: Rick Smith

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

Rick Smith is the founder and CEO of Axon.  Axon currently employs over 1,300 people.  A pioneer of technology with the vision of making the bullet obsolete, Rick founded the original company, TASER, in 1993. As the TASER device became ubiquitous in law enforcement, Rick pushed the company beyond weapons technology and towards a broader purpose of matching technology to public safety needs in order to make the world a safer place. Under his leadership, the company has grown from a garage in Tucson to a NASDAQ-listed global market leader.

Notes:

• Leaders who sustain excellence =
  • Initiative -- "They see what needs to be done and they do it."
• Rick started the company out of his garage in Arizona in 1993
• More on taking initiative: "Don't wait for people to tell you what to do.  Highlight it and fix it."
  • Luke Larson was an individual contributor when the company had 250 employees.  He challenged Rick on an issue and offered a solution.  He is now the President of a 1,300 person company
• Mindset -- Build a culture that rewards challenging the status quo
  • "Tell the ugly truth"
  • "Anyone can challenge any idea"
• Qualities Rick looks for in hiring:
  • Need to want to be with them
  • Initiative - they need to step up and do work
  • Intellectual curiosity - someone who seeks better answers
  • No time for hierarchical people -- they cannot be threatened by 'up and comers'
• "You want to hire people that are literally better than you.  You have to learn to embrace that."
  • "It's so liberating to know that I don't have to be right."
• Why try to eliminate the bullet?
  • "In 1993, two friends were shot and killed.  I thought, 'why are bullets still a thing?'"
  • "Don't wait until you have the perfect business plan.  Have a simple concept you believe in and get to work."
  • "Focus on solving a big problem"
• The first seven years did not go well.  Rick was fortunate to have his dad fund it... However, it led to a difficult relationship when the business wasn't going well.  He had immense pressure for it to succeed.
  • They fixed their core product and it began catching on with law enforcement agencies
  • They own 100% of the taser market
• "I'm a libertarian guy. I don't want to take anything away from anyone."
  • "But people romanticize guns.  The real world is messy.  We make mistakes."
    • "Why use lethal force instead of a taser?"
  • What about the phrase: "Don't take a knife (or taser) to a gun fight?"
    • "How about, 'Don't get into a gun fight.'"
• The book (End Of Killing): "Our goal is to replace the gun long term.  The book is me sharing what I believe that nobody else believes."
• Have to respect ideas
  • "It's a good sign if people initially think you're crazy"
• Keys to building a team at work that sees a higher mission?
  • "You must have an authentic mission."
  • "Don't say you're changing the world unless you actually are."
  • "My goal is to inspire the right team and then get out of their way."
  • "I'm now the chief storyteller of the business."
• Career advice:
  • "Find a job where you get to feel the impact of what you want to create.  What are the big picture things you want to accomplish."
  • "The people who are most effective see what needs to be done and they go and do it."
• Use the "Get To Know You Document"
• Why joining The Learning Leader Circle is a good idea

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

#319: Jim Clifton

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

Personal Excellence 2.0 workshop: www.RyanHawk.me 

Jim Clifton has served as CEO of Gallup, a global leader in consulting and public opinion research and analytics, since 1988. Under his leadership, Gallup has expanded from a predominantly U.S.-based company to a worldwide organization with 30 offices in 20 countries and regions. 

• Leaders who sustain excellence =
  • They don't set out to get rich, they have a purpose that drives them
  • The mission overpowers everything else
  • They build advantages for themselves through compound learning -- Stack your learning
  • Teach the "story of the day"
• Be part of really hard projects -- the front line war battles
• Advice to someone earlier in their career?
  • Focus and double down on your strengths
• CEO of Gallup -- The beginning...
  
  • Won a big account (Cargill) -- It was huge to create momentum for his new business
  • Don Clifton (Jim's dad) built the StrengthsFinder -- And then bought Gallup in 1988
• The StrengthsFinder was built from 34 themes
  • Don was a scientist.  He went on bombing raids and was a war hero as a lead bomber.  A navigator.
• It's The Manager is the biggest discovery they've made
  • When studying the truly great companies, the commonality is the management 
• How to create a high development culture?
  • People want to be developed -- And then find the role that fits their unique strengths to maximize their potential
• What Jim looks for when making hiring decisions:
  • Drive
  • They love to practice... They like to work
• Where have your most talented people come from?
  • "Stars were recruited by the managers themselves."  Great managers know great people.  
• "Presentations matter.  A manager must get good at it."
• Managers must be great coaches:
  • "Coaching is sitting down and sharing purpose..."
• Shock and Awe visitors that meet at your office:
  • "The entrance to your building show wow them."  Small details are very important.  Landscaping matters.  Pay attention to the feeling you get when you drive up to the building.  It helps with your internal employees as well.
• "People join because of the company and leave because of their boss."
  • Currently, only 34% of works are engaged (according to Gallup poll)
  • India/China are at 6%
• The issue with promoting the top performer at a role (Example: The #1 sales rep becomes the manager)
  • The top individual contributor doesn't always make the best coach.  In fact, often times, they don't.
  • Give superstar individual contributors bigger titles and more money as a way to promote them.  Don't force them to management when they don't show the desire or ability to lead others.
  • "There must be two paths." 
  • "Leaders need to see the future well, and excite others.  The good ones have an unusual relationship with risk."
• The Gender Gap
  • Statistically, women run more engaged teams than men
• How to manage and nurture creativity?
  • Need ideas from teams close to the action (have a front line obsession)
  • You want intrapreneurship and foster an environment for that to pull out the great ideas
• The difference in two teams:
  
  • The best negotiators are the ones who do their homework
  • Present in a neutral way, calm, collected, ask questions, try to learn, better understand the other person's position
• When you work for a bad boss, you get cognitive contraction:  You lose levels of intelligence
• When you work for a great boss, you get cognitive expansion: You become smarter, innovate more, and do better work
  •  
  • A boss has incredible power.  And that power needs to be used for good.

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Full shownotes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com

#318: Clark Kellogg - How To Take Control Of Your Personal Development

*This episode was recorded live in front of a 200 person audience in Dayton, Ohio at the Sonny Unger Memorial Banquet.

Clark Kellogg serves as one of the the premier voices in college basketball.  He works for CBS Sports. In 1997, Kellogg joined CBS Sports full-time as a studio/game analyst for college basketball coverage and was one of three in-studio hosts for March Madness.  In March 2010, Kellogg played a game of H.O.R.S.E. against U.S. President Barack Obama. The game, called "P.O.T.U.S." for the occasion, was won by Obama.

Prior to that, Clark was an All-American at Ohio State University. In 1982, Kellogg declared for the NBA draft after his junior year of college and was a 1st round draft pick (8th overall) of the Indiana Pacers. In his first season, he was selected as a member of the NBA All-Rookie Team. Converse signed him to an endorsement deal, to release his own Converse "Special K" sneaker.

Notes:

• Take control of your own development - This is YOUR responsibility.  That's your property.  Be intentional about growing and getting better and improving.  It's not just the big things.  It's the small things.  Who are you associating with?  How are you impacting them?  Who do you want to be?  There are a lot of distractions, there will be bumps, headwinds... Own your development."
• Control the controllables: your attitude, your effort, your faith.
  The most effective leaders are "others centered." This is a distinct and intentional process to help elevate others.
  Mindset: The battlefield for a lot of our challenges is in our own mind. Attitude impacts how we move forward. "Never major in minor things." Most of life's disappointments are not major in the context of the bigger picture. Don't make mountains out of molehills.
• Focusing on just one sport versus playing multiple sports.
• Growing up with a dad who was a policeman in Cleveland, OH.
• Advice to parents -- Expose your children to a variety of opportunities and support their passions
  • Needs to be an interest and a desire on your kids part
  • Having athletically talented kids (son played college basketball and professionally.  A daughter who plays college volleyball).
• Focus on fun and fundamentals:
  • If you have an aptitude to go to the higher levels as you get older, then focus
• Discussed why he went to Ohio State -- Clark was a top three player in America at the time.
• The intensity of the rivalry with Indiana and playing against Bobby Knight
• What it was like getting a show named after him from Converse
• The makeup of a great coach:
  • A passion for the role of leading people
  • A willingness to adapt and adjust to the changes in the game and personalities on the team
  • An effective communicator -- What you desire and what needs to be done
  • Set the tone of humility of accountability
  • Genuine -- They are themselves -- "Players can pick up on phonies quickly"
    • This establishes trust
• "Are they getting better because you've been their coach?" -- That's the question a coach should always ask themselves
• A coach should always be developing their players
• What to look for in a teammate?
  • Consistency of attitude and effort
    • "Don't want the volatile person who is up and down.  I want consistency."
  • Being able to accept criticism and coaching
  • Able to constructively criticize others in a positive way
  • "Who you are should not fluctuate based on where you are.  There should be a consistency in who you are.  That's something that should be worked on and you should be intentional about it.  Authenticity is powerful and impactful."
• The moment of having his career cut short (only 26 years old) because of a knee injury:
  • "It was brutal initially, but came to peace with it after having multiple surgeries and realized I couldn't play anymore."
• Starting the next career -- TV broadcasting
  • Humbling self and starting at Cleveland State as an analyst.  Back to the basics, starting from the bottom
  • "I didn't become good at basketball right away.  If I'm going to do this well, I need to start where I need to start.  I got the reps.  Radio was great training.  You have to be fairly quick."
• The importance of having mentors and being a mentor for others
• "How do I become excellent at this thing I'm interested in?"
• "You need to be unique, but you need to be you."  You must be authentic.
  • "Everyone can relate to food."  Use food analogies in basketball.  Using your personality as part of your craft to be relatable.
• Working with Charles Barkley:
  • "It's exactly as it appears.  Charles is a personality, successful businessman, and very smart."
• Playing basketball at the White House with President Obama -- Losing to him in P.O.T.U.S
• How Larry Bird was the best trash-talker Clark played against
• How Clark prepares for a broadcast:
  • "I'm consistent in the process to be ready in the moments as they unfold."
  • Visit team's practices, review notes from prior year, watch a lot of games on TV, chart each game watched -- "You remember things better when you write it down.  I'm always taking notes when I watch games."
• Who are you associating with? Who do you want to be? What are you doing to be that?
• Live a life of gratitude. Salt water and fresh water can't come from the same spring. You cannot be thankful and hateful at the same time. Be grateful for what you have while striving to improve.
• Excellent leaders = Be "others" centered.  "Others" focused.  They want to help elevate others.
  • Be available and giving of yourself to others.  Help mentor people earlier in their career.
• Good habits are hard to break.  Build good habits.

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Episode #317: Susan Cain - The Power of Introverts In A World That Can't Stop Talking

Join us for our annual workshop - Personal Excellence 2.0 -- Click HERE for dates and availability

Full Shownotes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com 

Susan Cain is the author of the world-wide bestseller Quiet: The Power of Introverts in A World That Can’t Stop Talking, which has been translated into 40 languages, is in its seventh year on the New York Times best seller list, and was named the #1 best book of the year by Fast Company magazine, which also named Cain one of its Most Creative People in Business. LinkedIn named her the 6th Top Influencer in the world.

• Leaders who sustain excellence =
  • Understand that soft is hard and hard is soft.  Soft skills = essential skills.  They are hard, but essential to develop.
• Leaders in corporate America surprise Susan
  • She expected a lot of resistance from others, but her ideas have been embraced.
• The responsibility Susan feels for making "introverting so hard" a cool thing to say... It wasn't before her book.
  • People would hide the fact they were an introvert prior to Quiet being published and/or lie on personality tests
• The point is not to say that you should want to be an introvert or an extrovert -- We need both.
• Charisma = magic
  • "The wind howls but the mountain remains still."  We moved from being --> To being a culture of personality.
• Susan's roots: A Harvard educated lawyer
  • Building a Negotiation Consulting business after leaving the corporate world
• How can an introvert be a good negotiator?
  • The best negotiators are the ones who do their homework
  • Present in a neutral way, calm, collected, ask questions, try to learn, better understand the other person's position
• Romantic relationships - An extrovert and introvert getting married -- "you must really understand the other person's preferences are legitimate."
• When should you act more extroverted than you are?
  • We should all step outside of our comfort zones, but be intentional about it.  An introvert who is a public speaker (like Susan) must do this to share the message with groups of people. What are your core projects?  When in service of others, do it.
  • Restorative niches --> After a keynote (for an introvert), go to your hotel room and relax alone (to restore energy expended speaking)
• Why is cool overrated?
  • In the Enron scandal, Vince Kaminski was the "uncool introverted nerd."  He was the unsung hero in the scandal.  He figured out what was happening in advance.  They told him, "You're like the police and we don't like that."
• The process to sell the proposal for Quiet:
  • Started writing it in 2005.
  • Agent shopped it an received 12 offers --> A bidding frenzy
  • The importance of writing the "first crappy draft."
    • Take the feedback as a gift
  • Most successful authors have had a lot of help

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

#316: Cal Newport - How To Choose A Focused Life In A Noisy World

Cal Newport is a computer science professor at Georgetown University who studies the theory of distributed systems. In addition to his academic work, he writes about the intersection of technology and culture.Cal is the author of six books, including, most recently, the New York Times bestseller, Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World. 

Join us for our annual Personal Excellence workshop. Go to www.RyanHawk.me for details

Full shownotes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com

"Be unambiguously good at something important. Head's down with an apprenticeship mindset."

Show Notes:

• Leaders who sustain excellence =
  • They know what matters and get after it
  • They are not easily distracted... They have the ability to be intensely focused on the task at hand at a tactical level
• Train to be so good they can't ignore you
  • Concentrate intently -- Introverts are happier doing this.  But it's also a trainable skill.
• Cal's background: theoretical computer science computation group - Focus and master on a small number of things
• How to be "so good they can't ignore you?"
  • They want a secret formula.  That's not how it works.  It's not about a life hack.  "The reality is simpler... 'Be relentlessly good at something valuable.'
• Deep Work = Focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task.  This skill is more valuable.  It's how you learn complicated things and produce at a high level.
  • Culture-wise - We are getting worse at deep work
  • We need to be able to be locked in to produce something valuable for work... Deep work can also be personal development.  There is overlap.
• Digital Minimalism
  • Unexpected consequences of technology = Our attention is captured by glowing screens
  • Phones = Completely banish solitude.  We are never alone with our own thoughts anymore.
  • Do one or two things a day without your phone.  Force solitude.
  • Why do we have a compulsive need to look at our phone?  Social media has been engineered to do this... Junk food is built the same way.  Cal has never had a social media account.
• A 30 day digital declutter:
  • Be away from optional technology for 30 days.
  • Detox -- Give yourself time and space to see what you value outside of work.  Then ask, "What technology do I want in my life?"
• What's the best way to use technology?
  • For someone who loves Twitter (like me) for the gathering of interesting people?
    • Create a curated reading list from Twitter.  Click all the useful links to articles, then block out time to just read those.
• The power of going on walks:
  • "I walk a lot.  That's how I think."
  • Walking with no phone -- It creates reflection, insight, thinking.  Do walking meetings.
  • Get sun - get outside.  It's a form of 'productive meditation.'
  • Focus on a single problem for that walk
• Thoughts on Kliff Kingsbury building in time every 30 minutes for his players to check their phones?
  • "This is not good.  Concentration matters.  Especially in football."
• Use the "Get To Know You Document"
• Why joining The Learning Leader Circle is a good idea

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

#315: Gabriel Weinberg - Using Mental Models To Make Better Decisions

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

Gabriel Weinberg is the CEO & Founder of DuckDuckGo, the Internet privacy company that empowers you to seamlessly take control of your personal information online, without any tradeoffs.He co-authored Traction: How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth and co-wrote, Super Thinking. Gabriel holds a B.S. with honors from MIT in Physics and an M.S. from the MIT Technology and Policy Program. He has been profiled in The Washington Post and Fast Company, and is routinely quoted in leading print publications such as The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. Weinberg is also a frequent TV commentator, appearing on CNN, CNBC, and CBS This Morning, among others.

Notes:

• Commonalities of leaders who have sustained excellence:
  • A desire and openness to grow as a person
  • People want to follow them -- They set up systems for others to succeed
  • They make sure the team is headed in the right direction
• The North Star -- Must always orient yourself towards whatever that is for you
  • Your personal mission statement
  • Maximize impact on the world -- Where do you want to go?  Define what that is for you
• DuckDuckGo is an internet privacy company -- Started in 2008 for private search (a competitor to Google).
  • Gabriel discussed how he was ahead of his time -- The secret is something you know about the world that others don't yet.  Search is the most personal thing on the internet.  Gabriel wanted to create an alternate (private) to Google.
• Mental Model -- A concept for general decision making.  A few hundred concepts that are useful for better decision making
• Become a 'chef' with your thinking -- 1st principles thinking.  Your intuition can be wrong.  Best practices can also be wrong.  You need to focus on being wrong less.
  • 1st Principles = Most intentional way of thinking:  Question assumptions.
• Every project has a scoping template:
  • What is the objective of the project?
  • What is success criteria?
  • What are you trying to solve?
  • Does everyone agree?
    • Discussion with team -- Operationalize 1st principles
• Why the pro/con list is not as helpful as the cost/benefit list:
  • Write down cost over time -- Rate everything vs that
    • Example: Where should we go on vacation?  Rate on a scale 1-10.  Combine cost and benefits.
• Do a post mortem after every project -- It forces critical thinking and analysis
  • What went well?
  • What didn't?
  • Given those things, how can we operationalize to do better?
• Why is it rare to do a "success autopsy?"
  • By default, an after action review will not happen.  It must be built into the process.  Our default setting is to move on to the next project.
• What was it like writing a book with his wife?  Lauren McCann is Gabriel's wife and co-author on Super Thinking
  • "We would walk together every morning and talk about the book."  It became the primary topic of conversation for a long time
• Charlie Munger multi-disciplinary approach:
  • At DuckDuckGo, this is their goal --> Grow people internally.  They work hard to help their team make better decisions
• Structure of DuckDuckGo:
  • 70 team members -- fully distributed all over the world
  • Immense delegation happens daily
• What does Gabriel look when hiring someone to the team?
  • Self starters -- The team is fully distributed.  They have a lot of autonomy and ownership.  People are empowered and must be willing to work without a boss watching them.
  • Question assumptions
  • Great communicator -- There is a lot of written communication when the team is all over the world.  Must be able to write well.
  • Experimental mindset
  • Validate direction -- Run experiments if you have a hunch and then analyze your findings
  • Build trust -- Very key.  There is heavy transparency at DuckDuckGo.  Must be trustworthy.
• How to find candidates who possess these qualities?
  • Do paid projects as part of the hiring process... Get a feel for them actually doing the job before you hire them full time.
• Culture:
  • "We have a 'thank you' culture"
    • "Most respectful interpretation" of every interaction.  Give people the benefit of the doubt.
    • Thoughtful and intentional
• Gabriel's upbringing: His dad was a doctor.  His mom was an artist.
• How to flex your market power?  Combine two particular sets of skills, go deep learning them (eg. be a great finance person  and public speaker.  Look for gaps in the market or within your company, and use your unique skills (like Liam Neeson in Taken) and attack the problem.  Most people just do what they're told.  Don't settle for that.
• Why shouldn't we trust our gut?
  • Availability bias - May not remember all the options
  • Confirmation bias - the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one's existing beliefs or theories.
  • Use it as a hypothesis generator, then question it.  Don't fully commit until the necessary work is done.
  • "Thinking gray." --> Delay decisions until they absolutely must be made.
    • Jeff Bezos opens a door, but may come back through it.  "We'll do this now, but we may walk it back."
• How to build trust?
  • Vulnerability speeds up the process of building a trusting environment.
  • "Relationships move at the speed of vulnerability."
• Anders Ericsson -- Deliberate practice.
  • Work at the edge of your comfort zone.  Receive coaching in real time.
    • Hire an executive coach
    • Create a board of advisors
    • Day to day -- check your thinking and explain it (write, give speeches)
• Writing is the best form of thinking critically --> "It's the best way to clarify my thinking"
• Overall life advice:  What is your north star?  What areas do you want to pursue?  What are you current skills?
  • Find your highest leverage point, study those areas

More Resources:

• Read: Super Thinking 
• Follow Gabriel on Twitter: @yegg
• Be part of "Mindful Monday" -- Text LEARNERS to 44222
• 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

314: John Calipari & Michael Lombardi - Building & Sustaining A Culture Of Excellence

Full show notes found at www.LearningLeader.com

John Calipari has been the head coach of the University of Kentucky basketball team since 2009, with whom he won the NCAA Championship in 2012. He has been named Naismith College Coach of the Year three times (in 1996, 2008 and 2015), and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015. Calipari has coached Kentucky to four Final Fours, in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2015.

Michael Lombardi was an assistant to the coaching staff of the New England Patriots (until 2016) and is a former analyst for the NFL Network and sportswriter at NFL.com.  Lombardi also previously served as an NFL executive with the San Francisco 49ers working withBill Walsh, Cleveland Browns, Philadelphia Eagles, and Oakland Raiders working with Al Davis. 

This was recorded in front of an audience at an event called the NCAA Final Four Coaching Consortium.  The people in the audience were college basketball coaches and athletic directors.

Notes:

• The "Players First" credo:
  • "When I worked for Larry Brown he told me, if you care about the kids and you really care, you'll always have a job."
  • "Larry was a coaches coach, but a players coach, who wasn't afraid to coach.  Right now, we're moving in a direction where we're afraid to coach.  Correcting in real time is so important."
  • "Everyone said the 1 and done rule would ruin college basketball, they wanted to replace me."
  • "If you're about your kids, whatever happens good for them, will not be a negative for you.  It's about them first.  It's about us second.  If you want them to be servant leaders, they have to see it in you."
  • "If they don't see you getting involved in the community, they won't get involved in the community."  Players first is not just them playing basketball, it's everything.
• "We all should be reading.  The more curious you are, the more curious your players will be.  Read books, give your players books to read."
• Lombardi -- Coach Walsh was all about the players, he was the first to go on fishing tournaments with players.  He bought Bubba Smith a big tv, he made Michael sit and eat all meals with him.
  • Bill Walsh had a book club in San Francisco
  • Bill Belichick is all about the history of the game and the history of our country.  When you go in the cafeteria and you see the great players on the wall, he expects you to know the history and the culture of your team.
  • You should ask all coaches, "who assigns the jersey numbers?"  The coach should assign those numbers, not the equipment manager.  Your player needs to know the history of that number.
• Calipari -- Process on getting guys to want to play as a team:
  • It all starts in recruiting.  "If you promise every kid 25 shots, good luck.  Because at some point, someone will be upset.  If the relationship starts with a lie, you'll never recover."
  • "Whatever you do here is earned.  If you're good enough you'll start, but you'll decide that."
  • "If you want them to be great teammates it starts immediately when you meet them.  They have to earn it."
  • You can't oversell and under deliver.  People will not buy in to that.
  • "Pat Riley gave me one of the best compliments ever, he said, 'Your players are some of the best teammates in the NBA.'"
  • Marcus Camby -- "I said, what position do you want to play?"  he said, "Shooting guard."  I said, "Okay, but we do post up our shooting guards a lot."
• Lombardi -- Putting together a great roster -- Roster construction:
  • The law of 3's
    • Whenever you take over a team you have three groups of people
      • One -- They'll do anything you want them to do
      • Two -- They're unsure
      • Three -- They are never happy
    • Focus on the people in group one and you'll win the whole team.
  • The Four areas of leadership
    • Command of self -- Must be discipline
    • Command of plan
    • Command of meaning/message
    • Command of trust -- You cannot lie.  If you lie, you'll lose the player forever
• Calipari -- Took over UMass -- Terrible team at the time
  • When he left, he got advice from a business man (Pat Nardelli)
  • "You can a have bad deal with good people.  Stuff happens.  But you can never have a good deal with bad people."
  • "The reason I've had success, I've had the best staffs.  Top to bottom.  When you get your job, you surround yourself with great people."
  • "Assistant coaches must be able to work together.  They are each other's PR machine.  Each guy needs to promote the other guy."
  • Was on football field with Bill Parcells -- Could coach all 22 guys on a football field.  He had incredible vision.
• The importance of mentors in your career-- Calipari
  • "Who's your kitchen cabinet?  Who do you go to when things aren't going well?"  Who can you listen to?
    • Ken Blanchard - The One Minute Manager
  • Decision making -- you need to run it by someone.  Don't make big time decisions when you're still emotional.
    • "I'll take the job the grass is greener.... Well you have to cut the grass on both sides."
    • You need people to say, "Stop.  Tell me what you're thinking..."
• Lombardi -- Meeting with George Raveling
  • "This man reads more than any human being alive."
  • Take an hour a day to read
• Calipari -- Look at adversity as a challenge and failure as a learning opportunity
  • "How does someone look when things aren't going well?  That's what I need to know."
  • "The best moments are when things aren't going well.  Give me four games in a row when you lose... Now, I want to see what kind of person are you?"  You're on the stage by yourself, you're looking for friends."
  • "You have issues?  People have their own issues.  They aren't worried about you."  It's about "How do I get restarted?  What's my next step?  Ask an AD, how can I be better?"
  • "When you get fired, make amends with the people who fired you.  The next job you want?  They're going to call those people who fired you."
  • Be a 'pay it forward' person.  The opportunities we have to change lives... And the ripples it causes from it.
• Lombardi -- The Obstacle Is The Way
  • How to bounce back when you're wrong?
    • When you get a new job, figure out why you got the job and why the person before you got fired.  Take the time to understand the mistakes made.
    • "The only way you'll correct them is to learn them."
    • There's two kind of jobs:  Jobs you can grow from and jobs you can make a difference in.
    • Al Davis would ask Mike -- "Do you know why we won today?"  He wanted to know why the team won and lost and put it on paper.
    • Bill Belichick does an autopsy after every game (win or lose).  You need to understand why the outcome happened (good or bad).  Take stock of your career every single day.  Every obstacle needs to be used to your advantage.
• Calipari -- "I will not coach if I'm cheating these kids."
  • He signed a lifetime contact with Kentucky
  • "My leverage has always been the job I've done."
  • Why talk to other teams? "I want to help someone I know.  A player or another coach.  The whole thing we do is about relationships."
• If LeBron James calls you and asks you to coach his team, what will you say?
  • "I'm not doing it.  Pat Riley said Coach Cal coaches and corrects in real time during a game.  He takes a guy out, corrects, puts him back in. You can't do that in the NBA."
• Lombardi -- At college pro days
  • Belichick observed Coach Cal during a game... Watching him coach
    • "It was so impressive, Belichick was admiring how much Cal was coaching."
• What skills should we develop?  The commonalities among the most successful coaches:
  • Curious minds -- not a single playbook.  The sport moves.  Adapt.
  • They are about other people -- Servant leaders
  • Wired and driven to work - they love practice more than the games
  • Smart --
• Lombardi -- Divergent in thought.  Figure out what's needed with that team.  Passion.
  • "The greatest reward for winning is the opportunity to do it more."

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

#313 - Listener Supported (Q & A) Episode -- Build Confidence Like Beyonce, How To Ask The Right Questions, & When To Make A Job Change

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

Notes:

• Leaders who sustain excellence =
  • Have a mindset of growth
    • They assume they have so much to learn
• Question from Ed Arnston -- Lt. Col in The United States Army -- "All of your guests are excellent and offer a lot of wisdom, but as you've done more than 300, what are the top 5 in power rankings of guests on your show?
  • Kat Cole - Courage & Confidence + Curiosity & Humility
  • George Raveling - The curiosity of a 5 year old, he is a learning machine
  • Brian Koppelman - Follow your curiosity and obsessions with great rigor
  • Jim Collins - Who is YOUR WHO?
  • General Stan McChrystal - “Your character is something you can control.  You can decide what your character is.  Nobody can take it from you.”
• Questions from CaSaundra Garber -- Technical Project Manager, Portland, Oregon -- Who have you always wanted to have on your podcast that you haven't made happen yet?  Reading The Alliance, what are your thoughts on it?
  • Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Oprah, a panel with Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady
  • "You are the sum of your experiences."  A lot of the learnings of my life have come from the great coaches I've played for in my life.
  • One of the biggest parts of The Alliance is the idea of doing "a tour of duty."  Changing jobs and learning new skills and the benefits of it.  Tour of duty = What do you want to learn and gain in this specific area of business?  Don't get a job just to have a job, take a job that will give you a tour where you come out of it in a planed time frame and you've learned something new. --> David Epstein writes about this in Range and on THIS episode.  People that earn roles in the C-suite have a variety of roles on their way to that position.  Open your mind more to take on a role that is currently completely outside of what you do.  This also helps you walk a mile in the shoes of others and creates compassion/empathy.
• Question from Daniel Jellings -- Manager Local Government, Adelaide, Australia -- Career has been linear, regular promotions along the way, became a manager about five years ago.  What are your thoughts on proactively exploring other roles that are outside of my current skill set (that could be a side step) in order to eventually become a General Manager?
  • Learn as much as possible about the people you may go work with... Try as best you can to simulate what it will be like to work with those people. "You have to mow the grass in both places."  There are a lot of advantages to seeking opportunities that force you to stretch and learn.  They are initially uncomfortable.  "If you want something extraordinary to happen to you, you're going to have to take a an uncomfortable risk in every dimension of your life." -- Scott Galloway
• Question from Ryan Ogle -- Championship Director for PGA of America, Bend Harbor, Michigan -- What is your current morning and evening routine?  What is your process for utilizing a daily journal?
  • Wake up at 4:45 -- Drink water, stretch, read, journal, workout, breakfast with family, drive daughters to school, work.  When finishing manuscript, I wrote a lot during the early hours of the day.  At night, I like to read out of books (Kindle in the morning and at the gym).
  • Discussed my preparation process for a podcast.
  • A daily journal is helpful to remind yourself of your mindset at that particular time of your life.  It helps you remember what it was really like at that time.  And why I use technology (instead of paper and pencil) to write in my journal.
  • Why I'm fascinated by The Wright Brothers... -- "If you're trying to do something of significance, you will have people who question you, who may think you're nuts."
• Question from Andrew (Opie) Brodbeck -- Former professional baseball player, Clearwater, Florida  -- What skills from playing football helped you in your business life off the field?  Took a personality test and didn't pass it based on the company feedback?  How to deal with that and develop confidence in yourself in something off the field?  How to lead a dysfunctional team that lacks trust (Chelsea)?
  • It's important to properly set your expectations and realize you'll never get the rush of playing in front of 105,000 people again.
  • Some of the skills that translated: How to prepare, how to deal with adversity, how to be resilient, how to develop the willingness to work... I was able to share what I learned from the best coaches.  Showing that you're coachable.  you must be coachable to learn something new.  Being comfortable with a daily scoreboard (which we had in a sales environment).  On the first day of employment, I asked the VP, "who's the best?"  And then shadowed that person.
  • Confidence -- How to build it like Beyonce?  "Confidence is built through a series of successful events in your life."  Those successful events were built through preparation.  Run a success autopsy -- Why did we win?  Why did it go well?  Create momentum in your life.  Create success in multiple life categories -- Those people take their framework wherever they go to create success.  No only means "not yet."
  • Read Pat Lencioni's work on the dysfunction of a team
• Question from Lizzie Merritt-- Manager/Leader, Jacksonville, Florida. (and member of my Leadership Circle)  --The quality of your leadership depends on the quality of your questions. I imagine there are plenty of examples of massive failures that can be traced back to a leader not asking the right questions.While this concept is simple on the surface, it gets tougher in practice.  As a leader, how do you respond with questions instead of answers?  How do you know the right questions to ask?
  • Leading with questions -- As a new manager, you may have the need to "always have the answers."  As you develop more wisdom and confidence, you'll stop doing this.  The greatest mentors in our lives are the ones who don't give the answers, they are the ones who help me figure out the answers.  They ask the poignant questions to help me figure it out.  The first questions are good, but the best questions are the follow ups.  Listen, distill, synthesize, ask more, then go deeper....  Don't script questions, but prepare with notes on that person and what they're doing, be an active listener (think like a trampoline)...
  • Write down the qualities of leaders you admire, like, look up to, and write down the qualities of the leaders you feel the opposite about.  Review it regularly...
  • Dealing in uncomfortable conversations -- Crucial Conversations (book).  It should never be a surprised when giving someone bad news about their performance.  The feedback should be happening on a regular basis.  "It is in our best interest for you to improve."  Kim Scott's book Radical Candor 
  • "It's a lot harder when you care" -- "Because I care about you, I need to tell you something difficult."
• Question from Eric Liddic-- Print broker, Dayton, Ohio -- What advice would you give to someone who hasn't sold in the past, but needs to sell now?
  • Great sales people: are fantastic listeners, they care, and they try to help. 
  • Read Dan Pink's book To Sell Is Human
  • Analyze why you've won each deal in the past.  Understand how you can replicate that.
  • Create a reason for people to call you (put useful material out in the world: podcast, blog, do a project for free)
  • Why Joe Girard was the greatest car sales professional of all time -- "If you get a lemon, it gives me the opportunity to show off."
• Question from Marietta Sanders -- Lt. Colonel, Squadron Commander, US Air Force, stationed in United Arab Emirates -- What are the common areas you see the best leaders focus on within their businesses?
  • The WHO -- Who will you surround yourself with?  The WHO is the biggest determining factor in your long term success.  Consistently surround yourself by people who are smarter than you.
  • Great leaders have an ability to help "see around the corners."  They share their vision to make their followers feel better about where they're going.  They have vision.
  • Great communication skill -- You have regular moments where you need to share the vision with vivid clarity.  
  • How to attract and retain top talent -- When someone is looking outside of your organization for another job is because those people don't have clarity of their future within your organization.  The leader's job is to provide clarity for the people that they lead. 
  • Great leaders are always on the look out for compelling stories... Then taking the story, distilling it to it's essence (the core themes), and then relating it to my specific role (the "what's in it for me?" OR "why should I care?")

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

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

#312: Zvi Band

Zvi Band is the co-founder & CEO of Contactually, the top CRM which empowers professionals in real estate, consulting, and other professional industries to build authentic relationships. Having founded Contactually in 2011, Zvi has led Contactually to $12M in venture backing, 75 employees, and tens of thousands of customers, including 8 of the top 20 real estate brokerages in the country. An engineer, a seasoned entrepreneur, developer, strategist and startup advisor, with unique both technical and non-technical operations. Thrice named a Washingtonian Tech Titan, featured in the New York Times, The Washington Post, and Washington City Paper, Zvi was also a finalist for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year. Zvi is a passionate speaker and author whose writing has appeared in Forbes, Inc, Inman News, and many other outlets. He's the author of the newly released book, Success Is In Your Sphere.  Published by McGraw-Hill (Zvi and I share the same agent, publisher, and editor).

Notes:

• Leaders who sustain excellence =
  • They have a level of introspection
    • This creates self-awareness and mindfulness
    • Take a step back... Analyze, pick apart.  Understand why something happened based on the decisions you made
  • They are tactical
    • 5x7 notepad -- Take blank sheet and write the exact things you need to do each day
    • Weekly wrap up -- Capture what happened
    • Use a daily journal to understand how you felt at that moment
• "It's way too easy to be reactionary."  It's not productive.  Be thoughtful and intentional
• Zvi at 25 years old:
  • Quit his job
  • His dad's cancer came back and he died
  • The same day was officially declared a recession in 2008
• How to respond?
  • Zvi was interested in a startup
    • "I emailed my network, and the CTO of an enterprise software company helped me out"
    • "Relationships are our most important asset"
  • Zvi realized he wasn't good at managing his relationships.  He was using Evernote.
  • He wanted a proactive CRM (customer relationship management) tool to proactively work for the relationship driven professional
  • That was how Contactually was created
    • "It's not about staying in touch.  It's about being of value."
• How to make the right hiring decisions:
  • It's values based:
    • Be user first - solve problems for others
    • Ownership - entrepreneur types
    • Learn & innovate - embrace failure and learn
      • Demonstrate the ability to learn
    • Be excellent with each other -- "If a company has a named 'No Asshole' rules then that usually means they have a lot of assholes there."  It's a red flag.
    • Keep it simple
    • Be real -- Transparent
• How does someone demonstrate the ability to learn?
  • Run a mock call, give feedback.  They must be coachable.  How do they respond to the coaching?
  • Ask, 'what are you learning?
  • We want readers
  • We want people who are intellectually curious
  • We want people who have a "general dissatisfaction with their current skill set."
• Mentor advice:
  • Leverage your experience to know the right questions to ask.
  • Teach them how to navigate the issues, don't just give them the answers.
  • "Relay experience.  Don't give advice."  Don't give a prescription.
• Mentee advice:
  • Establish a feedback loop
  • Establish what to do -- follow up
  • "Must show that you took their insights to heart and acted on them."
• The 'icky' feeling of relationship marketing:
  • Avoid this.  Don't just exchange business cards.
  • "Relationships are our most important asset."
  • Collect intelligence on those people important to you.  Listen for the little details they share.  Pay attention.  Take notes after you talk with them so you can ask about them later.
• Consistency - Play the long game:
  • Create habits:  what are your relationship goals?
  • "We're wired to think short term."  Zag when others zig.  Think long term.
• Build genuine, real relationships:
  • When we look back at success, we realize it's because of relationships
  • Invest in them long term
• Contactually got acquired by Compass
• Zvi and his investors have been rewarded for their work

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

#311: Adam Savage

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

Adam Savage was the co-host and Executive Producer of the hit show, MythBusters on the Discovery Channel.  Fourteen years, 1,015 myths, 2,950 experiments, eight Emmy nominations and 83 miles of duct tape later, the series ended in March 2016.

 He is the author of Every Tool's a Hammer - Life Is What You Make It.

Be part of "Mindful Monday" -- Text LEARNERS to 44222

Notes

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

#310: David Epstein

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

David Epstein is the author of the forthcoming Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World , and of the top 10 New York Times bestseller The Sports Gene. David has master’s degrees in environmental science and journalism, and is reasonably sure he’s the only person to have co-authored a paper in the journal of Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research while a writer at Sports Illustrated.  David has given talks about performance science and the uses (and misuses) of data on five continents; his TED Talk has been viewed 7 million times, and was shared by Bill Gates.

Notes:

• Leaders who sustain excellence =
  • Voracious learners
  • Voracious readers
  • They attack obstacles
  • Extremely interested in people and about themselves
• The Sports Gene
  • Having great reflexes is a trained skill -- Pro baseball players cannot hit a pro softball pitcher because they have not trained their reflexes to understand the arm angle (Albert Puhols could not hit Jenny Finch even though she throws slower than the average MLB pitcher)
  • "Chunking" is what world class athletes or chess-masters do.  They pick up on cues from the person's body (or the board) and that helps them make quicker decisions -- Ex:  A baseball player understands/learns the cues of a pitcher and what pitch is coming and at what velocity
• Sports is a "kind learning environment."  It is more black and white than the business world.  In order to translate this to the business world, try to create a kinder learning environment.  Need as much information available as possible.
  • Create an environment where feedback is happening on a regular basis
  • The business world is not as kind of a learning environment
  • The "annual review" is a horrible way to run a business.  Feedback should be happening on a regular basis... Daily.
  • Bill Campbell would go to the meetings of the leaders he coached and gave immediate feedback.
  • Create a feedback loop for yourself from mentors/people you trust
  • "Everyone needs a coach" -- David regularly takes writing courses to stay sharp and learn
• David's writing process:
  • The first year = Read 10 scientific papers per day.  He reads a TON
  • Advantage David has created = An expansive search function
  • Have a "master thought list" -- Storyboard, shift scenes around
  • He did film editing as a form of cross training for writing a book and becoming a great storyteller
  • 29 of 32 NFL first round draft picks in the 2017 draft played multiple sports.  Cross training is critical for long term success
• David debated Malcolm Gladwell on stage in front of a huge audience and changed Malcolm's mind.  Watch here.
• Athletes that delay specialization excel more than those that specializes (golf is the only exception to the rule)
• The most effective leaders are constantly updating their mental models
  • It should be celebrated when someone changes their mind because better evidence has surfaced
  • Darwin changed his mind
  • Lincoln changed his mind
• A 'deliberate amateur' = Someone who loves an activity.  "I don't do research, I do search." It's a constant experimentation to learn
• In a LinkedIn study, the results of a review of all profiles of people who made it to the C-Suite =
  • Went to a Top 5 Business School
  • "The single most important factor is they worked in different functions within a company."  They were generalists.
• The people who make the most impact with number of patents filed work across classes.  They are wide ranging generalists.
• Sales is a great entry point for any business -- Learning marketing and sales will benefit you in every job you will ever have
• "Take your skills and apply them to a problem where those skills aren't being used."
• People underestimate how much the world will change -- Must be able to adapt and learn
  • "We learn who we are in practice, not in theory."  -- Take action.  Do the work.
  • Work to accumulate experiences
  • Try something, go all in on the thing you are doing in that moment.  100% focus.  Invest everything you have in it.
    • Then reflect on it -- "We learn in moments of reflection."
• "When you're 23, don't worry about getting ahead, get information about yourself.  Focus on learning."
• Use the "Get To Know You Document"
• Why joining The Learning Leader Circle is a good idea

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Episode #309: Verne Harnish - 

Verne Harnish is the founder of the world-renowned Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), with over 14,000 members worldwide, and chaired for fifteen years EO’s premiere CEO program, the “Birthing of Giants” held at MIT, a program in which he still teaches today. Founder and CEO of Gazelles, a global executive education and coaching company with over 200 partners on six continents, Verne has spent the past three decades helping companies scale up.

He along with the editors of Fortune, authored The Greatest Business Decisions of All Times for which Jim Collins wrote the foreword. His book Scaling Up (Rockefeller Habits 2.0) has won eight major international book awards including the prestigious International Book Award for Best General Business book.

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

Notes:

• Leaders who sustain excellence =
  • Ability to persevere
  • Willingness to hire a coach and listen -- All of the greats had coaches to help them (Rockefeller, Steve Jobs)
  • Be part of a "mastermind group" -- Think and Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill
• Cannot be afraid to make the cold-call.  You must be willing to ask
  • Verne cold-called Steve Jobs leadership coach
• Ask yourself:  Who are the top 25 influencers in the space where I want to play?  Write their names down... Then call them, email, writer letters.  Find a way to get in contact with them
  • Earn the support of influencers and it will put you in warp speed -- "I was the first person to get President Ronald Reagan to say 'entrepreneur' in the White House"
• Two rules:
  • Give before you ask for anything -- Sometimes you can only give your time and attention.  Go to their speeches in person, sit in the front row, nod your head, take notes, then follow up with them afterwards and ask questions.
  • Understand your pitch, what you do, why you do it, and be able to share it concisely
• "What a great mentor wants is a great student"
• Verne realized there was not a curriculum for gazelles -- mid range companies that wanted to scale-up
• Titan -- Rockefeller was so successful because of his discipline
• Disciplined people, disciplined thought, disciplined action
• Build a functional accountability chart... 4 criteria:
  • Will - Have to hire will to learn, succeed, persevere
  • Values -- Mars mission values
  • Results -- Track record of success
  • Skill - Fungible 
• Strategy
  • One idea must be different, don't be just like your competition
  • Michael Porter advice -- Article in HBR, "What Is Strategy"
  • Strategy is rooted in... "What word or two do you own in the market-place?"
• Execution -- Must act or it's just hot air.  Failure happens at this phase as you add people
• Communication rhythm - "If you want to move faster, you need to pulse faster."  -- Have a daily huddle, agile meetings
  • There should be equal talk time of each person in the meeting.  Don't have one drone on for the entire meeting
  • "Want heated debate, conversation"
  • Run forums so each person speaks
  • Generalities versus Specifics -- It MUST be specific
  • Average 1 minute per person
  • 3 agenda items, to to each person
    • What's up the next 24 hours?  #1 priority -- Get the headlines
    • Updated daily metrics that drive the business -- Stat of attracting and keeping talent.  What's the data say?
    • Where are you stuck?  What's in your way?  Get them verbalized
• The 3 Barriers to scaling up
  • Leadership
    • Awareness-- "What got you here won't get you there" -- Must learn to say no.  Have to let early clients go.  You can't have all the answers
    • Constraint between your ears -- Bill Gates does "think weeks"
    • Marcus Buckingham -- Understand your strengths and weaknesses.  Strengths give you energy, weaknesses take your energy.  "Focus on doing what you like, that gives you energy."  If you love working to solve client issues, then become the head of customer support and hire a manager to be the CEO
  • Scalable Infrastructure
    • Bloomberg office space -- Everything goes through the six floor so that people collide... To talk, learn, interact
    • Human brain -- Nobody wants a manager.  Set it up so all can be a leader and have autonomy.  Team of Teams.
    • November 2018 HBR Issue - The end of bureaucracy 
  • Marketing
    • Hi tech fast growth companies scale rapidly... Must have great marketing
    • Marketing is the single most important function -- Attract talent, investors, attention, customers
    • It takes a village of gurus -- Curate people
• Advice:  "Make a list of who you need to hang out with... Write it down.  You are who you hang out with.  Move in with a mentor if you have to."

• Use the "Get To Know You Document"
• Why joining The Learning Leader Circle is a good idea

"Strengths give you energy.  Weaknesses takes your energy."

Social Media:

• Read: Scaling Up
• Follow Verne on Twitter: @agilescaleup
• Be part of "Mindful Monday" -- Text LEARNERS to 44222
• 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 #308: Alex Hutchinson

TEXT LEARNERS to 44222

Full shownotes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com 

• Leaders who sustain excellence =
  • They show up... Willing to take a shot when they might not be successful
  • People over-estimate short term and under-estimate long term.  Be ambitious about long term
  • Consistency - Secret to success: "When an editor gives me an assignment, they will receive it back on time with the right words."  You have to always get it done and be known as someone who does this.
  • To rise above a certain level, you must do more than what is expected.  "Dream big while not neglecting daily responsibility."
• Eliud Kipchoge - spiritual leader of self-disciplined people around the world.
• "Only the disciplined in life are free."
• Getting there earlier than his coach...
  • "As hard as I was willing to work, he was willing to support me." -- Alex describing his great basketball coach
• "Discipline is a muscle.  You get better as you use it more."
• Model of achievement -- Work hard, support others
• "Sweat more than you watch other people sweat."  -- Every leader should get some sort of activity.  It's indefensible to have a healthy body and mind.
• "We are cognitively better when we are fit."
• "Pushing yourself physically reveals what you're made of mentally."
• How to raise your threshold of pain:
  • It's expectation based
  • Pain perception is the same for all... It's all about how you respond
  • Learn to tolerate it it by going through it regularly.  Develop psychological coping system.
  • Pain is just a signal -- Understand it's how you choose to respond
• Navy SEALs, Olympians did an experiment with brain scanners where oxygen was restricted:
  • They have a 'higher level of self-monitoring'
  • Elite athletes get better when stress hits.  Normal people get worse
• Take a mindfulness based course:
  • Cultivate "non-judgmental self-awareness"
  • When you make a pancake for your 5 year old and they don't like it, "try not to respond with frustration in the moment.  Think about how you'll feel in 30 minutes."
• Change in training?  "Training will be the same, but my mind will be different."
• The importance of self-talk -- Inner monologue -- "I've trained for this, I can do it."
• "When you've reached a point that you think you've hit a wall, in fact in almost every case, those limits are perceptions of effort."
• Handle fear with preparation -- You must show yourself you have reason to believe you can do it.
• Delayed gratification -- Sports is the clearest venues to see benefit of delayed gratification
  • "Champions in November are made in July."
• Alain de Botton quote -- "Of many books, one feels, it could have been truly good, if the author's appetite for suffering had been greater."
• Advice:
  • Read a lot of books... On topics that have nothing to do with your topic
  • Give self space to think
  • Give self time to be bored

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Text: LEARNERS to 44222 to be part of 'Mindful Monday'

Episode #397: Carly Fiorina

• Leaders who sustain excellence =
  • Unlock the potential in others
  • Courageous
  • High character -- "How" matters more than what
  • Collaborate well
  • Humble/Empathetic
  • They see possibilities in other people... They don't judge them
  • Optimism combined with realism -- "Seeing people do more than they thought they can is fuel for me."
    • "You need an equal measure of optimism with realism.  You must see the current state as it is.  It's important to believe things will get better (optimism), but also be clear eyed and realistic.  Be honest.  See truth, and act on it."
• From secretary to CEO -- "People wouldn't look at em and say that's a leader."
• "Work hard and do excellent work in your current role."
• "What I saw were problems and we fixed problems.  I learned that solving problems is what leadership is all about."
  • "Run towards the problems, work to solve them.  Don't fixate on getting promoted, focus your attention on doing great at your current job."  And then doors will open...
• Choose a path over a plan
  • How you get things done matters more than what you get done... The manner in which you do it.  Think long term.
• Focus on where you can make a difference
• A manager versus a leader:
  • Manager -- Works within current constraints of the role.  They do the best they can with what they have.
  • Leader -- Changes things.  They create new ways of doing things.
• Leaders are made, not born.  Focus on building character and working to be excellent
• Carly was recruited to be the CEO of HP.  She was the first outside hire to be CEO ever.  And the first female CEO of a Fortune 50 company.
• She was named the Fortune magazine most powerful woman in American business for 6 years in a row
  • "When your team is diverse, the team is stronger."
• Competitive nature: "I've always been focused on excellence.  But, I've never been a win at all cost person."
  • "It's easy to make a quarter (in the business world, hit your mark for that particular quarter), but you need to get there the right way."
• Criticism as CEO of HP
  • "When you try to change things, you will get criticized."
  • "Criticism is the price of leadership."
• How to handle a board?
  • "A good board considers themselves a team, not a collection of individuals."  The HP board was a set of individuals and two of them leaked sensitive information to the press.  "Eventually, after I was gone, they got fired."
• Debating with President Trump on stage at the Republican debates... How to be prepared?
  • "Every woman in the world heard what he said."
  • "You need to be prepared, but also be present.  Be able to use experience and instinct in the moment."
  • "I didn't prepare for the comment about my appearance, but being present in the room, and having good instincts helped me respond properly."
• "Right now, we are confused what leadership is.  We see leaders who promote conflict, criticize, castigate others.  That is wrong."
  • "We need to be reminded who leaders are and what they do.  Leaders lift others up, they have courage.  Everyone can choose to be a leader."
• The idea of privilege:
  • "We cannot judge someone by they circumstances.  Whether they come from privilege or they are poor.  We should judge them based on their character and their contribution."
  • "If we want to achieve more, if we want to be excellent, it requires people who are different to work together towards a common goal."  Shane Show's Dream Teams model for building teams.
• Use the "Get To Know You Document"
• Why joining The Learning Leader Circle is a good idea

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk
Episode #306: Brian Koppelman - Follow Your Curiosity And Obsessions With Rigor

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

• Sustaining excellence:
  • Ability to focus on the work
  • Preparedness
  • Ability to collaborate
  • "Being responsible enough to show up on time is surprisingly effective and important"
  • "People that follow their curiosity, obsessions, and passions" -- They truly love what they're doing and work with incredible rigor.  If you love what you're doing, it doesn't feel like a job.  It's work that's enriching you at the same time.
• "What we're really trying to do as leaders is get people to perform at their highest level and to do it together, because what we do is highly collaborative."
•  "I was the kind of person that would read a book and if I liked it, I would stay up all night reading it.  And I would learn the words from that book.  I would look them up.  I loved the way words sounded and I loved the idea of communicating with great efficiency and humor."
• "Where this passion really landed for me, it made sense to do this work.  Working with great rigor is a lot easier when you're borderline obsessed with something and when you're curious."
• "Curiosity keeps you diving deeper."
• "I was a frustrated and blocked writer and I was starting to feel that I had made mistakes.  But those two hours every morning... Writing. Made me feel alive."
• "And he (my boss) said to me, 'Look, you know you're a writer and that's what you want to do.'"
• "Dude.  You do have a half hour a day."  You have to make time to do the work.
• "We finished the screenplay.  We sent it out and it got rejected by every single agency in Hollywood.  I'm not exaggerating."
  • "I  wrote down what every person said... And then it sold the next week, and every agency called us back trying to sign us.  Nothing was different on the page.  I read them all back what they had said and they would all lie back to me.  I had them written down on a big yellow legal pad.  I read them out loud on a speaker phone.  These guys all lied back to us. Nobody just said, 'well I guess I was wrong,' but then they all wanted to sign us.  It taught me a great lesson about gatekeepers in the world.  They don't always know."
  • "It means don't blindly accept negative feedback from gatekeepers."
• Feedback -- "We have friends/peers in place to give feedback to each other."  John Hamburg (Meet The Fockers; I Love You, Man; Along Came Polly). "You want feedback, you need feedback. But you don't want feedback from that jealous old friend who you know secretly doesn't want you to be successful."
• "I don't have people in my life who don't want the best for me.  We root for each other... Hard."
• Comfort in your own skin:
  • "It's a lifetime pursuit.  It's so hard."
  • "The battle is to accept who you are while not giving up on improving yourself.  To continue to try to become the perfected version of you which you can never be.  And to accept your own frailties and faults."
  • "One simple place this comes from is to avoid lying.  My wife and I don't lie to each other.  We've never lied to each other. When you have that to start, it helps with the rest because you're not fronting."
  • "I do morning pages every day, I meditate, I take long walks and think."
  • "When you do all of those things and you live with intention, you start to become more comfortable with who you are."
  • "But each time you stretch and grow and you're rewarded, it encourages you to stretch and grow."
• "Never Fake The Funk" -- "It's about pretending.  It's about lying to yourself.  Don't pretend, don't lie to yourself.  It's really easy to get swept along by other peoples conception of who you are. And by other people's ideas of what success is.  Defining success for yourself is crucial."
• "Any interaction I have, I view as an opportunity for growth. For me and the other person."
• Feedback is fuel... Hearing that you've helped someone is the fuel that drives this machine
• Having successful parents and the expectations that come from that...
  • "My dad was very good at showing me what it took to be successful."
  • "For some reason, my dad would always point out, 'there's nothing worse than the son of a rich kid.'"
  • "I never wanted to be looked at as just the son of somebody and just skate.  I wanted my parents and sisters to be proud of me.  I wanted my kids to be proud of me."
  • "I learned at a young age how to talk to powerful people.  To find a way to make them laugh, to not be intimidated by them.  Because I grew up around those people, I knew exactly what they're like.  That's a gigantic advantage that I had because my father took me to meetings.  I watched people sell to him, and I watched him sell to others, so I learned what worked."
  • "My dad was a workaholic, but he really cared about us.  He never missed a ballgame.  He would go to New York City, work a full day, come home to Long Island, watch me play a decent third base, and then drive back to the city for a meeting.  I never wondered 'Is my Dad going to show up for the game, my dad always showed up for the game."
  • "I would never eat dinner until my dad got home.  If he was going to be home at 9:00, I would wait up, my dad would come home and we would talk about his day and about business.  And just hearing the stories enabled me now to be able to understand aspects of business."
• "Whenever my son asked me to play catch, I would say yes."
• "I always walked my daughter to school.  Those little things, kids knowing that, it gives you a kind of closeness. It's having the connection..."
  • "You don't have to start over, you're in the flow.  You always have this time."
• Tell your kids, "You did well because you worked hard."  Don't say, "You did well because you're smart."  Compliment the work ethic.
• Writing Billions on spec... You write it for free, you don't have a deal in place.
  • "We wrote it for us."
  • Showrunner = Responsible for everything you see on the television show.  Writing it, overseeing shooting of it, the editing, the design, all of it.  Leading 150 people on the show.
• How to make hiring decisions?
  • "No assholes"
  • "We really check references"
  • The work has to be excellent
  • "We hire keys to run departments and trust the keys to hire their departments.  Hiring the keys is a lot of time and effort, a lot of meetings."
  • "I want to know that they're really going to kill for it.  I want to know that they're a good person.  That they'll get along with everyone.  We're all there lifting everyone else up.  So you need to know that everyone is there for the same reason.  'I love this show and I want it to be great.'"
  • How they hired Damian Lewis -- "We had three long meetings.  We each checked with people who had worked with each other.  We knew people loved working with him.  We knew he showed up prepared."
• How to be creative and innovative... A collaborative process:
  • Recognize people when they do great
  • "The truth is 'hire people that are smarter than you.  You never pay a bad price when you hire people that are better than you.'"
  • "Part of not fronting, of not faking the funk, is admitting when you don't know the answer."
  •  "Let's get the best idea.  Let's source the best idea that we can."
• Career advice:
  • "Do the work."
  • "Think about the story you want to tell and start telling it."
• At thanksgiving, why should you not talk about your new creative endeavor:
  • "It's a lot easier to say I don't have the time than to say I'm scared to do it."
  • "Say what your dream is too soon and someone will shoot it down.  Train yourself not to do that."
• Create a whole family (extended family) group chat
• Use the "Get To Know You Document"
• Why joining The Learning Leader Circle is a good idea

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Episode #305: Marcus Buckingham & Ashley Goodall - A Leader's Guide To The Real World (Break All The Rules)

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

Marcus Buckingham holds a master's degree in social and political science from Cambridge University and is a member of the Secretary of State's Advisory Committee on Leadership and Management.  He's the author of the international best-seller, First, Break All The Rules.

Ashley Goodall is the co-author, with Marcus Buckingham, of Nine Lies About Work: A Freethinking Leader’s Guide to the Real World.  He is an executive, leadership expert, and author, and has spent his career exploring large organizations from the inside.

Notes from this talk:

• Sustaining excellence:
  • Optimism -- An innate predisposition that things will get better
  • Individualization -- Ability to attract great talent.  Knowing that each person has something unique to bring
• "You follow somebody if they give you confidence in the future."
  • "The world will be better if I hitch my wagon to you."
• Great managers/leaders =
  • They know how to surround themselves with the right people -- "If you want a great party, invite great people."
  • They focus on people first
  • They help them.  They coach them.  They find a path and set expectations.
  • They grow.  They make the next step and help others do the same.
• "Talent is more important than experience."
  • Talent = a recurring pattern of thought.  Enduring patterns in a person.  Hire for those, then train for skills.
• How to find talented people?
  • Ask open ended questions, stay quiet, believe what they say.
  • Ask appetite questions:  "What did you love most about that?"
  • Talents are far more about natural appetite
• Feedback:
  • "People need feedback to grow and excel.  It grows best not with feedback, but with help."
  • People grown when attention is given to them.  "Pay attention to me.  My talents."  People need attention to what really works in them
• Leaders must look at the real world
  • Idiosyncratic -- The best are...
  • There is a difference between theory world and the real world
• "Learning is an emergent experience."  It's inside out... How you do your version...
• How do you measure things that are hard to measure?
  • "Must make a distinction between traits and states."
    • Example of a trait = extroversion
    • Example of a state = mood, skills (can change)
    • Competencies are a combination of both
• Being labeled a "Hi-Po" (high potential) in an organization:  "It's made up, not a thing.  Toxic because it presumes that some human brains can't/won't grow."
  • "There is no point in having the 'hi-po' conversation.  In talent reviews, ask for each person... How will they grow best?  Don't use a 9 box grid."
  • "Replace potential for momentum."
• "Work life balance is a very weird aspiration.  It's very hard to do it perfectly."
  • "Balance is a way of being stationary.  It's not a good way to move through life."
  • "We shouldn't tell people to do this.  Health is motion, finding love, finding red threads."
  • "It draws you in.  You should move through life.  Draw strength from the movement."
• "If a leader has no followers, they're not a leader." -- "Follow-ship is the thing."
• "We all have fears for the future.  Find a leader that can see around the corner, we're drawn to that."
• "Be a free thinking leader."

• Use the "Get To Know You Document"
• Why joining The Learning Leader Circle is a good idea

Social Media:

• Read: Nine Lies: A Freethinking Leader's Guide To The Real World
• Follow Marcus on Twitter: @mwbuckingham
• 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 #304: Laura Gassner Otting - How To Carve Your Own Path

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

The Learning Leader Show

"It starts young.  We have a world where we are given an identity. We need to think, 'is that really what I want?"

Show Notes:

• Sustaining excellence:
  • Live on the edge of your incompetence -- "The more you talk, the less you listen."  Need to be asking questions and listening.
  • Tenacity, grit
  • Put yourself in uncomfortable situations
• Be in a position to learn something new from your failures... "That is delightful."
• "Looking into someone and seeing their greatness."
• Running coach -- "Calm, confident, reflect back to the dream  Compete.
• Issues with execution... Why? "We get stuck chasing someone else's dream."
• How do we know? "It starts young.  We have a world where we are given an identity. We need to think, 'is that really what I want?"
• The four parts of consonace:
  • Calling -- It's bigger than you
  • Connection - The work actually matters
  • Contribution - It contributes to the life you actually want
  • Control - How much do I have?
• "My mother told me I needed to be a lawyer." -- "I wanted to run for office."
• How did Laura end up in the Clinton Whitehouse?
• "I learned how to show up for others... And be dedicated to excellence"
• "I was a great leader, but a terrible manager."  You need to be self-aware
• Advice to new managers:
  • "People want feedback.  Ask them if that project reflected their understanding of the assignment or their ability?"
• Laura's TEDx Talk:
  • Stop asking, 'how can I help?'
  • Think, 'what needs to happen?'
• Her fight with Ann Coulter
• Must be willing to change your mind as a leader -- "Our stories are our connections."
• Becoming an athlete -- Laura ran the first mile of her life nine years ago.  Now, she's a competitive rower.  And she ran in the Boston marathon.
• Confidence is built through doing.  Continue to push the boundaries of our own competence.
• Tel Aviv:
  • Hunger
  • Weight
  • Tenacity
  • Speed
  • Grit/Heart
• Don't get in the comparison trap with other people's highlight reels on social media
• Advice she received that's been helpful -- "You're just not that important"
• Study -- Team of Rivals -- About Lincoln
• Use the "Get To Know You Document"
• Why joining The Learning Leader Circle is a good idea

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