Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more...

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12    https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

Ryan Holiday is the best-selling author of more than 10 books including The Obstacle Is The Way, Ego Is The Enemy, and most recently, Courage Is Calling. He’s sold millions of copies and his work impacts leaders all over the world.

Notes:

• A philosophy of offense. General James Mattis was once asked by a tv reporter, “what keeps you up at night?” And he said, “I keep people up at night.” Captured his philosophy of offense (a bias for action… People who make it happen)
• Preparation makes you brave. —- the Army life handbook that was handed out to millions of soldiers in the Second World War. All about preparation. As Epictetus says the goal when we experience adversity is to be able to say, “this is what I’ve trained for, for this is my discipline.”
• Never question another man’s courage. “It’s very easy to judge. It’s very hard to know.” Waste not a second questioning another man’s courage. Put that scrutiny solely on your own.
• Be strong and of good courage. We hear in the book of Joshua. William Faulkner said  “be scared. You can’t help that. But don’t be afraid.”
• You can’t spend all day in deliberation — the story of a Spartan king who was marching across Greece. As he entered each new country, he sent envoys to ask whether he should be prepared to treat them as friends or enemies. Most of the nations decided quickly and chose friendship. But one king wanted to think about his options. So he thought and thought and thought until it was chosen for him. “Let him consider it then,” the frustrated Spartan General said as he fixed his jaw. “Which we March on.” Even if you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice. You are voting to let them decide.
• The power of poise — in the year 175, Marcus Aurelius was betrayed by his general Avidius Cassius in an attempted coup. He could have been scared. He could have been furious. He could have exploded. But this would not happen. He said, “the nearer a man is to a calm mind, the closer he is to strength.”
• Ernest Shackleton — Arctic expedition got stuck in the ice. His motto —fortitudine vincimus — By endurance we conquer
• The courage to care — General Mattis said “cynicism is cowardice, it takes courage to care.” Only the brave believe, especially when everyone else is full of doubt. the story of Theodore Roosevelt the biographer Herman Hagedorn wrote “is the story of a small boy who read about great men and decided he wanted to be like them.”
• Ryan shared a personal story about his experience working for American Apparel and his relationship with founder/CEO, Dov Charney. He was asked to do something immoral and he declined... But, he didn't stop Dov from doing it. "It doesn't age well to just be scared in the moment. All that's left is what you didn't do."
• When you earn some power or develop a platform, how will you use it? When Lyndon Johnson became President, he said, "What the hell is the presidency for if not to do big things?"
• Consistency -- How does Ryan produce so much work (publishing lots of books) on a consistent basis? You have to show up every day. Tackle the smallest component part of the project for that day. Do what's in front of you.
• Why does Ryan work out every day? "I like to think, 'who's in charge?' I'm in charge."
• Excellence =
  • All leaders are readers
  • Curiosity is a must
  • Desire for knowledge
  • Self-discipline
  • An element of service - it's not just about you
• How does Ryan define success?
  • Autonomy. "The power of my own life, who I spend time with, and what I'm doing. I don't want to be a slave to the system."

Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more...

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12  https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

John Bacon has written twelve books on sports, business, health, and history, the last seven all National Bestsellers. His latest book is "LET THEM LEAD: Unexpected Lessons in Leadership from America's Worst High School Hockey Team." 

Notes:

• Be Patient with Results, Not Behavior - Accept where you are to get where you want to go. Be present so you can own your attention and energy. Be patient and you’ll get there faster. Embrace vulnerability to develop genuine strength and confidence. Build deep community over efficiency and optimization. Move your body to ground your mind
• Reduce Your Rules, but Make Them Stick - Make your rules few, clear, and connected to your larger mission. They have to be within everyone’s control to follow every day. When your people start enforcing the rules themselves, the culture has changed.
• To make it special to be on your team, make it hard to be on your team. The people who apply to the Navy SEALS and the Peace Corps are attracted to the difficulty. They know not everyone can make it, and that’s what makes it special
• You can't motivate people you don't know - Leadership doesn’t require rousing speeches; it requires that you get to know your people. 
• The more power you give, the more you get -Select leaders for their ability to lead, not their ability to do the job they used to have. Leaders must know their jobs, know how to do their jobs, know everyone else’s jobs, and help them all do their jobs better! This is how you create “layers of leadership,” which benefits everyone, and keeps you from burning out.
• All credit goes to your people - If you give away the credit and accept the blame, you’ll be rewarded with loyalty. If your team succeeds, you will always get more credit than you need. “The reward of a job well done is to have done it.”
• John's two initial goals when he took over the worst team in the state:
  • Be the hardest working team in the state
  • Win a state title
• On day 1, he set high standards -- Previously, they were 0-22-3
  • "Make no small plans, they lack the power to stir people's souls."
• John Bacon's two rules:
  • Work hard
  • Support your teammates
• "Behaviors you can always control, performance and outcomes you can't."
• Life advice:
  • Focus on yourself first
  • Work hard and support your teammates

Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more...

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12    https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, is President and Chief Executive Officer of SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management. With over 300,000 members in 165 countries, SHRM is the largest HR professional association in the world, impacting the lives of 115 million workers every day.

Notes:

• "Crisis come and go, but our chance to demonstrate leadership skills is constant. In times such as these, Johnny abides by three key principles:
  • Culture comes first
  • Data is your greatest friends
  • Be "extra"
• Mistakes made by Chief Human Resource Officers:
  • RULES: CHROs who fail emphasize rules over solutions.
  • ROLES: CHROs who fail develop an instinctual approach to solidifying their role, necessitating constant validation
  • RELATIONSHIPS: CHROs who fail prioritize relationships (when hiring) above results or data.
  • RIGHTEOUSNESS: CHROs who fail need to be right at all times without accounting for other perspectives
• “Culture is the cure amid chaos” -- At SHRM, they’ve defined themselves by their guiding principles:
  • Bold Purpose
  • Excellence & Accountability
  • Flexibility & Agility
  • Smart & Curious
  • Collaborative Openness
• How Johnny earned the CEO role?
  • He's had a wide range of jobs: Lawyer, a business leader in 'for-profit,' business leader in non-profit, understands being responsible for his own Profit and Loss of a business
• Since Johnny was seven years old, he knew he wanted to be a lawyer
• Why leaders need to become excellent writers and speakers:
  • Inspiring employees has become table stakes to be an excellent leader
  • How to work on this? READ. Johnny regularly reads with his 11-year-old daughter to help her work on this.
  • "Grammar matters. Typos matter. We judge people on those things."
• Hiring: What does Johnny look for in a candidate to hire:
  • Technical competencies - They have to know how to do the job
  • Cultural alignment - We do not hire brilliant jerks
    • Curiosity is key: "Tell me something you've been thinking about that would surprise me..."
    • Self-awareness: Tell me about situations where you've been wrong or failed...
    • Their motivation: "Why do you work?
• What has changed most over the years?
  • "Culture is everything now. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are getting better."
• How can leaders create a healthy culture that acknowledges and prevents racism, sexism, and bias?
  • "We have to talk about it."
  • Acknowledge it
• Commonalities of people who sustained excellence:
  • Curiosity - receptive to change
  • Fiercely competitive - They want to win
  • Exist for a bigger purpose
• The RESET - The opinion and perspective of Human Resources is changing... "They can't be the department of NO anymore."
  • "The job of the HR professional is to help their leaders get a good return on their hiring investment."
• Life/Career Advice:
  • Become really good at something. Become an expert
  • Build relationships
  • Build empathy - "When I was a young 'hot-shot' attorney, I would run through people." You need to build empathy for others."

Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more...

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12  https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

Brad Stulberg is the author of Peak Performance, The Passion Paradox, and The Practice of Groundedness. He coaches executives, entrepreneurs, physicians, and athletes. He is also co-creator of The Growth Equation, an online platform dedicated to defining and attaining a more fulfilling and sustainable kind of success.

Notes:

• Build deep community over efficiency and optimization. It takes more time. It has a physical connection and a sense of belonging. Don’t move so fast that you don’t see people.
• Keys to great leadership -- Look at the boundaries and create space for work to unfold. Don’t be the helicopter parent or the micromanager. Don’t neglect them, but ensure they have the space to grow and blossom.
• Move your body to ground your mind - It’s so important to have a physical practice. Make it part of your work. It needs to be in order to support your mental health.
• The Milwaukee Bucks won the NBA championship. Their MVP leader, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 50 points and helped his team win. But he may have earned even more fans when he was asked during a press conference how he keeps his mind right. His three-part answer, in his own words: “Focusing on the past is ego. Focusing on the future is pride. Focusing on the present is humility.”
• The six principles of groundedness:
  •  Accept where you are to get where you want to go
  • Be present so you can own your attention and energy
  • Be patient and you’ll get there faster
  • Embrace vulnerability to develop genuine strength and confidence
  • Build deep community over efficiency and optimization
  • Move your body to ground your mind
• Trying to be "balanced" does not work. When you care deeply about something it draws you in. That's the point. You don't need to force some kind of proportionate allocation of your life. Aim for the self-awareness to PRIORITIZE and CHOOSE how you spend your time and energy.
• Wherever you are, the goal post is always 10 yards down the field. If you develop a mindset, "If I just do this, or just accomplish that, THEN I'll arrive," you're in for trouble. There is no arriving. The human brain didn't evolve for it. Enjoy the process. Be where you are.
• Everyone wants to be SUCCESSFUL. But few people take the time and energy to define the success they want. As a result, they spend most, if not all, of their lives chasing what society superimposes on them as success. Define your values. Craft a life around them. THAT is success.
• Stress + Rest = Growth. Too much of the former not enough of the latter you get injury, illness, burnout. Too much of the latter, not enough of the former you get complacency, stagnation. This equation is universal. It holds true for individual and organizational growth.
• "Wouldn't this be rad?"
  • The process of striving for ambitious goals is what brings fulfillment.
  • The process is how you live your life.
• "Your addiction to growth might be making you miserable." The human condition is oriented towards more.
• Advice on building a business: Think less about building the business and more about building the life you want to live. Brad limits himself to 15 clients and they only meet on Monday and Friday. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday are days for creativity, reading, research.
  • Brad optimizes for autonomy and freedom.
• For the over-worked, over-scheduled VP: Find 2 hours a week for deep work. That's a start. Challenge the culture, test assumptions.
• Think of your schedule as a moral document
• Sustain excellence:
  • Wise patience... Step back sometimes
• When making a big decision, adopt the lens of a wise observer, what would your wiser self tell you to do?
•  Stimulus + your response = outcome
• When you feel restless to do something, use that as an alarm. Force yourself to take three deep breaths. What will you regret less? No raising voices...
• Your language shapes how you think and act...
• The Good Enough Mother:
  • Not helicopter
  • Not each and every need
  • Doesn't neglect
  • Gives a safe space to grow and blossom
• For the insecure leader... Approach them with curiosity
• Musicians have intense periods of focused practice. People have breakthroughs when they have been on a sabbatical...
• Embrace vulnerability to develop genuine strength and confidence with others... "The way to build trust is by being vulnerable."
  • Don't be performative. It must be real.
• Build deep community over efficiency and optimization
  • It takes more time to meet in person.
• Brad's tattoo sleeve: Mountains sit through it all. Trees = grounded, the roots support it. We need to tend to our own roots.

Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more...

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12    https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

Sahil Bloom is a writer who attempts to demystify the world. He's an investor, advisor, and creator. As a pitcher at the University of Stanford, he once gave up a grand slam on ESPN in 2012 and he's still waiting for it to land. Sahil is an angel investor in 25+ startups across the technology landscape. In this capacity, he works directly with entrepreneurs and founders to identify and execute against core value creation initiatives to build scalable, sustainable value for all stakeholders.

Notes:

• Writing makes you better at everything you do. Writing is the best way to expose gaps in your thinking. When you write, you think better.
• The makeup of a great coach - Never too big to do the small things. They push you beyond what you think you’re capable of. Everyone should take a moment and say thank you to someone who has done this for them.
• Learning Circles -- Develop a circle of people to collectively learn with. Push your thinking. I do this with my Learning Leader Circles and it’s some of the most rewarding work I do.
• Why the cheeky Twitter bio? ("Once gave up a home run on ESPN that hasn't landed yet"). "People take themselves too seriously."
• The difference between big public failures and private ones: "I think private failures can shape you more."
• Freshman year at Stanford was a grind... "I thought I was hot shit." "Are you willing to spring when the distance is unknown?"
  • It's all about how you bounce back from failures.
  • "You need to be able to take constructive feedback. You can't crumble."
• Sahil asks, "What do I want to instill in my child?" Let them fail... It's the greatest experience.
• Angel Investing - An individual who provides money to start-ups.
• The "must-have" qualities in a person for Sahil to invest in them: Resilience and Grit. "You're going to get knocked around. They are willing to die before they'll fail."
  • "I'm driven by relationships over data points. I like to ask: Tell me about a time you got your ass kicked..."
  • Sahil invests because he learns so much through the process of it. The intellectual returns make it worth it.
• "Writing is the best way to expose gaps in your thinking. It makes you better at everything you do."
• Be a teacher: "I'm learning alongside you."
• Great storytelling... "It is a built skill."
  • Disney, Pixar... It's a foundational skill. They infuse personality in writing.
• The three biggest keys to storytelling:
  • Elicit an emotional response
  • Novelty - That "Oh wow!" moment
  • Punchy & Concise - "I didn't have time to write a short letter so I wrote a long one instead."
• Viral tweet threads - It started in May 2020 for Sahil. He went from a few followers to hundreds of thousands...
• Be "Positive Sum." The world is positive sum. A rising tide lifts all boats. You should genuinely root for others to succeed.
• The makeup of a great coach:
  • In the trenches with the team - never too big to do the small things
  • Willing to challenge you and call you out. They help you get better
  • They push your thinking
• Coach John Beverly (Sahil's high school baseball coach)
  • He was first to suggest that Stanford could be a reality for Sahil ("He was nuts")
  • He had very high expectations
  • He believed in Sahil more than Sahil believed in himself
  • He changed the trajectory of people
• Cognitive bias - High expectations lead to higher performance
  • You need to vocalize your appreciation for those who have pushed your thinking and expected a lot from you
• The power of learning circles:
  • There is push & pull with others
  • Helps you develop circles of friends to collectively learn with and push your thinking

Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more...

Full show notes at www. LearningLeader.com

Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12  https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

Sukhinder Singh Cassidy is a leading digital CEO and entrepreneur with more than 25 years of leadership experience founding, scaling, and advising companies including Google, Amazon, StubHub, Yodlee, and more. Most recently, Sukhinder served as the leader of StubHub, the premier global consumer ticketing marketplace for live entertainment, which she and her team sold for $4 billion in February 2020. Earlier in her career, Sukhinder built Google’s business throughout Asia Pacific and Latin America.

Notes:

• “Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome.” - Samuel Johnson
  • “We think when we do nothing there is no cost.” That’s not true. There’s a cost to standing still.
• Proximity to opportunity benefits us even more than planning. Sukhinder moved to Silicon Valley in 1997. She rode the tailwind of the Internet and being at the epicenter of it all.
  • Prioritize the WHO before the WHAT.
• As a leader, watch what you validate with your words and actions. Reward the behavior that you want. If you want to promote taking risks, then reward the people who do that. “You get what you create and what you allow.”
• At one point, Sukhinder went to her boss at Google (who worked with Eric Schmidt) and said, “I’m pregnant, I want to keep running international at Google. I need for you to pay for me and my nanny to travel the world business-class. And they said yes.” BIG ASK. 
  • She did the calculus and realized it was a reasonable ask. And they said yes.
• Career path - "My career is not linear, it's cyclical. It has ups and downs. I've made 13 different meaningful choices along the way."
• The myth that there is a linear relationship between risk and reward. Not all choices have an equal amount of upside and downside...
• Sukhinder sas been on the board of Urban Outfitters with Scott Galloway:
  • Should you move to a big city? Should you move to your company's headquarters?
    • Being at the center of the action matters... It helps if you can understand the pulse of HQ
• How to become a smart risk taker?
  • What are our goals, passions, and values?
  • What are we great at?
  • Look for headwinds and tailwinds - (Join a growing company that has momentum)
    • With that said, Sukhinder went to StubHub and there were significant challenges
  • Over-prioritize the WHO over the WHAT
• Why did Sukhinder take the StubHub leadership role?
  • It was a calculated risk
  • She missed running a company of scale
    • They needed entrepreneurial and executive energy
• How do you create an environment for people to take risks?
  • You want people who are "truth-tellers, truth seekers, and authors"
  • Make it safe to take risks -- Reward that behavior.
  • Watch what you validate by your words and actions. Understand the magnitude and the weight of your words. People are always watching how the leader responds, who they commend, what they say...
• How to go for a job that you aren't qualified for?
  • "The next level of learning is going for something you don't know..."
  • To be a CEO, you need depth AND breadth. You need to expand your skillset. This is the path to accelerated learning.
• How do you know when you should leave a job?
  • "I like 3-5 year sprints. Are you having fun? Are you making an impact? If you aren't having fun or making an impact, you'll want to leave."
  • Think about: "Who am I doing this with? Are our values aligned?"
• Why did Sukhinder want to be a CEO?
  • "A little bit of ego"
  • "I was built to lead"
  • "I enjoy being on the hook"
• People who sustain excellence:
  • They surround themselves with other great people.
  • They don't let their ego get in the way.
  • They don't feel threatened by great people.
• Career/Life Advice:
  • "We tend to assume that everything is zero-sum. It's not. Choice is a multiplier of opportunity and we get to control it. Make a choice and get in motion."

Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more...

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12      https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

Melissa Urban is the co-founder and CEO of Whole30, and a six-time New York Times bestselling author. She is is a prominent keynote speaker on social media and branding, health trends, and entrepreneurship.

Notes:

• “I’ll Go First” -- As Leaders, it’s on us to do the hard thing first. Be vulnerable first. Trust first. That mindset will serve us well
• “I decided to look for evidence that I was already a healthy person with healthy habits.” and that helped form her identity.
• Whole30 -- The Whole30 is not a diet, a weight-loss plan or quick fix – it’s designed to “change your life,” the founders say, by eliminating cravings, rebalancing hormones, curing digestive issues, improving medical conditions, and boosting energy and immune function.
• "You can think of the Whole30 like pushing the reset button with your health, habits, and relationship with food."
• “For 30 days, you’ll eliminate the foods that scientific literature and our clinical experience have shown to be commonly problematic in one of four areas — cravings and habits, blood sugar regulation and hormones, digestion, and immune system, and inflammation
• “The food you eat either makes you more healthy or less healthy. Those are your options.”
• “You cannot “out-exercise” poor food choices and the resulting hormonal disruption.”
• The diet culture has been beaten into our heads and can make us feel disempowered
  • This helps you take back the power. It's not a diet. Not a quick fix. It helps you figure out what works for you.
• Melissa always buys herself flowers... Take care of yourself first.
• Must-Have leadership qualities in someone Melissa hires:
  • "I hire for talent, not skill."
  • Entrepreneurial spirit -- "I want them to take ownership."
  • Ambitious - "They need to want to grow and learn."
• Sharing pictures on social media that are not airbrushed or edited:
  • "It is me existing in my body. It's not courageous to exist in your body. I shouldn't be seen as brave for posting those pictures."
• Grey Rock - This is how you respond to a narcissist or complainer... Don't react to them pushing buttons. They are trying to get you to react. Don't give them that gift.
• Boundaries are essential life skills - We learn about these in times of crisis. "Clear is kind." Example: "When my parents attempt to parent my child, I have to sometimes tell them that that's my job and they need to stop. That's setting a boundary."
• How to be a great CEO?
  • "I have figured a lot out as I go. It helps to have mentors. I've hired a lot of talented people." It's about surrounding yourself with excellent talent and trusting them to do the job.
• How to have high self-awareness
  • A lot of therapy
  • Self-experimentation
  • Committed to working on empathy
• Life/Career Advice:
  • It's easy to tell someone to follow their passion, but that's not always good advice
  • "Whatever job you do, overdeliver. Do it well."
  • Be known as someone who goes the extra mile.
  • Be kind. Go first. Be vulnerable. Get it done.

Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more...

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12  https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

Matthew Dicks is a Bestselling author, a professional storyteller, and a teacher. He is a 52-time Moth StorySLAM winner & a 7-time GrandSLAM champion. He’s recognized as one of the greatest storytellers in the world.

Notes:

• Every great story is about a five-second moment of our life. The purpose of every great story is to bring a singular moment of transformation and realization to the greatest clarity possible.
  • "Let me tell you about my vacation to Europe" is not the beginning of a story, despite what many seem to believe. This is merely an attempt to review the itinerary of your previous vacation
  • But if someone said, "While I was in Europe, I met a taxi driver who changed the way I think about my parents forever," that is potentially a great story.
• “People are not attracted to people who do easy things. They are attracted to people who do hard things. It’s hard to be vulnerable. That takes courage. And that’s why we are drawn to it.”
  • Being vulnerable opens people up.
• The beginning and end of a story:
  • Beginning - Promise that what I'm going to say is worth your time
  • End - The fulfillment of that process
• How to put a great story together?
  • Start at the end... The five-second moment. "What are you aiming at?" You have to know that to craft the beginning.
    • Use a thesis statement -- "I used to be... and I realized..."
• Jurassic Park is not a movie about dinosaurs. It's about love.
• How to open a story:
  • Try to start your story with forward movement whenever possible. DON'T start by setting expectations (“This is hilarious, “you need to hear this,” “you’re not going to believe this.”)
• Requirements of a personal story:
  • Change - your story must reflect change over time. It can’t simply be a series of remarkable events. Stories that fail to reflect change over time are known as anecdotes.
  • Your story only -  not that of others
  • The dinner table test - Be human
• Homework for life — 5 minutes at the end of each day. “If I had to tell a story from today — a 5-minute story onstage about something that took place over the course of this day. What would it be?
  • Homework for life slows time down...
• Humor -- It keeps your audience’s attention. “The goal is not to tell a funny story. The goal is to tell a story that moves an audience emotionally.”
• “A written story is like a lake. Readers can step in and out of the water at their leisure, and the water always remains the same. An oral story is like a river. It is a constantly flowing torrent of words.” -- “To keep your listener from stepping out of your river of words to make meaning, simplification is essential. Starting as close to the end as possible helps to make this happen.”
• During a talk at a school in Brazil, Matt was asked why he shares so much of himself? (Writing novels, stories, teaching, blog posts, podcasts). And he thought for a while and then said, “I think I’m trying to get the attention of a mother who never paid me any attention and is now dead and a father who left me as a boy and never came home.”
• Your first job as a speaker (at home, on stage, or at work) is to be entertaining...
• Advice: When you graduate college, it's the end of your assessed learning. What do you want to study next? It will be on you to track. It won't be assessed by others... What do you want to learn next?

Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more...

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12    https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

Tim Grover is the CEO of ATTACK Athletics, Inc., founded in 1989. World-renowned for his legendary work with elite champions including Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, and hundreds of other NFL, MLB, NBA, and Olympic athletes. He is the preeminent authority on the science and art of mental and physical dominance and achieving excellence. He's also the bestselling author of W1NNING & RELENTLESS.

Notes:

•  Cleaners have the ability to achieve the end result over and over. Cleaners know who they are, they know the difference between criticism and feedback, they take control of their story. They know that there is always more to do.
• The Language of Winning & Motivation - ‘In the language of winning, there is no talk of motivation. “Motivation is entry-level, the temporary rush you get from eating too much frosting. Motivation is for those who haven’t decided whether to commit to their goals, or how much time, effort, and life they’re willing to invest to achieve them.”
• The Dark Side turns your anger into controlled rage. High performers know how to control and use their dark side to be in control. It's not evit. It's what's unique to you.
• The vocabulary test  Tim gives his -- “Describe winning in one word.” Some of the answers he receives: Glorious, Euphoric, Success, Domination, Achievement. Not bad. The answers he receives from champions:  Uncivilized. Hard. Nasty. Unpolished. Dirty. Rough. From Kobe? Everything.
• "WINNING isn’t heartless, but you’ll use your heart less." Your mind must be stronger than your feelings. "Your feelings keep you in bed."
• “You can’t buy a map to the top. If you could, everyone would be up there. They’re not. The steps to Winning are infinite, and constantly shifting.”
• “Winning requires you to learn, question what you learned, and then learn more.”
• How to push through when you feel bad? "You have to capture little wins. The joy of the wins cannot be attained if you only work when you feel like it."
  • "You have to crave the end result so bad that the work is irrelevant."
• Do Hard Things - Doing hard things creates trust in oneself. Doing the hard work others aren't willing to do builds confidence.
• The phrase "fake it til you make it" - "I hate that phrase. It's so easy to do this on social media and you end up not even knowing who you are. Those people are too worried about how others perceive them."
• His favorite Kobe story - "He's so coachable." He was always asking questions and listening to learn more. "And he always held himself accountable."
• "Confidence is the ultimate drug. And winning is the dealer."
• "The greats always bet on themselves."
• High performers always seem to be the ones reaching out for a coach... Always trying to get better. The average performers don't think they need a coach.
• Winning makes you different. And different scares people. Michael Jordan started lifting weights on game days and people thought he was nuts.
• Knowing what to think versus knowing how to think -- You need to be able to have confidence, challenge other people's thoughts and preconceptions. Don't copy others. Learn and create your own point of view. Your own ideas based on what you've learned.
  • "You can have sight (copy others), but no vision. You need to have a vision."
• Winning is a test with no correct answers.
• "Winning is not a marathon. It's a sprint with no finish line."
  • You don't have the luxury of time. Most people manage time. Don't manage time, manage focus.
• Career/Life advice: Do everything to figure out what you want to do. No job is beneath you. There is no shortcut.

Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more...

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12    https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

James Clear is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, Atomic Habits, which has sold more than 4 million copies worldwide. His writing is focused on how we can create better habits, make better decisions, and live better lives.

Notes:

• “My primary hope is that people find what I write to be useful. As long as someone is able to implement the ideas I share to get the results they want, then I feel like I’ve done my part to make the world a slightly better place.”
• "Working on a problem reduces the fear of it.  It’s hard to fear a problem when you are making progress on it—even if progress is imperfect and slow."
• Action relieves anxiety. We often avoid taking action because we think "I need to learn more," but the best way to learn is often by taking action.
• Lack of confidence kills more dreams than lack of ability. Talent matters—especially at elite levels—but people talk themselves out of giving their best effort long before talent becomes the limiting factor. You're capable of more than you know. Don't be your own bottleneck.
• What looks like talent is often careful preparation. What looks like skill is often persistent revision.
  • You need volume before intensity. The bad days are more important than the good days. You need to maintain consistency.
• Preparation for a lawyer:
  • Most cases are won long before you enter a courtroom. You must be willing to prepare.
• Question James asks to those who are pitching him a TV show or movie for Atomic Habits:
  • What causes a similar show to succeed? ("I don't think people are serious enough about succeeding.")
  • "Having a plan almost always serves you even if it doesn't go according to plan."
• A+ work - Good enough is ok for most things. For creators, doing A+ work is crucial.
• Be “selectively ignorant.” Ignore topics that drain your attention. Unfollow people that drain your energy. Abandon projects that drain your time. Do not keep up with it all. The more selectively ignorant you become, the more broadly knowledgeable you can be.
• At multiple points this year, the top 3 read books on Amazon were: 1) A Promised Land by President Barack Obama 2) Atomic Habits by James Clear, and 3) Becoming by Former first lady, Michelle Obama... I asked James, what is it like to see your work amongst the world's most powerful people? "It's been a wild few years!"
• The best marketing strategy? Excellent work
• Read Scott Young's article, Do The Real Thing
• There are 3 primary drivers of results in life:
  • Your luck (randomness).
  • Your strategy (choices).
  • Your actions (habits).
  • Only 2 of the 3 are under your control. But if you master those 2, you can improve the odds that luck will work for you rather than against you.
• A Chilean saying: "Criticizing a musician is easy, but it is more difficult when you have a guitar in your hand." -- Don't criticize someone else unless you're willing to do the work.
  • Be known as a champion for great ideas versus someone who is against something.
• "The more comfortable I am with myself, the less I feel a need to win arguments with other people."
  • Peer pressure applies when you don't know who you are.
• Fame - "I have no interest in being famous. I want to be known by brand, not by face."
  • What he learned from a cab driver in Singapore about fame: "They have the name and not the life. We have the life and not the name."
• The Cardinal Rule of Behavior Change: What gets rewarded, gets repeated. What gets punished, gets avoided. Don’t reward behavior you don’t want to see repeated.
• The easy way is often the hard way. Shortcuts, one-sided deals, and selfish behavior create debts. You only look like a winner until the bill comes due. Short-term actions become long-term frustrations. In hindsight, the hard way only seems slow in the moment.
• "The target audience is always the same: myself. I like Morgan Housel's line, "Writing for yourself is fun, and it shows. Writing for others is work, and it shows."
• Life/Career Advice:
  • Questions are better than advice... Ask these questions:
    • What am I optimizing for?
    • Can my current habits carry me to my desired future?
    • What am I really trying to achieve?
    • What do I really want?
    • Go fast - "Don't rush, but don't wait."

Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more...

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12    https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

Jay Clouse leads Community Experience for Smart Passive Income. He joined Smart Passive Income in December 2020 after SPI acquired his private community and virtual accelerator, Unreal Collective. You will notice it sounds different from all of my other episodes.

Notes:

• Commitment: “You don’t need to be uniquely talented or creative to make a living as a creator. But you need to be committed."
• "A creator makes an asset for the purpose of being consumed and creating value for both the consumer and the creator.” -- Leaders need to be creators -- They create/build culture. They need to be effective communicators, writers, they need to create a vision and inspire people…
• The WHY: “I created Creative Elements to bridge the gap between art and business by talking to high-profile creators about the nitty-gritty of building their creative career.”
• Community - “A group of people with commonality – shared interests, values, or beliefs.” -- Community traces back to the late 14th century, with both French and Latin roots. “Community” was used to describe “a number of people associated together by the fact of residence in the same locality” as well as “the common people."
• Sales -- "Sales is a scorecard for storytelling."
• Culture - “Culture is the sum of behaviors you tolerate and reward over time.”
• Patience & Commitment - “The effort of earning an independent income, regardless of path, takes a lot of patience and commitment. Those words aren’t sexy and they aren’t fast. But they are reliable.”
• In 2019, Jay produced a feature-length documentary called Test City, USA about the growing startup ecosystem in Columbus, Ohio.
• A+ work - A Power law. The #2 result gets half as much as the #1 result. When creating something, shoot for A+ quality work.
  • The test: When someone sees it, they can't help but comment on it, share it, and tell their friends.
• You want to start a podcast?
  • Why are you doing this?
  • What's the format?
  • How can you market it?
  • Audio needs to sound great
• The Juice = feedback from listeners that your show has helped them.
• Authenticity - You need to feel aligned and comfortable with your voice on air.
• Wabi-sabi is the view or thought of finding beauty in every aspect of imperfection in nature. It is about the aesthetic of things in existence, that are “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete”
• Life/Career advice:
  • It takes time to forge your own path
  • Get in touch with what you want
  • Trial and error - view it as a series of experiments
  • Get your WHO right

Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12  https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

McKeel Hagerty is the CEO of Hagerty. Hagerty is an American automotive lifestyle and membership company and the world’s largest provider of specialty insurance for classic vehicles. He is the former Chair of Young President's Organization (YPO). YPO is a global leadership community of extraordinary chief executives — more than 30,000 members from 142 countries. McKeel is also a Co-Founder and General Partner at Grand Rapids, Michigan-based venture capital firm Grand Ventures.

Notes:

• Arete is a concept in ancient Greek thought that, in its most basic sense, refers to "excellence" of any kind. This meaning was related to the idea of the fulfillment of purpose or function, the act of living up to one’s full potential. 
• In his early twenties, Mckeel planned to be a Russian Orthodox priest. He earned his master’s degree in theology from Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary in Yonkers, New York.
• Why McKeel tracks everything:
  • "I noticed that people who accomplished a lot kept track of their life." He tracks: sleep, exercise, diet, goals, and more
    • Think, "What am I trying to do?"
  • "We are in the golden age of habit formation."
  • "The best leaders are constantly looking for better ways to do things."
  • "Intrinsic motivation is imperative for happiness."
  • "I'm inspired by what I see in others." -- The spirit of the craftsman
• In 1999, Hagerty had 35 employees... They now have 1,600.
• The lightning bolt moment - McKeel went to a YPO branding conference at Nike. And learned about how Nike viewed branding.
  • "Nike is the spirit of the sport." -- Think more like a club than a company.
  • McKeel created a membership organization and media brand as part of his business.
• Leadership "Must-Haves"
  • Growth mindset - you are not a finished product
  • "I don't believe in work-life balance. You get life."
  • Curiosity in the interview process
  • They need to understand what they will need to learn along the way
• The power of YPO:
  • 30,000 members
  • It's operational leaders doing work with people
  • It's a wholistic view of life
  • The Learning Leader Show is tightly in line with YPO
  • In 2016, McKeel was elected Chairman
• Keys to a great YPO group:
  • Holistic leaders (business, personal, family)
  • Egos checked at the door
  • Vulnerability and generosity are the keys to breakthrough leaders
• McKeel has interviewed some of the world's most notable leaders (Hillary Clinton, Sheikh Mohamed of Dubai, Paul Kagame, Prime Minister Lee of Singapore)
• His writing practice:
  • General Eisenhower would sit alone and write out his thoughts... Ask yourself, "What's the narrative here?"
  • Write summaries of what you learn from books, podcasts, videos, articles...

Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more...

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12  https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

Jon Gordon is the author of 23 books including 10 best sellers. His books include the timeless classic The Energy Bus which has sold over 2 million copies, The Carpenter which was a top 5 business book of the year, Training Camp, The Power of Positive Leadership, The Power of a Positive Team, The Coffee Bean, Stay Positive, and The Garden.

• How to be a great teammate:
  • Put the team first
  • "We not me"
  • Superstars make the people around them better
• Get tactical (be a great teammate):
  • Look for opportunities for the betterment of the team
  • Work hard, build a foundation of trust, communicate well, connect with each team member, CARE about them
  • Encourage means to "put courage into them."
• "Leadership is a transfer of belief."
• Use 'positive discontent." "Love tough instead of tough love."
  • "Trust is the currency of leadership."
• Change Management (learned from Dabo Sweeney)
  • Know what the culture stands for
  • Know what you value
  • Set standards (non-negotiables)
  • Create your vision and purpose -- WHY are you doing it?
  • Get buy-in
  • Optimism and belief are vital
  • Must develop relationships
    • "People follow the leader first and the vision second."
• Ask: "Are they connected and committed?"
  • A great leader wants their team members to get promoted
• Culture is not static. It's dynamic. It must be built every day. "It's not one thing. It's everything."
• Jon wrote The Energy Bus in three weeks. And it changed the trajectory of his life.
• Don't be carrots or eggs... Be coffee beans. Be able to "transform the environment."
• 10 Life Rules of Row The Boat:
  • #2: Trained behavior creates boring habits, boring habits create elite instincts.
  • #3 You win with people, not just players--- people who make their life about others.
  • #5 The hardest part about being the standard is that you are the standard all the time.

Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more...

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

Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12  https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

Notes:

Bert Bean is the CEO of Insight Global. Insight Global is a 3.3 Billion Dollar staffing company that focuses on living its shared values and empowering people. started with Insight Global in 2005 as a Recruiter and has since worked his way up within the company, exemplifying Insight Global’s “promote from within” culture. Bert was announced as Insight Global’s CEO on January 13, 2018. According to Comparably, Insight Global and its executive team (led by Bert and Sam) have been rated as an A+ by their employees.

Sam Kaufman is the Chief Revenue Officer of Insight Global. Sam began his career at Insight Global as an Entry Level Recruiter in 2004, and he has earned many promotions throughout his career. Sam’s mission day in and day out is to improve and grow as a leader in sales so that he can help his people develop personally and professionally.

Notes:

• Don't Bury The Lede -- The purpose of this episode is to announce that we (Insight Global + The Learning Leader) are formally working together. Insight Global will be the presenting sponsor of all episodes moving forward and I will work with the leaders at Insight Global.
• Changing the culture -- In 2017, employee turnover was 40%. Bert took over as CEO in January 2018. The current turnover is 14%.
• Fortune Magazine ranked Insight Global as one of the best workplaces for both millennials and women.
  • 70% of leadership promotions in 2019 were for women
• The impact of episode #242 with Daniel Coyle
  • "A leader at a Private Equity conference told me to listen to your episode with Dan Coyle. I did and it changed the trajectory of our company."
• Why Bert is a great CEO (according to Sam):
  • "Bert gives everything to his people. He wakes up at 4:00 am every day to handwrite notes to people. He cares so much about developing people."
• Why Sam is a great leader (according to Bert):
  • "Sam is super driven. Extremely hard worker... And cares about his people. He's also willing to take a risk and bet on himself."
• Insight Global has a "promote from within" culture.
  • "We are the ultimate growth mindset business."
• "We must invest in training and developing our people." I will be helping with Insight Global University, Leadership Academy, and providing feedback for leaders within the business.
• Bert -- "I love aligning with grinders."
  • The "Bert voicemail" -- "When I see something I want, I love being a bad negotiator and just telling them."
  • "I believe in first WHO, then what. That's why I want to work with you."
  • "We want you to remain independent and out in the market giving speeches and learning from leaders outside of Insight Global. We value you having fresh eyes to help us."
• The Utah Offsite retreat:
  • Rented a big house with 28 leaders and rebuilt the value system and the culture
    • "We all got in a big circle and shared our lowest moment and highest moment. There were a lot of tears... And we came together in the moment."
  • Legendary leader -- "Kirby was dying from cancer. He couldn't walk. The cancer was eating his bones and he flew out there to be with us. He means everything to us. He is the ultimate example of grit." Kirby died a few months after that off-site meeting.
• Leadership "must-haves"
  • Sam - Three things.
    • You have to care - You won't follow someone who doesn't care about you.
    • High character - Must earn the respect of your peers. Do the right thing all of the time.
    • You're there to serve - "Don't think of leadership as power. Think of it as a burden. A massive responsibility."
  • Bert - "You can't be a bullshit leader. Must be authentic. Not a phony. People see through that. You must take care of and develop people in your charge."
• The Insight Global shared values:
  • Everyone matters
  • We Take Care of Each Other
  • Leadership is Here to Serve
  • High Character and Hard Work
  • Always Know Where You Stand
• Purpose - “Our purpose is to develop our people personally, professionally, and financially; so they can be the light to the world around them.” - Bert Bean

Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more...

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12  https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

Julia Galef is co-founder of the Center for Applied Rationality. She is the author of The Scout Mindset: Why Some People See Things Clearly and Others Don't.

Notes:

• What is the scout mindset? “The motivation to see things as they are, not as you wish them to be.”
• The Scout Mindset allows you to recognize when you were wrong, to seek out your blind spots, to test your assumptions and change course. It’s what prompts you to honestly ask yourself questions like “Was I at fault in that argument?” or “Is this risk really worth it?” As the physicist Richard Feynman said: “The first rule is that you must not fool yourself – and you are the easiest person to fool.”
• The three prongs:
  • Realize that trust isn't in conflict with your other goals
  • Learn tools that make it easier to see clearly
  • Appreciate the emotional rewards of scout mindset
• She closes her TED talk with this quote from Antoine de Saint-Exupery: "If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea."
  • "The biggest bottleneck is not knowledge. It's motivation. You need to cultivate the motivation to see things clearly."
• “Julia Galef is an intellectual leader of the rationalist community, and in The Scout Mindset you will find an engaging, clearly written distillation of her very important accumulated wisdom on these topics.” -- Tyler Cowen
• We should assume that we are wrong. We need to build the skill to change our mind. "Our goal should be to be less wrong over time."
• How do you work on this?
  • The key principle is the way you think about being wrong. "Don't accept the premise that being wrong means you screwed up."
• Jeff Bezos left his job on Wall Street to start Amazon and acknowledged the uncertainty. He estimated that his idea had about a 30% chance to work.
• The Scout versus Soldier mindset:
  • A lot of times, humans are in a soldier mindset - "Belief was strong, unshakeable, opposed argument. A soldier is having to defend."
  • Scout mindset - survey and see what's true. Form an accurate map.
• Practical application: Be cognizant how you seek out and respond to criticism.
  • Don't ask leading questions. Recognize the tendency to describe the conflict accurately.
• Also... Not all arguments are worth having. Show signals of good faith.
• Distinguish between two kinds of confidence:
  • Social - Poised, charismatic, relaxed body language, be worth listening to
  • Epistemic - How much certainty that you have in your views
• Persuade while still expressing uncertainty:
  • "I think there's a 70% chance this won't work."
• Lyndon Johnson - Need to understand why someone wouldn't agree with you...
• We are all the sum of our experiences... Approach people, places, and things with curiosity
• Life/Career advice:
  • You're creating a brand - Be conscious of the type of people you're attracting. Work to attract those that make you a better version of yourself.
  • Make the choice to attract people who like intellectual honesty like Vitalik Buterin (founder of Ethereum)

Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more...

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12  https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

Dr. Ron Friedman is an award-winning psychologist who has served on the faculty of the University of Rochester and has consulted for political leaders, nonprofits, and many of the world’s most recognized brands. His first book, The Best Place to Work, was selected as an Inc. Magazine Best Business Book of the Year. His most recent book is called, Decoding Greatness: How the Best in the World Reverse Engineer Succes.

Notes:

• When Michael Dell was 16 years old, his parents bought him an Apple Computer. And they were horrified by what he did next... He took it apart to learn how to build it. He was curious. Excellent performers don't passively observe. They take action.
• When you encounter an awesome memo or speech, try to identify why it was remarkable... And then see how you can implement what you've learned to do the same.
• Nature vs. Nurture? "It's both."
• The stories we've been told are wrong: That it takes talent + practice. That's only part of the story.
  • It's thinking in formulas and becoming a collector.
• "Identify what works and turn it into a template for yourself."
• A presidential speechwriter like Jon Favreau (President Obama's speechwriter) would study the greatest presidential speeches in history as he wrote...
  • Reverse outlining - Take a finished product and reduce it to small paragraphs. Read the transcript and identify the emotion.
• There are six main narratives for main characters...
• The analysis comes after collection. Identify what's extraordinary... And then create a template. Create metrics and rate your work.
  • "Measurement begets improvement."
• This requires a mindset of curiosity (like Michael Dell)
• Think in "blueprints."
  • How does this work?
  • How do I recreate it?
• President Obama initially was not a good politician... He observed pastors at churches. He started using repetition and pausing for effect to improve his ability to give compelling speeches.
• How are Chipotle and Starbucks similar?
  • "They think in blueprints." The creators of Chipotle knew that people love burritos, but there wasn't a fast way to get great ones. They created a blueprint. The leaders at Starbucks modeled their buildings after Italian coffee bars. It's "pattern-thinking."
• Tom Petty didn't watch Bruce Springsteen because he felt they were too similar. He didn't want to outright copy him.
• Ron reads fiction to help him become a better storyteller and use cliffhangers in his non-fiction writing.
• Visualization - Why does it not work? "It can give you temporary satisfaction and lead to you not working as hard for the goal. You feel as if you already achieved it." "Visualize the process instead of the outcome."
• The UCLA Study:
  • Visualize the process
  • Practice in the past - Be reflective, use a journal, look back at previous entries
  • Deliberate practice - It needs to be hard and you need feedback from an expert. Practice in different locations. Novelty is important.
• This allows you to be more present in the moment...
• Sign up for improv classes
• Find a hobby that has an overlap with what you do (if you're a manager, join toastmasters to become a better public speaker)
• Tinder algorithms - They predict who you'll find attractive. It looks for commonalities... The takeaway?
  • Start a collection intake engine. Curate what that contains and what you exclude.
• Ritz Carlton obsesses over metrics. They understand that what gets measured gets managed. They optimize for their net promoter score (NPS).
• The links that are drivers to outcomes... For Ron, he needs to do cardio to get into creative mode. To do great cardio, he needs great sleep. To get great sleep, he needs regular massages. It's a chain of events to get the optimal outcome. Figure out what that is for you.
• How to give a great Ted Talk? Ron reverse engineered the most watched talk... Here is what he found:
  • Ken Robinson used one fact
  • He had lots of anecdotes
  • There were LOTS of jokes (and they were funny)
  • The storytelling drives the whole talk
• Taking risks -- Ron learned this from his grandmother and dedicates his work to her. He was born in Israel and moved to New York when he was 7. His grandmother would go door to door selling the services of her husband (he was a dentist).
• "The more risks we take, the more likely we are to succeed."
• Life/Career advice:
  • Take more risks
  • Optimize for your relationships... And your spouse is the most important relationship
• Apply to be part of my Leadership Circle

Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more...

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12  https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

Sebastian Junger is the #1 New York Times Bestselling author of THE PERFECT STORM, FIRE, A DEATH IN BELMONT, WAR, TRIBE, and FREEDOM. As an award-winning journalist, a contributing editor to Vanity Fair, and a special correspondent at ABC News, he has covered major international news stories around the world and has received both a National Magazine Award and a Peabody Award. Junger is also a documentary filmmaker whose debut film "Restrepo", a feature-length documentary (co-directed with Tim Hetherington), was nominated for an Academy Award and won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.

Notes:

• Human beings need three basic things in order to be content: they need to feel competent at what they do; they need to feel authentic in their lives, and they need to feel connected to others.
• Definition of Freedom: “We walked 400 miles, and most nights we were the only people who knew where we were. There are many definitions of freedom, but surely that’s one of them.”
• Running a company versus LEADING a company -- “You can run a company or lead a company. If you want to lead a company, you have to make sure that when things take a downturn, as the leader you’ll be the first to experience the downside. Before jobs get cut, you’ll take a pay cut, you will suffer with the people you lead.” One great example of this is Chobani founder Hamdi Ulukaya. All employees are part owners of the company. He comes from a family of Nomadic Sheep farmers from the Turkish mountains. He learned a collective approach to life and work where he grew up.
• “When people are actively engaged in a cause their lives have more purpose... with a resulting improvement in mental health."
• How becoming a dad (at age 55) changed his life: "they are the point of life."
• Sebastian's dad was a refugee from two wars... War has had a significant impact on his life.
• As Sebastian grew up, he decided he wanted to be a journalist and cover wars. He went to the Civil war in Bosnia.
• Guts - "Most scary things are more frightening before you go. I have a formidable capacity for denial."
• People want to feel like they have agency. They're more scared when they feel that they don't have it.
  • Front line vs backline soldiers - The backline soldiers are scared because they feel like they don't have as much agency as the front line (even though the front line is more dangerous). Uncertainty is scary.
• To help with fear, go in front of your mirror and make the "fear grimace" face...
• When Sebastian was competing in track events for the 1500m race, he would yawn in the faces of his opponents to intimidate them
• Freedom - We aren't subject to the whims of the largest male in a group anymore... You remain free by being mobile
• He organized his new book, Freedom, in three parts: Run -- Fight -- Think
• Sebastian went on a walking trip and called it, "The Last Patrol." - They walked on a railroad from Washington DC to Philadelphia and then Pittsburgh
  • "Met America from inside-out"
• What did he think about at night when he went to sleep outside during "The Last Patrol?"
  • "Always thought safety first." "The most meaningful experiences happen when I'm physically dirty and security wasn't guaranteed."
• How to help your children push their edges?
  • "We traveled to Liberia with our daughter."
  • "The core value children value is closeness. We sleep on a mattress on the floor with our daughters. They want to be close."
• Collaboration/Working together -- Football and the military. The football locker room is a beautiful place. It’s democratic. People join from diverse backgrounds. And create a common goal. A theme of collaboration. A “we can’t win games without each other.” And when it comes together it’s a magical feeling. 
  • There must be a core commitment to the group. "Being ego-driven is an emotional burden."
• Commonalities of leaders who sustain excellence:
  • Principle driven - In politics, democracy should be #1
  • Sacrifice own interest for the group
• Life/Career Advice -- FAIL. If you’re only doing things you know you can do then you’re never near your limits. In order to grow, you have to push those limits. And sometimes that means you’ll fail. That’s ok.

Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more...

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12  https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

Sean Covey is President of FranklinCovey Education. He is a New York Times best-selling author and has written several books, including The 6 Most Important Decisions You’ll Ever Make, The 7 Habits of Happy Kids, and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, which has been translated into 20 languages and sold over 4 million copies worldwide. Sean's dad is Stephen R. Covey, the author of one of the most sold books of all time (more than 30 million copies), The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

Notes:

• Sean played Quarterback at BYU -- Led the team to two bowl games and twice selected as ESPN’s Most Valuable Player of the Game.
  • What he learned from his time as a QB:
    • How to prepare
    • How to "do hard things" - "Your zone of comfort expands because the hard things aren't as hard anymore."
    • Importance of a system - Rigorous practice, filming of the practice, reviewing of the work. Daily.
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People came out in 1989... It had a tepid release and then exploded. It changed the lives of the Covey family. Sean said his dad Stephen (the author of The 7 Habits) was "very genuine... A better husband and dad than a writer. H was very congruent. He had the power of principles. There was no hypocrisy."
• How do you handle yourself when talking to a person who has a powerful position?
  • "Treat the garbage collector and the CEO with an equal amount of respect."
• 4 Disciplines of Execution:
  • Focusing On The Wildly Important Goals (WIG) - Exceptional execution starts with narrowing the focus— clearly identifying what must be done, or nothing else you achieve really matters much.  -- Example: JFK has one of the best examples ever: "Send a man to the moon and return him home safely by the end of the decade." It was one goal. There was a starting line and a finish line.
  • Act on Lead Measures – Golden rule of execution: Identify lead measures. Twenty percent of activities produce eighty percent of results. The highest predictors of goal achievement are the 80/20 activities that are identified and codified into individual actions and tracked fanatically. Lag Measures are the end goal.
  • Keep A Compelling Scoreboard -People and teams play differently when they are keeping score, and the right kind of scoreboards motivate the players to win.
  • Create A Cadence of Accountability -Each team engages in a simple weekly process that highlights successes, analyzes failures, and course-corrects as necessary, creating the ultimate performance-management system.
• Goal setting - There are two kinds of strategies:
  • Deliberate strategies
  • Emergent strategies - "Be ready for waves that might hit you... And knock you in a better position."
• With goal setting, remember the phrase "No Involvement, No Commitment." Involve your team to set their own goals. Don't set the goals for them.
• Advice to parents with teenagers:
  • Have a purpose as a family
    • Set values
    • Write a mission statement
  • Have 1:1 time with kids
• Career/Life advice:
  • Have a plan... But be flexible
  • Live according to your principles, values, and mission statement
  • Create a credo of your own

Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more...

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12  https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

The 3 things Scott told his daughter Kiraat a YPO event...

• Family, Family, Family
• It will always be ok. Things will go bad. It will be ok.
• Anything, anytime - "you can always call, text, FaceTime, no matter what. I am here for you."

• Scott's 4-part process to become more present:
  • Find perspective
  • Seek authentic feedback
  • Cultivate reflective strength
  • Love your leadership constitution
• Public failure: Scott started a business with Seth Berger, founder of AND1, basketball shoes. HoopsTV. Raised $14 million from investors… Eventually failed, had to lay off 50 people, including his own brother(!)
• The good old days are today (scene from the office (Ed Helms)  Andy Bernard: “I wish there was a way to know you're in "the good old days" before you've actually left them.”
• Scott got fired from his role as President of Madison Square Garden. He says it was because he was "too busy being right instead of being effective."
• Scott is a change agent and values performance more than experience
• Watch the Battle at Kruger video (Scott shared this with the team)
• "To do great things, you have to be confident"
• Need to focus on "WMI." What's Most Important
• "Work-life balance does not exist. Beware of the mediocre middle."
  • "Life is about tradeoffs"
• The most effective leaders seek authentic feedback and are able to hear it.
• Ask yourself, "Who have you connected to in the last month?"
• Behaviors of Excellence:
  • Be your authentic self - "Be you. People follow authenticity."
  • Work unreasonably hard.
  • Intellectually curious - "The world is changing so fast."
  • Passionate - "Fall in love with it."
• All executives at the Philadelphia 76ers are challenged to declare who they are at their core in the form of a leadership constitution. Anyone can—and should—create one by answering the following two questions: 1. I declare that I am... and 2. You can count on me to...
• Scott's leadership constitution:
  • I declare that I am a passionate and authentic leader of leaders who feels a gravitational pull towards talent and character. I wear my heart on my sleeve. I love people and being part of a team. I get energy from helping others and would give the shirt off my back to a stranger and anything, anytime to a friend. I am family first, high integrity, and surprisingly sensitive change agent who is confident, caring, and intellectually curious. This fuels a competitive drive that at times feels like a chip on my shoulder.
  • You can count on me to bring positive energy into my space. Exude urgency and push you, challenge you, nudge you and raise the bar beyond your expectations, and sometimes what you think reasonable. Laugh with you, cry with you, love you even when you won’t laugh, haven’t cried, and don’t feel loved. Root for you today, every day, and always. Share the most personal of thoughts, emotions, stories, highs, and lows because I am okay with it and who I am. Enjoy the rollercoaster of life, whether we are going forward, backwards and upside down. Drive hard to reach the summit and then quickly start on another mountain. Share wins and take hits for losses

Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more...

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12  https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

Mark Scharenbroich is an Emmy award winner, best-selling author, and hall of fame keynote speaker. He is known for his authentic delivery, his talent for delivering unique stories, and his comedic timing. He's the author of Nice Bike: Making Meaningful Connections on The Road of Life.

Notes:

• Nice Bike. It’s not a technique, it’s a genuine interest in others and the willingness to acknowledge the talents and accomplishments of everyone.
• The three parts to story-telling: Stories need to be unpredictable, they need to have a hook, and they have to have a cast of characters.
• While in college at St Cloud State, Mark toured high schools and colleges with a comedy troupe called Mom’s Apple Pie which helped him develop his comedic timing and ability to improv.
• While on a trip to Washington DC with his dad, Mark witnessed his dad walking up to a couple of Vietnam veterans and saying, "Thank ya fellas. Welcome home." The moment was unforgettable to Mark as he witnessed what it meant to be grateful for others and to connect with them.
• The "dark chocolate" that Mark's daughter gave to a struggling stranger at the airport. "We don't have to fix all the problems, but acknowledge others, see them, and try to connect with them."
• The CEO of Cargill said it's not a secret what leaders need to do:
  • State where we're going
  • State how we're going to get there
  • Show that you have your team's back
  • Show that you care about your team as people
• Leaders must always be in the trenches and learning... And work to create memorable experiences for the people they are leading
• How to give a great toast at a wedding or eulogy at a funeral?
  • Remember it's not about you, it's about the bride and groom
  • Be story-driven
  • The power of three - "She's about faith, family, and friends" and then tell a short story about each of the three
• What Mark learned from a "meat raffle"
  • You have to buy a ticket for a shot to win
  • You must be present to win
• The same is true for leadership. You have to be engaged and take the chance to do it. You must be present with your team.
• Be a "day-maker." Instead of just being a barber or a stylist, work to make your client's day by giving them an amazing haircut.
• BWCA - Leave the area better than you found it... A great rule for life.
• Core values - "When your core values are clear, decisions are easier."
• Comparison - Compare yourself to your previous self. Be grateful for what you have. Someone else will always have more crayons. Focus on your crayons.
• Advice to those who think they aren't creative. You are... You have to find the stories. Focus on four columns
  • People you've had experiences with
  • Experiences you've had
  • Lessons learned
  • Application to the lives of others
• Roberta Jordan: "It's more important to be interested than interesting."
• Life advice -- "Leave a tip for the staff who cleans your hotel room."

Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12  https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

Hubert Joly is a senior lecturer at the Harvard Business School and the former Chairman and CEO of Best Buy.
He is the author of the upcoming book “The Heart of Business – Leadership Principles for the Next Era of Capitalism.”

Notes:

• In May 2012. Jim Citrin, the leader of the CEO practice at Spencer Stuart, the global executive search company, asked Hubert, “Would you be interested in being the next CEO of Best Buy? 
• Issues at Best Buy were all self-inflicted. Hubert realized there was an opportunity to fix it...
• Hubert's "5 Be's" of leadership are purpose, values, clarity, authenticity, and service.
• "My purpose in life is to make a positive difference on people around me." - Hubert Joly
• "If you cannot go outside, go inside. Leadership starts from within."
  • Work to be the best version of yourself
• Ask your people, "What is your dream?" -- "My job as a leader is to help you achieve your dreams."
• "We're the captains of our lives."
• "Profit should be an outcome, not a goal."
• The 3 imperatives in sequential order:
  • Great people
  • Great customers
  • Make money
• Remember that 98% of questions that are either/or should be AND's...
• Key Philosophy:
  • Pursue a noble purpose
  • Put people at the center
  • Embrace all stakeholders
  • Leaders must create the environment to unleash the magic
• What Hubert learned at McKinsey:
  • The emphasis in the early years was on solving problems.
• In 2012, when Hubert joined Best Buy, he hired an executive coach. Why? "100% of the top 100 tennis players have a coach." We all need a coach.
• "It sends a powerful message when the CEO has a coach." It shows that he understands he needs help. We all do.
• Must-Have leadership qualities:
  • Knowing people... Who are they? What drives them? How do they want to be remembered?
  • "Tell me about your soul" --
• Accept imperfections of self and others
• How to turn around a business by putting people first and reducing headcount as a last resort.
• How to unleash “human magic” for outcomes that defy logic. This includes an actionable commitment to diversity and inclusion, such as the “reverse” mentor program that pairs Best Buy executives with employees who help broaden their understanding of differences and issues they face.
• How to become a purposeful leader focused on creating an environment in which others can flourish and perform at their best, and who inspires by showing vulnerability and embracing their and your humanity.
• How to place a noble purpose as the cornerstone of a company’s strategy and concretely embrace and align all stakeholders around that purpose. For Best Buy, that purpose is enriching people’s lives through technology. And it allowed them to form genuine partnerships with the world’s foremost companies, including unlikely allies like Amazon, to the benefit of all. Jeff Bezos, founder, and CEO of Amazon: “Best Buy’s turnaround under Hubert Joly’s leadership was remarkable—a case study that should and will be taught in business schools around the world. Bold and thoughtful—he has a lot to teach.

Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more...

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12  https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

Greg McKeown wrote the New York Times best-seller, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less.  As well as frequently being the #1 Time Management book on Amazon, this book challenges core assumptions about achievement to get to the essence of what really drives success. His latest book is titled, Effortless: Make It Easier To Do What Matters Most.

Notes:

• Essentialism was about doing the right things; Effortless is about doing them in the right way...
• The best free throw shooter ever is not Michael Jordan or Steph Curry… It’s Elena Delle Donne. 93.4%. “If you keep it simple, less can go wrong.”
• The word NOW comes from the Latin phrase, novus homo, which means “a new man” or “man newly ennobled.” The spirit of this is clear: each new moment is a chance to start over. A chance to make a new choice.”
• “Whatever has happened to you in life. Whatever hardship. Whatever pain. They pale in comparison to the power you have to choose what to do now.”
• The question to ask yourself: "What's something essential that you're under investing in?"
  • The second question is: How can you make that effortless?
• Life changes the day you discover residual results
• How to make it effortless? Create a routine so you don't have to think about it.
• The competition to the South Pole -- The difference between Amundsen versus Scott
  • Amundsen -- 15 miles per day, no matter what. The "15 mile march."
  • Scott -- Push to exhaustion every day.
• Amundsen and four others arrived at the pole on December 14, 1911. Five weeks ahead of a British party led by Robert Falcon Scott as part of the Terra Nova Expedition. Scott and his four companions died on the return journey. Amundsen made it to the South Pole and back to base camp without suffering a death in the party.
  • Consistency day in and day out help Amundsen "achieve the goal without particular effort."
• Effortless is about simplification. Ask, "what if it could be easy?"
• Ask: "Is there an effortless way to do this?
• Highland High School Rugby - Won 19 national championships: Systems were put in place
• Consistent systems are the key
• How to deal with the guilt when we don't work as hard?
  • Give your best to what you're doing, but have an open mind to finding a better way to do something
• This book for Greg grew out of agony... His daughter was living an ideal life... And then had health issues that completely changed their family.
• They had two possible paths to help her:
  • The harder, heavier path of 24/7 always on work... OR
  • Easier path of being grateful. Sharing optimism, and live in the state to help re-wire the brain. "Be grateful for every thing possible."
• They chose the latter and Eve got better... How they chose to respond was everything...

Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more...

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12  https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

Suneel Gupta is on faculty at Harvard University. He's the author of Backable - The Surprising Truth Behind What Makes People Take A Chance On You

Notes:

• Let’s start with the obvious -- when lots of people are applying for the same spot, you have to find a way to stand out. You can’t just check a box, you have to leave an impression.  (But backable people “go beyond Google” and dig for insights that other people interviewing for the job may not find. They talk to customers, they attend shareholder meetings, they test-drive the product. (But backable people “go beyond Google” and dig for insights that other people interviewing for the job may not find. They talk to customers, they attend shareholder meetings, they test-drive the product. )
• Suneel comes from a family of highly backable people—including his mother, Damyanti Hingorani, the first woman engineer for Ford Motor Company, and his brother Sanjay Gupta, chief medical correspondent for CNN.
• Reid Hoffman recruited Suneel to Mozilla...
  • Name someone early in your life who backed you. Call them and say 'thank you.'
• Hire "high ceiling" leaders:
  • Suneel was a speechwriter in 2004. He was backstage at the Democratic National Convention. There was a State Senator from Illinois. Suneel watched him speak from behind the curtain. "He created an electric wave of energy when he spoke." It was President Barack Obama.
    • After that, Suneel became obsessed with following the work of the State Senator.
    • He studied President Obama's history and learned that he went from a dry speaker to inspiring through preparation and practice. He worked on his skill to communicate and got better.
• The "It" quality -- People get a job because others want to take a chance on them. They're backable.
• Specifics to make this happen:
  • Play exhibition matches -- Prepare, practice, rehearse
  • They develop a level of mastery so that they don't have to think when it's time to perform. Their preparation allows them to flow
  • Ella Fitzgerald performed in Berlin... She forgot the lyrics and improvised the words for the next half of the song. She rehearsed a lot. That allowed her to perform even when she forgot the words.
• Confidence comes from believing something will go wrong and that you've practiced enough to be able to handle it. "Build your recovery muscle."
• Surround yourself with great people - Early adopters need to feel part of the build.
•  Steer Into Objections. Anticipate three key objections to your idea. When pitching, don’t avoid those objections; steer into them.
• Don’t Pitch Prematurely. Instead of sharing an idea before it’s ready, nurture it until you’re ready. It’s not charisma that convinces people, it’s conviction.
• Don’t Overshare. Share what it could be, not how it has to be. Share just enough to get the essence of your idea across, then open up the conversation.
• Build Your Backable Circle. Don’t rely on just one person to help you with your pitch. Surround yourself with a trusted group of people who bring different perspectives.
• Humans are not risk takers - We do whatever we can to avoid a loss. You need to neutralize that fear.
  • "Don't just talk about why it's new, but why it's inevitable."
• "Backable people convince themselves first. It's not charisma that convinces people, it's conviction."
• "Most new ideas are killed inside hallways. We share too early. Before they're ready. Nurture your ideas behind the scenes. They need an incubation time. Write it out. Draw..."
• Quiet time is so important to hone ideas. It's critical to the creative process
• "Ken Robinson was not that charismatic, but you believed everything he was saying." He believed it first. He had conviction.
• Storytelling - "You need to cast a central character."
  • "Re-write the book for on person as the reader... 'I'm writing this book for my daughter to read.'"
  • "Don't talk about the market, talk about one person."
• Life advice:
  • "Figure out what makes you come alive. I left Groupon and created a list of ideas."

Text LEARNERS to 44222 to learn more...

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12  https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

Erin Meyer is a professor at INSEAD, one of the leading international business schools. Erin conducted an in-depth study with Reed Hastings, Co-Founder and CEO of Netflix, investigating the underlying principles necessary for building a corporate culture that is inventive, fast, and flexible. The results of that research were published in their book No Rules Rules. In 2019, Erin was listed by the Thinkers50, for the second time, as one of the fifty most impactful business writers in the world and in 2018 she was selected by HR magazine as one of the top 30 most influential HR thinkers of the year. 

Notes:

• “Corporate culture can be a mushy marshland of vague language and incomplete, ambiguous definitions. What’s worse, company values — as articulated — rarely match the way people behave in reality.”
• The Netflix culture deck. 127 slides originally intended for internal use but one that Reed Hastings (CEO) shared online in 2009. Sheryl Sandberg called it “the most important document ever to come out of Silicon Valley.” Erin said "I loved the deck for its honesty. And loathed it for its content.”
• "If you want your culture to come alive, you need to avoid speaking in absolutes."
• Instead, use either or…
  • Security or High Performance?
  • Candor or Comfort?
• Why did the Netflix culture deck go viral?
  • "This is a company that tells the truth. It said what it believed. That is rare."
• On May 31, 2015 you got a cold email from Reed Hastings (CEO of Netflix)… Reed told her that he read her book, The Culture Map, loved it, and was having his leadership team at Netflix read it.
• Erin's biggest surprise during her time researching Netflix and writing with Reed?
  • "That management paradigms are hangovers from the industrial era. Previously, the #1 goal was error elimination. That isn't the #1 goal at Netflix. It's innovation."
• Reed Hastings had a company before Netflix called Pure Software. He put in a lot of rules and processes. He realized that "if you dummy proof the system only dummies want to work there." Too many processes can kill flexibility and innovation.
• This is "applicable to any environment where innovation is more important than error prevention."
• "Most rules are put in place to deal with low performers."
• "Instead, create an environment with 'talent density.' Only high performers..."
• Performance is Contagious: Professor Will Felps, of the University of New South Wales in Australia, conducted a study demonstrating contagious behavior in the work environment. He created several teams of 4 college students and asked each to complete a management task in 45 minutes. The teams who did the best work would receive a financial reward of $100. (Bezos: "People are pretty good at learning high standards simply through exposure," writes Bezos. "High standards are contagious. Bring a new person onto a high standards team, and they'll quickly adapt. The opposite is also true)
• The two different types of jobs:
  • Operational - Ice cream scoopers
  • Creative - Rely on your brain
• Pay Top of Market for talent - Matt Thunell (Manager of Original Content) said about Netflix, “We live in a walled-garden of excellence, where everyone is a high performer. You go into these meetings and it’s like the talent and brain power in the room could generate the office electricity. People are challenging one another, building up arguments. That’s why we get so much done at such incredible speed here. It’s because of the crazy high talent density.” With that said, Netflix doesn’t believe in “Pay-Per-Performance” bonuses.
• When you first began to collaborate with Reed to write this book, Erin asked him how he would find the time to collaborate. He said, “Oh, I can give this pretty much whatever time you think it will need.” That surprised Erin... In Reed's mind, the leaders should create a system so that they don't have to be busy, packed with back to back to back meetings...
• Candor -- Giving and receiving feedback
  • Top performers regularly help other top performers get better by giving feedback
  • At Netflix, they do live 360 feedback dinners -- Go around the table giving feedback for each person.
• The 4 A method of feedback:
  • Aim to assist
  • Actionable - It must be clear what could be done
  • Receive the feedback with gratitude
  • Accept it or decline it... It's not always right. Be grateful for it regardless
• Sustain Excellence:
  • Humility
  • Curiosity to Learn - Never stop learning, never feel like you've mastered it
• Life/Career Advice:
  • Get the talent right
  • Create Candor
  • Eat the cake -- Remove rules and processes
• If you create an open vacation policy (meaning that vacation days are not tracked), it is imperative that the senior leaders lead from the front and go on a lot of vacations. The rest of the team will follow... If you never go on vacation, then your team will feel like they have to do the same.

Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more...

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12  https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

Brook Cupps is a leadership teacher and the coach of the Centerville High School basketball team. In 2021, he led his team to the first state championship in school history. He is best known as a leader who truly lives his core values. They are: Tough, Passionate, Unified, & Thankful.

Notes:

• Brook's personal mantras:
  • Wolf - Wolves travel in packs. They are not good by themselves. They need the pack. BC needs people around him. Loves teams. "Wolves are more badass than lions or tigers. You don't see a wolf in a circus."
  • Chop Wood - "I've never viewed myself as talented, but I'm willing to work. We say chop chop. When things are going well, get to work. When things are bad, get to work. The connection is always back to work."
  • The Man In The Arena - "I had to develop this over time. The critics used to bother me and I would listen to them. It affected my confidence. I learned that the most important opinions are the people in the arena with me." Brene Brown - “A lot of cheap seats in the arena are filled with people who never venture onto the floor. They just hurl mean-spirited criticisms and put-downs from a safe distance. The problem is, when we stop caring what people think and stop feeling hurt by cruelty, we lose our ability to connect. But when we’re defined by what people think, we lose the courage to be vulnerable. Therefore, we need to be selective about the feedback we let into our lives. For me, if you’re not in the arena also getting your ass kicked, I’m not interested in your feedback.”
• Purpose - "My purpose is to inspire others to strive for excellence over success."
• Self awareness leads to self confidence - Know who you are. Be comfortable with who you are. "You can't be tough alone. You need others."
• Foxhole Friends - It takes time to build foxhole friend relationships. "With my foxhole friends, I can be completely open. They tell me the truth. They have the freedom to criticize me."
• Coach Z -- Dave Zeller. “He never won a District. He’s the best coach I’ve ever been around. A state championship isn’t success. It’s the impact you have on the kids because nobody’s going to tell me that those guys that won state championships are better coaches than Z was.”
• Core Values: Values become real when you define the behaviors that exemplify the value...
  • Tough - Positive body language leads you to be fight ready
  • Passionate - Choosing extra work leads you to steal inches
  • Unified - Speaking and acting with urgency leads you to not flinching in big moments
  • Thankful - Showing love for one another through touches (help someone off the floor, give them a five after they make a mistake)
• Unified --  You must speak and act with urgency. "If you choose to remain silent when someone has done something wrong, then that is selfish." Choosing the easier path of not saying anything is selfish. The selfless act is having the guts to speak up when it's needed.
• Patch Adams - "Indifference is the greatest disease of all."
• You need to stand for something or you stand for nothing...
• "Your behaviors are the crux to your values." Do your behaviors match the values you claim to be yours?
• Gabe Cupps (Brook's son) entered the conversation for a few minutes...
  • Gabe sent a text to each player on the team before tournament games that simply said, "We're gonna win."
  • Where does that confidence come from? "It's the work put in leading up to the big moments."
  • Gabe originally tried out for the North Coast Blue Chips AAU team... The same team that Bronny James (LeBron James Jr) played on... During a break in the action, he asked Bronny to play 1 on 1... "I didn't know how good I was. I wanted to see."
  • Gabe earned their respect and made the team... Later LeBron noticed Brook's coaching ability when he was helping out at practice and determined he was the best coach to lead the team moving forward.
  • LeBron's superpower as a leader is "gassing up his guys." He has the ability to create more belief in others through his belief in them. A critical leadership action where LeBron excels...
• What did Brook and Gabe say to each other during their long embrace after winning the state championship? "I just told him how much I loved him."
• Goal setting process -- Brook does not set results oriented goals. He sets process oriented goals. They had no goals to win their conference, or regionals, or the state championship (they won all of those this year). Their goal for this season was:
  • Attack every opportunity with purpose
  • Process based versus Results based? In the world of coaching basketball, there is a clear scoreboard. You have a record. If you lose too many games, you get fired. How does Brook manage that? "If I have a group of guys that are tough, passionate, unified, and thankful... And they attack every opportunity with purpose, we'll probably be pretty good and win a lot. The results usually take care of themselves."
• Honoring those who have come before you: "Drink the water, but remember who dug the well."
• Will you take a charge?
  • This is what he looks for in a teammate. Someone who looks for opportunities to sacrifice for the team.
  • There is a physical sacrifice. "It's gonna hurt. It's an unselfish act to take a charge."
  • "To be all in, you need to take charges."
• High Standards - There was a moment in a game earlier in the season when Centerville was winning 60-24 in the third quarter. Brook's team started playing a little sloppy. Turned the ball over a few times. It was uncharacteristic of their usual play. Brook called a time out and yelled at his team. It was obvious they were going to win (by a lot), but that moment showed me that Brook holds his team to higher standards and won’t allow them to lower even when the opponent isn’t posing a challenge...
  • "You get what you accept. That's my standard. If I ignore that, then I'm not living to my values, and that's not ok with me."
• Creating your values -- "I think as the leader, they need to be your values."
  • "If you go to work for someone else, you need to be bought into their values. If you're not, then you probably shouldn't work there."
  • When interviewing for a job to work for a leader, ask them: "What are your values and how do you live them?
• I noticed after big wins that Brook doesn't join in the pictures with his players... Why?
  • "That's their moment. It's about them. I love watching them enjoy those moments."
• Common traits of foxhole friends: "They may not communicate them the same way I do, but we have a shared appreciation for our values."
• “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.” -- Teddy Roosevelt