I am the happiest 81 year old person on the face of the earth I get that sense just from it being surrounded by you. If there's one noticeable absence in the world today it's the lack of courageous leadership and if there is ever a time in the history of mankind when we need courageous leadership it's right now. The greatest leaders I've ever been around are focused on constant learning on being a continual learner on being unfollowing their genuine curiosity which has led to success for me.
The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk
Episode #281: George Raveling - Eight Decades Of Wisdom: From Dr. Martin Luther King To Michael Jordan
Show Notes:
- Commonalities of sustaining excellence:
- Growth mindset
- Immense curiosity
- High level of self awareness -- "It starts within"
- Great vision
- Most important = "they execute"
- Relationship lessons learned over eight decades - "Be a giver, not a taker. Try to genuinely help people."
- Develop trust, respect, and care for others -- "It's all about love. Don't keep score. Do the right thing, be kind, but don't keep score or trade favors. That's not how it works."
- Standing next to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr for the "I Have A Dream" speech
- Asking Dr. King for the speech after he finished (and getting it... still has it!)
- Why he won't sell of try to profit from the speech despite it being worth millions
- The power of "showing up early" and "asking for what you want"
- Why Coach reads so much -- "The slave owners used to hide money in books because they knew slaves would never look in the books because they couldn't read." -- "If someone can control my mind, they can control my body. I will not let that happen. Books are my mistress."
- Information = knowledge = wisdom = opportunity = growth = success
- The importance of his upbringing - His dad died when he was 9, his mom was institutionalized when he was 13. He was raised by his grandmother and nuns.
- "My grandmother taught me to be curious. She taught me to ask. She taught me good manners. She taught me humility. She taught me to help people. She was the #metoo movement before the #metoo movement"
- How basketball was the "greatest vehicle for transformation in my life."
- Earned scholarship to Villanova -- When George was first offered a scholarship, he didn't know what that meant.
- Going from player to coach and why he was suited to be a great coach
- Becoming the first African American head coach of the Pac 8 (Pac 12)
- The mindset of thinking of yourself as an educator/teacher
- George is a voracious reader and marks up each and every page of the books he likes (I saw first hand and it's amazing)
- The importance for older people to have 4-5 younger mentors in their life. Ryan Holiday plays this role for Coach.
- The importance of self leadership - "You must take care of yourself before trying to lead others"
- Working at Nike for Phil Knight -- Helping sign Michael Jordan away from Adidas
- Focus on being a great decision maker and seeking out growth opportunities
- Why you don't need a title to be an effective leader
- In order to be promoted, focus on being incredibly great at what you're doing right now
- The 10 realities of life Coach Raveling values most at age 81
- Pushing Coach to write a book about living a great life -- Tweet him to do this!
- Why joining The Learning Leader Circle is a good idea
- Use the "Get To Know You Document"
