541: Matt Higgins - Burning The Boats, Handling Imposter Syndrome, Investing on Shark Tank, & The Most Important Ingredient To Professional Success
Aug 20, 2023
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Matt Higgins, former executive for the NY Jets and Miami Dolphins, talks about burning the boats and handling imposter syndrome. He shares advice from Daymond John, discusses the influence of his mother's limitless faith, and emphasizes the importance of embracing risk. He also highlights the qualities of effective leaders and explores the concept of burning the boats in his new book.
Take risks and seize opportunities when they arise, instead of settling for what is sustainable.
Embrace discomfort and self-doubt as part of the journey towards success and handle imposter syndrome.
Develop grit, work ethic, and make oneself indispensable by going above and beyond assigned tasks for personal growth and opportunities for success.
Deep dives
The Power of Belief and Taking Action
Matt Higgins shares his life philosophy of not choosing your moments, but believing in and taking action on what you want to do. He emphasizes the importance of not settling for what is sustainable, but instead taking risks and seizing opportunities when they arise.
Lessons from Shark Tank and Embracing Imposter Syndrome
Matt Higgins discusses his experience as a guest shark on ABC's Shark Tank and highlights the four questions to ask oneself when considering making a change. He mentions the advice he received from Damon John on how to handle imposter syndrome and the importance of embracing discomfort and self-doubt as part of the journey towards success.
The Value of Grit and Overcoming Challenges
Matt Higgins shares powerful stories of resilience and determination in his journey, including the influence of his mother and her unwavering faith in his ability to figure anything out. He emphasizes the importance of developing grit, work ethic, and a relentlessness to overcome challenges, regardless of one's background or circumstances.
The Power of Making Yourself Indispensable
Making yourself indispensable is the key to professional success, according to Matt Higgins. He reflects on his own experiences, starting from an early age when he worked at McDonald's and took pride in cleaning gum from under tables. Higgins emphasizes the importance of having confidence and humility. Confidence enables self-reflection and questioning of decision-making, while humility allows for acknowledging and discarding bad ideas. He also advises individuals to make themselves indispensable by going above and beyond their assigned tasks, taking on additional responsibilities, and plugging holes within a team or organization. This approach not only leads to personal growth but also builds self-awareness and creates opportunities for success.
Navigating Career Trajectory and Cultivating Leadership Qualities
Matt Higgins shares insights for individuals looking to shape their career trajectory and become effective leaders. He suggests focusing on the general direction of one's ambitions and making decisions that move closer to those goals. Being self-aware and understanding personal preferences, such as being a creator versus an implementer, a team player versus working in isolation, and being intrinsically motivated versus needing external goal-setting, can guide decision-making. When identifying potential leaders, Higgins looks for a combination of confidence and humility, empathy, problem-solving prowess, and the ability to figure things out independently. He also emphasizes the importance of vulnerability and modeling self-awareness to create cultures of self-awareness within organizations.
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Matt Higgins was an executive for the New York Jets and then the Miami Dolphins. He Co-Founded RSE Ventures with Miami Dolphins owner, Stephen Ross. Matt was a guest shark on ABC’s Shark Tank (seasons 10-11), He is an executive fellow at Harvard Business School, and he recently published a book called, Burn The Boats, Toss Plan B Overboard and Unleash Your Full Potential...
Matt's Mom: “My mother, Linda, died with $100 in her bank account, but I inherited the most valuable gift a parent can give a child: limitless faith in my ability to figure anything out.”
Matt gave the 2019 commencement speech at Queens College – According to Vanity Fair Contributing Editor Paul Goldberger, "This is a magnificent and truly inspiring speech that everyone should read. If you think commencement speeches are made of cliches, this one will change your mind."
The most important ingredient to professional success: “Make yourself indispensable at whatever task you’re doing and you’ll always have a job.”
Research proves that the mere contemplation of Plan B statistically reduces the probability Plan A will ever materialize.
The advice Matt got from Daymond John on how to handle imposter syndrome on his first day of filming Shark Tank: "You belong here because you are here."
How to raise your kids to not be spoiled when you can provide anything they'd ever want?
There is nobility in work. Ensure they do hard things and do real work.
Matt's "must-have" qualities when hiring a leader:
Confidence + Humility
Empathy
They just "figure it out"
They are a servant leader -- They can "plug holes"
Matt's four-step process:
What's the worst that could happen?
If it doesn't work out, what will I do?
What's the probability the bad stuff will happen?
What pain am I willing to endure to make it happen?
"Burn the boats for goals, not tactics."
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