Today's teacher is legendary journalist Cal Fussman. Whether you're trying to get your first job or you're leading a large company, your ability to authentically connect with others is one of the most important skills to cultivate. To help us explore this topic, we tracked down Cal, a world-renowned interviewer and storyteller. From his time at Esquire to his podcast, Big Questions, Cal has interviewed nearly every prolific figure imaginable: business icons like Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson, actors including Robert De Niro and Clint Eastwood, sports figures like Muhammad Ali and Serena Williams, and world leaders including several U.S. presidents.

Today, we turn the tables on Cal, putting him in the hot seat that he's accustomed to preserving for his guests, to hear what he's learned from interviewing so many exceptional people, why human connections matter so much, and how we can get better at making them ourselves. Please enjoy our class with Cal Fussman.

Connect & Lead Through Storytelling: Calfussman.com

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

-----

This episode is brought to you by Summus. Summus is a revolutionary health benefits solution, driving superior employee engagement while dramatically lowering your company's enterprise-level healthcare spend. They're completely transforming the world of health benefits by providing employers and their employees in any location, fast access to over 5,100 of the top medical specialists from America's very best medical centers for support across all health questions. If you're looking for a benefit that drives your employee engagement, truly takes care of your people in their most scary and vulnerable times, all while improving your healthcare ROI, visit GoSummus.info/AOI.

This episode is brought to you by Hunt Club. Hunt Club unlocks relationships and helps companies grow. Whether it's recruiting your next hire, landing your next big partner, or financing your business, a trusted introduction always works more effectively. Hunt Club’s tech-enabled search model leverages the largest community of its kind to refer amazing talent on your behalf. Additionally, its software program, Atlas, helps organize the entire network of a company or fund and assists in streamlining the right introductions. If you're looking for the ideal solution for all of your talent needs, visit HuntClub.com/AOI.

-----

Art of Investing is a property of Pine Grove Studios in collaboration with Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Art of Investing, visit staygrovey.com.

Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

Show Notes

(00:04:25) - (First question) - How it all started for Cal

(00:12:20) - Aiming for the heart; how to successfully engage individuals

(00:20:55) - The Mikhail Gorbachev story

(00:28:52) - Examples of other renowned storytellers that Cal has interviewed

(00:32:15) - Shared traits among exceptional individuals that lead to greatness

(00:38:18) - Stories of individuals that exemplify resilience and overcoming hardship

(00:44:09) - A story about Nely Galán

(00:52:22) - A not commonly known fact about the Martin Luther King “I have a dream” speech

(00:57:27) - How to navigate modern society when building authentic human connections has become more challenging

(01:00:49) - Lessons learned from Cal’s friendship with Larry King

(01:06:47) - Cal shares his experiences and insights gained from interactions with Muhammad Ali

Gang Member Shot and Sees Hell