Intentional Performers

Stephen Ludwig has amassed over 4 million followers across all platforms. As a young inspirational speaker, he delivered his life story to various audiences through high school. After noticing the extreme growth of social media, he aimed to build a brand that would spread the message of positivity in ways that public speaking simply could not.   Stevo had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include: “Growing up, I needed some sort of person to idolize” (7:10). “When you go through the motions of going in and out of the hospital, you lose a sense of who you are, and you need to find that person to look after. And Kobe was that guy” (7:35). “It was all about competition for me, and Kobe was competition” (9:45). “I’m starting to realize that maybe I went too hard on occasion growing up” (12:55). “Getting through college and seeing the world as a bigger place, I started to slow down and really start showing love and compassion instead of just competitiveness” (13:35). “Every single day I would try to find strength” (14:45). “My superpower is my self-confidence, my ability to just completely and 100% wholeheartedly understand myself and believe in myself” (16:50). “If you spend enough time lying in a hospital bed and starting at the clock, you start to learn who you are inside and out” (17:05). “People can feel a confidence aura from you” (18:15). “We all experience life in a different vision” (20:40). “I always wanted to be the person that could make everyone else laugh in the room” (28:20). “I love my relationships with pain” (29:00). “I always wanted to be a creative; and artist, of sorts” (34:00). “I wanted to embody my own brand” (34:30). “My goal is to be an inspiration to as many people as I can” (35:45). “It’s absolutely incredible that I have the opportunity to reach 4 million people” (37:10). “Every conversation I have, I feel Iike I can learn something” (42:15). “I’ve had to learn how to accept [anxiety days]” (43:05). “Your day-to-day life is completely in your control” (43:40). “I enjoy moments more than planning for the future” (53:30). “I’m basking in comfortability” (57:45). “I enjoy being uncomfortable. That’s why I’m confident in myself (57:55). “Being famous is not cool” (1:02:55).   Additionally, you can check follow Stevo across all social media platforms @stevoluddy. If you’d like to personally connect with Stevo, you can email him (stevoluddy@gmail.com). Thank you so much to Stevo for coming on the podcast! I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers. Thanks for listening.

Vanessa Bohns is a social psychologist, Professor of Organizational Behavior at Cornell University, and author of the book You Have More Influence Than You Think. She is an expert on help-seeking, social influence, compliance, consent, and why it’s so hard to say no.   Vanessa had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include: “Influence is any kind of change in another person’s way of thinking, their emotions, their way of seeing things” (6:40). “You don’t have to be a leader in a leadership position to have influence” (7:00). “Even as a follower, you have a lot of influence” (7:10). “My idea of influence is broader than just leadership” (7:30). “Influence is also these more intimate moments between just you and one other person” (9:20). “Influence comes with responsibility” (11:40). “We’re not very good at telling when someone’s authentic or not, and if we’re hearing what we want to hear we’ll just kind of go with it” (16:30). “When we think about how someone else is going to react to something we say… we really focus on how competently we can express ourselves… to the point where we hold back and wind up saying nothing because we can’t find the right words” (19:05). “People respond much more to the emotion and the act of just saying something than they do to the precise words” (19:55). “Our fears of these negative reactions are so often overblown (22:55). “A lot of influence does happen emotionally and unconsciously” (25:50). “If we a trust a source, it doesn’t really matter what they’re saying on many occasions, we just kind of trust [what they’re saying] because we trust that person” (25:55). “Behavioral contagion is the idea that when we see somebody else doing something, we’re more likely to do it ourselves” (27:20). “Whether it’s a ‘no’ or a ‘yes,’ be mindful about what you agree to” (38:05). “Each time I say yes to one thing, I am saying no to something else” (38:45). “We often think that interactions are going much worse in our head, that we’re having much less of an impact than we’d like, than we actually are” (42:30). “A simple ask is the simplest form of influence. And it’s insanely powerful” (44:10). “It’s so hard to say no” (44:20). “We often hammer things that we are trying to get someone to do so much more than we need to” (47:30). “You don’t need to be so assertive when you’re trying to influence people. You can say something and trust that that message is in there and it will percolate for a while” (48:20). “We tend to underestimate the power of expressing gratitude, both for ourselves and for the other person” (56:00).   Additionally, you can check out Vanessa’s website here and follow her on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. I’d also encourage you to check out Vanessa’s book, You Have More Influence Than You Think: How we underestimate our power of persuasion, and why it matters. Thank you so much to Vanessa for coming on the podcast! I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers. Thanks for listening.

Ryan Lavarnway was originally drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the sixth round in 2008 out of Yale University. Since making his Major League debut in 2011, Ryan has played in parts of 10 Major League Baseball seasons for eight different teams. He has also represented Israel in the Olympics and the World Baseball Classic. More recently Ryan has been building a brand off the field, starting with his podcast and website with more to come!   Ryan had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include: “It always felt like something there was a little something missing [from baseball] until I started to get onto these teams that really came together as a unit” (5:30). “Religion is something that, unless you have a Star of David on your chest and are being persecuted for it, people can’t necessarily tell just by looking” (10:35). “I want the meaning. I crave something deeper” (13:15). “We’re all always finding ourselves” (14:40). “The second that you think you know who you are, don’t close the book. We’re always growing” (14:55). “More important than ‘Who am I?’ is “What do you value and what are you doing about it?’” (15:00). “As I self-identify, I do it from a place of experience” (18:40). “There’s a part of you that needs to be obsessed to be great at anything” (19:20). “Different people need different things to be successful” (20:20). “I thought leadership was about the leader. I thought it was about being the boss. That’s very much not it. Leadership is about the people you lead” (25:55). “The platinum rule says treat other people the way they want to be treated” (27:00). “I loved the service aspect of [being a catcher]” (29:40). “You can’t measure leadership yet” (31:00). “Baseball’s a game of failure” (36:00). “You have to accept that you’re not going to be successful all of the time” (36:25). “You have to make practice difficult” (36:35). “I’m trying to find a way to be aggressively selective, not selectively aggressive” (37:25). “Whatever the genius for you is and however it’s going to come out requires time and space for creativity” (45:00). “It’s really tough to be a good self-evaluator in [the game of baseball]” (49:50). “I think it’s important for people to have an example of someone else that didn’t understand right away and learned later” (56:05). “There’s more than one way to make a decision” (56:30).   Additionally, you can check out Ryan’s website here and follow him on Twitter and Instagram. I’d also encourage you to check out Ryan’s podcast Finding the Way with Ryan Lavarnway, which is available on all major podcast platforms. Ryan also has a children’s book which will be coming out, titled Baseball and Belonging. Lastly, you can find the website for the Spark Brilliance Leadership Accelerator here, with whom Ryan is partnering with as a facilitator. Thank you so much to Ryan for coming on the podcast! I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers. Thanks for listening.

Lauren Fleshman is best known for running fast. But she’s also an entrepreneur, coach, teacher, facilitator, and a heck of a writer. She has an amazing blog which has gained a lot of traction and popularity over the years, and she’s just finished her book, Good for a Girl. That book is really at the core and the center of today’s conversation. In the middle of our conversation today, I actually introduce her bio to her because I was curious to get her perspective on it. If you’re in the running community, you’re probably familiar with Lauren’s work. She’s one of the most decorated American distance runners of all time. She also is a brand strategy advisory for Oiselle, which is a fitness apparel company for women. She was sponsored by Nike for many years, which she talks about at length in the book. She’s also the co-founder (with her husband) of Picky Bars, which is a natural food company. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, Runner’s World, and many other places. She currently lives in Bend, Oregon and is a mother. She is someone who has multiple identities, like many of us. And yet, a lot of her life has been focused on her identity as a runner. This is a wide-ranging conversation that gets into mental health, depression, suicidal thoughts, and more. It’s a heavy conversation, but you’ll find Lauren to be engaging, open, vulnerable, and someone that I am grateful that I got to learn with.   Lauren had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include: “The price that you have to pay to make it work for you can sometimes be a very high cost” (7:00). “Even though I was winning in that system, it made me uncomfortable that so many people in that system were losing and experiencing harm” (7:15). “I don’t assume that things are the way they are for any good reason” (7:30). “Brilliant perspectives can come from outside the scientific community” (7:50). “A lot of the contributions of women in society [are invisible]” (9:00). “There are ways to be successful that minimize harm” (15:25). “It’s okay to want to succeed. It’s not okay to put the blinders on and not look at the harm caused” (15:35). “Being on the same team is how you survive” (19:10). “I want to make something useful out of things I’ve learned that could be picked up by other people and create shifts inside them” (21:10). “I never underestimate the power of a subtle shift in someone” (21:20). “You write for the reader and you write for yourself” (22:20). “Move your body no matter what, and lower the bar of what that means, when you’re having a bad time” (34:30). “Make sure you have people who are available to you who you can be vulnerable with” (34:50). “It’s a hard time to start being vulnerable with someone when you’re feeling super blue. Let people in” (35:10). “Accept that {anxiety} is part of hard things” (37:10). “Lower the stakes. It’s a game” (38:45). “Our ignorance is so collectively great on the female athlete experience, the female body experience, that we are making young people make conclusions about their future in sport or what they’re capable of based on a very short window of their life when their body is changing, and we’re making them afraid of those changes” (43:30). “I’m a very present-focused person” (54:15). “I think [loyalty] is overrated” (55:55). “Agitation is the opposite of calmness” (1:00:00). “Mantras were a way to ground myself in running with predetermined sayings and sentences” (1:00:20). “People call it a mid-life crisis. I call it a mid-life opportunity” (1:07:30). “We’ve got to show our mistakes and our vulnerability in order to encourage other people to look at their own” (1:10:50).   Additionally, you can check out Lauren’s website here. You can also follow Lauren on Instagram. Thank you so much to Lauren for coming on the podcast! I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers. Thanks for listening.

Michelle Curran has led an impressive career as a Fighter Pilot during her 13 years in the United States Air Force. From 2019-2021, she flew as the only female pilot for the Air Force Thunderbirds and performed for millions across the country and internationally. Before joining the Thunderbirds, Michelle was a combat-proven fighter pilot completing missions across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. She has a passion for pushing her limits, inspiring others, and changing lives. As the Lead Solo for the Thunderbirds, Michelle realized the flying was cool, but the best part was inspiring others to overcome their fears and pursue their dreams. Since transitioning out of the military, she has founded her company, Upside Down Dreams, and is committed to empowering men and women of all ages to overcome obstacles and the fear of failure. She has inspired thousands through her passion for breaking barriers and setting the example of what can be accomplished through handwork.   Michelle had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include: “A big part of what I got to do in that job was inspire people” (6:55). “Most of my career I didn’t think I was a good enough pilot to fly in that position” (9:30). “The pandemic acted as a catalyst for me to really reflect on what I wanted” (12:25). “I miss the really unique perspective you get on the world from a cockpit” (15:15). “It’s accepted that mistakes are going to happen. You learn from them. You grow from them. It creates the psychological safety where you build that trust” (25:00). “What you though was a big mistake, to the visual naked eye… you couldn’t tell” (25:40). “Chair flying is our version of visualization… It’s the only way to get to the level of proficiency that you need” (26:30). “You want to put in all the preparation you can so you get as close to perfect as possible. You’re striving for perfect. That’s your target. But we would always say we never have a perfect flight” (30:35). “The whole mission is to recruit, retain, and inspire” (38:20). “I always enjoyed being creative, and there’s not always a ton of space in the military for creativity” (40:30). “Having gender diversity on the team 100% was making the Thunderbirds better able to do their overall mission” (42:05). “There’s some risk that comes to sticking out” (43:20). “My identity as a young pilot was totally wrapped up in my achievements” (48:20). “There’s a lot more to a person than just what they accomplish” (49:05). “My biggest fear was failure for the longest time” (49:15). “Society really condemns quitters” (58:00). “Something you thought would be the ultimate outcome might not take shape like you imagined” (58:30). “Quitting that opened up space for all of these other amazing things that ended up being much more fulfilling and much more of a better fit that would have never been options had I not quit” (59:50).   Additionally, you can check out Michelle’s website here. I’d also encourage you to connect with her on Instagram and LinkedIn. Lastly, you can pre-order Michelle’s children’s book, Upside Down Dreams, here. Thank you so much to Michelle for coming on the podcast! I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers. Thanks for listening.

Clint Hurdle has been involved with professional baseball for a long time. He played in the league for 10 years, where he played for the Kansas City Royals, the Cincinnati Reds, the New York Mets, and the St. Louis Cardinals. And yet, in this conversation, we don’t even discuss his playing career. Instead, we focus more on what life was like for him as a manager. Clint was the manager of the Colorado Rockies from 2002-2009, where he helped them go to the World Series, and then he went to the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he helped them go to 3 straight playoff appearances from 2013-2015. He was with the Pirates from 2011-2019. In this conversation, we talk about transitions, and what it was like for him to go from the Rockies to the Pirates. We talk about what it’s like to be fired. We talk about divorce and his personal life. We talk about trials and tribulations. All along the way, it will become apparent to you that Clint loves to love. He loves to lead, and he loves to lead with love in mind. He considers himself to be a transformational leader. He builds his managerial process and philosophy around leading with relationships in mind, and it’s really at the core of his essence and his being. Clint also is humble enough to talk about some of his imperfections and some of the mistakes that he’s made along the way. You’re going to find Clint to be authentic, and genuine, to be someone you want to sit down next to and just have a conversation with. At the end of this conversation, I hope you have a better sense of who you are and how you might be able to lead with love going forward.   Clint had a number of incredible insights during our conversation. Some of them include: “There’s a time to learn and there’s a time to manage” (5:55). “When I got to the park, that’s when it was time to learn” (6:50). “Once the game started, I would implore my players to go play. That’s why they call it a game” (7:50). “You prioritize before, you prepare before, and once you get to the game, it’s time for me to play. It’s time for me to step back. Watch. Observe.” (8:15). “I was always infatuated with learning” (10:35). “To hold onto anything purely for the sake of tradition probably isn’t the smartest move you can make” (12:10). “Tradition can be a vision killer” (12:20). “Once we’ve made a tactical error, more often than not we overcorrect” (14:30). “The definition of a coach is to get the player better” (16:00). “When you can let people know that you love them unconditionally, you don’t want anything from it, it’s not transactional, it’s transformational, there’s no telling where that relationship can go” (21:05). “How do you earn trust? You show people that you’re there for them” (21:30). “There’s winning, and there’s learning. You only lose when you don’t learn” (28:45). “Play with emotion, don’t play emotionally” (30:00). “We can’t always dictate the circumstances. We always have the opportunity to have ownership of our reactions to the circumstances” (30:20). “There’s times when you need to be a thermometer and just report the temperature, and there’s times when you need to be a thermostat and set the climate” (32:30). “I establish priorities and I set boundaries” (40:45). “Perception is important” (42:50). “How boring would it be to have ten of me on a staff?” (44:00). “When it all becomes about the ring, it doesn’t work well for me” (45:50). “I’m a man of addictions. I have to set boundaries” (50:00). “Other than a dugout, an AA meeting is the most comfortable place I go” (53:05). “Be where your feet are” (55:10). “When you’re home, be home” (55:25). “You’re never as good as you think you are, you’re never as bad as you think you are” (1:00:40). Additionally, you can check out Clint’s website and sign up for his devotionals here. You can also learn more about Bat Around here. Lastly, you can search Prader-Willi syndrome if that is something you’d be interested in learning more about. Thank you so much to Clint for coming on the podcast! I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers. Thanks for listening.

Safi Bahcall is going to come across pretty quickly as someone who is bright. Sharp. Smart. Intelligent. He went to Harvard for undergrad and then went on to get a PhD in Physics from Stanford. He’s an academic, a researcher; someone who loves studying science. After he finished up his education, he went on to work for 3 years as a consultant for McKinsey. He then co-founded a bio-technology company where they develop new drugs for cancer treatment. He led their IPO and served as their CEO for many years. In 2008 he was named Ernst & Young New England Bio-Technology Entrepreneur of the Year. In 2011, he worked with President Obama’s Council of Science Advisors on the Future of National Research. In other words, it’s not just you or me that’s going to notice Safi’s intelligence. His book, Loonshots, which is his first book, has been translated into 21 languages and was selected as a Best Business Book of the Year by Amazon, Bloomberg, Financial Times, Forbes, The Washington Post, and more. Today, Safi advises CEO’s and leadership teams on strategy and innovation, and has delivered keynote presentations at industry conferences, investor events, leadership retreats, medical meetings, and leading academic institutions around the world. Today’s conversation we dive into his work, but we also get into his mindset and how he thinks about leadership and how he thinks about invention and innovation. And certainly, he admires people that have come before him, but Safi himself is often thinking about new ways of innovating, new ways of thinking. He loves to try to think about not just how he sees the world, but how people around him see the world and how we can make teams and organizations and groups better instead of just thinking about what’s convenient for ourselves. This is an idea that is at the core of his book Loonshots. The book is a lot about learning empathy, learning how to listen, learning how to read a room and read an organization, and then figure out how you can collaborate and work together to make really big things happen.   Safi had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include: “You need to be trying a lot of things and failing” (8:30). “Artists are the people who we want to take risks and explore the unknown” (10:55). “The confusion is when you assume artists and innovators are the same” (12:30). “If you’re in the managing or leadership position, the number one thing you have to remember is that you’re always signaling. Everybody is watching your face constantly” (21:05). “If you favor one side over the other, you’re going to sink the ship” (21:30). “You’ve got to respect both your creative artist scientist-types, your innovators, and your soldiers. And you’ve got to manage them differently” (26:50). “When you’re in artist mode, if you’re not failing, if you’re not trying and things don’t work, you’re not pushing yourself enough” (28:10). “Art and science are connected by purpose. The purpose of art is the pursuit of beauty, the purpose of science is the pursuit of truth, and they’re very close. There’s beauty in truth and there’s truth in beauty” (30:15). “[To cultivate curiosity in people], just keep asking why” (32:30). “I don’t focus on what did you learn. I focus on what did you ask” (33:20). “What you want to cultivate in yourself and in your kids, if you’re raising kids, is asking good questions” (33:30). “The guy with the initial idea is the guy getting the ball from his own goal line to his own five-yard line” (43:00). “What separates the real innovators is how they go about it. Do they keep asking why?” (45:30). “They have courage, curiosity, and commitment. Those are the 3 C’s that I’ve seen across people who are really good at innovating” (46:15). “I had very little idea what I was going to be writing about when I started writing Loonshots” (52:30). “Commit to running an experiment a day” (54:30). “Just using the word ‘experiment’ gives you permission to fail” (54:45). “Write FBR early on. Fast, bad, and wrong” (55:45). “That’s the key: if and when you’re stuck, it’s to develop a personal cookie jar… your cookie jar is where you reach into when you’re struggling” (1:03:05).   Additionally, you can find Safi’s website here and connect with him on LinkedIn. Thank you so much to Safi for coming on the podcast! I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers. Thanks for listening.

Alex Auerbach is a Licensed Counseling and Sport Psychologist, he’s a Certified Mental Performance Consultant and Board-Certified Coach working in professional sports. He’s worked with elite teams and performers from a range of domains, including the NBA and the NFL, Olympians, Army Special Forces, Fortune 5 companies, and venture-backed start-ups. Currently, he is the Senior Director of Wellness and Development for the Toronto Raptors. In this conversation, we do a deep dive into the world of Sport Psychology, we talk a lot about leadership and culture, and how individuals in teams need to work from the inside out and develop the mindset they need to be at their best, and how environments can impact us from the outside in. Alex is my kind of thinker. He loves to think about and research and study science and best practices that exist in psychology. We both are extremely curious and passionate about what makes teams great and how do we create environments for individuals to unlock their potential.   Alex had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include: “We need to position the people around athletes and peak performers to facilitate the performance, to be enhancing of performance” (5:45). “Athletes report the single biggest thing stopping them from peak performance is the organizational stuff” (6:30). “The environment is responsible for developing talent” (6:55). “I wish I could say there was one right way to do it, but this is just the way that it works for me” (11:00). “My role is to make sure everyone has what they need from a mental health standpoint and a mental performance standpoint. That also means that I’m not all things to all people; I can’t be all things to all people” (13:15). “To be an elite athlete requires a really really high degree of self-regulation” (17:30). “Mental health is the foundation of peak performance” (20:30). “Taking care of your mental health is about leaving more room for you to be a peak performer” (21:40). “We’re all feeling something all the time” (24:15). “[Emotion] is a part of the human experience. We’re not going to get rid of it, we’re not going to fight it” (24:25). “Acceptance is if in fact there is nothing you can do to change the situation, then it is being willing to sit with the discomfort as long as you’re moving towards something that you care about” (27:10). “Making the main thing the main thing is really important” (31:20). “The people who are happiest are the people whose experience matches their expectations” (33:50). “Norms are what you accept” (38:45). “A leader is a person who’s willing to use themselves to help others get better” (52:05). “The best teammates are the ones who are [leading] behind the scenes, under the radar, who know what buttons to push and levers to pull to get the most out of their teammates” (53:30). “You can win a championship one year without leadership. I’m not sure you can build a dynasty without leadership” (53:45). “My [unfair advantage] is being able to see a system and break it down in parts and see how things fit together and identify what levers to pull and things to move that can make a big change and do it in a behind the scenes way” (59:50). “Adversity does tend to bring out people’s real strengths” (1:03:10). “The people who have the best time at work are the people who get to use a strength every day and people who generally feel energized by what they’re getting to do, and the two go hand-in-hand” (1:05:30).   Additionally, you can follow Alex on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also find the Unfair Advantage website here Thank you so much to Alex for coming on the podcast! I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers. Thanks for listening.

Admiral John Richardson served 37 years in the US Navy, completing his service as the Chief of Naval Operations where he was the top officer in the Navy and responsible for 600,000 people under his watch. Before that, he served as the Director of Naval Reactors from 2012-2015. He was at the forefront of our military and our naval fleet and our submarines, both from a nuclear standpoint and from a people standpoint. Since his retirement, he’s continued to serve. He’s on the board of directors of the Boeing Company, Constellation Energy Corporation, and BMX Technologies. He’s also served on the boards of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, The Center for New American Security, and the Navy League of the United States. While in the Navy, he served in the submarine force and he commanded the attack submarine USS Honolulu in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, for which he was awarded the Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale Inspirational Leadership Award. While he was in the Navy, he commanded at every level.   Admiral Richardson had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include: “There are those times when the leader has to lead the people, sometimes very subtly, and draw them into the right answer, draw them into a shared answer across the organization” (9:15). “If you’re authentic with your team and you trust them and you have high expectations for them, they’re going to feel that and they’re going to rise to them and almost every time exceed those expectations” (9:45). “It’s very tempting to try and become that leader who everybody loves” (10:20). “It’s very hard to develop trust overnight, but you can lose it in the blink of an eye” (10:55). “A climate of a really healthy organization in my mind is one that is founded on trust, but is also eager and willing to have that trust verified” (12:25). “Your gut is a finely calibrated instrument that has been formed and shaped by your experience” (14:10). “Not [making a] decision is a decision” (17:00). “There are a lot of right paths to get to the objective” (18:25). “The leader that is ready to become invisible is a very humble leader, mindful of their limitations” (20:25). “I didn’t want to be the leader who was feared by my own team” (27:00). “You have to learn to lead from a little bit of a distance” (35:30). “The Navy is a leadership factory” (38:00). “Sometimes you don’t know a person’s true stripes until you put them in charge” (39:20). “Your example, your behavior is the thing that communicates most powerfully to everybody around you” (49:15). “Teamwork at that level is something really magical” (58:40). “Make it a deliberate effort every day to connect personally with somebody” (1:12:45). “The best ideas can come from anywhere in the team, you’ve just got to be open to it” (1:17:05).   Additionally, if you want to connect to Admiral Richardson, you can reach out to Brain via email (Brian@StrongSkills.co). Thank you so much to Admiral John Richardson for coming on the podcast! I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers. Thanks for listening.

Sherri Coale is a native Oklahoman. She grew up about thirty miles to the right side of the Red River in a small rural town where she fell in love with reading, writing, and basketball, not necessarily in that order. In 1987 after a highly successful collegiate career at Oklahoma Christian, she hung up her high tops, moving from the court to the sideline as she began what would become a Hall of Fame career as a Women’s Basketball Coach. For 25 years, Sherri Coale served as the head women’s basketball coach at the University of Oklahoma where she is the winningest women’s basketball coach in OU history. She built a powerhouse program in Norman that appeared in 19 straight NCAA tournaments and competed in three Final Fours. Sherri Coale is a member of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Women’s Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Christian Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma FCA Hall of Fame, the Norman High School Wall of Fame, and has “Home of” signs that flank both entrances to the small town of Healdton where she was born and raised and will be eternally indebted. During her illustrious career at the University of Oklahoma, in addition to coaching the Sooners, Coale participated in USA Basketball as an assistant coach in 2001 where the squad won a bronze medal, and a head coach in the World University Games in 2013 where her USA squad defeated Russia on their home court to bring home the gold. In addition to competitive excellence inside the lines both nationally and internationally, Sherri Coale has received numerous accolades and recognitions for her players’ performance academically as well as their team community service through the years. Maximizing her players’ skills both on and off the court has always been her goal. Sherri Coale is an author, a master motivator, an engaging speaker, a gifted writer, and a keen observer of everyday life. She and her husband, Dane, have been married for 35 years. They have two children, one daughter-in-law, and one adorable granddaughter around which their universe currently spins. You can find her weekly blog, “A Weigh of Life” at sherricoale.com. Rooted to Rise, an Amazon bestseller, is her first book.   Coach had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include: “’Coach’ is a term of an endearment. It’s one of the most kind and respectful things someone can say about you” (5:00). “My job [as a coach and a parent] is to help you think and grow, and that means we’re not always going to be friends” (8:50). “I would be most comfortable being a little bit different than the athletes that I coach” (12:00). “Regardless of whether you have a faith or not, if you can stop for 15 minutes and sing some hymns and spend some time together, your day would be better” (15:10). “We have to take care of each other” (21:20). “Who are you really bound to, what are you really tied to, that gives you sturdiness, that anchors you, if everything you do is on a whim or is based on how you feel or what you want?” (21:55). “I want to do things that matter. I want to do things that move me. I want to do things that impact other people” (24:35). “There is more to life than the outcome of games” (29:15). “Coaches are choosing to do other things before they find themselves in a place where they resent what they love” (29:55). “It’s so easy for high level coaches to get caught up in this world that is make believe” (32:10). “[Coaching] is just something that I did. What I [am is my kids’] mom and Sherri” (35:20). “None of us have only one side. We have to have a lot of different sides to accomplish all the different things we want to accomplish” (37:25). “[Coaching and writing] are very similar as professions. You can’t do either one of them by putting your heart on the shelf. You have to just go at it. Full throttle.” (40:20). “You don’t want to put everything in the spice cabinet into your recipe” (49:20). “We have so many opportunities every single day to set people up for something great” (55:25). “I don’t know if a piece of writing ever really gets to completion” (57:40). “When the coaching world was getting a little bit heavy and I needed to escape, I would get lost in a bookstore” (58:20). “What you learn as you get older and more experienced in the business of coaching is that you have to detach enough to be able to see everything as information” (1:02:30). “I wrote it because it was true to me and I thought it might help people” (1:04:15).   Additionally, you can follow coach on Twitter and purchase her book, Rooted to Rise: The Redwood Legacies of Life Anchoring People, at either Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Thank you so much to Sherri for coming on the podcast! I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers. Thanks for listening.