The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Ravi Gupta, an education founder, former Obama campaigner, and writer for Susan Rice, shares his anti-dabbler system: master one new passion each year. He explores pairing reasonable goals with delusional ones, protecting time for creative work, learning through public accountability, and why presence alone falls short in parenting. Along the way: Bourdain-inspired humility, burnout, and the power of finishing what you start.

Vanessa Van Edwards, behavioral researcher, Harvard instructor, and founder of Science of People, explores the art and science of meaningful conversation. She explains why small talk matters, how authentic awe unlocks better stories, and how to avoid conversational autopilot. They also discuss warmth, body language, workplace connection, and nine powerful questions for deepening relationships.

Danny Meyer, founder of Union Square Hospitality Group and Shake Shack, explores how leaders make people feel. He discusses culture as the soil for growth, optimism, curiosity, empathetic sales, and his 49/51 hiring formula balancing skills with hospitality. He also shares the origins of enlightened hospitality, why generosity matters, and how honest feedback can be an act of kindness.

Andy Stanley, founder of North Point Ministries and author of What Great Leaders Do, joins Sam Kaufman, Insight Global’s Chief Revenue Officer who rose from entry-level recruiter to executive. They explore problems to solve versus tensions to manage, why clarity beats certainty, action’s role in uncertainty, three questions behind great decisions, family-centered leadership, accountability, and building organizations that thrive without you.

Daniel Lubetzky, founder of KIND Snacks, PeaceWorks entrepreneur, and Shark Tank investor, explores how his father’s Holocaust survival shaped his values. He discusses building businesses across conflict, grit versus genuine market fit, the power of active listening, and KIND’s origins. He also reveals why honest feedback, resourcefulness, and everyday kindness matter in leadership.

Dr. Martin Seligman, the psychologist who founded positive psychology, explores agency, optimism, resilience, and human flourishing. He breaks agency into efficacy, optimism, and imagination, examines how cultures progress or stagnate, and reveals how psychological language may predict elections and historical change. They also discuss building agency at work, overcoming catastrophizing, social intelligence, and the transformative power of gratitude.

Strauss Zelnick, chairman and CEO of Take-Two Interactive, helped greenlight Dirty Dancing and now oversees Grand Theft Auto and NBA 2K. He discusses the power of candid coaching, disciplined fitness, building cultures around talent, and taking creative risks from a position of financial strength. He also explores AI, humility, difficult conversations, and staying hungry after major success.

Angela Duckworth, psychologist and author of Grit and Situated, explores how environments shape achievement. She recounts a near-drowning that taught her situation can overpower willpower. Short stories cover swapping willpower for situational change, borrowed belief from mentors, John Wooden’s teaching, and how the right people and places bring out your best.

Blake Mycoskie, entrepreneur who founded TOMS and now advocates for mental health, shares candid reflections. He talks about surfing as a thinking practice and capturing ideas with quick voice memos. He describes a specific gratitude routine, continuing it through depression, and rewiring self-worth with a daily mantra and symbols. He also covers hiring for integrity and designing a harmonious life.

Mark Pincus, serial entrepreneur who founded Zynga and invests in startups. He discusses hiring many coaches as cheat codes and learning through practice. He recalls Bill Campbell’s lessons on intellectual honesty and courage. He explores fierce leadership, ambition’s tradeoffs, the ‘book of life’ ritual, and preparing obsessively for high-stakes moments.