The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Read my new book, The Pursuit Of Excellence https://bit.ly/excellencehawk Text Hawk to 66866 for "Mindful Monday" Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12 https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12 Oliver Burkeman is the author of Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management For Mortals. It's a book that has become an international best-seller. The final person Oliver thanked in his book? His grandmother: "My dear grandmother Erica Burkeman, whose childhood departure from Nazi Germany I describe in chapter 7, died in 2019 at the age of 96. I don't know whether she would have read this book, but she would definitely have told everyone she met that I had written it." The average human lifespan is absurdly, insultingly brief. If you live to be 80, you'll have had about 4,000 weeks. But that's no reason for despair. Confronting our radical finitude – and how little control we really have – is the key to a fulfilling and meaningfully productive life. When someone close to you dies, Oliver writes, "Such experiences, however wholly unwelcome, often appear to leave those who undergo them in a new and more honest relationship with time. The question is whether we might attain at least a little of that same outlook in the absence of the experience of the agonizing loss." When stumped by a life choice, choose "enlargement" over happiness. Don't ask: Will this make me happy?", but "Will this choice enlarge me or diminish me?" The future will never provide the reassurance you seek from it. (This is why it's wrong to say we live in especially uncertain times. The future is always uncertain; it's just that we're currently very aware of it.) Embrace radical incrementalism - People who work a little bit every day tend to cultivate the patience it takes to get good. Oliver tells the old parable about a vacationing New York businessman who meets a Mexican fisherman… The capacity to tolerate minor discomfort is a superpower. The solution to imposter syndrome is to see that you are one - Everyone is totally "winging it." The lesson to be drawn isn't that we're doomed to chaos. It's that you – unconfident, self-conscious, all-too-aware-of-your-flaws – potentially have as much to contribute to your field, or the world, as anyone else. The original Latin word for "decide" was decidere which means "to cut off" as in slicing away alternatives. The sooner you welcome uncertainty and not knowing as normal ways of being, the better off you'll be. People who work a little bit every day tend to cultivate the patience it takes to get good. These people also quit their day's work when it's finished: they identify what their chunk of time or task is per day, they do that and only that, and save more for tomorrow. "More often than not, originality lies on the far side of unoriginality." To illustrate this point, Burkeman uses The Helsinki Bus Station Theory. As the photographer Arno Minkkinen explained, Helsinki bus lines start out traveling the same path but then diverge at different points in the route, spreading out to far and wide locales. When you find your work resembles someone else's, or you're on someone else's bus, traveling someone else's path, don't try to go back to the bus station at the very beginning and completely reinvent yourself and start from scratch, keep working and "stay on the bus!" At a certain point, your path will split off into something new. The central challenge of time management isn't becoming more efficient, but deciding what to neglect. In an accelerating world, patience – letting things take the time they take – is a superpower. In conditions of limitless choice, burning your bridges beats keeping your options open. The need to control events is unhelpful. There is too much uncertainty for that. Is "follow your passion" good advice? Find something you're good at instead. Do things "daily-ish" Harness the power of patience as a force for daily life. Relish the value of consistency. Goal setting: "We are incapable of living goalless lives." With that said, "a plan is just a thought." Excellence: A willingness to accept the truth of their present situation and not wear blinders. They are clear-eyed. Generosity to other people. They have a basic assumption of a non-zero-sum world. Four Thousand Weeks is an entertaining and philosophical but ultimately deeply practical guide to the alternative path of embracing your limits: dropping back down into reality, defying cultural pressures to attempt the impossible, and getting started on what's gloriously possible instead. It's about actually getting meaningful things done, here and now, in our work and our lives together – in the clear-eyed understanding that there won't be time for everything, and that we'll never eliminate life's uncertainties.

Read my new book, The Pursuit Of Excellence https://bit.ly/excellencehawk Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Text Hawk to 66866 for "Mindful Monday" Jim Levine has been a literary agent for more than 30 years. Some of his agency's clients include Ray Dalio, Scott Galloway, Jay Shetty, Gillian Flynn (author of Gone Girl), Satya Nadella (CEO of Microsoft), Tom Brady, & Giselle Bundchen among others… He also is my book agent and he brokered the deals for my book deals for both Welcome To Management AND The Pursuit of Excellence with McGraw-Hill. Notes: Early in my podcasting career, I asked all authors I recorded who the best book agent was... And many of them said, Jim Levine. "Being an agent is a continuing liberal arts education, it's an opportunity to engage with experts and thought leaders in a wide variety of fields and help shape their work to reach the broadest possible audience." Jim has written and published 7 books and over 100 articles for professional magazines… He's won awards for his work as a writer. He's the founding director of The Fatherhood Project – A 20-year long foundation-supported initiative to increase men's involvement in childrearing in all segments of society. Jim takes us inside the process from book proposal, selling to a publisher, and ultimately getting the book published. "Being an agent is so much more than just selling the book. The relationship is so much more intimate. You have to care." Building a company and a culture of growth... The best book proposals he's read: The Master Algorithm -- Pedro Domingos Welcome To Management Smartcuts by Shane Snow Jim has spent most of his career putting together ideas, people, and money; identifying, nurturing, and marketing talent; and creating projects that make a difference. Jim graduated Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude from Amherst College, winning Woodrow Wilson, Fulbright, and Ford Foundation Fellowships. He holds two advanced degrees in English Literature from UC Berkeley, where he specialized in Shakespeare and modern literary criticism, and a doctorate from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where he specialized in child development and social policy. Advice: Don't think about a job, think about skills you have and challenges you could take on… The WHO is really important - Who you work for... Be a perpetual learner Follow your curiosity Have a wide range of interests What Jim looks for when hiring – Pat Lencioni's humble, hungry, and smart – It's about helping people solve problems.

Read my new book, The Pursuit Of Excellence https://bit.ly/thepursuitofexcellence Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Text Hawk to 66866 for "Mindful Monday" This episode starts with a short review of 2021 and I share my goals for 2022. Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12 https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12 Gary Chapman, PhD, is the author of the bestselling The 5 Love Languages® series, which has sold more than 20 million worldwide and has been translated into 50 languages. Dr. Chapman travels the world presenting seminars on marriage, family, and relationships, and his radio programs air on more than 400 stations. Notes: The Five Love Languages: Words of Affirmation - Words of affirmation is about expressing affection through spoken words, praise, or appreciation. When this is someone's primary love language, they enjoy kind words and encouragement.\ Quality Time - For those who identify with quality time as their love language, love and affection are expressed through undivided attention. This means putting down the cell phone, turning off the tablet, making eye contact, and actively listening. Physical Touch - A person with this love language feels loved through physical affection. Acts of Service - For acts of service, a person feels loved and appreciated when someone does nice things for them, such as helping with the dishes, running errands, vacuuming, or putting gas in the car. Receiving Gifts - Gift-giving is symbolic of love and affection for someone with this love language. They treasure not only the gift itself but also the time and effort the gift-giver put into it. My personal Love Language assessment results: Quality Time: 37% Words of Affirmation: 33% Acts of Service: 20% Physical Touch: 10% Receiving Gifts: 0% We all express and receive love differently. Consequently, understanding those differences can make a serious impact on your relationship. According to Dr. Chapman, this exercise is one of the simplest ways to improve your relationships. Here are some ways that understanding love languages can improve your relationship: Promotes selflessness - When you are committed to learning someone else's love language, you are focused on their needs rather than your own. Creates empathy - As someone learns more about how their partner experiences love, they learn to empathize with them. Maintains intimacy - If couples regularly talk about what keeps their love tanks full, this creates more understanding in their relationship. Aids personal growth - When someone is focused on something or someone outside of themselves, it can lead to personal growth. Shares love in meaningful ways - When couples start speaking one another's love language, the things they do for their partners not only become more intentional but also become more meaningful. It's not a feeling. The "in love" feeling wears off after about 2 years. It's an attitude to love someone. "I want to do anything I can to enrich your life." There is a thought process and intention behind it. Keys to being a better listener: Start with the intention to understand THEIR perspective Do not interrupt the other person Wait until they are completely done speaking How to earn back trust? Forgiveness is not a feeling, it's a choice. You have to make the choice to forgive someone. Thank you to Verywellmind.com for help preparing for this conversation

Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more details... Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12 https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12 https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12 Debbie Millman has been named "one of the most creative people in business" by Fast Company, and "one of the most influential designers working today" by Graphic Design USA, Debbie Millman is also an author, educator, curator, and host of the podcast Design Matters. Notes: Visual Storytelling is the art of using language and images to convey a narrative account of real or imagined events. How to make an effective presentation? You must know it thoroughly. Practice, rehearse. Get to the point where you can let it flow when you're in it. Don't just read what's on the slide. Use at most one sentence. Use images to help reinforce your message "Life is so difficult when you don't know what you're talking about." Ideas are easy... Strategies are hard. You need to understand that a presentation is a performance. Teaching forces you to learn your topic. If you want to learn about something, sign up to teach others about it. "I once read that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. I fundamentally disagree with this idea. I think that doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is the definition of hope." "A brand is simply a set of beliefs. And if you don't create a set of beliefs around your products or services, well, you stand for nothing - you have no values and no vision." "Actually - and ironically - people aren't really interested in a new brand form or flavor as much as they are interested in how a brand can change, impact, or improve their lives. They want brands around them that make them feel special and provide some social cache or confidence." Interviewing is like a game of billiards. Each question should leave you in a position to hit the next shot/ask the next question. Be overprepared so that you can flow in the moment. "You have to listen and really focus on the person." Research everything Courage and confidence - The reps lead to confidence. Confidence leads to courage. Branding --"Branding is a deliberate differentiation." Brands aspire for consistency. "You can't metabolize regret." -- Go for it. At age 50, Debbie came out... And felt so much freedom from it "Don't edit your hopes and dreams before you can ever attempt them."

Read my new book, The Pursuit Of Excellence: https://bit.ly/excellencehawk Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more... Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Rob Fitzpatrick is an entrepreneur of 14 years and has written three books about his learnings along the way, including the best-selling handbook for doing better Customer Development, The Mom Test: How to talk to customers and figure out if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you. In 2007, he dropped out of grad school to go through YCombinator with his first startup, and has been building products and businesses ever since. Beyond software, he has also kickstarted a physical card game, built an education agency, and more. Notes: The 3 simple rules of the Mom Test: Talk about their life instead of your idea Ask about specifics in the past instead of generics or opinions about the future Talk less and listen more How to run better meetings: Focus on who will be in your meeting and how to maximize the value they receive while there Think about learning outcomes - How will you (as the leader) help them be wiser by going to your meetings

Order my new book, The Pursuit Of Excellence https://bit.ly/thepursuitofexcellence Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12 https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12 Stan Johnson was hired as Loyola Marymount University's men's basketball head coach on March 20, 2020. The 2020-21 season saw meteoric growths across the board for LMU men's basketball. In his first season as head coach, Stan Johnson guided his team through the COVID-19 pandemic and posted a winning record in the WCC for the first time since 2011-12. Notes: "I escaped a war at 10. I come from really the gutter in this business. I don't come from a tree," "I was at gunpoint at 10 years old with 15-year-olds holding M16s. We got evacuated on a war jet on a mining strip. We came to this country with three bags. That stuff, I think, has helped shape me for this task that I have." "That gives you empathy and understanding. It makes you relatable to all people." "Being lazy is disrespectful to the people that believe in you." Focus on proving your supporters right. The people who love you and root for you. Prove them right... The purpose behind "Coffee With The Coach" during COVID... I wanted to "Win The Wait." Don't just wait it out... Win the wait. Culture is a set of behaviors... How do we want to behave? It's a life thing. It's not just a basketball thing. Stan has weekly "Culture Meetings." Their structure: Academic highlights Habit share Success hotline -- a pre-recorded hotline with a quote/saying Thought of the day What's happening in the world? Culture emphasis of the day Their core values: Selfless - LM Over You. When you're truly selfless, you care about the greater good... It comes back to you Connected - You need great relationships. Relationships over championships. Relentless - Attack everything we do. It's not just basketball. What do you want to be remembered for? Do your daily behaviors align with what you want to be remembered for? Consistency is what transforms average people, companies, and teams into GREATNESS. Anyone can do it now and then. GREATNESS is found in your ability to bring your best every single day. Keep Going. Don't mistake silence for weakness. Smart people don't plan big moves out loud. Holding people accountable - Truth helps. It doesn't hurt. The greatest form of love is discipline. Stan is known as one of the best recruiters in the country... What does he focus on? Relatability - "I can relate to people from all different backgrounds." Sincere - "I say how I feel." Relationships with family - Stan recruits all the members of the family. The must-have qualities to be a coach on his staff: Must be really good people (most important) "They gotta be smarter than me. I want them to stretch me, and hold me accountable. They must be smart." Passionate - They need to love it. Questions he asks when interviewing someone to be on his staff: What do you want to be remembered for? What are your expectations? (Mine are high") How do you evaluate yourself? What are your relationships like with people you've worked at before? Do you become friends with them? How he develops his assistant coaches: Give them big tasks to be responsible for... Their mission: "Take people to places they can't take themselves." Your competition isn't other people. Your competition is your procrastination. Your attitude.Your ego. Your blaming. Your complaining. Your ability to stay in the past. Your bad habits. Your jealousy. Your comparison mindset. Your inability to dream bigger. Compete against that. "Anytime your gonna grow, you're gonna lose something. You're losing what you're hanging onto to keep safe. You're losing habits that you're comfortable with, you're losing familiarity." Keep Going. You attract what you are, not what you want. If you want great things to happen, then be great with your habits and your daily process of becoming. Keep Going. Rejected to Redirected… Keep putting your butt on the line. Don't get boxed in. Who knows what you could be? Put yourself out there…

Order My Book, The Pursuit Of Excellence https://bit.ly/excellencehawk Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12 https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12 John Amaechi is an organizational psychologist, best-selling author, and CEO of APS Intelligence Ltd. In 2019, John was recognized as one of HR's most influential thinkers by HR Magazine. John is the first Briton to have a career in the NBA. John is a Chartered Scientist, a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD and a Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health. He is a Research Fellow at the University of East London and his research interests are effective, inclusive leadership, building high-performing teams and organisational design that maximises productivity and human thriving in readiness for the future world of work. Notes: "Excellence is in the mundane." The hours and hours of work when no one is watching. Effective feedback - If it's not developing them, it's not feedback. And feedback is never cruel. Ask, what can we learn from this? The evidence-based traits he shared about effective leadership "Promises have an enormous impact when kept by giants. And a devastating impact when broken. To keep these promises, unconditionally and persistently, is the duty and honor of being a giant." "You can't be a part-time man of principle." There is a difference between elite teams and a group of elite individuals. We want to build elite teams. Look at how you reward people -- What gets measured, gets managed. Reward people for being great teammates. People must earn and maintain their job titles. Coaching leaders: Start at the end - What does great look like? Introspection - How well do you know yourself? Pragmatic - Measure real progress Introspective work - view yourself critically, but not cruelly "You need people around you to be truly candid and caring." John and his team take an analytical approach - "I have a geek squad and we analyze data." They use expertise to provide commentary on the data Feedback - It must be timely and effective. Do regular micro-appraisals. What made you think of that? What can we learn from this? If it's not developing them, it's not feedback Feedback is never cruel Mantra: "I promise to reject excuses and embrace discomfort." You can't skip to comfort... The Promises of Giants is the product of a lifetime spent observing and studying effective leadership - from accompanying his mother's visits to her dying patients to competing at the highest levels of professional sport, through two decades of management consulting with multinational corporations. These experiences have shown that everyone has the ability to act decisively to influence the world in a positive way. Everyone is a giant to someone...

Order my new book: The Pursuit Of Excellence https://bit.ly/excellencehawk Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more... Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12 https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12 Benjamin Hardy is an organizational psychologist and the author of Willpower Doesn't Work and Personality Isn't Permanent. He also co-authored Who Not How with Dan Sullivan, which sold over 120,000 copies in the first 4 months of publication. Their most recent book is called, The Gap and The Gain. His blogs have been read by over 100 million people and are featured on Harvard Business Review, the New York Times, Forbes, Fortune, CNBC, and many others. For several years, he was the #1 most-read writer on Medium.com. Notes: The broaden and build theory — Dr. Barbara Fredeickson — shows that positive emotions are the starting point of learning, growth, and high performance "Competing against someone else puts you in the gap. Your happiness as a person is dependent on what you measure yourself against." More specifically you measure your own gains, rather than worrying about other people. When we measure ourselves against that ideal, we're in "the GAP." However, when we measure ourselves against our previous selves, we're in "the GAIN." "This one simple concept is a masterclass on positive psychology, healthy relationships, mental well-being, and high-performance. Everything that psychologists know about how to create a high-functioning and successful person can be achieved using The GAP and the GAIN." Who Not How -- Life is about surrounding yourself with the right WHO's. Who are the WHO's in your life to help you achieve what you want? "Surround yourself with people who remind you more of your future than your past. —Dan Sullivan" Commitment creates freedom -- Once the decision is made, then you can focus on the work. I like thinking of it that way and in a way it frees your mind when the decision, the commitment has been made. "Your behavior doesn't come from your personality. Rather, your personality is shaped by your behavior. When you act a certain way, you then judge yourself based on your actions. Hence, you can quickly alter your identity simply by altering your behavior." "The belief that you cannot change leads to a victim mentality. If you are determined by nature to be what you are, then there is nothing you can do about your lot in life. Conversely, the belief that you can change leads you to take responsibility for your life. You may have been born with certain constraints, but you can change those constraints, allowing yourself to improve and grow." "Don't join an easy crowd; you won't grow. Go where the expectations and the demands to perform are high. —Jim Rohn" "You are never pre-qualified to live your dreams. You qualify yourself by doing the work. By committing—even overcommitting—to what you believe you should do." "You shape the garden of your mind by planting specific things from your environment, such as the books you read, experiences you have, and people you surround yourself with." "True learning is a permanent change in cognition and/or behavior. In other words, learning involves a permanent change in how you see and act in the world. The accumulation of information isn't learning. Lots of people have heads full of information they don't know what to do with. If you want to learn something quickly, you need to immerse yourself in that thing and immediately implement what you're learning." "You need to deepen the quality and intimacy of your relationships with other people. Our culture is being shaped to isolate us more and more from each other. Addiction is becoming an epidemic. When you have deep and meaningful relationships, your chances of unhealthy addiction are far less. The following are four principles for overcoming harmful defaults in your environment."

Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more... Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12 https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12 John McWhorter teaches linguistics, philosophy, and music history at Columbia University, and writes for various publications on language issues and race issues such as Time, the Wall Street Journal, the Daily Beast, CNN, and the Atlantic. He's also the author of many books including his most recent New York Times bestseller, Woke Racism - How A New Religion Has Betrayed Black America. Notes: How to change someone's mind? "I try to understand where other people are coming from. I am not surprised by anyone. I think you need to listen to it from their point of view and not assume that anyone is crazy or evil." John recommends pragmatic action against racism involving only three programs: an end to the war on drugs, teaching reading by phonics to children lacking literate households and, promoting the idea that not everyone needs a college education to succeed. "I don't think of myself as brave. What I really am is a failed lawyer. My issue is if things don't make sense to me, I just want to try to make sense of it and I want people to understand what I mean." John believes that affirmative action should be based on class, not on race. What to do if your leadership team is not well represented by people of another race? From John: "Don't hire a token black person. Don't hire someone just because they are black. They need to be qualified for the role." Expansion from Dr. King's statement about judging someone for the content of their character rather than the color of their skin... "I agree with that, but I think you also have to look at class, and if they come from a poor upbringing." John criticized the 2018 book White Fragility following its resurgence in sales during the George Floyd protests beginning in May 2020, arguing that it "openly infantilized Black people" and "simply dehumanized us," and "does not see fit to address why all of this agonizing soul-searching (for residual racism by white people) is necessary to forging change in society." He said, "it's a true horror of a book. The worst book I've read since I was 16." Qualities John looks for in a friend: A wry sense of humor You have to "see beyond level 1" and be smart to have this "They don't have to have the MSNBC take on race" "I want coherence." From Woke Racism: "The people wielding this ideology and watching its influence spread ever more are under the genuine impression that they are forging progress, that reason and morality are in flower. However, society is changing not because of a burgeoning degree of consensus in moral sophistication. What is happening is much cruder. Society is changing not out of consensus, but out of fear." Life advice: Don't get a degree in law unless you want to practice law To the extent you can, follow your passion "Follow your own gut. Go with your own mind. You'll have a much richer adulthood doing this." Linguistics: the scientific study of language and its structure, including the study of morphology, syntax, phonetics, and semantics.

Text LEARNERS to 44222 to read my new book, The Pursuit of Excellence, early. Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12 https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12 red Reichheld is the creator of the Net Promoter Score system of management. Also known as "NPS." NPS is used in two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies. Fred has worked at Bain and Company since 1977. He is also the best-selling author of five books, including his most recent, "Winning On Purpose." Fred graduated with Honors both from Harvard College (B.A., 1974) and Harvard Business School (M.B.A., 1978). Notes: The ultimate question: "How likely are you to recommend this brand to a friend or colleague?" Fred views "Net Promoter Score" as "Net Lives Enriched." "At Bain, we came to realize through our own experience that the frontline team leader sets the tone, models the values, sets the priorities, and balances individual needs with team needs. Given this critical importance, we select leaders with great care and invest heavily in their training and coaching." The difference between good profits and bad profits. Play the long game. It's not helpful to earn a profit from someone who had a bad experience. Negotiation - Try to give the other person as much as possible. The story of the Costco CEO sharing the extra profits with others... Think about how you can do this in your negotiations with family, friends, and work colleagues. The Costco leaders always think of how they can put they can love on their customers How can you turn someone from a detractor to a promoter? Pleasantly surprise your customer The Certa Pro Painters example - They train their teams to seek out opportunities for acts of kindness. For example, when they are on a ladder up high painting a wall and notice a light bulb is out, they will put in a new light bulb (for free). They go out of their way to surprise and delight their customers. Richard is a big believer in the golden rule: Treat others as a loved one should be treated. When customers feel loved, they come back, and they tell all of their friends. "You want a workforce that is inspired to treat others as loved ones." "The leader's job is to love their team." Front line leaders -- Make sure you're constantly getting feedback. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. - "Everyone can be great because everyone can serve." Earned growth rate - Warby Parker - 90% of their business through referrals Joe Girard - The top-selling car sales professional of all time - "I hope you get a lemon." "What! Why would you want me to get a bad car?" "Because then I get a chance to show off. I will give you the best customer service experience of your life. And after I do that, you'll buy cars from me for the rest of your life. And you'll tell all of your friends and family to do the same." Good profits - Earn from promoters Bad profits - Profits from detractors "You don't deserve profits unless the customer is happy." "Where there is individual accountability, things get done. Measure is another magic word: what gets measured creates accountability. With no standard, reliable metric for customer relationships, employees can't be held accountable for them and so overlook their importance." "These companies manage to balance the need for profits with the overarching vision of providing great results for customers and an inspiring mission for employees." How to sustain excellence? Think of NPS as your moral compass Great leaders create a community by living the golden rule Enrich the lives you're responsible for Life advice: Your WHO - The people you spend your life with are everything Only invest in places where you can bring something of value