The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

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

Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more... Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12    https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12 Gino Wickman is the author of the award-winning, best-selling book Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business, which has sold over 1 million copies, as well as five other books in the Traction Library that have sold almost 2 million copies. Notes: Keys To Sustaining Excellence: Fanatical about excellence Stamina Endurance to stay with something Drive - a desire to succeed, to win Gino believes that entrepreneurship is nature, not nurture (you are born with it) What's usually missing in someone who thinks they're an entrepreneur, but they're not? The ability to take a big risk. Gino's dad was an entrepreneur. His two brothers are not. Gino set a goal to be a millionaire by the time he was 30.  He achieved that goal... And then went broke two years later. It took more than five years to create Traction. He worked with more than 50 companies testing the ideas. He eventually found patterns and trends. Delegation -- Gino obsesses over delegating at least one task for the last 30 years. This has helped him scale his business. The difference between a visionary and an integrator: Visionary - Wild and crazy entrepreneur Integrator - Run the day-to-day operations. Sometimes called the Chief Operating Officer. How to run better meetings? Use the Gino Wickman Level 10 Meeting format: Segue – Spend 5 minutes sharing one personal best and one professional best from the previous week. No discussion; just an announcement. This helps move your team from working “in the business” to working “on the business”. Review your company scorecard. This is a 5-minute high-level review to make sure your most important five to 15 numbers are on track. The person responsible for the number says whether it is “on track” or “off-track”. If the number is “off”, move that measurement to the Issues List portion of the agenda. Rock review. Take 5 minutes to review your company and individual Rocks to determine if they are “on track” or “off track.” Again, if the rock is “off”, move it to the Issues List portion of the agenda. Customer/Employee headlines. This is a 5-minute opportunity to announce any news, positive or negative, about a customer or employee. If the announcement is an issue, add it to the Issues List portion of the agenda. To-Do List. Review the seven-day action items from the previous meeting, and report whether each task is “done” or “not done.” This should take no more than 5 minutes Issues List. Your leadership team now has 60 minutes to identify, discuss and solve your company’s biggest issues in order of priority. Solving an issue usually requires someone to take action, which becomes a task for the to-do list for review at your next meeting. Conclude. Use your final 5 minutes to bring the meeting to a close, recap the to-do list, and discuss any messages that need to be communicated to the rest of the organization. And rate the meeting on a scale of 1 – 10; this helps your team self-correct. Establish the practice that anyone who rates the meeting below an “8” must explain why, and “because I never give high marks” is not an acceptable reason. Leadership teams should get together in person every 90 days What is EOS? EOS™ is a holistic management system with simple tools that help you do three things we call vision, traction, healthy. Vision from the standpoint of first getting your leaders 100% on the same page with where your organization is going. Traction from the standpoint of helping your leaders to become more disciplined and accountable, executing really well to achieve every part of your vision. Healthy meaning helping your leaders to become a healthy, functional, cohesive leadership team. The six key components to your business that Gino's work helps you improve: Vision. Build your V/TO™ within Traction Tools and keep it easily accessible to everyone in your company. V/TO content is integrated throughout the software so that you always have the right information at the right time. People. Our People Tools™ add-on (currently in Beta) bundles everything you need to manage the key People component of your business—including the Accountability Chart, People Analyzer™, LMA™, and Quarterly Conversation™ tools Data. The Traction Tools Scorecard makes it easy to record and measure your company, departmental and employee numbers. Everything is located in one place, and many metrics can be automatically updated. Personalize the Scorecard according to your viewing preferences. Issues. Manage and IDS™ all of your company and departmental issues in the Issues List. Flexible features make it easy to add and solve your Issues or move them to other meetings. Process. It’s quick and easy to attach your company’s core processes to notes within Issues, To-Dos, or Level 10 Agendas Traction®. With Traction Tools Rocks, you’ll take your company’s vision to street level, and make it real. The Level 10 Meeting™ Agenda will help you keep your Meeting Pulse™ EOS-pure. Life/Career advice: "Let your freak flag fly." -- Be yourself. "It took me until I was 45 years old to learn this. Do it now." "Know thyself. Be thyself." Spend time understanding your strengths and weaknesses.

Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more... Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12  https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12 Kirk Herbstreit played quarterback at Centerville High School. He was a PARADE All-American and the Ohio Player-of-the-Year as a senior (1986) … threw for 1,298 yards and 10 TDs as a senior … also rushed for 576 yards and 16 TDs his final year … career totals of 55 TDs and 4,258 yards in total offense in two years as a starter … led Centerville to a 10-0 record as a junior … all-league in baseball. Currently, Kirk is the lead analyst for ESPN's College GameDay, a TV program covering college football and he is the #1 color analyst on college football games on ESPN and ABC. For his TV work, Kirk has won five Sports Emmy Awards. He is known as one of the best sports broadcasters of all time. Notes: “Coach Gregg was a legend on the field but so much more. He was TOUGH-DEMANDING-at times intimidating. But he taught us about TEAM-HARD WORK-PERSEVERANCE & SACRIFICE. Blessed to have him in my life." "Part of what makes football great is what you learn playing it. Being selfless, learning how to go through adversity as a group, learning about perseverance." When first meeting Coach Gregg, "I was like half scared and half man I  want to play for this guy." The Centerville Elks were about execution, work ethic, pride, and excellence. "I thought... Mannnn, how lucky am I to be part of this program." The summer workouts: "The Monday's and Friday's were bad... The Wednesday with the circuits were DREADFUL. I was scared to death." Coach Gregg had established the "decade of dominance" before Kirk was there. "You had an appreciation and you were in awe of him and the program." "We thought, 'Am I going to be good enough to be part of this program?'" "Those workouts broke me down... And then they built us back up." "As a group, we went through torture, but we did it together. It created this unbelievable bond." "Bob Gregg taught me so much about humility, sacrifice, hard work, team team team... The team is so much more important than you. All the fundamental principles that you use in life are what you learned from him." "The person you are today is because of that." "What I learned from him... We beat teams with superior talent with execution and preparation and our work ethic collectively. And our team. It was from all that work we put in June and July." "You can get a leg up on your competition in anything you do in life by just outworking them." "When you feel like you don't matter, the best thing you can you, how you create confidence, is by outworking everyone in the room. Do little things. Do more. Do more." "I thought work ethic was HERE, before I met Bob Gregg, and then they taught me the hard way, that I was capable of working a lot harder." "Coach Gregg reminds me a lot of Nick Saban." They have incredibly high standards and keep their players humble. "You and I are grinders. All of us that played for him are wired the same way. I don't think that's a coincidence. It's because of Coach Gregg." "His personality... I wish more people got to know him. He had a personality that to outsiders seemed gruff. Some thought he was a tyrant. But if you really got to know him, he was not that way. He had a soft heart." "I think we need more than ever, right now, MORE people like Bob Gregg." "He's going to ruffle some feathers, but he's going to do it the right way."

Text LEARNERS to 44222 for earyl access to my upcoming book... Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12    https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12 In 2005, Rebecca Minkoff designed her first handbag, which she dubbed the “Morning After Bag. This iconic bag ignited Rebecca’s career as a handbag designer and inspired the brands’ expansion into a lifestyle brand in the years to come. Actress Jenna Elfman wore her "I Heart New York" shirt on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Today, Rebecca Minkoff is a global brand with a wide range of apparel, handbags, footwear, jewelry, timepieces, eyewear, and fragrance. When Rebecca was 8 years old, she wanted her mom to buy her a dress. Her mom said, "no, but I'll teach you to sew." From that point, Rebecca was fascinated with the idea of buying things for herself. Rebecca doesn't love the word "mentor." She was forced to learn by doing. She moved at age 18. Became an intern and then a designer. Eventually, she started her own business. When Jenna Elfman wore her I heart NYC shirt on Jay Leno's show, it got her foot in the door. "When Jenna asked if I could make her a handbag, I lied and said I could do it." "I think everyone should get cozy with failure." Self Care: “Work can be self-care, too." She’s particularly resistant to the notion that self-care can solve burnout — the feeling of acute exhaustion that has gained more attention recently. “There is no scented candle in the world that will make that feeling go away.” Self-reflection cures burnout, she argues, not self-care. "You don't need to ask for permission. Don't seek permission. Just go for it." Rebecca learned from her mom to be genuinely herself. "I learned to be tough, resilient, and fight back from my mom." "Don't get scared to lead with strength." "Trying hard is not good enough. You must get results." Advice for future generations? "There are no shortcuts." "Failure is like a muscle. Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn." "Success is the ability to keep going." "The definition of happiness is overcoming barriers towards your goal."

Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more... Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Twitter/IG: https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12 Dr. Randall Stutman is a leadership scientist dedicated to exploring the behaviors and routines of extraordinary leaders. Labeled by Goldman Sachs as the most experienced advisor and executive coach on Wall Street, he has served as a Principal Advisor to more than 2,000 Senior Executives, including 400 CEOs. His work as an advisor and speaker has taken him to the White House, West Point, the Olympics, and the Harvard Business School. Randall is the founder and co-head of the Leadership Practice at CRA. and the Admired Leadership Institute. Notes: The three types of leaders: Result Leaders: People who achieve the company’s goals Followers Leaders: People who are loved by their subordinates Admired Leaders: People who both achieve results and are loved by subordinates Admired leaders aren’t just admired in the workplace, they’re admired by friends, family, neighbors, and basically everyone they interact with... “It applies to everything. Leadership is leadership and it applies to every aspect of your life.” A great way to spread positively is through third-party praise. Say something nice about someone to another person and eventually, the positive comment will make its way to the individual mentioned. Excellence: Optimistic Persistent Focused Sound judgment Objective Learning machines Best coaching relationships: Created peer-like quality... You learn from each other The best leaders? It's not about them. It's others focused Leaders put other people up front. They lead from the back. Leadership is making people and solutions better. Anyone can lead anytime they choose. How does a 1:1 Leadership Coaching call go? Catch up personally and professionally Discuss critical episodes in the business Walkthrough situations Set agenda Register - Keep notes, send follow-ups Frequency of conversations with clients: Every three weeks Must be: A sounding board A deep listener Offer feedback Highly prescriptive - Need to make you better Admired leaders are: Someone that produces extraordinary results over time. Followership: People feel differently when engaged with them. They will do anything for them. Admired leaders are rare... Excellence in leadership: Show up in a crisis Admit mistakes Walk the talk Who coaches Randall? Feedback from clients Coaching clinics -- Gets together with other coaches 3rd party praise: Don't be "praise stingy" When you see excellence, tell a third party "There's no 'but' in it." What's something Randall has changed his mind about over time? "I initially thought leaders should be objective and fair. Then I studied Admired Leaders. They play favorites based on performance. They reward high performers.: Life/Career advice: Control what you can control Work hard at getting better "The best people bring passion to what they do."

Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more... Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12  https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12 Liz Wiseman is the New York Times bestseller author of Multipliers, Rookie Smarts, and most recently Impact Players. She is the CEO of the Wiseman Group, a leadership research and development firm. Some of her recent clients include Apple, Disney, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Nike, Tesla, and Twitter. Liz has been listed on the Thinkers50 ranking and named one of the top 10 leadership thinkers in the world. Notes: Habits of high impact players: Learn the game Play where they are needed Play with passion Impact players have a good internal locus of control. They believe they have agency in their life. They believe they are in charge of their life. Liz said, “You have a lot more power than you might think you have.” Neil deGrasse Tyson said, “what you know is not as important as what you think.” If you aspire to have greater influence, start thinking like an impact player…don’t just use the playbook. Adopt the impact player mentality as your ethos. Many leaders commented how much they learned thru the process of answering questions. Teaching others can be one of the greatest tools for learning in the world... Seeking feedback and guidance versus seeking validation. Impact players don’t need validation. They crave feedback and guidance so they can continually improve. Say less: Play your chips wisely - Before an important meeting, give yourself a budget of poker chips where each chip represents a comment or contribution to the meeting. Be relevant, be evidence-based, be unique and additive, be succinct. Building credibility with leaders and stakeholders: Some credibility killers? Waiting for managers to tell you what to do, ignoring the bigger picture, tell your manager it’s not your job. Some credibility builders? Doing things without being asked, anticipating problems, and having a plan. Instead of following your passion… Be useful. Make a name for yourself by running towards the problems and solving them. Make your boss's life easier. Be useful. Work on what’s important for the people you work for… “The Diminisher is a Micromanager who jumps in and out. The Multiplier is an Investor who gives others ownership and full accountability.” “Multipliers invoke each person’s unique intelligence and create an atmosphere of genius—innovation, productive effort, and collective intelligence.” “It isn’t how much you know that matters. What matters is how much access you have to what other people know. It isn’t just how intelligent your team members are; it is how much of that intelligence you can draw out and put to use.” “Multipliers aren’t “feel-good” managers. They look into people and find capability, and they want to access all of it. They utilize people to their fullest. They see a lot, so they expect a lot.” “The highest quality of thinking cannot emerge without learning. Learning can’t happen without mistakes.” What do Impact Players do? While others do their job, Impact Players figure out the real job to be done. While others wait for direction, Impact Players step up and lead. While others escalate problems, Impact Players move things across the finish line. While others attempt to minimize change, Impact Players are learning and adapting to change. While others add to the load, the Impact Players make heavy demands feel lighter. Some think you become great on the big stage under the bright lights. But the light only reveals the work you did in the dark. —Jeff Bajenaru An overarching idea: I can be of service and solve problems. The slogan from Kaiser Sand & Gravel; “Find a need and fill it.”

Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more... Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12  https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12 Robert Greene has written 7 international best-selling books focused on strategy, power, and seduction, including The 48 Laws of Power, Mastery, The Laws of Human Nature, and most recently, The Daily Laws. Notes: What matters is not education or money, but your persistence and the intensity of your desire to learn; that failures, mistakes, and conflicts are often the best education of all; and how true creativity and mastery emerge from all this. Adapt your inclinations. Avoid having rigid goals and dreams. Change is the law. Find inspiration from your heroes. Are there people whose work affects you in a powerful way? Analyze this and use them as models. Trust the process. Time is the essential ingredient of mastery. Use it to your advantage. What The mentor needs - Find a master to apprentice under, but instead of thinking about how much they can give you, think about how you can help them with their work. Learn by Doing -- The brain is designed to learn through constant repetition and active, hands-on involvement. Through such practice and persistence, any skill can be mastered. Master your emotional responses - displaying anger and emotion are signs of weakness; you cannot control yourself, so how can you control anything? Always Say Less Than Necessary. When you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the more common you appear, and the less in control. Avoid the false alliance -- Cultivate real allies. No one can get far in life without allies. The trick is to recognize the difference between false allies and real ones. A false alliance is created out of an immediate emotional need. A real alliance is formed out of mutual self-interest, each side supplying what the other cannot get alone. Despise the Free lunch - Learn to pay and to pay well. -- I find that the best clients don’t haggle on price, they pay immediately and they are easy to work with. The clients who want to fight about every last dollar always end up being the most difficult to work with. “There is no cutting corners with excellence. It is often wise to pay full price.” Judge people on their behavior, not on their words - What you want is a picture of a person’s character over time. Restrain from the natural tendency to judge right away, and let the passage of time reveal more about who people are. Don’t mistake extra conviction for truth - When people try to explain their ideas with so much exaggerated energy, or defend themselves with an intent level of denial, that is precisely when you should raise your antennae. Determine the strength of people’s character - In gauging strength or weakness, look at how people handle stressful moments and responsibility. Look at their patterns: what have they actually completed or accomplished? Be a source of pleasure - No one wants to hear about your problems and troubles. An energetic presence is more charming than lethargy. Being lighthearted and fun is always more charming than being serious and critical. Leave people with a feeling - Keep your eyes on the aftermath of any encounter. Think more of the feeling you leave people with -- a feeling that might translate into a desire to see more of you. Transform yourself into a deep listener - It will provide you the most invaluable lessons about human psychology. The secret to this: finding other people endlessly fascinating. Do Not let success intoxicate you - after any kind of success, analyze the components. See the element of luck that is inevitably there, as well as the role that other people, including mentors, played in your good fortune. Increase your reaction time - the longer you can resist reacting, the more mental space you have for actual reflection, and the stronger your mind will become. Alive time or dead time - Never waste a minute. Make today your own -- whether you’re stuck in traffic, sick in bed, or working long hours. You are renting just about everything in your life. The only thing you own is your time. Make the most of it.

Text LEARNERS to 44222 for more... Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12    https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12 General Stanley McChrystal retired in July 2010 as a four-star general in the U.S. Army. His last assignment was as the commander of the International Security Assistance Force and as the commander of the U.S. forces in Afghanistan. He had previously served as the director of the Joint Staff and as the commander of the Joint Special Operations Command. The author of My Share of the Task, Team of Teams, and Leaders, he is currently a senior fellow at Yale University's Jackson Institute for Global Affairs and the co-founder of the McChrystal Group, a leadership consulting firm. Notes: Stan's mentor for his military career and still to this day: an Army officer with a thick southern accent, Major John Vines. His advice: “If there are 3 people responsible for feeding the dog, the dog is going to starve.” Stan graduated from West Point 31 years after his father did. Major General George Smith Patton (General George Patton’s son) handed him his diploma. Stan wondered at that moment, what kind of leader you wanted to be. And he came up with, “a good one.” Now the more fundamental question is “What do good leaders do?” Instead of just being a good leader, Stan desires to be an effective leader. Effective leaders: Tactically competent Are morally good Respected They create an environment where others want to follow They shape how people think and behave People that others want to follow Have high standards Risk: in reality, risk is neither mathematical nor finite. Its impact depends to a great extent on how we perceive, process, and respond. A healthy risk immune system successfully executes 4 imperatives: Detect, Assess, Respond, and Learn "Risk comes at you from out of the blue, from every angle, when least convenient. There is a cost in becoming overly focused on risk and another at ignoring them. And the sweet spot between the two extremes moves with the circumstances around you.” “I chose a soldier’s life for many reasons, one of which was the desire to perceive myself as a courageous risk taker. I liked the idea of taking risks that others would not.” Threat x Vulnerability = Risk Risk is an eternal challenge. But trying to anticipate or predict every possible risk is a fool’s errand. The key is to understand how we need to think about risk, and to then respond appropriately. Rather than living in dread of things we often can’t anticipate, duck, or dodge – we must remember these five key insights. Look Inward: The greatest risk to us is us. It's Up to Us: We have a risk immune system Be holistic: It's the system. Make it work Balance: The muscles you exercise will be strong: those you ignore will be vulnerabilities Risk is always with us, and it's our responsibility to make our teams ready for it When taking command of the 2nd Ranger Battalion, Stan, along with the leaders of the unit, established The foundational skills - They called them the big 4: Physical conditioning Marksmanship Medical Skills Small Unit Drills But even before mastering basic skills, grounding both individuals and organizations with answers to the most basic questions that relate to the narrative is essential: What are our values? What exactly do we do? And why do we do it? What is expected of each of us? What went wrong with our response to COVID-19? 50 states operated separately instead of a united response "We weren't unified" "Our leaders did not communicate effectively." "You have to act before the population sees the requirement for it." Have a front-line obsession - Stan was known for going on the front lines with his soldiers. As leaders, we should do the same with our teams. Be on the front lines to: See how it's done with your own eyes, not just reports They need to see you go. They'll appreciate it It helps create your self-identity The new hybrid model of in-office and at-home working... Be intentional Use technology Understand what you're not doing Don't get lazy How to deal with imposter syndrome? Ask, "What do I know?" "What's my responsibility?" "You have to fight that crisis of confidence." Excellence = Be less flexible on your basic values Be flexible with how a problem gets solved