Jay Acunzo, a key figure behind the Learning Leader Show, shares insights alongside leadership expert Jim Collins and author David Epstein. They discuss the most challenging interviews and the growth of the show, highlighting its most-downloaded episodes. Acunzo reflects on the art of interviewing and the evolution of his conversational skills. The importance of listener engagement and the transformative power of gratitude in creative work are emphasized. They also delve into the challenges of leadership and the necessity of fostering genuine connections within teams.

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Full show notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com Text LEARNERS to 44222 to receive the first chapter of my new book, WELCOME TO MANAGEMENT for free. Episode #340: Liz Bohannon - co-founder and co-CEO of Sseko Designs and the author of Beginner's Pluck: Build your life of purpose, passion and impact now. Liz and the Sseko story has been featured in dozens of publications including: Vogue Magazine, Redbook Magazine, O Magazine, Inc, Fortune and others. Sseko has appeared on national broadcasts including ABC's Shark Tank and Good Morning America.  Commonalities of leaders who sustain excellence: They do work that taps into their intrinsic motivation and they know WHY they do what they do. You must drill down far to know this Vulnerable -- Look at Brene Brown.  A "truth teller." Shoshin - An openness with eagerness.  Have to have both. Why is the "Beginner's Pluck" message resonating with so many people? "I believe it, but not sure if I really do..." People (women especially) tend to doubt themselves too much. "You don't need to be extraordinary to build a life making a difference." "Passion is something you build... I learned it through telling an untrue story." Be driven by interest, and curiosity... "I'm the CEO of a for-profit fashion company." "My ego wasn't super involved.  It gave me the freedom to just do it." "I got so obsessed with the problem and finding a solution to it." "The work of an artist is to know what's inside of you.  Be solutions agnostic." "The artist creates without thinking of the audience." "The entrepreneur has to think of the audience." -->  What's the actual problem this fixes? Sit in the complexity of what it means to be a world changer. "We live in a world that is so quick to critique... Show up, do the work." How did Liz learn to run a business? She took a six week crash course on basic accounting and followed her curiosity to learn each skill as she went. Don't be caught in analysis paralysis "The thing I had connected to me was my WHY." "You don't get to know Step 7 when you're in stage 1.  That's not how it works."  Must take it a step at a time. "What do I absolutely need to figure out? The MVP - Minimum Viable Product -- Know that it's only Version 1.  Can iterate as you go. The 4 stages of Learning: Unconscious incompetent Conscious incompetent Conscious competent Unconscious competent How often am I feeling out of my league? -- You should feel this often in order to grow.

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Full show notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com Ep: #339: Robert Greifeld - Lessons Learned From A Decade Of Change As CEO Of NASDAQ Robert Greifeld served as the CEO of Nasdaq from 2003 to 2016. During his tenure, Bob led Nasdaq through a series of complex, innovative acquisitions that extended the company’s footprint from a single U.S. equity exchange to a global exchange and technology solutions provider, nearly quadrupling revenue, growing annual operating profits by more than 24 times and achieving a market value of over $11 billion. He is the author of a new book called: Market Mover: Lessons from a Decade of Change at Nasdaq.  Notes: Commonalities of leaders who sustain excellence: "Once you achieve competency, they're on a daily battle with complacency." Always looking forward - never resting on laurels A mindset that: "Success in the past is no guarantee that success will happen in the future." Self reflection is important for self awareness: "Being focused on the present doesn't preclude self reflection." Has being rich made you happy?  "Wealth makes you more secure?" How to balance family time and work time? "Balance is a dangerous word.  I prefer having an integrated life instead."  "I made a rule that I did no business dinners unless I was doing the selling." Make multiple short trips instead of longer ones... Only miss seeing your family for a day or two at a time Bob describes the story of how he was recruited to NASDAQ and why he took the job... During the interview process, he shared the five things he would do within the first 100 days: Get right people on board Reduce bureaucracy Embrace fiscal discipline Overhaul technology Stop being satisfied with number 2 Have to have the right people on the bus Bob met with many people prior to starting as the CEO of NASDAQ:  "I fired a lot of people before 8:00am on the first day I started.  I did a lot of work prior to starting to learn who was going to buy in." "Good morale in a bad organization is not a good thing." With promotions, live by the 80/20 rule: "We tried to promote 80% from within our organization." "When interviewing people from the outside, the odds of being wrong are higher." Qualities to look for in people to promote: Positive attitude/energy -- "Happy campers" Pure skills How well do they play with others? Won't tolerate prima donnas How to be a great leader? Must be in front of your customers Stand in the shoes of your people Do a lot of individual contributor work "Don't be a conference room pilot" -- Don't spend all your time in meetings Learned knowledge vs. Lived knowledge Learned: "Don't know what's coming, you just learned it." Lived: "You've sat in the seat, you can see around corners." Acquisitions: Geography - If location is near us, that helps Industry - If it's the same industry, just smaller, that helps Overall advice: Never had a career path or end goal Wanted to do something that energized me "I'll do that job well." "Don't focus on climbing the mythical career ladder." "Don't take a job to just get another job." Why leave NASDAQ? "I like controlling my schedule." The benefits of growing up with blue collar parents.  His dad worked for the Post Office, he was always upbeat and believe that life can be better.

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Episode #338: Jason Fried Full show notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com Text LEARNERS to 44222 to learn more Jason Fried is the founder & CEO at Basecamp. He's the co-author of Getting Real, Remote, REWORK, and It Doesn't Have To Be Crazy At Work.  Basecamp is a privately-held Chicago-based company committed to building the best web-based tools possible with the least number of features necessary. Their blog, Signal vs. Noise, is read by over 100,000 people every day. Jason believes there's real value and beauty in the basics. Elegance, respect for people's desire to simply get stuff done, and honest ease of use are the hallmarks of Basecamp products. Notes: Commonalities of leaders who sustain excellence: Willingness/ability to know what's the work worth doing The skill to discern what's important How to develop that skill? Must become a good auditor of your time.  Practice.  Look back on what you've done.  Analyze what you do? Discern what's worth it. Remote work: Basecamp has 56 employees in 30 cities around the world... Why remote? "You don't want the best people, you want the right people."  The odds of all the right people living near your headquarters is small. The business started in Chicago with three people. They hired DHH to be their first programmer.  He lived in Denmark.  Then they hired someone in Utah.  "It just worked.  We didn't worry about where, just wanted to find the right people." Jason never writes a business plan -- No 1, 3, or 5 year plan.  They work in six week project increments. Why? "Planning is simply guessing.  Setting your course over a guess doesn't seem like a good idea.  We have an idea of where we're headed, but we work in six week chunks." What Jason learned from Jeff Bezos:  "People who were right often changed their minds." --> Be willing to change your mind when better evidence presents itself. The "anti-goal" mindset: "(Financial) Goals are made up. There's nothing about them that's true.  They are guesses... Made up numbers." "Asking if I hit the goal is the wrong question.  Asking if I enjoyed the run is the better question." "One of the problems with setting goals is you are a different person when you set them than when they need to be met."  You grow, evolve, and change. "Too many companies focus on numbers instead of their customers." --> That is because they have number based goals to hit.  It can ruin the customer experience (Jason had a terrible experience trying to cancel his satellite radio service) Qualities Jason looks for when making hiring decisions: Communicate clearly - "You must be a great writer."  Much of their communication is done in writing.  "We look at the cover letter first.  That must be good.  If that's not well written, then we do not look at the resume." Quality of character - "You must be a good person.  We hire people that we want to be with.  No ego.  We like to hire people that use "we" and "us" instead of "I" Must be able to give and take feedback - Need to be coachable.  "For designers, we give them a project to do in the interview process and then we provide them feedback.  If they can't handle it, we will not hire them." Transition from individual contributor to leader... How to do it well? "It is REALLY hard. Very few people are born being good managers." "Come to terms that you can no longer do everything." Advice Jason got from Tobi (CEO of Shopify) - "As the CEO, you are working on longer term strategic initiatives.  You don't get to feel the day-to-day progress that people lower in the organization feel."  Need to get comfortable with that. Some of the benefits at Basecamp: Fully paid vacation every year for all employees ($5K), 3 day weekends all summer, $1K/year in continuing education outside of your job, $100/month for a massage, $100/month gym membership, $2K/year charity match, paid in the top 10% of your salary range as if you lived in San Francisco (even though no employees live in San Francisco) Why do it? "It's the right thing to do.  I wanted to start a business that I wanted to work at.  We're a company that cares about service." "People are not the place to save money.  They are the place to spend money." "Give people their time.  A contiguous block of time every day to do their work."  Don't muddle it up with meetings in the middle of that time. "I'll work hard now so I can relax later" is not the optimal way to live.  Create the habits now to enjoy it as you go.  "Later" is where intentions go to die.  "When calm starts early, calm becomes the habit."

Scott H. Young, a writer focusing on self-education, shares insights on effective learning methods and stories of ultralearners. Topics include sustaining excellence, language immersion projects, mastering ultra-learning, effective learning strategies, and personal growth advice.

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Episode #336: Neil Pasricha: How To Build Resilience & Live An Intentional Life Full Show notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com How To Build Resilience & Live An Intentional Life NEIL PASRICHA is the the author of six books including: The Book of Awesome, a spinning rolodex of simple pleasures based on his 100-million-hit, award-winning blog 1000 Awesome Things, The Happiness Equation, originally written as a 300-page love letter to his unborn son on how to live a happy life, Awesome Is Everywhere, an interactive introduction to guided meditation for children, and How To Get Back Up, a memoir of failure and resilience released as an Audible Original. His latest book is called You Are Awesome. His books are New York Times and #1 international bestsellers and have sold millions of copies across dozens of languages.  His first TED talk “The 3 A’s of Awesome” is ranked one of the 10 Most Inspiring of all time. Notes: Commonalities of leaders who sustain excellence: They read a lot They unplug regularly - "the genesis for all my best ideas." "Create untouchable time" for yourself The CEO of Wal-Mart -- How did he create this time? He's the CEO BECAUSE he always made this part of his way of operating. Neil worked in a senior level corporate role for Wal-Mart for 10 years His side hustle was writing and speaking He didn't quit his job until he had successfully built his side hustle for eight years! Ask yourself two questions: Which of these two decisions will I regret not doing more on your death bed? What will you do if it fails? The farmer with one horse fable: A farmer had only one horse. One day, his horse ran away. His neighbors said,“I’m so sorry. This is such bad news. You must be so upset.” The man just said,“We’ll see.” A few days later, his horse came back with twenty wild horses following. The man and his son corralled all twenty-one horses. His neighbors said, “Congratulations! This is such good news.You must be so happy!” The man just said,“We’ll see.” One of the wild horses kicked the man’s only son, breaking both his legs. His neighbors said,“I’m so sorry.This is such bad news. You must be so upset.” The man just said,“We’ll see.” The country went to war, and every able-bodied young man was drafted to fight. The war was terrible and killed every young man, but the farmer’s son was spared since his broken legs prevented him from being drafted. His neighbors said, “Congratulations! This is such good news.You must be so happy!” The man just said, “We’ll see . . .” What is up with this crazy farmer, right? Well, what’s up with this crazy farmer is that he has truly developed resilience. He has built up his resilience. He is resilient! He’s steady, he’s ready, and whatever the future brings, we all know he’s going to stare it straight in the face with eyes that scream,“Bring it on.” The farmer has come to understand that every skyrocketing pleasure or stomach-churning defeat defines not who he is but simply where he is. What do most commencement speeches get wrong? Do what you love only if you're willing to accept the pain to continue doing it... The grind.  A lot of small losses add up.  Can you handle the pain that you will need to endure to do what you love? Is it better to be a big fish in a small pond? Yes.  Academic research shows it benefits you even up to 10 years after you leave the pond... Don't but the $5m condo in NYC.  Continue to find places where you can purposefully win. Rig the game to win. "Different is better than better." Add a dot-dot-dot... Neil's mom: "I always just added the word yet to everything..."  It's not a NO, it's a "not yet." You have to just "keep going." The two minute morning routine that takes the worry out of waking up: In your journal write three things: I will let go of... I am grateful for... I will focus on... Neil's goal setting: Set the lowest possible goals.  Set goals that you will hit. "Extrinsic goals don't work."   Why joining The Learning Leader Circle is a good idea

Jay Acunzo, an expert in the art and science of public speaking, shares insights on how to put a talk together, the value of rehearsal, and the power of visual aids. He emphasizes the importance of engaging the audience, generating ideas through speaking, and mastering the art of public speaking. They also discuss the significance of intentionality in public speaking and leadership.

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk #334 Yancey Strickler Text Learners to 44222 Full show notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com Yancey Strickler is a writer and entrepreneur. He is the cofounder and former CEO of Kickstarter and author of This Could Be Our Future: A Manifesto for a More Generous World.Yancey has been recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People. He’s spoken at the Museum of Modern Art, Sundance and Tribeca Film Festivals, Web Summit, and events around the globe.  Notes: Commonalities of leaders who sustain excellence: Selflessness - "You have to get over yourself first" Have strength to know what's important Flexible It requires more time living into the minds of other people - "Not necessarily compassion, but 'what's going on with them?'" Curiosity - A desire to know more Amazon thinks 'customer maximization' - thinking in the best interest of the customer How to get hired for the next management role? Spend 1 hour a day with your current team -- Learn from them.  What's really going on? Be the "go to" person for important objectives What was Day 1 as the CEO of KickStarter like? "I remember the new fancy office... I needed to set proper expectations." "People need to know how to make decisions" "The weight I felt as a new CEO was very high" The "on-me-ness was so high" - A huge responsibility that was felt The skill of "sandwiching ideas" -- Using metaphors to put together different ideas Japanese cuisine "Hara Hachi Bu: stop eating when you’re 80% full so that you're still hungry for tomorrow." We shouldn't overfull ourselves because there is always something to learn tomorrow "My brain is really good at storing and making connections." "As a CEO/Leader, you need to be able to speak in metaphors to bring more oxygen to the situation..." How can we all do this? Read --> Write it down --> Take notes of something interesting "Metaphors are powerful." The power of story --> science --> application During his time at KickStarter, they grew from 70 employees to 155 in just a few years... What did Yancey look for in candidates? Selflessness, servant mindset "When they shared accomplishments, did they use 'we' or 'I'?  We like the people who use 'we'" Mission driven Honest Not afraid to share bad news "Whenever I found myself having to talk myself into something and overlook a red flag, I often found that was a mistake." Why did he leave KickStarter? "I got tired, it took the energy out of me.  It was my identity for a decade..." Had a rough 360 review (full review of people above, beside, and below him in the organization) "One morning, I got to the door to leave my house, and I could not do it.  I broke down crying to my wife and said, 'I don't want to be a CEO today.'" Why writing is so beneficial: Forces clarity of thought "It forces you to accept rejection and just roll." Why write a manifesto(the book)? "I gave a talk, had it transcribed, put it online, and it went viral." When deciding to work for himself: "I need to treat myself as if I'm a company." -- How to properly plan and strategize as a solo entrepreneur "I wrote down five options... One of them was writing a book.  I chose that option." A publisher said to Yancey, "You don't need to hide. Your book is good enough without all the fancy artwork." Going against the grain: "I'm challenging the dominant ethos of our time." Bentoism - A balanced view of what's in our rational self-interest as inspired by the layout of a Japanese lunchbox. Now me, future me, now us, future us.  The four quadrants... Do you want do this in a small group with Yancey? Email me How Adele did this? She used an algorithm to measure how loyal a fan was.  She used that information to help them get tickets at a decent price instead of the extraordinary prices on the secondary market. This is both emotional and rational.  It's possible to be done for all of us. Life advice: Yancey originally felt like a failure because he didn't identify with what the magazine covers were telling him: He didn't feel the urge to want to crush his competitors.  It's hard to be aware of the water you swim in... Have awareness... Be curious, read a lot. Have a plan... An idea of where to go.  Understand new values. Use the "Get To Know You Document" Why joining The Learning Leader Circle is a good idea

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk #333: Chris Savage - How To Bet On Yourself & Scale Through Creativity Full show notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com Chris Savage is the co-founder and CEO of Wistia, a web-based video hosting solution built for businesses. He founded the company in 2006 with the goal of helping businesses effectively market their products or services in a smarter way through video. Under Savage’s leadership and vision, Wistia has experienced 100 percent growth over the past three years, expanding the company’s client portfolio to more than 110,000 users in more than 50 countries, including companies such as HubSpot, MailChimp and Starbucks. Text LEARNERS to 44222 Notes: Commonalities of leaders who sustain excellence: Voracious learners - "they celebrate learning more" Crave feedback - a strong desire to improve - "They are wired to want that" Patrick Campbell - "He's trying hard to learn as fast as possible" Chris's process for continual improvement: Placing people in his life to push him "I go to them to push my thinking" Block time to think - "Being busy is not a sign of success" Spend time with customers and employees Enjoying the process: "It was stimulating and exciting.  It took us a year to get our first paying customer." The business was funded by savings.  They kept their expenses very low Key to a successful partnership: Ensure values are aligned - "These are intrinsic" Know that everything takes longer than you think Have a decision making framework - Demystify the process to make big decisions The product strategies/options: Operational efficiency - The cheapest (No, this is not optimal) Product leadership - Be different Customer intimacy - This will solve customer problems Their values: Long term company thinking Creativity Presentation - An elevated experience. Aesthetics matter. Simplicity Hiring - "Hiring is everything."  Qualities he looks for: "How are people intrinsically motivated?" "Are they excited about the craft, the challenge?" Give them a real-life problem to solve -- And see how they handle it/resolve it Inside their process to hire a VP of People: Clearly define what success is in the role Do a project after the first round of interviews - "Do the job, get critiqued." Build out strategy - Not a perfect plan, but have a process Meet with management team, present the plan. Building your network: "Take the weight of your friends.  You're the average of them." Be proactive who you want to be --> Look for people who challenge you. Reflect on that... Tactically: Make connections with people who you admire.  People like honest, sincere compliments.  Tell them WHY they inspire you Financials: Raised angle round of $650K.  Then $800K.  All individual angels.  No venture.  They have $10m in revenue. Crisis: "We were losing this money, we weren't having fun anymore... People tried to buy us." They raised debt to do a buy back... "I felt amazing." Wistia: Creative risk taking Have to scare self - made a feature length documentary Host of the Brandwagon show "Take risks that scare you" Growth and profitability aren't mutually exclusive - "Focus on building products and experiences that people love... Growth follows." Use the "Get To Know You Document" Why joining The Learning Leader Circle is a good idea  

The Learning Leader Show with Ryan Hawk Ep # 332: David Brixey & Doug Meyer LIVE! - How To Build A Business From The Ground Up Full show notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com This episode was recorded in front of 150 of our closest friends, family, and clients in Dayton, Ohio. Doug Meyer formed Brixey & Meyer alongside Dave Brixey with a dream to give clients a different way of working with their tax professionals. In his role as Managing Director, Doug serves as a trusted business advisor to Business Owners, CEOs, CFOs and Boards of Advisors, driving value and accountability in the following strategic areas: succession & ownership planning, strategic planning, owners agreement structures, compensation planning, family business advisory & issue mediation, professional management practices, mergers & acquisition strategy, and family charter implementation. David Brixey formed Brixey & Meyer with Doug Meyer in 2002 utilizing his insatiable entrepreneurial spirit and his financial skills gained at Ernst & Young. He is also the co-founder and Managing Director of Brixey Meyer Capital, a lower middle market private investment firm.  Since 2008, Dave has been personally involved in investing in small business to lower middle market as well as venture capital. Brixey & Meyer is recognized as a leading provider of accounting and business advisory services in the Midwest.