The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Episode #257: David Marquet - Intent Based Leadership (Turn The Ship Around!) Captain Dave Marquet is a 1981 U.S. Naval Academy graduate.  He served in the U.S. submarine force for 28 years. After being assigned to command the nuclear powered submarine USS Santa Fe, then ranked last in retention and operational standing, he realized the traditional leadership approach of “take control, give orders,” wouldn’t work. He “turned his ship around” by treating the crew as leaders, not followers, and giving control, not taking control. This approach took the Santa Fe from “worst to first,” achieving the highest retention and operational standings in the navy. Stephen R. Covey said it was the most empowering organization he’d ever seen and wrote about Captain Marquet’s leadership practices in his book, The 8th Habit. Captain Marquet is the author of Turn the Ship Around! A True Story of Turning Followers Into Leaders. Fortune magazine called the book the “best how-to manual anywhere for managers on delegating, training, and driving flawless execution.” "Leadership is not for the select few at the top. In highly effective organizations, there are leaders at every level. When we give our people more authority, we actually create more effective leaders." Show Notes: Sustaining excellence: "The ability to decouple from their personal feelings their personality. It can't all depend on one person. In a consistent organization, the leader is part of it, but not all of it." How parenting helps you become a better leader: "That's really interesting. As a parent, you're trying to create an independent decision maker." The United States Naval Academy definition of leadership = Leadership can be defined as directing the thoughts, plans, and actions of others... So as to obtain their command and obedience, their confidence, their respect, and their loyal cooperation." --> Why this is wrong and not effective. "I intend to..." -- Intent based leadership How to create the environment for the team to make decisions Intent based environment: People don't need to be told what to do. Lean back, team leans forward. Don't make yourself (as the leader) a bottleneck. Risks = Tune level of control to competence or confidence of the team... Expose my thought process (as the leader) to you to see how I put it together. Ask "what" and "how" questions... If you get hired as a new manager and did not get to choose anyone on your team? "Focus on what you can control.  Do we welcome each other? Do we care? Do we connect?" Making the jump from individual contributor to manager: "Talk less, don't have all the answers... Listen." "Push information to authority.  Be knowing, not telling." The job of the leader is to determine how the team works Minimize cognitive burden -- "The leader defines the structure." "We act our way to new thinking, not think our way to new acting."   Social Media: Read: Turn The Ship Around! Follow Captain Marquet on Twitter: @ldavidmarquet Connect with me on LinkedIn Join our Facebook Group: The Learning Leader Community To Follow Me on Twitter: @RyanHawk12  

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Episode #256: Elena Botelho - How To Become A CEO Elena Botelho has been a Partner at ghSMART since 2007. Elena initiated and co-leads The CEO Genome Project® featured in a cover article of Harvard Business Review.  Her recent book, The CEO Next Door, is a New York Times Bestseller. The CEO Genome Project® is an extensive research and client practice supporting CEO's and executives on the path to CEO. The research explores paths and behaviors that lead to the top, typical setbacks CEO's encounter and ways to prevent them. Elena is a member of McKinsey M&A Integration Council – an invitation-only forum of senior executives from major corporations to share M&A best practices. Elena is a sought after speaker at leading industry events on leadership and M&A. The Learning Leader Show "Charisma is a myth when it comes to success as a CEO. The research suggests introverts are equally or more successful than charismatic extroverts" Show Notes: How do we define excellence? "Delivering results is how we define it" The keys to excellence (delivering results) Decisiveness - Conviction and speed Adapting proactively Relentless reliability - Delivering consistently -- This is the most powerful and important behavior Engage for impact Self assessments The lowest rated among 11,000 people Elena surveyed was: Reliability Why do people struggle with consistency? Consistency is hard across all domains of our lives Reliability - 3 keys Mindset - basic habits. How do we develop the correct mindset? -> Recognize that others need to be able to count on you. This translates to consistent habits Get an honest look in the mirror The WHO - Who are your surrounding yourself with? Process and culture you build The CEO Myths: Need to go to an Ivy League school (not true) CEO's were destined for greatness (nope) 70% of CEO's never set a goal to be a CEO Charisma - It helps you get the job, however when you look at results, it's not the way the ensure results Introverts are not less likely for success Advice to a current individual contributor: Having powerful mentors didn't seem to help them more than those who didn't Becoming a mentor to others does show it helps It forces you to be clear and become a teacher. Helps you get in the head of others and lead What are some mistakes first time managers make? "It can be messy" Be clear on what success looks like Is this the right team? Do personnel changes need to be made? What are the career catapults? 25% went to a top business school 97% of them did one of these three sprinters: 60% "went small to go big" -> Took a smaller role at an organization that led to something big They took on a big mess and fixed it The big leap - Take a role well before you're ready --> Take a risk Adapting proactively Being able to let go of a profitable business in order for long term success (give up short term for the long term) Key learning = the ability let go of the past "Becoming a mentor to others forces you to be clear and become a teacher." Social Media: Read: The CEO Next Door Go to: ghsmart.com Connect with me on LinkedIn Join our Facebook Group: The Learning Leader Community To Follow Me on Twitter: @RyanHawk12

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Episode #255: David Burkus - The Hidden Networks That Can Transform Your Life (Friend Of A Friend) David Burkus is a best-selling author, a sought after speaker, and business school professor. In 2017, he was named as one of the world’s top business thought leaders by Thinkers50. The Learning Leader Show "The fundamental element that defines the quality of our lives are the people we surround ourselves with and the conversations we have with them." Show Notes: What defines a happy life? "The fundamental element that defines the quality of our lives are the people we surround ourselves with and the conversations we have with them. That's how you live a happy life." Adam Rifkin - The "strength of weak ties" The research suggests you have better odds of getting a job through a loose acquaintance than a close friend "Dormant ties" are very valuable to have in your life.  Make a deliberate effort to reach back out to those people.  Use a system to keep track of those relationships This is the "what" and the "how" to get it done From "science" to "practice" -- The key to success is to be prescriptive.  Give actionable advice The story of Michelle McKenna Doyle -- How she created her dream job in the NFL. 1 dormant tie - 1 degree of separation.  "Most of us are only 1 or 2 introductions away from what we want..." Clusters - People tend to cluster around like minds.  There is amazing power of small communities "Build your own stage, your own community" Super connector - Dunbar's # -- Brian Grazer Having regular curiosity conversations -- That is how he met Ron Howard Never ask the question, "How can I help you?"  Figure out how you can help someone else, then help them.  Don't put the onus on them. Always think, "who does this person need to meet?" And make connections In a networking situation, don't just ask - "What do you do?" -- Try to learn more about them as a person, not just their job "What excites you right now? Who's your favorite super hero?" Where did you grow up?" Be interested in order to be interesting "We feel guilt when we no longer want to associate with old friends and colleagues who haven't changed. The price, and marker, of growth." - Naval Ravikant How David and his wife measured their friendships and peer group -- They made lists How to give a TED Talk? -- Practiced it hundreds of times, hired a coach Go to www.DavidBurkus.com/Ryan Social Media: Follow David on Twitter: @davidburkus Read: Friend of A Friend Go to: DavidBurkus.com/Ryan Connect with me on LinkedIn Join our Facebook Group: The Learning Leader Community To Follow Me on Twitter: @RyanHawk12

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Episode 254: Robert Kurson - How To Be A Master Storyteller: Rocket Men, The Most Daring Mission In NASA History Robert Kurson is an American author, best known for his 2004 bestselling book, Shadow Divers, the true story of two Americans who discovered a World War II German U-boat sunk 60 miles off the coast of New Jersey. Kurson began his career as an attorney, graduating from Harvard Law School, and practicing real estate law. Kurson’s professional writing career began at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he started as a data entry clerk and soon gained a full-time features writing job. In 2000, Esquire published “My Favorite Teacher,” his first magazine story, which became a finalist for a National Magazine Award. He moved from the Sun-Times to Chicago Magazine, then to Esquire, where he won a National Magazine Award and was a contributing editor for years. His stories have appeared in Rolling Stone, The New York Times Magazine, and other publications.  His latest book is titled, Rocket Men: The Daring Odyssey of Apollo 8 and the Astronauts Who Made Man's First Journey to the Moon. Show Notes: How Rob quickly realized going to Harvard Law School was a mistake "The people who liked being at Harvard Law School are the people I liked the least." Following that, he got a job at a large law firm in Chicago -- "Made a lot of money, bought a BMW, a stereo, a bicycle... And I was miserable" The big corporations/large law firms "punished creative thinking" Writing... "It all started with a basic curiosity that would grow into love." --> "You can't hate what you do and be happy" The theme of writing stories -- "Freedom... Being unbound.  When I was writing stories, the time would go so fast." "Whatever it cost me, I was going to get out of practicing law, and be a writer." "I begged for any job.  I'm incredibly persistent.  I came in on the weekends and took high school football scores as my first job working for a newspaper as a writer" How can others follow their love/passion? "Never give up, do it at night, weekends, refuse to take no for an answer." "I was unwilling to see my life go that way.  I would never stop trying, no matter what.  There was no choice, that's what I was going to do." Key ingredients to being a great story teller? Understand the structure, the arc, the format: inciting incident, challenge, the heroes journey, the battles --> The beginning, middle, and end How the long car rides with his dad gave him a prime example for story telling -- "My dad was a travelling salesman and he would often take me with him.  He's the greatest story teller I've ever known" Why write about the Apollo 8 mission? -- "They are the first 3 men to leave earth and go to the moon.  The people at NASA say Apollo 8 was the most daring mission of all time.  They orbited the moon 10 times.  It was the most rushed mission in history."  They needed to beat the Soviets and rushed it because of that and President JFK George Lowe - The NASA manager had the idea to go without the lunar module The 3 astronauts refused to give up.  No matter what happens, they wont' give up.  Most of the astronauts were fighter pilots in the war.  They developed a psychology that "it won't happen to me."  They were fearless.  They had self-delusion and irrational confidence.  That fueled them.  They were not afraid to fail and had already failed many times in their lives Neil Armstrong crashed on a test flight... Just an hour later, he was seen in his office doing paperwork as if nothing happened.  The best astronauts were not phased What Rob enjoyed most -- Meeting each of the 3 astronauts.  All 3 are alive and still married (rare in the astronaut program).  They are down to earth, humble leaders Rob describes what it was like flying with Frank Borman What it was like watching Apollo 13 with Jim Lovell (who was also on Apollo 8) The power of constraints -- "Deadlines can help us do incredible things.  Construct them for yourself." Rob's routine -- At desk by 6:00 am and work until 2:00.  "After that, my work isn't very good." Structure it first, organize, and storyboard it Take a lot of walks with a digital recorder and speak the story out Rocket Men has been optioned by Netflix "Deadlines can help us do incredible things.  Construct them for yourself." Social Media: Follow Robert on Twitter: @robertkurson Read: Rocket Men Connect with me on LinkedIn Join our Facebook Group: The Learning Leader Community To Follow Me on Twitter: @RyanHawk12

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Episode 253: Aubrey Marcus - Total Human Optimization (Own The Day, Own Your Life) Aubrey Marcus is the founder and CEO of Onnit,  a lifestyle brand based on a holistic health philosophy he calls Total Human Optimization. Onnit is an Inc. 500 company and an industry leader with products optimizing millions of lives, including many top professional athletes around the world. Aubrey regularly provides commentary to outlets like Entrepreneur, Forbes, The Doctors and The Joe Rogan Experience. He has been featured on the cover of Men’s Health, is the author of the life-coaching course Go For Your Win, and his first book is Own The Day, Own Your Life  from HarperCollins. The Learning Leader Show "If you have 5 employees, don't focus on growing to 180 employees. Focus on #6, and the #7. Just the next one. You must surrender to the process." Show Notes: Commonalities of leaders who sustain excellence: Mental Override They are willing to do the thing you don't want to do (ex. turn the knob to COLD in the shower) Focus on the little things... The little things become the big things Instead of thinking of your life as a whole, focus on making this one day great... OWN the day, own your life Identify the process and structure you need for your ideal day... Do it one day at a time The ability to create you environment and "own your current space" regardless of the environment The difference between 2012 (with 5 employees) and today (180 employees) "Then I did everything, I had to.  Now, I have an incredible team to help." "If you have 5 employees and you want to grow, don't focus on 180 employees. Focus on #6, and then #7. Focus on your team and your customers." "Surrender to the process." Aubrey is a questioner... Why? "I'm constantly reminded how much I don't know" "I'm always open to continued learning. I have a curiosity mindset." "I was down to my last $110K which was loaned to me. If AlphaBrain failed, we were done... Fortunately, it sold out quickly." The importance of Joe Rogan "I was completely all in." "Instead of focusing how to be friends with Joe, I focused on who I was as a person... And becoming a person that people would want to have around." Focus on yourself "The 30 minute coffee with Joe turned in to a 4 hour dinner" "People will detect and know if you're not genuine" -- You must be yourself "Rules are for dogs. Human beings should be driven by morality. By what's right and wrong." How about rules at Onnit? -- There are some that are necessary (talking about sex, or safety.  Both are important and there are strict rules) Having an open relationship with his fiance, Whitney "I questioned the nature of love. What is true genuine love? How does that look? It's wild... And challenging." "This isn't a fairytale. It can feel like you got struck by lightening in the solar plexus." "Having an open relationship is not for everyone and I don't advocate it.  I'm an advocate for understanding relationships." The importance of writing Own The Day, Own Your Life "All of our work needed to be documented. There are over 300 clinical references in the book." Process? "You must show up and write... Even when you don't feel like it. You have to have the mental override." "I know nothing. But every day I ask questions and take a seat at the table where Truth likes to have snacks." - Aubrey Marcus Social Media: Follow Aubrey on Twitter: @AubreyMarcus Read:  Own The Day, Own Your Life Connect with me on LinkedIn Join our Facebook Group: The Learning Leader Community To Follow Me on Twitter: @RyanHawk12 More Learning: Episode 078: Kat Cole – From Hooters Waitress To President of Cinnabon Episode 216: Jim Collins -- How To Go From Good To Great Episode 179: How To Sustain Excellence - The Best Answers From 178 Questions Episode 252: Tom Peters - In Search Of Excellence  

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Episode #252: Tom Peters - In Search Of Excellence Tom Peters is co-author of In Search of Excellence—the book that changed the way the world does business, and often tagged as the best business book ever. Sixteen books and almost thirty years later, he’s still at the forefront of the "management guru industry” he single-handedly invented. What’s new? A lot. As CNN said, “While most business gurus milk the same mantra for all its worth, the one-man brand called Tom Peters is still reinventing himself.”  Tom’s bedrock belief: “Execution is strategy—it’s all about the people and the doing, not the talking and the theory.” (Keep up with Tom at tompeters.com, ranked #9 among “The Top 150 Management and Leadership Blogs.”) His most recent effort, released in April, 2018 is titled, The Excellence Dividend. "Excellence is the next 5 minutes... Or not." Show Notes: Commonalities of those who sustain excellence: They are "thoroughly decent human beings" They help other people grow They really care about the people they work with and help them get better everyday Quotes from Tom Peters: "Arguably the eight most important words a leader can utter: “THANK YOU.” “I’M SORRY.” “WHAT DO YOU THINK?” "Priority #1, #2, #3: Culture. Culture. Culture. "It IS the game," Lou Gerstner on IBM turnaround. "My 20-year-old "agile": WTTMSASTMSUTFW/Whoever Tries The Most Stuff And Screws The Most Stuff Up The Fastest Wins. "Every meeting that does not stir the imagination and curiosity of its attendees is what I like to call a PLO: a Permanently Lost Opportunity. I am all in favor of eliminating unnecessary meetings!" The big corporations/large law firms "punished creative thinking" "You must create space for people to be better than they ever have." "Excellence is the next 5 minutes... Or not." The key to being a great manager? "MBWA" -- "The minute those words came out of his mouth, my life changed (Managing By Wandering Around) The importance of being intentional and thoughtful My Dad is a huge fan of Tom's work and told me to read his work "Your culture is managed every minute of every day" The process to prepare for your week as the leader (Sunday night work) Start your meetings with "Good morning" "Find a smile, find the energy" --> Your team will follow your attitude and behavior. "It's your duty to be in a good mood." How to run a world class meeting? A meeting can and should be excellent" --> It sets the stage for the next 5 days. Think about it and prepare. Will it be an upper or a downer? Should have civility and thoughtfulness --> "No smartassery" The definition of a great teacher is "someone who is desperate to help their students succeed." How to choose better people to promote? "First line leadership is of supreme importance" "We always hire for character." --> Theo Epstein: Look at the analytics and combine them with culture and character to decide Training -- "Practice should be harder than the games" Neighbors with Bill Walsh -- "The Score Takes Care of Itself" He spent the first 18 months as the coach of the 49ers developing a new culture John Wooden -- Similar story about culture building Jerry Seinfeld spends six months at very "out of the way" clubs in order to add a new 2 minutes to his stand up routine -- Be that deliberate Tom's training and preparation for a speech (even after doing 3,000+ of them!) Read on the company and the industry in depth Read what's going on in the world - stay up to date Read about the specific city where the speech is being delivered, read the local paper, pick up little vignettes Awake at 2:00 am rearranging the PowerPoint slides -- "I make about 700 changes" How do you feel 30 seconds before you go on stage? "Pure fear, there is enormous pressure for me to deliver for them" Why you should always write thank you notes Campbell's Soup CEO wrote 30,000 thank you notes Home Depot CEO wrote them every Sunday Social Media: Follow Robert on Twitter: @tom_peters Read: The Excellence Dividend Connect with me on LinkedIn Join our Facebook Group: The Learning Leader Community To Follow Me on Twitter: @RyanHawk12  

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Episode 251: Joey Coleman - How To Never Lose A Customer Again Joey Coleman is the Chief Experience Composer at Design Symphony - a customer experience branding firm that specializes in creating unique, attention-grabbing customer experiences. His clients include individual entrepreneurs, start-ups, small businesses, non-profits, government entities, and Fortune 500 companies. For over a decade he's worked with clients that include NASA, Network for Good, Hyatt Hotels, Zappos, the Save Darfur Coalition, and the World Bank. Joey is a recognized expert in customer experience design, an award-winning speaker at national and international conferences, and has taught business and creativity courses at both the college and graduate school level. Past appearances include presentations at the M.I.T. Sloan School of Management, Google, the Georgetown University School of Business, Stanford University, Zappos, YouTube.  Joey's first book is titled Never Lose A Customer Again: Turn Any Sale Into Lifelong Loyalty In 100 Days. Subscribe on iTunes  or Stitcher Radio The Learning Leader Show "The best way to say thank you to someone is to show love to the people they love." Show Notes: The 3 things a great keynote speaker does: Change how you think Change how you feel Change how you act The 60 second SPEED pitch from Joey (this is something Joey has never done before and it was incredible!) He speed talks what happens following a purchase you make and how you can secure a customer for life The stages: Assess, Admit, Affirm, Activate, Acclimate, Accomplish, Adopt, Advocate The importance of your messaging within the first 100 days Research and science back -- From Harvard, Bain, Stanford "People who get promoted most and fastest are those who positively impact the business." "People we like get promoted" Why write this book? -- Needed to work out all the kinks, document the 46 case studies and the people/companies who have implemented "the first 100 days" strategy Why do companies lose customers? Selling to human beings - people are skeptical and get buyers remorse Fear, uncertainty, and doubt The new business sales people are not aligned with the account managers More energy spent on getting new clients instead of taking care of the current ones "For a marriage, it requires a lot of work, continually building, communicating, growing." A client should be treated in the same manner Why are the first 100 days so important? Must be on-boarded properly If your customer gets to day 101, they will be with you for at least 5 years The Garrett Gunderson experience "When I showed up, he had a 6 pack of root beer for me and said, 'I wanted you to feel like you are home." -- A preview of what it would be like to be a customer of theirs The $35,000 golf ball -- Pebble Beach Pay attention Record small details that could help you later "When you talk, I listen" Strategic appreciation -- How to say thank you.  The use of gifts, presents, and pictures The best way to say thank you to Joey -- "Do amazing things for my wife and kids."  -- Delta did this for Joey and he is a customer for life As John Ruhlin would say, "The best way to say thank you to someone is to show love to the people they love." Don't send gifts for the holidays when everyone else does.  It's about timing "If you're going to host someone, welcome them at the door... Offer them a glass of water." "A great speaker can: change how you think, change how you feel, and change how you act." Social Media: Follow Joey on Twitter: @thejoeycoleman Read: Never Lose A Customer Again Connect with me on LinkedIn Join our Facebook Group: The Learning Leader Community To Follow Me on Twitter: @RyanHawk12

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk Episode 250: Shep Gordon - The Super Mensch: How To Add Value To The Lives Of Others Shep Gordon is known in the entertainment industry as having an eye for talent and an innate understanding of what people find entertaining.  After graduating from SUNY Buffalo, Shep moved to LA and in 1969 co-founded Alive Enterprises.  Over the years, Gordon has been responsible for managing the careers of Alice Cooper, Groucho Marx, Raquel Welch, Luther Vandross, Kenny Loggins, and countless others.  He’s also credited as creating the celebrity chef,  which revolutionized the food industry and turned the culinary arts into the multi-billion dollar industry it is today.  His clients that include culinary legends, Wolfgang Puck, Emeril Lagasse, Nobu, Daniel Boulud and many more.  In addition to the impact he’s had on the music, film and food industries, he’s also highly regarded for his philanthropic endeavors.  Shep was named one of the 100 most influential people in Rolling Stone magazine.  He was the subject of Mike Myers 2013 documentary - Supermensch The Legend of Shep Gordon.  He's also written a best-selling book called They Call Me Supermensch A Backstage Pass To The Amazing World Of Film, Food, and Rock ’N’ Roll. Subscribe on iTunes  or Stitcher Radio The Learning Leader Show On meeting with His Holiness, The Dalai Lama -- "When he walked in the room, it felt like I had taken the greatest shower of my life." -- Shep Gordon Show Notes: The value that Jayson Gaignard added to his life "He came to Hawaii and helped me launch my book and it was a best-seller" "You should always bring value first" A 1968 graduate of college -- great divide in our country at the time - Vietnam War, "I was raised a liberal Jew" "I was a long haired acid dealer" The Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix story -- How it got him his start as a manager in Hollywood Fame -- Media is a manipulation - "It consumes people and can be very damaging" "My job was to push the artist. Fame was fools gold." People who wanted fame needed attention... When they stopped getting it, bad things happened Shep had a visionary eye for what would be successful in the future, the ultimate talent scout.  He also understand how to earn PR for his artists to help make them famous "Create things that parents hated... Which led to kids loving it." --> Alice Cooper played a show naked Going from Alice Cooper to Ann Murray... Shep did great work for them and it kept leading to his next client --> Groucho Marx, Raquel Welch Commonality among great entertainers? "They have that moment right before they go on stage... They are scared, neurotic, full of fear.  This fuels them to be great." Commonality of those who sustain excellence? "They never did it on their own.  All the best were surrounded by great teams." Meeting with The Dalai Lama? "When he walked in the room, it felt like I'd taken the best shower of my life." How to throw a world class dinner party? Great food, customized for your guests Eat at a round table and always leave an extra seat (for the host to sit at and move from table to table) The food needs to be buffet style Send quality invitations -- "It's all about the WHO" --> You must get that part right, it's most important Don't talk business Think -- "What could I do to really make their night great?" Life lessons -- "The failures are more important than the successes" "To me, failure is not trying" "If your team can't fail, you can't win" Success to Shep = "A life of service to others" Serving others will make you happy Use you wealth to help other people (ex: "If you own a private plane, find people who will never fly on a private plane and offer them a ride.") "Use your resources in service to other people." Always think about how you can add value to the lives of others. "Success for Shep = "A life of service to others" --> Helping other people will make you happy Social Media: Follow Shep on Twitter: @SupermenschShep Read: They Call Me SUPERMENSCH Connect with me on LinkedIn Join our Facebook Group: The Learning Leader Community To Follow Me on Twitter: @RyanHawk12 More Learning: Episode 078: Kat Cole – From Hooters Waitress To President of Cinnabon Episode 216: Jim Collins -- How To Go From Good To Great Episode 179: How To Sustain Excellence - The Best Answers From 178 Questions Episode 107: Simon Sinek – Leadership: It Starts With Why

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk. Episode 248: Colin Nanka Colin Nanka is the Senior Director, Enablement for North American Sales and Leadership Development at the world’s leading Customer Relationship Management Company, Salesforce.com. He is a proven sales leader with over 20 years of sales experience including time at Salesforce and Xerox Corporation.  In his spare time, he competes in multi-day, self sustained, adventure races in the world’s most treacherous terrains, including the Sahara Desert, Gobi Desert, Iceland, Grand Canyon, Atacama Desert and, most recently, in Antarctica. The Learning Leader Show "Success starts with a choice.  Find someone above you, below you, and at your level.  That's mentor-ship." Show Notes: Commonalities of leaders who sustain excellence? Understanding of their strengths - self awareness "Do what you say you will do" "DWYSYWDO" - integrity The combination of vision --> execution How have you sustained excellence? Know how to prioritize Tiered accounts Invested 4-6 hours on Saturday and Sunday while others were not working "Going in on the weekend" - The sheer amount of hard work AND extra work differentiated from the rest Going door to door in Canada - "It takes 20 knocks to get 1 opportunity" "Good pipeline solves all ills" "Flood the market with good will" Marc Benioff's management process, V2MOM, an acronym that stands for vision, values, methods, obstacles, and measures Why do crazy races all over the world? "I hit a crisis.  I was very successful and then had a couple bad years. It hurt my confidence." "I realize there is more to life than just working.  The elements of nature... A give back -- be of service to others." The 2011 Sahara Desert race - Trained for a full year. 6 days a week, 160 miles/week. "Success starts with a choice.  Find who's the best, learn from them." Mentor-ship = "Above you, below you, and at your level." Have all three. The practice of "playing up." Play against someone who is better than you in order to stretch and grow. Constantly put yourself in positions to be stretched Using Gallup to find your strengths -- "A very wise investment" Colin's #1 strength - Learning. Curiosity The compound effect of learning, growing, approaching each conversation with a curious mind What have you learned from the adventure races? Dealing with failure.  How to learn from others. "We all get better from sharing ideas." Biggest mistake new managers make? "They are constantly surprised about the "people" side" How to have tough conversations They try to do it all -- You need to be a multiplier -- Trust, Coach, Empower "If you don't lengthen the leash, you aren't allowing them to grow" First 30 days - "Focus on winning hearts and minds" Do a full day off site meeting with no focus on the business.  Get to know them. Utilize my "Get To Know You" document Understand your team value system: Vision Values Methods - Critical success factors Obstacles Measure -- The Marc Benioff model The #1 value is TRUST -- Ensure this is established early on.  Empower the team to make decisions.  As the leader, be a facilitator Roger Federer -- Finding joy in what you do.  Loving the practice, the process. Do things daily that bring you joy in life "Before I do anything for the company, I do something for myself. To bring me joy." Hiring a coach? Why? Colin has had a coach for 10 years "Just put 1 foot in front of the other" -- 19 hour race in Iceland Be: 1) Strong 2) Relaxed 3) Grateful ("It's hard to be angry when you're grateful") "Learn the rules like a pro, so that you can break them like an artist." - Pablo Picasso Social Media: Follow Colin on Twitter: @ColinNanka1 Read:  Colin's story Connect with me on LinkedIn Join our Facebook Group: The Learning Leader Community To Follow Me on Twitter: @RyanHawk12

The Learning Leader Show LIVE! With Ryan Hawk & James Clear Episode 248: James Clear LIVE! - How Can We Live Better? This was recorded in front of a LIVE audience in Columbus, Ohio.  My teammates at Brixey & Meyer had the original idea for a live event and collectively we put together an amazing evening with more than 100 invited guests.  It was incredible!   The room was full on engaged leaders.  I loved the energy! I'm already looking forward to the next one. James Clear studies successful people across a wide range of disciplines — entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, and more — to uncover the habits and routines that make these people the best at what they do. Then, I share what I learn in my popular email newsletter. His work has been covered by dozens of major media outlets including The New York Times, CBS, Entrepreneur Magazine, Forbes, TIME Magazine, and more. The Learning Leader Show "A constant dose of uncertainty will help you grow your comfort zone." Show Notes: The aggregation of marginal gains - “The 1 percent margin for improvement in everything you do.”  If you improve every area related to your life by just 1 percent, then those small gains will add up to remarkable improvement. When you google “goal setting,” JamesClear.com comes up within the top 3 answers.  James goal setting process. The difference between systems and goals. Goals are useful for setting the direction. Systems are great for actually making progress. If we are serious about achieving our goals, however, we should start with a much different question. Rather than considering what kind of success we want, we should ask, “What kind of pain do I want? First Principles: Elon Musk on the Power of Thinking for Yourself. First principles thinking is the act of boiling a process down to the fundamental parts that you know are true and building up from there. Mindset shifts --> Reframing Love of Travel -- Why do it? Perspective? Voluntary hardship.  "You don’t know what you’re capable of if your body has never been forced to do it." (David Goggins) "You don't know your capabilities until you're forced to do it."  Put yourself in situations that forces you to do "hard things." --? Travel to Vietnam where few people speak English... Getting lost and being forced to ask for help “A constant dose of uncertainty will help you grow your comfort zone.” Voluntary Hardship = until you are tested, you can't develop the ability to be mentally tough or develop new skills.  Put yourself in these situations regularly to grow Successful People Start Before They Are Ready - Richard Branson story…  "Start before you're quite ready, and trust yourself to figure it out as you go." "Motivation is overvalued, environment is undervalued. Willpower doesn’t work, think about choice architecture." “Trust the ability that you have what it takes to figure it out” The "Goldilocks" rule - "Human beings love challenges, but only if they are within the optimal zone of difficulty." Why you should stretch and "level up," but not too much.  "It's not helpful to seriously play tennis against Roger Federer."  You will be demoralized. How to stop procrastination using the 2 minute rule -- "There is that 2 minutes around 5:30 every day where my wife and I decide... Will we go to the gym or will we sit on the couch and watch The Office all night?" -- The 2–Minute Rule works for big goals as well as small goals because of the inertia of life. Once you start doing something, it’s easier to continue doing it. I love the 2–Minute Rule because it embraces the idea that all sorts of good things happen once you get started. “Decrease the number of steps between you and the good behaviors and increase the steps between you and the bad behaviors” The James Clear "garden hose" analogy Why it might be a good idea to put your TV in the closet... Smaller habits require smaller activation energies and that makes them more sustainable. The bigger the activation energy is for your habit, the more difficult it will be to remain consistent over the long-run. “Resistance is proportionate to the size and speed of the change, not to whether the change is a favorable or unfavorable one.” By contrast, when you accumulate small wins and focus on one percent improvements, you nudge equilibrium forward. It is like building muscle. If the weight is too light, your muscles will atrophy. If the weight is too heavy, you'll end up injured. But if the weight is just a touch beyond your normal, then your muscles will adapt to the new stimulus and equilibrium will take a small step forward. "Decrease the number of steps between you and the good behaviors and increase the steps between you and the bad behaviors."  Social Media: Follow James on Twitter: @james_clear Read Lance Salyers Forbes story about the event:  3 Surprising Insights From An Evening With Ryan Hawk And James Clear Connect with me on LinkedIn Join our Facebook Group: The Learning Leader Community To Follow Me on Twitter: @RyanHawk12