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The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

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Jan 30, 2023 • 1h 7min

510: Ramit Sethi - How To Think About Money: Saving, Investing, Spending, & Living Your Rich Life

Text Hawk to 66866 to become part of "Mindful Monday." Join 10's of thousands of other Learning Leaders and receive a carefully curated email from me each Monday morning to help you start your week off right... Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12    https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12 Ramit Sethi is the New York Times best-selling author of I Will Teach You To Be Rich. Millions of people read his work every month which focuses on personal finances, money in relationships, and he shares how you can define your rich life. His team has created online programs on making more money, finding your Dream Job, starting an online business, and mastering your inner psychology. Notes: If you have a partner, “create your journey together.” Money is not something to be delegated to one or the other. Both should be involved. Ramit's book-buying rule:  If you’ve even considered buying a book for one second, then BUY THE BOOK. If you learn just one new thing, it is worth it. The return on your investment is through the roof. When in doubt, buy the book. And Read the book. Ramit describes every detail of the conversation he had with his wife about signing a pre-nuptial agreement before they got married. "You should focus on $30,000 questions, not $3 questions." Top 5 Lessons from one year of interviewing couples about money Ramit shares how to get started with your money: automation, investing, and the other Big Wins of money. How to manage your money Fixed costs: 50%-60% Savings: 5%-10% Investments: 5%-10% Guilt-free spending: 20%-30% How to invest your money Target date fund - Vanguard Index funds Ramit advises that you do not pay a financial advisor based on AUM (Assets Under Management). Pay an hourly rate or a fixed cost. This will save you hundreds of thousands (or millions) of dollars over the course of 30-50 years. Decide what you want to spend your money on... What is your rich life? Create your money rules:  For example, Ramit has unlimited spending on his health. And he has money set aside for philanthropic endeavors
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Jan 23, 2023 • 1h 2min

509: Dr. Marc Schulz - Lessons From The World's Longest Scientific Study Of Happiness (The Good Life)

Text Hawk to 66866 to receive a carefully curated email from me each Monday morning to help you start your week off right... They are called "Mindful Monday." A perfect opportunity for you to be more thoughtful as you start your week. Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12    https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12 Dr. Marc Schulz is the Associate Director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development and an award-winning professor at Bryn Mawr College, where he directs the Data Science Program and is the Sue Kardas Ph.D. 1971 Chair in Psychology. He completed his BA at Amherst College and his Ph.D. at the University of California at Berkeley. He is the author of The Good Life: Lessons from the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness.  Notes: "Relationships are at the core of human flourishing." Friendships - Map out your social universe. Are the connections uplifting or depleting? Ask, “what do I value about the person?” Be intentional about your relationships and how you invest in them. The quality of the relationship you have with your partner will determine how long you will live. As we get older, we tend to get happier. We accumulate emotional wisdom. We should focus more on relationships that give us emotional sustenance. This work is built on a bedrock of scientific research. At its heart, the Harvard Study of Adult Development. An extraordinary scientific endeavor that began in 1938, is still going Bob is the 4th director of the study, and Marc is its associate director. “Generativity” – In psychology, expanding our concerns and efforts beyond our own lives is called generativity and it’s a key to unlocking the vibrancy and excitement of midlife. When asked at the end of their lives, “What do you wish you’d done less of? And more of?” The study participants often referenced their middle years and regretted having spent so much time worrying and so little time acting in a way that made them feel alive. The story of John Marsden and Leo DeMarco… Leo lived a rich life because of the relationships he fostered with his wife, daughters, and close friends. John put all of his effort into becoming a lawyer, becoming well-known, and didn’t focus on his relationships. They ended up on opposite ends of the spectrum when it came to happiness. Research has shown that people who have a close colleague at work are more engaged and productive than those who don’t. Close to half of your waking moments are spent thinking about something other than what you are doing. Loneliness increases your risk of death as much as smoking or obesity. Evolutionary theories: Survival depends on us coming together as groups. We are social creatures. How to handle remote/hybrid working environments? There is a cost to not being together. There is a cost to working alone. Friendships need repeated exposure. Doing tasks together builds friendships. You can't do those well remotely. Strangers on a Train: What do you want to do while on a train? Listen to music or talk with the stranger sitting next to you? Most will say that they would rather put their headphones on, listen to music, or read a book. However, the research suggests that you'll be happier if you spoke with a stranger on the train. Life/Career advice: Think about the nitty gritty of a job. Talk to people doing the job. Spend extended time with them while they are doing the job. See what it's like.  
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Jan 16, 2023 • 1h 13min

508: Richard Reeves - How To Be A Great Role Model, The Secret To A Fulfilling Career, And Why The Modern Male Is Struggling & What To Do About It

Text Hawk to 66866 to become part of "Mindful Monday." Join 10's of thousands of other Learning Leaders to receive a carefully curated email from me each Monday morning to help you start your week off right!  Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12  https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12 Richard V. Reeves is a senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution. He is the author of Dream Hoarders (2017), and a regular contributor to the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and The Atlantic. His latest book has made waves worldwide … It’s called OF BOYS AND MEN: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do about It. Notes: How to be a great mom and/or dad? Model the right behavior. Children believe their eyes more than their ears. It’s our responsibility to be that positive role model for children. "The secret to life is to take your work seriously, but not yourself." Create a conversation with your team where all ideas are valued equally. "Communication just moves stuff around. Conversations make something new happen. "Boys are behind girls in education all over. College is now 60-40 women."  "In the education system and in terms of many aspects of mental health, boys are really struggling. That isn't to say that girls aren't also struggling but in different ways. In terms of the education system, girls and young women have blown right past boys and men. There's actually a bigger gender gap in education today than there was 50 years ago." "Boys develop later than girls. They should go to school one year later than girls." "The pre-frontal cortex is the CEO of the brain. This develops later in boys than in girls. It’s on us to recognize the facts and act accordingly. In this case, Richard is an advocate for starting boys in school one year later than girls." Richard's goal: "To create men who are acceptable at a dance and available in a shipwreck." What are the differences between men and women? "Women tend to have a higher level of agreeableness." "We now live in a world where 40% of women earn more than the typical man, where 40% of breadwinners in the U.S. are women. This is a gigantic social change that is entirely positive, looked at through one lens, and we should certainly celebrate it. But... It does raise this question, which is, well, what about men? What does it mean to be a guy in a world where the role of provider can no longer be presumed? What it means is that we urgently, desperately need to update our models of fatherhood, especially, and of masculinity, to fit with this new world." “The problem with men is typically framed as a problem of men. It is men who must be fixed, one man or boy at a time. This individualist approach is wrong.” Life/Career advice: It takes time to understand how your talents will be best used. Be patient. It's not a race. Be the type of person that people want to work with… It sounds obvious, but it’s not. Be pleasant, be on time, be a great teammate, be thankful, and do great work.
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Jan 9, 2023 • 54min

507: Jesse Cole - How To Build Your Idea Muscle, Create Unforgettable Experiences, & Earn Fans For Life

Text Hawk to 66866 to become part of "Mindful Monday." Join 10's of thousands of Learning Leaders and receive a carefully curated email from me each Monday morning to help you start your week off right... Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12    https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12 Jesse Cole is the founder of Fans First Entertainment and the owner of the Savannah Bananas. He’s fanatic about fandom and launched the Savannah Bananas with one mission: to spark a fan-focused movement. The Bananas have sold out every game since their first season and have a waitlist for tickets in the thousands. They have entertained millions of fans in Savannah and at ballparks all over their country on their Banana Ball Tour. Notes: “So many business owners are focused on short-term profits. We are focused on long-term fans.” “If you’re not getting criticized, then you’re playing it too safe.” - When is the last time you were criticized for pushing it too far? Ideas are about quantity. Jesse writes down ten new ideas in his "idea journal" every morning. Most of them aren't that good. You have to get through the quantity to get to the quality. It’s a numbers game. Send handwritten thank you notes to people. Tell them about the impact they've made on you. Jesse has done this for me multiple times and it always makes me feel good. Customers are transactional... Create fans for life. "Do for one what you wish you could do for many." Create special moments for people. One at a time. Do an energy audit: What activities give you energy? How can you do more of those? We learn who we are in practice, not in theory. We learn best through actual trial. Move from idea to execution quickly. If it doesn't work, move on. "I'm not afraid to be embarrassed. My biggest fear is being irrelevant." Jesse focuses a ton of effort on understanding his teammates (both players and everyone else who works for him) The love language assessment... He learned that the majority of his employees have "words of affirmation" as their top love language. "Recognition drives behavior." The job title for Jesse's executive assistant is "Executive Rockstar." What Jesse learned from Walt Disney and PT Barnum: Master storytellers They create attention "Without promotion, something terrible happens... Nothing." Watch "The Imagineering Story" on Disney Plus "They built Disney Land in less than a year!" "Money doesn't excite me. Ideas excite me." Advice: "Give without asking for anything in return. Give, give, give." 9 Rules To Banana Ball: Every Inning Counts - Create walk-off moments 2 Hour Time Limit 1 on 1 Showdown (if there is a tie). No extra innings. Walks are now springs (if you walk, it's a sprint) No Bunting (bunting sucks) No Mound Visits (they are boring The batter can steal first base (if a pitcher throws a passed ball) If a fan catches a foul ball, it's an out No stepping out of the box
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Jan 2, 2023 • 1h 19min

506: Buzz Williams - The 9 Daily Disciplines, Constant Improvement, Loving The Process, & Being on Team Bus One

Text Hawk to 66866 to become part of "Mindful Monday." Join 10's of thousands of other Learning Leaders and receive a carefully curated email from me each Monday morning to help you start your week off right. Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12  https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12 My Guest: Buzz Williams is the head Men's Basketball Coach at Texas A&M University. He's coached his teams to eight NCAA Tournament appearances in 13 years as a head coach. In 2020, Buzz was named the SEC "Coach of the Year." His teams have won 20 or more games in five of the last seven seasons. Buzz's teams have four Sweet Sixteen appearances. Buzz is known as a coach who helps his players on and off the court. He teaches regular life development sessions to his players called "Get Better 101." Notes: Buzz has nine daily disciplines. “Your decisions reveal your priority.” Train body at 5:30, get steps at 7:30, write 2 thank you notes per day, write children a note on their favorite color note card every day, read a book a week, weekly date night with his wife, and on non-gamedays is 7 meaningful texts.  “You can be whatever you earn the right to be.” Team Bus 1 - The core group of people that make up the team. Those that sit on the bench and play in the games. In order to climb the ladder, you must go one step at a time. You can’t skip steps. There are no hacks, no shortcuts. Being able to delay gratification is a superpower and creates the opportunity to make a big impact. It’s the ability to show up each day and take one step at a time. “It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.”  “History rarely remembers the critics. It remembers the contributors. So contribute!” “Energized leaders can evoke energy from within others. But when the leader lets up a little, followers tend to let up a lot.” “The reward for passing the test is earning the next test.” “Being a boss is a job. Being a leader is something you earn.” “Goliath is not there to kill you, he is there to introduce you.” “Pressure is a privilege.” (Billie Jean King book title) "Basketball is not the source, it is the vehicle.” “While we are leading, our rate of learning must be at least as fast as the rate of change.” “Your patience when you have nothing, and your attitude when you have everything are two things that will always define you.” "You grow up thinking winning is the scoreboard at the end.  But you learn there is so much that goes into the business of winning. Winning is the details-the discipline. The business of winning happens every second, and this business doesn’t turn the lights off." “There's a ceiling to talent. There's no ceiling to someone's hunger & to someone's drive to be the best. How hard a team works, how hard they play, how together they are- there's no ceiling to that.” Many times in life what's invisible is what's important. “True love does not have an agenda.” Team Rules: Always tell the truth, no matter what Always be on time... 6 = early Be a great teammate... It compounds Never do anything to embarrass you/your family/your team/your school If anything is potentially a problem, please call Buzz What Buzz looks for when recruiting a player: Character IQ & EQ Work ethic - Do they want to work? Consumed with process Insatiable drive to get better A great teammate Life/Career advice: Never be without pen and paper. Take notes. Read more than you think you need to. Write down everything, about anything, all the time. Build trustful relationships. Seek to give to others and add value to their lives. Never turn down an opportunity to learn or work.
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Dec 26, 2022 • 57min

505: Yung Pueblo - How To Let Go of The Past, Connect With The Present, & Expand Your Future (Lighter)

Text Hawk to 66866 to become part of "Mindful Monday." Join 10's of thousands of other Learning Leaders and receive a carefully curated email from me each Monday morning to help you start your week of right! Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12    https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12 Diego Perez is a New York Times bestselling author who is widely known on Instagram and various social media networks through his pen name Yung Pueblo. Online he has an audience of over 2.7 million people. His writing focuses on the power of self-healing, creating healthy relationships, and the wisdom that comes when we truly work on knowing ourselves. His two books, Inward and Clarity & Connection were both instant bestsellers. Diego's third book, Lighter, debuted as a #1 New York Times best seller. Notes: Using a pseudonym - Yung Pueblo means “Young People.” The pseudonym reflects a social commentary that points to humanity’s coming growth and maturation. The name signals a time when we will collectively transition from being ruled by shortsightedness and self-centeredness to having an elevated appreciation of our interconnectedness, which normalizes treating each other with a new and considerate gentleness. Immigrants – Diego to the United States when he was 4 from Ecuador. His parents' bravery, how much they had to sacrifice, and how hard they worked to give him, his brother, and his little sister a better life in the United States. His mom cleaned houses and his dad worked at a supermarket. “For the first decade and a half, we felt the intense pressure of poverty.” "I am less interested in debating and more interested in considering a topic collectively. Let’s peacefully share what we know with each other. When we arrive at diverging points of view, let’s focus on questions. How did you arrive to this point? Help me understand what you mean." "Saying less is incredibly helpful. Every thought is not valuable. Every feeling does not need to be voiced. What is often best is slowing down to spend time developing a clearer and more informed perspective. Ego rushes and reacts, but peace moves intentionally and gently." "You know you have matured deeply when you encounter someone’s rough emotions and instead of letting their volatility consume you, you mentally affirm within yourself “I am not going to join them in their turbulence.” "Find a partner who increases your power instead of diminishing it. Complimenting each other’s qualities in a way where you make each other shine brighter is an immense gift. You not only lend your strengths to each other, you also keep the spark alive that inspires evolution." Great friends appreciate you and are not afraid of your growth. It’s easy to be around them. You root hard for each other to do well and show support when it’s not. Create a reflection process for yourself. Write down what you’re grateful for… And reflect on the fact that everything is always changing. Reserve judgment. Don’t be so quick to make up your mind about something. Instead of judging something or someone, approach them with curiosity and a sense of wonder.
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Dec 19, 2022 • 60min

504: Jeff Shesol - Moonshot Goals, Driver vs. Passenger Mentality, & Creating Your Own Fate

Text Hawk to 66866 to become part of Mindful Monday. Join 10's of thousands of other learning leaders and receive a carefully curated email from me each Monday morning to help you start your week off right... Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12    https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12 Jeff Shesol is a multi-hyphenate leader. He’s a Rhodes Scholar, a historian, a presidential speech writer, and a 3-time best-selling author. He also had a comic strip called thatch that was nationally syndicated from 1994–1998 when it appeared daily in more than 150 newspapers. Notes: If you’re going to set moonshot goals for your team, you must relentlessly communicate them to all involved. The what, why, how, and when… Relentlessly communicate with vivid clarity. Focus, Purpose, Urgency… This was what was lacking before President Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson helped take fragmented groups and bring them all together. Focus, Purpose, and Urgency. How can you do this for your organization? John Glenn – A leader of action. He didn’t let fate determine the outcome of his life. He went after what he wanted. He had a bias for action. In a world of drivers and passengers, John Glenn was a driver and that’s what led to him leaving his mark in the world. John Glenn – “Friendship 7—designed to fly itself—had begun drifting to the right, like a car with its front wheels out of alignment. Glenn took the control stick—not without satisfaction. He was a pilot, by training and temperament, and pilots take control.” Press conference to introduce astronauts… John Glenn said, “I was brought up believing that you are placed on earth… with sort of a fifty-fifty proposition. We are placed here with certain talents and capabilities. It is up to each one of us to use those talents and capabilities as best as we can. A higher power will certainly see that I am taken care of if I do my part of the bargain.” The space program may be the profession that requires the highest risk tolerance aside from the military. It is no surprise the original 7 astronauts were all test pilots. The Flight Director of the Apollo missions, Chris Kraft, is quoted as saying: “if we thought about odds, we wouldn’t do it (launch man into space)." Bob Gilruth, head of NASA, also said: “we don’t have enough chimpanzees” responding to criticism that not enough test launches were done. JFK, despite his outward speeches, was initially reluctant to go to the moon and was skeptical if it was a waste of time and money. Publishing your work can change your life... In 1997, President Bill Clinton read Mutual Contempt and invited Shesol to become one of his speechwriters. During his three years at the White House, Shesol became the deputy chief speechwriter and a member of the senior staff. Sustaining Excellence: Need to evolve, and be open to change. Musicians take risks with new albums. Be willing to take those risks as a leader. Continue to challenge yourself. Keynote speeches: Do not ever let them get stale... But have one fundamental core message. Dr. Martin Luther King had a core theme of every speech. Life and Career advice: "In your 20's, figure out where you can make your great contribution." Trial and error is good. What energizes you the most?
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Dec 12, 2022 • 1h 9min

503: Sherri Coale - Choosing The Hard Path, The Art of Asking, Learning From Shakespeare, & Winning On & Off The Court (Lessons From a Hall of Fame Coach)

Text Hawk to 66866 to become part of "Mindful Monday." Receive a carefully curated email each Monday morning to help you start your week off right. Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12    https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12   The Hard Makes It Good - A league of their own — Tom Hanks — when Geena Davis (Dottie Henson quit saying it just got too hard). “ “Of course it’s hard. If it wasn’t everybody would do it. It’s the hard that makes it great.” Writing - A writing life may seem to lie somewhere on the other side of the moon from a life in athletics, but the two are scary similar in the things that they require. They’re both ridiculously hard, even if they sometimes look easy. And the reward for either isn’t what you get at the end, it’s what you go through to get there. The process in both is the prize. Great teachers — "Great teachers crack open a door and cue the siren’s song that lures you in. Once inside, they give you hard. And then they let you decide what to do about it. I live indebted to them for the view.” The art of asking — Dr. Darryl Tippens — a Shakspere class... “I admired all he knew, but I admired what he did with it even more.” “His questioning and blatant unwillingness to give us the answers made us work for our conclusions. The process and the product stayed with us. We learned that what we strain for, sticks.” The job — “if a leader’s primary job is to be a dealer of hope, Whitney Hand was a leader of rare air.” It's not about the trophy - After winning the state championship, on the bus ride home with the team, Sherri noticed that she had left the trophy behind accidentally. And she said,“it so had never been about what you get in the end.” Confidence is self-governed. Nobody can give it to you and nobody can take it away. I’ve found that regularly doing hard things helps me earn more confidence. The makeup of a great point guard: An outward perspective. They care more about setting their teammates up than themselves. A capacity for understanding what each person needs. Athletic eyes - They have a broad spectrum. They see things before they happen. Sturdy, innate confidence. Sherri's Grandma: She was very observant. She spoke with purpose. No wasted words. "She taught me how to be observant and listen." "Coaches are great tellers. They aren't always great listeners. Questions are so much better than statements." Great mentors don't give you the answer. They teach you how to think. They teach you how to figure it out on your own. What makes up a great player (beyond the skill to score a basketball)? The intangibles: They build relationships They're observant They pay attention They are intentional about how they "do life" What do you value most? "Curiosity." "You can't wring your hands and roll up your sleeves at the same time." Advice: What makes your heart sing? Work to figure that out. What is that thing in you?
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Dec 5, 2022 • 1h 6min

502: Vitaliy Katsenelson - The Art of a Meaningful Life (Soul In The Game)

Text Hawk to 66866 to become part of "Mindful Monday." Receive a carefully curated email from me each Monday morning to help you start your week off right... Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12    https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12 VItaliy Katsenelson was born in Murmansk, USSR, and immigrated to the United States with his family in 1991. After joining Denver-based value investment firm IMA in 1997, Vitaliy became Chief Investment Officer in 2007, and CEO in 2012. Vitaliy has written two books on investing and is an award-winning writer. Known for his uncommon common sense, Forbes Magazine called him “The New Benjamin Graham.” “I guess I was born in Russia but made for America." The two ways to look at life. Like an airport… Where you rush to get through it. Or an art museum. Where you take time to enjoy your surroundings. I think we should treat more days like they’re an art museum. “When you love what you do, your work stops being work and becomes a craft. And no matter what it is, you do it with pride, love, and care.” "In our relationships, we should set a goal, not for someone to love us, but to behave according to our values (to be worth loving) and to be a good, caring partner. We cannot control whether people will love us, but we can control our actions and our behavior." "I'm perpetually in beta. This in beta attitude is liberating, as it gives you the chance to constantly improve yourself; to learn and grow. This doesn't mean you need to be buried in self-help books. You just need to have this in beta attitude." "The best way to guard ourselves against our ego is by thinking of ourselves as evergreen students." Albert Einstein said, "As our circle of knowledge expands, so does the circumference of darkness surrounding it." We should welcome the circumference of darkness wholeheartedly. How Zeno, the founder of Stoicism approached his students: "He did not claim to be a physician-- he saw himself as a patient describing the progress of his treatment to fellow patients in the hospital beds beside him." When Vitaliy's mother died (he was young), it made him appreciate his dad much more. I think we’d all be better off if we made the most of the time we have with the people we love and never take them for granted. What Vitaliy learned from Warren Buffett? He was not a present dad. It's important to be in your kids lives. It's a gift to get to drive your kids to school. Sit side by side with your children and talk (car rides, sit at the bar at restaurants, go on walks) Vitaliy plays chess and he loses a lot... "Losing is part of tuition." Seneca said, "Time discovers truth." Attention is the currency of time. "Writing is the most important thing that happened to me." Spend two hours a day organizing your thoughts. Writing helps you do that... "Create a connection between the unconscious and conscious mind."
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Nov 28, 2022 • 58min

501: Paul Smith - How To Tell Stories That Inspire Change and Produce Results

Text Hawk to 66866 to become part of Mindful Monday. Join 10''s of thousands of other Learning Leaders and receive a carefully curated email from me each Monday morning to help you start your week off right... Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12    https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12 Paul Smith is one of the world’s leading experts on organizational storytelling. He’s the author of multiple best-selling books including Lead with a Story (which is now in its 11th printing, and published in 7 languages around the world), Sell with a Story, and The 10 Stories Great Leaders Tell. Notes: “Decide what values you want your organization to have. Then find and capture stories that illustrate them. Remember, if you don’t have strong company value stories, you probably don’t have strong company values.” Fill your story with surprises to pique your audience's interest and memory. Often the best way to spread a company’s values and culture are through stories. Use stories to forge strong relationships between diverse team members. Stories can be used to inspire employees, even when times are tough. – You could spout nonsensical motivational phrases about “giving it 110 percent” – or you could tell an inspiring story. A successful story is comprised of only three ingredients — you need context, action, and the result (CAR). As NYU social psychologist Jonathan Haidt observes, “The human mind is a story processor, not a logic processor.” Your job is to help the other person make a decision. To do that, they need to rely on both logic AND emotion. “Your first objective in a sales call should be to get buyers to tell you their stories, not the other way around." The James Watt story – Keep 1 or 2 small vital pieces of the story and save them for the end. The aha moment. The surprise makes it more memorable for your audience. Asking better questions… Instead of saying, “What keeps you up at night?” Ask… “Tell me about a moment…” You can also use this when walking home from the bus stop with your children. Instead of saying, “How was school today?” Ask, “Tell me about your day at school…” "We generally don’t tell our personal stories at work because we work with strangers. They remain strangers because we don’t tell our personal stories. You have to break the cycle.” “Sometimes getting your employees to be more creative isn’t the problem. The problem is getting their less-than-imaginative boss to give them the space to invent. Innovation isn’t a linear process. Inventors need the freedom to play with ideas to see what fruit they will bear. A well-meaning boss might think he’s doing his job by keeping his team focused on the most productive areas to explore. But when you insist on knowing what the fruit will be before allowing the play, many of the most revolutionary discoveries might stay undiscovered.” “Many of life’s failures are people who didn’t realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” The most effective stories play on people’s emotions. – We can take an example from Texas, which in the 1980s was ridden with so-called “litterbugs.” The government tried its best to combat littering by appealing to emotions, and publishing advertisements that showcased a person weeping at the sight of environmental destruction due to litter. While touching, these ads had no effect. The worst litterers were people with little concern for the environment. So, the government changed directions, What did they do? (Don’t mess with Texas) Literally. The slogan was developed by the Texas Department of Transportation for an anti-littering campaign. “It's not just a prideful remark, trying to pick a fight,” says Jeff Austin III, commissioner of the Texas Transportation Commission. “It's don't litter in Texas, don't mess up Texas." There are three types of learners: 40 percent of us are visual learners, 40 percent are auditory learners and the remaining 20 percent are kinetic learners. Stories attract all three – a story’s imagery influences visual learners, the vocabulary appeals to auditory learners, and the emotions and feelings connect with kinetic learners.

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